As we covered a while ago, Hi-Rez has been working hard on their future plans on expanding the pantheon line up to include the Japanese mythology. This video that appeared on the SMITE YouTube channel covers the thought process behind the creation of the brand new Tier 5 Thor skin. The Tier 5 skin is a special skin that can only be obtained through purchasing all 14 Odyssey items. As mentioned, the Odyssey is a special event that celebrates the upcoming SMITE World Championships on January 7th, 2016.
On to the Thor skin: Ragnarok Force X
As a Tier 5 skin, Ragnarok Force X transforms during the course of a match as the character levels up. Just like the Archon Thanatos skin from last year’s Odyssey, the transformation will be progressive. This skin starts the character as a human ‘pilot’ who eventually equips pieces of his ‘mecha’ armor until it becomes a full fledged ‘mech suit’. The design team decided on this skin as the featured Tier 5 skin for the Odyssey 2015 due to the upcoming announcement of the Japanese pantheon. The mech design is to celebrate a small part of the Japanese geek culture of various mechas including Gundam, Neon Genesis and other very old ‘anime’ series. The team is pulling out all the stops and hopes to make this skin a truly incredible skin.
As for the Japanese pantheon, the last two concept designs in the video show off two of the likely additions. The first designs show a woman in traditional Samurai armor and blade with a mirror floating nearby. This suggests the great solar Goddess Amaterasu who wielded the blade Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and had in her possession the mirror Yata no Kagami. The second concept design shows a man with a great sword balanced on his back and one design had him wearing a necklace. It is suggested that this deity will be Susan-o, the deity of the storm. He is also the brother of Amaterasu and they have a great deal of rivalry for one another.
The Japanese pantheon is set to launch next year on PC with more information about it being revealed during the SMITE tournament season. The Ragnarok Force X skin will be set for release when the final Odyssey item is finally out. There are still 6 more Odyssey items to unveil.