Paragon (0)

Overview

Paragon is a game similar to and . It is currently in , and is being developed by . What differentiates Paragon from most other MOBAS, notably League and , is that it is played from a instead of a perspective. This means that instead of choosing which units to attack using a cursor, and thus , the player must use a to aim. Every basic attack, then, is essentially a . Having a MOBA be played this way also means that the player is unable to freely move the camera around the , therefore their map-awareness is limited. Smite is another MOBA that is played from a third-person perspective.

Paragon will soon be , and is available for and .

Another difference Paragon has to other notable MOBAs is its card system. In Smite, LoL, Dota, and many other MOBAs, the player must purchase items in order to increase the stats for their character, during an individual match. In Paragon, these items are replaced by cards.

Agora

The matches are played on Agora, the only map currently in the game. Agora has the expected layout and composition of most MOBAs, with a few exceptions. Agora has:

• Three lanes (designated as "Left", "Middle", and "Right")
• One "core" per team
• Two per lane, per team
• One "inhibitor" per lane, per team
• "Jungle" zones, between the lanes, in the top and bottom regions
• "Harvesters" in the jungle, and on both sides of the map
• The "Prime Helix Guardian" (a.k.a. the "Giant Purple Guy")
• "Shadow Pads"

Two aspects of Agora set Paragon apart from other MOBAs: its verticality and its shadow pads. There are many cliffs and staircases throughout the map, giving the chance to have combat scenarios with three dimensions of fire. Furthermore, some heroes have abilities that allow them to jump or teleport onto higher planes, which allows them to escape, or have a vantage point. Shadow pads are circular areas scattered throughout the map that render players invisible to others who are standing outside of it, and are also not on their team. When you look up while standing in a shadow pad, there is a night sky, and you can see aurora borealis.

Heroes

The characters that players play as in matches are called heroes. Currently, there are 14 to choose from, and one is upcoming. There are ranged heroes and melee heroes. They all fall into five categories: fighters, tanks, assassins, rangers, and casters. Their category is used to indicate what role a hero exceeds at. For example, Kallari has an ability that lets her turn invisible, making her suitable for sneaking up on other players with, and placing her in the assassin category.

In keeping with the status quo for MOBAs, each hero in Paragon has 4 that the player must choose to "level" during a match, in order to use. However, they also have a fifth skill, which is passive and applied without needing to be leveled.

Each hero has one or two "affinities," which correlates to the damage and armor types that they have advantages in. Certain cards are restricted to being available for use with heroes that have corresponding affinities only, and have symbols on them that display that. The five affinities are Corruption, Fury, Growth, Intellect, and Order.

Cards

In MOBA terms, cards are the items that one would buy from the shop, in order to upgrade the stats of their character or give themselves an extra ability. In Paragon, players must choose a "deck" that they wish to play with, in order to start a match. You can build custom decks outside of matches.

Players collect cards from card-packs, which you can receive by either leveling up or by purchasing them (currently, with in-game currency only). Each hero also has built-in decks that you can use, but the selection in them is limited.

Cards can make players' heroes passively stronger during match play. They can also provide "active" abilities. For example, a "Health Potion" card allows players to briefly boost how fast their health regenerates. Certain cards have three "upgrade slots," which are filled by buying upgrade cards. Once a card is fully upgraded, a bonus ability boost that is unique to that card gets activated.

There are certain cards called "Prime Helix" cards, which grant players abilities and boosts that are only available while their team has the "OP Buff."

Gameplay

Matches in Paragon are currently limited to being five on five, in three variants: players vs. players, players vs. , and player with AI vs. AI. The object of the game is to destroy the enemies' core, thus ending the match. Matches can also end when either team chooses to surrender. Before even being placed in a , Paragon players choose the hero they wish to play in their next match. Two players are allowed to play the same hero in a match, as long as they are on opposing teams. Some heroes require the player to be a certain level to play, and in the future, the player may have to purchase heroes.

In Paragon, as in most other MOBAs, waves of periodically from either side of each lane and march towards the other end. Destroying these minions, the enemies' towers, and the enemies themselves awards players , which levels up their hero, and "amber," which converts into the currency one must use in order to purchase cards. Minions also spawn from "camps" located in the jungle. Certain "jungle creeps" can award the player "buffs," which boost their hero's stats or abilities. No jungle creeps have textures, currently, and the words " Content" can be found floating around them.

Players can also experience and amber by placing harvesters. Harvesters go in certain locations located on the map, and gradually fill up over time. By standing near them, players can sap experience and amber from them, which gets shared automatically with their teammates. Enemies' harvesters can be destroyed and be replaced by friendly harvesters. To place a harvester, players must purchase a "key" card.

The Prime Helix Guardian is located in a large clearing, in the neutral part of the jungle. It is difficult to kill and drops the "Orb Prime," which is a modifier which contains the ability to bestow a boost to all of the owner's teammates. When a player deposits the Orb Prime in a specific location (which is all the way across the map from the Prime Helix Guardian's spawn point), the "OP Buff" gets granted to all of their teammates. A player's Prime Helix card determines the effects of their OP Buff.

Each team's core is protected by three inhibitors, which mark the ends of the three lanes. When one of a team's inhibitors gets destroyed, the opposing team gets to have more powerful minions spawn for that lane for a long period of time, after which the inhibitor gets rebuilt. If a team destroys all three of their enemies' inhibitors, they get minions that are huge, and massively powerful. Destroying at least one of the enemies' inhibitors is necessary to reach their core, however destroying all three is ordinarily the safest .