Every god in Smite is designed with a particular purpose in mind, and that purpose is summarized in that god’s role: Assassin, Guardian, Hunter, Mage or Warrior. But once a match starts, another set of roles are introduced: the roles that define the purpose of that god during that game and the ‘lane’ they spend their time farming. The problem is that these two do not transfer directly to one another, causing some confusion when talking about a god’s ‘role’. I’m going to try to explain the difference below, and give a quick sneak peek into the current meta for Smite on PC.

Part of the confusion surrounding this topic comes from the word ‘role’ itself having two definitions in the game: one to classify the god, and one to indicate the position in the match. To clarify the difference between the two, most of the community uses ‘class’ to describe the role the god inherently has and reserves ‘role’ for the lane division in the game. Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get into the thick of it!

Classes

As I briefly explained above, a god’s class describes a god’s design philosophy and a number of traits that all gods in that class share. This way you can make a decent guess about how the god works and what you can and cannot do with them. It doesn’t give a full description of the god though, and there can be a lot of variety between each class. Some gods are part of one class, but work better when placed in a role that is traditionally better suited for another class. For example, Chronos tends to play more like a Hunter than a true Mage and usually ends up in the Duo lane or Solo lane, as opposed to the Mid lane where most Mages end up.

Assassin: Assassins are melee gods who deal physical damage, a great deal of physical damage. They are designed to quickly kill an enemy, usually by a surprise attack (gank) or by circling around the fight and finding someone out of position. It’s important to be quick about this, as Assassins have really low HP pools and die very, very quickly. A lot of the damage tends to be focused on a single target as well, further reinforcing the focus on taking out a single target.

Guardian: The polar opposite of Assassins, Guardians generally are melee gods who deal magical damage. Two gods, Hades and Sylvanus, deviate from this and have ranged basic attacks while still retaining the other traits. Guardians have the highest HP pools and defenses of all classes, and all of them have multiple forms of CC (Crowd Control) built into their kits. As you can guess, they’re the tanks in the game and their main goal is to set up fights (initiate) for the rest of the team and save their asses when they overcommit.

Hunter: These, ladies and gentlemen, are the gods that specialize in punching you in the face without coming close to you, dealing physical damage at range. The most defining feature of Hunters is their general reliance on very damaging basic attacks, with their abilities taking a back seat. Overall they tend to have relatively low HP pools and protections, but the ability to deal large amounts of damage from a relatively safe range makes this less of an issue than it is for Assassins. Another key aspect of Hunters is that they heavily rely on items for damage, and thus require a few items to really come online.

Mage: Again we have an opposition with the previous class. Mages are gods that deal magical damage at range, but rely almost completely on their abilities to do this. This is by far the most diverse group however, and quite a number of gods deviate from the standard long range large AoE (Area of Effect) kits. Freya and Ao Kuang are more at ease in the jungle because of their reliance on basic attacks, and Aphrodite and Chang’e are goddesses more suited for the solo lane with their immense sustain (ability to stay in lane due to healing abilities). It’s nigh impossible to find a lot of common traits in this group, as there is a great diversity in abilities and playstyles.

Warrior: After Mages, Warriors have the greatest diversity in kits and playstyles. They’re gods that deal physical damage at melee range, like Assassins, but are a lot more durable. They lack the great burst of damage that Assassins have, but their ability to stay in the fight longer can result in them being a bigger threat in the long run. But that is where the commonalities end, as some are heavily focused on abilities, others on enhancing their basic attacks and there’s a number that excels at surviving and just generally being a roadblock for the enemy team.

Roles

Where a class describes a god’s traits and general playstyle, the role you choose defines your purpose in the game that you’re playing. The names of the roles remain the same, regardless of the meta (common practices and ‘normal’ style of play), but the way these roles are filled and the purpose they have change over time. So it’s impossible to delve into this without taking the meta at least a little bit into account, but that also means that the information in and of itself can be less accurate a couple of weeks after this article goes live. The general idea remains relatively the same, however, so this information is going to be relevant in one way or another for a long time. Now that I have my, ahem yeah, covered properly, let’s dive in!

ADC: ADC stands for Attack Damage Carry, a term that got carried over from League of Legends, and the main goal of this role is pushing towers and dealing ridiculous amounts of damage late game, usually with basic attacks. This role is usually filled with Hunters, but there are a few mages that can take this role effectively. ADCs go into the long, or duo, lane (the lane where the towers are furthest apart) together with the Support. This is because ADCs tend to be really weak early in the game and need some extra protection, which the Support provides.

Jungle: The Jungler is the one that, not surprisingly, roams through the jungle and clears jungle camps. This ensures that there is as much experience and gold gained across the team, as gold and experience is split among gods that are close to each other. The Jungler can also put a lot of pressure on other lanes, helping out when they’re struggling or help them get a solid lead over the enemy. This role is usually filled by Assassins, but a fair amount of Warriors make a good showing here. Freya and Ao Kuang are mages that really shine in the jungle, and are often picked up in a team that has a lot of physical damage in the other roles. Those looking for a more supporting style of jungle can pick up Athena or Ymir, who can clear jungle camps relatively well and offer a lot of control, setting up kills for the players in the lanes. As you can see, this is one of the most diverse roles in the game and one that is heavily affected by patches and changes in the meta.

Mid: As you might suspect, the Midlaner goes into the center lane of the map, which is also has the shortest distance between the towers. But that is not the only thing the ‘Mid’ refers to, as the god that fills this role is generally the most damaging character on the team during the mid game (around level 10-15 when people start to rotate). Because of the central location on the map, and the mid harpies spawning every three minutes, being able to stay safe with so much jungler presence is extremely important. As such, Mages tend to fill this position due to their ability to safely and quickly clear the minions. Only rarely will other classes appear in this role, and if that happens it’s purely based on that particular player’s skill with that god.

Solo: The solo lane is without a doubt the most diverse and flexible role in the entire game, and usually fills a gap in the team’s composition. The most common class encountered in this lane are the Warriors, who can farm a bit to get their first items and start becoming a menace as the mid game starts and serve as the front line with the support. Mages are also pretty common in this position, either as a form of sustain for the entire team or as another source of burst damage. There are a couple of Assassins that are played in this lane as well, also adding another source of damage to the team, but this time physical instead of magical. The greatest advantage of placing a god in the solo lane is the relatively large amount of gold and experience available to them without the amount of ganks and rotations that happen in the mid lane.

Support: Last, but certainly not least, is the ADC’s best friend: the support. As I mentioned above, the support starts out in the long lane with the ADC, but spends a lot of the game roaming the map and assisting the other lanes when the ADC has grown enough to stand on their own two feet. The purpose of this role is best summarized as ‘make everyone else shine’. Guardians excel in this with their relatively low damage but high amounts of crowd control, blocking attacks so the fragile ADCs and Midlaners are safe while setting up kills with their crowd control. Warriors are fairly common as well, as a couple of defensive items makes them almost as durable as Guardians and compensate the weaker CC on the team with additional damage. Supports are also the carriers of Wrath of the Gods (also known as HoG 3) for securing objectives like the Gold Fury and the Fire Giant, as they can wade into the middle of the enemy team and not have to worry about dying immediately.

As you can see, classes and roles don’t translate on a one-to-one basis and the game offers quite a bit of flexibility on how you approach these two. It all depends on personal preferences and the playstyle you’re the most comfortable with. I do want to urge you to go out there and experiment, to try and break the rules that are set by the meta and find out what works for you!