The supersoldierwill always be just an idea, or rather, an idea-as-a-platform: they will never exist by virtue of their very super-ness, but they serve as a useful vehicle for all sorts of far-fetched ideas and concepts. Real-world militaries use them to show off far-fetched, sci-fi technologies; authors use them to paint pictures of scary, violent dystopias, and game developers — inspired by those authors and militaries —make it all playable.
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Despot’s Game goes molecular with its soldiers, enabling you to mutate their DNA to get a much-needed edge on you opponents as you traverse level upon level of dungeon and eventually come face to face with the armies of fellow warmongers. Check out these mutations for a primer on the best ways to get your army from second-rate militia to world-class fighting force.
10Chain Lightning Will Brighten Your Day
Possibly the only no-brainer of all Despot’s Game mutations, Chain Lightning takes aMagebuild from great to greatest by dealing Thunderbolt damage to five additional targets and increasing that damage by 50 percent for every successive enemy it strikes.
you’re able to obtain Chain Lightning on the second floor, and it starts bordering on overpowered when you add more Mages to your ranks and upgrade them to tier five. You can also stack it with other mutations, like Random Sparks, which deals 50 extra magic damage to a random enemy every time a unit’s active ability is used.
9Remote Heal Keeps Your Medics Safe
Don’t put Healers in your Despot’s Game build if you don’t plan on acquiring Remote Heal. This mutation enables Healers to heal allies from a distance, drastically increasing their survivability and giving them a chance to level up so they can play the critical support role for which they were designed.
With Remote Heal in your back pocket, position your Healers as far from the action as possible and watch as they give your attackers the upper hand in battle after battle. If it sounds simple, that’s because it is.
8Soul Destruction Powers Up Your Mages
This magic-focused mutation enables Tricksters and Fighters to reduce their enemy’s magic resistance by 50 percent for five seconds, which, at face value, doesn’t seem very helpful for these blunt-force brawlers who aren’t overwhelmingly magical.
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But that’s why Despot’s Game is all about mixing up your army with at least two to three unique classes. Throw some Soul Destruction-mutated Tricksters or Fighters into the arena with a team of Chain Lightning-spewing Mages, and you’ll melt right through whatever magic defense you enemy attempts to muster.
7Thorn Armor Makes Cultists Formidable
If you believe the best offense is a good defense, then Spiky Armor is the mutation for you. This upgrade reflects 60 percent of Cultists’ received damage back at the enemy, and is super helpful for a class that lacks strong base defensive stats.
Despite decent base health, Cultists can’t take advantage of the damage-spreading Link active ability that Fighters and Tricksters can. Use this mutation to keep them alive long enough to cast their dark arts against your enemies.
6Fury Puts Fighters In A New Weight Class
Fury is a great mutation for maximizing the inherently high attack speed of Fighters by increasing their damage by 15 with every attack they make. You’ll have to get to the second floor to obtain it, but once you do, any Fighter builds you decide to pursue will become that much more viable — even for PvP, if you make it that far.
Pair Fury with a group of Legendary Yellow Suit Fighters sporting the Normal Punch passive ability and your base attack damage will be multiplied by ten, plus that additional 15 per hit per unit. And don’t worry too much about survivability — your Yellow Suits have as much health as an Epic rarity Tank, and their active ability lets them link together to spread received damage across groups of three.
5Sword Dance Is A Sight To Behold
One of the more visually-striking mutations in Despot’s Game, Sword Dance turns your Fencers into shiny whirling dervishes, dealing their base attack as AoE magic damage. If you have an entire team of Fencers in your army, this powerful attack can overwhelm large mobs with ease.
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Also, if you’re dealing with an enemy that has a powerful ranged attack and are having trouble getting your Fencers within striking distance before they get damaged too badly or even killed, you can pair Sword Dance with other mutations like Spiky Armor or Healthy Fat to give them a bit more longevity on the battlefield.
4Vampirism Makes Everyone A Healer
No list of mutations would be complete without Vampirism, a high-value, early game DNA modification that turns your units into veritableblood suckerswho can heal themselves from the damage they deal. It’s easy to see how Vampirism could eliminate your need for Healers, and you might be tempted to do just that, at least on the easier levels of the dungeon.
But more realistically, it just reduces your reliance on Healers more than it completely removes them from the meta, as this mutation won’t give your units a rate of health regeneration that can compensate for the high damage they’ll be taking on the more difficult levels of Despot’s Game.
3Stunning Beauty Stops Enemies In Their Tracks
If you’ve put all your eggs into the melee basket, you’ll need to do everything you can to buy yourself some time before your gun-toting opponents open fire on your beloved troops. This is where Stunning Beauty can help. Available to all classes, this mutation gives units a 20 percent chance to stun an enemy attacking them for two seconds.
Though it might take a bit of luck to bump that 20 percent up to a number closer to 100, if you’re able to stun even a portion of an enemy’s heavy-hitting Shooters you’ll increase your chances of survival exponentially.
2The Tankiest Puts A Target On Your Tanks
It’s a fridge! It’s a coffin! It’s a…Tank. These heavy object-wielding units absorb damage like nobody’s business, and with The Tankiest mutation they’ll be spongier than you could ever imagine.
The Tankiest links your Tanks to your fighters, letting the Tanks take all the damage being received in the link. Throw in some well-protected healers, and your Tank health effectively replaces your Fighter health. Find The Tankiest on the fifth floor and it won’t matter how much damage you deal per hit, because you’ll have enough health to hit until the heat death of the universe.
1Dash Makes Tricksters Trickier
Dodges turn into forward dashes that deal 400 damage along the unit’s path with this Trickster-exclusive mutation. For a class with a solid base movement speed and base attack speed, a mutation that weaponizes their ability to move quickly around the battlefield gives you a much-needed edge against powerful ranged opponents.
Like the Yellow Suit Fighter, the Legendary Trickster Stilts also has the Normal Punch passive ability. Milk that damage multiplier for what its worth by pairing Normal Punch with Dash for a bone-crushing 4,000 damage per hit. Your Healers will thank you.
