What is a Rotation?

Rotating is essentially just moving from one place to another. When someone rotates from mid to solo, that just means that they’re moving from middle lane to solo lane. If a team rotates to the Gold Fury, it means that the team has moved to the Gold Fury, either as a group or individually. Also worth noting is that the term “rotate” is usually used to indicate strategic movements from a lane to an objective or from one objective to another, not just walking around. In other words, you don’t rotate from the fountain to your lane, but you might rotate from your lane to the red buff.

Even if you’re new to Smite, you’re probably already rotating without realizing it. Leaving mid to support your pressured duo lane is a rotation. Teleporting from solo lane to assist with an early Gold Fury is a rotation. Leaving an ADC boxing match to help invade the enemy boar camp is a rotation. Almost every tactical map movement you make is a rotation, and it’s essential to know when, why, and how to rotate effectively.

When to Rotate

If XP and Gold are the currency of Smite, then a rotation is essentially a bet. When you leave your lane or abandon your jungle pattern, you have to weigh the positives against the negatives. Is whatever you’re rotating for worth the minions and lane pressure you’ll give up by leaving? Let’s assume you’re playing solo, and you leave in the middle of a wave to help contest mid harpies, while your opponent stays in lane and farms. You successfully split the mid camps with your mid and jungler, but in the meantime your opponent farms two waves of minions to your zero. In this case, the rotation probably wasn’t worth it, simply based on what you lost in lane. Also take things like your health and mana into account. Once you get to where you’re going, will you actually be able to do anything?

This balancing act is why you need to time your rotations carefully. When laning, it’s best to rotate just after clearing a wave. Ideally, you’ll be able to rotate, accomplish whatever you rotated for, and then get back without missing any minions. Each role brings its own unique quirks to this balance:

Solo lane has a significant amount of time between every minion wave, but it’s also farthest away from duo lane and the Gold Fury, making any rotation a more significant time investment. In addition, the short distance between solo lane towers means that it’s easy for your lane opponent to put pressure and damage onto your tower while you’re gone.

The ADC has a significant distance between their towers, and similarly slow minion waves to deal with, but leaving lane often as an ADC isn’t recommended. ADCs are typically late game carries: this not only means that they’re somewhat weak alone and early, but also that farm is their highest priority. ADCs still rotate, but with less frequency than other roles.

Midl aners have short times between waves, but their fast clear and mid-map positioning means that they have ample opportunities to rotate. Highly mobile mid laners like Janus are capable of ganking a side lane, picking up a kill, and getting back to lane without missing a wave. Because of its central positioning, however, Mid Lane is also the prime target for enemies to rotate to.

Support and Jungle are both in an almost constant state of rotation, so there’s not a lot to their timing.

Why to Rotate

While you may have been rotating without realizing it, being intentional and calculated about your rotations is one of the keys to improving your play. The first question to ask yourself is, why am I rotating in the first place? There are four major reasons to rotate:

1. Ganking
Helping to swing a fight in another lane is often worth leaving your own assignment for a little while. An extra player in a lane can easily swing a fight, secure kills, and allow the team to invade or pressure objectives.

2. Farming Jungle Camps
Keeping jungle camps cleared is a top priority for efficient teams. This category often applies to quickly dropping out of lane and picking up your assigned buff when it respawns. That being said, the passive of Bumba’s Mask and other mathematical reasons often make splitting camps with other players ideal, so it’s also worth rotating to mid camps, back harpies, or fellow players’ buffs if you have time.

3. Securing Objectives
Attacking the Gold Fury, Fire Giant, or enemy towers is often a full-team job. If your team is trying to make a major objective push of this kind, try and be there to support them unless there’s a pressing need to be somewhere else.

4. Your Lane Opponent Is Rotating
While this might not be the most important reason to rotate, it is the one that will get you yelled at in Ranked if you don’t do it. When your opponent leaves the lane, they’re probably rotating to do one of the three things mentioned above. If a fight is breaking out in a neighboring lane, your buffs are being invaded, or the enemy team is pushing an objective, you need to be there to even the odds and support your team. A 2v3 in the duo lane is likely to lead to at least one kill, while a 3v3 is probably going to end in a stalemate or at the least an even engagement. If you can’t rotate for some reason, be sure to use [VF1], [VF2], [VF3], or [VFF] to let your team know that an enemy has gone missing.

How to Rotate

1. Make a Decision
This is often the most difficult part of rotating, and it can only really be learned with time. As you play more and pick up more experience, you’ll learn what a good gank opportunity looks like, when you should and shouldn’t leave lane to split camps, which objective pushes really need your help, and when your opponent is or isn’t going anywhere important. Once again, I encourage watching the Smite Pro League and popular Smite streamers and observing their decision making process. That being said, the important thing about this is to decide where you’re going, and why you’re going there.

2. Get Where You’re Going Quickly and Safely
Pick a way to get where you’re going, and try not to get ambushed while you’re in transit. Some characters like Janus and Athena have special options for rotating to faraway locations, but most gods just have to walk. Try and avoid choke points or unnecessarily wandering into the enemy jungle; you’re not going to be any use to your team if you’re dead.

3. Do What You Came To Do
If you’ve decided to rotate, you already have an objective in mind. Whatever it is, accomplish it as quickly and efficiently as possible. If it doesn’t work out (if the buff is stolen, the targeted enemy escapes, or you’re pushed off an objective) weigh your options and either try for a secondary objective (farming a wave or poking an enemy) or leave.

4. Get Out
Move back to lane, trying once again to take a safe path if possible. Remember, speed is key in successful rotations.

Recap

Good rotations are one of the keys to playing effectively. Try to time your rotations between minion waves to make them most effective, and take the quirks of your role into consideration. Decide before you leave whether you’re ganking, clearing a camp, pushing an objective, or just matching your opponent’s movements. Get where you’re going, do what you’ve decided to do, and get back to lane!

Happy Smiting!

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