Heimdallr: A Closer Look

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WHO IS HEIMDALLR?

At the edge of Asgard and Midgard there stands a god with unmatched senses. From this vantage point he sees and hears of important matters from all the nine realms. Heimdallr has built great wisdom from this power, and he lives in solitude to stay dedicated to his cause: prevent any trespassers from entering Asgard.

OUR VISION

Heimdallr fits perfectly into the Season 6 SMITE God plan. He brings many things that SMITE players haven’t experienced recently. His visuals convey that of a true legendary norseman, he is a physical hunter, and he is highly requested by the Community.

This god’s mythology and themes tend to relate to game mechanics involving vision and map awareness. Heimdallr will have multiple abilities that relate to in-game vision advantages. This is not enough for a full god kit in SMITE, so we extended this theme to that of a precise ranged character. Someone with such skills would certainly have perfect aim which led us to the Hunter Class. Heimdallr’s skills translate well to this role while his mythology allows us to inspire a fresh take on the hunter class. Wearing heavier armor and hurling hefty axes, he brings strength to a traditionally agile role.

Theme – Vigilance, Precision, and legendary items. Heimdallr is a hunter who wields unique vision mechanics, a new type of basic attack hit chain, the legendary Gjallarhorn, and the bifrost itself.
Visuals – The Shining One. Clean, bright, and ornate armor with clear Norse inspirations. Includes his sword, horn, and use of the bifrost
Personality – Warm, hearty, and helpful to his allies. Serious and honorbound in combat.
Perspective – Heimdallr is a protector or Asgard, and of the many secrets it contains. He is seen as wise and is highly respected by other gods.

Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, seeks to manipulate Yggdrasil itself in order to carry out her plans. Her goals are not necessarily evil, but that depends on who you ask. Her dream is to remove power from the gods, and thus providing humanity more control over their own fate. She has strived for years to set this plan into motion, providing an elaborate distraction to keep Olympus busy. A distraction that Heimdallr will see right through. As her journey reaches an end she sees Heimdallr standing tall at his post. He will stop at nothing to protect Yggdrasil, and the final battle of the Underworld Odyssey will soon take place.

Will Heimdallr be able to fulfill his purpose? Or will this new found threat prove to be too much to match?

Heimdallr’s visual exploration started with one simple goal: Iconically Undoubtedly Norse

It has been a long time since a human male norse god, and we wanted him to display a combination of traits. He needed to represent the pantheon’s most quintessential visuals such as fur, horns, and runes. He would need to stay true to his mythology: shining armor and his relics. Finally we added in the twist of a hunter: new weaponry and a lighter weight take on his historical armored description.

These first roughs explored a series of different armor styles and head styles. We were immediately drawn to the body armor of version 1, and the idea of a more full helm. The next rounds of concepting focused in on those elements, while also refining his weapons.

After a few rounds we had our final god. The process went smoothly with this god and all teams were quite pleased with the result. Some gods go through quite large redesigns in the early concept phase but Heimdallr had clear artistic vision that drove him directly to success.

Similar to his visuals, Heimdallr’s kit also had a clear goal: Design a Hunter that does not feel formulaic.

Players had shared feedback about hunters feeling similar to one another. They often contain a ranged damage ability, a self buff, and some form of mobility. We specifically tried to avoid that combination on Heimdallr.

Heimdallr’s unique gameplay features are:

His basic attacks have a longer animation time and higher damage scaling
These attacks rotate between ranged cleaves vs higher damage single target, following an A-A-B chain.
His base stats are on the tankier side for hunters, or similar to the lower end of Warriors.
He has no ability that temporarily boosts his attack speed or power
Can gain vision of areas of the map in ways other than wards, as many as 3 of of his abilities can grant him vision bonuses, and some can even see stealthed enemies.
Has a movement ability, but one that requires planning and functions unlike any other ability in SMITE
An Ultimate that features new tech and visuals to create a unique experience, especially for the enemy hit by it.

As a hunter this god is expected to play the carry role, which traditionally means duo lane but could mean mid as well. The end of Season 6 has relocated gods to many different places but 7.1 hopes to restore us back to a duo lane (and heavily discourage invades). Heimdallr will only have a short time in the current meta before the next season and we look forward to seeing his players adapt to the changes.

The Vigilant One will see your actions before you take them. He will be a formidable foe in any one-on-one or team encounter, even if you do manage to surprise him. Hunter players are hungry for a new challenge and Heimdallr will give them a chance to prove themselves.