SMITE: Complete Guide (and What to Know About SMITE 2)

A guide to the original SMITE, the third-person mythology MOBA. It covers the game's status now that SMITE 2 exists, the roles, the Conquest map, items and relics, god picks, and the habits that win games.

Researched September 2026 — current as of SMITE update 12.1 "Laughs of the Past" (February 4, 2025), the last patch Hi-Rez announced for the original game. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status in 2026: Read This First

• SMITE (the original, "SMITE 1") is still on Steam and playable, but it no longer gets regular updates. The December 2024 "Ghosts of Holiday Past" update closed out Year 11. Update 12.1 (February 2025) was a ranked hard reset plus item balance, and Hi-Rez hasn't announced any SMITE 1 patch notes on Steam since. The current balance is effectively frozen.
• SMITE 2 is the active game. It's a free-to-play Unreal Engine 5 successor that went free-to-play on January 14, 2025. It keeps releasing new gods roughly every two weeks (2026 so far: Ishtar, Atlas, Ah Puch, Horus, Bastet, Chronos, Xing Tian, Cu Chulainn, Ix Chel, Ravana, Hachiman, and Hel on September 22), and it hosts the current esports.
• Which should you play? For current content, events, a healthy ranked population, and esports, play SMITE 2. SMITE 1 still has the bigger god roster (100+ gods) and is great if you like its specific items and gods. Expect longer queues in less-populated modes.
• Account legacy: Hi-Rez has rewarded SMITE 1 history in SMITE 2 through its Legacy program. Check SMITE 2's store and account screens for what your account qualifies for.

Most of the fundamentals below (roles, laning, map objectives, positioning) carry over directly to SMITE 2.

Quick Start

• Start with Arena or Joust, then learn Conquest. Arena is fast, team-fight-heavy practice. Conquest is the "real" 5v5 mode that ranked is built around.
• Skillshots matter. Almost every ability, and most basic attacks, is aimed. Lead your targets and dodge by strafing.
• Use the in-game auto-buy and auto-level at first. They're decent, and they let you focus on mechanics. Swap to your own builds once you know the items.
• Buy anti-heal by mid-game if the enemy has healers or lifesteal. Buy Divine Ruin for magical damage and Brawler's Beat Stick for physical.
• Carry Purification Beads or Aegis Amulet. Beads cleanses crowd control; Aegis makes you briefly invulnerable. They're the two most important relics.
• Use the VGS. Press V to open the Voice Guided System menu, then tap the letters shown to fire quick callouts such as "enemy missing" or "going back." It's how pub teams communicate.
• Recall with B when you're low. Walking back or dying costs far more gold and XP.
• Towers and phoenixes win games, kills don't. Push objectives after winning a fight.
• Physical vs. magical: each god deals one damage type. Build protections against the type the enemy team mostly has.

Modes

Mode | Format | Why play it

Conquest | 5v5, three lanes plus jungle | The main competitive mode, including ranked

Arena | 5v5 team deathmatch with minion waves | Fast games to learn gods

Joust | 3v3, one lane | Laning and small team fights; has a ranked queue

Duel | 1v1, one lane | Pure matchup skill; has a ranked queue

Assault | 5v5, one lane, random gods, no recall to heal | Chaotic ARAM-style fun

Slash | 5v5, two lanes plus a jungle | A middle ground between Arena and Conquest

Match of the Day | Rotating modifiers | Daily variety

Queue times in the less popular modes can be long in 2026, since most of the population has moved to SMITE 2.

Classes and Roles (Conquest)

Role | Usual class | Job

Solo | Warrior, sometimes Guardian or Mage | Win side-lane 1v1s, then join fights and absorb damage

Jungle | Assassin | Clear camps, gank lanes, secure Gold Fury and Fire Giant

Mid | Mage | Clear waves fast, rotate to help side lanes, burst targets

Support | Guardian | Protect the carry, peel, start fights, provide vision with wards

Carry (ADC) | Hunter | Farm safely early and scale into the late-game damage

Damage types:

• Physical gods (Assassins, Hunters, Warriors) buy physical items and flat or percentage physical penetration.
• Magical gods (Mages, Guardians) buy magical power, magical penetration, and cooldown reduction or mana.

The Conquest Map

• Three lanes (solo, mid, duo) each have towers, then a Phoenix in front of your base, then the Titan. Kill the enemy Titan to win.
• A Phoenix respawns some time after it dies. While it's down, your lane spawns stronger minions.
• Jungle camps give gold, XP, and team buffs such as damage, mana, and speed. Your jungler usually takes the buffs early and shares them later.
• Gold Fury (early to mid game) gives team gold. Fire Giant (mid to late game) gives a major team buff that's often decisive, and it's how many late games end.
• Wards (from the store) give vision of jungle entrances and objectives. Supports should keep them up all game.

Items: Core Concepts

• Starter items are cheap role-specific items that upgrade over the first few minutes. Examples: Death's Toll and Bumba's Cudgel (physical), Conduit Gem and Sands of Time (magical), Gilded Arrow (hunter), Warrior's Axe, and support starters like Sentinel's Gift.
• Boots are always bought early for movement speed plus stats.
• Penetration is how you break through protections. Grab one penetration item by your third or fourth item.
• Anti-heal is mandatory against healers and lifesteal: Divine Ruin (magical), Brawler's Beat Stick (physical), and Pestilence (a tank aura).
• Anti-crit: Spectral Armor reduces critical-strike damage from Hunters. Buy it when the enemy carry is crit-based.
• Consumables: health and mana potions early, then Elixirs at full build for the late game.

Example build patterns

Role | Pattern (adapt to the enemy)

Mid mage | Conduit Gem / Sands of Time → boots → Book of Thoth or Soul Reaver → Obsidian Shard (penetration) → Divine Ruin if needed → a defensive item

Carry hunter | Gilded Arrow / Death's Toll → boots → attack-speed and crit items (Deathbringer, Rage, Wind Demon) → penetration → Spectral Armor or another defensive item

Support guardian | Support starter → boots → Breastplate of Valor / Genji's Guard / Midgardian Mail by enemy type → Sovereignty or Pestilence auras

Jungle assassin | Bumba's Cudgel → boots → burst physical items and penetration → a defensive item or Brawler's Beat Stick

Solo warrior | Warrior's Axe → boots → hybrid damage and protection items → anti-heal

Item stats were last tuned in 12.1. That patch buffed items including Duality, Hydra's Lament, and Rage, and adjusted Spear of Desolation and Spear of the Magus. Check the in-game store tooltips for exact numbers.

Relics (Actives)

You get one relic at level 1 and a second one later. They're upgradable.

Relic | Use it when

Purification Beads | You need to cleanse hard CC and get CC immunity (the default for carries and mids)

Aegis Amulet | You need a short invulnerability window to survive burst

Blink Rune | You're initiating (guardians, some warriors)

Teleport Glyph | You're solo laning and need to join fights across the map

Sundering Spear | You're diving or taking objectives

Magic Shell / Heavenly Wings | You're a support protecting the team

Horrific Emblem | You want to slow enemy attack speed and movement in a team fight

Phantom Veil | You want to shred enemy protections in team fights

Good Starter Gods

Class | Beginner picks | Why

Guardian | Ymir, Ares, Sobek | Strong CC on simple kits

Mage | Zeus, Ra, Anubis | Big, forgiving area damage (Anubis teaches positioning, because he's rooted while casting)

Hunter | Neith, Anhur, Artemis | Clear skillshots and strong scaling

Warrior | Chaac, Bellona, Guan Yu | Self-healing and durability forgive mistakes

Assassin | Loki, Thor, Bakasura | Straightforward burst or mobility

You unlock gods with Favor (earned by playing) or Diamonds (paid). The Ultimate God Pack unlocks every god, current and future. That's a common purchase if you plan to stick with SMITE 1, but think about spending on SMITE 2 instead if that's where you'll play long-term.

Laning and Macro Fundamentals

• Last-hit minions for full gold. Clearing waves quickly as a mage is still worth it for tempo.
• Rotate after pushing your wave. A mid who shoves and then walks to a side lane creates kills. A mid who sits in lane wastes pressure.
• Ward the jungle entrances near your lane in solo and duo, and watch the minimap for ganks.
• Trade with abilities, not autos, when the enemy's key cooldowns are down.
• Group after about 10 minutes. Fights around Gold Fury and Fire Giant decide games. Show up with your cooldowns ready.
• Take a tower after every won fight. Towers give team gold and map control.

Ranked Tips

• The 12.1 hard reset means the ranked ladder has been fresh since February 2025, and population varies by region.
• Learn two or three gods in two roles. Draft picks and bans often push you off your main.
• Watch the ban phase. If the enemy bans your carry's best god, pivot the team composition rather than forcing a weak pick.
• Most ranked losses come from throwing late-game fights. Don't take Fire Giant without vision and a numbers advantage.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping anti-heal against healing-heavy compositions.
• Building only damage as a squishy carry. One defensive item late in the game, like Spectral Armor against crit carries, greatly improves your survival.
• Chasing kills past towers or into fog.
• Using Beads or Aegis too early, before the real CC or burst arrives.
• Ignoring VGS pings. "Enemy missing" and "going back" callouts matter.
• Forcing a Titan dive while the enemy Phoenixes are alive and they have an ace ready.

Advanced Tips

• Animation cancels and jump-cancels exist for some gods. Practice them in the Jungle Practice mode.
• Cooldown tracking: count the enemy's Beads (long cooldown). After it's used, their carry is open for CC.
• Minion aggro: basic attacking an enemy god in their minion wave pulls minion aggro onto you. Trade from outside the wave.
• Pre-buy consumables before objectives like Fire Giant.
• Wave management: freeze near your tower when you're losing lane. Shove before a rotation so you don't lose tower HP while you're gone.

FAQ

Is SMITE 1 shutting down? No shutdown has been announced in official SMITE news. It still has a Steam store page and active players, but the last announced patch was 12.1 in February 2025, and Hi-Rez's attention is on SMITE 2.

SMITE vs. SMITE 2: which should I play? SMITE 2 for new content, esports, and a healthy population. SMITE 1 if you want its larger god roster and the classic item system.

Does my SMITE 1 progress transfer to SMITE 2? Not directly. They're separate games, but Hi-Rez runs a Legacy program in SMITE 2 that credits SMITE 1 history. Check SMITE 2's store and account screens.

What's the best role for beginners? Guardian (support) or Hunter (carry) in Conquest. Guardians teach map awareness and Hunters teach last-hitting and positioning.

What does the Ultimate God Pack do? It unlocks every current and future god in SMITE 1.

How do I communicate without voice chat? Use the VGS (V key). It has quick commands for callouts, requests, and emotes.

Sources

• SMITE Steam announcements (12.1 update notes, Year 11 finale, SMITE 2 F2P launch)
• SMITE on Steam
• SMITE 2 Steam announcements (2026 god releases)
• SMITE 2 official site
• Hi-Rez Studios