Per a request, I'm diving into Smite to attempt to build a character. I've looked at building characters from mythology and folklore before but always struggled with the lack of clear parameters of the characters. Using Smite, like any MOBA, it has set abilities and a specific design for their characters, which makes it much easier. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
I really had some fun making the video for Serqet, so let me know what you think of it.
Let's get into the build for Serqet, Goddess of Venom from Smite!
SERQET, GODDESS OF VENOM
SOURCE Smite
BUILD GOALS
o Serqet is the goddess of venom in Smite who is a melee, physical assassin with high mobility and single target damage
o Her passive is Catalyst, which consumes poisons lingering in her target’s blood to deal additional damage
o With her Deathbane ability, she dashes three times, dealing damage and applying Deathbane Poison, which reduces a target’s Physical Protections
o Cobra’s Kiss causes Serqet to launch a pair of blades forward, dealing damage and applying Cobra’s Kiss Poison. This poison drives gods mad, causing them to attack nearby allies
o Upon using Ambush, Serqet vanishes before leaping to an area and dealing damage
o Last Breath is her ultimate ability, which passively increase her crit chance. She can activate to leap onto an enemy and applying Last Breath. This poison damages an enemy and if it kills them, the poison spreads to others
o While her kit is focused around her being the goddess of venom, the lore notes that she can also cleanse toxins with ease and the venom of her servitors are used to preserve organs in canopic jars
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Ganzi Vishkanya
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Smashing Tail
Background: Curandero
o Ability Boosts: +Wisdom, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained), Herbalism Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Inoculation
Class & Subclass: Ruffian Rogue
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Deception (trained), Intimidation (trained), Nature (trained), Religion (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Twin Feint
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10)
With her focus on using poison, Serqet uses the vishkanya ancestry though altered by the ganzi heritage so that she can take the Smashing Tail to represent her scorpion tail. Regrettably, this tail deals bludgeoning damage rather than piercing but talk with your GM about changing it to piercing – it shouldn’t be a big deal. Serqet deals in poisons but she also preserves the dead and can cleanse toxins, leading to the use of the curandero background, which fits particularly nicely with its relations to utilizing sacred oils and herbs. As an assassin, she can make use of the rogue class, taking up the ruffian racket mostly because the tail that she gains lacks the finesse trait. Within Smite, Serqet wields a pair of bladed gauntlets and with her first level lacking mobility options, she’ll start off with Twin Feint. She’ll also take up her Quick Jump so that she can perform her leap for Ambush.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Poisoner Dedication
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting, Robust Recovery
o Skill Increase: Medicine (expert)
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Lesser Enhance Venom
o Skill Feat: Continual Recovery
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +1 spiked gauntlet, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Poison Weapon
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: doubling rings, +1 spiked gauntlet, necklace of knives, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o Ancestry Feat: Restoring Blood
o Skill Feat: Slippery Prey
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking spiked gauntlet, doubling rings, bracelet of dashing, cloak of feline rest, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
While the vishkanya has some innate toxins, Serqet will dip into the Poisoner Dedication, giving her the ability to create toxins that she can then apply with Poison Weapon. With her poison, she gains access to options such as giant centipede venom, which makes the victim flat-footed and clumsy. This in turn makes them more vulnerable, as per her Deathbane Poison. While it is mostly lore-based, Serqet takes Robust Recovery to increase the effectiveness of her ability to Treat Poison. For a similar reason, she takes Restoring Blood but this isn’t something that is actually represented in her kit. If you want to maybe stay a touch truer to the character’s kit rather than her lore, Debilitating Venom for the stumbling venom works nicely with her kit and somewhat resembles her Deathbane Poison. Meanwhile, she grabs Powerful Leap to extend the range of her jumps, again for Ambush, and Lesser Enhance Venom so that she can use her toxins more regularly.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Poisoner’s Twist
o Skill Feat: Shadow Mark
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +1 studded leather, +1 striking spiked gauntlet, lifting belt, doubling rings, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 studded leather, lesser boots of free running, +1 striking spiked gauntlet, doubling rings, bracelet of dashing
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Expert Poisoner
o Skill Feat: Battle Medicine
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Gear: venomed tongue, clandestine cloak, lesser grub gloves, +1 studded leather, +1 striking spiked gauntlet, lifting belt
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Debilitating Venom – Stumbling
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient studded leather, boots of bounding, venomed tongue, lesser grub gloves, lesser boots of free running, +1 striking spiked gauntlet
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 14)
o Class Feat: Pinpoint Poisoner
o Skill Feat: Ward Medic
o Skill Increase: Medicine (master)
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient studded leather, lover’s gloves, venomed tongue, clandestine cloak, +1 striking spiked gauntlet
To represent Serqet’s Catalyst passive, this build utilizes Poisoner’s Twist so that she can add extra damage to poisoned enemies, which is a fantastic third action. Expert Poisoner grants her access to higher level poisons, which will be important because she is reliant upon the DCs of her poisons. As a rogue, she can take advantage of the Pinpoint Poisoner archetype feat, which will help with the DCs of her poisons. As mentioned in the previous block, I think the stumbling Debilitating Venom is very good for her with its ability to inflict flat-footed but if you took it earlier instead of Restoring Blood, Moderate Enhance Venom makes her personal poison more potent. For the sake of the stealth aspect of her Ambush, she takes feats such as Shadow Mark and Swift Sneak though also uses her copious amounts of skill feats to explore the healing aspects of her noted about in the lore.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Feat: Paragon Battle Medicine
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Gear: +2 striking spiked gauntlet, armbands of athleticism, coating weapon rune, +1 resilient studded leather, boots of bounding, venomed tongue
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Improved Poison Weapon
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert)
o Gear: +2 resilient studded leather, +2 striking spiked gauntlet, greater doubling rings, armbands of athleticism, invisibility armor rune, lover’s gloves
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Swift Application
o Skill Feat: Lengthy Diversion
o Skill Increase: Deception (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking spiked gauntlet, +2 resilient studded leather, moderate boots of free running, greater doubling rings, armbands of athleticism, coating weapon rune
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Spring From the Shadows
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Skill Increase: Thievery (expert)
o Gear: keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking spiked gauntlet, moderate grub gloves, +2 resilient studded leather, greater doubling rings, daredevil boots
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 21, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 16)
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Feat: Craft Anything
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary), Diplomacy (trained)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, bag of holding (type IV), keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking spiked gauntlet, moderate boots of free running, greater goggles of night
I was hoping this build could get some more mobility into it with options like Spring From the Shadows, which has the advantage of compressing action economy. This potentially allows her to single action Stride and Strike, allowing her an additional action to Stride and then a third action for another Strike – similar to how her Deathbane actually functions though it is only two in that case. But she needs to take Improved Poison Weapon to qualify for a feat in the next block though this isn’t without its own benefits. Swift Application is a little limited in that she can only use her Envenom ability with it, but it’s a decent consolidation of action economy, which is something the build needs. Fleet and Incredible Initiative both help her get into combat faster, which fits nicely with the way she springs into combat. With most of her preferred skills already at master, she starts bolstering her Deception and takes Titan Wrestler from her skill feats so that she can pin down some of the larger gods she encounters. While I’m usually not a fan of relying on equipment as part of a character’s build, if it’s something they can consistently produce, I’m a little easier on it. For instance, at fifteenth level she can start making astringent venom with her Poisoner Dedication thanks to her Expert Poisoner feat. This poison is her only shot at producing her Cobra’s Kiss poison as its final stage makes an enemy confused, mimicking its effects that cause the gods to attack their allies.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Deadly Poison Weapon
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking spiked gauntlet, moderate grub gloves
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Moderate Enhance Venom
o Skill Feat: Legendary Sneak
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking spiked gauntlet, greater corrosive weapon rune, greater thunderblast slippers, +2 greater resilient leather, bag of holding (type IV), keen weapon rune
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Chemical Contagion
o Skill Feat: Legendary Medic
o Skill Increase: Medicine (legendary)
o Gear: avalanche boots, +3 greater striking spiked gauntlet, speed weapon rune, greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Feat: Nimble Crawl
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, avalanche boots, phantom shroud, +3 greater striking spiked gauntlet, greater corrosive weapon rune, dragonscale amulet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 22, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: Enduring Debilitation
o Skill Feat: Reveal Machinations
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary), Survival (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking spiked gauntlet, +3 greater resilient leather, sandals of the stag, greater armbands of athleticism, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), speed weapon rune
Building out of Improved Poison Weapon is Deadly Poison Weapon which has the important effect of increasing the DCs of her injury poisons. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to contact poisons, like her astringent venom, but is useful for other toxins. Chemical Contagion is important for producing the effects of her Last Breath and is probably the closest the build can get – allowing her to spread a poison as a reaction when an enemy fails a save against it. Its unfortunate that this only triggers on the initial saving throw, otherwise she could Spring From the Shadows to poison an enemy with her astringent venom then Shove them back to their allies to let another tick of the poison spread to others. Enduring Debilitation is probably the best option and allows her to leave a creature enfeebled or with lower Speed for an entire minute, which could be seen as her poisons. Cloud Jump will allow her to leap across the battlefield to assail enemies while Legendary Sneak lets her better set up for her Ambush. By taking Moderate Enhance Venom, she can use her own Envenom more regularly and deal more damage with it.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Serqet would greatly benefit in a free archetype game, allowing her to take the Poisoner Dedication while still keeping abreast with her rogue feats. Of particular note in rogue is Skirmish Strike, Fantastic Leap, Vicious Debilitations, and Critical Debilitations, which help her get into the fight per abilities such as Deathbane and Ambush and keep enemies vulnerable. But after that, she could make considerable use of the Dual-Weapon Warrior archetype especially as Dual-Weapon Blitz will fully allow her to encompass Deathbane – she opens with Spring From the Shadows to get one Stride and a Strike then follows it up with another Strike and two Strikes at any point during her movement.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Serqet is a ganzi vishkanya rogue with the ruffian racket and curandero background, matching both her role as a deity and the healing she is responsible for. She wields her tail and a pair of bladed gauntlets in combat, the former of which will be represented via her Smashing Tail while the latter is covered by her spiked gauntlets though following the remaster, she could swap out for bladed gauntlets. Since neither of these weapons have the finesse trait, she uses the ruffian racket to have Strength as her primary stat. To emulate Catalyst, she has Poisoner’s Twist though somewhat ironically, this does actually take an action to trigger. For many of her other abilities, emulating them will be twofold. Firstly, for Deathbane, we look at options such as Spring From the Shadows to compound movement and Strike, this allowing her at least two Strides and two Strikes in a round. But the poison for it comes from any poisons that inflict off-guard or clumsy, to simulate the reduction of physical protections, with giant centipede venom being a good early start. Serqet does try to keep her Dexterity competitive so that she can potentially throw daggers or other such weapons for Cobra’s Kiss, but the poison comes from her confusion-causing astringent venom, which she can make thanks to Expert Poisoner and put on her weapons thanks to Poison Weapon affecting injury and contact toxins. Ambush is very easy and Spring From the Shadows effectively just pulls double duty to represent it, allowing her to start hidden before rushing a foe. Critical chance isn’t something that that can be built directly into a kit in Pathfinder and instead comes from the actions taken in an encounter. However, Last Breath’s ability to use a victim as a vector for her venom comes from Chemical Contagion. While not an exact match, she could potentially Stride up to a target, Strike to apply a poison, Chemical Contagion to another adjacent enemy if they fail, and then Shove them backwards to at least capture the movements of the ability. Her command of contaminants can cleanse them from bodies, which she covers with her investment in Medicine and feats such as Robust Recovery.
This pretty patron of powerful poisons puts punks in peril by propagating and proliferating potent pollutants, pursuing prey with purpose.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog. Next week features a dive into the depths to dread up a tentacular terror.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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