Smite's Next Patch Features a Pokemon Trainer-Looking Skin

Hi-Rez Studios has revealed the details of the next patch for Smite. And while update 3.18 doesn't feature the more exciting types of additions in recent patches, like new characters and modes, it does add some excellent new skins, including one that resembles a Pokemon trainer.

The skin in question is for Erlang Shen and is discreetly called Monster Trainer. It puts the character in jeans with a red vest and baseball cap. It's not a perfect match for Ash or any other Pokemon character, but it's clear what Hi-Rez is getting at here. During today's patch notes reveal show, one of the developers joked, "This was a completely unique IP construct that we came up with," while another chimed in, "So original." His companion remains a dog, and his transformations still turn him into the same turtle or mink, just with new colors.

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Other new skins in this update are Fire Lord Ne Zha and Clockwork Knight Ao Kuang (who also gets updated mastery skins). The latter is particularly cool, both in terms of his own look and the awesome dragon he can turn it into using his Ultimate. Both the Ao Kuang and Erlang Shen skins are available as Odyssey items, earnings you Odyssey points (read more about those here) when you purchase them.

3.18 also adds new achievements--two each for Chronos, Sylvanus, and Ne Zha--and a handful of balancing changes. On the item side, the big ones are refinements of what we saw last patch, with Reinforced Shoes and Reinforced Graves both getting dialed back. Hydra's Lament now provides more power and mana regeneration to make it a more attractive item, while Void Shield and Witchblade each get nerfs.

In terms of characters, Cupid receives maybe the most significant changes. His Heart Bomb now affects a larger area but has a longer cooldown; Share the Love doesn't use stacks from his passive; and Flutter doesn't provide attack speed when cast, instead providing passive attack speed all the time. Its cooldown has also been reduced.

Another Hunter, Izanami, gets buffed for the second patch in a row. She's the newest character in the game, but Hi-Rez says she's been underperforming. Her basic attacks, which function like boomerangs, now deal damage differently. Before, a basic attack dealt 50 percent damage on the way out and 50 percent on the way back to you, forcing you to hit an enemy twice with basics to do much damage. Now, the attack does 75 percent damage on the way out and 25 percent on the way back. She also receives a small increase to her base attack speed, and going stealth with Fade Away now causes minions to immediately ignore her. This will prevent instances where the stealth effect was immediately broken by minions who continued attacking her.

Other changes of note include a nerf to Terra, removing the slow from Crushing Earth and reducing the root on her Monolith. Her Ultimate also now has a longer cooldown, only returning to the current 90 seconds once it's fully leveled up. Raijin also gets nerfed, with Raiju dealing less damage and Thunder Crash scaling less. Agni's Flame Wave should now be easier to combo thanks to an increase to how long it lasts, Isis gains scaling to Wind Gust, and Nemesis's Ultimate gets nerfed.

You can read the full patch notes on Smite's website. The update will likely be available next week on PC, followed by a release on Xbox One and PS4 sometime after that.