Smite's New Xbox One Patch Adds God, Halloween Map, Revamped Menu

Hi-Rez Studios today released the latest update for the Xbox One version of Smite, bringing many of the new features added to the PC version in early October.

The biggest addition is a new character: Sol, a ranged Mage. She builds up attack power and speed as she lands attacks, and her abilities allow for her to heal herself, escape from danger, and, of course, damage opponents. Expect her to be a popular choice, at least for the time being, she's quite strong (as evidenced by a recent PC patch dialing back her power).

Also new is the Halloween-themed Arena map. This redecorates the standard map with pumpkin masks for the statues, zombies in place of minions, and so on. You can get a look at it here.

A number of characters have had some significant changes made to them. Khepri's Ultimate can no longer block executes (but it also will no longer go on cooldown when it didn't fire, which could be extremely frustrating). The mana cost for two of Sobek's abilities has been decreased, and his Ultimate both slows more and offers him more protection. Xing Tian's Ultimate now does less damage and can be activated less often. Zhong Kui's health and magical protection have been increased.

Maybe most significantly, Zeus has been adjusted: His Ultimate doesn't root him while casting; his Chain Lightning slows, bounces more quickly, does less damage, and can be used less often; and he has a new ability, Aegis Assault. With this, he throws a shield forward to deal damage, and it can then be hit by Zeus to deal additional area damage.

Smite's main menu has been redesigned; it now uses a tile-based grid and has a news section where you can read patch notes right from the game. There's also a new refer-a-friend feature (previously only available on PC; you can unlock certain skins through this), Achievements, skins, voice packs, and more. Unfortunately, Spectator mode has been temporarily disabled due to a bug that should be resolved in the next patch.