Mechanics
Gigantic is a game that is simple to pick up and can be enjoyed without any additional knowledge, but also has a very deep set of mechanics and interactions that allow for strategic and higher level play. Understanding the game's rules and capabilities well makes every player's experience in the game better.
Objectives
Guardians
Defeat the enemy guardian to win the match. Guardians are invulnerable during most of the match, so teams must first win a power race for a chance to damage them.
Power Race
Teams race to get 100 power by collecting it from power circles or killing enemy heroes and creatures. The current power score is shown as two numbers at the top center of the screen.
Rampage
The first team to reach 100 power is rewarded with a rampage, during which that team attacks the enemy guardian while the other team defends. Afterwards both teams reset to zero power and the next power race begins.
Wound
If the attackers deal enough damage to the enemy guardian they will inflict a wound.
- In Rush Mode the enemy guardian must be wounded once in order to win
- In Clash Mode the enemy guardian must be wounded three times in order to win
Once the final wound is dealt the match immediately ends.
Environment
Maps
Matches can take place on any available map. While each map has a guardian, power circles, and a symmetrical layout, every map plays differently from one another. The most notable differences are how many central power circles there are to fight over as well as the sight lines and connections between different areas of the map.
Phases
Battle is the default phase of maps in all modes of Gigantic. There is nothing special about this phase, but note that the Clash bonuses from heroes level 5 talents will not be in effect. Rush Mode and Practice Mode stay in Battle phase for the duration of the match.
Clash is the second phase of Clash Mode that begins after either a fifth rampage occurs or two wounds have been dealt to a single guardian. The map transforms, opening up new areas while sometimes making old areas inaccessible. As a result some, if not all of the Power Circles and Creatures are moved to a new location, often giving players an opening for an attack. The map remains in Clash phase until the end of the match. Some maps can kill heroes if they stay too long in the old areas of the map.
Combat
A player is in combat if they either use an attack, deal damage or are dealt damage. When a hero deals or takes damage they are marked as in combat and their combat timer is refreshed to 5s. Using an attack that misses or does not deal damage will not begin or refresh the combat timer. Out of combat heroes will passively regenerate health and stamina.
There is a combat indicator of crossed swords just above your focus ability graphic on the HUD, with the following behavior:
- The icon darkens when out of combat
- The icon flashes white when attacking or using offensive abilities. This happens both in and out of combat.
- The icon leaps out and plays an animation when you first enter combat. This can occur when you take damage, or when you deal damage to an enemy.
- A black bar will fill the area around the swords icon while you are in combat. The black area represents the combat timer and will shrink towards the bottom over time as long as you do not deal or receive damage. Dealing or receiving damage resets the timer and fully expands the black bar.
Experience
Players begin a match at level 1 with one skill point, and by gaining experience can reach a maximum of level 10. Each level grants an additional skill point that can be spent to unlock an upgrade. Level is displayed in the bottom right corner of the center of the screen, while skill points are displayed in the bottom left corner.
In Rush Mode all players start at level 10 and do not gain experience.
Upgrades
Players can gain a total of 11 upgrades by reaching level 10 in a match - 10 upgrades that cost a skill point and one free talent upgrade that is unlocked at level 5. Each of the character's five skills have two tiers of upgrades, with each tier offering the player the choice between two options. The options available in the second tier for each ability will change depending on which option was chosen in the first tier. Skill upgrades can be chosen in any order.
Resources
Health, Stamina, Focus, and Cooldowns are the four resources that all heroes use in Gigantic
Health
Health is a resource that shows how much damage a hero can take before dying. Your hero's health is displayed as a green bar in the bottom middle of the screen. Enemy health is shown in red bars above their characters, while allies show blue bars.
Armor reduces all damage taken by 1% per 1 armor, so 15 armor reduces damage by 15%. Most heroes have 15 base armor, with a select few instead having 25 base armor. Heroes are able to increase their armor with temporary buffs or permanent upgrades. Heroes are able to reduce enemy armor with temporary debuffs, and some hero skills deal damage that ignores armor.
Shield takes 85% of incoming damage with the remaining 15% still going to health. Rutger is the only hero with baseline shield (1000), but many heroes have skills or upgrades that grant shields to themselves or their allies.
Stamina
Stamina is a resource used for movement such as sprinting, jumping, and dodging. Without stamina your character will be unable to move quickly across the map, dodge deadly enemy skills, chase down a fleeing target, or escape to safety. Learning how to manage stamina and move smoothly is a key component of the game.
Focus
Focus is a resource used for a hero's ultimate skill, to summon a creature on a power circle, or to upgrade a creature on a power circle. It is gained by dealing damage to enemy heroes, creatures, summons, and guardians. Your focus is indicated with a progress bar and a number in the bottom center of the screen, and you can reach a maximum of 3 focus, after which you will stop gaining more until focus is spent. Certain heroes have upgrades that give bonuses after using or hitting with their focus skill, and some of these bonuses last until death.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns are the resource used by certain hero skills. Once a skill with a cooldown used its cooldown timer starts, and that skill cannot be used again until the timer runs out.
Status Effects
There are a variety of positive and negative status effects in Gigantic, and many have large consequences on your hero. It is important to understand status effects in order to recognize the flow of battle. Especially important are status effects that can interrupt an enemy hero or creature from gathering power.
Crit Chance
Heroes have a crit chance that increases by landing attacks on enemies, but gets reset when out of combat.
Range
Hit Detection
- Projectile: the skill creates a projectile which travels across the map over time.
- Hitscan: hits are detected immediately when the skill is used. Examples include Beckett's pistols, Imani's sniper, and T-MAT's energy blast.
Loadout
Builds
In Gigantic: Rampage Edition each hero comes with two preset builds that allocate upgrades in order. Players may also create up to three custom builds for each character in the main menus. On the character select screen in a match, the player can select which build they want to follow and toggle whether or not the upgrades will be chosen automatically as the hero levels up.
Creatures
Up to three creatures can be equipped per player before going into a match. That player is only allowed to summon the creatures they have equipped, and each adult creature can only be summoned a certain number of times per match by that player.
Skins
Each hero has a variety of skins that can be unlocked from the shop in the main menu. Some heroes have an additional set of weapon skins that independently change the appearance of their weapons. On the character select screen in a match the player can select which skin(s) they would like to use for their chosen hero. Skins must be unlocked before the match begins in order to be selectable. Skins are entirely cosmetic and do not change gameplay elements such as hitboxes or animation speeds.
