Smite Patch 5.13 has arrived and there is some big news in the past few days that outlines the upcoming changes for the middle of the current competitive season. The Smite patch 5.13 comes with tons and tons of balance changes, big and small, have the community hyped up for one of the biggest patches that Hi-Rez has ever put out.

Before we talk about some of the outside changes, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the gameplay. The change that has most people fired up (and one featured in the headline of this piece) is the fact that Ravana is being changed into an assassin.

This is a huge deal for a lot of people, as Ravana was becoming somewhat of a solo-queue mascot, a la Master Yi and Juggernaut in League and Dota. Ravana’s burst damage and aggressive playstyle lean him more towards an assassin archetype anyway, so this change shouldn’t be too drastic, but it’s huge for this game to have significant character overhauls. They don’t do “reworks” the same way a lot of other games do.

Smite patch 5.13 is big for masks, which are getting a significant overhaul with their return, and also causing players to lose stats. Hi-Rez seems to want to reintroduce them as a means to add more depth to the in-game stat management system, which can be very simple depending on character choice.

The changes to each god are too numerous to list here, but there is a clear attempt to equalize some older and some newer characters. Power levels are being adjusted to make up for some kits being more “complicated” than others (usually having too many effects stapled onto abilities).

The fountain is also getting buffed, as it will no longer be affected by anti-healing effects. Fountain heals will also persist for a whole second after heroes leave the plate. This likely will not have a major impact but is pretty huge for casual gameplay (where defensive gameplay is more important).

All game modes are also now affected by a timed queue, where there is a clear countdown, after which all players will be given an invite. This system is more in line with other MOBAs, as opposed to console matchmaking games (which Smite has previously been in-line with given its console player base).

Buffs from jungle monsters have also been nerfed, which will be detrimental to the solo-queue jungle heroes. This will probably lead to some more interesting matches in high-level tournament gameplay, where lanes will not be more influential to the jungle. It makes sense that one role should not be prioritized over others, especially if that role is meant to help the other laners.

But now, about the community.

Smite has always been “like a MOBA but different,” and this rings true for its community as well. They still have huge tournaments and a large player base on multiple platforms, but the third-person view has separated them from the likes of League of Legends and Dota 2.

One thing that still reins them back in as a MOBA is the toxic community. It’s pretty unavoidable for most PC games, but ones with individual queued matches on teams tend to be the worst of the bunch.

The new commendation system has a voting system at the end of matches that gives players points on their account, and they get rewards based on their points. These rewards feature skins and loot boxes, as well as particular skins granted at the end of the year for those that have never been banned throughout an entire season.

The “goodwill” system has also been revamped as a result, giving less percentage of a favor bonus at maximum goodwill and instead of giving contributions towards monthly rewards.