SMITE The Morrigan Goddess in Review

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

With the introduction of SMITE Season 4, we were told we would receive a new pantheon, the Celtic Pantheon! And while I recently wrote an editorial outlining a few of my ideas on what it could possibly hold, one of the best out of the possible bunch has to be The Morrigan. A mage, because of course, she’s three Goddesses in one. That’s why she is referred to as “The” Morrigan, and you’d do well to respect the nomenclature. But who is The Morrigan? She’s the Mistress of Fate; Anu, Macha, Badb, the three of them represent The Morrigan. Every event, war, skirmish, and every dying breath… she was there. She wears many masks, so frequently so that I cannot imagine any knowing her true intentions, or true face. But the glory of it is that she can appear anywhere, anytime, as anyone. Yes, anyone. She’s the most ambitious of the Smite Gods so far, and I have to say, my favorite mage in the game right now. Whatever you build, whatever you can do, she can do it too. Not for too long, but long enough to make you regret taking serious firepower into a battle. Her rating is “Very Difficult” and hot damn do I ever agree. The build for her isn’t exactly rocket science, but the real question is “Where does she belong in my team comp?” Instead of looking where to put her, my opinion is you should build around her. With her power to copy enemies and players, you would have to count on the enemies doing something useful. I’d rather consider which ultimate abilities would be horrific to use on your team twice.  Are there some better than others? Of course.

Favorite Gods to Clone/useful for wombos:

• Zeus
• Poseidon
• Fenrir
• Vulcan
• Ares

The Morrigan is incredibly tricky to use though. She’s got a full kit that does amazing things though. You can stealth/clone. You have a long range poke, a short-range huge damage poke/stun, and YOU CAN BECOME ANYONE IN THE MATCH WITH ALMOST NO ACTIVATION TIME! But you can’t just… pick her and do it. I mean, you can, but it’ll suck, your team will hate you, you’ll probably get reported, and go 0/10/0.   Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but she takes a lot of practice and much trial and error. She’s got bundles of damage, and can fit in most any team with a bit of thought and effort, but there are definitely compositions she fits better than others.  And while I do focus/specialize in Arena, she’s way better in Conquest, I can’t lie about it. One of the major benefits about The Morrigan is that you can sneak over to the enemy side of the field, clear some wards, and appear on their end as one of their team. They’ll still be able to attack you/recognize you as an enemy, but with careful planning and some surprise, that split second of hesitation will be the end of them.

Pros:

• She Came In Like A Wreckingball: The Morrigan has damage for days. Her autoattack chain ends in a dome that does aoe damage. Her 1, 2, and even 4 can do fantastic damage. Though the 4 depends solely on who she becomes. Don’t blow it, and they’ll blow away and bow before the Queen of Fate.
• Now You See Me…: Her 3, the decoy, can be hilarious. If they don’t see you pop it, and burn an ult because they see you running around, it’s going to make them quite salty. Then you can become them, show them how it’s done!
• Efficient Destruction: She’s pretty mana conservative, and her cooldowns aren’t awful. Her 4 has a high cd if you use the enemy/friendly ult, but even that won’t be an issue late game if you build with CDR in mind. Even just a little will make it tolerable.

Cons:

• You Think You Know Me: Her ultimate is absolutely worthless if you don’t know how the other Gods work. Sure, you can just know a few that your friends play and probably be fine, but the more Gods you know, the more powerful The Morrigan will be. It will propagate people getting out of their comfort zones to learn more to wield The Morrigan in a proper way.
• Not So Reliable: Her 3, the decoy, is a great escape… if you know how to utilize it, that is. If they guess where you’re moving, and hit you even once, that escape is gone! So you have to really be sneaky and not perform the 3 when there’s AOE/Line/DOT damage about, or move too predictably. It could really just make you look foolish.
• She’s Needy: She’s a mage, so she suffers from what all mages suffer from: She’s squishy. She takes hits like a wet paper tiger. She also needs some measure of survivability/sustain. Just because her spells don’t cost much, doesn’t mean much in a protracted fight with no sustain. So either murder people fast and efficient, or be ready for the long haul.
• Master of Fate, Not Time: Don’t think you can get out of a pinch by utilizing Chrono’s Rewind Time ulti. It will just reset you back to the state in which you became Chronos, while wasting the bulk of your transform duration in the process!

You know what’s really popular right now? Mages in the Hunter Role. It happened a lot at Smite Worlds this year, and it really makes me think: How would The Morrigan fair in a role that is not a solo one.  And honestly? I think she’s most powerful when she can roam, IE: Solo lane/middle lane, but I’d like to see her in the duo lane. Not as a support [because you know by now, I main support], but as the Hunter! Yes, pair her with someone powerful like Ymir, Sobek, Sylvanus – something to pin them in place while she obliterates them with powerful, dark magic. Her long range poke, the ability to dip out of lane and stealth, and suddenly be the enemy carry, basically she brings huge utility to team tactics in Conquest. But it’s a lot harder than it looks to be able to see the threads of Fate. She offers doom in copious amounts, but only to someone who knows how to properly wield her.

• Passive: Doomsayer [Basic Attack Stim]: The third hit of The Morrigan’s basic attack string explodes, and anyone caught in the blast is Doomed. Doomed enemies take extra damage [9% of Maximum HP] over time [3 seconds]. I haven’t seen anything about it having a cooldown, so I would be interested in seeing “Attack Speed The Morrigan” and using it in team fights for hilarious results. Nonetheless, it’s a very powerful Passive that can get her extra damage that others don’t have access to.

• 1: Deadly Aspects [Charge Up, Crowd Control]: Upon first activation, the other aspects that make up The Morrigan appear, all pointing in a triangle formation. Activating the button again makes all three thrust their spears forward, dealing damage [80/135/190/245/300 (+80% of your magical power)] and stunning the victim [1 second]. Just look at that! 80% of your magical power! It’s short range, but hot damn it hurts!

• 2: Dark Omen [Damage, Line]: The Morrigan fires a wave of dark energy that wounds all in the path [40/70/100/130/160 (+40% of your magical power)], does bonus damage to Minions [20/35/50/65/80 (+20% of your magical power)], and applies an Ill Omen to Gods that it hits for 8 seconds. The next time that God takes damage within that time by an ability, they take bonus damage [40/70/100/130/160 (+40% of your magical power)].

• 3: Confusion [Stealth]: The Morrigan fires off a clone that runs straight into battle, in whatever direction it is sent. Meanwhile, The Morrigan becomes invisible for a fixed length or until she is dealt damage [4/5/6/7/8s]. The clone does no damage and just runs forward, so it can be a little telegraphed and obvious but incredibly tricky if cast while you’re running. The Morrigan also gains bonus movement speed while stealthed [20/25/30/35/40%]. But it does have its merits in a confusing situation to get the upper hand, or reposition for maximum damage.

• 4: Changeling [Transform]: Upon activating, a radial pops up with all Gods in match. You can also pre-select a God for easy transformation. When she becomes a new God, she copies their current stats and abilities, keeps her relics, and cannot use consumables. The new God’s skill points will go where hers go [If she has 4 in her 1, she’ll have 4 in their 1, et cetera]. If she uses their ultimate, it’ll add on to her cooldown. You are in their body for 10 seconds.

When I play Gods like The Morrigan, I definitely go all in, balls-deep damage. I might buy one protective item a little later, but I do things a little different on her.  Normally, you’ll want to get Boots of the Magi [and I think I do in my footage], but more important are Boots of Focus. That’s right. CDR is King on the Queen of Fate. Pairing that with Chronos’ Pendant is a no brainer. It’s so damn useful on all mages, but especially her. Sure you can go with Mail of Renewal, Spirit Robe, a Shield, or something like that, but more than that, I like to be greedy and angry. For that, I need Pythagorems’ Piece. It’s a fantastic lifesteal item, which is again, something she is in dire need of to recover from the almost sure damage you’ll take getting into range for Deadly Aspects. From there, I want Rod of Tahuti, Spear of Desolation, and then something fun. Maybe Doom Orb if my clones are running circles around my frustrated foes. Maybe Banecroft. She’d be hilariously fun with some Magic Penetration too, for her powerful 1. Of course, you always want to build for the situation, but I feel like a fair amount of her build will be static, easy to remember, and suitable for most situations. Lots of magical power, penetration, stuff to make people rue the day they took against her in the lane. Just remember when you pop your ultimate, it’s their stats you’ll be utilizing not yours. But your level still matters, so the most important part is getting kills and not feeding so you stay a step ahead of your foes and unleash the most when stealing their kit.

The Morrigan is amazingly fun. She’s not easy, but she’s definitely rewarding. I have a feeling her damage might take a nerf, at least her “1”, or the Percentage Damage on her passive, but you have to work with her. Simply playing her won’t guarantee you wins, and building around her is better than just locking her in at the end of the pick phase and hoping for the best. There can always be a useful God to turn into, but I think one of my favorite things to do are back-to-back Xbalanque ultimates. Or back-to-back Ares. Oh, did they all pop beads and think they’re getting away? Odin pounces down and cages them, another ult, and then, oh no! AOE damage! I can see her doing hilarious things as a utility ultimate, by pairing her with Ah Puch or someone of that nature. That could be why you put her in the hunter role. Pair her with someone like Guan Yu or someone else that can keep her alive, just sustain, farm, and then suddenly she keeps the enemy pinned in an ult. Free money for the whole team! It’s all about teamwork; it makes the dreamwork. The best thing about her is that she can bring anything to the team. She can make up for a missed ult, she can steal the best part of the other team’s ult, she has bundles of damage, and is quite mobile. But the downside is definitely how predictable it is. You might be able to guess who she’ll be, and if you waste the opportunity with Changeling, you have a long wait ahead of you before you’ll get a second shot at it.