Our community of series experts have come together to provide some of the best SMITE 2 tips you'll find anywhere on the internet, freshly updated now the game is in open beta. What's even better is that the god-themed MOBA is free-to-play, so the barrier to entry has never been lower, and with multiple updates coming to the game every week, it's one of the fastest evolving multiplayer games on the market.

While it will feel familiar to anyone coming over from the original game, there have been plenty of changes under the hood too, so even if you're confident of climbing through the ranks with ease, these SMITE 2 tips will still come in handy. Ranging from damage types and tactics to specific god advice and understanding the various modes, our community has thousands of collective hours of hands-on experience to share, so these tips are essential.

Don't try to learn too many gods simultaneously

BN_Bears suggests taking your time to learn the basics. More specifically, they say you should "select a small handful of gods to learn and stick to them for a while, so you don't have to keep learning entirely new abilities. You should also learn the basics, then after a while turn off auto-buy, and learn how items work and interact with the various kits."

bigaus16 agrees with the auto-build suggestion, explaining that "you can build however you want, but to begin with, just utilise the auto-builds and have fun. Unlike SMITE 1, all gods are role-agnostic now!" @Voulg shares this sentiment, explaining the "premade builds are pretty good."

Use our god guides for build advice

Aw, shucks. Licane's top tip is that you should refer to all of our build guides on Just once you're confident without the auto-builds, as we have plenty of them now! All the best builds for gods such as Mordred, Aladdin, Sobek, and more can be found under our SMITE 2 articles list, so no matter who you want to main, check to see if we have a build guide first. These builds also come courtesy of our community, and include tips about their abilities, role, playstyles, and more.

Play the other modes before Conquest, especially Practice

SMITE 2 encourages you to jump straight into Conquest because that's the flagship mode, but it's also the competitive mode. Instead, blagdorfinguy suggests that you should familiarise yourself with your chosen god's abilities in Practice, then play Arena to learn the ins and outs of the game. Blagdorfinguy explains that even if you've come straight from SMITE 1, "you may find something has changed with your god and jumping into Conquest without some practice is a fast track to burnout." 

Umber adds that you shouldn't be afraid of playing against bots to begin with, because "they are plenty challenging, even for experienced players." @Sturmer echoes these thoughts: "There’s no shame in taking time to learn your character and map mechanics. What’s truly embarrassing is jumping into a match with real players and having no idea what you're doing."

We also have Awwadeuwu, who suggests starting with Assault and/or Arena, once you've finished up in Practice mode:

• Assault helps you get familiar with different gods and their abilities, which is useful when you need to face them later.

• Arena is a massive coliseum without towers or objectives, except for defeating enemies and escorting minion waves into the enemy base. It’s a fast-paced mode and great for beginners.

Learn how damage types work

Sadger reckons the most important thing to understand when playing SMITE 2 is damage types:

"Gods do either physical or magical damage, yet can still build any item they want. This is very important to understand, because it can help new players learn how to have flexible item builds and balanced team compositions. While recommended items are helpful, knowing different gods’ damage types can help new players to build defensive items to deal with their lane opponent or whatever enemy god is currently the most dangerous.

"Knowing this may also help new players to create their own offensive item builds, such as building intelligence items on Anubis and slotting in items that give both intelligence and a defensive stat depending on their opponent, or building hybrid items on gods like Neith who have good strength and intelligence scaling."

ViValsteri echoed this by saying you should "check player builds throughout the game to see not only who is getting kills and doing the most damage, but also what type of damage they are looking to bolster."

Pick a god that looks cool and watch pro gameplay

If you're unsure which god to play, there's no better choice than the one you think looks the coolest because at the end of the day, if you enjoy playing them, you'll likely stick with the game for longer. Weenyz explains that even though "SMITE games can be overwhelming at first, and you shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself to learn everything straight away. You should pick a god that looks cool and jump right in!

"Once you get comfortable and feel like diving deeper, I recommend looking for YouTube guides and gameplay videos. There are loads of great players and creators in the community who make awesome videos, so be on the lookout for those. When I wanted to get better at SMITE, I would watch hours upon hours of pros playing, then jump in-game after and try to emulate their plays."

Alucard agrees with this advice, explaining that their process is to watch videos, read about the various mechanics and builds, then use forums and social media to ask questions to more experienced players. Then they choose the god they think looks the most fun to play, and put all they've learned into practice to try and apply the theory. Simple, right?

swifty has suggested some specific content creators to watch if you want to improve at the different roles:

• Solo: fineokay

• Jungle: @Weak3n

• Mid: BennyQ/Sheento

• ADC: PandaCat

• Support: PolarBearMike

"These are simply suggestions, some players and content creators will resonate better with others. There are many resources out there for various gods and roles, so find what suits you best and study hard in order to improve as a player!"

Finally, Inpunktion has a few additional thoughts:

"Watch videos from good players, whether it's content creators or pros. Watching people play and understanding why they do what they do, when they choose to farm over fighting or vice versa, is key to getting a fundamental understanding of how to play a MOBA like SMITE 2."

Recommended gods for beginners

Along the same lines of recommending content creators to watch, Awwadeuwu has recommended the following gods as being beginner-friendly:

• Warriors

  • Chaac, Bellona, Hercules

• Mages

  • Ra, Vulcan, Hades, Aphrodite

• Assassins

  • Fenrir, Thor, Thanatos

• Guardians

  • Geb, Khepri, Ymir

Rewatch your own gameplay to improve

If you want to seriously make it in the big leagues of SMITE 2 and potentially try your hand in the esports scene, kamiel suggests you should be watching your own gameplay back to notice your mistakes and learn from them. This comes alongside the previous tip about watching pro gameplay, because practice is just as important as theory.

Inpunktion also emphasises the importance of this:

"Watch your games back. So many times I have personally found myself wondering where things went wrong during my games and a lot of the time I struggle to figure it out. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but you shouldn't be analysing where things went wrong in the middle of a match, you should be figuring out what you can do now to make the game state better. After a game has finished is the time to watch it back and analyse, and you can slowly put things together the more you review. One common example is that you should have taken extra time to farm so you had an advantage in a fight."

Oreo-McFury00 has some additional suggestions:

• "Each time you die, try to think about what went wrong. Were you playing too far up in your lane, aka overextending? Did the enemy gank you because you didn't have wards? Did you get caught out of position away from your team? If you can identify your mistakes and make actions to correct them, you will slowly but surely grow into a much better SMITE 2 player.

• Once you get a better grasp of SMITE 2, start looking for new ways to expand your game knowledge, such as what the strongest gods in the game are right now for each role. Learn each god’s kit, so when you fight them you can know what they are going to do so you can counter it. Not all items are equal, so understand which ones are the strongest."

Use bushes, go for buffs, and always ward

If you're filling the ADC role, ViewtifulBellTTV has three top tips in their video:

Use teamwork to be aggressive and learn VGS

Sometimes, you need to be aggressive when the situation calls for it. Feddboii sheds light on how this is best done as a team:

"SMITE 2 rewards players who take the fight to the enemy. Whether it's a 1v1 in lane or a team gank, don't be afraid to take chances and put the onus on the enemy team to play against you. If you're down in level or gold, stay aggressive. Always apply pressure. Is someone on their team at an especially high level? Group up and shut them down. Play together. Be active, communicate the plan, and commit with your teammates. The current meta rewards players for playing together and working towards similar goals instead of operating individually to win a game." 

Feddboii also explains that if you're brand new, you need to learn how to use VGS (Voice Guided System), which ties into his point about communication, and Sadger echoes that by specifying that new players should "learn the attack and enemy missing commands as soon as possible."

Azurawulf also mentioned the importance of teamwork: "Callouts are great. Don't auto-lock; be willing to play gods other than your main. You have to be the bigger person sometimes and help the team out."

Gold wins games

Another tip from Sadger is that gold wins games. "Knowing how to kill minions and jungle camps safely can help keep you useful in the game, and looking to fight when you do have a gold advantage (and subsequently an item advantage) is the next step."

Don't tilt and take breaks

Getting tilted is an unfortunate consequence of online multiplayer games when things aren't going your way, but you can take steps to prevent it. Feddboii explains that you shouldn't tilt so quickly: "If you're in an unhealthy lobby, play it out. Do not go AFK in your base or in lane to purposely throw the game, and if you see people doing that, please report them. You can report players twice - once in the game and again in the post-game screen. It's important to be a good player and call out when people do things that ruin the game. Nothing is more frustrating than a player who purposely throws in a competitive online game."

This is another point Umber mentioned: "If SMITE 2 is getting exhausting or you're getting tilted, I recommend taking a break. The game will be there when you come back."

Then Turboteef has some advice that goes hand-in-hand:

"Just keep your chill and play the game. Whenever people lose their chill dumb mistakes happen. Remember, it is just a game, so have fun. The more fun you have the easier you will learn the game."

Use the right controller settings

One for console players or anyone using a controller on PC: make sure you have your controller settings set up correctly! ChrisTDickson has created an entire video going into detail on the best settings, as he says it's "incredibly important".

Expect the unexpected

Blagdorfinguy's next top tip is to essentially not take anything for granted until you know what build your foe is running: "Expecting a big tanky Ymir in duo lane? Watch out! Crit Ymirs can now come in swinging from the jungle! Check your enemy’s build in your lane and adjust your positioning accordingly."

Cooldown vs penetration

The final tip from blagdorfinguy is to "build your cooldown percentage early and your penetration late! Even if you're copying a build from elsewhere, the order of necessity can change how fed you are and either leave you - or, more ideally, your enemies - playing catch up all game."

Junglers should share buffs, use their relic quickly, and (sometimes) play selfishly

Fancy playing as a jungler? Willios has three quickfire tips for you to keep in mind:

• "Always try to share blue and red buffs with your laners as they may need it more to manage their solo or duo lanes.

• Use your jungler relic as soon as possible if you don't plan on invading soon - the earlier the better!

• You don't always want to help a losing lane. Sometimes, you should leave them to handle it themselves because you can put your efforts behind a winning lane, which allows it to snowball and edge closer to the victory."

Hiding in the grass

The ability to hide in the long grass from enemies is new to SMITE 2, but did you know you can also de-aggro minions this way too? This tip comes from Jungleandy, who also revealed…

Enemies can contest the War Horn

…that there is a timer to capture the War Horn in the solo lane, and during this window, the enemy can contest it. So make sure you don't leave it unguarded!

Pay attention to the minimap

Dadnaya explains that "in SMITE 2, it’s very important to keep an eye on the minimap at all times. It can tell you where enemies and allies are, and if you see a lane without an enemy in it - at which point you should call out 'missing!' to your teammates - they may be coming to attack you or your team with a gank."

Roles, casting type, movement abilities, and wave farming

Alongside Voulg's earlier tip about playing Arena mode before Conquest, they also have three more essential bits of advice:

• "The easiest roles to pick up first are either Solo Lane or ADC (attack damage carry). You should use the auto-builds as they're pretty good in SMITE 2, but you can watch content creators to get advice on builds if you need to.

• Change your casting type to be quick or instant and turn off double tap to confirm an ability, because it will allow you to be faster and more responsive.

• Don't use your movement abilities to enter fights; save them to get out instead, because they're best used as escape tools when you're unsure if you'll survive. Don't chase a kill; playing it safe is almost always the smarter move.

• Finally, wave farm is the most important thing on the map. Don't miss any if you can help it!"

Kills don't win games

A rather holistic tip comes from ProdigalStatius who lives by one SMITE 2 mantra: kills are not the primary objective.

"You don't win by having more kills, you win by destroying the opposing Titan. Kills are always a means to an end, not an end in themselves. So if you force an opponent to go back to base and steal their farm or get an objective, that can be just as valuable as a kill. Remember, don't chase kills without a purpose."

Gain the advantage by avoiding combat

MrMythos explains that as a new player, you should play passively where possible so you can "pick up good habits from those around you." He says that in Conquest, "it can be really easy to succumb to the desire to constantly fight, but if you're new, you might find yourself on the losing side of those battles more and more. I recommend looking for non-confrontational ways to get a leg up on your opponent. For example, you could make a smooth rotation for the Queen Naga. Be on constant watch for when your buffs and jungle camps come up so you can try to fit them in between waves so you don't lose wave experience. There are so many ways to play this game besides fighting, even though fighting may seem like the only way forward."

Accept death

Suttonic wants to stress one thing: "You are going to die. A lot." SMITE 2 is a complicated game to get into as a newbie thanks to the "item system, god scaling, and game mechanics", so "it isn't feasible to improve without making mistakes. Focus on what works, what doesn't, and keep it fresh."

Read up on your favourite gods

JHenckes submitted a bunch of great tips, a number of which we've covered already which shows just how important they are, but in a non-gameplay piece of advice, they recommend reading up on the god you're maining. Every god in SMITE 2 comes from real-life mythology, so they explain "it adds a cool layer to the game when you know the stories behind the characters."

Clear harpy camps whenever possible

Harpy camps - the AI mobs in the jungle - are great sources of experience points, so you should kill them whenever you can, explains SnowieGinja. "They give so much XP it can really help you catch up or outpace your lane, even if you just take one camp every other time you go back from base. If you notice your jungle isn't doing them, yoink it! It's so much XP just sitting there."

Read item descriptions

AsDeEspadas1's top tip is mostly aimed at returning players from SMITE 1, who may think they know everything there is to know about items:

"Take the time to read each description and try every item to understand and learn how they work, because they've changed from the first game. Many of them must be triggered with a specific key, while others have changed their effect."

MightyRavino highlights the importance of understanding and using active items specifically:

"Learn what active items are, learn when to use them, and more importantly, remember to actually use them. This is doubly important if you're playing support. They can easily counter a whole team and get you the win. If possible, try to keep an eye on what the enemy team's active items are too."

Customise your card art

There's nothing better than showing off your accomplishments in multiplayer games, which is what Scylla's top tip is all about. "In the loadout section you can add trackers and badges to card art before the match starts to show off what you like. You can even add any mastery border effect to another god!"

Take your time and enjoy yourself

In a heartwarming tip aimed at complete newcomers to the SMITE community, @sopita says the best piece of advice is simply "to have fun", because "all of us are learning the game for the first time, and we're all hoping to meet new people and help them feel safe.” They continue:

“I really think that the SMITE community is pretty cool. As a player, you feel free to ask everything you need to know, you don't feel bad if you don't win, and you can focus on learning everything about this new iteration of the game. So go learn about builds, god mechanics, and enjoy your matches. Good luck!"

Play with friends and keep your cool

Here's NiteDark on how important it is to just enjoy the game:

"For me, a very important tip is to play to have fun. Find friends in the game, create a team, and have fun together. Regardless of the map (Conquest, Arena, etc.), every game played with friends will always be more fun."

Don't be afraid of failing

AngelG has a very motivational tip, which is to not be afraid of failing:

"SMITE 2, like plenty of other games, is about learning from mistakes. When you're starting out, you can make a lot of them, but it's part of learning how to play. Focus on understanding the modes, gods, roles, items, and builds, one after the other, without worrying too much about whether you win or lose. The SMITE 2 community isn't particularly toxic, so your fellow players are usually happy to provide advice."

Report bugs

Finally, we have NotAValveGame, who wants a better experience for everyone:

"Don't take it too seriously, it's still in the Beta phase after all, so have fun learning how to play and see what you enjoy. If you encounter a bug, report it to the proper channels so the game will improve for everybody."

‘What are the proper channels’, I hear you ask? You can join the official Discord server and report bugs in the appropriate channel there, or you can fill out the official SMITE bug report form. Thanks for doing your part to improve SMITE 2!

Finally, we'll leave you with these words of wisdom from Inpunktion:

"There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of other tips that could help you improve in SMITE 2 and in the MOBA genre in general, with so many different interactions, items, etc. The key is to not get overwhelmed, take it slow, and enjoy the journey of improving. Mute toxic players and find peers to play with  - SMITE 2 is meant to be fun even if it skews towards competitive play. If you aren't having fun, take a break and come back with a fresh perspective and a willingness to learn.

"Oh, and there are plenty of genius minds in the Just submissions, so make sure to read them all if you really want to beat the competition!"

Do you have any additional SMITE 2 tips? Have you used any of our tips to improve your game? Let us know in the comments below!

Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording here. Image credit: Titan Forge Games