Happy Holidays to our Antlion Family!
We hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season and we'd like to thank you all for making 2015 another great year for Antlion Audio. Our 2015 Holiday Sale is continuing on through midnight on December 25th, so make sure you don't miss out on our low prices on Superlux headphones or our exclusive coupon code offers:
You may have already noticed that we are currently SOLD OUT of the Omni-directional ModMics. Never fear, they'll be coming back early Q1 2016. Speaking of the new year, we've got ourselves some huge plans for 2016 on the whole, including some ModMic design updates and our new XLR mic aimed at professional audio setups. We're super excited to share these new ideas with the world, but until they're a little further down the pipeline we can't disclose all the details. Stick with us in the new year for some more updates!
On the gaming front, our man James has been battling it out in the most recent update to the MOBA game Smite and he's put together a detailed look at all the new features and gameplay. Even though I'm primarily a DOTA player myself, I've got to admit that all this new Smite stuff I've seen looks like a ton of fun and I will definitely be giving Smite a shot this year. Keep on scrolling to read about the patch and check out James' gameplay footage, because whether you're an experienced MOBA player or you've never touched the genre, Smite's unique approach to skill shots and true third person camera style throws you right in the action and provides a fresh perspective on MOBA games.
SMITE: THE REBORN PRINCE (PATCH 2.20)
The newest patch for the MOBA Smite has arrived!
If you are unfamiliar with Smite it is a 3 lane MOBA much like DOTA or League of Legends. Smite adds another level of complexity to the MOBA platform by making every ability or basic attack a skill shot. This means that you do not automatically hit by clicking the enemy instead you must aim every ability within the 3D space. Skill shots in turn allow players to dodge others' attacks and abilities, making the thrill of trying to engage or escape even more exciting. Additionally, Smite is played in what I would call a true third person view. These subtle changes add depth to the gameplay that separates the Smite experience from other MOBAs.
The developers at Hi-Rez have adopted a model similar to DOTA in the terms of the number of playable characters. Currently there are 71 playable gods with plans to add at least 30 more. Each one of the gods boasts historical and intriguing lore that's taken directly from ancient history. In fact, nearly every ancient religion is represented already. This means you can play obscure gods like Xbalanque or cookie cutters like Zeus or Apollo.
Smite offers multiple game types ranging from your traditional 3 lane conquest to a siege style game with giant minions to help push out lanes. The most recent Smite patch 2.20 "The Reborn Prince" features some expected balancing tweaks, including the initial nerf for the newest god Chiron and unlocking him for ranked play. However, unlike any of the previous Smite patches, in 2.20 Hi-Rez completely reworked a god, added many new mastery skins, and even added a brand new game type. We are used to seeing a few god adjustments and balancing changes with each patch but nothing on this scale.
The 2.20 changes to the god Ravana are unprecedented by any other patch changes made to Smite so far. We are not used to seeing a complete god redesign. Hi-Rez stripped Ravana down to nothing and changed his basic attack sequence, animations, ultimate, passive, and most of his abilities. Most notably, Ravana gains the ability to throw punches with both hands! They also chose to make his ultimate into a more efficient engagement tool by removing the need to lock onto an enemy before diving in and also increasing its damage to improve its finishing power. His passive now adds a shield equal to 5% of his maximum health that can stack up to 3 times. To top it all off two of his abilities got range, power, added effects and cooldown buffs.
With all of these changes they have deemed Ravana a new god, going as far as to ban him from ranked play. Those of us familiar with Ravana pre-patch know how powerful he could be in the right hands. Now he is even stronger and can take more of a beating. So keep your eyes open in lane and watch out for the new and harder hitting Ravana flying around.
2.20 also brings a new game type called Clash. Clash is a 2 lane “Joust” like game, with no real jungle and a shared damage camp that entices fast paced team fights. The thing I like the most about this new game type is it further opens up the team composition meta game. The Clash format allows for more interesting combat tricks and ability combinations you would not see in other game types. The map setup makes it harder for assassins to gank and forces more face to face fights. All of this makes clash a very fast paced in your face brawl that's focused on lane pushing, team rotation, and dealing huge damage in team fights.
Overall I'd say 2.20 is the most exciting patch we have seen since Smite crawled out of Alpha. If this is any indication of what Hi-Rez has planned for the future of Smite I cant wait to see how the game continues to evolve with the end of Season 2 and start of Season 3.
Do you like the direction Smite is going? What do you want to see added or changed? I'm hopeful for some improvements to the ranked matchmaking and the expansion of clan play. For now, we'll have to wait and see what develops during the Smite World Championship coming January 7-10, 2016.
-The Antlion Team