SMITE 2 Titan Talks and Hotfix Roundup February 22nd

Here is a quick recap from anything you missed yesterday!



[h2] Why Release OB4 on a Monday?[/h2]

• Avoiding Weekend Hotfixes: The dev team prefers early-week launches to ensure they’re fully staffed and ready to address any immediate post-patch issues. Launching late in the week risks weekend problems—and weekend work for the team.
• Watch Socials for Timing: While 7:00 AM Eastern was the targeted downtime, final live times vary. Once servers are updated, official channels will announce when OB4 is truly playable.

[h2] New God & Aspect Strategy[/h2]

• Artemis’s Aspect Arrives Immediately
  • The team noted it’s interesting to see players get used to a god’s base kit before introducing a transformative Aspect. Despite launching Artemis’s Aspect right away this time, expect future gods to release their Aspects later to allow players more time on the base kit first.
• Awilix’s Visual & Kit Approach
  • Devs wanted to preserve her fluid “flow-state” playstyle, adding only small tweaks (e. g., synergy with Suku). Feedback from early tests suggested any drastic revamp would break her core feel. Hence, her OB4 design changes focus on thematic flourish rather than a big mechanical shift.

[h2] Face Model Updates & Art Consistency[/h2]

• Community Feedback: Achilles, Aphrodite, and Poseidon (Phantom Seas) got revised face/rigging to closer match their card art.
• Intent: Card art and in-game models should align more faithfully, so the team is constantly fine-tuning lighting, rigging, and facial geometry based on feedback.

[h2] Assault “Team Bench” & Reroll Philosophy[/h2]

• Addressing “I Wanted That God!”
  • Players have long been frustrated when a teammate rerolls a god they actually wanted. Now, once rerolled, that “discarded” god goes to a shared “Team Bench.” Anyone can pick it up, keeping the random fun alive but reducing lost opportunities.
• Maintaining Random Spirit
  • Devs don’t want Assault to become a free-choice mode. Healers are still limited, and only rerolled gods appear on the bench. They’ll watch how this new system affects team comps and match pacing.

[h2] Conquest Changes: The Bigger Picture[/h2]

• Encouraging Early Aggression
  • The team noticed that farming could feel strictly better than fighting early. XP from kills is now more rewarding, making early ganks and aggression a viable path to victory.
• Diminishing Returns on Bullying
  • When a high-level player repeatedly kills a much lower-level player, the XP gained is noticeably reduced. The goal is to avoid the “snowball effect” of hammering an under-leveled opponent for the same big reward.
• Doors, Minotaurs & Base Sieges
  • Runic Bomb can now destroy enemy base doors; minotaurs remain strong tools for closing out the game. The devs hope these tweaks encourage more dynamic endgame pushes and coordinate objective-based play.

[h2] UI & Quality of Life: Rationale Behind the Updates[/h2]

• Scoreboard Ability Details
  • Newer players struggled to understand an enemy’s abilities after dying. Being able to hover or select an enemy god’s portrait to read their kit helps reduce confusion and fosters better counterplay.
• God Page Refinements
  • Multi-stance gods can toggle through stance abilities directly in the god page. This was highly requested in Titan Talk sessions for clarity and practice outside of live matches.
• Jump Stamp Visibility
  • Previously, jump stamps were visible through Fog of War—effectively a “pay-to-lose” mechanic if you had a flashy stamp. Now, they’re hidden unless you have direct line of sight.

[h2]Dev Team Perspectives on Balance Tweaks[/h2]
Rather than repeat the changes:

• Penetration & Burst:
  • The devs emphasized that too many high-penetration items at once create lethal “burst-heavy” scenarios. OB4 reduces some penetration values to see if it mitigates that “instant-delete” feel.
• Healing & Anti-Heal:
  • The community and top players alike voiced concerns about the power of healing comps. Developers are carefully buffing anti-heal durations so players can maintain pressure longer without removing healing from the game entirely.
• Warrior/Guardian Tuning:
  • Addressing underused items like Warrior’s Axe aligns with the devs’ broader goal: give different roles more item paths. The team wants players to discover a variety of valid build routes, not just “cookie cutter” ones.

[h2] Community-Driven Questions & Future Plans[/h2]
Here are a few behind-the-scenes bits not spelled out in patch notes:

• Why Are Some Features Not in Yet?
  • God Builders, Bracket Targeting, and HUD Customization require major engineering and UI time. The devs confirm these are in active development but come after core systems are stabilized.
• FPS Caps & Optimization
  • 120 FPS on all platforms remains a desired milestone; the devs need further optimization to ensure stable performance. They’re also looking at adding more in-between caps (e. g., 144 or custom caps) for different monitors.
• Stylistic Approach
  • The team is aiming for a “painterly” or “stylized” look that feels uniquely SMITE—rather than ultra-realism. Early on, feedback suggested the game was veering too realistic. Hence, the color palette and lighting are intentionally more vibrant and stylized.
• Releasing Some Aspects Later
  • You’ll notice not all newly ported gods launch with an Aspect. This is to let the community fully explore the base kit first. Artemis is a special case this patch, but expect more “post-release Aspects” going forward.
• Social/Party System Work
  • Known invite/party formation bugs remain a major target. A dedicated sub-team is tackling these issues, and we’ll see incremental fixes rolling out in upcoming patches.

[h2]Feedback: The Engine That Drives Iteration[/h2]

• The devs reiterated how crucial community insight is for refining game flow:
  • Tournament POVs & Creator Feedback: Big influences on tuning gods, from minor kit adjustments to broader item reworks.
  • Ambassador Conversations: The internal community panels often bubble up issues (e. g., certain starts or items underperforming).
• Expect more incremental changes to gold bounties, new item additions, and further assault/conquest tweaks based on real-world data.

[h2] Looking Ahead[/h2]

• OB4 hits very soon, with Artemis and her Aspect, plus many behind-the-scenes improvements.
• Awilix arrives next week—on track for March 3, unless scheduling shifts.
• Future dev talk topics: new Aspects (Baron Samedi is on deck), ongoing UI improvements, quality-of-life expansions (music packs, more party fixes), and continued game-mode polish.

[h3]Stay Connected[/h3]

• For exact downtime or hotfix times, always check official SMITE 2 socials.
• If you haven’t already, dive into the OB4 Patch Notes for every detail on item/god changes.
• Keep the feedback coming—through Titan Talk, official forums, and community channels. Your voice shapes the battleground.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you Monday in OB4!



The following hotfix items have been applied in the last 24 hours:

• Fixed an issue where Aladdin's A02 can be cancelled and trigger more hydras that intended.
  
• User API - Fixed an issue where searching for a name just like yours will return yourself
  
• User API - Fixed an issue where searching for a player would cause them to appear multiple times in the results