Salt the Earth is an RTS (technically) that is unlike any other RTS game. In Salt the Earth, there are no resources to gather, no buildings to construct, and no story or quest objective. Salt the Earth is primarily a multi-player pvp experience that focuses on a high degree of control over army composition and playstyle.
In Salt the Earth, you put together an army of different units that have abilities (this is called a build), and queue up for 1v1 or 2v2 matches. Each match is a best-of-three rounds deathmatch.
There are currently 5 playable races in Salt the Earth including the Humans, Orcs, Undead, Demons, and Dwarfs. Each race is unique with its own roster of units and racial theme:
Salt the Earth will continue to release additional races as the game progresses. We hope to have over a dozen races towards the end of the game. Each race will be released as a standalone 'DLC' product on Steam, for a very low price, and will be completely optional.
There are currently 38 unique units in STE. Each race has a different focus on total numbers of units and which type of units they bring into the field. Generally units fall into these categories:
Infantry
These make up the bulk of any army. They often have only one or two abilities and they are usually passive.
Tanks
A sub-category of infantry, tanks are often larger, have more health, and some defensives abilities. These units are meant to take damage.
Champions
Another sub-category of infantry, champions are the damgae delealers of the front lines. Champions often have powerful melee attacks.
Ranged
Using ranged weapons like, bows, crossbows, guns, or thrown spears, ranged units provide offensive support from behind the infantry line.
Mages
Utilizing powerful magic, mages can provide helpful utility magic (teleportation, summoning, etc) or devastate enemy lines with magic.
Priests
Another sub-category of the mage, the priest is more heaviliy focused on providing support than doing damage. This sub-category includes priests, clerics, shamans, and other supporting casters.
Giants
Salt the Earth has a variety of large units that can be melee, ranged, or caster, but always brings something interesting to the field with its large size and high health pool.
Heroes
These are named units (ex: Orkhan, Ghorgamon, etc) and have a large number of abilities. They are extremely powerful and the center of attention on the battlefield.
Abilities play a huge role in Salt the Earth. Almost every unit has some number of abilities, and the game currently has over 100 abilities at launch. Here are the basics of how abilities work:
Basic Abilities
Some units have base abilities which do not need to be purchased and cannot be removed.
Modifier Abilities
Some units have modifier abilities which change the way another ability works.
Ultimate Abilities
Some units have ultimate abilities which enable the player to active extremely powerful effects.
Builds are a way of saving an army composition so that you can join the queue with that composition.
Each build represents a different way of playing a race. For example, you could play the dwarfs with a focus towards their engineering strenghts, or you could play lightning-heavy orc build, etc.
Changing the abilities or the number of unist completely changes how a race plays on the battlefield.
Salt the Earth has many races, units, and abilities. If a player were to have everything unlocked at the start of the game, the number of possible combinations would be overwhelming. Instead, Salt the Earth has a progression system built in.
This means that as players play games, they receive a currency to unlock new races, units, and abilities. Players earn more of this currency when they win a game, but some amoutn is awlays rewarded. Races are the most expensive to unlock, then units, then abilities.
Our progression system is structured in a simlar way that some games to 'talent trees'. The race unlock icon is in the center, followed by the units that race has. Then that unit is surrounded by its abilities, and if an ability has a modifier ability, then are shown even further out.
When you start the game, you'll be able to choose a starting race which will also unlock a few units. Additionally, you'll be given some starting money so you can choose to unlock a few more units or abilities. After that, you'll have to play games to unlock more races, units, and abilities.
In Salt the Earth, we believe that players should work to unlock new content, but also believe that this work shouldn't feel like a grind either. Unlocking everything will take time, but not an unresable amount of it.