The newest Smite god is Skadi, the Goddess of Winter. She is a hunter who excels at dueling and dispatching melee opponents. On today’s Patch Notes twitch stream , Hi-Rez Ajax showed off her kit and some of the interesting things she can do.
Skadi has a pet wolf called Kaldr that follows her wherever she goes. Unlike other pets in the game, Kaldr has five hit points and can be killed. Jungle monsters and god attacks get rid of one hit point per hit, but it takes five lane minion attacks to do the same. The wolf has two forms, Elemental and Beast. While in Elemental, he is invulnerable and regains hit points. You can toggle between the two forms with Skadi’s second ability, Rune of the Hunt.
With the Piercing Cold ability, Skadi throws an ice spear that pierces through every enemy in a straight line and slows them for three seconds. When Kaldr attacks anyone affacted by the spear, he deals double damage. This is a great ability to wave clear and do major damage to any god dumb enough to in range of her spears. Rune of the Hunt not only controls the wolf, but gives Kaldr new abilities. He gains damage, movement speed, a heal and a dash depending on how many points are in the skill.
permafrost looks to be the most unique ability in Skadi’s arsenal, and creates an icy circle on the field. Enemy minions and monsters get damaged, while gods get affected by a new form of crowd control. They slide in the direction they were walking, and bounce off any obstacle or enemy that collides with them. Dashes and leaps can be used, so the sliding god isn’t totally helpless. I can see some crazy shenanigans happening with other abilities, like Odin’s cage.
Winter’s Grasp is Skadi’s ultimate and creates a snow storm around her and her wolf. Gods caught in the field are rooted and receive damage, while Kaldr is healed and becomes invulnerable. The wolf can be sent to engage a fight with this ability, allowing teammates to follow up with some sick crowd control.
Skadi comes out in the next patch, and should be the scariest ice giant since Ymir.
