Has Hi-Rez ever commented on why they don't do a specific nerf to this combo in Arena?
I was having a good time playing Smite 2 testing things in Arena for awhile, but I have to essentially abandon the game mode during non-peak hours because you're going to run into the exact same problem combination that occurred in Smite 1, which is a 50-star aphro + loki or susano and you're going to not be able to play the game because you had no way of counter-picking it; they are going to target the least experienced squishy on your team and farm them.
I understand the combination isn't broken outside of Arena, but it was a pervasive issue years ago in Smite 1 for years that I've begun to see more in more in Smite 2 now, and I don't understand why there just isn't a target nerf specific to the game mode to address the problem.
Getting on and playing your first match to warm up against this combination makes me immediately want to get off the game, and I generally do pretty well in my matches and have a lot of experience from Smite 1, so I can't imagine how newer players who are practicing in the "easier" mode feel running into this who don't have any ideas of how to play around it.
Aphro is annoying in arena no matter who she is paired with if the team is coordinated.
Theres this 5 stack that just goes aphro athena in arena and its uncounterable.
I know exactly who you're talking about. I always check for their names whenever i see an athena. They also like to play geb. It's so frustrating getting matched against them. Never won a game and i usually close the game afterwards and come back another day.
As crit kuku onetrick I play vs them 5 stacking everyday and always loosing. Its just not possible to win. Also I begin to connect dots on why I become alcoholic
Yeah they are killing the game!
ITS YOU
😈
The second we start balancing the game around a specific duo que in Arena of all places, game balance is going to go completely out the window. Also, ask yourself if this duo is really that strong, or if you just find them annoying.
I have thousands of hours on Smite, that combo has consistently had extremely high win rates in Arena.
They have balanced individual game modes prior; I'm not sure why you think that would throw game balance out the window?
Khepri and Aspect Hecate consistently have the highest arena win rates, people just complain about Aphro and Susano because they are perceived as a "cringy e-couple"
Where are you getting your arena win rates from? That's not reflected on the sites I've seen; not trying to be rude with that, legitimately curious if there's a better source for that data then where I've gotten it from.
Hope it changes but it is a huge issue but they have done very little outside of Conquest changes+balance and some to assault. Also in Smite 2 it is more Pele or Da Ji than Loki or Susano but still the same issue.
the way you nerf the combo is by nerfing the one enabling the combo. aka, nerf aphrodite. but if aphro isn't the best god in every mode, she sucks ass and one setsunafairy is gonna spam more buff
hitli mean aphro propaganda in one titan talk than i ever did for mulan.you're fighting an uphill battle, but you might finally win an arena vs them cause they'll be typing responses with the one hand they have available to type with
But shes terrible except for this one cheese meta in arena. Almost unplayable in the other modes.
Yep, that's what's unfortunate :( Their kits really aren't problematic in a vacuum or in any other mode where they can be punished for going all-in / being out of position.
Eventually theyll add nonquest balances and I suppose nerfing her healing and/or immunity time will get done
Aphrodite really should just get a rework to make her kit healthier. She's never been balanced and is always either completely unplayable or broken, and it almost completely revolves around her ultimate being a "get out of jail free" and her healing either being over or undertuned. She probably should have had a soft rework when they did the healing changes.
They likely will never touch up on her due to her incredible popularity. Even with a god as hated as her, its better to keep her playable for the sizable playerbase niche that really loves her and plays her every other match then to rework or nuke her for the people that hate her and only see her like once ir twice a day
The soft reworks she’s gotten tend to push her towards support which imo is her most controversial, and worst, role. Nothing good comes from her being viable she’s more fun as a subpar pick which is where she should be honestly. Can’t really rework her either because of her split playerbase. damage control is just leaving her a little underpowered and still somewhat satisfying to play which is fine
I mean what do you even do without it feeling awful for a Susano or Aphrodite player
There are few ways to go about it, but none of them are going to satisfy both the general population and the Susano/Loki + Aphrodite players; I think that it's worth having a worse experience on a very small subset of the god pool in a specific game mode than it is to have a worse experience for 7 players in that match.
The most straightforward fix would be to make a contingent nerf, i.e.; this nerf only occurs if Aphrodite is linked to Susano/Loki or they are on the same team, or make them unplayable together.
I get that wouldn't "feel good" but other fixes such as increasing Aphrodite's cooldowns or reducing Susano/Loki's mobility/damage output would make them significantly worse when played independently, and aren't really nerfs their individual kits need.
I dont think punishing teamwork is the way. What in the god select screen you want a big red text when you hover Susano when Aphrodite is locked in and vice versa? It just feels bad for anyone playing those gods for no reason, especially new players who would have no clue.
Right, but that's the issue isn't it? SOMEONE is going to be having a bad experience no matter what. Either you're going to give a bad experience to new players who don't understand why something is contingently banned/nerfed and are unable to replicate abusing the combination, or you give a bad experience to the 8 other people in the match against the duo that is abusing the combination.
You have to make a call about whether something is problematic enough to justify the initial harm to address it. That's the whole point of rules in any kind of system, they are restrictive which is inherently problematic, but the outcome of not having the restriction is considered worse than the restriction.
In my experience, I run into significantly more players purposely running the duo combination than I do players inadvertently choosing the combination organically, so I'd argue that it's more worthwhile to cause "punishment" to a significantly smaller subset of the player base.
In addition, I think that newer players tend to play a lot of Arena to practice; I've played Arena with new players I've queued with before in Smite 1 that quit playing because they would run into that combination repeatedly for multiple matches in a row and feel so powerless to do anything about it that they didn't want to play anymore, and that was with someone trying to give them help.
I can't think of a single other combination in the game that feels so oppressive to being able to play the game, which is also the reason it's essentially the only problematic duo combo you ever see in Arena.
Rather them rework Aphrodite in general who sucks in all modes besides Arena with said combo. Susano and Loki are innocent. If we start balancing by god synergy that becomes a fucking mess
As an Aphro main Aphro + Aspect Loki for me is ok as a duo but I never understoond that Susano thing, Susano has everything he needs to do his job and run away alive, Susaso has soo much mobility that lose mana to re-link with him just annoys me. Aphro is good on arena if she is playing with friends in a party as a solo Aphro I always runs her bruiser on arena, every aphro I see building full damage without a party gets eaten alive by 2 warriors and a tank who will focus her entire match.
The only god that has out of conquest balance in Smite 2 rn is Hecate and I imagine it'll be expanded on later down the line. Both Susano and Aphro had them in Smite 1.
I pretty much abandoned arena since the matchmaker loves to put a bunch of solos vs five-stacks.
The solution to your problem is to either stop playing Arena or to stop expecting Arena to be balanced. You're playing a mode that's deliberately a clusterfuck. Learn joust or conquest.
Just jump the Aphrodite and exhaust all her cds