After a southern U.S. snowstorm caused a one-day delay in SMITE’s Season 5 patch notes debut of patch 5.1, the patch notes and public test server are finally live.

SMITE players haven’t seen a new map since the start of Season 2 three years ago — meaning newer players may have never seen anything besides the current Conquest map — and Season 5 looks to be the biggest changes both veteran and newbie players have ever seen.

The notes are enormous, and popcorn, a refreshing beverage and comfortable seating are recommended before you begin your examination of the 5.1 patch notes.

Conquest map changes

SMITE’s new, Season 5 Conquest map

First and foremost is the Conquest map. It’s no secret that there would be a new map; Hi-Rez has oft spoke about it, we’ve already seen videos and developer write-ups of changes to jungle buffs and bosses, technical improvements and more, and Hi-Rez Expo attendees from January 4-7 were among the first to try it out. Now that the patch notes are out, we can see the finer details that accompany the new SMITE map.

Visuals

• Complete visual overhaul to the map: “Everything from the Jungle, Towers, Phoenixes, Bases, Titans, and much more have been completely re-done visually”
• All jungle buffs and bosses have been remodeled
  • Lane Minions Visual Update
  • Harpys Visual Update
  • Cyclops Mage (Blue) changed to Satyr
  • Cyclops Brute (Red) changed to Manticore
  • Cyclops Thief (Yellow) changed to Centaur
  • Cyclops Rogue (Purple) changed to Chimera
  • Oracles Visual Update
  • Gold Fury Visual Update
  • Fire Giant Visual Update
  • Titans Visual Update
• Jungle fog is back (which we saw a preview for a few weeks back)

Size, layout and symmetry

• Map is 20% wider to “slightly slow down rotations and increase the importance of gaining advantages around the map through positioning choices”
• Map layout changes:
  • Speed buff has been moved closer to each base, and a harpy camp is present in speed buff’s former locations
  • Oracles are no longer lumped in with the Gold Fury; rather, they are across from it
• Map symmetry and visual clarity
  • Perfect map symmetry along the horizontal axis
  • There is a visual rift in the center that divides the two halves, which should make it clear to players when they are no longer on their side of the map
  • Important areas like Fire Giant and Gold Fury are visually higher than other areas of the map, creating landmarks

Titan and phoenix synergy

• Titans and phoenixes visual clarity
  • Titans are now sheltered by a crystal, which will break when a phoenix is destroyed, meaning the titan can be targeted
  • Phoenixes are visually linked to the titan, so players can see which phoenixes are adding, or not adding, to the titan’s health pool
  • Pads under titans and phoenixes will light up for the player who is being targeted

Timing and pacing adjustments

• Reduced XP Split Bonus from +50% to +20%.
• Minions hit by Towers will now retain 25% of their gold reward instead of losing all of it.
• Minions and Jungle Monsters now gain additional XP and Gold over time. Details for each change can be found in the Map NPC Adjustments section.
• Respawn time of Buff Camps reduced from 180s to 120s.
• Respawn time of Middle Harpy Camps reduced from 120s to 90s.
• Respawn time of Back Harpy Camps reduced from 80s to 60s.
• Conquest start time increased from 60s to 90s.

NPC changes

Jungle camps

• All Jungle monsters will now reward an additional 9 XP and 2 Gold every 3 minutes. These rewards accumulate over time.
• Buff Camp, Buff Holder
  • XP reduced from 160 to 116
  • Gold reduced from 60 to 48
  • Base Health reduced from 790 to 470
  • Base Physical Power reduced from 32 to 24
  • Base Physical Protection reduced from 16 to 8
  • Health/Min increased from 120 to 125
  • Power/Min increased from 0 to 2
• Buff Camp, Small Minion
  • XP reduced from 40 to 20
  • Gold reduced from 20 to 16
  • Base Health reduced from 160 to 115
  • Health/Min increased from 65 to 72
  • Power/Min increased from 0 to 2
• XP Camp, Large Harpy
  • XP reduced from 58 to 34
  • Gold reduced from 38 to 30
  • Base Health reduced from 470 to 410
  • Base Physical Power reduced from 17 to 11
  • Power/Min increased from 0 to 2
• XP Camp, Small Harpy
  • XP reduced from 45 to 22
  • Gold reduced from 28 to 22
  • Base Health reduced from 375 to 150
  • Base Physical Power reduced from 14 to 8
  • Base Physical Protection reduced from 7 to 5
  • Health/Min increased from 35 to 55
  • Power/Min increased from 0 to 2
• Oracles
  • Oracles have been moved out of the Gold Fury pit and instead placed across from the Gold Fury. They will still provide the same vision benefit.
  • XP reduced from 65 to 40
  • Gold reduced from 42 to 33
  • Physical Protection reduced from 20 to 12
  • Health/Min reduced from 130 to 100
  • Power/Min increased from 0 to 2
• Yellow (Speed) Buff
  • Reduced Movement Speed from 20% to 15%
• Purple (Void) Buff
  • Added 5% Production Reduction.

Jungle bosses

The Pyromancer (which, as we learned earlier, has replaced the Portal Demon), Gold Fury and Fire Giant will scale in both difficulty and rewards as time passes, helping them to maintain relevance in the late game. After the 25-minute mark, a different version of the Fire Giant will appear, called the Enhanced Fire Giant.

• Gold Fury
  • Gold Fury now spawns at 5:00 (previously spawned at 1:00)
  • Base Health increased from 2550 to 3000
  • Physical/Magical Protections reduced from 25 to 20
  • Health/Min reduced from 280 to 225
  • Physical/Magical Protections/Min increased from 0 to 1
  • Team XP Reward/Min reduced from 10 to 5
  • Team Gold Reward/Min reduced from 8 to 6
• Pyromancer (NEW)
  • Replaces the Portal Demon
  • The team that defeats Pyromancer has their Fountain buffed for 90s.
    • Upon exiting the fountain, players will gain +40% Movement Speed for 15s. Entering combat will immediately remove this buff.
  • Health/Min reduced from 280 to 200
  • Physical Protection/Min increased from 0 to 2
  • Magical Protection/Min increased from 0 to 1
  • Team XP Reward/Min increased from 0 to 5
  • Team Gold Reward/Min increased from 0 to 3

• Fire Giant
  • Base Health reduced from 6650 to 6000
  • Power decreased from 155 to 130
  • Physical Protection reduced from 100 to 90
  • Health/Min increased from 160 to 175
  • Power/Min increased from 0 to 2
  • Team Gold Reward/Min increased from 0 to 6
• Enhanced Fire Giant (NEW)
  • Appears when Fire Giant respawns after the 25 Minute mark.
  • Grants an enhanced version of the normal Fire Giant buff:
    • +100 Magical Power
    • +65 Physical Power
    • Regenerate 4% of your Max Health and 2% of your Max Mana every 5 seconds
    • Deal +20% Damage vs. Towers and Phoenixes

Minions

Jungle camps and bosses aren’t the only familiar foes who are undergoing changes; lane minions will now be tankier, provide less XP and do less damage to gods.

• Lane minions will now reward an additional 5 XP and 1 Gold every 3 minutes. These rewards accumulate over time.
• Lane minions now deal 40% less damage to Gods.
• Lane minions will now prioritize Towers, Phoenixes, and Titans over Minions, Deployables, and Pets.
• Ranged Minion
  • XP reduced from 45 to 25
  • Base Health increased from 265 to 305
    • Note: Fire Minion Base Health is unaffected
• Melee Minion
  • XP reduced from 60 to 45
  • Base Health increased from 365 to 420
    • Note: Fire Minion Base Health is unaffected
• Brute Minion
  • XP reduced from 60 to 45
  • Base Health increased from 700 to 805
    • Note: Fire Minion Base Health is unaffected

Towers and phoenixes

Towers and phoenixes have been adjusted accordingly to be able to defend themselves against the beefier minions.

• Towers and Phoenixes will now deal an additional 15% damage to Minions.
• Tier 1 Tower
  • Protections reduced from 150 to 125
  • Power increased from 170 to 200
• Tier 2 Tower
  • Protections reduced from 150 to 125
  • Power increased from 200 to 230
• Phoenix
  • Protections reduced from 150 to 125
  • Protections reduced from 150 to 125

Kill bounty change (all modes)

• Assists now provide a bonus gold to players based on their level difference from the killed target, rather than the killers level

Ranked

Eligible players will also receive their Season 4 ranked rewards, including a Morrigan skin for getting 75 wins in Season 4 and a loading card for 150 wins.

Hi-Rez has opted for a soft reset going from Season 4 to Season 5. God leaderboards should now be more accurate, and players will notice a TP boost for players who were first pick (and therefore conducted the picks and bans phase for their team) and victorious.

• NEW feature – First Pick TP Bonus
  • The player who it First Pick in Ranked will receive bonus +3 TP if their team successfully wins.
• God Leaderboards
  • Adjusted the formula to better account for amount of games played and the individual players skill.
• Soft Reset
  • Ranked will undergo a Soft Reset with the launch of Season 5. Players will need to play 10 Qualifying Matches before being placed based on their Season 4 Performance and the results of their 10 Qualifying Matches.

Season 5 season ticket

Season 5 is here, so throw out your Season 4 ticket (and make sure to finish it up before patch 5.1 hits the live servers).

Hi-Rez is trying something new with the season ticket this year. Instead of players only earning specific rewards at each goal, they will now be able to spend their points directly in the Fantasy Points Store. According to Hi-Rez, “Each Patch a few of these skins will be replaced with new skins previously only unlockable through Chests.” The skins appear to be recolors of already existing skins, equivalent to the Undying Chest of past years.

Anarchist Bellona (recolored Defiant Bellona skin)

Groovy Aphrodite (recolored Afro-Dite skin)

Handsome Hunter Hou Yi (recolored Moon’s Groom Hou Yi)

Titanium Ronin Susano (recolored Steel Samurai Susano)

Hired Gun Ares (recolored Soldier of Fortune Ares)

The rewards for season ticket levels have not gone away, however, and players will still earn rewards at designated FP goals.

The season ticket is once again separated into splits with a bundle to be released for each split with a limited skin. The Spring Split Pass includes:

• Limited Skin – Star Salvager Skadi
• Unlock SMITE esports voting – Earn 30 FP for correct votes!
• 10 Team Boosters – All Skins
• Bonus Quests for additional FP
• Earn Double Fantasy Points for every match you win or lose (based on match time)
• Unlock Rewards such as Skins and Chest Rolls
• Ability to spend Fantasy Points in the Fantasy Point Store

Knight of Wisdom Athena (9,948 fantasy points reward)

Demonic Thanatos (final season ticket reward, 80,000 fantasy points)

To read more about the Season 5 ticket, head over to SMITE Scrub’s dedicated article here.

Continuation of the Ragnarok event

Fiendish Flight Jing Wei

Fiendish Rage Cu Chulainn

The Ragnarok event introduced with patch 4.25 will received its next bundle in patch 5.1: the Chaos Bundle. Players can once again spend 750 gems to receive two exclusive skins plus a key to unlock an Awesome Chest (giving a third exclusive skin) and some extra goodies.

• Fiendish Flight Jing Wei
• Fiendish Rage Cu Chulainn
• Ragnarok Metal Theme
• Ragnarok Loading Screen
• Molten Key

Mastery skins update

Thanatos has also had his mastery skins updated.

Blessings and the removal of starter items

As we move onto item changes, here are where things start to get really crazy. Every starter item from Season 4 has been removed from the game (which is a huge change considering items like Bumba’s Mask and Death’s Toll have been around since SMITE’s beginnings) and replaced with something called blessings.

Two sets of blessings have been released, one catered to Conquest and one for off-modes. Hi-Rez says they are using blessings to highlight the “importance of roles in Conquest.” Blessings in other game modes will be more broadly applicable. Each one has a “quest” that encourages players to fulfill the tasks of their role.

• All Blessings are still considered “Starter Items”
• Each god may only get 1 Blessing per match. Once you have bought a blessing you are locked into it. If you sell it and leave base you will not be able to buy another, even of the same type.
• There are 8 Unique Blessings divided into 2 sets. The first set is available in Conquest only. The other set is available in all other modes. There are no game modes that will have access to both sets at once.

Conquest blessings

• Assassin’s Blessing is for players who want to Jungle in Conquest. As with all Blessings, the bonus Damage, Penetration, and benefits this item provide do not care about being a Physical or Magical God. This allows traditional Mage Junglers like Ao Kuang to pick it up alongside their Assassin counterparts.
• 700g
• +35% Bonus Damage vs. Jungle Monsters
• +7% Health Restored on Killing a Jungle Monster
• +20 Mana Restored on Killing a Jungle Monster
• ROLE QUEST: JUNGLE
  • Kill or Assist Jungle Monsters or Enemy Gods. Jungle Monsters are worth 1 Stack and Enemy Gods are worth 5 Stacks. At 50 Stacks, this item Evolves and gives +10 Penetration.

• Guardian’s Blessing is for players who want to Support in Conquest. With the reduction of splitting minion and jungle kills, we want to provide additional avenues for Supports to keep up with their team in Gold. By assisting nearby minions, players can evolve this item and gain bonus Gold Per 5 which will constantly accumulate gold for the Support.
• 700g
• +100 Health
• +5 Physical Protection
• +5 Magical Protection
• +7 HP and Mana Restored per Lane Minion Assisted
• +3 Gold per Lane Minion Assisted
• ROLE QUEST: SUPPORT
  • Assist with Lane Minion kills to gain stacks. Each Assist is worth 1 stack. At 50 stacks, this item evolves and you gain bonus 3 Gold Per 5.

• Hunter’s Blessing is for players who want to play the Carry role in Conquest. Basic Attack focused characters (including Magical Carries like Chronos) will benefit from the boost to their in-hand damage and Attack Speed. This specifically stacks by defeating Lane Minions, encouraging players to focus on their wave while leaving the Jungle camps to the Jungler.
• 700g
• +15 Basic Attack Damage
• +5 MP5
• ROLE QUEST: CARRY
  • Kill or Assist Lane Minions or Enemy gods to gain stacks. Lane Minions are worth 1 Stack and Enemy gods are worth 5 Stacks. At 75 Stacks Hunter’s Blessing Evolves, gaining 15% Attack Speed and an additional 15 Bonus Basic Attack Damage.

• Mage’s Blessing is for players who want to play the Mid role in Conquest. The Bonus Ability Damage combined with increasing Mana Regeneration encourages Mid players to use their abilities often. For some this may mean playing aggressive and poking, while others will focus on clearing efficiently. This shares the same Evolve trigger as Hunter’s Blessing, allowing players to swap between the two depending on how Basic Attack or Ability Damage focused they want to be.
• 700g
• +30 Bonus Ability Damage
• +3MP5 per 10% Mana missing.
• ROLE QUEST: MID
  • Kill or Assist Lane Minions or Enemy gods to gain stacks. Lane Minions are worth 1 Stack and Enemy gods are worth 5 Stacks. At 75 Stacks Mage’s Blessing Evolves, gaining 10% Cooldown Reduction.

• Warrior’s Blessing is for players who want to play the Solo role in Conquest. Solo lane is all about pressuring your opponent in a one on one setting. Players using this blessing will be rewarded for consistently finding smart opportunities to damage their lane opponent. Whoever manages their Blessing better in the early game will be rewarded with a boost of tanky stats.
• 700g
• +50 Health
• +3 Reduction of All Damage Taken
• +40 of your health is restored upon dealing damage to an enemy god, 10s Cooldown
• ROLE QUEST: SOLO
  • Dealing damage to an enemy god provides 1 stack. This effect can only occur once every 10s. Getting a Kill or Assist on an Enemy god provides 5 stacks. At 15 Stacks Warrior’s Blessing Evolves, gaining +10 Physical and Magical Protection.

Non-Conquest blessings

• This Blessing is geared towards aggressive gods. The effects are flexible enough so that gods of any class can pick this item up and play aggressively.
• 700g
• +20 Physical Power
• +25 Magical Power
• ROLE QUEST: DAMAGE
  • Damage Lane Minions and Enemy gods to gain stacks. Dealing 100 damage to Lane Minions provide 1 Stack and dealing 100 damage to Enemy gods provide 3 stacks. At 50 Stacks Attacker’s Blessing Evolves, gaining 10 Penetration.

• Defenders Blessing is good for anyone who wants a little more safety and tankiness in the early game. Guardians and Warriors might find this item helpful, but so could riskier picks who feel threatened more after seeing their opponents god choices.
• 700g
• +100 Health
• +10 Physical Protection
• +10 Magical Protection
• ROLE QUEST: TANK
  • Mitigate damage to gain Stacks. Mitigating 50 damage provides 1 Stack. At 50 Stacks Defender’s Blessing Evolves, gaining +100 Health and Mana.

• This Blessing is especially flexible in its design. Any god can benefit from these stats but they will need to sacrifice DPS or protections. Specialist’s blessing also has an additional bonus for Healers in that they can use their team healing to stack the Blessing more quickly.
• 700g
• +10 MP5
• +10% Cooldown Reduction
• ROLE QUEST: ULTILITY
  • Damage enemies of Heal allies to gain stacks. Each time an enemy is damaged or an ally god is healed by your abilities, gain 1 Stack. Each ability can only trigger up to 3 stacks. At 50 Stacks Specialist’s Blessing Evolves, gaining +10% Movement Speed.

Item changes

Aside from blessings, there has been an overhaul to dozens of items, including the entire mage catalog. To see at a quick glance what has been changed, Hi-Rez has released an infographic. To see the finer details, you’ll have to read.

Mage item overhaul

Mage items have been overhauled to decrease the dominance of Rod of Tahuti. With its former passive giving mages a 25% power boost, they were always losing damage by pursuing other build paths, making Rod a staple in mage builds for years. Because of this, other items will have power increases to compensate.

• Changed to the Spellbook Tree

• Changed this item’s name and icon to Spellbook

• Changed this item’s name and icon to Book of Souls

• Increased Magical Power from 100 to 120

• This item has been moved from the Trinket tree to the Book tree.
• Icon Adjusted.

Trinket Tree

• Removed 100 Mana
• Added 100 Health

• Removed 200 Mana
• Added 200 Health

• Added 100 Mana

• This item has been moved to the Book Tree

• Added 150 Mana

Sash Tree

• Changed to the Staff Tree

• Changed this item’s name and icon to Uncommon Staff

• Changed this item’s name and icon to Golden Staff

Penetration items/anti-tank items overhaul

• Removed 33% Magical Penetration
• NEW PASSIVE – Your Magic Damage ignores 20% of the target’s Magic Protection. If the target has over 40 Magical Protections, this effect scales up to ignore a larger percentage of their protection. This caps at 45% Magical Penetration at 175 or more Magical Protection.

• Removed 33% Physical Penetration
• NEW PASSIVE – Your Physical Damage ignores 20% of the target’s Physical Protection. If the target has over 65 Physical Protections, this effect scales up to ignore a larger percentage of their protection. This caps at 40% Physical Penetration at 175 or more Physical Protection.

• NEW PASSIVE – Your abilities deal an additional 3% of the targets maximum health as true damage. If the target has over 2000 health, your ability bonus damage scales up. Capping at 10% max health on 2750 hp targets. This effect can only occur once every 10s, and prioritizes highest Max HP targets.

• NEW PASSIVE – On Basic Attack hits, deal Physical Damage equal to 3% of the target’s maximum Health. If the target has over 2000 health, your basic attack bonus damage scales up. Capping at 5% max health on 2750 hp targets. This only affects gods.

 Boots

• Increased cost from 300 to 500.

• Increased cost from 1550 to 1600.

• Increased cost from 1500 to 1550.

Mage protection adjustment

Now all mages have magic prot scalings of .9 per level

• Agni
• Ah Puch
• Anubis
• Aphrodite
• Chang’e
• Chronos
• Discordia
• He Bo
• Hel
• Isis
• Janus
• Kukulkan
• Nox
• Nu Wa
• Poseidon
• Ra
• Raijin
• Scylla
• Sol
• Thoth
• Vulcan
• Zeus

God changes

AGNI

• Increased Movement Speed from 350 to 355

HIVE

• Decreased Attack Speed Buff from 10/20/30/40/50% to 10/15/20/25/30%.
• Decreased Movement Speed Buff from 10/15/20/25/30% to 5/10/15/20/25%.

AO KUANG

KING OF THE EASTERN SEAS

• Self heal on this ability now only triggers after Ao Kuang has executed a target and flown up into the air.

ARES

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 360 to 365

CU CHULAINN

BASE

• Reduced Base HP5 from 9 to 7.

SPEAR OF MORTAL PAIN (WAR CRY)

• Increase Cooldown from 90s to 100s.

FAFNIR

CURSED STRENGTH

• Decreased Stun Duration from 1.5s to 1s in both Dwarf and Dragon form.

HE BO

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 350 to 355

HEL

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 350 to 355

KHEPRI

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 360 to 365

KUZENBO

BASE

• Increased Base Health Per Level from 95 to 100

LOKI

DECOY

• Decreased Cooldown from 14s to 12s
• Increased Damage from 75/125/175/225/275 to 90/140/190/240/290

NIKE

REND

• Nike is now knockback immune while channeling this ability.
• Decrease damage from 50/85/120/155/190 to 50/80/110/140/170.

RA

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 350 to 355

RAIJIN

PERCUSSIVE STORM

• Reduced Base Damage from 30/45/60/75/90 to 25/40/55/70/85 per shot. (120/180/240/300/360 to 100/160/220/280/340 total)

RAIJU

• Reduced damage to targets beyond the first to from 15/25/35/45/55 +13% scaling to 9/15/21/27/33 + 8% scaling per tick.

TAIKO DRUMS

• Increased Cooldown from 90s to 100s

RATATOSKR

DART

• Increased Cooldown from 12s to 14s.

ACORN BLAST

• Increased Mana cost from 60 to 60/65/70/75/80.

RAVANA

BASE

• Decreased base Health from 470 to 450.

MYSTIC RUSH

• Decreased Damage Mitigation buff from 20/25/30/35/40% to 10/15/20/25/30%.

SCYLLA

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 350 to 355
• Increased Base Health Per Level from 68 to 75

THOTH

HIEROGLYPHIC ASSAULT

• Increased Base Damage from 35/55/75/95/115 to 40/60/80/100/120.

TYR

POWER CLEAVE

• Increased Heal Physical Power scaling from 0% to 20%.

YMIR

BASE

• Increased Movement Speed from 360 to 365

Of course, now that the PTS is live and filled with players testing out Season 5, any changes may be adjusted before patch 5.1 hits SMITE’s live client. To see Hi-Rez’s official patch notes, head over to the SMITE site here.

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