Sacrifice (computer game)

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Sacrifice
Developer(s) Shiny Entertainment
Publisher(s) Interplay
Designer(s) David Perry
Release date(s) NA November 16, 2000
EU November 24, 2000
Genre(s) Strategy
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer, Online play
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Mac OS 9.2, Mac OS X 10.0.4
System requirements PII 300 MHz
64 MB RAM
3D Accelerated Card
620 MB hard disk space
For other uses, see Sacrifice (disambiguation).

Sacrifice is a 3D real-time strategy game with strong RPG elements, developed by Shiny Entertainment, the creators of the Earthworm Jim franchise. It was lauded for its original concept, graphics, and sound quality by most reviews.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Sacrifice is a real-time strategy (RTS)/action hybrid game that differs from most games in the RTS genre in that the player assumes control of a particular character on the field (the wizard) and plays the game from a third-person point of view centered on that character, and play is very direct, in that all creatures are created directly from spells cast by the player. In contrast, most real-time strategy games allow the player to see the battlefield and play the game from a top-down point of view, and force the player to create buildings which can later be used to manufacture units.

Sacrifice single player campaign consists of 10 sets of missions, one for each of five gods that the wizard can choose to work for. In addition to having different missions, each god also grants its own set of creatures for summoning and spells to be cast to the wizard. Not only does the player receive different spells from each god, but depending on which gods he chooses to support, the story changes drastically, creating several different endings. It is notable that once you serve a god, some other gods who sees him/her as a rival may not provide you any chance to serve him later, hence limited the god you can choose and avoid a "triumph combination" of creatures and spells.

The resources (a common element in RTS games) in Sacrifice are souls and mana.

Mana is used for casting any spell, summoning creatures, and is an unlimited, slowly generating resource. A manafountain is a neutral structure existing on the map and cannot be created throughout the game, but provides mana for any players nearby. To claim a neutral manafountain to be your own one, you can summon a Manalith on it, so it will provide mana only for you and your friendly creatures. Manahoars, a kind of summoned creatures which costs a soul, can draw energy from your manaliths and give you mana even though you are at a distance with your manaliths.

Souls are used for summoning creatures, and are limited; no new souls can be created during the game. Souls cannot be destroyed unless a unit falls off the map, in which case the soul or souls contained in that creature is forever destroyed. Several creature abilities, such as Consume Soul and Rend Soul, also destroy the soul but accompanied by other special effects.

Souls exist on the map in two forms: blue souls and red souls. Blue souls are either neutral souls that are placed on the map by the map makers waiting to be picked up by any wizards or souls that are released from the corpse of friendly creatures. These blue souls can be picked up directly by the wizard when he walks near it. Red souls are hostile souls that are released from the corpses of hostile creatures. Red souls cannot be picked up directly, and the wizard has to cast a spell Convert to summon a Sac doctor that will carry the corpse to its summoner's altar and carry out a ritual to purify the souls. During the transportation, the Sac doctor could be killed and the corpse release back to its former master.

The sole aim of this game to win, is to desecrate the enemy's altar. To do this, you have to approach your enemy's altar and cast a spell "Desecrate" with one of your creature as a sacrifice. A group of Sac doctors will be summoned and perform a ritual to desecrate the altar. During the process, the enemy wizard will suffer damage sent from the ethereal realm. The stronger the creature you have sacrificed, the more the damage is. If he is killed during the process, the desecration is done. If any of the Sac doctors are killed, the desecration will be interrupted and your sacrifice offering will be released free.

A god's power can reveal itself in any part of the world except other god's capitals, in which the Ultimate Altar of that god was set up to collect the faith of the god's people, which is the primary necessity of every god. Gods also establish a connection between themselves and their wizards through a wizard's altar. Thus wizards are the manifestation of gods to accomplish the god's will. Wizards can never be truly killed if the connection exists, and the god can resurrect the wizard somewhere else. But if a wizard is killed and he has no altar (or no connection with their god) at the time of death, they are dead forever and cannot come back.

[edit] Story

In the single-player campaign, you play as the wandering wizard Eldred, a plane-jumper who leapt to the current world when his own was destroyed. Accompanied by the owl-like Imp Zyzyx (his familiar), his recounting of his recent deeds is the background of the game.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In his now-destroyed homeworld of Jhera, Eldred was a man of substance (a lord or a king, he doesn't specify, though he was most certainly a tyrant) and one of many who vied for power. He spent his life forging another man's empire, but when the young monarch died at far too young an age, power and dominion fell to Eldred alone. Despised by his subjects, foreign powers and internal conspirators sought to tear his kingdom apart. Having dabbled in alchemy and conjuration before, Eldred was forced to turn his hobby into a serious study, eventually turning to dark, dark forces. This resulted in his summoning of the Arch-Demon Marduk, who promised to destroy his rivals.

He did, but he didn't stop there. What Eldred didn't know was that Marduk was a being of infinite appetite, a monster who fed off the worlds to which he was summoned. With Jhera crumbling into nothingness beneath his feet, Eldred and Zyzyx fled into the Astral Void, eventually "washing up" in the world in which the game is set.

This world is ruled by five gods and their wizard-champions. The gods are:

  • Persephone - Self-righteous goddess of Life. She occupies the lush and green lands of Elysium (capital city: Idylliac)
  • Pyro - Technological industrial god of Fire. He occupies the burning volcanic wastes of Pyroborea. (capital city: Helios)
  • James - "Good ol' boy" god of Earth. He occupies the harsh and rocky Glebe. (capital city: Agothera)
  • Stratos - Vain "know-it-all" god of Air. He occupies the snowy desolate land of Empyria. (capital city: Thryhring)
  • Charnel - Amusingly malevolent god of Death. He occupies the rotten barren of Stygia. (capital city: Dys)

The player takes on a mission to champion for one of these gods. After each mission you get to choose another task, and thus choose to serve a different god for that mission.

It is however showed in the fourth mission that Marduk followed Eldred to this world and conspired to destroyed this world. His plot started with a cult to tempt the civilians in this world to believe in Marduk himself so that he, who now is renamed as Ashur, would save them in the conflicts between the five gods, followed by the end of this world.

In the first six missions, if you accomplish some optional objectives or meet a particular target which are hidden from the list of objectives (in some maps, simply win the game; in some others, you have to figure that out) a god will offer you a boon upon the victory of the game, be the god the one who gave you the mission or another one involved in the game, ranging from increasing health, mana, or speed, to increasing magic resistance, physical resistance, health or mana regeneration of your wizard.

The player fights through a total of nine missions, each one rewarding you with new creatures and spells, with the tenth and final mission taking place in the present and being the final showdown between Eldred and Marduk.

[edit] Minions

These are the various creatures available to each deity.

[edit] Persephone's Faithful

  • Druid: Druids fight with bare hands and therefore do less damage than most basic melee minions of other god. But they often survive much longer, because of their special ability "Life shield" which make enemies do half damage to the druids.
  • Ranger: Rangers are the basic shooters of Persephone's Mystics. They have quite a long range, and have the ability "Divine sight" which summons a floating eye to scout around.
  • Shrike: Shrikes do sonic attacks, and can stun the enemy wizard and interrupt their actions. Like the druids, they have Life shield ability.
  • Scarab: Scarabs are an auxiliary creature. Although they cannot attack, they shoot out a beam which heals friendly units.
  • Troll: Trolls are an advanced melee unit which deal more damage and have more hitpoints than druids. They also regenerate quickly.
  • Gnome: Gnomes, possessing a very advanced culture, use their handcannons to shoot down their enemies and rarely miss. An albino Gnome Hero, named Thestor, is an opponent in the first Persephone mission, but if spared he will fight for you for all of the other missions.
  • Gremlin: Gremlins fly fast, and can use their ability to snare a hostile unit, lift it up, and teach him a good lesson.
  • Mutant: this malformed creature is infected with a horrific disease, which culminates in the growth of polyps filled with disease pathogens. In battle, Mutants pluck these polyps from their bodies and hurl them at the foe, possessing the longest range of all Persephone's creatures. Mutants also release a burst of healing energy that affects all nearby friendlies when slain.
  • Ent: Persephone's powerful creature, the Ent is a slow-moving but tough and powerful Melee Unit, with the ability to generate a Lifeshield around all nearby friendlies via its Protector special ability. There is an Ent Hero named Toldor, who becomes available to Persephone followers in the later missions of the game.
  • Dragon: the Titan of Persephone's forces, the Dragon is a Flying Unit with the special ability Breath of Life, which effectively mimics the Charnel spell Animate Dead. The Dragon Hero Sirocco is available to James followers from the second mission.

[edit] Pyro's Proles

  • Cog: These primitive, steam-driven robots bludgeon their foes with metal hammers and explode in bursts of searing steam when slain.
  • Flame Minion: These creatures spit fire balls, and can escape fast using "Run away" when the situation go worse.
  • Spitfire: Spitfires are large orange flyers. They shoot out cones of fires and do area damage, but they are very fragile especially before enemy shooters. They work incredibly well in groups, and not so well on their own.
  • Tickferno: Tickfernos are red beetle-like creatures that can shoot a heat ray which drains their victim's mana to none, but the beam moves slowly and can easily be dodged.
  • Firefist: Firefists are trolls that were captured and experimented on by Pyro. Their fiery fists punch harder when they are low on health.
  • Pyromaniac: these Pyro-worshipping Gnomes shoot fiery darts from their 'rocket launchers' that set their targets alight. The first Pyromaniac, the Hero Faestus, is available to Pyro followers at the first level and then rejoins them from the fourth level onwards. The treacherous Faestus will also side with others to save his own skin, so he also becomes available to Charnel, James and Persephone followers when they assault Helios (Levels 7, 6 and 8 respectively).
  • Pyrodactyl: These fragile bat-like creatures can spit out "viscous oil" that disables anyone in an area from receiving commands, and will ignite when struck by a fire-spell, or fire-based attack from certain creatures.
  • Bombard: Bombards were once mountain-living Lummox, which makes them the cousins of the Flummox and the Flurry. They are very slow but deadly. They throw burning spheres which burn a large area.
  • Warmonger: The creature with highest damage, Warmonger, with their machine gun, can attack a small area. They are short range and extremely fragile, but they can do enormous damage before they die. They also have "Firewalk" which allows them to instantly transport a short distance.
  • Phoenix: Although not the strongest ultimate creature, Phoenix often perform better than many others because of their mana-burning beam. They will also cast a fire shield upon themselves when hit by melee attack.

[edit] James's Yeomen

  • Trogg: The toughest among all basic melee units. Troggs are slow and have resistant skin which protects them from magical damage, though non-damaging spells (Freeze, Grasping Vines, Slime etc.) still affect them. The ideal unit when going up against one of Pyro's superweapons or wizards.
  • Earthfling: These shooters inflict more damage than Troggs. They can also turn themselves to stone, which increase their regeneration rate and defense but disables them, rendering them unable to do anything beside standing still.
  • Gargoyle: James' spitfire, gargoyles are more durable than spitfires. They cast down a rain of stones to smash anything below them.
  • Basilisk: Like scarabs they do not attack. Instead, they can petrify enemies with their gaze.
  • Taurock: Stronger than the troggs, Taurock are nothing but a tanker and manalith siege weapon. When their health goes low, they increase their defense.
  • Flummox: Very slow, and not very accurate. A Flummox throws out stone boulders to shake the ground and can interrupt an enemy wizard's spell-casting.
  • Ikarus: these powerful flyers are similar to Pyro's Pyrodactyl and Charnel's Blight, as their special ability Stickbomb allows them to coat an enemy with sticky glue and thus "gum them up". An Ikarus Hero named Gammel is available to James followers from the first mission.
  • Boulderdash: Boulderdash are more accurate than other area-damage shooters, as their projectile splits into three and can attack three targets at one time.
  • Jabberocky: A Jabberocky walks painfully slow but tanks better than taurocks. They can also make a tiny quake and interrupt an enemy wizard's spells.
  • Rhinok: The sole ultimate creature who stands rather than flies, they are arguably the most powerful ultimate creature in the hand of grandmasters. Rhinok sends waves of spikes out through the ground in all directions, and it can summon a halo of earth to shoot down nearby hostile flyers.

[edit] Stratos' Servants

  • Frostwolf: Very fast, yet very fragile. These Frostwolfs are formerly known as Persephone's slaves of the "circle of life". Their ability "Run away", which makes them run faster, is frequently used to assault manaliths or ranged units rather than run away.
  • Sylph: A deadly accurate shooter. Their ability "Stealth", which they use to turn themselves invisible, makes them good for ambushes or for tracking enemies.
  • Brainiac: Brainiac use their psychic power to stun enemy wizard and interrupt their spellcasting. His attack is often considered as the most effective among the basic Stratos units, but he is very fragile. A Brainiac hero Sara Bella is available in the first and the sixth Stratos' missions. Charnel followers will also find her fluttering about in shock on a mountain in the final Charnel mission.
  • Vortick: A white tick which makes a tiny cyclone to interrupt enemies or even fall down the cliff. Its name and its attack resembles "vortex".
  • Squall: A ground shooter. They shoot out an air beam which drives their victims back. They can deal with slow melee units perfectly.
  • Storm Giant: A strong and fast melee unit which become stronger when struck by lightning. His ability "Call lightning" is to release his hidden power. Lord Surtur, a Storm Giant hero, is available in the second Persephone mission as well as the second and third Stratos missions.
  • Seraph: The fastest of all flyers and a relative of the gremlin. The Seraph can use a cage to catch an enemy, but she isn't powerful.
  • Flurry: A weird area-damage shooter. Their projectile causes the area to implode, sucking everything nearby towards the impact point. Very good at stunning enemies, but can also disable your melee units on the front line.
  • Yeti: A powerful melee unit which freezes their victims with their attack. Their enemies will be driven mad by its freezing fist.
  • Silverback: The most frequently used ultimate creature. They fly fast, their breath freezes their enemies and they posses "Run away". Yet they are very dependent on mana and are very easy to handle with Phoenixes.

[edit] Charnel's Minions

  • Scythe: Though not so aggressive as the Cog, the Scythe's attack replenishes its life and makes him a perfect basic melee unit. They can survive a long time and deal much damage. A Scythe Hero called Gangrel is available at the first mission for the necromancers, and he will be possessed by Astaroth the Demon Lord in the Ritual of Charnel in front of the Demon Gate in the fifth Charnel mission.
  • Fallen: Fallen shoot out flies swarm which slightly slow down their enemy. They can also "play dead" to increase their regeneration rate. Again, their attack replenishes their life.
  • Locust: A fragile flyer who is perfect to finish off the enemy wizard. They can run after him perfectly, and steal his life as well as mana by its attack.
  • Necryl: Necryls are very annoying yet not useful on their own. They spit diseased bile which stops victims from regenerating health and mana. When killed, they spread out diseases to infect those around them.
  • Blight: A flyer who is very good at annoying enemies by assaulting manalith with guerilla tactics. They can also spew "Blightmites" to slow down their enemies.
  • Netherfiend: A melee unit which is good at defense. They become permanently tougher by consuming blue souls.
  • Deadeye: Deadeyes are summoned on the corpses of Gnomes. They are shooters with a surprisingly long range. Their projectiles are deadly accurate and poisonous.
  • Abomination: using a modified version of the Mutant sprite, the Abomination is almost exactly like the Mutant, being one of Charnel's long-range units. Unlike the Mutant, the Abomination does not release healing energy when slain. While the Mutant is more accurate, the Abomination's projectiles (which consist of chunks of necrotic entrail and congealed masses of blood) leave a trail of corrosive droplets behind them as they arc through the air, which means they damage all enemies between the Abomination and its target. The gruesome nature of the Abomination's projectiles means that each shot leaves a streamer of blood on the ground and a splash of gore where it hits. Multiple Abominations attacking an area can leave the ground totally covered with gore.
  • Styx: Looking similar to Warmonger, Styx channels dark energy and cause explosions to attack its foe. They can also explode a blue soul to heavily damage all nearby units.
  • Hellmouth: Hellmouth are a flying shooter which shoot out poisonous projectiles. They are not very deadly, but are very tough and can tank quite well.

[edit] Others

  • Manahoar: A unit that every wizard needs. They draw the energy from your manaliths, and replenish your mana.
  • Sac-doctor: You can't control it, but they are useful. They are used to carry the red souls to the altar for conversion, and desecrate your enemy's altar.
  • Villagers: These are the helpless, unarmed people who inhabit this world. They appear as Peasants, Farmers, Snowmen, Slaves or Zombies within different God's boundary. You will get a single red soul by killing them, which you can then convert.

[edit] Spells for each god

[edit] Persephone's Mysticism

Consisting almost entirely of healing and support spells, the Mysticism of Persephone is used to bolster your forces, so a Mystic needs souls more than any other wizard.

  • Wrath: like all initial spells, Wrath is a simple offensive spell; the wizard conjures a globe of blue-green energy and hurls it at the target.
  • Ethereal Form: each of the second-level spells in Sacrifice is a defensive spell for the player. Ethereal Form is the shortest in duration, but the most useful in application: it effectively turns the caster ethereal, making them immune to any physical and magical attack.
  • Grasping Vines: Grasping Vines entangles a target and prevent it from movement, but the target can still attack or cast spells.
  • Rainbow: an upgraded form of the Heal spell that hits the initial target and then bounces away to heal four more of your units.
  • Rain of Frogs: causes frogs formed of magical energy to start falling from the sky over the targeted area. These frogs chase all nearby units (both friends and foes) and cling to them, slowing them down for a while, before exploding. They inflict little damage individually, but a concentrated barrage can destroy just about any ground-based unit.
  • Healing Aura: causes the targeted creature to radiate an aura that heals all nearby friendlies.
  • Vinewall: creates a barrier of vines to shoot up from the earth. Any enemy that gets near the wall is entangled.
  • Meanstalks: causes giant vines to erupt from the soil. These vines impale any creature that gets near them and then flings it high into the air. The initial spiking causes some damage, the impact causes more. Ultimately, however, it is only a distraction and/or way of slowing the enemy down.
  • Charm: permanently converts the target creature into one of your minions.

[edit] Pyro's Sorcery

As would be expected, Pyro's magic is all about fire and flames. Known as Sorcery, Pyro's Sorcerers have the greatest amount of offensive power in the game. There is no Pyro spell that cannot be made to deal damage.

  • Fireball: simple, direct and effective. Generate a large ball of flames and molten rock and then hurl it at the foe. It explodes when hit and damages a very tiny area, roughly about the size of two level 1 creatures close to each other.
  • Fireform: engulfs the caster in a shield of flames, which effectively sets any nearby hostile unit on fire as well as lowering damage inflicted (insignificantly).
  • Rings of Fire: like all third-level spells, Rings of Fire hinders the victim's movement, causing it to slow down a little. Unlike the other third-level spells, Rings of Fire actually causes damage while it lasts.
  • Dragonfire: creates a dragon-shape of flames which flies at a target then flies up into the air before making two further air-strikes. Whilst it only targets three individual units, it burns anything caught in its path.
  • Explosion: creates a ring of fireballs around the target point, which swell up and then explode. This inflicts fire damage but also sends anything caught in the area of effect hurtling through the air. If cast near a chasm it's possible to send creatures flying into the chasm.
  • Firewall: creates a wall of flames that burns anything that comes through it as slowing them down during the process of passing through.
  • Rain of Fire: as the name suggests, creates a storm of fiery meteors over the target area. Very good at killing off guardians.
  • Blind Rage: drives one creature into a blinding fury, which causes them to attack the nearest unit, be ita friend or foe, with their melee attacks. (units which do ranged attacks deal less damage therefore)
  • Volcano: the spell for mass-destruction, creates a volcanic eruption. The central area will burst out hot magma which does a lot of damage and kill the toughest creatures within seconds. This area is however quite small, but the volcano also hurls out deadly volcanic bombs which also does drastic damage.

[edit] James's Geomancy

Since he is the god of Earth, James specializes in geomancy and therefore has mostly earth-related spells, which are specialised to defend and bolster the endurance of your James Yeomen.

  • Rock: the most simple attack spell; rips a giant boulder from the earth and sends it flying towards the target. James and Stratos share the dubious 'honour' of being the only two gods in the game whose initial spells can hit your minions if they get between your spell and the target.
  • Skin of Stone: the caster becomes encased in a flexible but durable layer of rock.
  • Soul Mole: summons some unknown form of burrowing creature, which sweeps towards the target soul of a dead minion and then carries it back towards the caster, knocking down any enemy in its path. Be cautious when using this spell, as once the Mole grabs the soul it counts as a Gib Soul (aka it's available to any wizard). This spell is less likely to be used then its Stratos counterpart Soul Wind, due simply to the fact that James creatures are tougher and have more health than Stratos creatures. Soul mole can also only pick up souls, while Soul Wind can also do a decent amount of damage to anything en route. This spell has the most extensive range in the game however, and can be quite handy to collect souls far away from the wizard.
  • Erupt: the earth at the target point rises up and then slams down, hurling any nearby creature through the air and stunning them. It causes a little damage when they hit the ground, and it can fling creatures into chasms, but it's more useful for disrupting a tightly-clustered group of enemies.
  • Halo of Earth: this causes several boulders to rip themselves from the earth and hover above the caster's head. They automatically fire themselves at any enemy that gets near. They do damage equivalent to the Rock spell.
  • Wall of Spikes: creates a line of stalagmites that slow and wound anything that moves through them.
  • Bombardment: causes a massive shower of boulders to rip from the ground and then slam into the targeted area like mortars. The sheer power of this spell can pound the targeted area into a crater.
  • Bovine Intervention: most likely a reference to Earthworm Jim's infamous cow joke, this spell causes a giant cow to rocket out of the sky and land on your target. It shakes the ground when it hits, hurting nearby enemies and stunning them, and the initial target is gibbed and instantly release blue souls.
  • Bore: a massive chunk of earth (roughly the size of an Altar) is carved away in a spiral shape. Any land enemy caught in the spiral counts as having fallen into a chasm. The melted area restores itself over several seconds.

[edit] Stratos' Elementalism

Stratos's repertoire consists mainly of lightning and wind spells, and is very well balanced. His (slightly weaker than most) spells recharge incredibly fast, so you always have a mid-level spell ready.

  • Lightning: simple and direct, this spell creates a lightning bolt that arcs from your hands to zap the target. Unlike all of the other spells, Lightning does not track its target but simply hits the first thing directly between you and the target; including allies, obstacles and the ground itself! However, it costs less mana than any other spell in the game, and recharges incredibly fast.
  • Air Shield: creates a swirling vortex around you to reduce damage and push any enemy back when they approach you.
  • Freeze: the least useful of all immobilizing spells, a frozen target thaws out instantly if attacked. Its sole saving value is its quick speed to be cast- making it very useful for disrupting enemy spellcasters. Try using it when an enemy flying creature is over a hole and get rid of them for good.
  • Chain Lightning: slightly weaker in damage than Lightning, Chain Lightning makes up for it (and the fact it has a longer casting time and prevents movement whilst being cast) with the fact that it bounces from the initial target to strike anything nearby.
  • Soul Wind: creates a mini-cyclone that zooms to a targeted blue soul and snares it, blasting any nearby enemies with lightning bolts along the way, dealing damage roughly equivalent to Lightning. Unlike lightning, it also knocks them over for a bit. Usable while moving.
  • Frozen Ground: the wizard hurls a freezing mass of ice and cause an area of ground to be covered by a plate of ice, freezing any unit caught in it. The ice-plate eventually shatters, causing damage to any unit within its area. Its long casting time limits its effect as the targets often go away the area before the ice hits. This is unique in being the highest-level spell you can cast while moving about.
  • Fence: this wall spell creates a line of transparent globes that electrify anything that comes near them. The damage dealt is the highest among all wall spells, but this is balanced by the fact that this spell is one level higher than the others.
  • Cloudkill: creates a small black storm-cloud that rains down a random shower of powerful lightning bolts. These bolts are attracted to units and wizards, but can and will strike randomly if there is a unit within range. If targeted at a specific unit, the cloud slowly moves to follow the target; otherwise, it will be fixed at the point it was cast. Great for killing guardians.
  • Tornado: creates a powerful tornado that sucks up any unit and whirls it high into the air before letting it drop. it lasts quite a long time and can effectively disrupt the targets for quite some time.

[edit] Charnel's Necromancy

Charnel's spells are stereotypical "black magic", relating to death, demons, decay and pain. A wizard of Charnel is a Necromancer, and Charnel's lore is called Necromancy. While not outright devastating, Charnel's magic can still be lethal if used with an amount of subtlety and tactics.

  • Insect Swarm: this basic spell conjures a ravenous swarm of flesh-eating insects and sets them upon a target, healing the caster by the amount of damage inflicted.
  • Protective Swarm: identical to Insect Swarm, but the insects swarm around the caster instead, shielding him from damage and replenish health.
  • Slime: drenches the target in thick, gooey sludge that slows them down and makes them more susceptible to damage and less capable of inflicting it. This can also slow down spell casting if the spell is started channeling before the slime is hurled.
  • Animate Dead: the most useful of all Charnel's spells, this spell targets the blue soul of a slain minion and brings it back to life. Whatsmore, it recovers at the same speed as a non-cast spell and only costs 300 mana, enabling it to be used repeatedly and with devastating effect. In fact, an army of nothing but Locusts (for the first half of Charnel's campaign), or Abominations (for the second half), in conjunction with the Animate Dead spell, is a very nearly unbeatable strategy.
  • Demonic Rift: this summons "demons" (in the form of pink energy bolts) that leap from the portal on the ground and strike an enemy, inflicting damage. One demon is summoned for each nearby enemy, and the demons inflict sufficient power to instantly slay a 1st level non-melee minion.
  • Wailing Wall: creates an ethereal barrier of screaming faces that saps mana very quickly from anything that gets too near it.
  • Plague: creates a black stormcloud which proceeds to rain diseased blood over the affected area. All creatures within or entering the area of effect are diseased, losing health steadily (and faster if they continue to be hit by the bloody rain) and suffering increased susceptibility to damage and decreased ability to inflict damage. Plague can be a fairly effective Guardian-killer, but lacks Rain of Fire's strength.
  • Intestinal Vaporization: causes a target to swell up and burst, resulting in a gib.
  • Death: summons a giant spirit-creature with scythe-blades for hands that attacks all nearby creatures. One strike with its blades instantly slays any creature. It does not attack wizards, sac-doctors or structures.

[edit] Neutral spells

Neutral spells are available to all five gods' champions.

  • Speed up: A self-explanatory spell. It boosts your minions' walking speed.
  • Heal: Another self-explanatory spell that heals a friendly target.
  • Manalith: This spell create a Manalith on a mana fountain that replenishes your mana.
  • Teleport: Instantly transport yourself and your minions nearby to your own altar or manalith. When an enemy wizard is about to take over your altar, use this.
  • Convert: This spell summons a sac-doctor (which you cannot control) to transport a red hostile soul to your altar and purify it into a friendly one to use.
  • Shrine: A spell that is only available to wizards at level-three or above. This summons a shrine on a mana fountain that can act like a limited version of an altar. Your sac-doctor can convert red souls here, and increase your mana regeneration rate when you get nearby roughly by the speed of an atlar. Your manahoars cannot draw energy from shrines however.
  • Guardian: This spell create a spirit link to one of your creature with your manaliths, shrines or altar, and greatly increase its strength to protect it. The Guardians cannot go very far from the structure it guards, and the structure can only be destroyed when all guardians are cleared. When the structure is under attack, the guardians will incur any damage the structure would otherwise take.
  • Desecrate: A spell to banish the wizard forever and win the game. This spell is used upon the enemy altar and requires the sacrifice of one of your minions. When the altar is being desecrated, damage will be inflicted on the wizard and, if he dies during the desecration, he loses. The desecration will be ended when one of the sac-doctors performing the desecration gets killed.


[edit] Scapex

Scapex is an advance design program included in the game that enables players to create their own multiplayer maps.

[edit] Vocal cast

[edit] External links

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