Way to read the god’s abilities before the game starts

The first item has no dots as it is only a one tier item. It is a "starter" item. One that you would usually get at the start of a game to get good low cost stat boost, but sold in end game for a better item.

The second item is flashing because you have enough gold to purchase the next tier up (note this doesn't always mean the item you are building to. just that you enough enough for one of the branches)

The third item is complete, 3 dots means its a tier 3 (max level) item and comes has a sufficiently stronger passive ability.

If the passive only activates after a cooldown (ex. magi's blessing). the item will be greyed out with the cooldown timer (the other stat boosts from the item itself will still be active)

You can free your mouse ingame with Left Alt (default) to mouse over the items and view the stats it gives and other information, but to view the item tree you need to open up the shop with i (default).

Smite has 5 roles, each specializing in "the usual moba fit", but some cases offering more. The main conquest map has 3 lanes and a jungle. Lanes are Short, Mid, and Long as defined by distance between towers.

1. Guardian - Generally the tanks in the game. they can take a beating and support the team with lots of CC abilities. However, there are damage oriented guardians (Hades, Ares, Athena) that can also be just as threatening as the other damage dealing roles. Guardians are usually in the long lane with the Hunter

2. Hunter - The ranged damage dealer of the team. Generally needs the help of Guardian's CC to secure many kills. There are hunters with good survivability like Nieth, Ah Muzen Cab, and Cupid that they can fend for themselves in the short lane as well. Hunters are mainly in the long lane with Guardians

3. Assassin - Assassins spend most of their time in the jungle and gank(ambush) enemies who are out of place to deal lots of damage very quickly. Some Assassins can partner up with Warriors in the short lane, or Guardians in the Long lane to be beneficial as well. Assassins Jungle

4. Warrior - Kind of a mixture between Assassins and Guardians. They hit pretty hard, but can also take a beating. Warriors are often solo in the short lane or with the Assassin. They are designed to be the "jack of all trades, master of none". Warriors generally solo the short lane

5. Mage - A mixture between Hunter and Assassin, mages deal incredible damage at range, but are very very squishy. Some mages (Aphrodite, Chang'e, and Hel) work well in the short lane helping the Warrior with their incredible healing capabilities and generally build/work as Guardians instead. Mages spend their time solo in Mid lane

The current most common meta is 1-1-2 with Jungler. I have seen different games where 2-1-2, and 1-2-1 with jungle work as well though. It boils down to teamwork, awareness, and knowing your role.