Caravansary
Caravansary (Caravanserai) is a Business service building in Ashes of Creation.[3][1][4][5][6][7]
Node building type | Constructible service building |
---|---|
Construction duration | 1 day |
- This is where you can purchase, manage, and launch caravans
- Caravansaries are where caravans are constructed, prepared for launch, and are unloaded. Caravansaries were previously defined as default service buildings that come pre-built with every node of Village (stage 3) or higher.[3][1][4][5][6][7]
- Caravan master NPCs at caravansaries enable players to construct, load, and launch personal caravans.[3][6][8][9]
- Caravan drivers will see a visible perimeter around nodes that represent a disembarkation radius, which is similar to the deployment line. When a caravan crosses this line it will no longer be able to be attacked.[10][6] Guard NPCs spawning to escort the caravan to the node's caravansary was not shown on the latest caravan preview.[6]
- As you approach cities, caravansaries will confer a radius around the node; and that radius will be something visual to you in the world as you're approaching another node; and you will see a line- a disembark line where when you cross that line you've reached the safety zone; and that line cross is outside of the node in a similar distance, but also based on caravansary upgrades, that the placement of the caravan at launch is; and so you only have to make it to that line, and once you do the events surrounding the caravan and the ability to attack that caravan stops and it gets auto-moved into the caravansary. Guards will start to materialize around it. They'll grab the reins of the horse and begin to move the caravan slowly to the caravansary and now you've reached a pit stop; and at that pit stop this can either be your final destination or you can relaunch it again. You don't have to stop at nodes along the way to your destination. If you want to keep going you can keep going: You want to cross rivers, you can cross rivers. You want to go out into the ocean with a little raft caravan, you can do that too; and you can go to a destination and you can stop there and unload there. But if you're running into trouble, if you're under assault, if you're a near attack and there's a node nearby with a caravansary that you can stop at, you can start directing the caravan towards that node and all you got to do is make it to that finish line outside of the node; and when you do the caravan auto will move towards caravansary.[6] – Steven Sharif
- Caravan components can be upgraded while the caravan is parked in a caravansary stall.[11]
- Caravan insurance will not be provided as an in-game system.[13] Previously it was stated that insurance was able to be purchased from a caravansary prior to the launch of a caravan.[6][7]
- Caravansaries will exist in lawless zones outside of nodes during Alpha-2 for testing purposes.[14]
Caravan construction

Caravans have these items within them called components; and those act like the gear on the caravan. So they can modify their stats, grant them passive and even active abilities. So you can- if you upgrade your components, you can get powerful caravans.[3] – John Collins

Caravans will take on different appearances based on upgrades and any skins applied to them![15]
Caravans are constructed from components at caravan master NPCs in caravansary service buildings within Village (stage 3) nodes or higher.[16][3][6][8][9]
- Caravan components modify caravan stats and grant passive and active abilities to the caravan. Higher tier components will increase a caravan's power and capabilities.[16][3]
- If you're a solo player and you don't intend on transiting a lot of materials at once, you may not need the large cargo capacity, but instead you want the faster speed because you intend to outrun any potential adversaries that you might face on the roads. That is a viable strategic option for you when constructing your caravan. In addition, you saw that there are a number of different abilities that caravans can be equipped with based on the loadout of the components that you have for your caravan that is also going to influence how you interact with PvP and potential adversaries.[17] – Steven Sharif
- Caravan components obtained from crafters may have stats according to the skill of the artisan.[6][9]
- Caravan components can be upgraded while the caravan is parked in a caravansary stall.[11]
- If components are missing, default versions with lowest stat values will be applied to the caravan.[6][8][9]
- In order to construct caravan at the caravansary, you go to caravansary and you say hey I've got all these components and I want to construct a caravan; and the caravansary will accept the components that you have: It will use those components. If you don't have components for certain parts of the caravan it will give you default versions, which will be lowest stat value that that caravan can then have.[6] – Steven Sharif
- Caravan components and caravan skins both affect a caravan's appearance.[3]
- Caravan components can be upgraded while the caravan is parked in a caravansary stall at a node.[11]
- Caravan components can be individually destroyed by directional attacks against the caravan. All components are destroyed if the caravan is destroyed.[19]
- Caravan components can affect the proximity radius for the notification of nearby players of caravan PvP events.[17]
Caravan stats

If I am utilizing components that might give my caravan a significantly higher stat of speed, it's unlikely that I would also at the same time be able to select components that were to give an equitable amount of benefit in the stat of, let's say, cargo or health. It's going to be tradeoff in that sense.[18] – Steven Sharif
Caravan stats are derived from caravan components. The higher tier the components, the better the stats.[3][20]
- General Speed Rating.[3][8][20]
- Acceleration Rating.[3]
- Turn Speed Rating.[3][6]
- Road Speed Rating.[3]
- Water Speed Rating.[21][22]
Standard waterfall stats also apply to caravan components, for example:[23][6][8][9]
- Max Health (hit points).[23][6][8][9]
- Max Mana.[23]
- Max Durability.[24][3][24]
- Physical Mitigation Rating (Armor/damage mitigation).[6][8][9][20]
Caravan skills
Caravan components grant passive and active skills to a caravan.[3]
Skill | Icon | Description |
---|---|---|
Collect Cargo | ![]() |
Pick up cargo nearest the mouse location and add them to your caravan's storage if there's enough room.[25] |
Convert to Caravan | ![]() |
Allows the raft caravan to turn into a vehicle that can traverse land.[ citation needed ] |
Convert to Raft | ![]() |
Allows the caravan to turn into a vehicle that can cross calm waters.[26] |
Healing Aura | ![]() |
Provides healing to nearby defenders over time.[27] |
Repulsor Blast | ![]() |
Blast away nearby attackers.[28] |
Speed Boost | ![]() |
Gives the caravan a temporary speed boost.[29] |
Caravan passive skills
- None -
Caravan cargo

Cargo is the official name of supplies that are transited by caravans and ships.[32] – Steven Sharif
Cargo refers to crates that are transported by caravan, ship, or mules.[33][32]
- The only constraint is available size in the spatial inventory system for the crates.[33][34][35]
- Materials and resources (in crates).[36][35]
- Player commodities.[35]
- Node commodities.[35]
- There are... three primary methods by which caravans transit the world. The first is when players are moving commodities. The second is when players are moving materials and resources, and that's to your question. That's relevant because materials and resources across the world are unique to the geographic region in which they are produced or which they spawn, and crafting stations are located at certain nodes, and nodes specialize the types of crafting stations that they can have; so the transit of those materials across the world is a necessary component of keeping the economy alive; and where there is a demand there will be a supply. So that's with regards to the second reason for transiting caravans. The third is when mayors and system generated caravans transit the world. This is for nodes to acquire certain types of node commodities or node resources that they need to initiate public Work projects and to initiate construction projects.[35] – Steven Sharif
- Cargo for shipment by caravan is stored at the caravansary not in a player's inventory. Stored cargo is visible via the warehouse UI.[37][38] Likewise, merchant ships can only be launched and received at harbors.[39]
- Upgrading a caravan's components can increase its cargo capacity.[3][39] The maximum cargo capacity of caravans will be determined during Alpha-2 testing.[40] Merchant ships have a much larger capacity than caravans.[39]
- When you land a caravan it doesn't automatically flood the node's cargo with the stuff that was on your caravan. It stays on the caravan as additional cargo storage.[41] – John Collins
- Caravan speed is currently not affected by the weight of the cargo being transported.[42]
- There are visual hints relating to the cargo being transported on caravans, but players will not be able to see the exact contents of the caravan.[43][44][45] Cargo is represented in this way even if a cosmetic caravan skin has been applied to the caravan.[44][45]
- Decoy crates may be available via social organization progression to aid in launching of decoy caravans and merchant ships.[43]
- Commodities are transported by caravans and merchant ships in sealed crates.[46][47][48]
- These commodities cannot be stored in a player's inventory. Looting them will convert them into stolen commodities which yield a lesser value when exchanged at black market locations in nodes.[49][50][51][47]
- To retain the value of the commodities, players must summon an empty caravan from a nearby node to collect and transport them.[50][52][53]
- Commodities crates found in caravan wreckages are marked with a green symbol.[54]
- Materials crates found in caravan wreckages are marked with a black symbol.[54]
Unloading cargo

That timer scales with how the node progresses. That's actually an extremely fast unpacking time, but typically it's going to be on the scale of days.[55] – John Collins
Materials crates that are transported by caravans (or merchant ships) may be unloaded into a node's warehouse.[55]
- Unpacking time can take a number of IRL days to complete. This can be decreased through node policies, service building upgrades, and node progression.[56][55]
- That throttle of timing out the unloading of materials and supplies is intended to mitigate the impact on the local economy that transiting materials has within the world. Right now that's a runway, which means that through certain decisions that a node makes, whether it be upgrades or policies, they can reduce that amount of time significantly; and by creating a differential or a disparity of the amount that days would represent, versus hours, you can have the nodes that select those types of upgrades and policies really become the epicenter of trade within a particular region.[56] – Steven Sharif
- Player commodities may be sold directly from caravan (or merchant ship) inventory to commodities vendors.[55]
Initiating caravans
Caravan initiation in Ashes of Creation may refer to:
Personal caravan initiation
It's important for me to find a place that's relatively obscure so as not to attract any unwanted eyes.[64] – Steven Sharif
Personal caravans prepared and launched at caravan master NPCs located at caravansary service buildings that are present at Village (stage 3) or higher nodes.[65][3][6][7]
- When you want to launch a caravan you have must first have a caravan that's constructed at the caravansary.[6] – Steven Sharif
- Once a caravan is constructed it will be hosted at that caravansary. Players will be able to select from a list of available caravans via a UI screen, which will show the available storage compartments for each caravan.[65][6]
- Cargo for shipment is stored at the caravansary, not in a player's inventory. Stored cargo is visible via the warehouse UI.[37]
- All types of cargo can be shipped in caravans. The only constraint is available size (in the Tetris inventory system).[34]
- Once a caravan is constructed and loaded with cargo, it is in a launch-ready state and can be launched in the caravan master UI whenever the caravan owner is ready. Launching the caravan will place a caravan item in the owner's inventory.[65]
- You're going to have a little caravan item and when you right-click it you're going to be in deployable mode for you to be able to place that- it's a representation that you're summoning the caravan so that people around you know that you are launching a caravan.[65] – Chris Justo
- Once launched, caravan owners will see a visible radius around the node, beyond which the owner can begin deployment of their caravan.[65] Deployment takes approximately two minutes by default, but can hastened through upgrades to the caravansary building.[66]
- Personal caravans can also be summoned in the open-world from caravansaries in nearby nodes. This will also begin a deployment process that will take an amount of time based on the distance from the caravansary, the caravan's components, and any benefits or buffs from upgrades, node policies, or relics.[68]
- Personal caravans are capable of transitioning to/from raft caravans.[22][58]
Raft caravan initiation
Raft caravans are capable of transitioning to and from land caravans at the point of intersection of land and water.[70][71][57][22][58]
- There will be a delay of "a few minutes" while the caravan transitions while a conversion structure spawns. This introduces a small window of vulnerability.[70][71][57][22]
- Part of this transition process is again the risk that you're introducing for the reward of having greater flexibility in movement through the land and that risk is basically you're a sitting duck here for lack of a better term.[70] – Steven Sharif
- The conversion structure does not benefit from damage mitigation points of land or raft caravans, so it's a very weak position to be in.[72]
- There's two kinds of methods to crossing rivers: One of them is with bridges, which are constructed by mayors and players, but the other method is via a transformation into a raft... It'll make you a little bit of a sitting duck while you're transitioning. Once you're in the water you'll get a nice speed boost from the currents; and it's a alternate means to getting stuck on the choke points that are bridges.[71] – Chris Justo
Skill | Icon | Description |
---|---|---|
Convert to Caravan | ![]() |
Allows the raft caravan to turn into a vehicle that can traverse land.[ citation needed ] |
Convert to Raft | ![]() |
Allows the caravan to turn into a vehicle that can cross calm waters.[26] |
Mayoral caravan initiation
- Mayoral caravans are launched by Mayors to trade node commodities with other nodes.[59][60][61][73][62][63]
- Players initiate quest driven caravans (via a NPC) with the following parameters.[63]
Building services
Service | Icon | Description |
---|---|---|
Caravan Manager | ![]() |
Provides the ability to purchase, manage, and launch caravans. Additionally provides the ability to pack and unpack crates |
Crate Peddler | ![]() |
Sells rudimentary crates and caravan componenets |
Related NPCs
Related quests
- None -
Visuals
2023-11-08 2023-11-03
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Video, August 31, 2023 (16:09).
- ↑ Video, October 31, 2023 (42:12).
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 Video, October 31, 2023 (10:13).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Blog: Development Update with Village Node.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (50:25).
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:20:17).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Livestream, July 29, 2022 (3:21).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Livestream, May 29, 2020 (46:36).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Livestream, July 28, 2017 (20:56).
- ↑ Video, October 31, 2023 (41:27).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Video, October 31, 2023 (33:50).
- ↑ Interview, January 20, 2017 (4:19).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:21:02).
- ↑ Livestream, September 27, 2024 (43:24).
- ↑ X.com - Caravan appearances.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Interview, January 19, 2025 (10:07).
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:11:26).
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Video, October 31, 2023 (21:47).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:08:22).
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Livestream, May 22, 2017 (40:41).
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Livestream, January 31, 2024 (1:08:47).
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 Livestream, April 30, 2020 (58:05).
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2
- ↑ 24.0 24.1
- ↑
- ↑ 26.0 26.1
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, January 19, 2025 (13:45).
- ↑ Video, October 31, 2023 (12:32).
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Video, October 31, 2023 (1:52).
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Livestream, November 30, 2023 (1:44:04).
- ↑ 34.0 34.1
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:06:32).
- ↑ Livestream, January 3, 2025 (1:08:14).
- ↑ 37.0 37.1
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:08:57).
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:26:58).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:13:37).
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 Video, January 31, 2024 (31:05).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:15:33).
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 Livestream, January 31, 2024 (1:15:05).
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 Video, October 31, 2023 (29:36).
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 Livestream, January 29, 2021 (1:25:14).
- ↑ Video, October 31, 2023 (3:34).
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Interview, September 10, 2023 (53:47).
- ↑ Livestream, February 25, 2022 (1:10:00).
- ↑ Video, January 31, 2024 (12:49).
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 Video, January 31, 2024 (12:21).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:18:33).
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 Video, January 31, 2024 (6:47).
- ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 Video, January 31, 2024 (32:03).
- ↑ 56.0 56.1 Livestream, January 31, 2024 (1:10:33).
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 Livestream, May 29, 2020 (1:28:38).
- ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (15:46).
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 Interview, January 19, 2025 (43:43).
- ↑ 60.0 60.1 Video, September 29, 2023 (2:59).
- ↑ 61.0 61.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:10:23).
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 Video, July 15, 2019 (2:12).
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 63.3 63.4 63.5 63.6 Livestream, June 30, 2017 (53:57).
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 Video, October 31, 2023 (14:45).
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 65.3 65.4 Video, October 31, 2023 (13:32).
- ↑ Video, October 31, 2023 (16:04).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:20:09).
- ↑ Video, October 31, 2023 (16:25).
- ↑
- ↑ 70.0 70.1 70.2 70.3 70.4 Video, January 31, 2024 (15:35).
- ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 Video, October 31, 2023 (28:06).
- ↑ Livestream, May 29, 2020 (1:29:41).
- ↑ Podcast, September 29, 2021 (8:38).