LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 22: John "BaRRaCCuDDa" Salter (L) of the Spacestation Gaming esport team is interviewed by reporter Ovilee May after Salter's team won a "Smite" video game competition during the grand opening of Esports Arena Las Vegas, the first dedicated esports arena on the Las Vegas Strip at Luxor Hotel and Casino on March 22, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Esports Arena Las Vegas)
SMITE 5.11 Update: Voodoo is the life of a party
An update to SMITE brought item and god balances with bug fixes, as well as the release of Baron Samedi.
An update to SMITE was released, bringing some bug fixes, most of which can be read about in the patch notes. There were only a few item changes however,. Void Shield and Gladiator Shield were both buffed on damage and could be bought by both solo and jungler players. Some healing items and early physical defense items were also nerfed.
The god changes are quite different and much longer. Aphrodite got a nerf to her heal and so it has a lower scaling. Ra also got a nerf to his cooldown on his ultimate. This takes away some of the healer meta along with the healing item nerfs.
Both Tyr and Osiris received buffs. Tyr got a disarm and extra damage on his Fearless in the defensive stance. Osiris has some damage on his Sickle and a significant cooldown reduction on his ultimate.
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Apollo and Ah Muzen Cab both got buffed. Apollo regained his knock-up on the last shot of his ultimate. Unlike earlier, it is short and straight up. AMC received attack speed and movement speed from the hives.
Along with those major changes, there were a few skins. The next Divine Uprising skins for both Hades and Bacchus both look good. There was also a Nike Fourth of July skin with plenty of fun music and patriotism.
Then they finally show off Baron Samedi in this update. His passive includes two things. The first is like other chalices with three potions and is like a multi-potion. These are available to his whole team. The other part is a Hysteria meter that gives his abilities other effects when stacked.
His one is two crossing beams that do damage. If both beams hit one target, they will take extra damage. His two is a circle ability that heals Baron and his allies if it hits an enemy god. His third ability is a damage over time ability that will affect other enemies depending on the hysteria.
His ultimate is his best feature. A coffin pops out of the ground under him, when it opens it pulls enemies toward it. This is like a Raijin taunt in his ultimate mixed with a Medusa ultimate area. The first target to hit the coffin is stunned and instantly has full hysteria.
He will most likely be used in mid, solo and support roles. With the way HiRez has depicted Pele, I wish that Baron was a guardian and Pele was the mage. I am still excited to play Baron, although he is not what I expected.
