In Smite, choosing the right Relics can make or break a game. The support role, especially, has a large amount of options that need to work with the game state and their playstyle. Which teamfight Relics should they pick up? Is Blink Rune a worthwhile choice? Do they need to buy Purification Beads to protect themselves? In this article, we will take a look at Sundering Spear, an offensive Relic that can be used to burst down a single target. The Sunder Relic has large payoffs, but it can also be punished if not utilized properly.

Sundering Spear is a pretty simple Relic. You shoot out a bolt that stops on the first god hit, dealing 15% of their current health as true damage. The bolt cannot last hit an enemy and has a 110 second cooldown. Sunder is the only skillshot Relic in Smite. It is also difficult to hit because it has a thin hitbox, a cast time, and some travel time. Sundering Spear does the same percentage of damage to whoever it hits, barring mitigation effects, so it does more absolute damage to targets with a higher health pool, making it more effective to Sunder a tankier target.

Sundering Spear is a thin skill shot Relic that deals a chunk of damage to a single enemy.

Like other Relics, Sundering Spear has an upgraded form. In its tier 2 state, the sundering bolt also increases the target’s damage taken by 20% for 5 seconds. This is what makes Sunder a tank buster and replacement for a teamfight Relic. When supports start the game with Sundering Spear, they don’t stop at the base form, they pick up the upgraded version right out of the gate.

Once upgraded, Sundering Spear additionally causes the target to take 20% additional damage for a short duration.

Both the 15% current health damage and 20% increased damage taken effects encourage hitting and targeting a high health opponent with Sundering Spear. By the mid to late game, tanks and bruisers become difficult to kill and taking away a chunk of the health as well as making them take additional damage makes them feel squishier than they should be.

Casting a Sunder at the start of a fight does maximum damage and the 5 seconds of vulnerability should be enough to kill the tank or at least force them to leave the fight. Sundering Spear can also be saved for when a tank has taken significant damage and your team needs an extra boost of DPS to finish them off.

Timing is a consideration when using Sundering Spear. If you catch someone out in the open, you can Sunder and collapse on them. Other times, you have to find them in the frontline of a fight. Sunder can be used as a counter-initiation to blow up someone rolling into your team, or you can take the initiative and start a fight yourself by targeting their frontline and opening fire. Either way, getting maximum effectiveness out of Sundering Spear relies on proper timing and team communication.

Sundering Spear can also be cast on a squishy to burst them quickly. In situations where you want to kill a Mage, Hunter, or Assassin immediately, Sunder can get you that takedown. If you time their mobility skills and know they are down, you can hit the target with Sunder and blast away. Some support gods, such as Serqet, deal amazing damage in the early game and an upgraded Sunder into Deathbane just demolishes a squishy. In the late game, Sundering a squishy god may not be as useful because they die quickly, but it could be the edge needed to knock them down before their jump or teammates come back to get them out of trouble.

When a professional support starts the game with a Sundering Spear, they usually buy the upgraded version immediately, spending the 500 gold on it instead of a pair of boots. Tier 1 boots are pretty irrelevant, so the support does not mind starting the game with an upgraded Relic that will have more impact than 6% movement speed ever will.

So, what benefits does starting with the upgrade have? Doing 15% of a god’s health at level 1 doesn’t do that much but making them take 20% additional damage means that the limited number of available spells and attacks might be enough to kill them and start a snowball. In addition, as mentioned above, some supports have great level one damage and can take out a squishy on their own. An upgraded Sunder makes this task that much easier.

The base version of Sundering Spear is underwhelming, but starting with the tier 2 Relic allows some supports to more easily solo carries in the early game.

Sundering Spear can also be purchased as a second Relic. In cases like this, you will pick up a Blink or other Relic necessary to your game plan and then pick up the Sunder later in the game. This happens at the cost of a teamfight Relic, but your team may be able to cover the gap.

Support isn’t the only role that gets to have fun with Sunder. Solo laners usually start the game with a Teleport, but then they can build almost any Relic if it fits the situation. Maybe your support has Blink and wants to go Frenzy, but your team wants more kill power, so your solo laner builds Sundering Spear as their second Relic.

Which characters are the best to grab Sunder on? Since the Relic can be hard to hit, gods with crowd control or mobility are best. It is possible to free hand the shot, but some training wheels can’t hurt.

Fenrir is a great example of a god that supports a Sundering Spear pickup. At full runes, his Unchained is not only a leap, but also stuns on impact. Unchained lets Fenrir get in melee range for an easy Sunder shot and leaves the enemy immobile so they can't dodge. Fenrir can also Sunder an enemy as they are thrown from his mouth after his Ragnarok expires or after chasing them with a Brutalize. Serqet is another god with multiple dashes and crowd controls to set up an easy Sunder shot to render an enemy vulnerable.

Sundering Spear is a great pick up on Fenrir and Serqet, but they are far from the only gods that can pick up the Relic. Other gods with crowd control and/or mobility to set up a Sunder shot can be used. Gods that just have built Sundering Spear in pro play include Fafnir, Amaterasu, Athena, Horus, and Khepri. Many other supports and solo laners have the kits that allow them to be successful with Sunder.

It is better to build Sundering Spear on Supports with CC and mobility.

Sundering Spear is not that popular of a Relic, and there are a couple reasons why this is justified. It is the only skillshot Relic and can easily be missed if not set up properly. With a 110 second cooldown, missing the Sunder shot can be painful and might cause you to drop a kill or lose a teamfight. Other Relics have similar issues, but their misuse is based on timing, not watching a missile sail past your target. Missing a Sunder feels different than mistiming a Shell or Frenzy, even if it has the lowest cooldown of all Relics.

The other issues with picking up Sundering Spear is the opportunity cost of not picking up a different Relic. Sunder takes up a Relic slot usually occupied by a teamfight option, and most are easier to use and profit off of. It is easier to pop a Belt of Frenzy around your allies to make them all do extra damage in a teamfight than fire a skillshot to make one enemy take more damage. Sundering Spear might be more powerful in professional play because they are more likely to set it up, hit the projectile, and have the team coordination to focus the right target. So why use Sundering Spear? Because it is fun and powerful when used successfully.

A cost of running Sundering Spear is that you lose access to easier to use Relics.

Sundering Spear is a very fun Relic to use in Smite. It is a line skillshot that takes out 15% of the targeted god’s health and once upgraded, increases their damage taken by 20% for 5 seconds. Sunder is great when used to burn down and kill a tank, but it can also be used to burst a squishy target. This Relic should be bought on supports or solo laners with great crowd control or mobility that can easily land the shot. Picking up a Sundering Spear does come with drawbacks because it is a hard to hit Relic that takes up the spot of a teamfight Relic. With Season Seven brand new and the Smite Pro League yet to start, it will be interesting to see how Sundering Spear fares in the new meta.