Smite PS4/Xbox One Update Brings a New God, Big Character Changes, More

Not long after it arrived on PC, the console versions of Smite have received the 3.12 patch that kicks off this year's Summer of Smite event.

As with the PC version, this update is enormous. It introduces a new character, Erlang Shen, a Warrior who has a dog companion and can transform into different animals. It also concludes the last event, Viking Invasion, and begins the Summer of Smite. This will bring new items over the next two months, with any purchases earning you a bonus chest roll. Among the initial slate of items are some new skins, including an absolutely fantastic lobster Khepri skin that will be available soon. You can see it in the gallery below.

Most notable in this update is what's happening on the item and character side. Two new items are added, the first of which is Ritual Dagger. Among other things, this provides cooldown reduction, movement speed, and an increase to the duration of Relic effects. Emperor's Armor is the other new item, and it gives health, physical protection, and an aura that either increases or decreases the attack speed of nearby structures (depending on whether it's your team's or the enemy's).

There are also two new Relics. Phantom lets players move through players and player-made objects for five seconds, and also does away with the movement penalty from performing basic attacks. Thorns reflects back 40 percent of the damage you take (before any of it is mitigated) back to the damage-dealer.

Existing items and Relics are changed as well, with the most significant development being the removal of Golden Bow (and, by extension, Throwing Dagger). It's proven to be far too effective, letting Hunters dominate lanes.

On the character side, quite a few characters have been buffed: Anubis, Aphrodite, Fafnir, Guan Yu, Hel, and Odin are all the beneficiaries of various improvements. Several characters get new passives, including Ne Zha, Vulcan, Odin, Aphrodite, and Guan Yu, while Arachne's Web ability is now a projectile.

You can see the full patch notes here.