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Big Smite Patch Adds a Character and, More Importantly, a Giant Lobster Skin

The Summer of Smite has begun.

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Hi-Rez Studios has launched a big new patch for Smite, adding a new character, concluding the most recent event (Viking Invasion), and kicking off a new one: this year's Summer of Smite.

Erlang Shen is the new god, and much like Sun Wukong, he's capable of transforming into one of two animals with his 72 Transformations ability. By turning into a mink, he can damage enemies and increase his attack speed by hitting an enemy god. Becoming a turtle causes him to knock up enemies in a path and gain a shield. Rounding out his animal-related abilities, his passive sees his dog companion attack enemies whom Shen hits with basic attacks.

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Now Playing: Summer of SMITE 2016 Trailer

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Pin shoots out a spear that does damage and Cripples and Roots enemies who are directly in the center of it. Spot Weakness gives Shen extra damage with each hit and removes the movement penalty from using basic attacks. Additionally, the cooldown on Spot Weakness (14 seconds) is reduced by landing basic attacks. And finally, Shen's Ultimate, Nine Turns Blessing, gives him damage mitigation for four seconds. If he survives that time, he's also healed.

Update 3.12 also brings 2016's Summer of Smite event. New content will be rolled out over the next two months, including a number of excellent skins, like the Chef's Special Khepri--coming July 12--that makes him look like a giant lobster. (You can see some of the new and upcoming skins below.) Whenever you buy any of the included items, you'll get a free roll on an Enigma treasure chest.

This patch also makes some significant changes to items and gods. A pair of new Relics have been introduced, while others have been tweaked to bring back old functionality. Phantom lets you pass through players and player-made objects for five seconds, while Thorns reflects back 40 percent of damage taken. Meanwhile, there are a pair of new items: an offensive-oriented one that causes the effect of Relics to last longer, and a defensive item that decreases enemy attack speed. Perhaps most notably, Golden Bow has essentially been deemed too good and has been removed from the game for the time being.

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On the character side, Arachne's web is now a projectile, recent addition Fafnir's damage has been increased, and Guan Yu has a new passive to make his abilities more effective. There have also been buffs to Odin, Hel, Ne Zha, Aphrodite, Anubis, and others.

You can get the full rundown on all the changes here. The patch is out now on PC and should be available on Xbox One and PS4 in the next few weeks.

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