Back on Tuesday of this week, we reported on the impending SMITE World Championship and a teaser reveal for the first of Hi-Rez’s pantheon of playable Japanese deities, Amaterasu. We have a bit of catching up to do, however, as Hi-Rez formally revealed Amaterasu on Thursday the 7th, along with a slew of other goodies included in the latest version of SMITE’s Public Test Server (PTS).

In Japanese mythology, Amaterasu is the benevolent goddess of the sun and, in extension, of the universe. She is also regarded as the most important Shinto deity and the ruler of the spirit realm, so it is only fitting that she would be introduced first in SMITE’s lineup of Japanese deities. Contrary to her more traditional appearances, SMITE depicts her as a Warrior-class hero, toting a full set of samurai armor. She’s also followed by Yata no Kagami, her sacred mirror, and she wields both Kusanagi, the sacred sword, and Yasakani no Magatama, the sacred jewel.

In layman’s parlance, being a Warrior in a MOBA game means you hit things with your weapon at close range. While Amaterasu’s auto attacks do stylishly slice her foes with her sacred sword, she also uses her celestial powers as a sun goddess to scorch opponents. In addition, much of her kit also revolves around buffing her own team with auras that can heal, increase attack power, and increase movement speed. She also possesses abilities that can amplify the damage taken by an enemy, silence them, or stun them.

Overall, Amaterasu seems to be designed as a well-balanced God who can cover a variety of roles on a team. A full rundown of her abilities can be found here, and the video below showcases them in action.

Amaterasu will become playable on live servers starting January 12.  Her arrival will also usher in an event called Rising Dawn, which will introduce new cosmetics, changes to itemization, UI tweaks, revamps to daily quests and the ranking system, and a new Joust-mode map themed around the Chinese epic, Journey to the West.

The PTS also introduces additional treats for SMITE fans. Among these are new costumes for various gods – including two skins for Sobek and Neith based on Japanese pop culture – and new voice packs for several gods. A few gods also received some minor balance changes. All of this content will come with the aforementioned Rising Dawn event, and can be viewed in full detail in this link.

On a final note, a behind-the-scenes video released by Hi-Rez teased concept art for an upcoming Japanese god. He can be seen at about two minutes in.

This newcomer bears resemblance to the Oni demons of Japanese mythology, and he appears to wield drums in combat. Both of these traits match traditional descriptions of Raijin, the god of lightning, thunder, and storms. The visual evidence also matches up with the findings of a datamine conducted last week, which revealed both Amaterasu and Raijin’s names in SMITE’s data files. A post from Friday, meanwhile, reveals more details on Raijin’s abilities. Which Japanese deities would you like to see in SMITE?