How Strength and Intelligence stats work in SMITE 2

The Hi-Rez development team wanted SMITE 2 to be far different from the original SMITE game, and a significant way they’ve done this is through the Strength and Intelligence stats. These have changed from the first game, and now every character in SMITE 2 has them.

You gain Strength and Intelligence as you purchase items from the store during a match. What items you buy determines the playstyle of the god you’re playing as, and the playstyle might even change as you progress through a game. The key is knowing if you should lean more toward relying on Strength or Intelligence-based items while you play, which can be confusing about what matters more for you. Here’s a thorough breakdown on how the Strength and Intelligence stats work in SMITE 2, and the best way you can figure out which ones you should get.

What Strength and Intelligence does in SMITE 2

Strength and Intelligence are the primary stats that dictate the type of damage your god does in SMITE 2. Each ability has a heavy breakdown showing if an ability uses Strength or Intelligence, and some, such as Bellona’s ultimate, Eagle’s Rally, can use both and scale to how much you’ve built on your character. Some characters only use one of these stats, like Thor, who only scales with Strength.

Not only do your character’s abilities use these stats, but so do their basic attacks. All character’s basic attacks scale by 100 percent of their Strength score and 20 percent of their Intelligence score. Although Strength plays a much larger impact on a character’s basic attacks, Intelligence also goes in there, but if you’re relying on Strength, chances are your basic attacks will hit much harder compared to a character who is building Intelligence and uses that for their abilities. You might also change what items you grab based on changing a character’s Aspect.

Finding the best balance between these two can be challenging throughout your time in SMITE 2. Even though a character is a Carry, like Cernunnos, not every ability scales with their Strength; some lean into Intelligence, causing more damage when you use them in battle. Is it better to go with Strength, despite this, or should you find a way to grab both Strength and Intelligence?

Should you get Strength or Intelligence items in SMITE 2?

The choices come down to you, how you want to play a character during your SMITE 2 match, and how you plan to play them.

For example, Cernunnos seems perfect for a Strength build because most of his attacks scale with Strength, and as a Carry, he wants to use his basic attacks pretty often. The more Strength you have, the stronger his basic attacks become, and most of his abilities also scale with Strength. However, if you grab some Intelligence items, a handful of abilities also increase. While in his Spring form, his lifesteal goes up, and the debuff he gives opponents in Fall form rises. His Bramble Blast and The Wild Hunt abilities also receive increased damage from Intelligence, but not as much if he focused more on Strength.

Many gods’ abilities will give players some bearing on how they should invest in both stats. For some gods, like Bellona and Chaac, you might dip into both Strength and Intelligence items throughout the game. Chaac’s lightning-based and healing scale heavily with Intelligence, and so you’ll want to augment his Intelligence to ensure he can survive encounters while in the Solo lane. However, Thor and Loki are far more straightforward, and you can focus on buying only Strength-based items.

You can play around with builds to see what works better for you. For those who are focusing on more basic attacks, stick with Strength. If you’re using more abilities, or need to receive more healing, Intelligence might be the way to go. Finding the correct balance of Strength-based and Intelligence-based items takes time practicing in SMITE 2.