SMITE on Playstation 4 Review

World's Collide Odin
(PS4 Skin)

What SMITE is on PS4?!?!?
   Kinda as of right now it is only on is Alpha stage of development and Closed Beta starts in the beginning of March.


How Can I Play? 
   Right now the only way to play is by following SMITEgame on Twitter, Facebook or by following people who work at Hi-Rez. As of 2/24/16 right now IGN is also giving away codes so check them out.  

   Closed BETA starts in early March and you can sign up for it here http://www.smitegame.com/ps4-beta. 

C4CIDEMON. A PS4 exclusive Ymir Skin

Is it the same as on PC?  

   At its core its the same game and is just as fun but the game is a few patches behind, and the gameplay will feel clunky and awkward at first but the more you play, the more comfortable you feel just like the first time you played on PC. VGS, buying items, using actives and consumables also take a little time to get used to but considering how the implemented so many feature that are only used by a keyboard and mouse they did a really good job. (The buttons and UI are similar to the Xbox One as far as I can tell) 

What Do You Like About It?

• Hitting abilities with small radius is harder and you have to learn how to use the UI and features of the game like VGS with a controller.
• The game looks beautiful, all the effects and sounds are very crisp.
• There are multiple control schemes and they are very simple to follow.
• The gameplay is the same at its core.
• Overall its a really fun experience, clicking the wrong button can be heartbreaking when it makes you die but after a couple of hours of playing you can get the hang of it.

What Would You 
Like to See in the Future?
   It's only in apha and its been out for 5 days so I'm not going to critique it but instead say what I want to see in the future because like I said before this is only an alpha build and I only have a few games under my belt to judge the game by.

• Custom key binding so I can make the controls feel natural to me.
• All of the modes in the game as of right now I have only been able to play Arena and Joust 3v3 online. (probably will be fixed by closed BETA).
• The ability to link my accounts so I can have my masteries and achievements ( I like being noticed for my accomplishments don't judge me).
• Catching up to the PC version when it comes to Patches or getting caught up as close as possible.

I Have More What Do I Do?

  Check out Hi-Rez's PS4 FAQ page click here.

How to Play Support in SMITE (Updated 2/23/16)

 Should You Play Support in SMITE?

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart 

Should You Play Support?

If you want to play as a Support in SMITE then you need to know how to initiate fights,body block, rotate through lanes and ward.


If you answered yes, keep reading. If you don’t know what position you want to play or if you want to try Support anyway keep reading. If not try another Role Guide or keep reading for fun, I would.


What is a Support?
   A support is usually a guardian with the exception of a few warriors and mages. There main job is to tank up damage, save teammates, ward and in general to SUPPORT their teammates. Okay, yeah that role pun thing is officially a thing now.


What Do Supports Build?

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart 

   As a support your main job is to be tanky (aka protections + health) and annoying (aka cooldowns and bodyblocks). To do that you want to start off by buying Mark of the Vanguard, level one boots and 2 wards. The second you put both wards down (where to put them is covered in the next section), back then buy 3 health and 3 mana potions and head to buffs. 

  Mark of the Vanguard gives you a little magical and physical protection, health, and its passive reduces all damage you take by 5. This is more useful than you would think especially against enemies with dots.(damage over time, hits you once then for the next x sec does damage again).

  

  Once you get enough gold, you want to get Shoes of Focus for cooldowns so that you can move around faster, it gives you cooldown reduction allowing you use your abilities more often, and be more supportive ,pun intended as always. Plus the mana and power that it gives while small it does help. 
  
   
   Next you build Breastplate of Valor because it gives you a lot of physical protection, more cooldown reduction and mana. This helps a lot because you will be using your abilities a lot, so the mana and CDR let you use them more often and more times. The physical protection helps you tank damage you take from minions, hunters, assassins, and objectives because they all do physical damage.

  
  Next you should go into Hide of the Urchin to get more physical protection, magical protection, health and mana. The health and protections let you tank more damage without having back or worry about dieing, the mana lets you use more abilities and its passive that gives you +2 physical and magical protections per god kill/assist for up to 10 stacks.(that's an extra 20 protections on top of the 35 it already gives you) The stacks make this item better as time goes on which is why you get it early.
  
   You then want to pick up Bulwark of Hope to get more magical protections because mages hurt a lot and if you didn't know mages do magical damage and so do guardians. It also gives you health but what makes this one of the best defensive items in the game is its passive which gives you a shield equal to 150 health + 15 per level if you take damage after being under 30% health. This will save you multiple times per game and it gives you hope to survive to fight another day...or in another minute but you get the point. The only limitation to the shield is that it can only be used once every 60s which is fair for the sake balance.

   Next you build Winged Blade to get more health, movement speed,attack speed and CC reduction. Plus its passive gives makes you immune to slows, increases your movement speed by 20% for 4s when you are hit by a slow, and this can happen every 30s. This basically lets you move faster, basic attack faster, get out of CC faster, lets you take more damage and walk it off, and its passive lets you get out of slows faster. Ironically that could be a bad joke but I didn't think of it.

  From here there are 2 main routes that I would recommend. The first is better if you are ahead and/or if you are dying a little more than you would like. The second is better if you are able to stay alive in fights and want to be able to do some damage while at the same tank still being tanky.

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart 

    
   If you want to just be tanky and don't care if you get kills. Mantle of Discord gives you +60 Physical and Magical protection and its passive that basically makes you CC immune for 1s and stuns enemies with a 20 unit radius for 1s if you take damage while under 30% health. This is a very strong item but is should be saved for late game or if you are ahead in gold.

 
   If you are behind then an alternate item is Spirit Robe which gives +40 Physical and Magical protection,10% cooldown reduction and 20% CC reduction. Maxing out both your cooldowns and CC reduction. It also gives you 15% damage mitigation for 3s if you get hit by hard CC, once every 10s. This is a cheaper alternative to Mantle of Discord and is still very strong.

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart 

   The second option is to get Ethereal staff which gives you +400 health, +300 Mana, +30 Power and a passive that will turn 2.5% of your health into magical power. That is an additional 28.75 power only counting the health from the items you already have. Meaning that no matter what god you play, you will get an more than 28.75 power just from this items passive. This makes this a great item that lets you be tanky but still do damage and help your team in fights.

What do I do as an Support?

Add caption

   
Start:
  Start off by buying Mark of the Vanguard, level one boots and 2 wards then you want to run out as fast as you can and ward near the enemy end of the gold fury and by the enemy xp camp (on the map as the blue diamonds). This is to prevent the other team from invading your side of the map. The second you put both wards down RUN AWAY, back, then buy 3 health and 3 mana potions then run to get the damage buff for your mid laner and then clear the cp camp near lane with your ADC and head to lane.

Early Game:
    Basically during the laning phase, you want to protect your ADC, help them clear waves and let them get the last hit. When enemies get close, use your ability to poke them and/or set up kills for your ADC or prevent your ADC from dying. When using your abilities, try and aim them so that you can weaken a wave for your ADC to clear and then to poke your enemy. At this stage of the game you want to ward around you lane either near the enemy xp camp or near yours depending on where you are getting ganked.*

Mid Game:
     Once you get to the 10 minute mark, as a support you don't necessarily have to camp your ADC unless they need it or if lane is constantly getting ganked.  Basically you are your team's support so you can and should be able to rotate around the map if you need to and feel comfortable with it. If I rotate, I go to mid or wherever a team fight is but I always pay attention to my ADC. As you rotate you need to ward around your lane to make sure your ADC is safe, and have vision of the Gold Fury if your team starts to get an advantage or if the enemy team gets an advantage. When you are new to the role I advise that you stay with your ADC because the enemy support will probably be doing the same thing.*

Late Game:
    Once you get to late game your job is to initiate teamfights with CC, protect your ADC during the fights, keep the enemy team under control with CC, body blocks etc. and help your team stay alive. After fights it's your job to be the last one out of the fight, let everyone escape and protect them as much as you can. As you move up into the enemy jungle and start taking towers, you want to ward where you are pushing. Also during the late game you need to ward Fire Giant as well because if a team get fire giant, it can lead to them snowballing and it can be very difficult to recover from. In other words as teams get their full build or an advantage ward Fire Giant. *

Green Square = Early Game

Blue Square = Mid Game

Red Square = Late Game

*** The annotations on the map are just suggestions,ward where you think you need to ward or ask your team.
***As a support you are expected to ward a lot but your entire team should be warding especially late game.
*** The ward above the grey line are for when you team is pushed up, The wards below the grey line are for when your team is pushed back.

Tips for Support:

• Use VGS to communicate with your lane partner.
• Know that sometimes you will have to die for a team mates.
• Tank objectives when you can. 
• You are not supposed to get a lot of kills but if an enemy is about to get away you can secure the kill.
• REMEMBER YOU ARE ONLY AS TANKY AS YOU BUILD. 
• MINIONS HURT A LOT IN THE BEGINNING.

Season 3 Impression

Credit to tomtomss at deviantart.com

  After only a few weeks of playing season 3 I think I can make a few opinions and things I've noticed about this new META and map.


  First off I honestly like this META even though not having a purple buff is weird as an ADC. So far, I have seen a lot more variety in the gods that are being played which I really like because it makes the games more interesting and a lot more fun because anyone and everyone can experiment in their gods and builds. If those theorycrafting builds work is a different story...that can have a not so happy ending.. but it can still be fun. Now people are starting to figure out a META and are adjusting to it but adding to their own personal flare to it making the game less predictable and more reactionary which I personally like.





Changes For Specific Roles:

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart

ADC/Hunter: Instead of buying crits at the ends you now will focus more on attack speed and penetration. This allows you to shred towers and gods faster which makes split pushing an even more viable strategy if you feel confident in yourself and your team ability to keep the enemy away.

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart

Support/Guardian:  Now buying Sovereignty and Heartward amulet aren't rushed anymore, now they are more situational items. Instead the main items you will see rushed are Breastplate of Valor, Bulwark of Hope, Hide of the Urchin/Mantle of Discord. You might even see some Winged Blade. 

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart

Mid/Mage: Now as a mage you instead of doing A lot of damage to doing A LOT OF DAMAGE, if you think you have a good chance of winning the matchup/ being able to hold your own Doom Orb is a good item to rush because it gives you a very early power spike and later on once you get Spear of Desolation, Rod of Tahuti, etc you hurt exponentially more and it really hurts.

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart

Solo/Warrior: They have stayed the same mostly Teleport is your main Relic you start off, you build tanky at first to be able to sustain and then later on then build power/penetration late. In lane you want to focus on out farming your and only rotate if they rotate or if you push them out of lane/kill them.
(I don't play warriors or solo lane much so I might be wrong)

Credit to Getsukeii on Deviantart

Jungler/Assassin:  You are still squish but do alot of damage. Depending on you god your builds might  you would need to look into that specific god to find out. But if you are god that builds attack speed Stone Cutting Sword is a not a bad idea. For most junglers Jotun's and Breastplate of Valor is a common start to get full CDR early. From there it really does depend on your god for your build.(I don't play jungle much so I might be wrong).

General:

• On a support Reinforced Greaves are decent items to use when the enemy team has a lot of CC l like Ymir but you need to know that you will not have any cool down reduction 
• CC is very strong against squish enemies especially if you can make sure their Purification is down 
• Doom Orb is a very strong item for mages at the start since its so cheap but is very strong until you die and lose half of your stacks... Pro Tip Don't Die with this or get it if you think you will die a lot.

Raijin Guide

Master of Thunder 

Overview:Raijin is SMITE 2nd Japanese god and its 8 millionth god of thunder,he is a mage that can do tons of damage, mark enemies, escape bad situations and taunt/fear his enemies in a team fight. While you are a high damage mage your abilities allow you to be able to a more tanky mage like a Zhong Kui either playing him in the mid or solo lane.
Raijin's Passive: After using (don't have to land anything) 4 basics or abilities, Raijin's next ability does additional damage.
Raijin's 1: a line attack that shoots out 4 bolts of thunder, that get wider the farther they travel. It goes through minions and stops at the first god hit.
Raijin's 2: He sends out Raiju that marks an enemy on the minimap and when that enemy is hit by Raijin, Raiju damages the target and 4 enemies around him.
Raijin's 3: He sends a bolt of lightning at a ground location.This damages and mezes enemies and then he "leaps" in the sky and then lands doing damage.
Raijin's Ult: He summons his drums and can strike them 4 times, if you use his 1 you do 100% damage, his 2 does 50% damage and a 0.5s Taunt, his 3 does 50% damage and a 0.5s.

Abilities:
1. Static Crescendo (Passive)

For every basic attack or ability that Raijin uses, his drums stack an electric charge. When all 4 of his drums are charged his next ability does additional damage. You Do Not Have To Hit An Enemy to Get a Charge. You Can Basic the Air.

• Ability: Buff
• Damage: +30 of your Magical Power 
• Max Stack: 4 (Only 4 drums duh)

2. Precursive Storm
 Raijin bangs on his drums 4 times launching 4 straight line projectiles that go through minions and stop at the first god hit. Each hit grants 1 static charge for a max of 3.
(The 1st and 2nd strike launch 1 projectile and the 3th launches 2 at the same time. 3 strikes, 4 bolts the math works don't worry)  

• Ability: Line 
• Damage Per Shot: 25/40/55/70/85 +30% of your Magical Power)
• Total Damage if all hit 100/160/220/280/340 +30% of your Magical Power)
• Cost:Cost: 80/85/90/95/100 
• Cooldown: 10s.
• Static Crescendo: 1 per hit, Max 3 Stacks 

3. Raiju 

Raijin sends out Raiju marking an enemy on the minimap revealing them to Raijin's team until the next time Raijin Damages them, Raiju  then does damage to that enemy and 4 nerby enemies.

• Ability: Debuff
• Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 (+ 70% of your Magical Power) 
• Mark Duration : 4/5.5/7/8.5/10s
• Cost: 70/75/80/85/90
• Cooldown: 18s
• Static Crescendo : 1 when you send out Raiju

4. Thunder Crash
Raijin sends down a bolt of lightning that crashes down at a ground target mesmerizing enemies in the area. He then ascends to the sky himself and then comes crashing down in the same area doing damage again. (The timing is awkward at first but you get used to it)

• Ability: Leap
• Lightning Damage (1st hit) : 20/30/40/50/60 (+20% of your magical power)
• Thunder Damage (2nd hit) : 40/60/80/100/120 (+40% of your magical power)
• Cost: 70/75/80/85/90
• Cooldown: 15s 
• Static Crescendo: 2 (1 for Lightning and 1 for Thunder)

5.Taiko Drums
Raijin flies above the battlefield, striking his drums 4 times choosing 1 of 3 Beats. ( Yes this is as fun to use as it sounds)

• Ability: Line 
• Base Damage : 120/150/180/210/260 (+50% of your Magical Power)
• Beat 1 : 100% of your Damage
• Beat 2 : 50% of your Damage and a .5s Taunt
• Beat 3 : 50% of your Damage and a .5s Fear
• Cost :  90 
• Cooldown: 90s
• Static Crescendo: Doesn't Apply to Raijins Ult 

How Do I Build Raijin?

Credit to ELITE OWNAGE for the App Used in the Image 

  When I play Raijin I build him so that I can do a lot of damage and tank damage at the same time. Basically a tanky mage. 

  To do that I start off by buying Vampiric Shroud and Lost Artifact to get early game sustain and power so that I can stay in lane as long as possible and clear lane as fast as possible.
  Then I move on into Shoes of the Magi to be able to move around faster, get more power and early penetration. 
  Then I move on to Warlock's Sash ,this builds prefered stacking item, so that I can build some tankiness ( no, its not a word but you what I mean ) with a lot of health and mana. Plus the power it gives is nice to because it makes you hit harder. 

Credit to ELITE OWNAGE for the App Used in the Image 

  Then I upgrade Lost Artifact to Chronos Pendant so that I can have lower cooldowns and can cast more often, more power and MP5. Again all good things.
  At this point in the game my team pushing towers and objectives so I get Obsidian Shard the take them down faster and shred through enemy protections.       After that I get Rod Of Tahuti to get a huge power spike that lets me hurt everyone and just burst down enemies in a flash. ...get it lightning... flash..It was bad but you have to admit it was kinda funny... Ok moving on.

Credit to ELITE OWNAGE for the App Used in the Image 

  Finally we get Spear of Desolation which is a new item that gives +130 Power, +20 Penetration and it passive is stupid good:all of your cooldowns are reduced by 8 seconds if you kill an enemy god but it cannot activate more than once every 30s. So basically you get it to desolate the enemy team. Ok that pun wasn't as good as the usual stupid puns but its hard to be funny all the time. 


What Do I Do As Raijin?/Tips

• Be careful when using your 3, if there is an Awilix on the other team her ult can pull you and kill you.
• You can be a tanky mage but you are still a mage and need to be careful.
• Your ult Beat 1 HURTS A LOT so you can use this to secure or steal objectives.
• Your ult can be used to pull enemies off you team or an objective by using Beat 2 (Your 2 Key during your ult).
• Your ult can be used to pull enemies off yourself by using Beat 3 (Your 3 Key during your ult).
• Use your 2 and 1 to clear waves quickly. 
• Only use your 3 aggressively when you know you can get out of a bad situation aka if your team is with you/there is only 1 person alive
• If you get the chance use your basic to charge your passive even if there is nothing there to hit. 

Summary:
  Raijin is a hard hitting, lane pushing, minions shocking god that is a lot of fun to play. His kit is simple enough that you can pick him up pretty easily but as you get better with him, you get more use to his combos and are just a more effective Raijin. The main things to know are that you can be tanky if you build that way, your main combo to clear is using your 2, then your 1 and this can work on gods as well. Your ult can be used differently depending on which beat combo you use but you need to know what that combo is before going into your ult or else you will run out of time. Good Luck and Have Fun Playing as Raijin Master of Thunder.

What Do I Need to Know About Season 3?

There have been a lot of changes to start off this new season but as of right now everyone is still trying to figure things out and so there isn't really a set Meta but these are the main things that I think you need to know. 

Actives Are Now Relics

• Instead of having to buy active and upgrade them throughout the game you get your first relic at level 1 and your second at level 12 both for free.

• Relics Cooldown timers and abilities are somewhere in between their Active Tier 2 and 3.

• Beads are less useful because they no longer provide 3s cooldown reduction.

The Most Useful Relics (In My Opinion)

Purification (Purification Beads) - removes Crowd Control Effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2s. Cooldown 160s.

Blink(Greater Blink)- Allow you to teleport short distances instantly. You must have not have taken damage for 5s before it can be used. Cooldown 120s.

Curse(Weakening Curse)- Reduces all enemy gods ground speed by 40% in a 55 foot radius around you for 5 seconds. Their healing is also reduced by 65% for the duration. Cooldown 

150s.

Sprint (Heavenly Agility) -Increases your ground speed and allies within 55 by 40% for 6s. It also makes you immune to Slows for the duration. Cooldown 120s.

New Items/Item Balance

-Offensive

• There are a lot of new items that give power, movement speed, and penetration items along with some balancing of older items.

-Items You Should Look at:

Spear of the Desolation +130 Magical Power, + 20 Magical Penetration and its passive is: If you kill an Enemy God all of your cooldowns are reduced by 8 seconds. This cannot activate more than once every 30s.This makes it a very strong item for mages but it is cost 3100 gold so if you get it it should be as a last item to get a late game power spike.  

Executioner +30 Physical Power, + 25% Attack Speed and its passive Basic Attacks against an enemy reduce your target’s Physical Protection by 8% for  3 seconds. (max. 4 Stacks). You hit harder,faster and shred everyone.

Qin’s Sais + 40 physical power + 15% Attack Speed On Basic Attack hits, deal Physical Damage equal to 4% of the target's maximum Health. This only affects gods. This is becoming a very popular item on hunter builds and allows you to hit harder, faster and and you can kill a lot faster.

Defensive

• Defensive Items have been changed so that they give you a lot of health or a lot of protections not both like in Season two. If an item still gives you protection and health then both are reduced to make the game more balance.

• CC: Some items now have CC reduction a newer, stat that caps out at 60%, it is introduced to balance CC since Purification is very different compared to season 2 Purification Beads.

-Items You Should Look at:

Gauntlet of Thebes +350 Health +15 Hp5 and its Passive: increases all healing received by 20%. This is extremely useful on healers or gods with a self heal especially if you like playing aggressively.

Mantle of Discord +60 Physical Protection, +60 Magical Protection +15% Cooldown Reduction and its passive: If you take damage below 30% health you unleash a shockwave that stuns all enemies within a range of 20 units for 1s and gain CC immunity for 1s. This effect cannot trigger more than once every 90s. This is a very useful defensive item and works well on supports to make you as tanky and annoying as possible and is a very good item in general if you are going for a tanky build.

New Maps
Joust

Season 3 Joust Map

• Joust received a completely new map.
• New Jungle Boss Bull Demon King that will stun the enemy's tower or Phoenix (depending on which is up at the time) and give you fire giant buff if you clear it.
• The jungle now has a mana buff on each side and a damage buff near the middle instead of the 3 buffs on each side of the lane.
• 1V1 League is renamed as Duel.
• New 3v3 Joust League. 
• I don't play Joust that much so I can't really judge the change but it looks really cool.

Conquest

• The map is made more open throughout the jungle.
• Buffs camps now have 3 entrance so that it isn't as easy to get caught by an invade.
• The Speed/Yellow buff has been removed
• Mana/Blue buff is now where speed buff used to be 
• Attack Speed/Purple buff and the old blue buff area are now replaced with xp camps
• There are 3 elementals (minions) near the fire giant that give xp and gold.