Smite's Next God and New, Halloween-Themed Arena Map Revealed

Hi-Rez Studios today outlined the latest patch for Smite, which is available now on public test servers and will soon arrive in the live game on PC.

Gallery

The biggest aspect of the update is the addition of a new character, Sol (pictured above). She's a ranged Mage who is able to increase the amount of damage she can do over time by using abilities and landing basic attacks.

Here's how Hi-Rez outlines her kit:

Passive: Unstable Manifestation

• Sol gains Heat as she uses abilities and hits with Basic Attacks [+5% Heat]. She gains +1% Magical Power and +1% Attack Speed for every 3% Heat. At 100% Heat, Sol's Basic Attacks gain +50% Damage. Heat decreases over time.

Radiance

• Sol burns bright, gaining a large amount of Heat, healing herself over time for (5/10/15/20/25% of missing Health over 5s) and igniting the ground around her. Enemies that walk onto the fire take (30/60/90/120/150 + 25% of your Magical Power) damage every second. This ability provides 40/50/60/70/80% Heat. Cost: 60/70/80/90/100. Cooldown: 15s.

Stellar Burst

• Sol's next Basic Attack explodes, creating a shockwave that travels out, dealing (40/70/100/130/160 + 35% of your Magical Power) damage. At full size, the wave retracts, dealing damage again and Slowing enemies. This ability provides 10% Heat. Cost: 60/65/70/75/80. Cooldown: 10s.

Disapparate

• Sol burns down her manifestation, gaining movement speed (30/35/40/45/50%) and ignoring all movement penalties, while leaving a trail of fire behind her that damages enemies (20/40/60/80/100 + 25% of your Magical Power) every .5 seconds. After 3s Sol loses corporeal form for a short time and her trail explodes, Stunning enemies for 1.5s. Sol may leave her incorporeal form early. This ability provides 10% Heat. Cost: 60. Cooldown: 15s.

Ultimate: Supernova

• Sol unleashes all her flame and fury from the sky, striking 8 times along a movable ground target location. Enemies hit take (150/200/250/300/350 +50% of your Magical Power) damage are knocked back on the first strike, only taking 20% damage on successive hits. This ability generates 10% Heat. Cost: 100. Cooldown: 90s.

This update also introduces a new Halloween event, the most significant component of which is a new theme for the Arena map: minions are now zombies, siege monsters carry Jack-o-lantern bombs, decorations are changed, and the music is different. Also, in a nice touch, players who die will cause a tombstone to pop up. Alongside all of this, a new Halloween chest will go up for sale that consists of past Halloween items in addition to the new Grim Mariachi skin for Loki.

Other changes in this patch include an updated tutorial that Hi-Rez describes as offering "a slightly more story-driven and engaging introducing" and balancing tweaks. Hou Yi's Dive Bomb now does more damage and he can use his Ricochet more frequently; Sobek's mana costs have been decreased and his Ultimate now provides him with more protection; and Zhong Kui's health and magical protection have been buffed. Xing Tian, the character added before Sol, has seen his Ultimate toned down slightly so that it can be used less frequently at high levels and does less damage.

All of this will be available in the live game on PC on October 6. A date hasn't been announced for a release on Xbox One, which typically sees patches released about a month after their debut on PC. That would mean the Halloween Arena map is added either after or shortly before Halloween.

[Update] Hi-Rez tells GameSpot the plan is for the Halloween map to be out on Xbox One before the end of the month.