Discover how to be a true tyrant with the tongue-in-cheek help of Overlord II's Assistant Producer Dean Scott, and Global Comms Manager Sam Cordier.
How can you go about making the world a little bit darker in Overlord II?
Dean Scott: Well, one example is being able to enslave whole towns. Overlord storms into snowy, idyllic town with Minions, Overlord forcibly removes residents' free will by enslaving them with his Domination spell, residents then set to work making money for the Overlord. A little bit of fun magical enslavement, and every time you come back the saps have got bags of money for you.
If that's not enough for you, how about desecrating sacred elf shrines? Committing genocide against gnomekind just because you don't like their stupid pointy hats? Having a horde of eager Minions gives you a lot of coverage in terms of being able to wreak indiscriminate mayhem.
What are Minions and what can they do?
Sam Cordier: The Minions are really the star of the show in Overlord II and are treated somewhat as mischievous, chattering bullets. All the Overlord's four Minion types have their core abilities improved: they are all stronger, smarter, more destructive and funnier than before.
All Minions have their key abilities adapted to new challenges the game brings. Minions are now able to do things such as ride mounts including wolves, spiders and dragon-like salamanders and they can work together to control war machines including war ships and massive catapults.
What sort of Minions are under your employ?
SC: You have the Brown Warrior, the Red Fire-throwing Imp, the Green Stealth Assassin and the Enigmatic Blue Priest - each Minion type has their own personality and abilities.
How do you make the most of them?
SC: By using each individual Minion types for what they're best at doing. When faced with a wall of soldiers from the Glorious Empire, a good Overlord knows that wolf-mounted Browns will be able to tear them apart. Putting Blues on a flag next to where the battle is taking place will enable them to go in, pick up any fallen Minions and resurrect them.
Couple that with some Reds throwing fireballs from a distance and, when the battle's in full swing, sweep your Green stealth assassins in round the back to take care of any stragglers. Hmmm, I can hear the screams of pain and the sounds of destruction from here. Of course, the Minions do everything for the Overlord so even simple tasks like looting gold and picking up spell stones isn't beneath them.
What is it like to lord over so many underlings?
DS: It's the ultimate feeling of power. You'll get some people telling you a sports car is a better feeling, but with a gang of Minions you can just steal the sports car. Being an Overlord means you've got great power, and you can use it for some great irresponsibility.
Being able to command this gaggle of shrieking little maniacs is an experience. Just feel lucky that you can experience it, and that the Minions haven't stolen or wrecked your PLAYSTATION 3.
What creatures and beings are the most fun to torment and destroy?
SC: All of them! The Overlord doesn't fall for puppy eyes and doesn't discriminate! Seals and indeed all living animals in the Overlord II world carry life force. In [the first] Overlord it was sheep... but sheep get too cold in the frozen expanses of Nordberg, so seals live there instead. The baby seals are cute, but they eat fish to stay alive so in return they become a natural part of the food chain when the Minions clobber them for life force. Baby seals are harmless - and delicious - but their parents are the ones to look out for.
What items and trinkets should a good Overlord never leave the domain without?
SC: A good Overlord will never leave his dark domain without a good set of armour, a heavy weapon to do massive damage with and as many life force orbs as possible. An Overlord is nothing without his Minions and the number of life force orbs an Overlord has directly translates to how many Minions he can pull from the Netherworld Minions Burrows.
What's the worst thing you've got your Minions to perform in the quest for true evil?
DS: It's all down to interpretation. The seal mother didn't seem too impressed when I sent my Minions to batter her pups to death with clubs in front of her. It's not like their deaths were in vain: some of the Minions ended up wearing the cute little seal cub faces as hats. Anyway, she didn't have time to be too upset. I waded in with my sword and hacked her to bits. That annoyed the Yeti of course, but that's a whole other story.
What can you do to your Minions if they fail in your requests?
SC: The Overlord loves to dish out punishment so if a Minion fails carry out a request it can be sacrificed to the forge! All Overlords need weapons and armour, so the best use of a useless Minion, other than simply kicking them around, is to put them into a bubbling pit of molten metal.
Different coloured Minions will imbue your weapons and armour with different magical properties. There's nothing better than watching your Minion gleefully jump into a fiery pit of death when you know that you're going to get a new Overlord helmet from it!
What's the key to success in being a powerful and all-conquering overlord?
DS: Mercy is for the weak. Destroy anything that resists the brutal creep of your dark will, and maybe also destroy anything that doesn't. It's up to you, go nuts. Indulge your dark side. Don't be shy in chucking the Minions in to do the legwork for you. If they die in battle, you can always massacre some innocent creatures and spawn replacements.
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