Titan Forge Games had some issues to address and nerfs to give out, which they did in the patch 10.1 Bonus Update.

More than a week has passed since the release of the 10^th season of SMITE, Year 10, with the 10.1 Patch reshaping not just the Conquest map, but the items and the meta as well. As per usual, the developers had a Bonus Update in store for us with a new skin, some balance changes and some bugfixes, which should shake things up – just not as much as the Year 10 changes.

Bugfixes:

• Some bugs have been fixed, such as the Conquest Titans not getting stacks of Health and Prots for alive friendly stuctures.
• The Tower Bastions now have a 90% healing reduction properly applied
• Surtr’s Fiery Imps from his Ultimate now can’t proc in-hand item effects
• Cannoneer’s Cuirass’ bonus gold to allies when killing a minions now have an 80 unit range
• Heroism’s icon has been updated

Balance changes:

• Jungle:

  • Speed Buff now only gives 10% Base Movement Speed instead of 14%, so it gives 16% in total

• Items:

  • Claw Shard has been nerfed, only giving 15 Magical Power instead of 20 and 10 Physical Power instead of 15
  • Sundering Axe’s passive Base Current Health Steal is nor 3% instead of 4%
  • Bluestone Pendant’s bonus Damage has been decreased from 60 to 48 total (15 to 12 per tick)
  • Bluestone Brooch has been hit as well, dealing 180 Damage instead of 200 in total (from 50 to 45 per tick), and the 15% Current Bonus Health damage now only applies to gods
  • Contagion has been nerfed, the Damage per tick now only deals 35 damage instead of 40
  • Archdruid’s Fury lost it’s True Damage, deals Magical Damage instead
  • Tablet of Destinies has been buffed, Damage per stack increased from 0.08% to 0.14%

• Gods:

  • Surtr’s Passive, Obsidian Flesh Protections Buffs have been nerfed, fragments only give 6 Prots instead of 10
    • Emberwalk’s Base Damage has also been decreased by 10 in all ranks
  • Maui’s Mystical Ulua now gives less Movement Speed lategame
    • Solar Swing’s Base Damage has been nerfed by 20 at all ranks
    • Landfall now has a 110 second cooldown instead of 90s
  • Cernunnos’ Bramble Blast Initial Damage has been decreased by 15 at all ranks
  • Ishtar’s Imbue Arrows Spread Shot Side Damage has been nerfed at later ranks, and Strike Shot damage has been decreased in the earlier ranks

Overall, these changes seem small, but they touch on a few key points that the 10.1 Patch missed. While new Hunters have emerged in both the Duo and the Mid Lane, Ishtar and Cernunnos have been terrorizing the matches, still only changing up their builds. Surtr has also been a tad bit strong, but they haven’t touched his 1, 3 and 4, so Titan Forge wants to keep him in the meta at least for the first weeks of SPL. That can’t be said for Maui, who has been a staple since his release, but these changes shouldn’t be as harsh on him.

In the items department, Titan Forge has done a great job. Archdruid’s Fury and Contagion are both problematic items in their current forms, so nerfing the damage type on one and the damage on the other seems like a good direction. While Tablet of Destinies received a lot of hype (even making first place in ESTNN’s Top 5 New Items list), it has proved to be a bit weak, and buffing it should bring it into the meta finally.

Hopefully, these changes should shake the – still setting – meta up a bit, and new strategies will emerge. In the meantime, be sure to get some Ice Wraith Chest to have a chance to acquire Ice Wraith Geb, the newest skin in SMITE!