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Demigod

Leveling Up a Demigod

Since the basic RTS formula is stripped out for more action-oriented gameplay, Demigod adds RPG-style elements to keep things interesting. Hero units can be developed in several ways as the battle rages on. They earn experience during the match and each level awards a point that can be allocated to the skill tree of the hero. To purchase equipment or to upgrade the citadel base you also collect gold. There is a small but steady stream of gold from mines but the main source of funding comes from defeating opposing demigods. This is an interesting design decision - dying does more than put you out for the count for up to 30 seconds until you respawn - so rushing forward for maximum damage until you get killed is just a way to give free money to the opposing side.

Initially the skill tree of each demigod appears limited, with just a couple of somewhat obvious "optimal" configurations for maxed-out level 20 demigod. Yet as soon as you realize that hardly any multiplayer matches last long enough to level your hero up to the maximum level things get far more interesting. Some builds offer interesting gambits, and there is just enough flexibility to ensure that things do not get entirely predictable. Apparent skill tree simplicity is mixed up with equipment - some characters or builds depend on ample supply of mana or health, usually available through key equipment purchases. Going for such a strategy might leave you vulnerable until you can afford a key equipment piece that then allows you to go on a rampage.

Equipping your demigod.

Queen of Thorns summoning his minions.

Equipment can be sold back and replaced with improved versions as you earn more gold and for late game there is a selection of ridiculously expensive and powerful artifacts that should break any stalemate. In addition to equipment there is also a selection of consumable items such as mana and healing potions, scrolls of teleportation and so on. general-type demigods also have to buy the related idols to unlock the ability to summon support troops, giving early demigod-boosting advantage to the assassins.

While the skill trees themselves are simple, the combination of skills, equipment and consumable items create a complex mix of character development - there enough variety to keep things interesting for quite a while, yet the selection is limited to a degree that allows extreme theorycrafting to design optimal skill and equipment purchase paths for maximum efficiency with each build having it's pros and cons.

All skills, consumables and normal equipment are limited to a single match but there is also a minor persistent element. Players earn Favor Points from matches that can be used to unlock special items. Each player can pick one of his unlocked items to boost his Demigod and this adds yet another additional layer of advanced tactics to the mix, assuming the developers can get the whole system to work (more on that later).

Tournament Play

In addition to single-shot skirmish and custom matches, Demigod offers semi-persistent online tournament play in Pantheon mode. This is a fairly simple tournament system where all "dark" and "light" side demigods are ranked according to their performance in ranked matches over the course of a multi-day tournament. Demigod community website offers detailed statistics and rankings on the Pantheon tournament games.

The system is currently not very complex, but at least it offers a form of official ladder-style competition and Stardock has already made promises about expanding the system with clan support and other goodies.

Page 1: IntroductionPage 2: GameplayPage 3: Multiplayer ProblemsPage 4: Visuals and PerformancePage 5: Summary, Scores

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