SMITE 10.2 Patch is here, it brings quite a few changes and a new God. Martichoras is the Manticore King, from Greek Pantheon, and he’s a Hunter. It’s no longer an April Fool’s joke (for those who were there about five to six years ago) and we finally get Manticore back in the game (if you were there around Beta). So, without further ado, Prima Games delivers the patch notes and the info about the new God Martichoras, now revealed and playable in SMITE.
Martichoras Kit (Abilities) Listed
First, let’s remind ourselves of the great April Fool’s joke video. It’s got over two million views.
And now, the ACTUAL kit of Marthichoras.
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Basic Attack (Passive Ability)
Author note: Buy Axe of Animosity and have fun with it while it lasts. You didn’t hear this from Prima.
Monstrosity (Passive Ability)
Author note: It might be difficult to time this ability for a big team fight, but you may at least try.
Acid Rain (First Ability)
Author note: This ability rolls out VERY slowly, but if you manage to tag an opponent with it, the slow is INSANE. Gonna be a good creep clear ability at any rate.
Poisoned Barb (Second Ability)
Author note: Decent damage, decent CC, decent healing reduction, crazy ability all in all.
Stalk Prey (Third Ability)
Author note: This is Marthicoras’ “Movement” ability. He does not have a jump, leap, dash, sprint, or anything else. Instead, he has that summonable League of Legends brush in which he can hide from his enemies, and gain movement speed if he wants to run away, or perform an ambush. Be very careful to not overcommit because you are too vulnerable.
Death from Above (Ultimate Ability)
Author Note: Instant Cast CC Immune flight. I mostly use this ability to escape or reposition myself. It’s good to take the focus off of you in a team fight. Three seconds of freedom is a lot. The damage is not the most important part of this ability. Protection Reduction will help your team more than you can imagine.
Related:SMITE Martichoras Build Guide: Best Items, Relics and Abilities
Here are the skins that are available for Marthicoras on Day 1:
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New Skins in SMITE Patch 10.2
Skins that were added are:
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On March 7th, a Bonus Update is coming, so stay tuned to Prima Games.
MAGIC: THE GATHERING PT. 2
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YEAR 10 VIEWER STORE
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BALANCE LIVE WITH THE 10.2 UPDATE – FEBRUARY 21
Game Modes
Item Changes in SMITE Patch 10.2
Below are all the Item Changes in SMITE Patch 10.2, divided into buffs and nerfs.
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Item Nerfs in SMITE Patch 10.2
DRUID STONE (T1)
We have two clear categories of item nerfs today. The first is tank items which is mostly focused on tank items that can deal damage. Druid Stone was too cheap for its stats, and Stone of Binding is seeing a noticeable decrease in the number of Protections it can reduce. Contagion is getting a series of additional bug fixes as well as another damage nerf. As a Healing Reduction item, it has two passives, and its new one was clearly overshadowing the rest of the item.
STONE OF BINDING
PROPHETIC CLOAK
Tanks are also getting some slight nerfs to their Protection stats. Prophetic Cloak is an exciting new item that rewards those who focus on stacking it, but the stats provided here were just too much. We are making the item a bit easier to stack, but decreasing the number of protections the owner of the item gets upon evolution.
EVOLVED PROPHETIC CLOAK
SIGIL OF THE OLD GUARD
Along with the Prophetic Cloak protections nerf we have some nerfs directly to Damage Mitigation items. These items have been showing up in builds recently and when all stacked together they can make the targets especially hard to kill. In many cases, the target is also losing out on a lot of damage output, but we are moving quickly to bring the top end down on this as soon as possible. These two items are the primary sources of mitigations that are usually not built by Supports, and thus they will be the first target for nerfs.
BERSERKER’S SHIELD
THE CRUSHER
The other realm being nerfed today are Assassin items, specifically ability-base bonus damage effects. Bluestone has been nerfed, but is still strong, especially when paired with items like The Crusher and Heartseeker that do bonus damage on hit. Crusher is seeing a slight shift in that with its Power and Damage nerfs comes a slight cost buff, while Heartseeker is seeing a strict nerf, especially toward targets with lower max HP values.
HEARTSEEKER
Item Buffs in SMITE Patch 10.2
HORN SHARD
We are keeping a close eye on shards and have seen a clear purpose for each of them since the nerf of Claw Shard. Horn Shard was considered the weakest or most niche by most players, but this was mostly due to its perception. The actual effect it was providing was twice as strong as the text stated, and those who picked up the item found it quite effective, although not clearly stronger than the other shards. For this reason, we are keeping this powered-up effect and only fixing the text.
QIN’S SAIS
There has been a lot of Hunter discussion on the timeline. The data shows them lagging a bit behind, but not as far off as the perceptions might lead you to believe. The nerfs to Assassins and Tanks combined with a few key hunter item buffs should be enough to move in the right direction. If more adjustment is needed in the future for this class we will certainly be open to that as we monitor the data and feedback closely. We are buffing Qin’s to give the non-crit builds or anti-tank builds a noticeable buff, as well as buffing the new Boomerang item to make for a better user experience and buff Crit builds.
BLADED BOOMERANG
CHRONOS’ PENDANT
Mages have been doing well, with the only complaint being item diversity. We will continue looking into that issue for future updates, so we only have one change for now. This small buff to Chronos’ Pendant introduces a new CDR option to possibly shake up builds without overshadowing the buffs to Hunters, who need them more.
BRAWLER’S BEAT STICK
Assassins got nerfed overall, but this item felt too under-tuned to leave alone. Its new passive is harder to use than many of the other Anti-Heal items and the cost felt like a huge barrier. These changes should give Assassins more flexibility with how they counter-build without overpowering them as a whole.
CLOAK (T1)
Finally, we have an array of Warrior/Guardian items, most of which have been underused in the 10.1 Update. First, Tier 1 Cloak is getting a cost buff to help better justify its lower stat value than Tier 1 Druid Stone. Then we see cost nerfs to Cannoneer’s Cuirass and Dawnbinger, to make them easier to build into, especially for supports. Finally, we have some stat buffs for Absolution and Phalanx to help them better compete with the items with similar stats that are more popular.
CANNONEER’S CUIRASS
DAWNBRINGER BUFF
ABSOLUTION BUFF
God adjustments in SMITE Patch 10.2
10.1 is still very fresh on the minds of most players, with many strategies and meta still evolving. We have some strong data to indicate a few outliers already. We have 2 clear nerfs to gods who have been overperforming, especially in ranked. As for buffs, we first want to remind players that the next update, 10.3, will be the first new season, and with it will come a huge list of god adjustments. For 10.2 we tried to identify some of the clearest underperformers from each class, except for Warriors who were consistently doing well.
AO KUANG NERF
This Magical Jungler has been crushing the queues. Some favorable meta shifts combined with some direct recent buffs have brought back Ao Kuang as the ranked stomp god that he was known to be back near his launch many years ago. We are nerfing the late-game damage of his primary damaging ability to take down his top end.
WILD STORM
HE BO NERF
This flexible Mage is often thought of as a Jungler but has been a top pick in Mid as well through SWC and 10.1. He Bo brings a lot of utility to a fight, so we are nerfing his damage both early game and late on his primary CC ability to even the odds against other Mages.
WATERSPOUT
DISCORDIA BUFF
A few of these buffs might be a surprise, as they all had recent meta stints, but direct nerfs and meta shifts have left them in lower-than-expected spots. Discordia is the first of this set. With a well-rounded kit that balances control, evasion, and damage, she never feels completely unplayable, but we could still see clear issues in her match data. We are buffing Erratic Behavior, which is a strong buff to her evasion as well as the rest of her kit because of its CDR-style effect. We are also adding more front-loaded burst damage to her Ultimate, which has been feeling especially weak lately.
ERRATIC BEHAVIOR
GOLDEN APPLE OF DISCORD
We saw a lot of Geb after his Ultimate buff, but since then he has had multiple nerfs that led to a noticeable drop. Geb has a better team fight presence now, but he still struggles in the early game, so we are buffing Shockwave to verify his lane partners are happy to have him there.
SHOCK WAVE
TSUKUYOMI BUFF
Super strong launches can often lead to heavily nerfed gods, and Tsukuyomi was one of the strongest. After such a high point initially, he had to be adjusted many times, which definitely had the intended effect. After watching him for a while, and seeing little resurgence even in the new meta, we finally feel comfortable applying some direct buffs to Tsukuyomi. A split of base damage and scaling damage increases across his abilities will bring him up across the board.
DARK MOON SHURIKEN
PIERCING MOONLIGHT
JING WEI BUFF
Oh hey, fam! Jing Wei’s value is often dependent on her passive and safety. Duo is a risky lane in 10.1 but Jing Wei still isn’t present. The new speed buff out of base makes her passive slightly less of an advantage, but the goddess also struggles to clear well. We are buffing her primary damage ability to give her the firepower she needs to compete.
PERSISTENT GUST
CHERNOBOG BUFF
Lurking in the shadows, this god is rarely seen. Chernobog’s kit brings a unique level of evasion to the hunter class, yet he still often struggles to find a place in various metagames. His mana costs have been identified as one possible thing holding him back, and we are also buffing his dash to help him maximize his most powerful combo plays and to keep him safe.
VICIOUS BARRAGE
INTO DARKNESS
NEW SKIN VOICE ACTORS in Smite Patch 10.2
We hope you liked these Patch Notes, and we also hope to see you soon at Prima Games!
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Nikola has been a Staff Writer at Prima Games since May 2022. He has been gaming since being able to hold an Amiga 500 joystick on his own, back in the early 90s (when gaming was really good!). Nikola has helped organize dozens of gaming events and tournaments and has been professionally attached to gaming since 2009.
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