Season 5 Developer Updates

Wayne posted the start of this in an off-topic thread. Thought we could discuss here.

Hi-Rez has been releasing information about major changes coming to Season 5 of SMITE, which will be in Public Test Server for at least 2 weeks before going live as Season 5, Patch 5.1. Most of the changes have to do with the main competitive mode, Conquest, and we'll be seeing a variety of changes that should be eye pleasing and game-changing.


Map Symmetry & Addressing Snowball

Article link HERE.



Mostly, we're looking at the following:

• Map is 20% wider. Basically, slows the game down to an extent, as it'll take longer to get from one side to the other. Also should make it easier to spot gank attempts from multiple players, or at least have more time to prepare or make a retreat. More area will also mean more blind spots, meaning wards become more important, while at the same time, covering less % of the map.
  
  
• Jungle camps respawn faster but are worth less XP & gold. Means people in the jungle should have more to do more often, encouraging more / quicker rotations. Although it gives less XP and gold, quicker respawns should balance that out so people get roughly the same over time.
  
  
• Values for XP sharing, or splitting, have been decreased. This further emphasizes more rotations and less of junglers and supports just camping lanes.
  
  
• Jungle and Lane Minions are worth more over time.

So the early game emphasis should decrease overall. Less snowballing due to one or two quick kills or deaths, with more opportunity to stay close or catch up. Early game will still be a technical one.[/list]
Overall, I like all of these ideas...as long as it doesn't make Conquest matches last 1 hour on average (which I don't expect, just saying).


New Art & Gameplay Clarity

Article link HERE.





To summarize:

• Make the art more exaggerated and fun. Basically, let's make this look sort of like WoW, Fortnite, etc. I like that general art style, and in the end I'll probably like it a lot, but right now I feel that sort of "copying" that style is cheap. I should just not complain, they're putting a lot of work into it.
  
  
• Allow the background to be a little more consistent so gods and abilities stand out from the environment. This is a good idea...helps make the important things more easily identified.
  
  
• Decrease the overall contrast / noise to make the map more relaxing on the eyes. I never had a problem with it before, but the idea is good.
  
  
• Have distinct visual themes, coloration, and context for all of the jungle camps. This is a great idea, and I like what they're doing.
  
  
• Have vertical landmarks that make it easier to navigate the map. Also a great idea. Easy enough to look at the mini-map, but very nice to be able to identify locations looking at the main part of the screen.
  
  
• Bring back fog of war. This should be great. Probably the biggest thing I'm looking forward to experiencing. I started sometime in the middle/end of S1, and didn't see it its first go-round.

Overall, this series of improvements are great. LOVE the look of the Gold Fury camp. Like the starker difference in look between order and chaos sides. Bravo.


Jungle Camps & Bosses

Article link HERE.




Main points:

• Change look and feel of jungle creatures and bosses. This is nice, but I don't care that much about them. The new looks will be cool, don't get me wrong. I especially like the look of the oracles...scary!
  
  
• Buff drops will be cooler and will be able to be picked up immediately. This is a great improvement (on the buff pickup side of things). Always found it weird and annoying that it would take a second after it dropped to be officially picked up.
  
  
• Boss Gameplay Redesign (Pyro, Fire Giant). These are nice.

Technical Improvements

Article link HERE.





This gets into more specifics about Fog of War gameplay. The fog will be basically ground-cover, so you will still be able to see gods above (e.g. Ao Kuang / Thanatos / Thor ults). They also did a lot of work to make sure you know what you're able to see and what's specifically in the fog. The fog definitely has an eerie look, so if you were scared of that Thanatos coming around the corner before, you'll be doubly scared now, just from the aesthetics. Nice.


So...what are your thoughts? Excited for S5?

Quite excited, the fog sounds nice. I wonder if Nu Wa's 1 would blend in

Oops, missed this thread initially (but then again, it was posted on my birthday, so you should be able to understand I had other things on my mind, right?).

Even as someone who hasn't played this game nearly as much as many other people on this site, I feel strongly about the gameplay adjustments (less snowball) being the most important update out of all of these changes. XP sharing in particular is something I'm glad they're addressing, because the way it works now makes the game less fun than it could be (with more rotations and solo fights rather than a jungler/support + solo/mid basically always being together).

Fog of war looks interesting, I'm used to it from League of course but the difference in perspective should still make it a little scarier in SMITE.

Liking these changes overall, should be fun.

Did I wish you a happy birthday already? Whatever, Happy (late) birthday!

O Shoot I missed this as well! Voted 2nd as well, for me the jungle placement changes are weeeeeird, like why is speed sooooo at the back? Welp

I really liked the aesthetic changes of the map itself, I just feel like everything around it lost some touch tho. From videos of the S5 map I see like no landscape around the outsider parts of the maps (could be camera angle tho) but yeah

EXCITED CUZ I'LL TRY TO GET BACK INTO SMITE WITH SEASON 5!!

I'm guessing they wanted the speed significantly back, so that it would be more difficult to steal...mobility is going to be a priority, and you don't want to make things too unbalanced if one team gets ahead.

So it makes the invade more risky but the reward bigger. Interesting.

Just a reminder, Season 5 PTS should be live sometime tomorrow (January 17th), if they're ready and everything goes well. I assume that means Season 5 PTS Round 1 patch notes will be broadcast on Twitch at the normal time (usually 3 or 4pm EST).

HiRezStew tweeted that he can't confirm actual day, though. We'll see.

FYI, Developer Update 5.1 Patch Notes show has been delayed until Thursday, and will start at 1PM EST, with the PTS updated around 3PM.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Smite/comments/7r2zxc/developer_update_51_showcase_delayed_until/?utm_source=reddit-android