Smite 2 Unplayable: The New "AI Builder" is a Disaster and Players are Already Exploiting It
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The AI fever has officially reached Hi-Rez, but the result has completely broken the game.
Today's patch introduced the AI Builder, a system that promised to revolutionize the item store... but has instead become a troll's paradise.
The concept was simple: an AI enabled by default that analyzes your lane opponents in real-time, checking their roles and positions to automatically buy the perfect counter items for you.
Sounds like tech from the future, right? Well, it took the community less than 2 hours to find an exploit that is ruining matches.
The Fake Counter Exploit: 5D Chess
Since the AI Builder reads the enemy's build in real-time to make purchasing decisions, players have invented the most toxic meta to date: The Build Bait.
Here is how it works:
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You leave the fountain with completely ridiculous items (e.g., pure magical damage on a physical ADC, or full anti-heal against a team with zero healers).
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Your opponent's AI panics upon scanning your build and spends all their gold on items to counter your fake setup.
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Because the system has locked the selling of AI-purchased items ("to prevent newbies from selling by mistake," according to Hi-Rez), the opponent's build is irreversibly ruined.
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You manually sell your troll items, buy your actual correct build (while the enemy AI is on a scanning cooldown), and return to lane having completely destroyed your opponent's economy.
No Panic Button
Reddit and our Discord are absolutely on fire, and for good reason. Not only is there no toggle in the settings menu, but trying to manually sell the AI's purchases triggers a condescending UI pop-up.
"Your AI Assistant knows best! Item locked for optimal counter-play."
It gets worse. Some players are reporting that if you try to fight the AI by manually buying items with your remaining gold, the system will actively auto-sell your manual items at a loss just to make room for its "optimized" choices.
You are literally being held hostage in your own fountain.Playing Ranked right now is basically just queueing to see which team griefs the enemy AI first.
The Great Reddit Civil War
The community is completely divided between those suffering the AI's tyranny and the horde of stream-viewers defending it.
Here are some of the top comments from the current megathread:
u/TwitchSub_Month42: "Honestly, if Strength3n says the AI is optimal, then it's optimal. You guys just don't understand high-level algorithmic pathing and grandmaster economy management. Stop whining and adapt to the new meta."
u/GankMePls_99: "I just watched my Support auto-buy 3 stacking items at 25 minutes because the enemy ADC bought a tier 1 magical defense item.I’m uninstalling. Literally unplayable."
u/SoloLaneIsAnIsland: "My AI just sold my wards to buy a health potion because it calculated I had a 12% chance of dying to the next wave.Thanks, SmartForge."
u/LokiMainTears: "Is there a bug where the AI just stops buying anything? The enemy ADC showed up with pure movement speed items and my AI just froze. I have 5k gold and an empty inventory."
The Existential Crisis of Community Mentors
While the casuals and the stream-monsters fight, a third group is experiencing a complete psychological meltdown: the theory-crafters and official "Community Mentors."
For years, these veteran players held the absolute monopoly on game knowledge. They dictated the meta, created the tier lists, and enjoyed a clear superiority complex whenever a newbie asked for build advice in the official Discord.
Now? SmartForge has completely automated their entire personality. With the AI forcibly making all the decisions (even the disastrous ones), nobody is asking for their 10-page DPS spreadsheets or guides anymore. They have officially lost their domain of control. Rumor has it that several high-profile guide creators are threatening a full boycott until Hi-Rez unplugs the bot, claiming the game has lost its "strategic integrity."
As a Discord Moderator I find this AI utterly insulting. I've spent thousands of hours policing these boards to ensure casuals don't spread trash builds, and now Hi-Rez introduces an algorithm that dares to override my stickied guides. I am officially removing all messages on the AI Builder until the devs fix this mess.Do NOT argue with me."
u/FlareMath: "I spent 40 hours this PTS cycle calculating the exact TTK (Time to Kill) for the new Hunter items. I have three different color-coded spreadsheets for penetration curves. And now...my ADC is being force-fed a hybrid tank build because the enemy Support bought a single damage potion. Hi-Rez, I'm begging you. My spreadsheets are useless. My Discord Mentor role means nothing. I had to watch a full-damage Khepri build get countered by my AI buying pure attack speed on Sylvanus. I haven't slept in two days."
Will Hi-Rez fix this disaster before the weekend? Or will they just deploy an AI fix to fix the AI Builder? Let's hope for a quick hotfix.
In the meantime, may the Gods help us!
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