Everybody loves a tank, but not everyone loves to play one.
Everybody loves a tank, but not everyone loves to play one. Think of them as the kid who always hosted parties back in high school: nobody really wanted to be person fishing beer cans out of the pool or scrubbing vomit from the carpet the next day but pretty much everyone in school hailed them as a hero.
A tank is a role that transcends any specific game but rather refers to a character or role whose primary purpose is to absorb as much damage as possible, provide support and setup, and just generally keep their teammates alive (or bail them out of danger). In SMITE the role of tank is primarily done by the Guardian class. This class of gods have their kits primarily designed for team support, crowd control, and just generally taking punishment. In a game like SMITE where teamwork and coordination are absolutely essential to victory, the support role, and therefore Guardian class, is one of the most influential in the game. A good tank magnifies the potential of every other member of their team. They help feed the carries and defend the squishies. Everybody loves a tank...
But not everyone loves to play one. The role is not often glamorous and can garner a lot of blame when things go awry, but as stated above playing this role well can turn the entire tide of a match and even make up for subpar play in other roles. This is often the last role to be filled during drafting a team in SMITE so if you choose to lock a Guardian in you will almost never hear a complaint. The role is inherently designed to be a team player, it is reliant on its teammates and its purpose is to support them, and so it is always welcomed. If you want to be one of the most appreciated players in SMITE and maintain a stellar winning record you will do well to play, learn, and master the Guardians listed below (and as many other Guardians as you can).
Below is a list of the top Guardians currently in SMITE.
5. KHEPRI: THE HUG BUG
SMITE - God Reveal - Khepri, the Dawn Bringer
Watch out Herbie, there’s a new love bug in town. When first released Khepri was the largest god in the game and one of the most well received as players loved his great echoing voice and his trademark dash and grab “hug” with his giant scarab pincers. Although he has been surpassed as the largest god he is still a magnificently useful support. Due to the inherent mechanics of his kit he will always be relevant and he is one of the easier Guardians to learn.
Why Khepri is a great Guardian:
- His passive, Fortitude, sends out periodic bursts of shielding to any allies nearby. Simply by being in a fight or near allies he makes them more difficult to kill.
- He has easy to hit and solid crowd control abilities. His 1, Abduct, is a quick dash that will grab, silence, and pull an enemy god backwards. This move can leave an enemy god utterly helpless for several seconds and move them out of place making it highly effective for both saving allies from danger and teeing up easy kills. His 3, Solar Flare, is a rather long range targeted root. Once leveled the aiming circle is relatively large and since the activation is quick you can easily snare escaping enemies.
- His ult is the ultimate get of jail free card. Khepri’s ult, Scarab’s Blessing, buffs a targeted ally for a brief window; however its best utility is that if an ally with the blessing dies they are revived at Khepri’s location. This is the ultimate support move and when timed perfectly can save an ally from certain death and bait out an enemy team’s high damage abilities.
BONUS: his back-to-base animation is literally him doing a dung beetle impression
4. ARES: THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE
SMITE - God Reveal - Ares, God of War
I have always found it strange that the God of War would be classed into a traditionally defensive role; however in SMITE Ares excels at the support role by bringing a belligerent, offensively-minded kit to bear in order to effectively wage a full scale war against the enemy team. Though his moves require good timing, tight skill shots, and an aggressive nature, once mastered he can be one of the most devastating Guardians in the game. Ares’s kit allows a canny player to keep the momentum of a match ever rolling in their team’s favor.
Why Ares is a great Guardian:
- He is the anti-assassin god. One of the primary duties of a support is protecting the squishier members of their team and Ares 1, Shackles, as you might expect, does a great job of locking down would-be gankers. This ability is a long range chain that cripples enemy gods hit and slows them, to an Assassin this means almost certain death. It can tag up to three enemy gods or be stacked on the same target for more punishment. It is also a great initiating move in a team fight.
- He improves the allies around him just by being near. Ares’s 2, Bolster Defenses, grants protections to any nearby gods and his passive, Blessed Presence, encourages a player to build aura items which inherently grant boons to nearby allies (be it more protections, attack speed buffs, or healing).
- Offense is the best defense. Ares 3, Searing Flesh, is a punishing flamethrower and when coupled with the damage from his Shackles and the power increases that come with completing aura items due to his Blessed Presence he becomes a presence enemies cannot ignore.
- He has one of the best setups in the game. His ult, No Escape, chains all nearby enemies and after a few seconds yanks them to his position and briefly stuns them. When coordinated with a team an Ares can potentially pull all five enemy players to a single spot and leave them open to anything and everything a team can throw at them. This ult generally forces most players on the opposing teams to buy and use their beads leaving them vulnerable to other CC and having less offensive active items.
3. GEB: SOLID AS A ROCK
SMITE - God Reveal - Geb, God of Earth
Geb is one of the most frustrating gods in the game to play against, and when it comes to Guardians the more frustrating to the enemy they are, the better. He has, without a doubt, one of the most powerful non-ultimate abilities in the game in his shield and he can be extremely disruptive in team fights. Geb is, and always will be, one of the most solid team choices in the game. Fighting him is like running into… well a stone wall.
Why Geb is a great Guardian:
- He is one of the most mobile Guardians in the game. Being tasked with supporting an entire team across a large map is no easy task since often teammates will be spread across it. Due to Geb’s 1, Rollout, he can traverse large segments of the map faster than any other Guardian without the aid of teleport or ultimates.
- He is extraordinarily disruptive. Geb’s 2, Shockwave, and his ult, Cataclysm, are fast activation, hard-to-miss, large area hard CC abilities. They knock-up and stun respectively and though they do not deal much damage they are excellent at stopping enemy gods in their track or prematurely terminating channeled abilities. They are particularly useful when defending or attempting to steal objectives on the map as they can cause a momentary disruption in the enemy team’s damage output.
- The shield. This could be Geb’s only ability and he would still be relevant. Geb’s 3, Stone Shield, is a long range shield he can instantly place on an ally or himself that not only provides a massive bonus health pool (in the form of a shield) but also cleans them of any status effects such as stuns or mesmerizes. This can effectively save a teammate from certain death and turn the tide of a pitched teamfight by keeping a damage dealer in the fight or drawing out enemy abilities.
2. ATHENA: WITH GREAT WISDOM COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
SMITE - God Reveal - Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
Unless her kit is majorly reworked (which is highly unlikely) Athena will always be one of the best gods in SMITE and certainly one of, if not, the best Guardian in the game. She is the quintessential support with a kit built around bolstering allies and peeling enemies. Although her abilities are straightforward she is one of the more difficult gods to truly master as timing and knowledge of not only your allies kits but the enemy team’s kits are required to make her highly effective, as is befitting the Goddess of Wisdom. However; the more familiar you are with the meta, god kits, and strategy the more exponentially useful Athena becomes.
Why Athena is a great Guardian:
- She has the most powerful non-ultimate ability in the game. Athena’s flagship ability is her 2, Taunt, a wide moderate range cone that can taunt enemies into auto attacking her for up to two full seconds. This ability is nearly impossible to miss and is useful for setting up kills, peeling enemies off a weak ally, or interrupting an enemy god mid-fight. It can pull enemies out of position and cancel their escapes if timed perfectly.
- She is near omni-present on the map. Her 1, Preemptive Strike, is a very long range dash that allows her to chase enemies and eat up the long distances of the map very quickly, however her true omnipresence comes in the form of her ult. Athena’s ult, Defender of Olympus, allows her to jump to any ally on the map and slam to their defense. This amount of movement is very potent on a large map and when coordinated properly can set up a perfect gank or save a troubled ally. Athena’s ability to rapidly defend and support allies across the map makes her one of the most effective supports in the game.
1. YEMOJA: DON’T MESS WITH A RIVER
SMITE - God Reveal - Yemoja, Goddess of Rivers
Yemoja is currently the most broken goddess in SMITE. By broken I do not just mean overpowered but actually in the sense that she breaks the common norms and playstyles of the game. Her abilities are very powerful in creating CC, healing allies, moving players about the map, and in dealing damage and she essentially has no cooldowns. If you want to assure victory for your team, mastering and playing this god is almost a free ride. Though you should note she is banned in nearly every competitive or ranked match.
Why Yemoja is a great Guardian:
- She has devastating crowd control. The second form of Yemoja’s 1, Moonstrike, is a moderate range, easy-to-hit, stun. Because it's targeter is a moderately sized circle it can stun multiple enemy gods and halt them in their tracks. Her ult, River’s Rebuke creates two massive, impassable walls of water that can trap enemies in tight quarters and prevent escape or chase. If aimed correctly this ability can funnel entire teams and lock them out of defending objectives or escaping to safety while Yemoja and her allies can pass freely into and out of it.
- She is great at keeping allies alive. Yemoja’s auto-attacks if shot at an ally provide healing which means while sitting in lane or between fights she can constantly be trickling health back to her allies with absolutely no mana cost. Her 2, Mending Waters, also is a ranged shot that will heal and provide a shield to any allies his. This essentially allows her to have a Shell ability in her back pocket with a much shorter cooldown.
- Few other gods can match her ability to move players. Yemoja’s 3, Riptide, while it may appear unassuming can be highly impactful over the course of a match. It can be spammed to rapidly move herself and allies about the map and even, if placed perfectly at max range, launch enemy players toward Yemoja and her teammates for an ambush.
- Omi. Yemoja’s omi system takes what is already a very potent kit for a support role and utterly breaks the game. Instead of consuming mana like every other god in the game Yemoja consumes omi when she casts an ability (aside from her ult). She has up to 10 omi that are consumed when casting abilities but otherwise this is the only limit on her abilities. Her abilities have no cooldown (again aside from her ult) and can be cast instantly as many times as she likes as long as she has omi to spare. That means she can cast multiple stuns, heals, or team movement abilities in extraordinarily short order. Due to this she is impossible to counter and very hard to plan against as you cannot rely on any of her abilities being on cooldown.
Please note that while warriors can also flex into a support or tank role the top supports have been, and always will be, within the guardian class. The above list ranks Guardians with respect to their capacity to be tanks/supports. Now that SMITE’s god roster has grown to over 100 gods and there are many flex items in the game there are a handful of Guardians that can be built highly effectively as solo laners or even jungling roles. This list however focuses on their core competency.
Please also note that when creating this list I took into consideration player statistics from places like here and here and my own personal experience of thousands of hours of play and viewing of the game. As with other rankings I have created I tried to base my evaluation on the mechanics of the gods kits irrespective of the current item balance in the game as the items will always be subject to tuning or removal while god kits stay (relatively) static. That being said there are a large number of gods, and Guardians, in the game now and a case can be made for several other gods as well as the order of this ranking. If you have any thoughts we’d love to hear them.
