Only one can become a God... Demigod Discussion!!

[arguskos]

So, Demigod (http://www.demigodthegame.com/) anyone? I just picked it up, and I must say, it's some sweet stuff. The graphics are slick and the gameplay is varied and really enjoyable.

Myself, I'm liking Torch Bearer and The Rook most. I actually just finished up a match vs. bots testing out a cold-specced Torch Bearer, and I've gotta say, it worked GREAT. Using Ice Nova+Ice Storm+Glacial Blast on an enemy Rook is great times, and pretty effective.

Anyone else play Demigod, or is it just me?

[Zweanslord]

I was wondering when I would see a thread about Demigod pop up! Though you might want to specify the name of the game in the title still.

Anyway, I picked it up and played it too. It looks great and the games are a lot of fun. I try to usually play it multiplayer, since that is still the most fun. Though also the most potential for losing, due to there being a lot better players out there, haha.

I like Oak and Rook the most, with their spirits and castle-like figure respectively. It is fun to play around with the skills, though especially in multiplayer I notice how much items have an impact on the game. It really is a bit eluding how important some details in the game are until you get faced with a too stiff opposition. No more spending money on just capitol upgrades for me, as I did in my first games, hehe.

Their multiplayer thing can be made better, but it seems like I managed to avoid the first-day hassle and problems the game had. It works now and it is useful to see how your connecting is going, otherwise the wait would be unbearable.

Beyond that, the game is quite addicting too, heh. Best part is when you are in a nice team together, kicking ass and taking names.

[Comet]

I've played a few matches against bots. It seems to be fun, altough slightly monotone. That could be just because my lack of experience, tho. I'm sure it becomes so much more interesting with human opponents.
The graphics are really,really nice.

As far as fave characters go, the Rook is a classic.
But the one I'm playing the most is the hunter with the crossbow (cant remember the name). I mean, growing massive angel wings and blasting your enemies with energy rays? Gundam Wing anyone?

[arguskos]

It's pretty interesting how much the items matter. For example, I was playing with the Unclean Beast the other day, and I managed to save up for the All Father's Ring (gives massive bonuses to nearly everything). I went from being decent to godlike. I cleaved through the entire enemy team (2v2 Unclean/Erebus vs. Oak/Rook) and destroyed their Citadel singlehandedly almost. That item is pretty nutty. o.O

On that note, what's your favorite game mode? I've been really enjoying Citadel.

[Arang]

I remain unconvinced about Demigod. Something seems very off about paying for a clone of a free Warcraft mod with one fifteenth of the heroes.

On the other hand, I hear it has several maps. This seems to me to be a game that should be waited on, like a fine wine, to play at LAN parties five years from now.

[Poison_Fish]

My favorite game mode is -cm. Oh wait.

Sorry, I had to, it was to tempting.

[JMobius]

It's pretty fun, and I've found I especially enjoy Torch Bearer and Regulus. Unfortunately, it feels like the game is still in a beta state, given the sheer number of bugs and crashes that seem to be in place at this time.

[Lord Herman]

I picked it up yesterday. I'd heard some good things about it from a friend, and when I heard it was a Stardock game, I was sold. Or actually, the game was bought. By me.

So far, I've really enjoyed the game. The gameplay is excellent, and the design is great. Love the maps; they look like there's a story behind them. Which also brings me to a weaker point of the game; the story never gets told. Yes, there's a short (but interesting) story about each demigod, but a few cutscenes would really have helped to pull me into the game's world.

I think my favourite demigod is Rook; his design is very unique and recognizable, and he's fun to play. Regulus is nifty too, and I also like Oak, although he looks a bit generic to me. I've also tried Torch Bearer, who is fun to play, but I haven't figured out how to effectively use both fire and ice spells; so far, it seems to me you're better off using only fire or only ice, which means there's really only two ways you can play him.

[arguskos]

It's pretty fun, and I've found I especially enjoy Torch Bearer and Regulus. Unfortunately, it feels like the game is still in a beta state, given the sheer number of bugs and crashes that seem to be in place at this time.
Really? I haven't seen any major bugs or anything. It starts chugging when the battles get busy with lots of people. Notably, I've only gotten one major issue, and that's on the map Crucible, where the AI for my allies is universally ****. They just stand there and go "hurr... there be dudes over there..." and I'm going "AGH ENEMY DEMIGODS AGH". *sigh*


I picked it up yesterday. I'd heard some good things about it from a friend, and when I heard it was a Stardock game, I was sold. Or actually, the game was bought. By me.

So far, I've really enjoyed the game. The gameplay is excellent, and the design is great. Love the maps; they look like there's a story behind them. Which also brings me to a weaker point of the game; the story never gets told. Yes, there's a short (but interesting) story about each demigod, but a few cutscenes would really have helped to pull me into the game's world.

I think my favourite demigod is Rook; his design is very unique and recognizable, and he's fun to play. Regulus is nifty too, and I also like Oak, although he looks a bit generic to me. I've also tried Torch Bearer, who is fun to play, but I haven't figured out how to effectively use both fire and ice spells; so far, it seems to me you're better off using only fire or only ice, which means there's really only two ways you can play him.
Stardock seems to have issues with story modes in their games. Sins of a Solar Empire doesn't have one (much to my chagrin) and neither does Demigod. Of course, this is fine since their games are awesome beyond words, but it's mildly annoying at times.

As for the demigods themselves, here's my opinion on each:

Rook: Great beater, tough as nails. Love his Power of the Tower ability and the fact that he has lots of uniquely attacking upgrades (Tower of Light, Archers, and Trebuchet). Only real issue is his utter lack on maneuverability. Gods, he is SO DAMNED SLOW.

Regulus: He's pretty solid. I dislike that his range is so puny before upgrades though, it's my main beef with him. Also, his "grow wings and shoot explosive shots" ability is amazingly win. I haven't tried his Mark series or his Mine series, but I've seen the AI use them well, so I think I'll try that soon.

Sedna: I... can't play her. I dislike her utter lack of offensive ability.

Oak: It took me a damn long time to figure out how to use him, but I finally got his tactics down pretty well. Penitence is a great attack that I'm still realizing the full potential of (it's GREAT to help kill demigods like Erebus). His Divine Justice blast or whatever it's called is just excellent, especially paired with a few soul wards, so he can kill mooks and get spirits at the same time as buffing his current army. Man, that's so damn satisfying.

Torch Bearer: Spoilered for length! :smallbiggrin:
So. Yeah. It was mentioned above that there seems to only be two ways to play TB, making him sorta not that versatile. Well, I went and tested this out in a Tournament match, 8 rounds of favor point insanity. So far, I've found the following:

1. Fireball is nuts. It doesn't seem to do much damage at first, but Fireball IV does a massive 1050, and with a great range, can be really useful as a final "haha take that" spell.

2. Frost Nova sucks, as does Deep Freeze. I was using Fire Nova a lot, and thinking to myself, "this is great! It's doing lots of damage, knockback, and a good area. Frost must be just as good!" Well, it isn't. Frost does no damage, only a short stun. That's not TERRIBLE, but it's not good. Deep Freeze... sucks utterly. I can't think of any way to redeem it. It does damage by burning the effects of Rain of Ice and Frost Nova, and not even GOOD damage. >_<

3. Speaking of, Rain of Ice is awesome. It's a great crowd-control spell, one I always wanted to cast more frequently. Great stuff, it really is.

4. The jury is still out on Ring of Fire. I like it, but it never really seems to do much damage. Not sure about it yet. Personally, if you're making a fire-specced TB, it's a solid choice. Otherwise, pass please.

5. I'm not sure about the auras he gets. I like the fire one, giving teammates buffs is pretty awesome, but the cold one just doesn't seem to have much effect (also, I officially HATE Lord Erebus. Bastard is too damn hard to pin down and slaughter effectively).

6. Torch Bearer is a very match centric demigod. If you are playing in Slaughter or in Fortress, where damage output is vastly more important than controlling the field, fire-spec and go to town. If playing Dominate, ice all the way. I don't LIKE Frost Nova, but it's effects in holding off enemy forces can't be overstated. If you want a more balanced "I can do everything" TB, ice spec until around level 8 or so, focusing on Permafrost and Rain of Ice, then move into fire spells for the rest of the game, tossing a point at Rain of Ice once in awhile. Make REALLY good use of switching modes (eg. if you need to break a group of enemies, use Fire Nova then switch to Rain of Ice real quick to finish the job).

7. Never ever ever EVER forget that in fire mode TB gets increased Mana/Second regeneration. If you have downtime, switch to fire mode and regen that Mana!!

Rest of the Forces of Darkness to come soon. :smallwink:

[toasty]

Is better, or at least equal, to DotA? Cuz if it isn't I don't see any reason to play it. DotA is really just quite amazing.

[JMobius]

Really? I haven't seen any major bugs or anything. It starts chugging when the battles get busy with lots of people. Notably, I've only gotten one major issue, and that's on the map Crucible, where the AI for my allies is universally ****. They just stand there and go "hurr... there be dudes over there..." and I'm going "AGH ENEMY DEMIGODS AGH". *sigh*

Notable bugs that I've encountered include:

* The login name does not change to reflect the Impulse login name like its apparently supposed to. For some reason I cannot fathom my login was set to my full name the first time I played Demigod, and it is now apparently stuck that way. A known issue.
* A very grating one is that in the game menus, it'll seem to fatally crash about 50% of the time that you try to put the game out of focus. I use IM to coordinate with my friends to get into the game, and its *really* getting annoying to have to say "game is up... oh wait". All of us have this issue, so its not something isolated to my machine.

I know I've seen some others, had a few fatal crashes just when a good game is finally concluding.

Supposedly the game could also use some balance tweaks as well. My friend wants me to believe that Oak is hugely overpowered. :smallwink:

[arguskos]

Notable bugs that I've encountered include:

* The login name does not change to reflect the Impulse login name like its apparently supposed to. For some reason I cannot fathom my login was set to my full name the first time I played Demigod, and it is now apparently stuck that way. A known issue.
* A very grating one is that in the game menus, it'll seem to fatally crash about 50% of the time that you try to put the game out of focus. I use IM to coordinate with my friends to get into the game, and its *really* getting annoying to have to say "game is up... oh wait". All of us have this issue, so its not something isolated to my machine.

I know I've seen some others, had a few fatal crashes just when a good game is finally concluding.

Supposedly the game could also use some balance tweaks as well. My friend wants me to believe that Oak is hugely overpowered. :smallwink:
Damn, that's terrible man. I've been having no issues whatsoever. Perhaps it's linked to online play only, which would explain it, since I'm still working with the offline modes, getting everyone down and the like.

Funny you should mention Oak, I just finished up a tourney with him too (see my Torch Bearer review above). I'm fairly certain that Oak IS too powerful, for the reason that he really only has one good build: Raise Dead Ward+Surge of Faith. Toss his TWO passives that increase attack power on there, and he's sorta a beast. Penitence, while nice, just isn't as great as I wanted it to be, and Shield is down right useless. It is only good to run like hell from a fight, and there are items that do that better! Oak's pretty darned strong, perhaps a bit over the top. I like him (mostly cause he looks really awesome), but I think that a touch of a nerf isn't a bad call.

[JMobius]

Yeah. I played him for the first time, and went the route of lots of minions with the passive buffs. I ended up doing an absurd amount of damage while being highly mobile, and could provide incredible support for all reinforcements. To top it all off, his ability to become ultra-powerful for a few moments before his final death is insane. You move so much faster and hit so hard its pretty much a guarantee to take out whoever did you in.

[arguskos]

Yeah. I played him for the first time, and went the route of lots of minions with the passive buffs. I ended up doing an absurd amount of damage while being highly mobile, and could provide incredible support for all reinforcements. To top it all off, his ability to become ultra-powerful for a few moments before his final death is insane. You move so much faster and hit so hard its pretty much a guarantee to take out whoever did you in.
Oak really is a powerhouse. I think they need to nerf his passives somewhat, and he'll be better balanced. I love the flavor and mobility, but the absurd amount of pain he can deal out starting around level 8 is just nutty.

[Stormthorn]

I was looking at that games website. 8 GB! Jeeze, computer games these days are getting huge.


So its some sort of fighting game but with only eight characters?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Does this game have a good single player campaign? That's the only reason I play RTSs.

[warty goblin]

Does this game have a good single player campaign? That's the only reason I play RTSs.

My understanding is that it does not have anything in the story-driven-with-lots-of-cutscenes-and-scripted-battles line of campaign. It does apparently have a 'Tournement' mode where you choose a single Demigod and play off against all the others for final victory. From what I've read the hard AI is suitably brutal though, and even though it is a series of linked skirmish battles, that's pretty much all a traditional campaign is anyway. Minus, of course, the filler and generally annoying objectives tossed in for 'flavor.'

Plus, let's be honest, the premise of the game is a bunch of powerful semidivine creatures being thrown into an arena to fight for supremecy, how much more do you want?

[arguskos]

My understanding is that it does not have anything in the story-driven-with-lots-of-cutscenes-and-scripted-battles line of campaign. It does apparently have a 'Tournement' mode where you choose a single Demigod and play off against all the others for final victory. From what I've read the hard AI is suitably brutal though, and even though it is a series of linked skirmish battles, that's pretty much all a traditional campaign is anyway. Minus, of course, the filler and generally annoying objectives tossed in for 'flavor.'

Plus, let's be honest, the premise of the game is a bunch of powerful semidivine creatures being thrown into an arena to fight for supremecy, how much more do you want?
Pretty much this. :smallbiggrin:

[Archpaladin Zousha]

My understanding is that it does not have anything in the story-driven-with-lots-of-cutscenes-and-scripted-battles line of campaign. It does apparently have a 'Tournement' mode where you choose a single Demigod and play off against all the others for final victory. From what I've read the hard AI is suitably brutal though, and even though it is a series of linked skirmish battles, that's pretty much all a traditional campaign is anyway. Minus, of course, the filler and generally annoying objectives tossed in for 'flavor.'

Plus, let's be honest, the premise of the game is a bunch of powerful semidivine creatures being thrown into an arena to fight for supremecy, how much more do you want?

...I don't know, maybe an epic, world-spanning storyline like Age of Mythology or Age of Empires 3?

[warty goblin]

...I don't know, maybe an epic, world-spanning storyline like Age of Mythology or Age of Empires 3?

Well you might want it, I certainly don't. There is, I think, one RTS campaign mission ever that I've honestly enjoyed as much or more than a skirmish*, and that's the Defense of Caranten in the original CoH.


*Excepting a couple missions in the original BFME, but that had more to do with fighting the Battle of Helm's Deep, and less to do with it being particularly better than a skirmish.

Edit: The AI is, I take it from those of you who have the game, suitably brutal on higher difficulty levels? The reason I ask is I'm considering this for my I Survived Another Semester of Suffering, Sorrow, and Studying treat.

[arguskos]

Well you might want it, I certainly don't. There is, I think, one RTS campaign mission ever that I've honestly enjoyed as much or more than a skirmish*, and that's the Defense of Caranten in the original CoH.


*Excepting a couple missions in the original BFME, but that had more to do with fighting the Battle of Helm's Deep, and less to do with it being particularly better than a skirmish.

Edit: The AI is, I take it from those of you who have the game, suitably brutal on higher difficulty levels? The reason I ask is I'm considering this for my I Survived Another Semester of Suffering, Sorrow, and Studying treat.
On normal, they're fairly challenging, but beatable. On Hard, they're quite tough. On Nightmare... ow. My head hurts from where I headdesk'd till I bled.

...Ok, so that was sarcasm there, but you get the drift. It's tough, for me at least. Online is probably harder honestly, but I don't do online play, so I can't speak for it.

[Zweanslord]

To respond to an earlier question, I think I do like the standard game mode the most: Conquest. It seems, well, the game mode with the best 'end', because you really conquer the other side.

As for difficulty, I find normal a bit on the easy side now and hard is not so much hard because the enemies are hard, but because your computer allies, despite being hard difficulty, do not do their part. Most single player skirmishes I have been in with every computer at hard, the computer on my team hardly made kills, died a lot and then it is just an uphill battle, especially with larger teams. Nightmare is even worse.. It is just frustrating, because you expect about same quality of play from both sides but they do not seem to be giving it most of the time.

In multiplayer it is mostly that you do not know what kind of team you are in or facing. They could be good or bad, but only way to find out is to play. The disadvantage is that there can be real differences in how good players are or how good they are at using their respective demigods. It can be fun, though.

[Ranis]

I have experienced the same pains with the AI on your team being dimwitted at best. It's quite frustrating when the torch bearer on my team has died 10 times and no other demigod on either side has died more than 4. My teammate regularly feeds the other team gold and ends up overwhelming in levels because of it.

[arguskos]

I have experienced the same pains with the AI on your team being dimwitted at best. It's quite frustrating when the torch bearer on my team has died 10 times and no other demigod on either side has died more than 4. My teammate regularly feeds the other team gold and ends up overwhelming in levels because of it.
I have that issue on only one map: Crucible. The AI is VERY hit or miss sometimes. Not sure why, Stardock usually puts out great materials. :smallconfused:

[Zeful]

Is there a demo download?

[warty goblin]

I have that issue on only one map: Crucible. The AI is VERY hit or miss sometimes. Not sure why, Stardock usually puts out great materials. :smallconfused:

My impression is that Stardock published, but Gas Powered Games did pretty much all of the development work, as indicated by the extensive previewing of Demigod before Stardock signed on. Granted, Stardock works much more closely with its developers than most companies do, but I still doubt Brad Wardel was hammering out AI code for the GPG folks.

[Lord Herman]

Just got Demigod in the mail. Apperently, if you order from Impulse, you get the collectors' edition, which was a pleasant surprise.

I love my Rook miniature :smallbiggrin:

[Brother Oni]

A quick technical question about Demigod that I can't find on the website or on Wikipedia - does the game require a SM3 capable graphics card?

I have a 256mb PCIE card but it's an ATI one that doesn't support SM3.

[Lord Herman]

The box says for minimum video card requirements:
128 MB 3D Video Card
(GeForce 6800/Radeon x1600 or Better)

Don't know if that answers your question. Maybe someone at the official Demigod forums (http://forums.demigodthegame.com/) can help you; the developers post there quite often, and they're very helpful.

[toasty]

Is better, or at least equal, to DotA? Cuz if it isn't I don't see any reason to play it. DotA is really just quite amazing.

hmm... No one seems to have answered my question.

Is it even similar to DotA? I mean, I'd think that reviewers would have mentioned its similarity more, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So is it really all that different?

[The Valiant Turtle]

Is it even similar to DotA? I mean, I'd think that reviewers would have mentioned its similarity more, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So is it really all that different?

I just googled "demigod vs dota" and got several hits. Here's the top:
http://www.edbordenblog.com/2008/08/demi-god-vs-d.html

[13_CBS]

Heh, Erebus, the Vampire Lord: Affably Evil (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil) to the max. :smallamused: My kind of demigod.

[Brother Oni]

The box says for minimum video card requirements:
128 MB 3D Video Card
(GeForce 6800/Radeon x1600 or Better)


It does, unfortunately - SM3 is required.

So you need either a 128MB Nvidia card or a 512MB ATI card to run this game.
Time to start saving up the pennies, methinks... :smallfrown:

[Cheesegear]

I love how the release dates in Australia get an extra month-and-a-half. :smallannoyed:

[TakeV]

Heh, Erebus, the Vampire Lord: Affably Evil (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil) to the max. :smallamused: My kind of demigod.

His history (http://www.demigodthegame.com/origins/vampirelord/) is also the most amusing. Really hilarious.

[JMobius]

Just going to bump this to say that I've got a half off coupon until tomorrow, if anyone is interested.