Please allow host to disable items individually.

Sorry if you have a problem with the HoL you stink. 

Its available to you as well and is absolutely needed by a good number of the demigods in game, in fact NOT having it removes QoT and Torchbearer from Optimal effectiveness almost immediately.

Suck less.

Man this forum is full of flamers, even brokeback flamers, how do I suck for wanting to play without HoL? Do you get the HoL every single game? Well, guess what, so do I... Do I like it that harassment is completely worthless once you get to mid game entirely because of that 1 item? Do I like it that I can spam my entire bar without holding anything back since I know I can just get my entire mana bar back every 25 seconds? Do I like abusing shield+HoL?  No I dont.

And the fact that it's "absolutely neccessary" Kind of screams overpowered to me. I don't know about you.

I'm a paying customer so why shouldn't I be able to play the way I want to? No one is forcing you to play with it disabled. You can continue using as it as your crutch like every single other player in the game. More customization is always optimal, especially when there's like no very little work involved for the devs, this would prob take an hour to implement tops.

Interesting idea

The heroes are all pretty well balanced with the HoL as it is.  It's an item that is pretty darn high priority which makes the game worse because it reduces customization (It's pretty much a requirement) but at the same time, making HoL worse, or balancing it, would unbalance the game as a whole.  Leaving it intact and unchanged is the lesser of two evils at this point.

The fact that changing/removing 1 item would unbalance the whole game is a good sign that something is very, very wrong. And then again, must I repeat, no one would be forced to play without it.

So why not suggest having the dev's look at the problem items in question, rather then go through the hassle of implementing a system to not include some items in game play.  Personally I would find it anoying to join a game that has been modified as such.

I wish that custom games would warn you automatically when you join a game that is running on molested settings.

I can understand jerking around with your friends with weird settings... buy why do people unknowingly submit other people to that garbage?

your solution is a bad one. 

if items are in themselves problematic they should be fixed. there's no sense in allowing players to optionally disable gameplay elements. its a slippery slope. what comes next is "no Regulus allowed" or "no citadel gold upgrade allowed" or anything else that someone thinks is too strong. 

You know whats funny.  I am a decent player, not great, but good.  I almost never get HOL.  If I do it usualy late game, when my team is pushing.  Otherwise its a waste of over 4k. 

I have only bought one once.

Yes they shoudl nerf it, maybe i never palyed online, but what i heard about HoL sounds like it sucks really hard, and doesnt sound like skill. I agree with the OP.

I believe we have our proof that Stardock need to implement a control feature that after losing a game of Demigod, you should be unable to post on the forum for 8 hours.

hahaha how cute, but no, you're a moron.

Uhhh srsly?  I don't have any problem with HoL.  I also almost never buy it.  I'll get it from time to time when I play Erebus, but that's about it.  I always get it with Oak because it works great with shield.  Very rarely do I get it with Rook, which is what I play most of the time.

Personally, I think an option to disable individual items would be a bad idea.  I don't like the idea of someone telling me what items I'm allowed to use any more than someone telling me what DG I'm allowed to use.  I also think it's not reasonable to say an items is unbalanced when it is available to everyone as someone mentioned earlier in this thread.

Except that no one can tell you what to use... if you don't like the settings, you leave. Is that concept too subtle to sink in? How is that any different from the present, lets say you join a game lobby that has slow war score for example, but you don't want to play with slow high war score, so if the host won't change it, you LEAVE. Does that ring a bell? Do you understand the difference between someone forcing you to play a certain way, or offering it now?

LOL being available to everyone doesn't mean something is balanced. An item's unbalanced when a huge percentage of people buy it almost every game. Something is unbalanced when it has enormous influence over the game, beasts get plague for the sole reason of stopping it.

 The only times I don't buy it is occasionally when I'm Sedna, or if the game is already decided before I even have enough money for it. I'm not overestimating how many people get it, I often ask my allies and they get it very often, I see enemies using it all the time. It's lame as hell when you're beating an enemy down mid-game and he escapes with like 900 health and dissappears into the fog of war, and comes out charging you 7 seconds later completely replenished.

If you can't see how much influence HoL has over a game then you're completely blind.

And your solution to losing a game isn't to practice a little more and developer a counter-strategy, rather to come on to the forum and making a post about how removing core items - namely the ones that allow other players, when in combination to their play style and chosen Demigod's abilities, to beat you - will create a better game for everyone (read: Busdude). Your a sore loser. Grow up.

I like the idea. SupCom allowed you to do this with units, and yeah, I've stopped careing what the common feeling is on HoL.

It's retarded. Given the chance, it would be disabled every game I play.

When the hell did I say I lost a game? Sure I've probably lost a game here and there due partially to the opponents regenerating from HoL, but I don't lose as often as I win, and what the hell does it matter? Winning from abusing HoL is not fun either.

Some things simply have no counter strategy, I'm not going to follow an opponent into the fog of war in some inane attempt to prevent him from using HoL only to get ganked by his entire team + towers. Don't tell me to practice more, I've had the game since release and have played a shit ton, I know what I'm doing.  Combination with their play style and abilties??? What? You're just making retarded statements because you think you're leet or something. What play style? All you do is just go out of range, hope you don't hit by a stray trebuchet, and replenish all health and mana in about 6 seconds.

Don't tell me to think of "counters", the whole point of a forum is for people to voice an opinion on what is overpowered, or what is non-functional, or what would be a great addition to the game that would not require a shitload of work from the devs. No game is perfectly balanced and its up to the people who paid and play it to shape it.

I hate morons who just say "counter it" in every single thread, when most of the time all they come with is theorycraft, extremely situational procedures, or nothing at all.

You right, you never said you lost; however it's clearly implied in your posts. I don't see the forum a-flood with hundreds of posts from hundreds of people complaining about how they're winning too much - although to be fair I have read one or two, one poor soul didn't realise he was playing against AI Opponents! Around half of the posts on this forum, such as this, are made by people who vent their frustrations becuase they've lost.

You've clearly not really looked into how the Heart of Life operates or sat down and thought out or designed clear strategies for defeating it's use. It's not this all defeating mystical object that grants instant victory the moment it's purchased; in fact it's one of the easiest objects to counter as it's use requires that the person receives no Damage or it's effects are cancelled. The counter for this is three fold:

1. Simply don't give them a chance to pull back and use it. This is very difficult if your defending most of the game as their creeps will over power your towers if you don't hold the line and thus rushing out to stomp them is going to cost you dearly; this is also true as the enemy may be holding back to avoid your towers and thus moving out is going to get you killed - you'll need to organise with your team and focus fire down your opponents equipped with Heart of Life. Speed boost items are usually the best compliment to this style, as all you need to do is touch your opponent and the 30 second cool down is wasted, and with your team behind you you should be able to force the enemy back or kill your HoL Enemey, before pulling back to the safety of your Towers. Attacking an enemy with HoL who hide behind their towers is much, much more difficult as the HoL plays very well into the harassment strategy usually employed by the defending team. Taking out the towers is more important.

2. General's - Oak in particular - are better at defeating their Heart of Life equipped opponents due to their minions. Oak's aren't bound by the lanes and as such are the best possible choice for this. When the enemy is pulling back, obviously to heal, get your minions on to them as quick as possible - this tactic is fantastic as it doesn't require your minions to be upgraded, all they need to do is damage your opponent and it buys you 30 seconds to finish what you started.

3. Angels. This really should be obvious.

The HoL is overpowered in it's current form, mostly due to it's price rather than it's effects. Use your head and work with your team to bring it down.

No, this is what you use it for - to bitch, moan, whine and complain about every thing that annoys you. The forum exists for the people who enjoy the game to discuss it. This includes theory work of course, however it's mostly just a place for the community to interact as a whole. If you think forums are basically one giant 'Suggestion Box' that exist soley for the Developers, or in this case Publishers, to get told whats what then you lack basic social understanding and don't fully grasp the idea of a 'multiplayer game' being a social experience and interaction rather than merely an avenue for you to 'pwn n00bs'.

The counters you listed are nonsense, "simply don't allow them to use it", is not an option against any half-decent player. They can outrun any of your minions, and take preventive measures. Not to mention there is no visual effect to usage of HoL, or if there is, it's barely anything, meaning you'd have to be scanning the health of all opponents within range 24/7.

The only minions who might have a chance in hell to hit them are siege gunners and they attack very slow, and don't move fast either.
Angels are not a counter, you can't tell them what to do, they attack really slow as well, and are easy to avoid.

Don't give me bs, HoL is bullshit, and it does NOT make the game better, it makes it worse, which is why I want the OPTION (note the word option meaning you can play with this bullshit item if you want to).

And you whining and complaining like an 8 year old is going to fix the issue. Leave troll.

I agree with you busdude. I'm not sure why everyone thinks HoL is ok. It's not ok at all. Never having to run back to your base to heal completely changes the game. There's really no opportunity for the defending player to fight back to the center of the map.

People keep suggesting that having 1 less 4k gold item is terribly game breaking, but it's not the case for many classes. Most people play conquest, which involves pushing creep lines and towers. A QoT or TB with infinite mana still gets the same damage out of her/his AOE spells with or without items.

And when people keep saying 'just kill the DG' who's crippled since he has 4k less items; that's narrow sighted too. You're on the defensive and he's wiping out wave after wave of your creeps. As soon as you show up on the scene he'll switch lanes and push another lane while you try to hold off his wave of creeps. You'll eventually run low on mana and have to go to your crystal and he'll damage/destroy your towers. There's only 1 real counter, get your own heart.

I don't really oppose healing items and what not. But the 'value' of this item is too high. instant activation and you get about 2k gold worth of mana and healing (4 healing pots, 4 mana pots) all for one slot.. plus a passive regen to boot. I suggest this thing needs to come with charges. Either make it have like 5-6 charges and then disappear, making you buy it again or make it 3 charges and have them recharge when you sit in your crystal for 10 second or something (or pay to recharge). You really must be forced back into your base when low.. otherwise the dynamics of the game is altered.

I'm pretty sure most people agree that the early game of maximizing health/experience is more interesting than having endless health and mana.

The moment your opponent begins to retreat - obviously to use HoL - make sure your minions are on them. This will either cancel it's effects, or prevent them from using it for a longer period of time effectively taking one of the Demigod's out of the fight while they retreat. Learning the behaviour of people using the HoL is a step towards being able to counter it. What do you do when you have it? Whats your thinking when your low on health?

What measures protect against minions attacking? Stacking speed only works as a counter if your too slow on issuing the Attack order. It's not about lots of a damage - it's about any damage.

Assuming you're not against the ropes for the entire match, Angels are a fantastic counter to enemy Demigods using the HoL as, like Oak's minions, they're not bound to the lanes. They meet where your creeps meet the enemies' - which is where the enemy Demigod is going to be pressing the attack. When the enemy retreats, step up as fast as you can - push back the enemy creeps to let the Angels move forward. Once you control over 50% of the map, the Angels move around a lot more as their flight patterns are not straight lines. Once you get a few of them flying around, they're a lot more useful than you think.

No need to get angry. It's fairly obvious this post was made out of frustration rather than logical thought - the HoL is designed to remove ones reliance on the Health Crystal effectively moving the front lines forward and allowing you to press the attack harder. It is overpowered only in it's price - it should cost significantly more in my opinion - however being as it wasn't changed when Erebus' bite was changed I can only assume it's working basically as it was intended too. Removal of items - specifically ones dictated by the host of a game - would allow you to remove any items that pose a threat to your character or enable a successful counter to your play style. This would heavily unbalance the game and is a terrible idea.

I don't think your tone is warranted.

That is true.  I still don't believe this idea would contribute anything of value to the game, but we can disagree.

No, it isn't.  Is it really necessary to be an ass?

Yes, it does.

No, it isn't.  It just means the item is good.  By this logic, Vlemish Faceguard is also unbalanced because a "huge percentage of people buy it almost every game" - see how silly I sound?

I haven't seen HoL having an "enormous" influence over any of my games any more than any other item.  It's certainly a good item, but it's not a game maker.

No, it isn't.  That's just how the item works, and if you don't like it, you can go buy your own.

If you can't figure without it other than when playing Sedna, then you're completely blind.  Most of us don't have any trouble with it.