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[SMITE] The ultimate celestial slapfight.
Docshifty
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJk0idhG-qI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4hL9ct2QEk&feature=g-u-uSmite is a 3rd person MOBA game(Who's biggest flaw is making me use the term MOBA) being developed by Hi-Rez, the people that brought you Tribes: Ascend and Global Agenda. The website is currently nothing but a quick trailer, game download, and beta sign up.
The game appears to be going F2P with micro transactions, purchasable gods and skins.
What's it like compared to the others?
The basic idea is nothing new. Five players fight against five other players as AI units move along paths up three lanes to alright, you know what? Its like Dota, LoL, HoN, and any other number of games where you need to kill the other team's Big Thing to win. In this case, the Big Thing is a minotaur, guarded by two outer towers and a phoenix in each lane.
The shop is pretty much lifted from LoL. I didn't play that one much, but someone who did tells me the items are pretty simlar. Creep camp buffs made it over as well, along with the inhibitors in lanes (They're the phoenix waiting at the end of each lane).
So how is it different?
Well, the big thing is its more action oriented. It went the Monday Night Combat route and made everything a skillshot, even basic attacks. Nothing is a guaranteed hit. This puts a lot of the success of the game squarely on the shoulders of the servers, but luckily, so far I've noticed absolutely zero moments of lag screwing me over, or lag in general.
Another big thing is the character design. Each god is taken from a pantheon of ancient mythologies and beliefs. As of right now, they're drawn from Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, and Chinese deities, creating some interesting situations (Ra and Hel fighting Odin and Zeus what!?). Another difference is that the Minotaur is dangerous if either team pushes in too early. It'll chunk down tank gods in maybe 10 hits and can move quickly enough. Finally, towers lose their effectiveness against gods pretty quickly. This is by design, as the devs have stated they would like games to end somewhere around the 30 minute mark.
What's the downside?
Well, until you get used to the play, its brutal to land any of your abilities. Even your basic attacks are hard to get where you want on account of being projectiles (the lack of an onscreen reticule makes this problem more pronounced, but I think it works better without one). Its very satisfying once it clicks though.
How do I get in?
They're sending out beta keys, which come with 3 extra invites for others. Alternatively, you can prepurchase by buying any amount of gems (the packs range from $8 to $50) to automatically get in to the beta.
PEOPLE PLAYING
Forum name/In game name
Docshifty / Docshifty
Moridin889 / Soliloqui
Lunysgwen / Lunysgwen
TheManTrap / TheManTrap
Spawnbroker / Spawnbroker
Varega / Varega
One Thousand Dicks / CableCarrier
21stCentury / The21stCentury
Oluap / Oluap
FlipprDolphin / FlipprDolphin
Echo / Zirual
Psycho Internet Hawk / Hurtacular
Vae / Vaevictis
Mazzyx / Mazzyx
Its still early in the game, and the 17 gods they have right now definitely need to be expanded on (files in the game have pointed towards 13 others they're working on), but it plays well and is very entertaining. The potential is there, provided you don't let their horrible horrible trailer scare you off.
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It's really fun. I've tried other MOBA games... LoL is way too intimidating after having taken a break, HoN/DotA2 seem too plain for my tastes, and all of them are a bit too slow for me. The third-person view here honestly adds a ton to the immersive feeling, and it raises the skill ceiling quite a bit. Hi-Rez has done a great job with Tribes so far, too, and they're awesome about keeping on top of balance issues.
I have two invite keys remaining; if you're interested, PM me.
EDIT: All gone!
First, I think the camera is terrible. Over the shoulder doesn't seem to work very well in a game like this, at least not the way they've implemented it. Caedere says "higher skill ceiling," I say "frustrating controls." I was watching a guy play the tiny Indian god dude, forget what his name is. It seemed like he was having a very difficult time controlling his character. Who knows, maybe I need some time with the controls to make a conclusive opinion. I do like how the third person view forces you to be aware of your current map situation more than the isometric games do, I'm just not sure it's going to fit in a genre like this.
Another thing that concerns me is the line "everything is a skill shot." I feel that this will end up having two effects on the game. First, and the biggest one that I even see in that video, is it seems that circle strafing will be the name of the game in melee combat. Anyone who has ever played WoW PvP knows how not-fun that is as a core mechanic of your PvP survivability. Second, I think it will end up having abilities end up feeling similar to each other after a while. In LoL and DotA, there is a reason certain abilities are skill shots and some aren't. Skill shots are generally more powerful than abilities that automatically hit. It's a way of balancing the game while giving unique abilities to each character. When you make it so everyone only has skill shots, I think you'll find that people will not feel "powerful" when playing their hero, and new players will get frustrated with how more experienced players always seem to never get hit by their abilities. You can argue whether this is a good or bad thing, but I tend to lean on the "not good" side.
It does look interesting, and it has my curiosity. As a DotA 2 and LoL player, however, I'm not sure there's room for another DotA game on my hard drive :P
The third person makes control a lot more difficult, true, but I think the difficulty is more of an initial barrier. There will of course be a few times where you get ambushed or caught out of position in Smite where you might no have if the game had an overhead camera, but once you get used to it, the game works great with it. I think as far as being good or bad, this would definitely come down to preference. There might be a few moments where I'm backed against a wall and the camera is forced to zoom onto my back, but that's the problem for nearly every game using this perspective. I had a huge problem with Lol's camera when I first tried it because it was tethered to my hero, and that just didn't work at all for me. I haven't had a serious camera complaint in the roughly ten hours I've played.
Point number 2, abilities and attacks all requiring aiming. Circle strafing is a force of habit. Yes, the moving will help you avoid the attacks of people other than the one you're directly fighting, but at melee distance (and abilities like Arachne's drain life, that latch onto the current melee target), there is a slight but noticeable aim assist. Using circle strafing for a dodging mechanic is less useful since many of the gods have abilities to hold, reposition, or slow opponents. I've avoided using ranged gods so I'm not 100% on how difficult it is for them to hit, but aside from like, Artemis, nearly every other ranged hero is a nuker who uses their basic attack when every other skill is on cooldown. Another thing that video doesn't show is that you queue up abilities by pressing the hotkey and then left clicking to execute it when you want. The big thing is, that while an ability is queued, there is an indicator about where that ability will hit. It'd be like if Pudge had a big old line drawn out from his body to the edge of his hook range that followed with the cursor whenever you hit "q". If an opponent would be affected by an ability (To take the previous example, if there were no creeps in the way and an opponent would be grabbed by the hook if Pudge threw it right then) their model changes color, indicating you will connect. I have a video, the compression got wonky when I uploaded it, but you can see what I mean.
You can see in the second clip the long line shooting out from my character, indicating the range of Arachne's ult, and Ymir's model change color when he's in range and lined up. Later on you can see the outline of Ymir's wall before I cast it, letting me know where it will land, as well as the cone radius of his ice blast.
There's an argument to be made about how this makes the game easier or more 'casual', but those are generally silly complaints, and for how fast the game moves, I think its a great thing. It isn't really required once you reach a higher skill level (save for certain abilities like the ice wall), but that doesn't mean you should punish new players by taking it out, and believe me, as a new player, it is a life saver.
As for feeling powerful while playing a hero, that really depends on what you mean by it. You can definitely feel the difference between a starting Ymir and late game. Abilities get massively powerful, to the point that while they might seem middling at best during the first five minutes, in the last ten they become your main source of damage.
If I EVER see Kali on the field. I run. Run my ASS off. She needs some major work. Every class I've tried (and I've tried most) move pretty slow when attacking. Kali seems to have no such problem. If she is ever close to me, I'm dead. I have run from her, while not attacking, at full speed using +40% speed boots and a teleport and still gotten killed because she is able to keep up with me while going full out attack. And true I've seen her with similar speed buffs but always the ones that disable or get really low when attacking.
@Docshifty - you sound experienced with it and this type of game, any insight on that? Does she need nerfing or is there some key I'm missing.
I love kali, but come teamfight phase, she needs to ambush and murder low hp characters. If she stays in a teamfight, she's so squishy, she'll just get bursted down.
Also, i've got 3 keys for the beta if anyone wants them.
But the keys go so fast! Maybe by the time I'll get one they'll have fixed those issues.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
Better yet, is Sona in this game?
I've got some, want one?
Some more thoughts:
I really like the skillshot combat, although it seems a little bit too easy to escape from people beating the crap out of you. Maybe it's just because i play Sun Wukong (who has a nice long-range jump skill) or because i'm too used to Dota where if you get stunned, you're usually screwed unless your team bails you out.
Games are really back and forth, sometimes to the point where you can't really tell who's winning all the time like you can in other whatever-the-fuck-we-call-this-genres. All this stuff could change once I get out of the noobqueue and start getting the points to buy some of the other heroes.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
Her AP increasing ability comes with a movement speed bonus as well. I believe her ult removes slows and makes her immune to them too.
Fighting Kali comes down to about two things. Firstly, does she have to use her ult to kill you before you kill her or escape? If no, then you need to run run run. Remember, you can pass through your creeps but she has to walk around them, any escape mechanism you have will need to be used. If she does have to use her ult to kill you, there's a good chance you can drop her as well, but it really needs to be in the first few seconds of her ult (if she leads with it, if she uses it as a finisher, you're just gonna have to wait until you can disable her). Positioning is key with everybody. Honestly, I've had more trouble with Bastet's and Arachne's than Kali, mainly because, as stated, she folds so quickly. Also, when you're running, don't backpedal or side step as these slow your movement speed considerably. If you need to change directions, use the camera to change directions and keep moving forward, not sideways. About everybody has a way to get away from her provided she isn't overly beasty at that point.
Also, if anyone is playing and comes across a Zeus Odin lane, go somewhere else. Just, don't be there. It hurts so much.
Ymir starts out as a beastly god killer, but as the game goes on, his damage drops off compared to others and he turns into a support disabler. Ra can support, and Hel is like, the definition of support. I don't have much experience with the other to say for sure if anyone else can fill that roll.
I've been playing Sobek and Anubis. They both seem crazy strong.
Sent one to you and page.
Too bad the boar got nerfed, but it *was* pretty crazy. stunstunstunstunstunstun
And what I wouldn't do for a crosshair when playing her.
Gotta give her a whirl again sometime since I hear they actually fixed her passive so it *does* something.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Hel is probably who you will want to play. She is very Sona like in that she can support and nuke.
I think Hel is a Karma that works.
And oh my god, just had my first game as Arachne.
...yeah, that didn't end well for him, once I actually read her abilities and realized Cocoon was a Blitz grab but meaner.
And then our Artemis got super-fed and carried like a Heavy Weapons Guy.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Arachne is so much fun. Word is her jungle is insane and completely outpaces anybody else by a wide margin, but that's a boring way to play so I just duo in a lane with an Ymir and murder everything.
As for the game itself, I like it a lot. Feels a bit unpolished, but its a beta so thats to be expected. Definitely interested in seeing how this game turns out come launch.
I enjoyed Bloodline Champions for quite a while. The skillshot combat was very rewarding, so this game has me interested.
Edit: Thanks to Spawnbroker for the hook up!
For the game overall, there's lots of features missing right now that are clearlt built in. Swapping recommended items, teams more than three, some incentive for levelling besides earning favor for heroes. But the
The gameplay itself is rather fun. Only gripes right now is how zeus can kill you from infinite range and how wards dont help much against junglers. Arachne can be level two or three with multiple buffs behind you before you can respond
1. I hate Artemis. Both playing against her and playing with her. 75% of the people that play her have "Legolas Syndrome." I can't underscore the word hate enough.
2. Anubis is crazy strong and I love cheesing my way to victory with him.
3. Why don't I see more Sobek? He's also crazy strong.
4. Hades is bad and people shouldn't play him. Want to know how to beat him? Buy Purification Beads. Ta-da! No more Hades.
Against my better judgment, I am enjoying this game.
...Fuck
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Sobeck, Anubis, Zeus, Odin or He Bo. All strong characters that can completely wreck house. Avoid Hades, Ao Kaung and a few of those other dudes.