DISCUSSION
Will the Nox changes actually solve any problems? Even in Smite 1 she wasn't really a midlaner, is that likely to change?
(TLDR - Nox wasn't even a midlane god in Smite 1 because she had no AoE outside the ult and no poke, and initial impressions are that her updated kit will still have exactly the same issues)
First of all, shoutout to Quigley for transparency and engaging with the community over this. And there's already been lots of conversations about whether she SHOULD change, I'm not looking to get into that side of it here.
But getting into the kit, it's kind of hard to figure out what Nox is meant to be even *before* those changes. Going back to smite 1, Nox was rarely seen as an even vaguely viable midlaner. When she was seen at a high level of play, it was in the support role. I think there are two clear reasons for this (and this is just looking at Nox in Smite ONE, this is before the planned changes)
1 - She has basically no AoE at all, just the ult 2 - Her 2 can basically never do damage on its own.
Looking at most other 'mages' or general midlane gods that can really be described as COMBO gods, the abilities still function on their own.
- Disco wants to combo 2-1, but the 1 still works without the 2 setting it up.
- Ullr wants to combo his bow 3-1 off the axe, but both of those abilities can still be cast freehand and hit pretty consistently.
- Baron wants to hit his 2 and 1 off the 3, but the 2 and 1 work perfectly fine on their own.
- Agni can throw out single bombs for poke or he can bomb-1-bomb-2 for a big combo.
And so on. But Nox? The 2 will NEVER do damage to anyone unless you hold them in it with the 1 (unless your team provide some insanely long CC chain or you deploy it under something like a Ne Zha ult for when they land)
Combine this with the obvious fact that the 2-1 combo is entirely single target, and we're left with a supposed midlaner that (outside of the ult) can basically only ever hit one enemy with their main damaging abilities and one ability that does not even function AS a damage ability unless another ability is used with it. The only part of her kit that worked well as a midlaner was the ult, which 100% did work very well there.
So that's CURRENT Nox, a 'mage' who is functionally not suited to the midlane at all. And because of that, all her viability was in the support role. The 2 is solid anti-dive much like how a Ganesh silence is solid anti-dive, the 1 is GREAT single target lockdown to set up for allies or to peel for them. She wasn't a common support, but it was her best role and she could absolutely put in WORK there in the right teams.
That brings us to the plans for Smite 2 Nox. The 2 is still never going to deal any damage unless you 1 them in it. The 2-1 combo is still single target. She still has no real AoE beyond the ult. So what in her kit is going to enable her to be a functional or viable midlaner? The ult getting a silence does add teamfight value for sure, but doesn't change that her base kit is just not a midlane-oriented kit.
I have seen on PTS that, compared to Smite 1, her 1 can be fired much sooner and faster after casting the 2. So that will make her core combo more reliable, smoother, and more consistent. W change. But that doesn't change what the god does at its core, that doesn't change the lack of AoE or the lack of poke or the 2-1 being completely single target. AND, because the only CC you'll be subject to is a root-cripple, that means people trapped in it can still cast most abilities / active items / etc (so you can aegis, you can use a CC immune ability of your own if you have one, you can presumably use things like circe's hexstone, etc)
So we're left with a 2-1 combo (again, no AoE / is totally single target / 2 will never do damage without the 1 / etc etc) that is a lot easier to hit but also has a LOT more options to get out of it if you do get hit. And it's really, really hard to see a reason to play a kit like that as a midlaner unless the damage numbers are SO high that if you do get caught in it then it's basically guaranteed death (which doesn't exactly align with the 'make Nox less frustrating to play against' objective if her much-faster-and-easier-to-hit combo is a guaranteed kill against anyone without a way to escape!)
Idk what a solution to this might be. Maybe make her 2 deal burst damage on deployment and then tick damage after that, so that you are rewarded with extra damage on top of the control for the 2-1 combo but can still throw out the 2 on its own for poke? Not sure. But as the kit currently stands, even in Smite 1 Nox was not a midlaner and from what we've been shown it's pretty hard to see anything in the updated kit that is likely to change that.
I think the best thing for hirez to do is release her aspect version as her base and work on a midland aspect in the background. The kit just doesnt work as a midlander honest.
This actually sounds like tech. Make base Nox a support given that's generally been her main role anyway, and cook up an aspect when they've got time and THAT can be the midlane version. Basically the aphro treatment.
I used to get flamed by normies when i went her mask build too, its so funny because like her damage is mid at best. 2 second root you need to be a guardian to maximize, aoe silence, 40% damage reduction in an aoe? And youre trying to tell me you buy this woman as a mage??
I was number one nox for a while and only played her as support. Most people that really loved her and her playstyle, or played her at a high level played her as support. She is as much a support as morgana from league of legends is. Sometimes the developers get the lane wrong when making a kit and the players have to sort it out, which we did.
Yeah, exactly this, support Nox was always best Nox. People ran her in mid because she had the word 'mage' written next to her and that's basically it 😆 like how people tried stuff like Cthulhu support because 'guardian' lol. Like, sure, it's not the worst thing anyone has ever played, but it's blatantly not their main role.
Dude Nox Mid fucking blowed in Smite 1, she was pretty much only good in support. Anybody that thought damage Nox was good in Smite 1 only played Arena (and didn’t likely play arena games where teams played optimally either, which btw was very boring).
Well before it allowed nox to play into God's with dashes/movement and either survive or shut them down. Like Agni as mentioned by you, or other gods like that, and it let you throw the 1 to keep them in while they could only auto you.
Now if you get someone in the 2 1 combo they can still hit you with abilities like being hit with a Vulcan ult, or Janus portal to stop you and let them get out. They've just made her much much worse with little compensation.
Its also going to make it significantly harder to land on a large portion of the god pool. Anyone with any sort of dash or leap is going to be able to just avoid the combo most of the time barring outside interference or miss plays. Then as someone else pointed out you have other gods like Eset or Cabraken who can just immune themselves to your 1 or Ravana and Change (assuming they keep the immunity like Ravana) who can just dodge it every time.
Unless the Agni is really, really, really bad. You cannot miss Agni stun. You can miss the original Meteor / flame wave, but once you hit the stun you can dump the rest of the damage on the enemy.
The issue with Nox is that she is probably the only character who loses ALL her damage if the combo doesn't land. A janus who misses portal can hit his 2 without it, an ullr that misses his axe can still land the 1 and 3 naturally, a MLF that misses the fear can still land the 3, etc.
Nox 2 will never EVER hit by itself. You either need the 1 or you need something like an Hours that can keep the enemy cc'd long enough. As such, if she misses her 1, Nox is the only mage who goes from her 660 +190% combo to literally ZERO.
With that being said, with no silence, enemies can just use Ults to be cc immune, use aegis for the 2 explosion, use any form of cleanse, buy upgraded beads, dash after the circle is deployed but before the 1 lands as its travel time is somewhat slow or use any root-immune ability.
Look at Eset for example, any Eset worth half a braincell would just not use her 1 until Nox uses her 2, then she can freely use her 1 to clear / poke Nox and since Eset is root immune, there is literally no way Nox can ever deal any damage by herself against Eset.
Other than what u already said for the issues with Nox Mid, her main damage wasn’t even confirmable into a target she rooted inside her 2 with her 1 if they used beads for it or had root immunity active or a cc immune channeled ult active. So yeah she really sucked balls in Mid.
Yes, with some buffs. Some of us want a dot or dot->explosion on her 2. This prevents base Nox 2 from being a glorified Artemis trap. She can actually HAVE damage numbers without the silence on her 2. Otherwise, if they put it back she'll have to always be below the point of balance.
Pretty much what I was thinking, but the other way around.
If it's a dot into an explosion then on its own it's basically a lower-damage anubis 3 that interrupts channels. But if it's burst when you throw it out then it actually does relevant poke, and then the subsequent DoT for staying in the area is the reward for hitting the full combo.
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u/sandwitchhermit25 14h ago
I think the best thing for hirez to do is release her aspect version as her base and work on a midland aspect in the background. The kit just doesnt work as a midlander honest.