Some new Stormgate information has been revealed as the game approaches its open play period during Steam Next Fest, with a brand new hero being announced! We got a look at the Infernal Host’s first playable hero, Maloc, who will take center stage during the next beta test.
Maloc Abilities, Unique Effects, and Units
First revealed by PCgamer, Maloc enters Stormgate as a caster focused on fire spells, voiced by none other than Blizzard legend Chris Metzen! We’ll break down everything we know about him below.
Unique Effects and Units
Maloc has a major impact on the way the Infernal Hosts are played, providing his army with unique effects, as well as special units. Keep in mind, Maloc (and other hero units) are only available in co-op vs AI and 3v3. Here’s what he brings to his army:
- The Brute is replaced by the Fire Giant
- The Magmadon is replaced by the Mortardon (which fires flaming Imps!)
- All structures emit a Shroud equal to twice their footprint
- Maloc’s units don’t have access to Infest
Maloc Abilities and Rituals
Being a hero unit, Maloc has access to a set of unique spells. He also alters the Infernal Host’s Rituals, providing new unique abilities. These are:
- Serve the Flame: Consume all corpses in a target area to create a Burned One (unit). The more corpses that are consumed, the bigger the Burned One. These units cost no supply and have a maximum of five.
- Burning Blood: Deals 120% of a target’s health over 8 seconds and causes its attacks to do bonus fire damage. When the unit dies or the effect expires, fire damage is dealt to nearby units.
- Wildfire: Summons a fiery cyclone that moves to a target location. Upon reaching the location, it will wander in random directions.
- Cinder Storm: Immobilizes Maloc and creates a large AoE of molten flame around him.
That’s about all we know about Maloc at the moment. All in all, he looks like a very interesting (and fun!) hero and it’ll be great to try him out in co-op. If you’re not already in the beta, make sure to join in to the Steam Next Fest fun from Feb 5-12, or back Stormgate on Kickstarter to secure beta access for February.
