New Forces of Light Demigod Previewed

25 Aug 2009 at 10:37:53 by Tim McDonald

Stardock has revealed the second new Demigod that will be added to the RTS over the coming months.

The first - the Demon Assassin - was previewed by Brad "Frogboy" Wardell on his blog a few weeks ago, and now the Stardock luminary has previewed the Forces of Light's new prodigy, named Oculus.

Oculus is a general with a focus on ranged combat, but there are plenty of other differences. To quote Wardell: "In some ways, Oculus is a new type of general in that existing minions you acquire actually provide specific benefit [sic] to him."

Oculus, a minotaur-looking chap who appears to be riding on a floating chair, wields a staff that shoots lightning bolts. His lightning can rip through enemies, or summoned as ball lightning minions. As he takes damage he heals nearby allies, and he can also restore their mana.

Activated Abilities

• Chain Lightning (Key 1) - Oculus unleashes a bolt of lightning that arcs to nearby enemies. Damage and number of arcs increase as the skill increases.
• Blast Off! (Key 2) - Oculus releases lightning underneath his throne, knocking back enemies at the start and landing points, and launching himself to a new position.
• Ball Lightning (Key 3) - Oculus selects a target end location. He summons ball lightning that will move to that location, fighting anything along the way. Number and strength of ball lightning increases as the skill increases. At later ranks, Ball Lightning will increase the attack speed of nearby allies.
• Mana Surge - Ultimate (Key 4) - Oculus restores a target Demigod's mana.

Passive Abilities

• Electrocution - Enemies afflicted by Chain Lightning cannot regenerate health or mana for a short amount of time.
• Explosive End - Ball Lightning explodes when it dies, damaging nearby enemies.
• Mental Agility - The target of Oculus' Mana Surge has reduced cooldown time.
• Sacrifice - When Oculus takes a single large hit, he heals nearby allies based on the strength of the hit.
• King of the Minotaurs - Minions summoned by idols gives Oculus increased attributes. Minotaur Captains increase his health. Siege Archers increase his weapon damage. Priests increases his mana.
• Lightning Blast - All allies near Oculus have a chance on hit to blast lightning at their opponent, dealing minor area damage.

So Oculus is a general-type Demigod with passive abilities to heal nearby allies as he takes damage and to increase his own stats based on what minions are nearby, as well as some nasty ranged abilities. While he might not be as directly appealing as the Demon Assassin, I've a suspicion he's going to prove very useful.

No word on when we'll be seeing the patch to add Oculus and the Demon Assassin in, but we'll keep you posted. If you have yet to play Demigod then be sure to check out our review to see why we're excited about this.

Comment