Witch of the Woods | 7.4 Update Notes

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Witch of the Woods | 7.4 Update Notes

By: TitanIsiah | 2020/4/1

Source (7.3 Bonus Balance): https://www.smitegame.com/news/grim-omens-7-3-bonus-update-notes-live-april-7
Source (7.4 Main Patch): https://www.smitegame.com/news/witch-of-the-woods-7-4-update-notes
Bonus Balance Patch scheduled to go live: April 7
Patch scheduled to go live: April 21

*NOTE* For full patch notes, please visit the source. Only Update Schedule, Item and God Balance will be listed here.

PASSIVE - CREEPING CABIN

Baba Yaga’s Cabin accumulates up to 100 essence over time, when it moves, and if enemy gods get too close. Baba Yaga can approach the Cabin and use this essence to gain evolving item stacks. Items with a low stack count take more energy. If Baba Yaga has no stacking item this essence heals Baba Yaga for 0.8% max health per tick.

Item Stack Cost: 400 / Item Max Stacks
Heal Cost: 4

ABILITY 1 - WILD WITCHCRAFT

Baba Yaga throws forward magic imbued with chaotic qualities. The magic will travel in the path of a random shape (Left Corner, Right Corner, Split, or Oval) and leave behind a random magical field on the ground it flew over for 4s. The fields can boost friendly Protections, boost friendly Movement Speed, lower enemy Movement Speed, or Silence enemies.

Damage : 75/125/175/225/275 (+75% of your Magical Power)
Protections: 15/20/25/30/35 for 1s
Movement Speed: 20/22.5/25/27.5/30% for 1s
Slow: 20/22.5/25/27.5/30% for 1s
Cost: 70/75/80/85/90
Cooldown: 12s

ABILITY 2 - BABA'S BREW

Baba Yaga throws together random ingredients to brew a Potion. Each Eye of Newt increases the Potion’s Damage by 7.5%. Each Dragon Scale adds a 12.5% slow to enemies hit for 2.5s. Each Wolf Tooth adds a 7.5% Attack Speed slow and Power reduction to enemies hit for 5s. Baba Yaga can store a single Potion in her consumable slot refiring/canceling this ability. She can pull it out at any time to throw it.

Damage: 55/95/135/175/215 (+60% of your Magical Power)
Ingredient Count: 3/3/4/4/5
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80
Cooldown: 16/16/15/15/14s

ABILITY 3 - BLAST OFF!

Baba Yaga crawls inside her Mortar for protection. While inside the mortar she gains Damage Reduction, Knockup Protection, and begins to build up explosive magic. After 1s the magic explodes, launching Baba Yaga and her Mortar in the direction she is facing. Enemies near the Mortar when it explodes take damage.

Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 (+85% of your Magical Power)
Damage Reduction: 25/27.5/30/32.5/35%
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80
Cooldown: 16s

ULTIMATE - HOME SWEET HOME

Baba Yaga calls down her Cabin, causing it to crash onto her and launch nearby enemies away. Baba Yaga commands the cabin for up to 8s, using it as a protective shield to create and throw 4 Witchfire Bolts from the inside. When the thrown Witchfire lands, it explodes dealing damage to enemies in the area while leaving behind a creeping patch of fire that chases nearby enemies. Enemies caught in the creeping fire take burn damage every 0.4s.

Landing Damage: 100/145/190/235/280 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Burst Damage: 60/85/110/135/160 (+30% of your Magical Power)
Burn Damage: 12/17/22/27/32 (+7.5% of your Magical Power)
Shield Health: 100/180/260/340/420
Cost: 60/70/80/90/100
Cooldown: 90s

UPDATE RELEASE SCHEDULE

APRIL 21

Baba Yaga
Aesir Mulan
Rocky Road He Bo
Syndicate Da Ji
Kitty Cafe Artemis
Valkyrie Bride Thor
Shadow Speaker Hel

MAY 5

7.4 Bonus Update Content – More info coming soon!
Please note that these dates are tentative and subject to change.

BONUS BALANCE LIVE APRIL 7

GODS

CAMAZOTZ

“Ever since his leap range buff Camazotz has been a dominant force in high MMR ranked and competitive play. This new found mobility has allowed Camazotz to either escape or engage in for more situations. His sustain has been nerfed recently and now his power buff will be as well. 20 bonus power at low levels is pushing him into an overpowered state in the solo lane. This change should make him a more reasonable matchup in solo while keeping him as a viable jungler.”

SCREECH

Decreased Physical Power buff from Echo from 20/25/30/35/40 to 10/15/20/25/30

KUKULKAN

“Kukulkan continues to slither through his nerfs and maintain sky-high stats. Making whirlwind slightly more reliable has improved his playability massively, and so we have continuously adjusted him. Following up some damage from the last update, we are now focusing on his mobility. Slipstream was regarded as a weak ability for years, but after multiple buffs it is now one of the most versatile movement abilities in the game. We are increasing the cooldown and decreasing the slow immunity window to give opponents a better chance at catching this slippery god.”

SLIPSTREAM

Increased Cooldown from 15/14/13/12/11s to 15s at all ranks
Decreased Slow Immunity from 1s to 0.6s

PERSEPHONE

“Persephone is a unique balance case, touting quite high pick/ban and win rates at high MMR, and some of the worst stats in the game everywhere else. Because of this we applied a shift last update to make Persephone’s Harvest ability slightly more usable for your average player, paired with multiple nerfs. Players were concerned that those changes buffed her when she did not need buffs due to her pro level performance. We want to keep the usability changes but agree with nerfing her at pro play, so we are adding another strong nerf this update.”

GRASP OF DEATH

Decreased projectile speed from 150 to 120

YEMOJA

“Yemoja received a group of nerfs during the 7.1 update and we have been closely monitoring her stats ever since. She continues to be one the top banned gods, highly played, and maintaining over 50% win rate so we are looking to nerf her again. In this round we are making sure to target Yemoja’s offense as well as her defense. Magical Power scaling reductions across the kit should ensure players can’t abuse this guardian in the mage role, and decreasing the slow duration at high ranks should make her easier to play around in the team-fight stage.”

BOUNCING BUBBLE

Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Bubble Damage from 40% to 30%
Adjusted Slow Duration on Bubble from 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8/2 to 1.4s at all ranks

MOONSTRIKE

Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Moonstrike Inner Damage from 45% to 40%

MENDING WATERS

Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Mending Water Heal from 20% to 15%
Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Mending Water Shield from 20% to 15%

BALANCE LIVE WITH THE WITCH OF THE WOODS UPDATE APRIL 21

ITEMS

HAND OF THE GODS

“Along with the invade changes, we are buffing HoG slightly to ensure a smooth experience. This buff should allow junglers (with Assassin’s Blessing bonus) to clear the mini’s in buff camps or harpy camps through the early game with HoG alone, speeding up their initial clear times.”

Increase Damage from 150 to 170

HEARTSEEKER

“Although many changes this update are protecting Junglers, we have received persistent feedback that Heartseeker feels overtuned. This item allows for a huge power spike in the mid to late game for Assassin’s, and we have seen data to confirm they could be brought down slightly. Similar tech that Soul Reaver uses is being applied to Heartseeker to reduce the bonus damage when fired on a single target in rapid succession.”

Subsequent hits from the passive on the same target do 75% the bonus damage for the next 3s

MANTLE OF DISCORD

“Mantle of Discord has been your one stop shop for the best all around defenses, and that may still be the case after this change, but we plan to introduce more counterplay to the item. The stun will now fire on a delay after the CC immunity with an additional visual FX cue in between. This should allow opponents of the Mantle to avoid, cleanse, or play around the incoming stun in more ways.”

Now has 0.4s cast time before the stun hits
CC immunity still happens instantly on trigger

RING OF HECATE

“Mage ADCs are on the way up after a few targeted buffs and item buffs, but still not quite rivaling their physical counterparts. Ring of Hecate is a new item that has not yet found its way into their builds, and is feeling a little lackluster all around. We are decreasing the cost and making a big change to the passive to help this item fulfill the role it was meant to.”

Decreased Cost from 2600 to 2500
Passive now gains stacks from any target

GODS

ARES

“Ares received a pretty intense buff a few months back but was quickly forgotten about in the Conquest meta. Ares is a uniquely aggressive guardian so he can struggle to play the support role. To give Ares a little more control in difficult team fights we are decreasing the self slow he applies to himself while ulting. This will allow him to better avoid incoming attacks and will also give him more control of where he pulls enemies to if they fail to avoid the pull.”

NO ESCAPE

Decreased self slow from 50% to 30%

DISCORDIA

“The Goddess of Discord has caused quite a debate in the SMITE community, which is exactly where she wants us. Many players are convinced that Discordia is not as strong as she needs to be to compete in the current meta. Generally people perceive her Ultimate to be the weakest part of her kit, as the warmup and travel time are both quite slow and easily avoidable. We are making the apple travel much faster to help it hit its target.”

GOLDEN APPLE OF DISCORD

Increased Projectile Speed from 80 to 120
Increased Range from 150 to 225

HORUS

“Horus has fallen off pretty hard in most levels of play. This god has the potential to be a top support, yet is still struggling in the metrics. We are decreasing the cooldown of his primary engage and lockdown ability, which should make a big impact. Additionally, we are speeding up his movement speed while flying in his ultimate. This number here looks insane but diminishing returns apply harshly during the effect. The speed increase should be noticeable but not overly shocking.”

FRACTURE

Decreased Cooldown from 16s to 16/15.5/15/14.5/14s

TO THE SKIES!

Increased from 35% to 135% Horus now moves faster in the air while selecting a target

KUZENBO

“The King Kappa has a gun now, but with his treasured Hide of the Nemean Lion being nerfed the big guy has struggled. We are looking to make him a more reliable support, by making his defense passive stack for much longer and for giving him more control over where he takes enemies hit by Sumo Slam. In addition to those defensive changes, we are removing the cap on NeNe kappas spawned. Kuzenbo’s kappa army will finally be realized!”

WATER BOWL

Increased Duration from 10s to 30s

NENE KAPPA

Kuzenbo can now spawn multiple NeNes

SUMO SLAM

Adjusted turn radius to allow for more control over turns

MULAN

“New gods are always an interesting balance project. Of course, there is always a lot of feedback about them being OP, even when stats clearly suggest otherwise. Mulan has been relatively balanced, and near the middle of the pack. Feedback about her being OP has been a bit more quiet than usual, and her stats are low but not alarmingly low. We have heard clear feedback that her Ultimate feels underwhelming, so we are adding a new component to it to reward Mulan’s who have built defenses already.”

SPEAR THRUST

Increased speed of the rollout hit area of this ability

DIVINE MASTERY

While firing this ability, Mulan’s protections are increased by 30%

“The Egyptian Sun God hasn’t seen the light of buffs in quite a while! This god still hold a special place in many player’s hearts, but he has struggled in the metrics lately. We are bringing back an element of Ra that his kit actually had in closed beta SMITE, where his Solar Blessing will give his allies a Power buff while they are inside it. This encourages Ra to use this ability in combat, and gives him some interesting strategies around structures or jungle bosses.”

SOLAR BLESSING

This ability now provides 10/15/20/25/30 physical power and 20/25/30/35/40 Magical Power to allied gods who while standing in the area

SCYLLA

“Our final balance change is more of a QoL or bug fix, but it will certainly have a balance impact. First we fixed a small bug around Scylla’s max rank protection debuff on Crush, but that’s not the big news. Scylla will now be able to refire crush even while CC’d or dead, this is a long-time request and since we have applied it to some other gods we feel that it’s only fair Scylla gets it too. We will also continue to look at this concept for any other gods who might need it.”

CRUSH

Fixed an issue where Crush would not apply protection reduction to slow immune targets
- Only impacts last rank
Scylla can now refire this ability even while under the effects of crowd control, or while dead.

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Mythical (400)
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Baba looks very interesting and fun. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on how she plays. One thing that does worry me is the huge amounts of slow she has in her kit.

Imagine a good, lucky 2+1 combo... Assuming that it's entirely random, one could potentially have 5 dragon scales mixed in the potion on her 2 for a 62.5% slow for 2.5s, and if her 1 hits for another 30% slow, that'll mount up to 92.5%. Of course, diminishing returns and all and the calc may not be additive (how does SMITE calc slow atm?), but that sounds like an insane number.

Can anyone ease my mind and tell me that slow does not calculate that way? I really hope not.

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Okay so, I did a quick google search on how slow's DR works, and apparently slow DR works under a formula of Effective Slow =(Base Slow x 100) / (Base Slow + 60), once it goes past 40% slow.

So, if a target is slowed for 40% or below, that % will apply no problem. Once it passes 40%, the DR calc kicks in.

With the example of Baba's lottery winning combo, the 92.5% would be:

(92,5 x 100) / (92,5 + 60) = 9.250 / 152,5 = 60,65

So not a 92.5% (luckily) but a 61% slow. Is this correct? Even so, that's still quite huge.

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@XZ: From the Word of Thoth:

Diminishing Returns on Slows

So it shouldn't be as bad as you're imagining, thank goodness. (Also, I'm surprised you actually said "Diminishing Returns" since you abhor that term used in this way, lol.)

As for my thoughts on the item/god changes, in general I like them. I'm actually very happy about ...any nerfs to it are fine by me, as my true love between the two is , being honest.

I'm also a little leery about the Kuzenbuff. Seems fairly significant.

And the Ra buff isn't a big deal in a teamfight, but seems maybe too strong for objective damage.

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Mythical (400)
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Where's the Acorns they promised >:( ?

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Distinguished (72)
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Okay so cannot go below 150 MS at all times, and the formula I found is correct... So ~61% Slow would be the effective value unless it were to drop the affected player below 150MS. Phew, good to know. 61% can still be very significant though, but at least it's up to chance.

Really interested in seeing how the whole randomness plays out in the actual game.

And yes, I'm not very fond of Diminishing Returns used as a term as I'm a more "casual" player and DR tends to be a term used by "diehard" gamers to prove their point a little too much. Or so it was a long time ago, not sure if people still grab for the "but DR!!!" card as often (I'm aware DR exists but only in a handful of cases will DR actually make a significant enough impact to reconsider something).

Also that Ice Age squirrel what's-his-name stole all the acorns, Myst.

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Just jotting down my thoughts while reading:

Not sure about new god. Just reading the kit doesn't tell me enough. Will have to feel them out in practice.

skin seems fun. gets a troll skin. Yet another cat skin, this time on .

Anti toxicity measures seem a bit more serious. Best behavior, everyone.

Invader's curse sounds a bit nuts. That put an end to Speed invades. Interested to see how large the debuff area is.

Joust/Duel seems like good QoL adjustments.

I feel that should have been like this from the beginning. Glad to see they adjusted it. Provides more reliable sustain.

actually got a nice little QoL buff.

ult buff definitely boosts her a bit.

buffs are good but were completely uncalled for.

got a pretty serious buff. Wow. Interested to see how the new turn radius feels. Multiple NeNe kappas is pretty crazy.

buff seems a little strong and uncalled for.

got a pretty big buff. Does this mean that she can recast it through Silences as well? Pretty nice enhancement.