When we set out to make SMITE 2, one of our primary goals was to reduce CC overall. In our testing and development we ran into a pretty big challenge...
SMITE doesn’t feel like SMITE without CC.
Chaining CC to set up kills and navigate through team fights is core to the identity of the game, and anytime we removed CC from Gods during development the game felt significantly worse.
We’ve been monitoring community feedback around the frustration of CC in SMITE 2 and after many talks internally, we came to the conclusion that the solution isn’t less CC — it’s more counterplay to CC.
Soon, we will be testing a new system on live servers: CC Buffering.
CC Buffering improves the feel of SMITE 2 and its responsiveness without losing SMITE’s core identity, and also offers a new layer of counterplay that heavily impacts the game at the top level of play.
What is CC Buffering?
CC Buffering is a new feature that allows you to queue up and follow through with an ability fire even if you are hit with a CC at the beginning of your animation. Here’s how it works:
- If you input an ability and are CC’d during the Prefire stage:
- The ability will still go off as intended.
- Your character will animate through the fire stage, then enter a stunned/knocked up/cc'd posture. There will be no post-fire animation if you buffered the ability
- You will remain CC’d and unable to move your camera until the CC effect wears off.
- If CC hits you during the Firing stage of an ability, the ability will be interrupted as usual.
- This system only works for abilities you input before you are hit with CC. You cannot trigger abilities while already under a CC effect.
Gameplay Clarifications and Exceptions
- Leaps:
Leaps can be buffered.
- For example, if you’re playing Anhur and are hit with a CC during the prefire of Disperse, you’ll still leap and land at your target location. However, you’ll remain CC’d upon landing if the CC duration hasn’t expired.
- Exceptions:
Some abilities, such as Fenrir’s Ultimate, cannot be buffered for balance or gameplay feel reasons. Additionally:
- Channeled abilities will behave as they always have and won’t go on cooldown if interrupted in the Prefire stage.
- Dashes are not bufferable and will still be stopped by CC.
What’s Next?
We’re going to activate CC Buffering on live servers during Closed Alpha 8 for testing as soon as possible.
Keep an eye on our official social media channels for updates on when this feature goes live. We’ll also have a JSON panel up in game when this feature is turned on so it’s super clear when it's active.
With a feature this game-changing we need a large sample size of players testing things out so we can get as much feedback as possible. We also expect this process to take time to find good visual solutions for the many interactions in SMITE 2, and will be keeping an eye out for cases that feel off that we need to fix.
This is a BIG change, but one we think will help with one of the biggest frustrations in SMITE 2, while also adding a new level of depth that feels worthy of a true sequel.
Once the CC Buffering test is live, hop in the queues and get some games in then let us know what you think! We’ll be paying close attention to all the feedback that rolls in.
See you on the Battleground Deities!