So what I like about Demigod in contrast to DotA is:

1. Demigod has no Lasthits! I can't emphesise enough how great that is!

Lasthits switched the focus on dealing killing blows to the creeps rather than fighting versus the enemy heroes. Less action but focus on not loosing any money...

Dota was a great game, I would even compare it to chess in deepness of strategy and tactic.

But the lasthit mechanism would be like playing chess, while a random sound indicates that you have to press a button quicker than your enemy, otherwise one of your pawns vanishes.

2. Action!

Demigod is way more fast paced in terms of combat than DotA.

Much of this comes from #1, the lack of lasthits but this is a unique point in my opinion.

DotA is more like Hide and seek or a shy sniper camping in an FPS.

While Demigod feels more like WAR! It's very much comparable to a World of Warcraft Battleground where Death should be avoided but is no shame if you got some enemies with you

3. Balancing.

While I woulnd't say Demigods balance is perfect, it's for sure compareable to DotAs balance.

The difference is: Dota is 80% about strategy before the match starts and only 20% actual gameplay.

That comes from the variety of abillities and the sheer number of characters. Balacing every hero against each other is not only hardly possible it isn't the aim of DotA.

It's all about counter picking, lategame vs earlygame, ranged vs melee etc.

E.g. Faceless Void from DotA is very weak early game and coun't compete really vs anyone 1v1.

But after ~lvl10 he becomes a killing machine and could wipe out the whole enemy team with lvl 20.

Demigod is here also much like World of Warcraft. Everyone is designed so he can compete in 1v1. Sure in WoW  and in Demigod aswell there are certain twists, some heroes or builds that perform better vs specific enemies.

But it is miles away from DotAs Rock<Paper<Scissors system. And I like that!

4. Grafics and Zoom!

The grafic of Demigod isn't even comparable to WC3s aged engine. But damn it looks nice!

But even more important: The Zoom!

I played Dota recently and kinda got Claustrophobia.

It's like sitting on your heroes shoulder and looks awkward on larger screens.

DotA even forces the player to adapt to the lacking visuals and the little overview so you have to look on the minimap as much as you do on the actual game!

It's one of the social riddles of DotA that some people want to tell you that looking on to a little colored map is a "essential skill" of good players rather than a limitation of the engine.

graphics

Demigod has significantly more care in a lot of its areas, where Dota can't keep up due to it being 'just a mod':

Multiple maps, that are, let's be honest, BEAUTIFUL.  I mean, prison is probably the most bleak, but makes up for it by having the battleground on top of a huge demons face.

Each Demigod is truly unique, both visually, and mechanically. You never sit there and think 'well, Queen is just a weak version of Oak' or something like that.

Neutral Portals/Flags/War score/ citadel upgrades, all the things that are basically unique to Demigod to make it a significantly more interesting and deep play experience.  You focus on more than sitting in a lane getting xp.  There's flags to cap, upgrades to buy, and other things to think about. Portals that are captureable make for a much more interesting game than those that are simply destroyable.

Skill trees. I am a strategy buff, and I really love being able to discuss the best way to play certain DG's, especially in certain scenarios. Dota was really all about simply choosing the rght group, and less about how you build them up once the game starts.

I can haz better community??

I love the citidel upgrade system in Demigod. Some demigods are more item dependant than others. This goes the same in Demigod, and rings a little more true with early game heros. Why stack more potentially not so useful items on a hero when you could buff your creeps/add more creeps to a creepwave? The citidel upgrade system also help's break away item builds as an absolute essential for a solid game.

good things that separate demigod from dota:

1) the ability, via gold, to upgrade grunts (creeps), structures, gold income, xp, and add additional/unique units to your grunt spawns.

2) the flag control system.  keeping your towers alive as long as possible is still important for map control, but keeping certain flags and taking the enemy's flags are just as important.

3) the consumable items are more abundant, creative, and useful

4) the general demigods are more polished than the laning heroes of dota.  there's some good synergy between a general and its minions (in oak and queen's case, anyway), and the purchaseable minions also have valuable skills for supporting and laning, making them an asset to just about any player using a general.

5) the lack of a relatively protected area to grind within.  this one is much more opinionated than the others, but it's something i felt led to many dota games being longer than they otherwise would have been.

if they ever add arranged teaming in skirmish and pantheon, add that to the top of the list

Played Dota again...

Did I mention Zoom? It's really horrible, kinda claustrophobic.

Yeah it's really more fitting to the normal human visual perception to zoom instead of minimap etc.