by these events, Ao Kuang threatened to report the
In terms of his appearance, SMITE has
occurrences to the Jade Emperor or attack the people
most definitely stuck very closely to the lore. He
of Ne Zha’s village. Being the heroic character that
was depicted as a young boy with long hair in
he was, Ne Zha killed himself to save the village from
traditional art. Statues in temples were no different.
Ao Kuang’s attack. However, Ne Zha was brought
Many of the art also placed him with a dragon,
back to life by his teacher, Taiyi Zhenren. Using lotus
as a direct result of his famous confrontation
roots, he constructed a human body for the soul of
against the King of the Eastern Seas.
Ne Zha. He was also presented with two weapons:
the Wind Fire Wheels and the Fire Tipped Spear.
RIGHTEOUS SPIRIT
There are variations on how this encounter
came to be. In another version of the story, after Ne
When playing as Ne Zha in SMITE,
Zha was born, he was bestowed upon the gift of the
his passive is represented by a lotus. Once again, the
Cosmic Ring. While cooling off by the sea, Ne Zha
emergence of it is due to his rebirth. It would make
playfully threw around the Cosmic Ring. This resulted
a lot of sense then to relate the lotus with life, and in
in tremors deep in the seas and shook Ao Kuang out
the case of SMITE, every basic attack brings Ne Zha
of his peaceful slumber. He instructed his scout to
closer and closer to healing himself. Over the years
find the source of these tremors and ended up face
Ne Zha’s passive has seen some major changes. The
to face with this child. Similar to the first variation of
first version was that at Ne Zha’s death, he would
the story, Ne Zha killed both himself and Ao Bing.
leave behind a large Area of Effect (AOE) which would
Let the connections commence. After gaining
heal allies. This passive mirrors the events that
his place as a deity, placed upon his shoulders
happened in his life when he killed himself to save
was the title, the ‘Third Lotus Prince’. The lotus
the people of his village. In the second version of
may have signified his phase of rebirth since
the passive, it was called Immortal Spirit. The name
it was used to construct his new form.
isn’t the only thing that changed. How the passive
The Official SMITE Magazine Issue #19
The GameOn Magazine 37