The Official SMITE Magazine Issue 1 | Page 25

Opinion The name, ‘Ullr,’ appears to have gone through a couple changes over time and cultures. The Germanic pagans appear to have referred to one, Wulþuz, while the old English seem to have used “Wuldor” or wuldorfæder “glory-father”, though there is some smoke surrounding the English use of “Wuldor” in wood-engraved depiction of him which finds him riding a large magic bone at sea. In chapter 31 of “Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda,” written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Ullr is referred to as a son of Sif (with a father unrecorded in surviving sources) and as a stepson of Sif’s husband; the a bow wielding hunter to a close ranged dual axe assassin by way of his “Ultimate ability,” or his #4 move. major Germanic God, Thor. So you basically get the idea, There is oddly not a lot of right? He was renowned as an information on Ullr from expert hunter that did so while mythology, though we do know riding skis. he is the bearer of the title, “Glorious one” or “King of glory”. Now let’s look at Ullr in Smite. Archaeologically, there’s a He is labeled in the MOBA scabbard in Europe that refers (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) to “The Glorious One” (Ullr), community as a “Hunter” or and “Servant” or “Slave,” which “ADC,” which stands for “Attack would lead one to think it was a Damage Carry”. These characters scabbard belonging to a servant “carry” the teams attack or or slave of Ullr. So, he at least had physical damage; in contrast his best friend that was devoted to mages who carry the magic to him-- and that’s all we need, damage side of things. right? He is depicted as a strong woodsman with a medium Moving on, let’s look at what he bow, dual one-handed axes, is depicted as. and while there are no skis to Most accounts of Ullr refer to be found (other than during his him having a bow (which we see game winning animation), he in Smite), as well as skis. does sport snow boots which are He is included on winter sports much better for fighting in! medallions in Europe and is Quick, agile, and hard hitting, he viewed as a “skiers guardian”. is a tough ADC to beat. Interesting that he can shoot a bow while on skis; he must be a Let’s get more specific. I’ll start God or close to one! I sure can’t do with his ‘Change stance’ move. that. There is also a 16th century Ullr has the ability to swap from try to get the upper hand by closing the gap, he is also right at home with his axes. Because of this attacking him one on one requires some tact or brute force. reference to a name specifically. Issue 1 • May 2014 This makes him extremely hard to counter. If you are a ranged character, he is right at home with his bow and if you are a close combat character and I mostly play as mage class gods and I find Ullr frightening to get into a scuffle with due to him being able to close the gap and attack my defense and health lacking God. Ullr has some tricks up his sleeve, such as his “Thrown axe” which stuns an opponent for as long as 1.8 seconds (which in heated battle is a LONG TIME), his “Glory bound” jump ability, or his “Hail of arrows,” which drops arrows from the sky on unsuspecting targets. I should also note that when he changes stance, each of his moves (1-4) change as well. To elaborate, his #1 move goes from a penetrating arrow that goes through anything while dealing damage to a thrown axe that stuns; 25 • GameOn Smite Community Magazine