Note that I didn't watch the stream. I was busy trying out my new (to me) laptop and caught a couple of games with Boogie and Draisaitl. Just missed Wayne too =(
Skins:
Kunoichi Serqet (Exclusive Skin, Odyssey): Reminds me of Taki from the Soul Calibur games. It's a cool skin.
Kunoichi Serqet
Druidstone Geb (Exclusive Skin, Odyssey): I like the look, even though I don't particularly care for the god. Nice color accents.
Druidstone Geb
Oni Musha Hachiman (Exclusive Skin, Odyssey): In some ways it's not all that different from his normal skin, but if you look at the little details, it's pretty cool.
Oni Musha Hachiman
Snow Day Scylla (Exclusive Skin, Holiday Chest): SOOOO CUUUUUTE. But it's in a chest. FU.
Snow Day Scylla
Ice Mage Agni (Exclusive Skin, Holiday Chest): Nice temperature change-up, and cool effects. Chest again, though. GRRRRRRRRR.
Ice Mage Agni
Item changes:
Let me first leave these wise words from Hi-Rez for your consumption.
As we approach our Smite World Championship in January we are focused on making targeted adjustments that ensure multiple strategies are viable at the competitive level. In recent tournaments we have seen a shift away from Mages as sources of late game power, being replaced by Hunters. Assassin’s (Bran: hey HR guys, no apostrophe here) have similarly been pushed out as their ability to deal damage while players are heavily itemized against Physical Damage, with Warriors and Guardians replacing them to act as frontlines. There is a lot in play that contributes to this strategy, and each change is targeted at addressing a specific concern without pushing out this strategy entirely.
Titan’s Bane allows Warriors and Hunters to deal with both squishy targets and tanky targets alike with little investment. This item limits the potential for other classes to stay in a fight against the sustained damage from Hunter’s or the burst potential from Warriors diving the backline. We are reducing the overall power of the item and increasing its cost, bringing it more in line with other pen options while slowing down how quickly it can be finished.
Titan's Bane (nerf): Increased cost to 2,300 gold, and decreased % pen from 33 to 30%. Let's revisit HR's words above, shall we? Got it in mind? Okay, then WHY TF did you nerf TB??? I get it on a few select hunters (though they like Exe more) and I also get it for some Warriors (even though many don't even build it)...but for ability-based assassins (wait, HR, is it...Assassin's?), this is a key item. You said they've been pushed out because they're not dealing enough damage, so your answer is to nerf their damage more? Honestly...I don't get this one. Nerf The Executioner back down to 33%, or 30% for the hunters. Decrease the effectiveness of hybrid tank items like Gladiator's Shield, Shifter's Shield, and Masamune. But...ugh.
Okay, I mean I don't mind the actual change overall, but that's only if you also shift other items down as well. And I'm looking at the list of items, and the only other one that fits this is Shogun's Kusari (which we'll get to next).
Shogun's Kusari (nerf): This is a decent adjustment. The protection was never all that high compared to some others, and this puts it even more firmly into the vein of a hybrid item. Assassins never get this anyway, so it's a nice nerf to Warriors (and also sometimes to Guardians, oh well).
Void Stone (nerf): Magical protection dropped from 70 to 60. Okay, now I'm getting mad. I guess this is a good shift, but damn I love this item's recent changes (adding health and whatnot)...don't like this particular change.
Doom Orb and Lost Artifact (buffs): Making getting into Doom Orb an easier and more forgiving stacking option. Increased base power from 40 to 60, increased MP5 from 7 to 10, decreased needed stacks from 50 to 40. Part of me wants to say great, open up stacking options for mages. The other part of me says, damn, this lesser risk and cheap-*** price may lead to some heavy snowballing (40 stacks and they have 140 power). I see it making a god like Thoth an incredibly huge pain to deal with. What are your thoughts?
Soul Eater (buffs): reduced cost from 2,400 to 2,300 gold. Increased base power from 30 to 40, and reduced evolved power from 20 to 10. I think this is a move in the right direction, though the evolved stats still just don't seem all that great.
God changes:
Fenrir (buffs): His passive, Unbound Runes, no longer affects Seething Howl (makes it simpler to use without negative side effects...e.g. dumbing it down so you don't have to watch your stacks as carefully). Brutalize now gains 5+1 protections while channeling the ability (makes it a bit less dangerous for him to get the full ability off). Seething Howl increased power buff by 10 per level (80 extra power at max level), and increased lifesteal a smidge, from 30% to 35%. Ragnarok damage made consistent per each rank, increased range from 12 to 15, and added a targeter to show range.
In essence, he's dumbed down and now becomes an S-rank pick for early game snowball. Is that about right? Not sure I like this, but I need to experience firsthand how much more painful he'll be to play against before I can solidify my negative feelings. Fenrir mains rejoice?
Artio (nerfs): even MORE nerfs? Energy Surge decreasing heal by 20 per rank, and power scaling on the heal from 25% to 20%. Life Tap decreased power scaling on the heal from 10% to 5% per tick.
Basically, nerfing her sustain. There are multiple ways you can nerf her, but apparently they think her damage and that long-*** Entangling Vines cripple are just fine. I'd rather they kept her heals where they were and dropped some other stuff. At least 1 second less on that cripple.
Cu Chulainn (nerfs): Berzerk bonus shield dropped from 20 + 24 per level (500 health shield at level 20) to 10 + 20 per level (410). Vent Anger move speed buff decreased from 10% to 5%. These are good nerfs. Does he need more though?
Ymir (buff): Shards of Ice now applies Frostbite passive AS SOON AS HE STARTS CHARGING IT (FYI, the passive applies a 10% reduction to enemy damage output). I honestly love this change.
So, I don't really get HR. I don't think HR gets HR. Please nerf The Executioner, and maybe some other hunter items if you think they're a problem, not an item that ALL physical gods can use.
I suppose that hi-rez’s thought process was to limit the damage warriors could do so that people would pick assassins more to get that same level of damage. Still backwards thinking, like buffing mages to help deal with the tank meta but what can you do? Guess we’ll see how it goes.
Ok I just re-read the whole Fenrir section. I got a little too excited... IDK how I feel about Seething Howl adjustment just yet. Using Seething Howl with full runes was a HUGE steroid buff. Instead of getting 105/45% I'll now only get 80/35%.
He certainly has more utility (which is overall better for him) now since he can howl, then use unchained+stun.
I like the changes they did with this patch. I still don't understand what specific changes they did to Void Stone. You were just ranting about it not saying what was the change. Same thing goes to Shogun's Kusari. I'm also triggered by Titan's Bane. You or someone else will probably say why not look at the patch notes yourself. My answer to that is I'm too lazy. I'm still waiting for the Bellona skin though.
Oops, technically it was a minor rant. I liked exactly where Void Stone was...it just dropped 10 protection, from 70 to 60. Not a huge deal, but still, I felt it was in a good spot.
Ok I just re-read the whole Fenrir section. I got a little too excited... IDK how I feel about Seething Howl adjustment just yet. Using Seething Howl with full runes was a HUGE steroid buff. Instead of getting 105/45% I'll now only get 80/35%.
He certainly has more utility (which is overall better for him) now since he can howl, then use unchained+stun.
This was the first time I watched (a part of) the Hi-Rez stream, I must say watching Twitch chat beg for Cu Chulainn nerfs and then rejoicing once his nerfs were announced (I quote: "YESSSS, DIE YOU FILTHY MONSTER!!") was quite the experience. He's one of the few solo laners I haven't played yet (mostly due to how annoying I find it to play against him), so I can't say I'm unhappy about his changes either.
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