How to Fix Lag
Try these first — they're free and solve the problem for most people.
01 Switch to a lower-ping server region
1. On the SMITE 2 Play screen, click the region selector dropdown 2. Change to each available region one at a time 3. Queue a casual match or practice mode to test 4. Check network monitoring during load screen for your connection latency 5. NA East, EU, and Brazil are the highest-population options with best queue times 6. Avoid OCE and North Asia unless you live in those regions — queue times are too long
Can shift latency by 30-100ms if your ISP routes better to a different Hi-Rez datacenter than your home region. Threshold guidance per https://gameserrors.com/smite-high-ping/.
02 Switch to a wired Ethernet connection
1. Connect your PC to your router with an Ethernet cable 2. In Windows Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi, turn off WiFi 3. Confirm active network is 'Ethernet' in the taskbar 4. Launch SMITE 2 and play a match 5. Compare jitter — SMITE 2's aiming will feel more consistent on wired
Eliminates WiFi jitter (2-15ms variance) that causes ability shots to miss despite hitting visually on your screen.
General network tips (not SMITE 2-specific)
03 Identify your actual ping using network monitoring
1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) → Performance tab → Open Resource Monitor 2. Go to the Network tab, find Hemingway-Win64-Shipping.exe in the processes list 3. Alternatively, use the Windows Performance Monitor or a game overlay (MSI Afterburner + RTSS) 4. Note your baseline ping and whether it spikes during ability-heavy moments 5. SMITE 2 shows a red clock icon in the HUD as a rough latency warning, but does not display a number
Confirms whether you have a network problem vs an FPS problem. Required first step before any other optimization.
04 Add game directory to antivirus exclusions
1. Find your SMITE 2 install folder (default: steamapps/common/Smite2/Windows/Hemingway/Binaries/Win64/) 2. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings 3. Scroll to Exclusions and click 'Add or remove exclusions' 4. Add the Binaries/Win64/ folder as an exclusion 5. Also exclude the EasyAntiCheat folder in the SMITE 2 root 6. Restart SMITE 2
Fixes hitching from real-time AV scanning, prevents Norton/Defender from blocking Hemingway-Win64-Shipping.exe, and ensures EAC launches cleanly.
05 Close bandwidth-heavy background applications
1. Before queuing, right-click taskbar → Task Manager → check for high-network processes 2. Pause OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive sync 3. Close streaming apps (Twitch, YouTube, Discord video) 4. Stop any active downloads in Steam or Epic Games Launcher 5. Queue your match and compare connection stability
Prevents router buffer bloat that causes ping spikes when background downloads compete with game UDP traffic.
06 Select the correct server region manually
On the Play screen, click the region dropdown before queuing. Test different regions using a pre-game lobby or practice mode. NA East and EU are typically the best-populated; OCE and North Asia have sparse queues. If your local region has 150ms ping but EU has 110ms due to routing, EU may give better results.
Can shift latency by 20-80ms if your ISP routes better to a different datacenter. Threshold guidance per https://gameserrors.com/smite-high-ping/.
07 Enable QoS on your router to prioritize game UDP
In your router admin panel (usually 192.168.1.1), enable QoS and prioritize UDP traffic on ports 3074, 3478-3479, or prioritize by application if your router supports it. Some routers have gaming modes that automatically prioritize low-latency UDP.
Ensures SMITE 2 game packets are sent before downloads and streaming, smoothing latency variance under load.
Still lagging? The problem is likely your ISP's routing to the game servers.
PingAim detects SMITE 2 automatically
No manual config. PingAim identifies SMITE 2 by process name and routes it through your fastest connection using a kernel-level WFP driver.