The Basics - A Guide Providing Details For Interested Gamers

Updated Friday April 17th 2009.  

Introduction

   Welcome to the Demigod Forums. Hopefully, you're seeking a little more information about GPG and Stardock's new title Demigod, and whether or not you feel it's worth it to shell out the full price of the game. I'm not one to answer that with a direct opinion, instead, I will provide what information I know about the game and how it plays. If it sounds like your kind of game, then by all means - feel free to join us. I'll begin with a more detailed breakdown of the old website's Features section, and then go over areas of the Mutlplayer experience and how the game plays out afterwards. Be sure to check this guide now and again, some updates may come as the game progresses.

Features (Extended) 

• Revolutionary strategy/action game that combines tactical prowess with role-playing depth.
  

          - The combination of these elements and many others, resides within the Demigods themselves. There are eight at present; four generals and four assassins, not counting the addition of other Demigods that will provided as downloadable content sometime in the future. Despite the core difference between their names, they have many similarities but enough diversity to feel as though each Demigod is a unique experience. Action Role Player Game elements can be seen within how you progress and develop your Demigod each time you level up. You purchase equipment, and enhance your stats through tech trees. Persistent items in the form of Achievements follow you to whatever game you play, which is also provided via Online Multiplayer. But you can only choose one persistent item per game.

          -  Real Time Strategy comes into play in many ways, for starters you are mainly working as a team player it a group game. Each person who takes part has a different style of playing, and likely they will have a major impact on how you make your choices. You collect money and experience through the capture of key locations(C), destruction of enemy units and structures, and the challenge of killing other Demigods in battle all while you earn a persistent income from capturable gold mines(A). The gold you earn is then invested in the progression of your teams units and structures, further growing and developing your army as they continue to come through the portal(B) at certain, timed, intervals.

             Furthermore, there is still a basic form of base construction within the game. This is achieved through accquiring War Score and investing money into your team's Citadel. This will be explained below in the War Score segment of the guide.

A.   B.   C. 

*Note - There are seven lights on each Portal(B). In the image above, six of these lights are blue. This color represents what team you are, in this case - Light. Red lights are for the side of Darkness. When all seven light up, another wave of troops will emerge from the portal.

•  Battle in a persistent online world in multiplayer, or a virtual persistent universe in single-player, as you battle your way toward ascension.
  

           -. For those of you interested in the Mutlplayer. Yes, there will be persistent items in the form of achievements that you can carry to new games. This is present within all modes. Each game you play you will purchase equipment and gear that will vanish once the game is complete, but persistent items will be accessible within the game as well. Several will be available to choose from depending on how many you acquire. But you can only choose one per game.

           - The goal is to gain Favor, which you can earn from not only killing Demigods and winning - but also completing objectives and helping the team during the game. So there are many ways to reward yourself, and simply killing the enemy players is not the only way to succeed in the game. The Demigod most kills doesn't always mean they will gain the greatest favor.  Favor can be used against other Demigods in the Tournament in many ways that have yet to be fully disclosed.

• Increase your Demigod's powers and abilities by leveling up during each battle.

          - Each game you play, your Demigod will begin at level 1. You gain experience very quickly, and with several skills to invest in and items to collect you can continue to change and adjust your build in each and every game. This will allow you to invest your time into just one character than you can customize and change depending on who you will be facing in combat. Depending on what you want, you can choose to become a Demigod heavy on Armor or Life Steal, if you like you can be a mixture of both. With many options, such as increasing damage, reducing of damage, or simply an overall increase on the rate you gain experience points - there are many ways to change how you play each game.

• Wage massive, earth-shattering battles across a series of awe-inspiring Arenas.
  

          - Using a customized Supreme Commander Engine, the tactical zoom function has now been changed so that a player can zoom out to see the entire arena at once. When panned out, the Arena looks as though it is but a small dish inside of a massive chamber. Clearly much of the level design went into crafting the areas you don't ever interact with as much of the arenas are narrow lane pathways of repetitively textured tiles or bricks. Though the area outside chances, the pathways you play on look very much the same no matter what arena you play in.

• Seize key, strategic positions on the map and turn the tide against your enemy. Push deep into their base and destroy them once and for all.
  

          - Key positions are represented by spinning flags. The capture process is very much like a game of tug-of-war. If one Demigod is standing on the position, the flag's ticker will start to drift towards the direction which represents a certain team. Light and dark remain opposites on either side of the ticker. When another Demigod comes into range of the flag, the capture is halted and no longer drifts on the meter. When two Demigods are in range, again the capture process continues until the single, enemy Demigod is defeated. Afterwards, the ticker will then proceed twice as fast towards the team's side of the meter.

          - Once the flag is captured, the position will then take on elements of the side which claims it. Mainly the color scheme or red or blue. If an enemy Demigod is slain in the process of capture, the flag will remain in the position the enemy Demigod brought it to. To reverse this, you must stay within range of the Flag until it is fully under your control again. Doing this ensures that a flag will not suddenly go under enemy control without your knowledge.

          - There are also key benefits to flags. Some flags allow you to constrol structures on the field; such as shops, portals, and gold mines. Others will have various other effects, such as experience increases, hp increases, regeneration, and reduced ability cooldowns. Taking control of these flags will also  allow your team to accquire War Score, which will steadily give you access to more and more development options for you army, base, and Demigods.

• Wage war alone or join forces with other Demigods and lay waste to mutual enemie.

          - Basically you do solo matches or join a team either in Single Player or Multiplayer. It's really up to you!

• Two types of Demigods with two styles of play:

  - Assassin

   Not your everyday WarCraft 3 Hero type here. The Demigod is very powerful, single unit that has no control over any other unit in the game. This allows the player to be fully focused on making that Demigod as powerful as possible in order to achieve the objective at hand. With the ability to unlock and equip achievements, purchase and acquire gear and equipment during a game, and invest money in powerful rare artifacts that radically change the performance of your Demigod however you desire - a player can turn an Assassin into a power house of destruction.

   But this class does not mean that you should ignore your teammates and simply go solo. This simply reducing the level of micromanagement, though even that will still be present. Items and equipment your purchase will have abilities attached to them. Such as the talents of other Demigods or even new abilities never seen before. These will not erase or overlap your current abilities, they will instead be stacked with them so you can vastly increase your firepower as your gain level during the game. Drain life from enemies, invest in a persistent regeneration HoT (Heath Over Time) gear and abilities, increase your armor, bolster your stats, double or even triple your damage output, or focus your efforts on speed to outrun anything and everytime and become the ultimate location capture expert. There are a lot of possibilities, choosing a root Demigod is only the beginning but never determines your true strengths or weaknesses.

   How you level and what your purchase ultimately shapes your build. Don't be fooled by looks, a spell casting Demigod could have long  invested in high armor and regeneration turning him into an unstoppable tank.

  - General

   This class promises to bring a more RTS feel to the game. Allowing this class to take control over units they purchase and produce, leading them in mass numbers to either join in with the mindless zerg of Portal drawn units or to independent strike out at various targets on the field of battle such as enemy defenses and Demigods. Some Generals begin weaker than Assassins, while others can be just as effective is played as Assassins without investing time and money into unit development. With various upgrades given to the units and the Demigod they can be quite a challenge to take down.

   Generals have access to things that an Assassin doesn't. For instance, Assassins get Achievement items which tend to aid in direct combat against other Demigods while Generals get access to Achievement items that allow them to increase the strength of their minions. Minions can be purchased from the Multi-Shop in the form of Idols. Each idol has four levels and vary in cost. There are also three types of Idol; Melee, Range/Sierge and Range/Healers.

   Generals also have abilities which allow them to Summon special units unique to them alone. Their are also Abilities a General can buy to improve the HP and Strength of his Units and Minions in order to survive massive crowd control spells that typically wipe them all out in a single shot.

War Score & Base Development

   To try and keep the game feeling more like an RTS, players will have the ability to stedily improve their own units and base as the game progresses, and also be able to construct additional defenses in a very hands free manner. Within your base is the ever precous Citadel. As you capture flags you will steadily recieve War Score. The more Flags under your team's control, the faster your War Score will rise up a max level of 10. Each advancement in level, your Citadel will grow and become more powerful.

   Everytime you gain a War Score rank, you'll be able to purchase more improvements from the Citadel itself. You can increase the HP of your structures, increase their Damage, increase your Experience Points Earned, increase your gold income, and add more units to your automatic army. All of these features must be purchased, and vary in price. How you proceed with them can determine victory or defeat. If you fail to invest into the Citadel for too long, your team will ultimately lose the game.

   As your team's War Score increases, more defensive structures will be constructed automatically. You begin the game with standard attack towers, but eventually you will gain Archer Towers (A) and Forts (B) which supply even more firepower to your defensive line.

 (A)     (

   When you recieve forts, you can purchase Trebuchets from the Citadel. This will construct catapults atop your Forts so they can attack at great distances.

    Eventually, you can even purchase more units to join your hord. Priests, Angels, Catapults, and Giants. Choosing when to summon these is important, as summoning them too soon can give the enemy more Experience Points for killing these more advanced units.

 The Course of Battle

   Well all of this information has been well and good, but how the heck does the game play? Well simple, and that's the idea! The game is supposed to be very straight forward, so there really isn't much to really tell when it comes to what your goals are. The devil, of course, is in the details when it comes to how you intend to achieve those goals. You begin each game with your teammate, if you have chosen to have them, around your Life Crystal and Multi-Shop.

Purchase some items to help you out at first, such as Potions and Teleport Scrolls so you can move around the map quickly and easily. Teleport Scrolls allow you to jump to buildings and flags under your team's control.

*Advanced Note: If you've played before and gained Favor, you can purchase one Achievement Item by pressing the Treasure Icon on your hot bar.

Once you have some items, head out and try to capture key flags and positions. Such as the Artifacts Shops and Portals. The more flags your team controls, the more potent your armies become as well.

*Advanced Note: Use a Teleport Scroll to move around to Capture locations quickly. You can Teleport to locations owned by your team. But careful, enemy Demigods can teleport too. Look for the blue field emerging by a structure, this will warn you of when someone is about to teleport into range.

Engage in combat with other Demigods as they attempt to do the very same thing!

*Advanced Tip: Flag Locking: There are items which allow you to lock flags for two minutes. This will ensure that you will gain War Score from a flag for a certain duration. Keep an eye out for locked flags, and be sure to use them early in the game when War Score is critical.

Death

Along the way you are likely to die, when this happens you'll be sent to Limbo. A zone where you can do nothing, and gain no experience points or gold income while you are dead. The duration of Limbo is based on your War Score, Level, and Citadel Upgrades. You can still watch the battle, but through a grey haze while the death clock counts down to your respawn time. Aside from giving the enemy Demigod enormous amounts of Gold and Experience points for killing you - there is no other form of death penalty in this game.

Upgrade Your Forces

 Keep capturing flags to keep precious structures and benefits, not to mention increase your War Score so you can construct more defenses and increase your advancement over the enemy Demigods.

 Meanwhile, stop the flow of enemy units from destroying your Towers of Light which defend your base and hold back the hordes. Slaying the enemy zerg will ensure your defense, as well as allow your units to start pushing on the enemy's defenses in this massive game of Tug-a-War.

*Advanced Tip: Totem of Revelation: A very low cost item is the observing eye. This will allow you to see regions that are typically covered in fog to keep an eye on enemy movements. They last for about five minutes and can even see invisible mines. They are handy for detecting well laid Regulus traps.

Keep Pushing

Destroy your enemy's Towers and Structures to allow your units to push farther in and closer to the enemy's critical structures. At all costs, try and stop the flow of the enemy's advance. You can even capture the enemy's portals in their base, forcing your units to attack directly at the heart of the enemy base and leaving the enemy vastly outnumbered.

*Advanced Note: Minimap: Keep your eyes on the Minimap. This will inform of where enemy Demigods are if they come in range of your structures or units. You can also keep an eye on Flags. Red indicates they are not under your control, Green Indicates that they are under your control, and Yellow-Green indicates they are Neutral and need to be captured.

  Even if the enemy Demigod is more powerful than you. All you have to do is take down their defenses and destroy the enemy Citadel at the heart of their base to end the game and claim victory! That's pretty much the goal of every game, but achieving these goals is where Demigod's unique features come to play. You might find this sounds a lot like DotA, but know Demigod is not Dota! This is actually where the similarities stop.

   I certainly hope this was both entertaining and informative! Feel free to join us in the Beta by Pre-Ordering, I for one know it's certainly worth the time and money and already a very solid and enjoyable title even with some minor issues. So you are certain to get your money's worth if this is the kind of action RTS/RPG you're looking for.

See you on the path to ascension fellow Demigod.