SMITE Version 9.7.7157.3

# 9.7 - MidSeason | July 12, 2022

## New God Skins

* **Danny Phantom Janus**
Crossover - Nickelodeon Event
* **XJ-9 Freya**
Crossover - Nickelodeon Event
* **Invader Zim Cupid**
Crossover - Nickelodeon Event
* **Powdered Toastman Gilgamesh**
Crossover - Nickelodeon Event
* **Rocko Danzaburou**
Crossover - Nickelodeon Event
* **The Crab Charybdis**
Exclusive - Zodiac Council Battle Pass
* **The Maiden Eset**
Exclusive - Zodiac Council Battle Pass
* **The Lion Heimdallr**
Exclusive - Zodiac Council Battle Pass
* **The Scales Nemesis**
Exclusive - Zodiac Council Battle Pass
* **Toxic Overload Achilles**
Exclusive - Contaminated Chest

## New Voice Packs

* Danny Phantom Janus
* XJ-9 Freya
* Invader Zim Cupid
* Powdered Toastman Gilgamesh
* Rocko Danzaburou
* The Crab Charybdis
* The Maiden Eset
* The Scales Nemesis
* Toxic Overload Achilles

## Update Release Schedule

* **July 12 - MidSeason Update**

* Nickelodeon Event
* Zodiac Battle Pass
* New Glyphs & Earring Item Tree
* & Much more!

* **July 26 – MidSeason Bonus Update 1**

* Busy Bee Chest & Hereafter Chest
* More info here.

* **August 9 – MidSeason Bonus Update 2**

* More info here!

## Nickelodeon Event

*Nickelodeon Characters have invaded SMITE! Check out your favorite and nostalgic Nickelodeon Cartoon characters on the battleground!*

* Format

* There will be 4 direct purchasable Nickelodeon Skins
* Purchase all 4 Nickelodeon Skins to unlock the Danny Phantom Janus Skin!
* Complete quests to receive “Flips” to use on the Nickelodeon Cosmetic Grid! Flip a square on the Nickelodeon Cosmetic Grid of your choosing and uncover a random Nickelodeon Cosmetic Item!

* Skins:

* Freya XJ9
* Gilgamesh Powdered Toastman
* Cupid Invader Zim
* Danzaburou Rocko
* Janus Danny Phantom

* Cosmetics: (Quest for Flip and then Flip Squares on the Cosmetic Grid)

* Announcer Pack Danny Phantom
* Announcer Pack Invader Zim
* Announcer Pack Rocko
* Announcer Pack Powdered Toastman
* Avatar Invader Zim
* Avatar Rocko
* Avatar XJ9
* Global Emote SMASHING!
* Jump Stamp GIR
* Loading Screen Nickelodeon
* Loading Screen The Fenton Works Lab

## Zodiac Council Battle Pass

* Battle Pass: Zodiac Council (600 gems)
* Battle Pass: Zodiac Council Plus (1200 gems)
* Paid Track Items

* Nemesis The Scales
* Eset the Maiden
* Charybdis The Crab
* Cutesy Avatar The Crab
* Loading Frame Zodiac Council
* Loading Screen Star Signs
* Announcer Pack The Crab
* Recall Skin Zodiac
* Ward Skin The Zodiac Crab
* Jump Stamp Star Signs
* Loading Screen Zodiac Council
* Level Up Skin The Zodiac
* Global Emote Star Signs

* Free Track Items

* Heimdallr The Lion
* Avatar The Maiden
* Death Stamp Zodiac Wheel
* Avatar The Scales
* Music Theme Zodiac Council
* Player Title Astroguide

## 9.7 SMITE NIGHT!

* SMITE Night

* Week 1 – Jade Corruption Joust
* Week 2 – Classic Conquest
* Week 3 – Corrupted Arena
* Week 4 – Classic Conquest
* Week 5 – Classic Joust
* Week 6 – 5V5 Conquest
* Entertained Yet EMOTE
* 3 day Account Booster

* Week 2:

* Pick Your Own God Chest
* SMITE NIGHT Avatar Chest

* Week 3:

* SMITE NIGHT Emote Chest
* SMITE NIGHT Cosmetic Chest

* Week 4:

* Heavenly Light Chest
* SMITE NIGHT Voice Pack Chest

* Week 5:

* Pick Your Own God Chest
* SMITE NIGHT Avatar Chest

* Week 6:

* SMITE NIGHT Voice Pack Chest
* 3 day Account Booster

* Milestone:

* Season 9 Caster Announcer Pack
* SMITE NIGHT Skins Chest

## Quality of Life

### New Free Gods!

* The following Gods are now free to new players:

* Bacchus
* Chaac
* Izanami
* Kukulkan
* Thanatos

* The following Gods will no longer be granted to new players. Players who joined prior to Update 9.7 will keep these Gods:

* Ares
* Artemis
* Guan Yu
* Ra
* Thor

* The new Free God lineup is now:

* Bacchus
* Bellona
* Chaac
* Izanami
* Kukulkan
* Neith
* Nemesis
* Olorun
* Poseidon
* Thanatos
* Yemoja
* Ymir

### New Favor Prices for Tier 2 Skins!

* Tier 2 Skins (previous priced at 250 gems) will now be priced in both gems (still 250) and favor (25000)

* Skins affected:

* Killer Bee Ah Muzen Cab
* Shining Heaven Amaterasu
* Sand Warden Anhur
* Afterlife Anubis
* Dragon King Ao Kuang
* Battle Bard Apollo
* Black Widow Arachne
* Briar Queen Artemis
* Wild Druid Artio
* Shield of the Gorgon Athena
* Ravenous Bakasura
* Arcane Assassin Bastet
* Xibalba’s Shadow Camazotz
* Warden Cernunnos
* Boom Chaac-a-laka Chaac
* Hunter’s Moon Chang’e
* Chevalier Chiron
* Bruiser Cu Chulainn
* Seductress Da Ji
* Desert Omen Eset
* Iron Maw Fenrir
* Valkyrie Freya
* Maha Rakta Ganesha
* Legion Hercules
* Searing Sun Hou Yi
* Bloodthirster Izanami
* Storm Raven Jing Wei
* Crimson Death Kali
* Horned Beetle Khepri
* Honorbound Kuzenbo
* Mortal Coil Medusa
* Centurion Mercury
* Worldweaver Neith
* Red Vengeance Nemesis
* Harbinger Nike
* Raven’s Throne Odin
* Lord of Silence Osiris
* Thunder’s Roar Raijin
* Armored Scurrier Ratatoskr
* Demon King Ravana
* Desert Queen Serqet
* Frostbound Skadi
* Nile Stalker Sobek
* Polaris Sol
* Heavenly Warlord Sun Wukong
* Serpent Slayer Susano
* Deathcap Sylvanus
* Crystalline Terra
* Wrath of Valhalla Thor
* Rakshasa Vamana
* Warforged Vulcan
* The Undying Xing Tian
* Wrath of Olympus Zeus

* Skins not affected:

* Tiermonster Xing Tian
* Iron Gamer Thor

* Shadow Skins Reclassification and Pricing

* The 5 Shadow Skins are have the Clan Exclusive skin tag removed
* They are being priced at 500 gems/50000 favor for direct purchase moving forward
* Skins affected:

* Shadow Anhur
* Shadow Eset
* Shadow Khepri
* Shadow Thor
* Shadow Tyr

* Skin Type Change

* Paradigm Awilix will now be classified as a Limited Skin

## Bug Fixes

* UI

* Fixed an issue where Yu Huang was missing in the Pick Your Own God Chest
* Fixed an issue where Clan Avatars were displaying blank art icons in the Clan Loadout

### General Gameplay

* Conquest

* Primal Fury

* Fixed an issue where Primal Fury was dealing more damage than intended

* Speed Buff

* Fixed an issue where the Chief Centaur’s special attack was scaling incorrectly and doing more damage than intended

* Obelisk offerings

* Fixed an issue where offerings were giving more mana than intended
* Fixed an issue where the Spirit minion could be crowd controlled out of the mist and become immune

* Corrupted Arena

* Fixed an issue where this map had the Season 8 item store instead of the current item store

* Jungle Practice

* Fixed an issue where killing the Fire Giant gave two buffs to Gods instead of one
* Fixed an issue with the Green buff pad icon displaying as the Red buff icon
* Fixed an issue with the Green Buff not dropping when the camp was killed and not having a leash radius

* Slash

* Fixed an issue where disconnecting from the match while going through a Juggernaut portal caused visibility issues when the player reconnected

* Auto Buy

* Fixed an issue where Auto Buy wasn’t purchasing Rangda’s and Lono’s Mask
* Fixed an issue where Auto Buy wasn’t purchasing Bancroft’s Talon

### Gods

* Lancelot

* Fixed an issue where stuns weren’t knocking him off his mount
* Fixed an issue where he was targetable during Freya banish while unmounted
* Fixed an issue where Pridwen’s shield explosion wasn’t proccing after his ultimate ability
* Fixed an issue where Nox couldn’t exit shadow form while he was mounted
* Fixed an issue where his model would glitch when being pushed or pulled by certain Gods
* Fixed the description of his Mount Up ability missing a word in the last sentence

* Skadi

* Fixed an issue where Kaldr could become untargetable if toggled off at specific times (Fixed in Bonus Patch 6/28/22)

* Shiva

* Fixed an issue where getting displaced by Gilgamesh would cause display and performance issues

* The Morrigan

* Fixed an issue where transforming while traveling through a Juggernaut portal caused visibility issues to enemy Gods in Slash

* Set

* Fixed an issue with his intro animation and weapon when jumping

* Rama

* Fixed an issue with his Honorable Hero skin using the Sacred Arrow skin’s voice pack

* Cabrakan

* Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in the air if knocked up onto his Tectonic Shift walls

### Items

* Magi’s Cloak and Spirit Robe

* Fixed an issue where these items could be sold multiple times (Fixed in Bonus Patch 6/28/22)

# Balance Live with the 9.7 Update – July 12

## Game Modes

### General

*We have seen the Brawling mechanic create more interactive gameplay when it comes to lifesteal and out of combat healing. One thing we did not like was that with anti-heal items like Divine Ruin, a player could still be anti-healed by their opponent and receive the debuff from not Brawling. We are changing the amount of time it takes for you to not be considered Brawling and the duration of the anti-heal items to match, so that a player should only be debuffed by one or the other. This will also increase the amount of healing from certain god abilities that remove the user from combat, like Sun Wukong’s Ultimate.*

* Brawling

* Time until Brawling applies out of God combat increased from 3s to 5s

### Conquest

*Supports spend so much time thinking about their teammates, we wanted to think of them a bit in 9.7! We are seeing Supports fall behind in experience a little too much in Conquest, particularly at a higher level of play. The increased Shared XP Bonus will help Support mains at all skill levels, and the increased XP from Mid Harpies will help the Supports (and Mids) that are on time for the contestable farm.*

* Lowest Level Shared XP Bonus

* Increase from 1.35 to 1.4

* Mid Harpies

* Mid Elder Harpy

* Increased base XP Reward from 28 to 34

* Mid Small Harpy

* Increased base XP Reward from 16 to 18

## New Glyphs

*Glyphs were introduced at the beginning of Season 9 and have been a major success! Players have been requesting more and we are happy to deliver. The major points we wanted to address with this round of Glyphs were two of the common pieces of feedback we got from the first iterations. 1. There isn’t a good option for each god archetype. A good example here would be “combo” mages that have low CDs and minimal CC, like Raijin and Merlin. These gods do not care about the attack speed of Nimble Rod of Tahuti and cannot easily confirm the meteor from Calamitous Rod of Tahuti. We don’t expect every single archetype to have a perfect Glyph, even after this round of new items. But the more types of gods that have a Glyph they are excited to build, the better! 2. Some gods wanted the passives that the Glyphs provided, but they were required to build an item that didn’t synergize well with their kits in order to get it. Take Jotunn’s Ferocity for example. A strong passive that in-hand Assassins love, but gods like Arachne and Baka don’t typically build Jotunn’s Wrath. So with this round of Glyphs, some existing Glyphs will be moved to a new T3 item. They will keep their passives, but receive new names and art. Any item that lost a Glyph has received a brand new Glyph to replace it!*

*“First up on the list items with Glyphs that are receiving a change is Jotunn’s Wrath! As stated above, we feel that Jotunn’s Ferocity is a strong, fun passive. It just wasn’t in the right home. Jotunn’s Wrath is for ability based Physical Damage dealers that want Cooldown Reduction. Jotunn’s Vigor fits nicely and will be receiving no changes. Jotunn’s Ferocity is being removed to make room for Jotunn’s Cunning! Jotunn’s Cunning leans into the Cooldown Reduction identity of Jotunn’s Wrath, giving gods that like to poke with their abilities the potential to do so more often.*

###   Jotunn's Cunning

* Every time you damage an enemy god with an ability you gain a stack of Wit. At 2 stacks, your next non-ultimate ability that damages an enemy god gets 25% of its cooldown instantly refunded.

*As mentioned above, the low Cooldown, minimal Crowd Control mages have been lacking a good Glyph option. Even though Nimble Rod of Tahuti has been successful and incorporated into Magical ADC builds, we felt that a change here was necessary to give as many viable options as possible. Don’t worry though, Mage ADC mains, just keep on reading a few items down. Perfected Rod of Tahuti is designed for the Mages that cannot guarantee their own Calamitous meteor and are able to easily confirm multiple abilities in short succession on the same target.*

###   Perfected Rod of Tahuti

* Successfully damaging an enemy god with an ability applies a mark for 3s. Damaging them a second time with another ability consumes the mark and provides you 10% movement speed for 2s and reduces your non-ultimate abilities by 1.5s. Only one mark can be active at a time and cannot be applied for 10s after consuming a mark.

*Our first new Tier 3 item to receive Glyphs is Bancroft’s Talon! Hope you’re still reading, Mage ADC mains, because your ability to be Nimble isn’t going anywhere. With Nimble Bancroft’s Talon, Mage ADCs like Freya and Sol can go for a strong early power spike item in Bancroft’s Talon and invest an additional bit of gold later on in order to make it scale properly. Bancroft’s Claw is a brand new Glyph designed for those short range Mages that are, for lack of a better term, getting in there. Gods like Zhong Kui and Hades love Bancroft’s Talon already since they can afford to lose some HP to get the increased damage and lifesteal, but now they will be even more incentivized to get that big blink Ultimate in the midst of 5 enemies. The passive of Bancroft’s Claw takes the users Magical Power into account so that tanky Guardians can’t use it effectively without committing build slots to do so.*

###   Nimble Bancroft's Talon

* Inheriting Nimble Rod of Tahuti
* For every 40 Magical Power you have, you gain 2% Attack Speed.

###   Bancroft's Claw

* Every 15s gain a stack of Hunger(max 3). Abilities cast within 30 units of enemy gods consume a stack, dealing bonus damage equal to 0.5% of their max HP for each 75 Magical Power you have. Each god damaged by Hunger provides you with a shield of 1% of your Max HP for each 75 Magical Power you have. This cannot exceed 35% of your Max HP.

*The Executioner will also be receiving Glyphs in 9.7! As previously stated, we like the passive of Jotunn’s Ferocity but felt it would be better suited to an item that Basic Attack focused gods wanted. The Ferocious Executioner also had a nice ring to it, so it was an obvious fit. The Heavy Executioner is unique from every other Glyph in the game in that it doesn’t just inherit the passive from the Tier 3 item it builds from. It shreds more protections and shreds them in less total Basic Attacks but has a lower max stack count. While the traditional Hunter builds may not love how it feels to have their Attack Speed reduced, but when used in a Power focused build (maybe even on some Assassins that don’t mind building The Executioner) the damage you put out is….well…..heavy.*

###   The Ferocious Executioner

* Inheriting Jotunn’s Ferocity
* Your next basic attack marks an enemy god. If you hit the marked enemy or the marked enemy hits you with a basic attack or ability, gain 1 stack. Each stack provides 2% increased damage towards the marked enemy, stacking up to 10 times. This effect can only occur every 30s.

###   The Heavy Executioner

* PASSIVE – Basic Attacks against an enemy reduce your target’s Physical Protection by 17.5% for 3 seconds (max. 2 Stacks).
* Attack Speed is capped at 1.75.

* NOTE: Silverbranch will still only provide power from passive once you have exceeded 2.5 attack speed. Silverbranch passive text has been updated to reflect this.

*The final new Glyphs can be found on Magi’s Cloak. These are passives that are slightly more skewed towards frontliners, but feel good no matter what class you are! Magi’s Shelter is perfect for when your teammates can’t afford to fit a Magi’s Cloak into their build but could really use the passive. Magi’s Revenge is a much more offensive version of Magi’s, allowing you and your team to punish whoever dares to try and Crowd Control you.*

###   Magi's Shelter

* Whenever your passive is consumed, the nearest allied god within 25 units gains protection from a single hard Crowd Control effect for 5s. If this passive is consumed before time runs out, they gain 1s of Crowd Control immunity.

###   Magi's Revenge

* The first enemy god to hit you with hard Crowd Control while you are protected becomes Marked for Revenge for 5s. Gods Marked for Revenge cause enemy gods within 40 units to move 20% faster towards them, and take 10% increased damage.

### The New Masks

* All Masks in their current iteration are removed!
* The new Masks will now be Starter Items.

*Let’s talk Masks, and no I’m not talking about the coach of the Olympus Bolts. Lono’s Mask has been in the spotlight for a bit now, with gods like Serqet, Fenrir, Eset, and Nox frequently using the item to flex into Support. More recently, Lono’s Ravana has terrorized backliners everywhere. Rangda’s, on the other hand, has never really been a popular item outside of some particularly fun builds for playing with friends. We have decided that these items are not meeting our goals for them and will be reworking them in 9.7 to now be starter items! They will still be class locked as they are now. This allows us to achieve a few goals. First, this change allows players to achieve their class flexing dreams from the very beginning of the game. We think our players that want to play a Support Mage want to be a Support Mage all game, not just after they finish their Mask item. Second, it makes these items more clearly understandable for players who are starting to foray into creating their own builds. Third, we are introducing per level scaling to the benefits and drawbacks of each Mask. This allows the curve of the build to be much more smooth. Instead of losing all of your base damage and becoming significantly tankier all at once when you purchase a Lono’s Mask, you’ll be able to feel your damage being traded for tankiness as the game progresses. The same is true for Rangda’s, just the opposite! You’ll be dealing more and taking more damage at a smoother rate. Finally, we can address a longstanding issue with these items through their upgrades. If you are building Rangda’s Mask, you should be building full damage. And if you are building full damage, you’ll die quickly even without the damage taken increase. For Lono’s, you’ll be building full defense. You wouldn’t be dealing much damage with your build, even without the damage reduction. Since the upgrades are level gated, we can put some strict rules on them in order to let you “earn back your base stats.” Build the way the Mask wants you to, and you’ll lose the debuff! Your build will naturally have its weakness still, but you won’t be needlessly punished in the late game anymore.*

###   Protector's Mask

* Only purchasable by Mages, Assassins, and Hunters
* STATS

* +125 Health
* +100 Mana

* PASSIVE

* Decrease damage dealt by 6% + 0.25% per your god’s level
* Decrease damage taken by 6% + 0.25% per your god’s level
* Getting the assist for an enemy minion or jungle monster dying will provide 8 bonus gold and restore 15 health and 15 mana. If you are not within 30 units of an allied god for 20 seconds this passive is disabled until you are near an allied god again. Can be upgraded at level 15.

###   Lono's Mask

* Only purchasable by Mages, Assassins, and Hunters
* STATS

* +300 Health
* +200 Mana
* +10% CCR

* PASSIVE

* Gain 5 stacks of Cowardice. Each stack reduces your damage dealt and healing output by 10%. For each 60 protections from items, remove a stack of Cowardice. When you remove a stack of Cowardice, gain a stack of Bravery. For each stack of Bravery, gain +3% damage mitigation and provide 7 Physical and Magical Protections to all allied gods within 55 units.

###   Fighter's Mask

* Only purchasable by Warriors and Guardians
* STATS – 650g

* +10 Physical Power
* +15 Magical Power
* +10 HP5
* +10% CDR

* PASSIVE

* Increase damage dealt by 6% + 0.25% per your god’s level
* Increase damage taken by 6% + 0.25% per your god’s level
* This item grants 2 MP5 per 10% of your missing Mana. Your abilities deal +10 Bonus Ability True Damage to minions.

###   Rangda's Mask

* Only purchasable by Warriors and Guardians
* STATS – 650g

* +60 Physical Power
* +80 Magical Power
* +20 HP5
* +10% CDR

* PASSIVE

* Gain 5 stacks of Weakness. Each stack increases your damage taken by 10%. For each 65 Physical Power or 90 Magical Power from items, remove a stack of Weakness. When you remove a stack of Weakness gain a stack of Strength. For each stack of Strength gain +3% damage dealt and 2% movement speed.

## The New Item Tree

*For the first time since the Arthurian items in 2019, we will have a brand new full item tree being added in 9.7! Say hello to what we have been calling the Earring Tree. There are four Tier 3 items on the tree, and all bring something completely new to the table. Two of the earrings break some long established rules of the game in an exciting way. The other two are the first items in SMITE to cause something to drop onto the Battleground that you or your allies can pick up.*

###   Mystical Earrings

* STATS

* +15 MP5

###   Gleaming Ear Cuffs

* Builds into Griffonwing Earrings only
* STATS

* +20 Physical Power
* +30 Magical Power
* +15% Attack Speed
* +15 MP5

###   Jeweled Studs

* Builds into Sphinx’s Bauble only
* STATS

* +30 Physical Power
* +50 Magical Power
* +10% Cooldown Reduction
* +20 MP5

###   Rose Spike Earrings

* Builds into Manticore’s Spike or Fae-Blessed Hoops
* STATS

* +200 Health
* +15 HP5
* +15 MP5

###   Griffonwing Earrings

*Griffonwing Earrings are designed to make your Basic Attacks feel more like a hit-scan shot! Hitting your Basic Attacks more easily is a very powerful effect, but we think it’s fun and unique enough to warrant adding in the item with an additional downside.*

* STATS

* +40 Physical Power
* +60 Magical Power
* +25% Attack Speed
* +15 MP5

* PASSIVE

* Basic attack projectile speed increased by 40%
* Basic attack damage reduced by 15%

* CLASS LOCKED TO HUNTERS AND MAGES ONLY

###   Sphinx's Baubles

*Who doesn’t love Omnipotence? Using your abilities is a huge part of what makes the game fun, so using more abilities = more fun, right? Just like with Griffonwing Earrings, this effect is powerful enough to warrant a noticeable downside. This item is more expensive than the other earrings because the downside does not impact Guardians enough to keep them from prioritizing this item. Between the high cost and the stat spread, we think that is enough of a tradeoff for Support Guardians to make.*

* STATS

* +55 Physical Power
* +80 Magical Power
* +10% Cooldown Reduction
* +30 MP5

* PASSIVE

* Cooldown Reduction Cap increased from 40% to 60%
* Ability damage dealt decreased by 20%
* Ability healing decreased by 20%

###   Manticore's Spikes

*Manticore’s Spikes bring a new type of gameplay loop to itemization in SMITE! Hitting an enemy with Hard CC will drop a buff that you or an ally can pick up. This is an item that will make you take an extra step (or two, depending on how far away the target was!) in order to get the full benefit, but you are rewarded nicely for jumping through the extra hoop.*

* STATS

* +350 HP
* +30 HP5
* +20 MP5
* +20% CCR

* PASSIVE

* When you hit an enemy god with Hard Crowd Control, they drop a Spike on the ground. When you or an ally pick up that spike, they gain a buff that causes their next ability to deal bonus damage equal to 3% of their Max HP. This effect is doubled if you are the one who picks up the Spike. Spikes last 7s on ground. Cannot stack. Picking up another Spike when you have the buff refreshes duration.

###   Fae-Blessed Hoops

*Just like Manticore’s Spike, Fae-Blessed Hoops require some extra Hoops to jump through in order to get the full effect of the item. This is an item that causes your healing to bring some extra utility, but also some extra choices that need to be made. Should you shield the team before a fight, or wait for it to break out so that you can bait with the shield? Do you need the shield or does your ally? Hopefully some long term players also recognize the small nod to a passive of the past.*

* STATS

* +300 Health
* +20 HP5
* +40 MP5

* PASSIVE

* Each time an allied god dies within 70 units of you or you heal an allied god with an ability, a flower drops from your ally that can be picked up by you or an allied god. Picking up the flower gives that god a shield equal to 7.5% of their Max HP that lasts for 8s. Does not stack, new shield refreshes duration. Flowers last 7s on the ground.

## Item Balance

###   Brawler's Beat Stick

*As covered earlier, the duration of the anti-heal debuff is being changed on all items to match the new amount of time to be considered not Brawling.*

* Decreased anti-heal debuff duration from 6s to 5s

###   Divine Ruin

* Decreased anti-heal debuff duration from 6s to 5s

###   Toxic Blade

* Decreased anti-heal debuff duration from 6s to 5s

###   Bumba's Hammer

*We’ve seen Bumba bring the Hammer to all sorts of different gods, especially at higher levels of play. With its current state, Bumba’s Hammer provides damage and sustain that helps enable many Warriors in the Jungle. By changing the stat spread, we hope to keep it as a viable option for Assassins while toning down its effectiveness on tankier gods. We are also changing the Cooldown mechanic to non-ultimate abilities only, as this was a common player frustration point.*

* OLD STATS/Passive

* +300 Health
* +200 Mana
* +20% Cooldown Reduction
* Passive:

* After casting an ability your next Basic Attack deals an additional 80 True Damage. After hitting a Basic Attack empowered by Bumba’s Hammer, your active cooldowns are reduced by 1s and you are healed for 5% of your Maximum Health.

* NEW STATS/Passive

* +50 Physical Power
* +70 Magical Power
* +150 Health
* +10% Cooldown Reduction
* Passive:

* After casting an ability your next Basic Attack deals an additional 80 True Damage. After hitting a Basic Attack empowered by Bumba’s Hammer, your active non-ultimate cooldowns are reduced by 1s and you are healed for 120 Health.

###   Amulet of the Stronghold

*After its initial popularity on 9.1 release and subsequent nerf, Amulet of the Stronghold has seen minimal amounts of play. We are bringing back the passive strength so that it can better compete for the coveted Glyph spot.*

* Increased conversion rate of passive from 10% to 15%

###   Amulet of Silence

*As with Amulet of Stronghold, Amulet of Silence needs a bump in order to compete for a Glyph spot in a build.*

* Reduced internal cooldown of silence from 45s to 30s

### Support Starter Items

*Even with our buff to help Supports stay closer in experience in Conquest, often times Supports get their starter upgrades too late in the game for it to feel impactful.*

* The following can now be upgraded at level 15

* Sentinel’s Embrace
* Sentinel’s Boon
* Compassion
* Animosity
* Spartan Flag
* War Banner
* Lono’s Mask

###   Sentinel's Gift

*We have seen Benevolence start to pull ahead of Sentinel’s Gift a little more than we would like, so giving Sentinel’s a buff to help bring it to the competition.*

* Increased Bonus Gold per trigger from 7 to 8

###   Sentinel's Embrace

*Once Compassion gained GP5, Sentinel’s Embrace started to lag behind in strength. Adding some GP5 to Embrace should bring it up to that level.*

* Added 6 Gold per 5s

###   Relic Dagger

*Another Support focused item buff, Relic Dagger is an item that allows Supports to use the gold they invest into their relics to be more frequently relevant.*

* Increased relic cooldown reduction from 30s to 40s

###  Tyrannical Plate Helm

*The buffs to Towers since 9.5 have outpaced the strength of Tyrannical Plate Helm’s minion buff, making the item lose some identity. We are hoping this buff brings it back to its siege-oriented place.*

* Increased Minion Buff from 20% Health and Attack Speed to 25% Health and Attack Spee

###   Mail of Renewal

*This item has yet to find a home since its rework some time ago. Making it a more efficient pickup from stats alone should help it feel better to build more frequently.*

* Increased Physical Protection from 20 to 30
* Increased Magical Protection from 20 to 30

###  The Sledge

*Another item that has lost a bit of its initial identity, this buff should make Warriors think of grabbing this item against heavy Crowd Control teams.*

* Increased CCR from 20% to 30%

###  Shield of Regrowth

*This item has always had one of the most fun passives to use, but lately it hasn’t been giving quite enough. You know what they say, gotta go fast and hit harder at the same time!*

* Passive now adds +15 Physical Power and +30 Magical Power for the 4s buff duration

###   Pythagorem's Piece

*When the Magical Penetration shifts happened some time ago, Pythagorem’s Piece traded its Cooldown Reduction for Magical Penetration. While it still was viable in certain situations, it doesn’t take a mathematician to see that it was less popular after that change. Our theory is that Supports will be happy to slot this in again when they can afford to go a bit more Offensive.*

* Removed 10% Magical Penetration
* Added 10% Cooldown Reduction
* Increased Health from 200 to 250

###   Staff of Myrddin

*With the introduction of Sphinx’s Bauble, we felt like Staff of Myrddin was a bit too close in functionality and that the Bauble passive felt like a more streamlined version of the “break the Cooldown Reduction Cap” mechanic. This new passive for Staff of Myrddin shifts what types of gods want to pick it up, but does so in a way that we think will be exciting to players.*

* Old passive removed
* New Passive – When your ultimate ability has finished casting you gain Myrddin’s Rage which provides 25% Increased Damage Dealt, decaying to 2.5% Increased Damage Dealt over 8s. At the end of the 8s you lose Myrddin’s Rage. This can only occur once every 45s.

###  Celestial Legion Helm

*Players have been asking for more Critical Damage reduction on itemization, but the threat of stacking multiple of those effects has us wary of adding too much. With each stack of Celestial Legion Helm being lost on taking any Physical Damage from an enemy god, we feel like this is a place we can see how it feels to have more Crit Damage reduction in the game.*

* Added 4% Crit Damage reduction per stack (20% max)

### Relics

*For this update, we are looking to buff some of the lesser seen relic upgrades!*

###   Bracer of Illumination

*This relic is all about vision control and buffing your team. Even though the buff isn’t as strong as Bracer of Radiance, having a longer duration gives this relic upgrade a unique benefit.*

* Buff duration increased from 8s to 12s

###   Drowned Ankh

*Drowned Ankh’s pickup rate has been a bit dry lately in comparison to its counterpart. This buff should help close that gap.*

* Increased miasma damage from 2% current HP to 4% current HP

###   Cloak of the Avatar

*The Avatar has learned how to control the winds a little better, helping you to create a bit more space between you and your enemies.*

* Increased knockback strength by 33%

###   Chaotic Beads

*This item was, understandably, a bit spooky at the outset of Season 9. But with the changes it has received to make sure you don’t insta-kill yourself for CCing someone with Chaotic Beads and the time for players to get used to playing around this effect, we think it’s ok to put a bit of Chaos back on the Battleground.*

* Changed passive from 7% current health as magical damage to 5% current health as true damage

###   Emblem of Trembling Terror

*We didn’t see a whole lot of trembling out in the Battleground, except when Cabrakan was around of course. This item should proc much more consistently after this buff.*

* Decreased Health threshold for Tremble to occur from 30% Max HP to 15% Max HP

###   Sundering Blast

*Sundering Blast hasn’t exactly blown the doors off. We think some more firepower might do the trick!*

* Fixed bug where incorrect Sunder icon was being used to represent cooldown.
* Increased target’s damage taken increase from 5% to 7.5%

###   Thorns of Overgrowth

*Once the summer heat kicks in, plants grow even faster. You could even say they Overgrow. Well the summer has arrived in full force here, and with it the Thorns of Overgrowth begin to extend their reach.*

* Increased radius of passive from 55 units to 70 units

### Misc.

* Update Silverbranch Bow description to include that attack speed is capped at 2.5.

## God Balance

###  Diminishing Returns (DR)

*Throughout Smite’s history, Diminishing Returns has been an invisible system that helps players who have received multiple sources of Crowd Control within a short period of time. In 9.7, we are making this system more official by providing in-game resources to help players identify when they are affected by it.*

* DR stacks will now be a visible icon on the buff bar
* Max stack count increased from 2 to 4
* Stacks of DR last for 15s and this duration is refreshed on each new application (no change)
* CCR per stack decreased from 40% to 20%
* DR can no longer be applied to yourself or allies
* Fixed many code-driven displacement abilities that previously did not apply DR

*In officializing Diminishing Returns, we wanted to revisit our definitions of Crowd Control in order to assess the impact of each specific variation on a player. As such, we have shifted around the classifications of a few Crowd Control types to better fit these new definitions. Additionally, some Crowd Controls inherently do not respect CCR or Diminishing Returns rules due to specific animation, code, or other constraints, so we have created a third classification, True Hard CC, to make sure that being affected by those specific variations felt fair.*

* “Hard CC” is now defined as any Crowd Control that makes it impossible to do at least one of the following actions: Basic Attacks, non-movement Abilities, and Movement Inputs. Hard CCs apply 1 stack of DR and their durations are affected by the number of DR stacks a player has

* Roots are now considered a Hard CC

* “True Hard CC” is a new sub-classification of Hard CCs, defined as Hard CCs that are not affected by DR. As such, True Hard CCs apply 2 stacks of DR.

* These include Banishes, Grabs, Knockbacks, Knockups, Polymorphs, and Pulls

* Soft CCs are now defined as any Crowd Control that makes it more difficult to do a specific action, including Basic Attacks, non-movement Abilities, and Movement Inputs. Soft CCs neither apply nor are affected by stacks of DR.

* Intoxicates and Trembles are now considered Soft CCs

* Individual abilities can apply more than 2 stacks of DR if the ability includes multiple types of CC

*Some Gods have abilities that apply two different CC’s at the same time, essentially DRing themselves in the process. These are going to be adjusted on the backend so that their listed stun durations are still accurate.*

* The following gods have increased the duration of the affected CCs to ensure that the current listed durations are still accurate after this update

* Anhur – Impale (Stun)
* Ares – No Escape (Stun)
* Awilix – Gravity Surge (Stun)
* Da Ji – Pao Lao (Stun)
* Gilgamesh – Drop Kick (Stun)

*With such a massive system overhaul, issues were bound to occur. The below issues are currently tracked and will be fixed in a future update. Huge props to our all-star programming team who helped to minimize this list as much as possible!*

* Cernunnos

* The Wild Hunt is applying only 1 stack of DR instead of 2

* Hera

* Polymorph is applying only 1 stack of DR instead of 2

###  Ao Kuang

*The King of the Eastern Seas hasn’t been feeling particularly powerful lately. These buffs should reward the most experienced Dragon wielders out there.*

* **Dragon King's Sword**

* Decreased time it takes to gain a stack from 12s to 10s

* **Water Illusion**

* Increased Magical Power Scaling from 60% to 70%

###  Cerberus

*Cerberus is a god that is heavily affected by the DR changes, particularly on his ultimate. He is getting a buff and a revert to compensate.*

* **Spirit of Death**

* Increased the Healing Reduction applied to nearby enemies from 20% to 25%

* **Paralyzing Spit**

* Increased Base Damage from 40/70/100/130/160 to 50/80/110/140/170 (revert)

###  Cupid

*Valentine’s Day is long in the rear view mirror, and poor little Cupid is feeling a bit left out. We’ve seen how strong he can be if his wave clear is good enough, so while this Heart Bomb buff will help his clear it shouldn’t make his early clear too oppressive.*

* **Heart Bomb**

* Increased Damage done to Minions from 50% to 60% on both the initial hit and explosion

* **Share the Love**

* Increased Base Heal per Heart from 30/50/70/90/110 to 40/65/90/115/140

###  Discordia

*I did mention that the Battleground needed a bit more chaos, didn’t I? No one better to bring that than Discordia, who has felt a bit lackluster since the 9.5 changes took away some of her kill potential.*

* **Strife**

* Increased Damage from 60/100/140/180/220 to 80/120/160/200/240

* **Erratic Behavior**

* Decreased Cooldown from 16s to 15s

###  Hera

*Argus is an impressive force when he’s stomping around the Mid lane, but Hera was feeling lonely a bit too often.*

* **Commanding Presence**

* Increased Cooldown Reduction on Argus from 1s to 1.5s
* Increased Cooldown Reduction on Commanding Presence from 0.33s to 0.5s

###  Hercules

*Hercules has been hitting the gym, and it seems he’s been focusing on his cardio. He’ll be able to use his most impactful abilities a bit more often.*

* **Driving Strike**

* Decreased Cooldown from 14s to 13s

* **Earthbreaker**

* Decreased Cooldown from 14/13.5/13/12.5/12s to 13/12.5/12/11.5/11s

###  Hun Batz

*Giving Overhand Smash Knockup and Knockback immunity has been a long time request from the community, but we decided to not just stop there. After these buffs, Hun Batz would scare even Xibalba.*

* **Overhead Smash**

* Hun Batz is now Knockup and Knockback Immune while channeling this ability
* Increased Base Damage from 75/130/185/240/290 to 85/140/195/250/305

###  Nike

*As a Warrior that has an ability solely focused on stopping Basic Attackers, Nike’s absence has been telling.*

* **Rend**

* Decreased Cooldown from 14s to 14/13.5/13/12.5/12s

* **Barrier Formation**

* Increased Damage from 70/130/190/250/310 to 80/140/200/260/320

###  Pele

*Pele is a volcano that is bubbling and ready to erupt. By increasing her clear, she should be able to make it to more fights.*

* **Pyroclast**

* Increased Return Damage from 20 damage per shard to 30 damage per shard

###  Serqet

*Since her light rework, Serqet has shown glimpses of strength as a true Assassin but has been a bit too inconsistent for our liking. She is going back to her initial base damage on Deathbane, but keeping all of the scaling she received in the light rework.*

* **Deathbane**

* Increased base Damage from 50/68/86/104/122 per hit to 50/70/90/110/130 per hit (revert)

* **Last Breath**

* Increased Damage Mitigation from 35% to 50%

*The next 3 gods have some pretty spicy changes coming. We now have the capability to differentiate bonus damage to minions, allowing us to improve specifically Jungle clear or specifically Lane clear. We understand that due to the nature of SMITE, these gods will be buffed not just in the Jungle, but in their traditional roles as well. These Jungle clear buffs are intentionally not on the primary clear abilities of these gods. Having only one ability that clears a Jungle camp well leads to one camp getting instantly cleared and then having to wait until that ability is back up before you can easily clear the next. These buffs are for gods that we think can fit the role of a Jungler because of past presence or Assassin-like kit synergies.*

###  Ares

*Ares is a god that saw a bit of play in the Jungle a few seasons ago, and has struggled to consistently find viability in Conquest. With this change, we hope that he can be a strong counter pick option that also brings a bit of flexibility.*

* **Shackles**

* Now deals 40% extra damage to jungle monsters

###  Danzaburou

*Danzaburou is a god that has a lot of Assassin-like qualities as a Hunter. He is tricky, hits hard with his abilities, and has one of the best gank tools in the game with his ultimate. Plus he bribed us into letting him Jungle a bit.*

* **Alluring Spirits**

* Now deals 40% extra damage to jungle monsters

###  The Morrigan

*Since her release, The Morrigan has been played as a Mid lane Magical Assassin. We really like this playstyle for her, and it makes sense for her to be able to be a Magical Assassin in the Jungle as well.*

* **Deadly Aspects**

* Now deals 30% extra damage to jungle monsters

###  Chang'e

*Chang’e is a god that plays as a Battle Mage, similar to a Zhong Kui or Hades. Her base stats did not reflect this playstyle, until now.*

* General

* Increased base HP from 574 to 650
* Increased base HP per level from 84 to 88
* Total Health at level 20 from 2254 to 2410

###  Thor

*It’s taken 9 Seasons, but Thor has finally attuned Mjolnir. This buff will not only help his Jungle clear, but his Solo lane as well.*

* **Mjolnir's Attunement**

* Minions now take 100% damage from the return swing

###  Zhong Kui

*For his stature, Zhong was not quite as tanky as you would expect early on. His base Physical Protections were near the lowest among the Mage class. Even when taking his passive into consideration, that felt out of line.*

* General

* Increased base Physical Protections from 11.2 to 15.2

## New Non-Conquest Balance

###  Non-Conquest Balance’s In-Game Icon!

*We are super excited to share a big new feature coming to SMITE! Starting in 9.7, we have the capability to apply Non-Conquest Balance. These balance changes will be a bit different to our typical balance changes. They will not be changes to specific damage numbers or abilities. They will be blanket, percentage based changes applied to the god. Only Conquest and Ranked Conquest, as well as any custom matches or MoTDs on any Conquest maps, will not have this balance applied.*

*We have always focused our balance around Conquest (and will continue to do so) but have had to consider the play experience of our Non-Conquest players when making changes. With this new system, we are able to buff and nerf characters for Conquest without needing to worry about how it affects this large portion of our playerbase. We can now adjust for them separately! Expect in future Update Notes for any Non-Conquest Balance to be in the main God Balance section.*

* Gods will now have percentage base buffs or debuffs to all modes except Conquest
* Non-Conquest Balance Effects will apply equally in all modes, so Arena, Assault, Joust, etc. will all be using the same balance.
* If the god you are playing has any changes applied to them through Non-Conquest Balance, there will be an icon on your buff bar and a system message at the beginning of the match will tell you what changes you have.
* Buff or Debuff Effects available will be:

* damage to minions
* damage to gods
* damage received
* healing given
* Non-ultimate ability cooldowns
* ultimate ability cooldown

###  Ah Puch

*No surprise that Ah Puch’s Non-Conquest stats are very high. His wave clear and AoE damage is particularly strong when he is able to see the whole fight ahead of him.*

* -5% damage to gods
* -10% damage to minions
* +5% Non-ult CDs
* +10% Ultimate Cooldown

###  Ares

*Believe it or not, Ares has the biggest difference in win rate between Conquest and Non-Conquest. That is to say, he is the god that improves the most in Non-Conquest modes. We think this is largely due to the strength of No Escape.*

* +15% Ultimate Cooldown

###  Artemis

*Artemis is the highest performing Hunter across all Non-Conquest modes. Her teamfight-focused ultimate is a big reason why, so Tusky needs to take slightly longer breaks.*

* -5% damage to gods
* +10% Ultimate Cooldown

###  Khepri

*One of the only gods that is top 5 in win rate in every single Non-Conquest mode, Khepri has been bugging our Non-Conquest playerbase for a long time.*

* +5% Damage taken
* +5% Non-ult Cooldowns
* +15% Ult Cooldown

###  Zeus

*Zeus’ Non-Conquest stats aren’t quite as high as the other gods on this list, but as a high frustration god for Non-Conquest players, we felt like he should be included in this list.*

* -10% damage to gods
* +5% Non-ultimate cooldowns

###  Ao Kuang

*Ao Kuang is bottom 10 in winrate for almost every Non-Conquest mode, making him a prime candidate for buffs in those modes!*

* -5% damage taken
* -10% non-ultimate cooldowns
* -10% ultimate cooldown

###  Arachne

*Arachne is low in winrate for every Non-Conquest mode.She also has one of the highest win rate differences for Conquest vs Non-Conquest, meaning she is significantly stronger in Conquest.*

* -10% damage taken
* -10% ultimate cooldown

###  Bakasura

*Similarly to Arachne, Bakasura’s winrate tanks in every Non-Conquest mode.*

* -10% damage taken
* -10% ultimate cooldown

###  Camazotz

*This may be a surprise to some, but Camazotz is bottom 15 in winrate for every Non-Conquest mode. The bat needs some help!*

* -10% non-ultimate cooldowns
* -10% ultimate cooldown

###  Janus

*Janus is, to no one’s surprise, the lowest winrate Mage in every Non-Conquest mode.*

* +10% damage to gods

###  Serqet

*Serqet is another low range Assassin that struggles when her mobility and quickness isn’t as valuable as it is in Conquest.*

* -10% damage taken
* +5% damage to gods

###  Set

*Set boasts the lowest winrate in any mode in the game! Before these changes, there was no lower chance of winning a game in SMITE than if you had a Set on your Assault team.*

* +5% damage to minions
* -5% damage taken
* -5% Non-ultimate cooldowns

# New Skin Voice Actors

* Rocko Danzaburou: Matt Cowlrick
* XJ9 Freya: Jenny Yokobori
* Powdered Toastman Gilgamesh: Michael Berger
* Danny Phantom Janus: Sean Chiplock
* Toxic Overload Achilles: Adam Gold
* The Crab Charybdis: Valeria Rodriguez
* The Maiden Eset: Anne Yatco
* The Scales Nemesis: Caitlyn Elizabeth

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