Infernal Host

"Embrace the power of the Infernal Host, a warlike race of demonic alien invaders! Through Stormgates, they traverse dimensions, invading planets to exploit resources, drain their Animus, and bolster their ranks."

- Faction description(src)

The demonic **Infernal Host** (a.k.a. **Infernals**) is one of the playable factions of *Stormgate*.

## Overview

"Will humanity withstand the unbending will of the Infernal Host? Or are we doomed to suffer the fate of countless other species -- to be conquered and assimilated?"

- Faction description(src)

The Infernals are an assortment of alien creatures and otherworldly lifeforms, absorbed into the Host through conquest.

Infernals are capable of using magic, which powers their weapons, and their forces rely on weight of numbers and savage tactics. Their biology is very different compared to humans'.

The Infernals travel through stormgates to descend upon unsuspecting worlds like a plague of locusts; harvesting resources, decimating resistance, and conscripting their mightiest foes. This is done to collect resources, most importantly, animus. Through their invasions, the Infernals' numbers are bolstered, as the indigenous lifeforms are absorbed into the Host. Infernals are summoned to the worlds they invade from the Infernal homeworld.

### Culture

A warrior-race of star-spanning marauders, the Infernals are a violent, warmongering society. As domineering as the Infernals may seem, they believe they're serving a greater purpose: that strength in numbers and powerful magic will be necessary to save the universe.

The Host is bound by a strict code of conduct, valuing victory, strength, and loyalty above all else. Infernals live and die by the code of "victory at any cost." They do not believe that individual lives matter, and believe that the ends justify the means. As such, the Infernals will sacrifice any number of their own in order to achieve their goals.

### History

"Fight. Cower. Either way, your world will fall."

- Warz(src)

The Infernals have made their way across the galaxy in their never-ending pursuit of power. Entire civilizations have been subjugated by the Infernals, their worlds changed to match the Infernals' image.

Thousands of years ago, the Infernals were on Earth. They became the basis of demon myths for various human cultures.

Centuries ago, the stormgates opened portals on the Infernals' homeworld. This allowed them to invade Earth. The Infernals' use of magic was an enigma to humanity, which was unable to understand how they functioned, and the Infernals nearly succeeded in overrunning the planet. Humanity successfully defended Earth, but the planet was decimated in the conflict.

In the present day, the Infernals remain hellbent on claiming the planet as their own. In the Host's minds, they are fully justified in their actions. To best knowledge, all Infernal forces on Earth are currently led by Dagon.

## Gameplay

The Infernals are a "swarm-type" faction, fielding a large variety (and number) of units. However, there is a playstyle available where a small number of highly-powered Infernals is available. It has been indicated that the Infernals have a mechanic where they sacrifice their own units in order to gain greater power. The Shroud is a key mechanic for the Infernals. Every Infernal unit has a secondary health bar colloquially referred to as "white health" that fills up when the unit is within the Shroud, buffing them. This makes early-game harassment of the Infernals difficult. The "white health" begins to degrade when the unit is no longer within the Shroud.

Infernal units build instantly, but each structure has only so many 'charges' to build a unit at any given time. As such, a player can spawn multiple units simultaniously if they have held off unit construction for a sufficient period of time.

Infernal structures are summoned by imps. The imp sacrifices itself to construct the structure.

Animus is a resource unique to the Infernals.

### Structures

* Conclave
* Iron vault
* Meat farm
* Shadowcleft
* Shrine
	+ Greater shrine
* Shroudstone

### Units

* Battle thrall
* Brute
	+ Fiend
* Dire mastiff
* Doombringer
* Felhog
* Flayed dragon
* Gaunt
* Hellborne
* Imp
* Incarnate
* Magmadon
* Mist reaper
* Shadowflyer
* Spriggan
* Weaver

## Known Infernals

* Dagon
* Warz

## Notes

* The Infernal Host's motivations for invading Earth will be revealed over the course of the game's storyline.
* The duration of the Infernals' invasion may have been changed; on the *Stormgate* Twitter page, reference is made to twenty years having passed since the opening of the stormgates.

### Development

* In late 2022, the concept team spent six weeks focusing on the visual development of the Infernals.
* The developers want to keep the Infernals "generally dark and gritty," but there's some areas where they want to have charm and levity.
* The Infernals will have a unit reveal event in Q3/4 2023.
* The Infernals' OST and sound palette was composed by Frank Klepacki. He intended the music to be eerie and unsettling, while also having an aggressive side to it. Some playfulness was included in the sound palette. The sound palette included chanting-esque effects, while the music uses synthisized sounds.

#### Inspirations

"The Infernal Host. These are the bad boys of the upcoming RTS, and if you were a Zerg main in StarCraft, I think they'll make you feel right at home. That home might be covered in spikes and actively on fire, but I'm not here to judge."

- Leana Hafer(src)

* The Infernals have been described as a mix of the demons of the *Diablo* franchise with the zerg of the *StarCraft* franchise. Gameplay-wise, they are most akin to the zerg and Scourge from *StarCraft* and *Warcraft III* respectively, given their nature as a swarm-type faction.
* It has been indicated, if not by Frost Giant themselves, that the Infernals are representative of the *Diablo* IP as a whole.
* While not outright stated as such, the Host can also be compared to the Burning Legion from *Warcraft*; an army of various demons that has decimated numerous worlds. Notably, the Infernal is a Legion unit that debuted in *Warcraft III*.
* That Infernal units are summoned from their homeworld to the field of battle is similar to the protoss in *StarCraft*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2022-12-07, Stormgate Technology & Art Reveal - December 2022. *YouTube*, accessed on 2022-12-07
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2022-07-21, PlayStormgate. *Twitter*, accessed on 2022-07-26
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 2022-06-09, Frost Giant Studios’ Debut Mixes Starcraft With Diablo. *Wired*, accessed on 2022-07-06
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 2022-12-23, James Anhalt & Tim Morten Interview: SnowPlay Technology & Stormgate. *ScreenRant*, accessed on 2022-12-24
5. ↑ 2022-10-15, Stormgate Developer Interviews with Frost Giant Studios. *YouTube*, accessed on 2022-10-19
6. ↑ Play Stormgate, accessed on 2023-12-22
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Infernal, *PlayStormgate*. Accessed on 2023-12-22
8. ↑ 2022-12-24, Frost Giant Newsletter - December '22.
9. ↑ 2023-08-23, Stormgate Infernal Host First Look | Opening Night Live Gamescom 2023. *YouTube*, accessed on 2023-08-27
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 2023-06-12, The Perfect Mix of Warcraft & Starcraft? Stormgate Developers Deep Dive. *YouTube*, accessed on 2023-06-14
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 2022-06-16, STORMGATE Dev Interview: Doing RTS the "Right Way" & Addressing Criticisms (with Tim Morten, CEO). 'YouTube*, accessed on 2022-07-13*
12. ↑ 2022-06-09, Stormgate, PC RTS From Ex-Blizzard Devs, Looks A Lot Like A Blizzard Game. *GameSpot*, accessed on 2022-07-06
13. ↑ 2022-06-09, Frost Giant Studios unveils social real-time strategy game Stormgate. *GamesBeat*, accessed on 2022-07-05
14. ↑ 2023-08-22, FROST GIANT @ GAMESCOM: INFERNALS REVEALED AND THE CHAINSMOKERS!. *Stormgate Nexus*, accessed on 2023-08-28
15. ↑ 2022-12-09, PC GAMER COVER FEATURE: GAME MODELS AND ART. *Stormgate Nexus*, accessed on 2022-12-14
16. ↑ 2023-08-22, More RTS games should have gross ogres that burst open for a reverse Alien-like surprise. *Rock Paper Shotgun*, accessed on 2023-08-26
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 2023-11-30, Stormgate Is a Very StarCraft-y RTS Made By Ex-StarCraft Developers. *IGN*, accessed on 2023-11-30
18. ↑ 2022-09-08, Stormgate Twitter. *Twitter*, accessed on 2022-09-12
19. ↑ 2023-05-30, Stormgate Human Units Revealed! | Stormgate Snapshots. *YouTube*, accessed on 2023-06-09
20. ↑ 2023-09-07, Legendary RTS Composer on Creating Infernal Music for Stormgate - Frank Klepacki. *YouTube*, accessed on 2023-09-09
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 2023-06-11, Stormgate fuses StarCraft and Warcraft in new gameplay footage. *Video Games*, accessed on 2023-06-14