So far, I think Smite 2 is on the right track. Since the very first alpha test, there have been many improvements in the right direction. I'll start my review with things that I think Smite 2 does better.

First off, I think the improvements to the god's kits are great. They are porting a lot of gods from Smite 1 who's kits are outdated. When these gods were first released they were great. However, now with newer and more complicated gods to compete with, these older gods struggle. The Smite 2 team has done a great job updating these god's kits while maintaining their identity. These gods still feel like the gods you know and love, but a bit easier to play. I also find that the model updates they have made have been excellent. I like what they did with Nemesis. She still looks like Nemesis, but they fixed her design to make more sense than it did before (fishnets were not the choice in retrospect).

I think the new building system is much better than before. While more complicated at first glance, it is easy to pick up and offers more flexibility than Smite 1. You can still choose to stick to simple builds or even use the same builds you'd use in Smite 1. However, now you have more options for build pathways, allowing you to personalize your builds further. Especially for my mains, I like figuring out my builds for gods, so it's nice for that to be a bit easier now. The new scaling system is also excellent for the same reasons. You get a lot more options that weren't available before.

The last two good things I want to touch on is the changes to the conquest map and graphics. I think the new conquest map looks great and I like the new objectives. My only complaint is that there is no green buff for support and red buff is too far from mid. I think that support deserves to have a buff of its own. Support is already a role that many people don't like and not giving the role a buff is like adding insult to injury.

Also, the new graphics look great. A lot of the graphics for the abilities are a lot clearer than the ones in Smite 1, both the ability icons and the way hitboxes are shown before you channel an ability look a lot cleaner.

There's really only two things I don't like about Smite 2 currently: the way damage feels and matchmaking.

The way damage and defense feel is a bit off from Smite 1. For starters, as a tank, in the late game you don't feel tanky. Normally if I engage in a fight and want to back out safely, as long as I keep my dash up, I can do so easily in Smite 1. In Smite 2 however, I get deleted within a handful of seconds. While I agree that squishies should die relatively fast to teach them good positioning, as a tank player it's hard for me to dive the enemy team if I get deleted before my team can follow up. Along with that, I find everyone does a lot more damage than they do in Smite 1. Tanks in general take chunks of squishies' health while being comparatively hard to kill. When I play solo, if I play right, I can 2v1 into squishies and win by having similar damage output and being just a tad tankier than they are. I think the way damage and defense feel should be brought back to match Smite 1's a bit more.

This is just a minor criticism in comparison, but matchmaking is a bit rough. I regularly get teammates who don't understand how the game works, while the enemy team is competent. It's rough because I'll be doing fine, but my team isn't and I can't do enough to help them. While I know part of this is due to the lower player base since it's an alpha, I think matchmaking has something to do with this. I say this because I had better luck with matchmaking when there was none at all in earlier tests.

Overall, I think the game is in the right direction. Something I would like to see that I don't believe is in the plans to come is win/loss screens for the gods and death animations. I remember the dev team saying that they didn't want to bring the win/loss screens back since people didn't look at them, but I think they add a lot of character to the gods. Sure you get used to them over time, but when you see one you haven't seen before, they are very entertaining and add more soul to the game. Also, I find that the current explosion they use for deaths is visually harder for me to track. It's easier for me to tell that I've died when I see the animation and it adds character to the game. But those are just two nitpicks.

How do you decide who needs a remodel and who doesn't?

Also, will you all be remodeling Kali? She is one of my favorite junglers, but I feel like her design could be better.

I am fairly new to Smite as I've only played for about a year. So far I've played in every alpha test weekend and caught a few flash tests when I could. Here are my thoughts.

Pros

• Overall, the game is a lot easier for me. I find it easier to hit autos and manage my lane. I also like the removal of the complex starts. I think it is much more beginner-friendly to simply go for one camp and then go to lane versus the dragging that we do in Smite 1.

• I like the role descriptions and the new role queuing that has/will be added. I think being able to rank all five roles allows the player to better how often they want to receive each role. I also think the role descriptions are useful for beginners and are a good refresher for experienced players.

• I like the return of old objectives and the addition of new ones. You are never bored in the lane and when the laning phase ends, there's always an objective to go for.

• I think the new item system is better. It is a lot simpler in the long run and gives many more building options. You can still make familiar builds like you would in Smite 1, but now you also have extra options that weren't accessible before.

• The new ascension passes are great and I like the ability to customize your god cards.

Cons

• The item shop is poorly designed. The item trees are confusing and the tab system could be better. I find that the item list is nice. I like how it divides items into further categories after you select a tab (damage, hybrid, and defense). However, the tabs persist after being clicked. You have to unclick each tab to return to default which is tedious. Also, I think there should be a consumables tab so that they are easier to access.

• I think that the skin prices are a bit steep. I know that there eventually will be chests, battle passes, and other mechanisms so that they player won't have to spend the entire upfront cost. However, transferred skins are significantly higher in S2 than they are in S1 and I think that the cost could be more reasonable.

Overall I think that this alpha is on the right track. They've made a lot of progress over this year and many issues I've had in the past I don't have anymore.

I see many people going for minions first instead of their buffs. It's generally best to go for your buffs first and then minions so you can hit level 2 faster.

For now, my main is Bellona. I've played her a good bit in Smite 1 so I am familiar with her kit and playstyle. I also enjoy w-keying and Bellona is great for that. My main in Smite 1 is Shiva. I like the high amount of lane pressure you can put on people with him. You can also scare off junglers with him, which I enjoy.

For me, it has to be Hades. I really like the improvements they made to his kit. He is a real threat now. I'm not a Hades player, but my friends who play Hades really like the changes made.