SMITE: New Goddess Ishtar Introduced in Update 9.8

Ishtar is the latest goddess to grace SMITE in Update 9.8. This Hunter goddess wields a bow and arrow and is excellent at mid- to close-ranged combat.

Her Mark of Vengeance passive activates when she drops below 75% HP. When this happens, the last enemy god that damaged her will be marked for 10 seconds. She gains a 5% attack speed buff that stacks up to four times whenever she deals damage to the marked god with her basic attacks. Furthermore, whenever she receives a kill or assist on the marked god, she gains a 20% movement speed buff for five seconds.

Her first ability empowers her arrows by imbuing them with heavenly light. This changes her basic attacks in one of three ways. The first is Strike Shot, where she lobs bolts that explode in an area, dealing bonus damage. However, she deals less crit damage, seemingly to balance her damage output when using Strike Shot.

The second empowered basic attack is called Spread Shot. As the name implies, Ishtar fires five arrows in a cone-shaped area. However, only the center arrow triggers basic item effects.

The third empowered basic attack is called Storm Shot. This allows her to fire quick, long-range shots toward the enemy, but the trade-off is that it deals less damage.

For her other abilities, Ishtar calls down four lightning strikes in a line when using Rolling Thunder. The lightning strikes deal damage within their area of effect, and enemies hit more than once will be mesmerized for a brief period.

Jolt is where Ishtar draws her blade and charges forward. If she hits an enemy god, she will backflip off them and fire her bow when she’s in the air. What’s cool about the aerial shot is that it has the potential to land a critical hit and trigger basic item effects.

Blades of Retribution is Ishtar’s ultimate ability. When activated, she becomes immune to crowd control effects and summons five swords of light that fire out in a cone in front of her. Each sword not only damages enemies but cripples them for 1.25 seconds as well. Moreover, Ishtar has the power to recall all of the swords to her location within three seconds of casting Blades of Retribution. Enemies hit twice by both the initial fire and recall are stunned for a second.

So, what can you say about the new goddess Ishtar?

SMITE Update 9.8 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.