----------------------------------
Boxleitner’s
Guide to the Blood Soaked Oak
----------------------------------

Copyright July 28, 2009 by Ivan Montecinos
Version 001
7/28/09
Created by: Boxleitner
Questions or Regards: [email protected]

-----------
UPDATES:
-----------
-July 28rd V1.1
FAQ posted.

-----------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------------

0. Legal Notice

1. Introduction
  -A ) Who is Oak? 
  -B ) Who is Blood Soaked Oak?

2. Abilities
  -A ) Ability Build
  -B ) Shield 
  -C ) Divine Justice
  -D ) Penitence
  -E ) Surge of Faith
  -F ) Soul Power
  -G ) Raise Dead Ward

3. Items
  -A ) Blood Soaked Wand
  -B ) Scale Mail / Banded Armor
  -C ) Vlemish Faceguard and  Plenor Battlecrown
  -D ) Nimoth Chestpiece
  -E ) Wand of Speed
  -F ) Narmoth’s Ring
  -G ) Godplate

4. Minions
  -A ) The Official Blood Soaked Oak Cheerleading Team
  -B ) Bishops
  -C ) Siege Demolishers
  -D ) Why not get Minotaurs?

5. General Strategies

6. Replays

7. Thanks

---------------
0) Legal Stuff
---------------


I have written this FAQ for the purpose of spreading the word of the Blood Soaked Oak Build! . You can read the guide, link it to others, use the build to own BUT do not try to sell it or pass it off as your own. This guide has been Copyrighted. If you see it anywhere else than Gamefaqs.com or the Demigod forums please tell me! I’d be very grateful to say the least.

Demigod the game is the property of Stardock and Gas Powered Games.


------------------
1) Introduction!
------------------


A ) Who is Oak?

Thanos was a great warrior dedicated to the service of the Nimoth Kings. He was unique among his brethren in that he was immortal and reknowned in battle. It was upon the request of his last liege to slaughter innocents that Thanos turned to his Lord and argued against the order. For this act of defiance he was banished from his homeland, left to defend the remnants of his vassals from creatures of death and destruction in the Canyons of the Dead. Generations later the descendants of his servants dubbed him “The Oak” because of his stoic defense of their home.

B ) Who is Blood Soaked Oak?

Blood Soaked Oak, also termed the “The Girly Man Oak” by Mabmanz, is an Oak with a different fighting strategy than most other builds. He relies on Divine Justice to keep him and his allies topped off both in hit points and in mana. He also uses Blood Soaked Wand, the favor item, for even more allied healing! 

This Demigod is amazing in the fact that he keeps waves of reinforcements pushing, minions attacking and Demigods alive. He is PRIMARILY a support character who spams his Penitence and Surge of Faith abilities and as such is best played in conjunction with other Demigods such as a hit point build Unclean Beast or a minion Erebus. This is a damage and debuff Demigod that is meant to attack from out of range until an enemy death is certain; only then does he close in for a melee kill.


--------------------
2) Abilities
--------------------


A ) Ability Build

Level 1: Shield I Level 10: Surge of Faith II

Level 2: Divine Justice I Level 11: Penitence IV

Level 3: Penitence I Level 12: Raise Dead Ward I

Level 4: Penitence II Level 13: Soul Power II

Level 5: Surge I Level 14: Raise Dead Ward II

Level 6: Divine Justice II Level 15: Surge of Faith III  

Level 7: Penitence III Level 16: Rally

Level 8: Divine Justice III Level 17: Soul Power III

Level 9: Soul Power I Level 18,19,20: Raise Dead Ward III, IV and Frenzy

Level 10: Surge of Faith II

Level 11: Penitence IV

Level 12: Raise Dead Ward I

Level 13: Soul Power II

Level 14: Raise Dead Ward II

Level 15: Surge of Faith III  

Level 16: Rally

Level 17: Soul Power III

Level 18,19,20: Raise Dead Ward III, IV and Frenzy



B ) Shield (1 point only)

Use: Oak grants a shield to a target, making them immune to damage for 3 seconds.

Cost: 400 Mana / Cast time: .1 seconds / 35 Second cooldown / Range: 20 yards

Shield is a wonderful skill that will give you 3 seconds of invulnerability. This is perfect for blocking a Torch Bearer fireball, Rook’s slam, or cleansing Unclean Beast’s venom spit. It also perfectly allows you to cast Blood Soaked Wand without interruption! 

I only get 1 point in this because other skills are more important to this build. Thanks to Mabmanz for suggesting it be gotten as soon as possible: it will protect you and others from early game spell damage if you are fast enough on the cast.

C ) Divine Justice (Main ability branch for this build)

Use: When Oak kills a target, he and his allies receive Health and Mana equal to 10% of the unit’s maximum health.

Divine Justice is rarely regarded as a vital ability. However, it is simply amazing in that anything you kill gives you life and mana back. It’s like having vampiric abilities at no cost!! What’s even greater about it is that it heals and refreshes ANY ally in your vicinity. What it amounts to is an endless health and mana stream by level 3, both for you and your comrades, provided you get the killing blows (which is easy with Surge of Faith!).

I prioritize the purchasing of this ability as much as possible. It is indispensable for an Oak that wants to be a team player. On his own he can also work miracles with Divine Justice because he will keep himself and creep waves alive and pushing.

The last point in Divine Justice will give you Rally (When Oak kills a Demigod he and his allies receive +500 armor and heal 1000 health over 5 seconds), which I have rarely seen proc simply because by levels 10-12 most of my games have ended. I believe it to be useful in large fights and viable enough to get.

D ) Penitence (Second most important skill)

Use: Oak fills a target with holy remorse dealing damage, reducing their movement speed and increasing all damage taken by a percentage for 5 seconds.

Cost: 450,550,650,750 Mana (Per level) / Cast time: .1 seconds / 7 Second cooldown
Range: 20 yards / Movement reduction and Damage taken increase: 7% /10% /13% /16% (Per level)

Blood Soaked Oak is a Penitence spammer. This means that he will be casting it back to back unless he is waiting for an enemy to use an interruptible spell. If you think Sedna will pounce or heal or you see Rook about to hammer slam, Torch Bearer about to land a Fireball or create a circle of fire then you can stop them by casting Penitence on them as an interrupt. You should be able to prevent a potion from being taken or a teleportation from being cast.

You can also purposely cast Penitence to slow an enemy or increase enemy damage taken. Otherwise you will want to use this spell as an enemy Demigod softener in preparation for your charging in to melee and Surge of Faith him or her. 

E ) Surge of Faith

Use: Deals 300,450,600 damage and increases allied unit movement speeds and attack speeds by  
  10%,15%,20% for 7 seconds. 
Cost: 500,675,800 Mana (Per level) / Cast time: 1 seconds / 10 Second cooldown

This skill is your source of health, mana, gold and creep kills on the battlefield. Use it whenever you are in the midst of an enemy creep wave. The kills will net you gold, experience and health and mana!

F ) Soul Power

Use: Increases weapon damage by 20 and more per spirit you control.

This is useful later. It is not gotten early because other skills are so much more useful.

You may also choose to take this skill without Raise Dead Wards, thus giving you a flat +20 damage increase without the hassle of having to control spirits. 

G ) Raise Dead Ward (Late game)

Use: Allows you to maintain an army of 3,5,7,10 spirits.

The reason I suggest getting this so late is so you can focus on Divine Justice, Surge of Faith and Penitence in the build. Another reason is that I dislike handling more than one unit; it can be complicated enough to move your Demigod correctly and moving more than one unit at a time takes practice! Otherwise in your confusion you might move the wrong unit and lose your Demigod.

However, Raise Dead Ward is a must late game because of the bonuses to melee damage it gives you in conjunction with Soul Power and the extra damage the spirits will do to enemies.


---------
3) Items
---------


A ) Favor Item: Blood Soaked Wand

Use: Heal self and all nearby allies for 1000.

Cost: 1750 Favor / Cast time: 2.5 seconds / 45 Second cooldown


The Blood Soaked Wand is a rarely used Favor item with tremendous support ability. I have seen it turn a 3v3 fight around completely in 3 seconds. Many players will not be prepared for you to suddenly heal yourself and your nearby allies! What’s more, one thousand life is quite a bit at the start and still quite formidable mid to late game. Thanks to Blood Soaked Wand an armored Level 1 Oak can sit at a flag killing enemy reinforcements and practically tank ANY damage a Level 1 Regulus does to him, wanding it all back every 45 seconds! I do it all the time, ensuring an early head start on Warscore and asserting my dominance on the battlefield. In larger fights I have saved countless allied lives, defeated many a foe, gained more experience and downed more towers thanks to staying out on the field longer… all because I can heal 1000 hit points every 45 seconds.

Why not use other favor Items? After much experimentation and consideration, I have found that the hit point heal the wand gives is simply way too powerful to pass up. It is much more useful than the Blood of the Fallen favor item, which gives a static 800 hit point increase and a small 5 health per second bonus. You will find that Blood Soaked Wand is like carrying a hidden 1000 hit points! All of a sudden you will bring it out and turn the tables on your enemies. Staff of the Warmage is no good since you will already have enough mana and damage with this build to wreck havoc! Amulet of Teleportation would be nice on big maps but this build is about support. You can pay for teleport scrolls; they cost way less than buying Universal Gadgets to heal allies (no one does that anyway?). Wings of the Seraphim are not as useful because they require you and your allies to be out of combat for them to heal. They also do not heal minions or reinforcements. General Favor Items are not useful because this build will not use the minions it gathers until VERY late game AND only possibly. Cloak of Night is a great getaway tool, but not such a good attack tool, since enemies can simply outrun you again. It also does nothing to help others on the battlefield. 

As a matter of fact the only item that could possibly top Blood Soaked Wand for this Oak build is Swift Anklet. I have long debated whether Blood Soaked Oak should use Swift Anklet instead, thus allowing him to move at an advantageous +15% speed. But then I found myself having to return to the well for healing or spending gold on potions… and then end result was that I lost 


B ) Game Start Items: Scale Mail and Banded Armor

Again: after much consideration and experimentation I have landed on the final conclusion that these two pieces or armor are indispensable. The 600 armor points negate an amazing amount of damage and should not be underestimated. Banded armor allows you to survive longer and the small hit point regeneration provided is pleasant. On normal game settings you will be keeping these two items for a great deal of the game, if not all the way thru. Late game if you have more gold they can be replaced by Narmoth’s Ring and Godplate for even more survivability, allowing you to melee even longer.


C ) Getting Vlemish Faceguard and Plenor Battlecrown:

By Level 5 you should have 1500+ if not 3000 gold already. You now have Surge of Faith and should get both helms at the shop now. 

If things are going really well then you can postpone the purchase of one helm and get Gold 1 for the team. If not, then it is important that you get it after your helms. Remember: you are a team player. You will always be central to your game wins if you take a healthy part in the outcome. Do not expect others to do this for you!


D ) When to get: Nimoth Chestpiece

If you feel that you are taking way too much damage and having to return to the health crystal often after the start of the game then your next item should be the Nimoth Chestpiece. It will provide a significant increase in survivability and damage reduction. If not, then the proper time to get this item is just after buying both the Vlemish Faceguard and the Plenor Battlecrown. 

Staying out on the battlefield is important. The longer you are out there the more gold, experience and flags you will receive.


E ) When to get: Wand of Speed

I am VERY aware that the drawback to this hero is movement speed. Because I advocate so much armor, health and mana reservoirs the build comes down to not having any boots at all. The result is that it can take an eternity to move around a map and engaging in melee can be dangerous if you misjudge the odds.

Fortunately Eskendale proposes a solution in his Healing Oak Build (For more information visit his guide at: https://forums.demigodthegame.com/357493 ). The purchase of Wand of Speed allows you to rush to a spot, chase down enemy foes or run from them whenever the need arises. 

If you feel that the map is too big or that you are not getting away or landing kills because of lack of speed, then you should get this asap. Otherwise wait until after you get your two helms and your Nimoth Chestpiece.


F ) Narmoth’s Ring (Replaces Banded Armor)

This item is to be gotten if you can spare the gold. Personally I advocate investing your gold in Currency 1, Priests, Angels, Catapults and Giants (as well as Armory 1 and Blacksmith 1). Why? Because if you don’t make an effort to be the team player and buy the upgrades then no one will.

However, if you find the need for more hit points, hit point regeneration and more staying power then the life steal on this item and it’s other attributes are right up your alley. 


G ) God plate (Replaces Scale Mail)

This wonderful item will allow you to take incredible amounts of damage and still stay in the thick of battle. It is the last item I suggest you get. Any other gold should be spent on the citadel.

Like Narmoth’s Ring, this item is for purchase if you have already reached all the important citadel upgrades or if someone else is appointed to do that.


-----------
4. Minions
-----------


A ) The Official Blood Soaked Oak Cheerleading Team:


Suggestion: When you have less than 7 spirits leave them at base near the crystal.
 
Reason: Blood Soaked Oak is about staying out of combat, supporting reinforcement waves and allied Demigods and their minions and casting ranged spells to weaken enemy Demigods. It is difficult enough to focus your attention on all this and stay alive. In order to keep the bonuses from Soul Power at all times, your spirits must stay alive. Because of these facts, it becomes easier to simply leave your minion spirits at base and benefit from their passive melee damage increase rather than have to continually replace them in battle or, God forbid, die because of moving the spirits rather than the Demigod.

After getting Raise Dead Ward 3, your spirits will be tough enough that it is wiser to use them in battle than to simply leave them behind at the crystal.


B ) Bishops

Wonderful healing. Unless you like managing units, I suggest getting these after you have Raise Dead Ward 3 and are moving spirits with you. Otherwise you can get these and their upgraded counterparts as soon as you like! You can even start the game with them.


C ) Siege Demolishers

These are fantastic help to Blood Soaked Oak since he is a ranged spell caster. Because of their good distance damage he can safely move them with him and not have to worry about them or bad pathing on their part as much as other minions.

Again, because of the afore-mentioned constraints, I suggest you get these once you are already moving other minions into battle with you.

D ) Why not get Minotaurs?

Suggestion: Don’t get Minotaurs

Reason: They are melee units. Our Blood Soaked Oak wants to attack at ranged as much as possible. Having to move Minotaurs in and out of melee range complicates matters way too much for them to be viable.

------------------------
5. General Strategies
------------------------


Stay in the creep lanes. You have the advantage of being able to heal from enemy reinforcement deaths. Your allied creeps will also help you with your attack on enemy Demigods.

Try to lure enemies to fight you within creep waves.

Don’t buy too many potions or scrolls but always keep 1 of each on you at any given time! Just 1 potion has saved my life from Regulus’ snipes far too often. Scrolls are best used to jump in on enemy flag cappers by surprise!! However be careful not to port into more than one enemy Demigod or into a Rook hammerslam. =.P

Always fight at full life or close to it. Don’t stay near death in lanes. Low hit points is just an open invitation to a heartache.

Watch the minimap. 

Attack with friends. Flank enemies. 

After a kill always leave and refill both mana and health. Otherwise you will be vulnerable to a revenge kill by either your victim or his allies.

For very good tips on how to play please read:

Ke5trel’s Tips - https://forums.demigodthegame.com/347388/ 
Avoidance Guide by Ke5trel - https://forums.demigodthegame.com/354641/ 


------------
6. Replays
------------

The following replays will Blood Soaked Oak in action. Some human mistakes are always made, but in general you will get the idea! Enjoy!

1) http://rapidshare.com/files/256838474/The_Blood_Soaked_Oak_1.DGReplay 

2) http://rapidshare.com/files/256838562/The_Blood_Soaked_Oak_2.DGReplay

-----------
7. Thanks
-----------


For replies to any questions or comments you have please e-mail me at:
[email protected]

Thanks to Eskendale for his patience, guidance and advice. Check out his Healing Oak Build!

Many thanks to Mabmanz for all his counsel and frienship.

Thanks to all my Demigod friends out there: You know who you are! Each of you are wonderful, caring, patient people. Stay Frosty!

A special word out to Kalelsm1, Ataraxic, _Shadow, Rogdan, Dustbin, Demigood, Goggris and K5strel for their awesome comradery. 

Thanks to Demigod Database for offering us such great build info:
http://www.demigoddb.com/


Copyright Ivan Montecinos 2009