Queen of Thorns
The Thorned Rose
Table of Contents
[A] Status | Change Log
Need to do: Base Stats at levels 10, 15, 20, Organize Skills by Alpha
[Changes]
4/16/09 - Finished Queen of Thorn Abilities, added Base Stats
4/17/09 - Added Build "Bramble Burst" by Cerulean Shaman
4/19/09 - Updated "Bramble Burst" with an alternate playstyle and Favor Item choices. Fixed Abilities and added Morale.
4/21/09 - Violent Siege added
[1] Introduction
Greetings, greetings. You're probably here because you have some interest in Queen of Thorns, though you're probably wondering what you'll find. Well, you're in the right place as Queen of Thorns is currently my favorite demigod and thus induced me to write form of resource for the community. You'll find plenty of info here and not just mine as I'll gladly accept feed back and input from the community so we can make this a wonderful resource. They'll even recieve credit!
I want to shy away from the term "guide", as that indicates telling you how Queeny should be played. Instead, I'll use the term "Handbook", a collection of information to help you master this stubborn mistress. Feel free to disagree, correct, or advise, I'm open minded and not so full of myself to think I am the only voice of Queeny.
As usual, this is a work in progress. I will update it over time as needed and fix any errors as needed. Feel free to pm builds, corrections, thoughts, or info. Also feel free to repost my guide as you please, you don't even need to give me credit (though it would be the nice thing to do!).
[2] Queen of Thorn Lore
.:The Tale of Thorns:.
The faeries of the forest were invisible to men, but were as plain as the sun to small creatures and growing things. The faeries did not rule the forest, but they influenced it in countless ways to help maintain a perfect, delicate balance. By asking nicely, they earned the obedience of all things that grew or moved.
Then a red-haired faerie was born, and she was different from the others. She seemed heavier, more substantial than her sisters. As she grew older, she found that when she walked in the field, her feet crushed the grass while other fairies lilted along without moving a single blade. After several attempts at helping things to grow ended in disaster, she was finally assigned to insect duty -- the durable carapaces of centipedes and ladybugs withstood her harsh treatment, and for her part she seemed to have a special affection for things that skittered and stung.
One day, she happened across a man in the forest. She was surprised to discover that the man could see her. She also learned that she exerted great influence over the man, and that her nakedness somehow contributed to his agitation. Finally losing control of himself, he seized her. She had little time to resist, since the color quickly went out of his face and he dropped to the ground, dead. She felt his life force flowing inside her like some drug, and was exhilarated. She now saw that she had special gifts.
The red-haired faerie was flushed with the possibilities. No faerie had ever thought to make demands of the forest-dwellers, and she was suddenly angered by her sisters' naivete and condescension. Thenceforth, she never moved through the forest on her own feet, riding instead upon a rose-chariot that stood upon the backs of four great beetles. In another break with faerie tradition, she gave herself a name: The Queen of Thorns.
As more searchers came to the forest in larger, better-armed groups, the Queen of Thorns commanded the elm trees to uproot themselves and savage the attackers. This they did, even though by these exertions they brought about their own deaths, for they could not get their roots back into the ground.
Coming upon the piles of dead men and trees, her sisters saw that a monster had grown in their midst. They gave her a choice: she could take her own life or leave the forest forever.
Wishing them all long winters, the Queen rode her insect-chariot away, leaving a crushed swath of fallen flowers in her wake.
[3] Base Status
Health | 1450 (+2.37 HP per Second) (+12.37 HP per Second Closed)
Mana | 936 (+2.93 Mana Per Second) (+4.39 Mana Per Second Closed)
Armor | 330 (11.7% migitation) While in Closed Form: 363 (12.7% migitation)
Weapon Damage | 128-142 (84 DPS)
Attack Speed | 1.4s
Range | 15yd
Movement Speed | 6.0
[4] Abilities
[Close]
Queen of Thorns sinks into her flower, granting her new abilities as well as enhanced Armor, Mana regeneration, Health regeneration, and splash damage.
[Open]
Queen of Thorns comes out of her flower, granting her new abilities.
[Summon Shambler]
Queen of Thorns summons X Shamblers from her thorns to protect her. She may have X Shamblers active. Shamblers are ranged attackers that damage any units in the path of their attack.
0 yard range, 0.5 second cast, 5 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 450/625/625/975 ]
Rank 1 - [Summon 1 Shambler, 2 Max]
Rank 2 - [Summon 2 Shambler, 2 Max]
Rank 3 - [Summon 2 Shambler, 4 Max]
Rank 4 - [Summon 4 Shambler, 4 Max]
[Mulch Shambler]
Queen of Thorns absorbs an allied Shambler, killing it and restoring X Health.
5000 yard range, 0.1 second cast, 7 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 280/250/250]
Rank 1 - [Heals for 750 and does 250 aoe damage]
Rank 2 - [Heals for 1500 and does 500 aoe damage]
Rank 3 - [Heals for 2250 and does 750 aoe damage]
[Uproot]
Queen of Thorns sends her vines deep beneath the earth to destroy target structure's foundation, dealing X damage over X seconds.
20 yard range, 0.5 second cast, 15 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 425/585/745/905 ]
Rank 1 - [500 damage to Structure over 10 seconds]
Rank 2 - [1000 damage to Structure over 10 seconds]
Rank 3 - [1500 damage to Structure over 10 seconds]
Rank 4 - [2000 damage to Structure over 10 seconds]
[Ground Spikes]
Queen of Thorns radiates a forest of spikes around her, dealing X damage.
0 yard range (damages around her), 0.5 second cast, 7 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 500/500/675/750 ]
Rank 1 - [Deals 250 Damage and reduces Armor by 375 for 5 seconds]
Rank 2 - [Deals 500 Damage and reduces Armor by 750 for 5 seconds]
Rank 3 - [Deals 675 Damage and reduces Armor by 1125 for 5 seconds]
Rank 4 - [Deals 750 Damage and reduces Armor by 1500 for 5 seconds]
[Tribute]
So powerful is the worship that Queen of Thorns holds that her servants pay her tribute.
0 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 0 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 000/000/000/000 ] [Passive Ability]
+ 4 Gold for Army
[Compost]
Shambler Weapon Damage and Health is increased for every 3 foes that falls around Queen of Thorns. Uproot damage is also increased. This ability maxes at 9 kills and the effect diminishes over time.
0 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 0 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 000/000/000/00 ] [Passive Ability]
[Spike Wave]
Queen of Thorns sends out a powerful wave of spikes, dealing X damage to anyone skewered and reducing their movement speed by X%.
20 yard range, 0.4 second cast, 10 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 750/1000/1250 ]
Rank 1 - [350 Damage, 15 yd, 15% Slow for 5 seconds]
Rank 2 - [500 Damage, 25 yd, 20% Slow for 5 seconds]
Rank 3 - [650 Damage, 30 yd, 25% Slow for 5 seconds, 15 second cool down]
[Bramble Shield]
Queen of Thorns forms a shield around an allied unit, absorbing X damage. Only one absorption effect may be active at a time.
20 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 7 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 400/560/720/840 ]
Rank 1 - [Absorbs 700 Damage]
Rank 2 - [Absorbs 950 Damage]
Rank 3 - [Absorbs 1200 Damage]
Rank 4 - [Absorbs 1450 Damage]
[Entourage]
Increases Shambler Health by X% and damage by X.
0 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 0 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 000/000/000/00 ] [Passive Ability]
Rank 1 - [Increases Shambler Health by 250 and Weapon Damage by 10]
Rank 2 - [Increases Shambler Health by 500 and Weapon Damage by 20]
Rank 3 - [Increases Shambler Health by 750 and Weapon Damage by 30]
[Goddess of Thorns]
The power of the Queen of Thorns floods through her very being, increasing the strength of her other abilities.
0 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 0 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 000/000/000/00 ] [Passive Ability]
Bramble Shield also grants a Thorn Shield to her and her army that deals 35 damage back to attackers for 20 seconds.
Ground Thorns grants Queen of Thorns a 15% damage reduction buff for 10 seconds.
[Violent Siege]
Queen of Thorns uproots debris around the Uprooted structure as well, causing 100 damage a second to any enemies around it as long as it is affected by Uproot.
0 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 0 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 000/000/000/00 ]
[Passive Ability]
[Morale]
Each level of Morale adds these stats permently to Queen of Thorns.
0 yard range, 0.0 second cast, 0 second cool down.
Mana Cost Per Rank [ 000/000/000/00 ] [Passive Ability]
+ 50 Minion Heallth
+.5 Hp Per Second
+2% Minion Attack Speed
+ 50 Minion Armor
+ 4 Minion Damage
[5] Queen of Thorn Builds
Bramble Burst
Author: Cerulean Shaman
[Description]
This is my personal build for Queen of Thorns. It focuses mostly on defense and support in various ways. You won't be killing demigods likely unless it's while helping another demigod, but you won't die and you'll usually gain xp and gold faster than others. At the end of a game you become a centerstone object, a powerfull offensive pusher or a destructive defense.
[Skill Progression]
The skills you will be focusing on are Bramble Shield, Ground Spikes, Mulch Shambler, Summon Shambler, Spike Wave, and Goddess of Thorns.
Normally I would put a level by level progression but I've found it's very limited to do so for this build, so instead I will explain the choices.
[Bramble Shield]
I almost always get this first. It keeps you alive against assassin's and is a great support tool. If I see a lot of generals, I tend to get ground spikes first which we'll be more effective. Generals don't have much damage output at the start and a good chunk of it bay be their minions anyways, ground spike makes those extra units far less useful and will let you have the xp advantage early on.
[Ground Spikes]
Your creamy move. This move will destroy waves of creeps and set up any demigods to be mauled by rook or unclean beast with the reduction to armor. If you have a rook or unclean beast, hang with them as they'll benifit the most from your ground spikes and bramble shield. This move should be paired up with bramble shield as they are your two most important abilities. Eventually they will lead to Goddess of Thorns when they both cap at end game.
[Summon Shambler]
You will only get Shambler to the second rank so you can keep two around you at all times to Mulch. More isn't needed, they're going to be weak since you're not going to focus on them. They're tiny aoe damage but mostly they're walking potions.
[Mulch Shambler]
You'll max it eventually, though the first rank will be fine for most of the game. That's enough to heal most of your health if your shield gets popped. You need to keep yourself from getting mauled, this + bramble makes that a lot easier.
[Spike Wave]
You won't get this until mid to end game, usually when you cap both Bramble Shield and Ground spikes but aren't high enough to get godess of thorns (around level 11 or so I believe). Start putting points into it rather than putting more points into Summon Shambler. This wastes a lot of mana but will be a great tool end game.
[Godess of Thorns]
Lovely abilitiy. Passively adds a damage effect to your bramble shield and gives you a -15% damage buff when you use ground spikes, the more important of the two buffs.
[Alternate Form]
A good variation to this build is to replace Mulch and Shamblers with Uproot, then putting a point into Spike Wave whenever you can't put one into Uproot, Bramble Shield, or Ground Spikes. You lose staying power, yes, but you gain even more massive pushing power. My suggestion? If you're not fearful of the other team, say there aren't a lot of Regulus or Unclean Beasts or Rooks, or if your team works well together and knows how to defend each other, go for it.
By level three you should have a good idea if you will need more staying power or if it's all right to be a more powerful pusher. This third point thus should go into Uproot or Shambler, depending on that.
[Items]
Review this Link to see what items do: [Link]
[Thoughts Behind Item Choices]
Basically you want to have a decently big mana pool, between 3k-4k~ and then have the Heart of Life, which might as well be called the Heart of Thorns as useful as it is for her. The rest of the items focus mostly on movement speed and +HP\HP Per Second.
The reasoning is simple. With a bigger mana pool it takes longer to run out as you spam your abilities, meaning less trips to the crystal. Heart of Life acts like a mobile crystal, making it a wonderful tool for this build. It's costly, but you want it asap. Movement speed and +HP\HP Per Second will keep you alive. The more hp you have the more time you give yourself to Mulch or Bramble again. You won't have a ton of items, however. Don't forget you will mostly be support, as this build relies mostly on abilities there's no real need for many items as they won't help much. That's a good thing, as you can be the main bank for citadel upgrades.
[Starting Kit]
1 Scroll of Teleporting
Scaled Helm
[Optional] Combat Health Potion (Only if you feel you need it or if you got Ground Spikes first, with a bit of skill and some brambles you should be fine early on)
[Optional] Monk Idol (If you feel like you need it, I just skip 'em and get clerics a bit later.)
[Idols]
Focus mostly on the priests. It's a toss up if you want to use the others, you won't be killing demigods unless you're backing up another demigod or get lucky so I stick with only priests and slowly upgrade them over time. You likely won't get one right away, but it should be one of the first items you try to get even if it's just the basic ones.
[Favor Item]
Completly up to taste. Even I switch depending on the enemy team, though I usually dance between the Warstaff or the Swift Anklet. If you don't know what to pick, you can't go wrong with movement speed. No one really can.
[Mid Game]
Note: Most games actually end at this state and don't progress long enough to get Level 15+ and enough gold for "Late Game"
Plenor Battlecrown
Boots of Speed
Banded Armor or Nimoth Chest Armor \ Hauberk of Life (Not much difference in what you want stat wise, if you can toss the 250G go Hauberk)
Nature's Reckoning \ Warlord's Punisher (Only if money flow is good and somehow others are helping you with citadel upgrades. Helps with aoe.)
Heart of Life (Only if you can reach it without trouble or sacrificing citadel upgrades, typically a late game item but it's so.. delicious)
[Late Game]
Note: Late game is easiest for you to play, QoT and this build benifit a lot from maxed abilities. Items still aren't that useful, but here are some that will bolster the build by adding yet another free aoe or keep you spamming aoe's longer, be it through keeping you alive or giving you more mana.
Heart of Life, Heart of Life, Heart of Life, Heart of Life!
Desperate Boots \ Journeyman Treads
Hungarling's Crown
Groffling Warplate [Artifact]
Cloak of Flames [Artifact]
Bulwark of the Ages [Artifact]
All Father's Ring [Artifact]
[Gameplay]
At the very start, watch for other demigods. If you can get a lane alone, do so. Avoid fighting other demigods. If you bought an idol, use it to harass without abandon. Stay in bulb form and keep bramble shield on. Don't risk feeding the enemy team, if you're low on mana and less than 75% hp go back and freshen up, using your scroll if needed. Once you get Ground Spikes, use it. Bramble yourself, pop out of bulb form, Ground Spikes, then go back in. You will destroy creeps easily and gain a lot of xp and gold fairly fast. You can put a lot of hurt to the minions/idols of other generals as well.
If you see someone using the idol trick, go with a buddy (another aoeing would be best) and harass them. Have your buddy go first and then rush in, aoe, then pull back. Bramble your buddy as well. You just want to bit by bit kill the extra idols. Make sure you have the tip of your aoe cover their minions, no need to be right next to them.
Over the next levels get Summon Shambler to Rank 2 as soon as possible then forget about it. Get the first rank of Mulch Shamble and alternate between Bramble Shield and Ground Spike until you're forced to upgrade Mulch. Which do upgrade first is up to you, depending on the fight. If you have a ton of generals against you, upgrading Ground Spikes first might be best. If your entire team are melee Demigod (Erebus, Rook, Unclean Beast) Bramble shield will be of great use to them. It's up to you to decide. When you can't upgrade Mulch, Bramble, or Ground Spike (at level 11 I believe) start putting free points into Spike Wave and use it like Ground Spike. Bramble Shield, pop out of bulb, Ground Spike and then Spike wave, then sink back in. Rebramble as needed and mulch when you are hurt.
You will progress slowly with items, much slower than other demigod, but you don't really need any badly besides a higher max mana count and Heart of Life. Use your cash to upgrade the citadel. Focus mostly on tower hp and regen. Early on, it's annoying as without constant effort a tower will regen back up. If you're doing a decent job and your team isn't failing, you should easily be able to push back any creep swarms with your aoe. Upgraded enough and before towers are already fairly damage, tower upgrades can really delay a game in your favor.
Mostly though, you're going to upgrade the first level of gold and then get all the creature type upgrades when you get a chance. I'd suggest priests asap, then angels and catapults together if at all possible. With you pushing, your creeps should reach towers without much damage. Aoe the creeps that will eventually come and make sure the tower is in your aoe as you'll damage it as well. Very effective way of taking out towers.
Near the end buffing tower damage can help a lot as well, especially if you're currently losing as they'll help you aoe. Don't underestimate your aoe ability, it's shines the best in defense. We won a game simply because the other team couldn't get any creep swarms in our base. I simply aoed them down all too fast, giving myself xp and gold. My continued efforts to buff the citadel payed off well here and when they finally started to catch up it was far too late. My ally demigods kept their ganking attempts at bay and using me as a tank (bramble + mulch} allowed quite a few kills. You are the center of the turtle effort, made all the more easier if more aoe using Demigod are in your group. Once you kill a decent portion of their team or push them back, your amassed swarm (created by several portals worth of creeps held up at your base by enemy minor creeps) will be a powerful hammer.
You can continue to keep their creeps dead and damage many towers at the same time by spamming aoe's as usual. We actually won a game like this that we were losing at the start. Never give up until the very bitter end as long as your team isn't made up of idiots.
Well, that's my build and playstyle for Queen of Thorns. If anyone else has a build they want up or wants to comment on this build, by all means go ahead.
[Alternate Playstyle]
Choosing uproot and getting spikewave doesn't change much. Rather, the changes will allow you to be a much more agressive pusher. You can use uproot out of a tower's attack range. Abuse that. Towers will fall very early if no one comes to stop you. Spike wave will allow you to push even more strongly earlier.
Keep to the original plan and keep in mind you don't have the same staying power, but don't be afraid to rush towers down and to keep enemy creeps spawning.
[6] Idols
An Idol is a unique item that can be bought at the shop inside the base and they can only be used by generals. You can purchase up to three idols: one melee, one range, and one magic\healer. In order to purchase a different idol you must sell the previous one.
[Melee Idols]
Minotaur Berserker - 350 gold.
200 Mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Minotaur Berserker
Minotaur Captain - 850 gold.
250 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Minotaur Captain
Minotaur Royal Guard - 1350 gold.
300 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Minotaur Royal Guard
Minotaur King - 1850 gold.
350 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Minotaur King
[Ranged Idols]
Siege Archer - 550 gold
200 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Siege Archers
Siege Gunner - 1050 gold
250 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Siege Gunners
Siege Cannoneer - 1550 gold
300 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Siege Cannoneer
Siege Demolisher - 2050 gold
350 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Siege Demolisher
[Magic\Healer Idols]
Monk - 900 gold
200 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Monks.
Cleric - 1500 gold
250 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Clerics.
High Priest - 2100 gold
300 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 High Priests.
Bishop - 2700 gold
350 mana, 30 second cool down.
Use: Summons 2 Bishops.
[7] Links
Vampire Lord Guide By ViridShaman: http://forums.demigodthegame.com/346497
[8] Credits
ViridShaman - Idol information, felt it was redundant to write it over again so I asked to use it.
