lord ebonstone lord ebonstone

[CHEESE] List of the Cheesiest Builds/Strats

[CHEESE] List of the Cheesiest Builds/Strats

Here are some builds or strategies I find incredibly frustrating in the current version of Demigod.  This goes beyond "I let Torch Bearer get 17 and now he can nuke me for 3k damage," and it goes beyond "someone farmed up 18k gold and is now critting for quadruple digits."  This is more basic, arguably uncounterable stuff that, while extremely effective and employed by skilled and knowledgable players, is still... unfair.  Cheap.  Cheesy.

 

This is by no means a complete list and as I manage to maintain connections in more multiplayer games, I'm sure I'll see plenty more cheese, and update this post accordingly.  I encourage you to add to the list -- just post and I'll update this OP, assuming your issue matches the requirements above.

 

[GENERAL MECHANICS]

1.)  Maim: Maim (passive or procced snare) is extremely common for how rare escape skills are.  The fact that any sensible build requires a Warpstone either to close distance to a target or to escape a target says that, well, maybe there's too much Maim in this game.  And there is.  And it all stacks.

 

[ITEMS]

1.) Wyrmskin Gauntlents:  You knew this was coming.  I still can't wrap my mind around how an item this powerful costs less than 2k gold, let alone 8k.  DOTA has three item-based sources of Maim/Passive Snare:  Sange, which is expensive and has a chance to proc a weak snare (probably 6-7k in Demigod gold), Sange and Yasha, an upgraded Sange, which aside from other bonuses is very expensive and has a chance to proc a moderate snare (probably 13-15k in Demigod gold), and Eye of Skadi, which is prohibitatively expensive and always procs a moderate snare (probably 20k+ in Demigod gold).

 

[REGULUS]

1.) Baseline Passive Maim:  Yeah, Maim again.  You made it a basic, passive, guarenteed-to-proc-off-any-autoattack skill of the hero which has a longer range than towers.  At this point I shouldn't need to say any more, but the fact it made it into the game at all suggests I might have to.  Giving a ranged hero a guarenteed, zero-manacost, zero-casting time snare for free is absolutely ridiculous.  "Eye of Skadi" in DOTA was coveted by ranged heroes because it could finally solve their problem of keeping their target in range and out of melee.  Skadi was also one of the most expensive items in the game.  Regulus gets it for free with no associated disadvantages.

 

2.) Mines:  Mines as a skill are fine, the problem is, there's not a serious counter to them.  The 50g See-Invisible Ward has such a small range that you've detonated a Mine before you could place a Ward that could even see it.  There's a Favor item that lets you see Mines, but it's unrealistic to expect the valuable Favor slot to be used just to see Mines (maybe if there were more sources of invisibility in the game that item would be worth it, but for now, it's not).

 

[LORD EREBUS]

1.) Perma-Mist:  With a few investments in basic mana regen items, Erebus can stay in Mist form for a very, very long time.  He's totally invulnerable in this form and loses all status ailments when he enters too, on top of doing damage to foes and healing allies that stand in it.

Mist is extremely similar to "Sand Storm," one of the skills of Sand King, a DOTA hero.  Sand Storm, however, does not make the SK invulnerable, it simply makes him invisible.  If you drop ground-targeted spells on the right spot, Sand King can take damage or even be stunned, which stops his channeling of the spell.  If you don't have any of those spells, you can buy See Invisible wards and drop one down when he enters Sand Storm, which lets you see and thus attack him.

Mist has no such counter.

5,766 views 26 replies
Reply #26 Top

I wouldn't mind some feedback on how to effectively play Oak. I've tried a few strategies but they all seem to rely on him getting to late game with a lot of money and without being able to get any hero kills early on that is tough.
End of quote

Here's how I do it.  Kurgan has a different build which uses the Aura and Heals, you should ask him about it. 

Max out spirit flag, penitence, soul power evenly, put a point in shield (you don't need more). 

Invest in wyrmskin gloves, use Cloak of Night to close distance.  Buy armor that also buffs health.  Ignore helmets, use combat mana pots instead. Ignore idols, unless you want to invest in 1k gold monks at beginning, they can provide an edge through level 5 or so.

Don't ever attack a good opponent unless you have spirits to buff your damage.  Try to keep your spirits away from enemy towers unless to finish or support, because they will die very quickly.  Use your spirits to support allies, penetrate fog of war, or finish off towers in a pinch - they don't have to be close to you to provide the damage buff.  Keep putting down flags where the grunts will be fighting to keep your spirit supply up. 

To kill an opponent cast penitence, hit them, shield to purge debuffs, DoT, or counter nukes if necessary but try to keep for emergencies, keep hitting them, cast penitence to interrupt ports or nukes, they will start to run, warp in to finish. 

Oak works well as an Anti-General General, and has trouble with anything faster than himself.  Speed and warp items are always good.  Shield is great because it purges negative effects and negates incoming nukes, instantly, on you or your allies. 

Jury is still out on whether UB counters Oak or whether Oak counters UB - seen both...