Yes, You Should Start Playing SMITE

I've partaken in numerous MOBA experiences in search of my favourite one to spend around 4,000 hours in (no, that number isn't suspiciously specific, shut up!). I started League of Legends in Season 2, fell in love with the game and played it a criminal amount — I picked up Ranked, I got hard stuck in Bronze, then I got hard stuck in Silver, then I got hard stuck in Gold... what was I saying again?

Now, I won't lie to you — to this day, I still play League of Legends a lot, but unfortunately, I started straying not only a couple of years ago, but even this last year I swore off Ranked, and it's definitely not because I got hard stuck again. But instead, because I found something better to spend my time on.

Enter SMITE (and my subsequent obsession). As a self-proclaimed history buff that proudly knows the difference between Hercules and Heracles (yeah, I'm THAT good), I've done a little more than dabble in SMITE, with just shy of 1,000 hours, sitting at a whopping 950 hours played at the time of writing (which means that when you read this like three days later, I'll be at 1,000).

There are many other MOBAs I tried and couldn't get into, but over the last couple of years, I found myself signing back into these two periodically, but more so, I've found myself returning to SMITE more consistently over League of Legends, and the reason is relatively simple: it's just fun.

I'm competitive. Not the type that will spam VER (“You Rock” VGS) to my allies whenever they make a minor mistake "competitive", but just enough that I always want to strive for something. This means that whenever I log into League of Legends, there is always a siren call that is the Ranked button that I've grown surprisingly resistant to; the complexities and difficulties of Summoner's Rift just no longer allure me the way they used to once upon a lifetime. And over the last few years, this immunity became a sin that I've been afraid to admit to the general public for years now: I have now become an ARAM-only gamer.

Arena is a game mode I adore with all of my heart. I've partaken in the occasional Conquest, dabbled in Joust, and booted up enough Assault matches that I have managed to play at least every god once. But the siren call that used to lead to me dying like it's Groundhog Day in Ranked Summoner's Rift has become a part of SMITE in the form of Arena.

Simply put, there is no other MOBA out there that gives you the freedom to bash against your enemies for 10–20 minutes without any restrictions. Sure, there is a tower and a fountain that I occasionally dive too freely, but the capability to enter an actual gladiator arena to fight against five other opponents with nothing standing in between is a mode of fun that is only slightly replicated by League of Legends' infamous URF.

Its short-and-sweet gameplay means that you quickly reach late game and finish the round before it drags on too long, but you can have a significant enough lead early that no god — even early-game ones — feels inherently weak. Getting levels and gold fast means that you unlock your ultimate ability relatively quickly, and from there, it becomes a battle of who hits who harder.

And although it might sound brainless at a first glance, it's not quite so — Arena's strategies are aplenty. From farming minions to reduce enemy tickets (its a game over if you lose them all) to making sure that you can carry your siege minion to the end and get the equivalent of several kills worth of points, there are strategies that are not only valid but encouraged. Save your ultimate for a good fight to get a significant number of minions into the portal and get points or chip away at their life and spam it like your life depends on it to get a kill or two — they are both valid.

Even if you suck (because remember: hard stuck Gold), the short respawn times will get you back to the fight in just seconds. And I don't mean 40 seconds of staring at a black-and-white screen of death seconds, but two, three at most so long as you aren't in the lead. It doesn't become a it goes a bit longer in the endgame when you make a mistake or get caught out but instead more hectic battles where both teams are trying to get the last kill to win.

Best of all? You get to pick your character. While ARAM very closely resembles many of the things I mention, it isn't as teamfight-friendly and severely depends on Tyche's grace for you to actually come out on top. Arena lets you pick your favourite god or gods and stick to them, and this allows you to actually choose who you want to play, and just lets you have a good, fun round without having to endure another Yuumi match because we all hate Yuumi.