SMITE is filled with brilliant mages but there are some that are, at this point in time, stronger than others. Every patch those on this list will be changed depending on the impact the patch has. However and in line with 3.1 Dwarven Corruption, these are, as far as I’m concerned, the best five assassins.

Updated 20 July 2016

Ao Kuang

A God I loathed for a long time simply because of how much trouble he caused me, Ao Kuang is a constant threat and a fantastic mage. With little reliance on mana thanks to his Passive (if out of mana his Passive sword charges will use the abilities for him) there's rarely a time where he can't burst an enemy God. In addition, his access to a five second stealth, a damage multiplier in Dragon Call - which he can also spike with - combined with an Ultimate ability that often gaurentees a kill, he's a frustrating God to fight against. Even at his worst, he'll attack you quickly with Dragon Call and if a fight goes wrong, he'll simply escape with Water Illusion that kindly leaves a watery form behind that he can then detonate for extra damage. If that wasn't annoying enough, he can always turn and hit you with Wild Storm for a nice little spike. 

Janus

I love Janus and the flexibility he provides his team. He's totally unique to SMITE and still highly in demand. For his Portal alone he's often invaluable thanks to the mobility it offers, but also the utility if used offensively. Where its utility is concerned, his Portal can be placed on a wall that Janus or an ally may use. This quickly grants access to other lanes or to escape if neccesary. Better yet, if used on the floor enemies will fall through it for high impact damage when they land. He can also pair this easily with Unstable Vortex so that when an enemy God does lands through the portal, his projectile will meet them when they arrive. 

What makes Janus particularly strong however - despite the strength of Portal - is his Ultimate ability, Through Space and Time. Although it's used offensively (the ball Janus fires deals damage to enemies it hits) it's the fact it creates a 10 second portal through all surfaces in a line that make it incredible. It effectively provides a long distance teleport through the map that you and your entire team can utilize. Need to gank several lanes away? Not a problem. Need to quickly get back to the front line after using the fountain? Sure thing. There's a reason why it has a 90 second cooldown and it's simply because it's so good at allowing Janus and his team to collapse on the enemy team, or to escape when things go badly wrong. 

Raijin 

Although a relatively new addition to SMITE, Raijin continues to do extremely well. His kit is varied, has lots of damage but also mobility and utility. He's a monster in the right hands and although I prefer Sol or Chronos, there's no doubting his strength (and drums!). Raijin's Passive, Static Crescendo, allows him to deal 100% extra damage once he's attacked 4 times with his basic attack. He also gains charges for his Passive through using his skills, allowing him to burst quickly once stacking. His first skill, Percussive Storm, can build three of these stacks while dealing damage in straight line over several attacks. Thunder Crash as a two part skill can allow him to build two stacks of his Passive and provides some much needed mobility and utility. On use he'll teleport to the enemy God as a bolt of lightning, dealing high impact damage (securing one stack on cast and another on arrival) while mesmerizing.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Raijin's kit is Raiju - a spirit that he attaches to enemies - that not only reveals them, but triggers once Rajin attacks them. The spirit will then work its way out of the enemy God to deal high damage to the target and those around it (while awarding a single charge). Unsurprisingly, his kit if used properly is capable of enormous burst damage: Raiju leading into Thunder Crash before finishing with Percussive Storm is pretty scary. 

Chronos

One of my favorite Gods in SMITE, Chronos is incredibly powerful but also comes with a high skill ceiling. His Passive, Wheel of Time, provides a huge amount of flexibility to his kit and depending on where it lands, he's capable of gaining fantastic benefits. One of the best early game is Section II which allows him to gain a 100% refund on his cast spell. The additional sections offer Magical Power, Magical Power to basic attacks and health regeneration.

Where his skills are concerned, most are difficult to land: whether it's a small AOE (Time Rift) or slow moving projectile (Stop Time) he requires particularly good aim and movement prediction. Despite that, there's also flexibility in his kit. Time Rift is a high impact AOE, Stop Time provides a slow and stun while Accelerate offers a movement speed buff that's great for engaging or using offensively. The fact Accelerate also boosts basic attack speed makes it great for mobile hunts. Lastly and probably one of the strongest Ultimate abilities in the game, Rewind resets Chronos to where he was 8 seconds in the past - including his health, mana and all cooldowns. Want a quick burst on an enemy? Use all your skills, hit Rewind and fire it all again. He's deadly in the right hands. 

Syclla

Unquestionably one of the most fun Gods in SMITE, Scylla has been on the cusp of breaking into the "Best 5" for a while. Her trait effectively makes her a mage-carry, but one that's already exceptionally good right from the get-go. By gaining additional benefits when you maximize your skills, you not only gain additional utility but damage potential. Whether it's gaining double movement speed from your Ultimate or having Sic'Em effect two more enemies near the point of impact, it ensures Scylla remains powerful throughout a match. 

As far as her kit is considered, Sic'Em provides an invaluable root, Crush a slow and high AOE damage and Sentinel an invaluable teleport (as well as vision). Her Ultimate however is the icing on the cake and allows her to not only become immune to crowd control but able to deal one enormous attack for massive damage. Overall she's an incredibly potent mage that has a varied but powerful kit. 

Disagree with the five above? Let me know in the comments below or visit our SMITE Tier List.