New Smite Update Adds New Character, A Giant Walking Turtle Thing

Hi-Rez Studios has revealed the contents of Smite patch 4.2, the highlight of which is a new Guardian-class character.

Kuzenbo is a member of the Japanese pantheon and is based on mythical kappa creature. He's essentially a giant walking turtle who can mitigate damage and reflect it back at enemies.

His passive, Water Bowl, builds up stacks of Damage Reduction as he suffers damage, up to a maximum of 15 percent. These stacks last for 10 seconds but are refreshed each time he gains another stack.

As for his abilities, NeNe Kappa shoots out a smaller kappa who does damage and bounces off walls. Hitting an enemy god (or traveling its maximum distance) causes the kappa to temporarily spawn as an ally who attacks nearby foes. Shell Spikes reflects a percentage of damage back at enemies, and hits taken while it's active reduces the cooldown on NeNe Kappa. Sumo Slam causes Kuzenbo to charge forward; hitting an enemy god pushes them along with Kuzenbo, dealing damage. Running into another enemy god deals damage to both enemies, while colliding with a wall also does damage to the god being pushed.

Kuzenbo's Ultimate is Watery Grave. He goes inside his shell and spins, giving him free movement in all directions as he deals damage and knocks back enemies over the course of a few seconds. This looks to be a really effective way of pushing enemies away from teammates, as you can essentially juggle them a few times during the duration of the ability.

Gallery

The addition of Kuzenbo is by far the most significant part of update 4.2. There are no new features introduced, though there are some skins. These include a robotic version of Ah Muzen Cab called Swarm Sentry and Dread-Lord Fafnir. You can see these and the other new skins (as well as Kuzenbo) in the gallery above.

Balance changes are also limited. A few items have had their prices increased, while Chiron and Chronos each receive a buff. Chiron receives a physical power buff while using Giddyup, increasing the damage you'll do while basic attacking mid-sprint. His Ultimate also now deals more damage. Chronos, meanwhile, sees improvements to the buffs that come from using Wheel of Time, while Stop Time deals more damage and Accelerate provides more movement speed. Nike is targeted with a nerf for To Victory, while Rend's cooldown has been increased slightly.

You can check out the full patch notes on Smite's website.