Smite (video game)

Smite is a 2014 free-to-play third-person multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna. In Smite, players control a god, goddess or other mythological figure and take part in team-based combat, using their abilities and tactics against other player-controlled gods and non-player-controlled minions. In most gamemodes, victory is achieved by slaying the opposing team's titan before losing their own.
The game has multiple player versus player modes, 130 playable gods, and has a successful esports scene with multiple tournaments, including the annual million-dollar Smite World Championship. As of 2020, Smite has attracted a total of 40 million players. A sequel, Smite 2, was first announced in January 2024, and entered Open Beta in January 2025.

Gameplay

Smite features many different game modes with the largest being Conquest. Players can choose between Training, Custom, Co-Op, Normal and Ranked play styles. From there, they can choose between a variety of standard game modes. Special event games with unique rules like unlimited gold are also often introduced.
At the beginning of each match, players select a god or other mythological figure to play as., players can choose between a large variety of characters from different pantheons including, but not limited to, Babylonian, Celtic, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Norse, Polynesian, Roman, Mayan, Slavic, Voodoo, and Yoruba. The characters of King Arthur's legends and the Cthulhu Mythos are also considered pantheons in this video game.
Each character is classified as one of the following classes: Assassin, Guardian, Hunter, Mage, or Warrior. Unless otherwise stated, two players on the same team cannot choose the same character. Successful team configurations typically feature a well-rounded team following standard RPG raid configurations during god selection.
While most MOBA games are played from a top-down perspective, in Smite, the player controls the god in a third-person perspective. Each god has a basic attack, a passive trait, and four abilities with varying effects. These abilities are acquired and upgraded when the player's character levels up by gaining experience from being in range of minions when they are killed, taking down towers or phoenixes and defeating enemy characters. The maximum level is 20 and each successive level is more difficult to reach. Each player also accumulates gold through standard periodic income and by slaying enemies ; gold is used to buy items for their god, as well as potions, wards and abilities.
Each game mode has a specific map it is played on, which is separated into "lanes", where waves of computer-controlled minions march toward the enemy base, and the "jungle", where computer-controlled monsters periodically spawn at specific locations distributed symmetrically across the map. Killing monsters in said jungle grants experience points and gold; killing certain monsters causes a "buff" to drop on the ground which, when picked up by a player, grants temporary bonuses to stats such as damage dealt, movement speed, and attack speed. There are three special monsters who appear less frequently that grant the team which lands the killing blow a set amount of gold, as well as a temporary damage buff and speed boost when coming out of the base.

Conquest

Conquest is the default game mode and follows the standard gameplay of MOBA games, being played on a three-lane map based on Warcraft IIIs Defense of the Ancients map. Two teams of five players begin at opposite sides of the map, at their team's "fountain," and are granted a set amount of gold to buy starting items. There are three continuous "lanes" running from one side of the map to the other, each defended by towers and a "phoenix", both of which deal damage to enemies that come too close.
The game is won by killing the opposing team's titan, a giant warrior located in each team's base. To accomplish this, the players must first destroy the towers and phoenixes guarding the enemy base. The player teams are accompanied by "minions", small soldiers with a weak attack, who spawn at the phoenixes every thirty seconds and run along their lane towards the enemy base, attacking not only enemy players and other minions but also towers, phoenixes and the titan. Towers will prioritize targeting enemy minions over players, allowing players to attack a tower without receiving damage, unless the players attack an enemy player within the enemy tower's range.
Teams can surrender games at any time after ten minutes, provided at least four players agree. If a player loses connection to the game, two players on either team can choose to pause the game for up to thirty seconds to allow the disconnected player to return. If a team has disconnected players, they can surrender within six minutes and with an adjusted majority requirement.

Slash

Slash resembles Conquest, but is played on a map with only two lanes, and teams each have two towers, two phoenixes, and a titan. Each team also has their own jungle, while three contested jungles are located in the center. Players start at level 3 and the middle jungle gets stronger as the match goes on, eventually spawning the boss Apophis. Additional jungle bosses around the map spawn more powerful minions called siege juggernauts when killed, which can destroy towers and kill players and minions. The name Slash is a portmanteau of the two discontinued game modes that it is based on - Siege and Clash; Slash replaced these modes in 2022.

Joust

Joust features two teams of three players and is played on a map with only one lane. Teams have one tower, one phoenix and a titan each. Players also start at level 3, due to the smaller map size and increased focus on combat. There is a jungle boss called Bull Demon King in the side lane that renders the opposing team's tower or phoenix unable to attack enemy minions or players. This boss also provides a team buff that gives both health and mana regeneration.

Assault

Assault is similar to Joust, being played on a one-lane map, but players are unable to choose their god, instead being assigned a random one at the start of the match. It is played on a one-lane map with two teams of five; teams have two towers, one phoenix, and a titan each. There are no jungle camps and the only goal is to push the minion waves forwards and destroy all of the enemy structures, with the game ending at the death of a Titan. Additionally, once a player has left the fountain, they cannot buy items until they die, and they cannot return to their base to regenerate their health.

Arena

Arena has two teams of five players face each other in an open arena without towers or Titans. Instead, each team has a portal they must defend and a stream of minions that march towards the enemy's portal. Each team starts with a stock of five hundred points, and the game is won by reducing enemy team's point total to zero. One point is deducted from the enemy team each time one of their minions die or when an enemy minion enters their portal, and five points are deducted per death of a god. Teams can also spawn minotaurs after collectively killing ten enemy gods, which deduct fifteen points from the enemy team upon reaching their portal. There are three jungle camps on each side of the map that drop player buffs when slain. At the start of the match, a Rogue’s Stash will spawn near a random jungle camp that awards a set amount of gold and spawns a computer-controlled "Cyclops Rogue" monster.
Passive gold income is greatly increased for this game mode and the spawn timers are greatly decreased. Each god starts at level three, has more starting gold than other game modes, and gains experience passively.

List of gods

Character	Pantheon
Achilles	Greek
Agni	Hindu
Ah Muzen Cab	Mayan
Ah Puch	Mayan
Amaterasu	Japanese
Anhur	Egyptian
Anubis	Egyptian
Ao Kuang	Chinese
Aphrodite	Greek
Apollo	Greek
Arachne	Greek
Ares	Greek
Artemis	Greek
Artio	Celtic
Athena	Greek
Atlas	Greek
Awilix	Mayan
Baba Yaga	Slavic
Bacchus	Roman
Bakasura	Hindu
Bake kujira	Japanese
Baron Samedi	Voodoo
Bastet	Egyptian
Bellona	Roman
Cabrakan	Mayan
Camazotz	Mayan
Cerberus	Greek
Cernunnos	Celtic
Chaac	Mayan
Chang'e	Chinese
Charon	Greek
Charybdis	Greek
Chernabog	Slavic
Chiron	Greek
Chronos	Greek
Cliodnha	Celtic
Cthulhu	Great Old Ones
Cu Chulainn	Celtic
Cupid	Roman
Da Ji	Chinese
Danzaburou	Japanese
Discordia	Roman
Erlang Shen	Chinese
Eset*	Egyptian
Fafnir	Norse
Fenrir	Norse
Freya	Norse
Ganesha	Hindu
Geb	Egyptian
Gilgamesh	Babylonian
Guan Yu	Chinese
Hachiman	Japanese
Hades	Greek
He Bo	Chinese
Heimdallr	Norse
Hel	Norse
Hera	Greek
Hercules	Roman
Horus	Egyptian
Hou Yi	Chinese
Hub Batz	Mayan
Ishtar	Babylonian
Ix Chel	Mayan
Izanami	Japanese
Janus	Roman
Jing Wei	Chinese
Jormungandr	Norse
Kali	Hindu
Khepri	Egyptian
King Arthur	Arthurian
Kukulkan	Mayan
Kumbhakarna	Hindu
Kuzenbo	Japanese
Lancelot	Arthurian
Loki	Norse
Maman Brigitte	Voodoo
Martichoras	Greek
Maui	Polynesian
Medusa	Greek
Mercury	Roman
Merlin	Arthurian
Morgan Le Fay	Arthurian
Mulan	Chinese
Ne Zha	Chinese
Neith	Egyptian
Nemesis	Greek
Nike	Greek
Nox	Roman
Nut	Egyptian
Nu Wa	Chinese
Odin	Norse
Olorun	Yoruba
Osiris	Egyptian
Pele	Polynesian
Persephone	Greek
Poseidon	Greek
Ra	Egyptian
Raijin	Japanese
Rama	Hindu
Ratatoskr	Norse
Ravana	Hindu
Scylla	Greek
Serqet	Egyptian
Set	Egyptian
Shiva	Hindu
Skadi	Norse
Sobek	Egyptian
Sol	Norse
Son Wukong	Chinese
Surtr	Norse
Susano	Japanese
Sylvanus	Roman
Terra	Roman
Thanatos	Greek
The Morrigan	Celtic
Thor	Norse
Thoth	Egyptian
Tiamat	Babylonian
Tsukuyomi	Japanese
Tyr	Norse
Ullr	Norse
Vamana	Hindu
Vulcan	Roman
Xbalanque	Mayan
Xing Tian	Chinese
Yemoja	Yoruba
Ymir	Norse
Yu Huang	Chinese
Zeus	Greek
Zhong Kui	Chinese

Eset was originally called by one of her alternative names, Isis, but this was changed to avoid association with the extremist group Islamic State.