Combat

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PvP combat gameplay in Alpha-1 castle sieges.[1]

Combat is the most tactile system in the game. It's the thing you will experience most often; and outside of the systems and mechanics that are going to be present for the overarching core gameplay loop, combat needs to feel responsive. It needs to not feel floaty. It needs to feel mobile. It needs to be fluid. It needs to give a feeling of satisfaction. The audio components, the effects components, the animations themselves, the types of skills and those types of things: All of those are really our objective in fine-tuning the approach for our combat in Ashes of Creation.[2]Steven Sharif

Combat in Ashes of Creation is focused on strategy and tactics.[4]

  • Combat is the most tactile system in the game. It needs to feel responsive, mobile and fluid. It needs to give a feeling of satisfaction.[2]
We will continue to iterate on combat until it is in a place that collectively we as a community can say 'this may not be my particular combat, but this combat is good.' That is the driving force and factor behind the development of combat; and that is how we are going to continue to iterate upon it, utilizing of course the player feedback from our community, but also keeping you guys informed and up to date as we continually iterate on combat.[5]Steven Sharif
  • Combat is animation-driven to ensure it is impactful and responsive.[6]
    • VFX and sound effects are an important part of selling the weight and immersion of combat.[7][8]
    • Camera effects such as screen shake and radial blur are used to "sell a lot of the weight without being too over the top".[9]
I think one of the things that helps set Ashes apart from an effects perspective is that we want VFX to be dynamically generated. We want them to interact with the world. We want them to feel like they are part of the combat.[10]John Kent
We're building a singular tool that all of the teams can use to build abilities and tweak their sound effects, visual effects, animation design, engineering: All using the same tool grounded in animation to build these abilities.[8]Keenan Reimer

A revamped combat system will be rolled out during and post Alpha-1 testing.[11][12]

  • The game isn't focused around cover-based combat mechanics.[16]
I might be on a rampart or behind a wall and that could be destroyed removing my cover, but not like a Gears of War or something, where I slide up to a piece of rock, or the corner of a wall or something.[16]Steven Sharif

Combat revamp

Alpha-1 split-body melee weapon combat sneak peek.[17]

I can move while swinging on this guy. I can back up then continue to attack him. Just have complete control over my character while attacking.[17]Steven Sharif

A revamped combat system will be rolled out during and post Alpha-1 testing based on player feedback.[18][11][12]

  • The goal is to give more agency to the player and achieve a more fluid flow of combat with greater mobility when using abilities.[19][20]
  • The current hybrid tab and action combat system will remain after the revamp.[19]
  • This revamp will not represent the final form of combat, but will set the general direction that combat will be taking.[21]
  • The revamp will be iterative and will be rolled out to testers in different phases.[20]
  • The developers will be testing whether or not to use global cooldowns GCDs on different types of abilities during Alpha-2.[15]

The revamped combat system will feature split-body animations, where the character's upper body can be locked by weapon attack animations while the lower body is free to continue moving.[17][22][13]

You'll be able to move forward while swinging your weapon; and this will allow you complete control over your weapon attacks for melee.[17]Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 combat was focused on core functionality rather than combat balance.[13] Alpha-2 combat will include archetypes, significant ability support, augments, split-body combat, weapon attacks, and many additional items, among other things.[14]

Combat targeting

Ranger hybrid combat in Alpha-2.[24]

Our desire has always and continues to be how we can create a mixture of tab target abilities and skill-shot oriented positional, directional-based ability usage and make something cohesive in that design. And I think that what we're achieving with that regard may not fully feel like an action-oriented game, but we've always intended to be more hybrid-oriented, leaning towards tab target. So you're going to see a mixture of abilities that require the targets and that don't; and then you're going to have an option as the player's perspective to utilize an action camera mode, which utilizes a soft target lock feature and our reticle.[25]Steven Sharif

Hybrid combat refers to the choice between tab and action combat in Ashes of Creation.[25][5][26][27][28][29] A toggle button (default Z, but can be re-bound to another key) allows the player to switch between action and tab combat modes.[25][30][19][31][32]

  • The action mode camera is tied to the to the player's reticle (crosshair).[25][33][34]
    • There will likely be a hotkey that when held down will allow free camera movement in action mode.[34]
    • In future the user will have the ability to choose from different reticle appearances.[35]
  • Targeted skills require either a soft or hard locked target.[25][33]
    • Soft locking is when the reticle moves over a valid target while in action mode. The targeting plate will appear slightly grayed out to indicate that this is a soft-lock target. If the reticle moves away from the target or the target moves away from the reticle, the target is lost.[33]
    • Hard locking is when the player uses right-mouse on a soft-locked target in action mode, or when the player selects a valid target in tab mode. The targeting plate will not be grayed-out to indicate that a hard-lock target is selected. Unlike soft locking, if the target moves out of the reticle, the target is not lost. Tab will still cycle between hard-locked targets in action mode based on proximity priority.[36][33]
Q: What the benefits are for tab versus action. I feel like a lot of people feel like tab is just easier so why would I use action?
A: If you're in a massive brawl, the ability to pick and choose targets that are far in the back line that might might be more advantageous towards tab target users because they're able to click, but the reaction time to acquire a target for a cursor versus acquiring a target for a reticle is much faster and less cumbersome because it doesn't require as many actions on behalf of the user.[39]Steven Sharif

Templated and targeted versions of skills will have different characteristics.[40][30][41][42][43]

Skill progressions, skill point allocation is determined by the player. The player will be able to choose either more tab-target oriented skills or more action-based skills and customize their playable experience to what accommodates their preference. From a balancing standpoint for us developers, we need to make sure that certain abilities house certain functions so that there's a balance between skill shots and tab-target abilities.[42]Steven Sharif
  • Targeted skills will be greyed out if the target is not within a valid range but templated skills will generally require the player to assess the correct range for the skill.[44]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
  • It may not be possible to be able to fully spec into just action or tab targeted skills. There might be a 75% cap on choosing skills from any one type.[42]
  • For the purposes of balance, certain skill types will be either tab or action oriented skills.[46]
    • Hard CCs may be housed in action oriented skills because they are skill shots that are more difficult to land.[46][42]
    • Softer CC's would be housed in tab-targeted abilities.[46]
As an example: Let's say you're playing a ranged class. You could have an action-oriented power shot in your skill tree or you could have a single target power shot that ramps up and does more damage.[43]Steven Sharif

Targeted skills

Targeted skills require either a soft or hard locked target.[44][33]

  • Soft locking is when the reticle moves over a valid target while in action mode. The targeting plate will appear slightly grayed out to indicate that this is a soft-lock target. If the reticle moves away from the target or the target moves away from the reticle, the target is lost.[33].
  • Hard locking is when the player uses right-mouse on a soft-locked target in action mode, or when the player selects a valid target in tab mode. The targeting plate will not be grayed-out to indicate that a hard-lock target is selected. Unlike soft locking, if the target moves out of the reticle, the target is not lost. Tab will still cycle between hard-locked targets in action mode based on proximity priority.[36][33]
  • Targeted skills will be greyed out if the target is not within a valid range.[44]
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Arcane Volley Arcane Volley (Active).png Fires a volley of arcane missiles at your target, dealing arcane damage with each hit.[48][49] - -
Chain Lightning Chain Lightning (Active).png Release a powerful stream of lightning that hits your primary target and then chains outward to all nearby enemies from that target, dealing lightning damage and applying 3 stacks of Electrified to each target hit.[50][51] - -
Fireball Fireball (Active).png Instantly hurl a ball of fire toward your target, dealing fire damage and applying one stack of Burning to target on impact.[52] - -
Frostbolt Frostbolt (Active).png Launch a bolt of frost towards your target, dealing ice damage and applying two Chilled stacks to the target on impact.[53][54] - -
Lightning Strike Lightning Strike (Active).png Call down a bolt of lightning upon your target, dealing lightning damage and applying two stack of Electrified to the target.[55][56] - -
Longbow basic attack Bow basic attack.png A slower, powerful, longer range basic ranged attack. Tapping the basic attack button will shoot normally. Holding the basic attack button will charge the shot (and root the player) to cause added damage.[57][58][59]
Quick Shot Quick Shot.png Ranged attack that applies a debuff to the target. Each additional quickshot against the same target does increasing damage but consumes one of three charges that regenerate over time.[60]
Shortbow basic attack Bow basic attack.png A fast, low power, short range basic ranged attack. Holding down the basic attack button will repeatedly fire.[58][59]
Slumber Slumber (Active).png Applies the sleeping condition to targets affected within a small area around the primary target, rendering them unable to move or take any action. Any damage dealt to a sleeping target will break the effect.[61][62] - -
Snipe Snipe.png A powerful charged attack.[63]

Templated skills

Templated skills allow blind firing without a target while in action mode. If a player moves into the path of the attack they can be struck.[37][38][33]

One of the differences between tab and action combat mode is you can launch projectiles in action combat mode as a blind fire option, and if a target or if something moves in the way between the time of that projectile launching and impacting either its max distance, or a piece of terrain, or another target, it's possible that players might move into that projectile.[38]Steven Sharif
  • Some templated skills may have template indicators, but in general will require the player to assess the correct range for the skill.[44]
If it is a templated ability, which means it's skill-based to use, you'll need to get a feel for those distances; and that's some skill-based learning where you get an idea for what those distances are. Some of those will have template indicators but they'll be very in-world and immersive. We're not utilizing more UI-centric looking indicators, but generally the AoE templates are meant to be skill-based.[44]Steven Sharif
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Airstrike Air Strike.png Leap forward in the direction the character is facing, raining down three projectiles that deal AoE damage and roots enemies in its path. The root effect is nature based.[65]
Ball Lightning Lightning ball.png Creates a large ball of highly charged electricity that travels slowly forward, dealing rapid periodic lightning damage to enemies it overlaps with and applying an Electrified stack to targets with each hit.[10][66] - -
Blizzard Blizzard.png Channel a massive blizzard around you, raining a barrage of hail shards upon your enemies while channeling. Each shard impact deals ice damage in a small area around it. All enemies in the blizzard also accumulate a stack of Chilled periodically. Activate the ability again to end the channel early.[67][68] - -
Cone of Cold Cone of Ice.png Blasts a cone of cold in front of the caster, dealing ice damage and applying a stack of Chilled to each enemy hit. The blast also leaves behind a field of ice mines that explode on proximity contact, causing additional ice damage and Chilled stacks to nearby enemies.[69][70] - -
Fissure Mage Spell 7.png Calls forth a series of jagged spikes of earth in a line in front of the caster, dealing earth damage and applying two stacks of Earthen to each enemy hit along its path, and then launching them in the air.[71] - -
Grapple GrappleIcon.png Takes aim for a moment before hurling a hooked chain in a line, damaging the first target it contacts and immediately pulling them to the caster. The target suffers a tapering snare for 3 seconds.[72][73]
Inciting Strikes IncitingStrikesIcon.png Slashes twice in a forward cone while adding additional threat.[74]
Longbow basic attack Bow basic attack.png A slower, powerful, longer range basic ranged attack. Tapping the basic attack button will shoot normally. Holding the basic attack button will charge the shot (and root the player) to cause added damage.[57][58][59]
Magma Field (Lavastorm).png Erupts the earth at target location, forming a boiling pool of lava that deals fire damage to enemies per tick while periodically applying a stack of Burning to enemies within the area.[75] - -
Meteor (Meteor Shower).png Conjures a massive flaming rock before sending it hurling toward target location. Upon impact, it deals major fire damage while knocking foes flying, and then continues to roll forward for its remaining distance, dealing additional fire damage while applying stacks of Burning to enemies along its path.[76] - -
Meteor Storm Meteor Storm Icon.jpg Summons forth a Meteor Storm, dropping 3 meteors in the target location.[77][78][79] Adds an extra meteor.[77][80] Adds an extra meteor.[77][80]
Prismatic Beam Prismatic Beam Icon.jpg Spawns a giant prismatic beam of energy that can be aimed around you. Deals large damage to enemy targets.[81][78][82] Increased damage.[81][83] Snares hit targets.[81][84][83]
Quick Shot Quick Shot.png Ranged attack that applies a debuff to the target. Each additional quickshot against the same target does increasing damage but consumes one of three charges that regenerate over time.[60]
Shield Assault ShieldAssaultIcon.png Bashes the target with your shield, dealing damage and applying the shaken condition. If the target is already suffering from the shaken condition, stun the target instead.[85]
Shortbow basic attack Bow basic attack.png A fast, low power, short range basic ranged attack. Holding down the basic attack button will repeatedly fire.[58][59]
Snipe Snipe.png A powerful charged attack.[63]
Thundershock Lightning Bolt Icon.jpg Shoots forward a beam of lightning that damages enemies in a line in front of you.[86][78][87] Increased damage.[86][88] Now knocks down hit targets.[86][88]
Tremoring Bellow TremoringBellowIcon.png Releases a thundering shout in a forward cone, applying the staggered condition on enemy targets. Also stomps the ground dealing damage around the caster and tripping enemies affected by the snared condition.[89]

Hitboxes

The developers are testing different approaches to accommodate varying hitboxes between the races.[90]

  • There may be a single unified hitbox with some exceptions or some special collision rules as opposed to having different sized hitboxes.[90]

More than likely we'll have some sort of unified or unified-ish hitbox. But again it's going to probably have a unified hitbox with some exceptions or some special sort of collision rules based on them as opposed to kind of just making it smaller for one and not the other.[90]Jeffrey Bard

There aren't separate types of hitbox categories in the Ashes of Creation MMORPG as there were in Ashes of Creation Apocalypse.[90]

We don't have separate types of hitbox categories, for example. There's no head hit box in the MMORPG like there was in APOC. So from a critical standpoint you're not going to see a greater risk of critting for a larger hitbox.[90]Steven Sharif

Directional attacks

There will be directional attacks (back attacks, flanking attacks, frontal attacks) that deal additional damage depending on the positional context of the attack.[91]

Cleaving

Weapon attack cone in Alpha-1.[31]

As I attack I am hitting multiple numbers of these opponents; and that's important because all weapons, regardless of whether you are in reticle mode or tab-targeting mode will be able to have a action-based type weapon attack. Not active skill, but weapon attack.[31]Steven Sharif

All weapons have a forward attack cone, regardless of being in tab or action mode.[31]

Polearms for example will have a much wider arc and much further out. Daggers will have a more fine-tuned arc, so you have to be more precise in that regard.[31]Steven Sharif

This is described as a weapon attack not an active skill.[31]

Indirect fire skills

Alpha-2 Chain Lightning arcing around an environmental obstacle.[93]

Indirect fire skills are targeted skills where the projectiles may path around obstructions that are not in line-of-sight, so long as the maximum distance travelled for the skill is not exceeded.[94][93][95]

  • This is a prototype concept that is subject to testing and balancing.[95]
  • A limited number of these may exist throughout different class kits.[95]
Some abilities might have indirect fire. So, if you have let's say a Archer or Ranger who has the ability to select a Mage as their secondary class; and they might want to augment a Snipe ability in order to go around a corner like an Arcane Archer might have... Some abilities might not care about that line-of-sight. They might care the distance to the target around the corner, or the path that it's taking; and if it's outside that path is too long it might not be able to reach them of course.[94]Steven Sharif
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Chain Lightning Chain Lightning (Active).png Release a powerful stream of lightning that hits your primary target and then chains outward to all nearby enemies from that target, dealing lightning damage and applying 3 stacks of Electrified to each target hit.[50][51] - -

Time to kill

info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

The Ashes of Creation MMORPG will have a time-to-kill (TTK) of around 30 seconds to a minute.[96]

In the MMORPG we really don't want to see any one-shots. The time-to-kill needs to be strategic and tactical.[98]Steven Sharif

Headshot mechanics

There are no headshot mechanics in the Ashes of Creation MMORPG.[90][99][100]

Gear inspection/ Threat assessment

You decide to gank the player, but find out that you have been ambushed![104]

Players will have a buff on their nameplate that indicates the gear set they are wearing. Other players will be able to see this buff by targeting that player at a distance.[105][106][107]

You can target a player. You're going to see what type of armor they have based on a buff they have available to them because obviously cosmetics can change appearance. You might have different silhouettes as a result of that.[108]Steven Sharif
  • The border will indicate the level and quality of the tier set.[105][106][109]
  • The developers believe that inspecting gear to obtain an exact equipment list or gear score may lead to "unwelcome behavior".[111]
When you see a player approaching you and they're wearing a transmog you know you don't know if that person is a high damage mitigation against physical damage or against magical damage and essentially the way we overcome that is through you being able to target a player at a distance and they will have a buff that's present on them that you will see, which indicates that essentially the piece set that they are wearing. It is important for players to be able to ascertain from a threat assessment standpoint what they're going up against if they're actively checking that, and that will be available.[107]Steven Sharif

Character nameplate

Nameplate in the Alpha-2 party UI.[112]

The icon in the corner next to Steven's nameplate: that little icon is actually his secondary archive that he hasn't unlocked.[113]Margaret Krohn

Work-in-progress nameplates in Alpha-2.[114]

Nameplates really actually require a big refactor on our end that we haven't done yet. However, that is something that tech art and engineering, as well as our UX/UI team are going to be doing over the course of probably the next month to month and a half. It's a big refactor both from performance reasons- how we're going to be able to occlude those nameplates within world obstacles and line-of-sight as well as prioritizing and clamping their sizes and distances that need a bit of a refactor; and of course their visual appearance. So that's work that's still outstanding.[115]Steven Sharif

Nameplates are displayed above the head.[116]

  • Player character nameplates will have first, and optionally last name (surname).[116]
    • The name of the character's guild is displayed next to their name.[117]
    • The character's nameplate will deteriorate to give an indication of how much damage they have taken.[118][119][120]
    • An icon will identify the character's class.[105]
    • Hovering over a player nameplate will show information such as level, class name, and archetype combo.[105]
    • A buff icon will indicate the character's gear and grade.[105][106][107]
  • The size and priority of nameplates will be relate to their distance (away from the camera).[115]
  • The visibility of nameplates can be obscured by in-game objects, such as trees; by utility skills, such as Camouflage or Stealth; or through the use of disguises.[121][122]
  • UI settings will enable nameplates to be hidden, resized, and customized.[123]
  • Summoner summons' creature type appears in the nameplate above the summon. This cannot be changed by the player.[124]
  • Mob nameplates will have indicators that identify resistances, buffs, end elite status.[125]
    • A star format may be utilized to indicate hit point allocation.[125]

Nameplates in the party UI indicate the player's choice of secondary archetype.[113]

  • A padlock icon indicates that the secondary archetype is not yet unlocked.[113]

Mobility

Revamped Alpha-1 Mage Fireball ability.[20][12]

The general approach that we're kind of taking based on a lot of feedback and just good combat design in general. You know philosophy is that we want to give more agency in the hands of the player and the antithesis of that is locking the player down for really long amounts of time. The sort of concept behind that is like you could make an animation effects as glorious looking as possible but if it's taking away control of the player, none of that really matters. Especially the 100th or thousandth time you're using the spell you're tired of that happening you don't feel powerful: You feel the opposite of powerful. So we're trying to like give a lot of control back to the player while they're using these abilities so they can still control their movements, they can react simultaneously while they're taking actions; and we just want to get overall more of a fluid flow, I guess, of combat. And that's kind of the general design philosophy we're using to approach the overhaul.[20]Tradd Thompson

Most abilities you'll find in Ashes of Creation are capable of being cast while moving. Some of those abilities might slow your movement during the cast, but you can continue to move. Very rarely, and depending on obviously the importance of the ability or the power level of that ability, you might be rooted in place. So, for example, the AoE ability [Chains of Restraint] has a lot going on. It has damage ticking over time, it is an area of effect, it also has a status condition application; and in those instances the player character gets rooted.[127]Steven Sharif
There's a balance in the game design between your movement speed on attack and the movement speed of your opponent. When you have a game that is both PvE centric as well as PvP centric, you have to make sure that combat is blended for both approaches; and we can always run into problems where, if you're significantly hampered in your movement speed, that has an effect on how we expect player versus player engagements to interact; and we don't want to restrict a player's ability to be mobile if they're the target of an attack. And as a result of that we need to make sure that we don't restrict the movement abilities of the player who is doing the attacking as well. So we want it to be relatively free for you to stay with each other. Your opponents move around the battlefield together and if we're hampering you on the attack action, we have to then implement some type of snare, or slow, or cc effect essentially on your opposing target; and that's not the approach we want to take for for PvP.[134]Steven Sharif
Q: If a ranger is super mobile, what are the melee's options in order to catch them?
A: Different class kits will provide different gap closers. They'll provide different mobility skills. They'll have lockdowns. They'll have chains to pull back. They'll have a lot of different things in the rotation. That's part of what an MMORPG experience is. You're not just restricted to three or six skills, you have a rotational suite; and depending on the type of challenges you face is going to help determine which of those rotations you spec into from your skill tree.[135]Steven Sharif
info-orange.pngThis section contains information from early testing phases. It will be updated as soon as new information is made available.
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Blink Blink.png Instantly teleport a set distance in the direction you are moving.[136][137] - -
Rush rush icon.png Rush toward a target; and upon reaching the target, deal an amount damage with a chance to knock the target down.[138] - -

Weapon weights

Weapon weight refers to how the mass of a weapon affects its performance during combat.[126]

There is a balance between player motion and agency as we call it and weapon weightedness- that almost locked-in-place rooted position- the heavier the weapon is, the more restrictions you want to place on that player agency to showcase the rooted effect: That weight- that heavyweight kind of aspect; and so what we've done by presenting you guys with both the dual daggers and the two-handed weapon is we've kind of shown the range between that complete player agency: a player agency in the light weapon attacks that's the dual daggers, and the maximum range of of rootedness or weightedness that's present on the two-handed weapon; and that's the spectrum in which our basic melee combat will exist within. So if there are medium weapon groups that exist in-between there, it's going to be somewhere in between that spectrum.[140]Steven Sharif

Player movement

  • Sprinting will consume a percentage of a character's mana pool. Sprinting will not be permitted while in combat.[142]
    • A sprinting/dash skill with a cooldown was confirmed to be part of a class kit.[143]
I've instructed design to incorporate a mana consumption that's percentage based for sprinting. So it'll be a similar amount of time that each class, regardless of their mana values, will have in order to sprint and it will not be accessible while in a combat.[142]Steven Sharif
  • There is a toggleable walk/run (autorun) capability.[144]
  • There is not going to be any "go to waypoint" (auto-pathing) mechanics.[145]

Collision

There are player and spell collision mechanics in Ashes of Creation.[148]

  • Inertia and momentum physics will help prevent blocking doorways/access points. This is based on a character's direction and movement speed, and can be used to push people out of the way.[149][148]

Dodging

Dodging in Alpha-1 early combat.[2]

Another thing that's important about these action combats is the ability to dodge and moving out of the way of certain skill shots.[2]Steven Sharif

Evasion moves such as dodging and weaving will be present in Ashes of Creation combat.[150][151][152]

So you see an animation windup that's a telegraph on what's coming; and then you have response actions that you can take as a result of that in order to dodge, weave, move, do whatever. It is both a combination of what your rotation is but also how you have reaction abilities ready to go that you save for certain circumstances that are important.[151]Steven Sharif

Active blocking

Tank active blocking with a Shield in Alpha-2.[156]

The shield version would probably be better but you'd still be able to parry or whatnot with a two-handed weapon, or even maybe a dual wield.[157]Tradd Thompson

Active blocking is a universal skill that applies to all classes.[150][159][157][153]

Active blocking might be an ability that- it's universal, of course it's universal- but it might be consuming mana; and you'll be able to adjust that mana consumption based off of your passive spec into your skill trees. In addition, it might also consume stamina, where that's something we're going to be testing as part of Alpha-2.[159]Steven Sharif
Q: How are you designing encounters around active blocking? Will it be situational use, or would I expect to be laying on my block keybind for most of the fight to prevent getting deleted by bosses?
A: It depends really on the type of adversary you're facing. Some of them are going to have indicators or tells that a big attack is coming. It's an animation wind up where you'll have an opportunity to use active block in very unique situations that are based on timing and additional mitigation for those incoming one-off attacks. In other occasions you'll be able to use it off of rotational cooldowns, or if you're waiting for a particular ability or you're during the use of your Aegis. There's different situations for when active block is a relevant use-case.[161]Steven Sharif
  • Previously the developers had not finalized designs for active blocking and were leaning toward using more traditional buff-oriented universal damage mitigation for the MMO, and were also considering interaction between action-based blocking and a passive block stat.[162][163]

Animations

Alpha-2 work-in-progress combat animations and decals.[165]

The intensity of those weapon trailings; how they scale based on the type of weapon, the level of weapon, that you have; but not just the trailing on the weapon per-se but also the ground decals. Like for this heavy weapon, that first strike you see that decal in the ground is- I love that look- and even on the backswing when I hit the ground behind me, it's causing that decal.[165]Steven Sharif

We really wanted to build the combat system to- like i said earlier- be as physical as possible. So we have it very animation driven. Everything is handled based on a reference of animation as opposed to nebulous timings, which allows it to feel very impactful and very responsive.[6]Keenan Reimer
We're not going to be having I think unique combat animations. However we will have unique non-combat animations, such as your idle, your walk, your run cycle: things that the combat attacks do not have to blend back into.[166]Steven Sharif

Combat abilities

The aspiration for combat is for abilities to have corresponding counter-play abilities.[168]

  • The goal is to have special animations for parrying, blocking and evading.[169]

They can be a challenge to implement sort of really reliably so you might not see them on every evasion or every block, but we do want that kind of stuff to show up.[169]Jeffrey Bard

Basic attacks

Basic attacks are triggered for the equipped weapon by pressing Q or left-clicking the mouse (these buttons can be re-bound by the player).[171]

  • Players can select which weapon they wish to use as their primary weapon for basic attacks.[36][172][173]
  • Different weapon types have different basic attacks.[58][59]
  • Weapons with projectile attacks are capable of blind firing without having a target.[64]
    • If the player is in action camera mode and their reticle is over a target, they will be able to soft lock onto that target, causing projectiles to home to targets who are within the correct range/angle.[64]
When you have your weapon and you utilize a basic attack, you can blind fire that weapon, if it has a projectile associated with it, without having to have a target. In addition, if your reticle in action camera mode is over a target, you will have a soft target lock and projectiles will home to that target if within the right angle of direction.[64]Steven Sharif
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Longbow basic attack Bow basic attack.png A slower, powerful, longer range basic ranged attack. Tapping the basic attack button will shoot normally. Holding the basic attack button will charge the shot (and root the player) to cause added damage.[57][58][59]
Shortbow basic attack Bow basic attack.png A fast, low power, short range basic ranged attack. Holding down the basic attack button will repeatedly fire.[58][59]

Crowd control

Crowd control (CC/mezzing) abilities include root, snare, stun, sleep and slow.[176][168]

Diminishing returns in regards to crowd control and conditions like stun and sleep and slows and that kind of thing: Yes we will have absolutely diminishing returns. I think it's a necessary component to balance out classes that have high control ability.[168]Steven Sharif

We're trying to stay away from hard locks as much as we possibly can. We want to have the system be very play, counter-play, counter-counter-play kind of feel.[168]Jeffrey Bard

  • Soft CC's are in the tab-targeted abilities.[180]
  • CC effects do not apply to Non-combatant (green) players. The target of a CC ability must be flagged in order to suffer the CC effects. This prevents players from opening attacks that stun non-combatant players during a pull for example.[181]
  • Some crowd-control abilities can dismount a mounted player. In that case the mount would persist with its own health pool and other stats.[182]
    • In current Alpha-1 testing mounts are not separate from the player.[182]

There's also going to be effects that just stun the mount or stun you on the mount.[182]Steven Sharif

info-orange.pngThis section contains information from early testing phases. It will be updated as soon as new information is made available.
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Chain Lightning Chain Lightning (Active).png Release a powerful stream of lightning that hits your primary target and then chains outward to all nearby enemies from that target, dealing lightning damage and applying 3 stacks of Electrified to each target hit.[50][51] - -
Chains of Restraint ChainsOfRestraintIcon.png Call forth spectral chains in a target area that stagger enemies within or stun enemies already under the staggered effect, then leave behind an area that deals radiant damage each second over 8 seconds.[184][185]
Fissure Mage Spell 7.png Calls forth a series of jagged spikes of earth in a line in front of the caster, dealing earth damage and applying two stacks of Earthen to each enemy hit along its path, and then launching them in the air.[71] - -
Grapple GrappleIcon.png Takes aim for a moment before hurling a hooked chain in a line, damaging the first target it contacts and immediately pulling them to the caster. The target suffers a tapering snare for 3 seconds.[72][73]
Slumber Slumber (Active).png Applies the sleeping condition to targets affected within a small area around the primary target, rendering them unable to move or take any action. Any damage dealt to a sleeping target will break the effect.[61][62] - -
Tremoring Bellow TremoringBellowIcon.png Releases a thundering shout in a forward cone, applying the staggered condition on enemy targets. Also stomps the ground dealing damage around the caster and tripping enemies affected by the snared condition.[89]

Interrupts

Abilities with a cast bar can be interrupted during the cast.[129]

  • There are abilities to counter interrupts.
  • Some interrupts are better than others.
info-orange.pngThis section contains information from Alpha-1 testing. It will be updated when new information is made available.
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Bulwark Bulwark Icon.jpg Bash enemies in front of you twice. The second attack temporarily increases block chance. You must have a shield equipped to block.[186][78][187][188] Additional increased block chance.[186][188] The second attack knocks down enemies.[186][188]
Rush rush icon.png Rush toward a target; and upon reaching the target, deal an amount damage with a chance to knock the target down.[138] - -
Thundershock Lightning Bolt Icon.jpg Shoots forward a beam of lightning that damages enemies in a line in front of you.[86][78][87] Increased damage.[86][88] Now knocks down hit targets.[86][88]

Aggro abilities

Threat (Aggro/Hate) is generated based on damage done, healing done, and modifiers on certain abilities.[189][190]

If we think about PVP settings and the role of taunt or hate, a lot of times for tanks in the MMOs that I've played- where you have a PvE and PvP scenario- those types of hate generation abilities don't really have cross application into the PVP realm; and that can feel bad, because typically a tank build-out can be delegated around how I generate hate; and if it has no cross application into PvP then effectively you're creating a class composition that just is not relevant in half of the game, or in that area of the game. So when we talk about how we're going to apply hate to player targets or taunt to player targets, sometimes that can move into the realm of target switching, or the ability to demand that target on the tank in a PvP scenario as well. That's something that we need to get player feedback on, because there's a lot of strong emotions around that type of mechanic. I for one am a big proponent of that. I think it's interesting. I think that it plays into the role of the tank and that it it hits a class fantasy that most tank players want to feel. And I think however on the flip side of that, it is a source of control; and anytime you're under the effects of some source of control, it's going to be a feel bad moment for the target that's being controlled. So that's why I think it generates a lot of feelings on both sides of the aisle.[191]Steven Sharif
  • Detargeting is the act of removing hate/threat/aggro from an enemy.[191]
  • There will be a taunt skill available at higher levels than what has been previewed so far for Alpha-2.[192]
Q: There were a lot of concerns about threat [in the Alpha-2 Tank preview video]. A lot of people didn't understand how holding threat works, because you weren't holding threat at some point.
A: It's important to remember that these previews are done at a very low-level, so these are low-level skills and abilities that the archetypes have available to them; and so because of that, some of the functionality from these abilities they don't necessarily perform as well as you would want them to in a later stage of the game for that role. Now also keep in mind that balance is a perspective that needs to be incorporated also. So, threat is generated based off of a few factors: It's based off of damage done, it's based off of healing done, it's based off of threat generation modifiers that are on abilities. Now the tank in this situation I believe has two abilities that are going to generate additional threat. They have the slicing- the number two ability; and then they also have the shout ability. Both of those are creating additional threat. But with that being said, we need to tune probably those abilities up a little bit to contend with the DPS that's coming both from the ranger and with the heals that are coming out of the cleric.[189]Steven Sharif
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Grapple GrappleIcon.png Takes aim for a moment before hurling a hooked chain in a line, damaging the first target it contacts and immediately pulling them to the caster. The target suffers a tapering snare for 3 seconds.[72][73]
Inciting Strikes IncitingStrikesIcon.png Slashes twice in a forward cone while adding additional threat.[74]
Shield Assault ShieldAssaultIcon.png Bashes the target with your shield, dealing damage and applying the shaken condition. If the target is already suffering from the shaken condition, stun the target instead.[85]

Animation cancelling

Animation cancelling will not be a combat mechanic.[194][195]

Combat stances

The use of weapon stances in game is likely.[196]

RNG

RNG elements pertain to combat relating to stats such as Critical hit, Evasion, Blocking chance.[197]

RNG is always going to play a role in Ashes of Creation whether that be in PvP or PvE, but one way to mitigate that is through the action system. The action system is going to be far less sort of dependent on those you know dice rolls and there'll be far more in your own hands. They won't ever completely eliminate that but it's a way for us to sort of reward skilled play versus sort of tactical strategies type play.[198]Jeffrey Bard

Primary skills

Alpha-1 preview primary skills.[78]

If from the eight archetypes whatever you choose as your secondary, you're going to receive a choice of augments that relate to some core ideal of that class. You know like a tank is about controlling the battlefield, is about surviving. The mage is about dealing damage and elements and ability in AoEs. The rogue is going to be about stealth and critical damage. So those augments are going to to play towards those identities.[199]Steven Sharif

The idea behind the system is that you're kind of skirting the line through these augmentations of your role, right. We have the traditional holy trinity that's present in class designs for MMOs and it's often that those either are not deviated at all or completely deviated from entirely. The augment is to kind of offer a balance between that where you still maintain the semblance of that trinity system while offering the opportunity to customize your play experience towards one of the other angles in the triangle.[200]Steven Sharif

Primary skills (class abilities) are based on a player's archetype.[138] Players can personalize their primary skills with augmentation from a secondary archetype.[201][138][202]

The design behind augments is to not just change the flavor so that it reflects the secondary archetype, but it also fundamentally changes the core components of a skill.[203]Steven Sharif
There's going to be a certain threshold at which you can no longer augment your active abilities based on the decisions you've augmented previous abilities, so you'll have to pick and choose which ones you want to apply the augments towards.[208]Steven Sharif
  • Choosing the same primary and secondary archetype increases focus on that archetype.[210]
  • Augments to primary skills will fundamentally change the way the ability works: Adapting what the ability once did to incorporate the identity of the secondary archetype.[211]
  • Changing the augmentations on your skills will require you to go to a NPC in a Village node or higher.[213]
  • Some spell colors and general FX change based on augments.[214]
    • Active skills could look totally different after an augment gets applied.[215]

Primary skills in Alpha-2 are expected to be very different to those in Alpha-1.[216]

The ability list in Alpha One is nowhere near what the ability list will be, especially from like a level/progression standpoint. So you can expect it to be incredibly different.[216]Steven Sharif

Skill points

Alpha-1 preview skills user interface.[217]

This is where players allocate skill points into either their active skills, their passive abilities- which can augment their usage of weapons and armors and health regeneration and passive stats and stuff like that-- but on the weapons side of things, that's where you will spec into certain types of procs based off of weapon groupings. So we've talked a little bit about this in the past: If you have a dagger, daggers might have a chance to proc a bleed on your weapon attack and that would synergize with an active skills' ability like let's say Backstab that does additional damage if the target is under a bleed effect. Now we have said in the past that players will be able to allocate skill points into their active skills that are more geared towards either action combat or tab targeting.[45]Steven Sharif

Players receive skill points as they level. These can be used to level up skills (increase their rank) within their active, passive or combat/weapon skill trees.[218][219][220][221]

  • It will not be possible to max all skills in a skill tree.[221]
  • In terms of skill progression, players can choose to go "wide" and get a number of different abilities, or go "deep" into a few specific abilities.[222]
  • Players are able to reset and reallocate their skill points.[223]
  • Augments do not cost skill points.[209] It was previously stated that certain augments will have more expense required on the skill point side.[208]
Making active skills capable of receiving additional skill point allocations and unlocking additional features so that from a player agency standpoint it's going to be up to you whether or not you want to be more diverse but less depth- wider and not taller, in some of these skill choices. Or if you want to be very very tall, that's going to be something that is up to the player in that regard.[2]Steven Sharif

Active skills

Players can build their characters with the active skills they want on their action bar (hotbar).[225][226][227]

Some people like to have a very minimalistic number of hot bars. They don't need necessarily to have three, four, five hot bars that are available; but some people do like that: They want to have all their items listed on their hotbar as well as their abilities, as well as as their mounts, as well as anything that they can essentially interact with as an icon.[230]Steven Sharif
  • Players are not given skills as they level up, they must choose what skills they take.[222]
  • There is no spellbook requiring memorization.[231]

There will be multiple hot-bars that you obviously have available, because you're going to have consumables, you're going to have active skills and whatnot. But the number of active skills are not going to overwhelm necessarily the character and be irrelevant especially at certain stages.[225]Steven Sharif

Universal skills

Outside of class-specific skills there may be a subset of universal skills, such as active block and dodge.[153]

  • The developers will be testing the use of separate energy mechanics for universal skills in Alpha-2.[155]
  • Universal skill progression may align with a player's passive skill tree.[153]
Outside of your class-specific skill tree, there's going to be a subsection of a few skills that are universal, like active block, like dodge; and I think what we're going to do- or at least what we're going to be discussing here- is those universal skills will have progressions that might align with your passive tree; and you can spec skill points into progressing additional features of those universal abilities that you will have access to. So I think that's probably going to be the direction that we're going to take.[153]Steven Sharif

Ultimate skill

info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Ultimate skills are very powerful skills that can be used when enough focus has been accumulated from using the Weapon use combo system.[232]

- None -

Elemental skills

The idea behind magic is you're manipulating the elements. They don't just have to be fire, ice, water and air. They can be darkness, they can be light, they can be planar; a lot of different types of "elemental influences".[233]Steven Sharif

info-orange.pngThis section contains information from early testing phases. It will be updated as soon as new information is made available.
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Airstrike Air Strike.png Leap forward in the direction the character is facing, raining down three projectiles that deal AoE damage and roots enemies in its path. The root effect is nature based.[65]
Ball Lightning Lightning ball.png Creates a large ball of highly charged electricity that travels slowly forward, dealing rapid periodic lightning damage to enemies it overlaps with and applying an Electrified stack to targets with each hit.[10][66] - -
Blizzard Blizzard.png Channel a massive blizzard around you, raining a barrage of hail shards upon your enemies while channeling. Each shard impact deals ice damage in a small area around it. All enemies in the blizzard also accumulate a stack of Chilled periodically. Activate the ability again to end the channel early.[67][68] - -
Cone of Cold Cone of Ice.png Blasts a cone of cold in front of the caster, dealing ice damage and applying a stack of Chilled to each enemy hit. The blast also leaves behind a field of ice mines that explode on proximity contact, causing additional ice damage and Chilled stacks to nearby enemies.[69][70] - -
Elemental Empowerment Elemental Empowerment (active).png Whenever you cast an elemental spell, your weapon attacks deal additional damage of that spell's element and apply a stack of the corresponding elemental status effects to targets hit. Casting a spell of a different element switches this effect to the new element.[170][234] - -
Fireball Fireball (Active).png Instantly hurl a ball of fire toward your target, dealing fire damage and applying one stack of Burning to target on impact.[52] - -
Fissure Mage Spell 7.png Calls forth a series of jagged spikes of earth in a line in front of the caster, dealing earth damage and applying two stacks of Earthen to each enemy hit along its path, and then launching them in the air.[71] - -
Frostbolt Frostbolt (Active).png Launch a bolt of frost towards your target, dealing ice damage and applying two Chilled stacks to the target on impact.[53][54] - -
Lava Storm Lava Storm Icon.jpg Creates a field of lava at the selected location. Deals area damage over time.[78][235][236] Increased damage. Increased duration.[235][80] Increased damage. Increased duration.[235][80]
Lightning Strike Lightning Strike (Active).png Call down a bolt of lightning upon your target, dealing lightning damage and applying two stack of Electrified to the target.[55][56] - -
Magma Field (Lavastorm).png Erupts the earth at target location, forming a boiling pool of lava that deals fire damage to enemies per tick while periodically applying a stack of Burning to enemies within the area.[75] - -
Meteor (Meteor Shower).png Conjures a massive flaming rock before sending it hurling toward target location. Upon impact, it deals major fire damage while knocking foes flying, and then continues to roll forward for its remaining distance, dealing additional fire damage while applying stacks of Burning to enemies along its path.[76] - -
Thundershock Lightning Bolt Icon.jpg Shoots forward a beam of lightning that damages enemies in a line in front of you.[86][78][87] Increased damage.[86][88] Now knocks down hit targets.[86][88]

Balancing

Balancing in Ashes of Creation is group focused not based on 1v1 combat.[237][238]

There will be match ups in 1v1s where one class will be superior to another; and that application should be a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. We want there to be counter-play between the different classes... Instead it's going to be a group focused balance, where as long as you have the diversity of classes present, that's going to be an equal level playing field. It's going to be very dependent on skill and strategy.[238]Steven Sharif
From an engagement or encounter perspective, obviously we do a finger-in-the wind kind of balance pass, but a lot of that stuff from our encounters team doesn't get done until populations are in place and those encounter designs get a little bit more time to bake.[239]Steven Sharif

The sixty four (64) classes are partitioned into eight primary archetypes. Balancing of active skills only relates to these eight primary archetypes.[237][240]

  • There are four primary groups of augments assigned to each base archetype. Balancing of augments relates to the four augment groups for each of the eight archetypes.[204][205][201][240][206]
Even though augments do radically change the way your active skills provide you abilities, there's still a primary focus on the base archetype itself and not the 64 whole classes.[237]Steven Sharif
We're not really talking about 64 true classes, we're talking about eight classes with 64 variants... There isn't as much variance between the 64 classes as you might expect. It's not like there are you know 64 different versions of... radically different classes.[237]Jeffrey Bard
Certain archetypes are capable of moving the gap between their counterpart per-se. If I am a Tank archetype and a Mage is my counter, I can take a Mage secondary and kind of bridge the divide slightly; and then move my identity that direction ever so slightly.[241]Steven Sharif

Roles

Ashes of Creation has the traditional trinity of Tank, DPS (damage dealers) and Support (healer or non-healer) roles.[242][243][244]

We have our eight base archetypes; and the trinity is a pretty strong influence with regards to the eight base classes. However the area in which we actually begin to play with that line between the trinity is in the secondary classes that you can pick. That's where we begin to blend those spaces and allow people a little bit of influence over their role and whether or not they fit perfectly within a particular category within the trinity.[245]Steven Sharif

Meta

  • Increasing difficulty ratings inspire more of a traditional vertical power progression that is common in other MMOs.[246]
Oftentimes you just have a very vertical power scale and that determines chase, but when you have a variety of relevance across certain types of adversaries and that variety changes over time because of player activity- and then that affects the economy and the crafter system and who was producing what for what demand- and everything gets shaken up. That's a very kind of fun environment to exist in. It presents a more dynamic situation rather than a quote-unquote cookie-cutter type selection.[246]Steven Sharif
  • The intricacies of how nodes interact with predicates in the world means that it may be possible but difficult to achieve meta server builds.[247]
Q: Do you have any concerns on players eventually discovering a meta server build with nodes due to players heading to specific nodes and regions because they find that content more enjoyable; and if so how would you go about getting players to shift around the world to break up the meta?
A: I think it's interesting if players have a concerted effort across a server to interact with one another, learn from their actions, mistakes, successes, and effectuate that on the server. That's interesting, but I don't believe we'll see a meta form. I think that the intricacies are too great when it comes to how predicates are formed in order to elicit world state changes.[247]Steven Sharif

Power creep

The developers intend to limit power creep via item sinks, the lack of gear binding, and the absence of pay-to-win or pay-to-convenience in Ashes of Creation.[248]

Weapon use combo system

Alpha-2 Mage demonstrating a Frostbolt, Lightning Strike, and Wand weapon attack combo.[53]

This is a single Target projectile attack that applies two stacks of Chilled to the enemy; and then after that hit him with a few wand attacks. Now you'll see that you've gotten a Frozen status effect on him and then he timed that really well there... in that very last frame you'll see that he hit him with a lightning effect... So that's a good way to get your burst damage if you're rotating your spells and your elements the correct way.[53]Keenan Reimer

Work-in-progress Alpha-2 basic weapon attack combos.[249]

The ability for for a spell Caster or just any player with their archetype having the option to weave in-between those rotations and those spells and to create successful combinations within their kit that you amplify the DPS or the status conditions or the control effects, or whatever it is your is your end goal. Having a rotation that emphasizes your ability to succeed or fail in those combos I think is compelling from a gameplay perspective.[250]Steven Sharif

A weapon use combo system (also referred to as Weapon attack combo, Weapon combo, Combo system[251], and Weapon use ability[252]) is utilized instead of a traditional auto-attack ability in Ashes of Creation.[253][251][254]

Let's say for example you're using a two-handed warhammer or something and you have a number of weapon combos that play animation style based on how many combos deep you go into an attack with that warhammer. So the first is going to be like a forward swing. Second is going to be a back swing. The third is going to be swing down and the fourth is going to be some twirl that you do; and that's what we call the combo animation montage.[171]Steven Sharif
The way that the weapon skill tree works is that at different stages of that combat montage you have available procs that can occur. The first swing might be a small stagger that decreases your opponent's accuracy by 15, that could be a proc that you could that you could spec into that decrease in accuracy- might be a status condition called stagger or bewildered or whatever- and that might exist for three or four seconds. Your second option from a skill tree perspective might be on the swing back. You have some type of tapering slow effect that lasts over three seconds- some type of tapering snare; and then the third step strike down might be some potential one second stun status modifier; and each of these you can spec into additional points to increase the chance that these proc.[171]Steven Sharif
  • Depending on class skill choice these effects will have synergy effects with the combat montage.[171]
Depending on what your class skill choice has been those are going to have synergy effects with the weapon skill tree. So my skill called spin-to-win might do 30 additional damage on a staggered target. So I see when my proc occurs with the stagger effect on my first swing, like for me as a player I might be only interested in landing that first swing, so every now and then I'm gonna swing once and then I'm gonna use a skill and then I'm gonna come back and swing again because that'll play my first swing montage, because it's been interrupted. So I won't move to the second one because I'm really just wanna hit that stagger effect. So that's going to be how my rotation lines up. However I might have some skill that on a stun target it might be an immediate cast and it's like some power you push or power hit; and that does- it knocks back a stun target. So if the target's stunned when this skill plays, it has an added effect of knock down and now they're gonna get knocked down for an additional two seconds. Now I might spec into that and as a result I want to finish through: swing, swing, and then knock down. So I get my chance at stunning that target with that weapon skill.[171]Steven Sharif
You may have items or set bonuses that change at what level those proc occurs. So I may have a full set of battle armor that changes all third hit combo procs to second hit requirements and now I have a chance not only on my second hit to land that tapering slow but I also have a chance to land my one second stun proc because I have the full set that changes my weapon progression. So that's the way itemization works with your weapon skill tree, is you can enhance when those weapon skill trees become available in your combat montage and that can be a relevant factor in how your skill rotations come to play; and mixes with your weapon attacks.
  • Weapon skill choices and rotations will vary based on whether the player is more focused on PvP or PvE.[171]
Right now some people might just say, "I don't care at all about my weapon attacks. I'm not going to invest a lot of points into that. And if I do, it's going to be primarily PvE focused where I'm more comfortable using just swinging my weapon, and I may not use them as much in PvP. I'm just going to be focused on skill rotations." That's okay, but the reason for those skill montages- back to your question- is they have a very relevant role in when certain procs come online from a weapons skill tree perspective.[171]Steven Sharif
  • Using a skill/ability other than a basic attack will in general reset the combo.[174]
    • The developers are considering specific abilities might be able to be used without resetting the combo system.[174]

It acts similar in the sense of the core loop of what an auto attack is so to speak; where typically your other skills have a cooldown period, they have a rotation or whatever: Our combo system is a repeatable skill effect that you can continually attack with but it's a little bit more involved than what a traditional auto attack is; and it has components from a from an advancement standpoint when it comes to the types of procs that your weapon can have during that combo system... It's not going to have the quick time event that you guys saw early on in PAX and gave great feedback on, but it is going to have development with regards to the power of the weapon the type of weapon you're using, the additional proc effects that you can skill into: Those types of things are going to make it a little bit more complex of a system capture.[251]Steven Sharif

Classes of weapons

Weapons 3D renders. These are depicted in the Threads of Fate cosmetic costume but are not part of that set. Models by Eli Hurst.[256]

Weapon classes (also referred to as weapon types and weapon groups) in Ashes of Creation.[21]

  • Blunt weapons
  • Slashing weapons
  • Piercing weapons

Weapon swapping

Weapon swapping is possible while in combat but armor cannot be swapped while in combat.[258][259][36][172][173][260]

You may not swap armor when you're in combat, but you may swap your weapons; and there's obviously a few reasons of why this can be important: We're a itemization agnostic class design, so players equip with items that there are most necessary based on the adversary or the challenge that they're facing; and so we want that to be available for players to swap with weapons.[258]Steven Sharif
  • Previously it was stated that swapping weapons (from inventory) into a hand or range slot is not possible in combat.[259] Prior to this, weapon swapping was said to be subject to a cooldown period (in the range of a few seconds) following any damage taken or done by the player.[261][262]

Raid mechanics

Raids contain intricate combat mechanics.[263]

Combat itself will be pretty intricate mechanics-wise. We're going to have different phases of the bosses, there's going to be a lot of adds stuff, there's going to be random oriented skill usage. We're not going to have telegraphed templates on the ground, but we will have telegraphed animations, so it's going to be location, mobility, strategic. It will be something that can not be repeatable in the exact same way from raid to raid, but has a variance between the combat, so raiders are going to have to be fluid in thinking on their feet.[263]Steven Sharif

Boss mechanics may be affected by changes in climate or time of day.[264]

Telegraphs

In specific circumstances there will be telegraphs (tells) to communicate something that's happening.[265]

  • Animation tells.
  • Templates.

List of raid bosses

info-orange.pngThis section contains information from Alpha-1 testing. It will be updated when new information is made available.

Utility skills

Pre-alpha rogue climbing a Metropolis wall.[266]

We have what are called utility skills and a lot of MMORPGS really only focus on active combat skills, but some of the favorite things that I've had as a gamer is tabletop RPGs like Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons, and there are skills in those games that are relevant to either your environment or the quest line; and they're a little bit you know sometimes "story mode".[267]Steven Sharif

A utility skill is a non-combat skill that interacts with the environment.[268][269][270] Utility skills lend themselves toward how classes navigate and deal with hazards in the world.[271]

  • Classes will have different utility abilities, such as detecting traps and other hazards.[268][269][271] For example: The Mage's detection spell casts light and reveals magical explosive hazards.[272]
    • Certain classes are able to climb/parkour in certain areas.[273][274] This is not a free-form ability. It will likely be restricted to certain quests, locations or objects.[275][276]
    • Certain classes (such as Rogues) will have stealth abilities.[277]
Q: What kind and how many special or unique activities can we expect classes to perform outside of combat, such as rogue's opening locks, tracking enemies as a ranger, or removing corruption from the ground as a cleric?
A: Just thirty minutes ago I was talking about those utility abilities like finding tracks, or cleansing poisons, arcane eye to reveal secret passages. The idea is how do we blend the traditional tabletop RPG role of utility and/or skill checks into the setting of a graphical MMORPG; and I think that it's both a complement of the skill kit that's available and how it interacts with the world for those curated or special designs within these locations. So to answer that question: that is intended- we've shown a little bit of that in the past and it is something that we want to make feel compelling and rewarding and viable as a use-case scenario in many different settings that you might find yourself in within the world.[268]Steven Sharif
  • All classes will have maneuverability/traversal utility abilities.[278]
  • Utility skills exist that can help players discover hidden paths and entrances and may lead to discovering hidden quests while exploring.[269]
  • Certain objects exist in the world (such as ladders and slides) that aid player mobility.[279]
We don't just have the approach of your class being reflected in your combat abilities but also there are utility abilities that certain classes have that other classes don't have.[280]Steven Sharif
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
  • There will be a grappling hook utility skill or item.[281]
  • Rogues may also have a spyglass utility skill.[271]

Player death

Player death in an open world dungeon in Alpha-1.[282]

We don't have deleveling, instead what we have is experience debt. Now the more experience debt you accrue, the greater the detriment to your character; not to the point where you can not get out of the debt. There will always be a way forward to remove your debt.[283]Steven Sharif

When a player dies they disintegrate into ash. The ashes contain any items lost by the player due to applicable death penalties.[284][285][286][287][288] These ash piles are immediately lootable by any player.[285] Player flagging is not triggered by looting.[289]

  • A non-combatant (green player) who dies suffers normal penalties, which include:[287]
    When players die and they take durability loss, our durability loss isn't like other games where it's a gold sink so to speak. It's a combination of both a gold sink and a material sink. So in a sense, even if you only have completed items, when you take that durability loss you are losing out on materials. It's just a debt to the materials that you are losing instead of the active loss of that material in your inventory. So now you are accruing a material debt if you want to repair and increase again the performance of those particular items that take that durability loss.[292]Steven Sharif
    • Dropping a percentage of carried gatherables and materials that are used in the generation of something else.[294][286][287]
      • Items made for final consumption are not dropped, such as consumable items created by the Cooking and Alchemy professions.[294]
      • A percentage of the certificates a player is carrying are also dropped.[288]
      • If a player dies there will be a period of time before their mule despawns. Other players must kill that player's mule to be able to loot it.[295]
      • If a player's mule dies its corpse will contain the same percentage of lootable items as the player.[295][296]
  • A combatant (purple player) who dies suffers these same penalties, but at half the rate of a non-combatant.[287]
  • A corrupt (red player) suffers penalties at four times the rate of a non-combatant, and has a chance to drop any equipped items based on their current corruption score.[297][298] This includes:[298][287]
    Any amount of corruption allows a player to drop equipped gear upon death. The higher the corruption the greater the chances.[300]Steven Sharif
    • These dropped items may be looted by other players.[301]
    • Corrupt players respawn at random locations in the vicinity of their death, not at regular spawn points.[302]
      • Non-corrupt players always respawn at the closest active respawn point (to their death).[303]
    • Corruption penalties occur as the corruption is gained (not just at death).[304]
  • Experience debt will scale to approximately 2 or 3 percent of the total XP for a max level player. These numbers are subject to change based on testing.[305]
  • Death penalties (mostly) do not apply to objective-based PvP (also called sanctioned events).[306][307][308][309]
    There will not be death penalties applied to event-based deaths. The penalties are in the outcome of the event. So your number of deaths is likely going to impact your ability to win that particular event and that's going to be the penalty. This is it to encourage players to opt in to the events right because the more participation we have the more fun it can be; and we understand that the community at large- there's already a risk versus reward component to these events. We don't need to stack on additional risk versus reward to inhibit kind of- to increase the barrier to entry for players who may not be as interested.[309]Steven Sharif
  • Death penalties do not differ between PvP and PvE, but this is subject to change.[310]

Death by falling is possible.[311]

  • Fall damage that occurs while mounted will be first applied to the mount; and if the mount dies as a result, then the remaining damage may overflow onto the player, but this will be determined based on testing.[311]

Death by drowning is possible.[312][313]

  • Players that drown will respawn on shore.[312]

If a player dies there will be a period of time before their mule despawns. Other players must kill that player's mule to be able to loot it.[295]

Players do not lose gold upon death, no matter their corruption level.[314]

At the moment, the plan is for players to not lose gold upon death, no matter their corruption level.[314]Cody Peterson

Mounted combat

Certain mounts will have combat abilities.[315][316][317]

Mounts will have a variety of effective pvp abilities, some viable in larger scale encounters when organized correctly.[318]Steven Sharif
  • Mounts will have combat skills based on the breed and rarity. There will also be some RNG to the mount skills.[319]

Some crowd-control abilities can dismount a mounted player.[321] In that case the mount would persist with its own health pool and other stats.[182]

There is danger to traversing areas with enemies nearby; and there are specific abilities that knock a rider off of their mount should they venture too close to enemies.[321]Steven Sharif

Mounts can be killed by players, but can be resurrected after a certain cooldown period.[322][323][324]

  • Potions obtained from the Alchemy profession can be used to reduce the cooldown.[322][325][323]
  • Mounts that die a certain number of times within a set period might gain a debuff that requires a different material component to assist with their resurrection.[325]
  • Fall damage that occurs while mounted will be first applied to the mount; and if the mount dies as a result, then the remaining damage may overflow onto the player, but this will be determined based on testing.[311]

Mounts can be targeted separately from the player while mounted.[323]

  • If a player dies there will be a period of time before their mule despawns. Other players must kill that player's mule to be able to loot it.[295]
  • If a player's mule dies its corpse will contain the same percentage of lootable items as the player.[295][296]

Mount abilities and stats

Noble Warhorn Sprint mount ability.[326]

All mounts will have certain types of abilities: Whether those abilities are utility, or sprint, or some type of combat charge through that knocks down players or something. It just depends on the type of mount and the skills associated with that mount. That's also one component of the animal husbandry system is in creating these mounts you can have unique skill sets associated with them that obviously creates an economy for mount types and and puts some relevancy on the profession of animal husbandry to present unique mounts.[182]Steven Sharif

Mounts have different core abilities, utility skills and stats that are based on the rarity of the mount and the mount's tier.[322][327][182][328]

  • Mount abilities may provide either horizontal or vertical power gains.[322]
Tier one mounts will have certain type types of abilities that are unique to the tier ones and the tier twos will have certain abilities that are unique to the tier twos. In some cases those will be horizontal; in other cases they'll be vertical power gain. So it just depends on the situation. It's a situational element.[322]Steven Sharif
  • Based on skill choice, mounts can be used as initiation vehicles, escape vehicles, utility vehicles, and traversal vehicles.[331][332]
    • Jump abilities.[331]
    • Terrain-specific capabilities.[331]
    • Gliding abilities.[331]
Mounts have obviously many different applications and that's also going to speak to its identity when it has a skill selection choice too. Like do you- are you more aggressive in initiation with your mount? Okay well you probably want the ones that are going to be able to charge through and do some type of CC effect on players in front of you. Are you more about kind of using them out to dodge and avoid you know different types of things? Well then you probably want some type of invulnerability skills or some type of protective skills that you can activate at certain times. Are you going to be more traversal and focus on kind of speed you use your mount just kind of go around the world and you don't really care about the combat aspect? Well then you probably want some skill sets on your mount that reflect that.[332]Steven Sharif
  • Mounts will have varied speeds.[333]
There's definitely a difficulty from a balance perspective obviously on the design side when you're having to incorporate speeds that are so radically different from the normal player movement speeds; and mounts do have a obviously a significantly faster component there. But that's why you build into the to the skill sets that players have obviously those types of cc's which can either, as we spoke about previously, knock the player off of their mount, kill them with some massive damage, or stun the player. Those are components that are taken into account when balancing out these skill selections.[332]Steven Sharif
  • A player can dismount and have their mount follow them.[182][323]

Dragon abilities

Dragons are epic flying mounts with strong battle abilities, such as AoE breath attacks, swooping flyby attacks, and others.[334][335]

The dragon will have a lot of capability in PvP. It's primarily its purpose, because as it relates to Castles and the sieges they're in, or Nodes and the sieges they're in. We want dragons to have large scale ramifications against player raids.[335]Steven Sharif

Combat pets

Combat pets (also referred to as Item pets or Universal combat pets) may be acquired by any archetype.[336]

  • Combat pets have a horizontal progression, not a vertical one. Unlike Summoner summons, combat pets do not increase a player's power, but instead require a sacrifice from the player.[336][337][338]
  • Combat pets may be tamed from certain creatures in the world.[339]
  • Combat pets are categorized by class and will adhere to a simple trinity structure (Tank/DPS/Support).[337]
    • Tank pets will maintain threat against enemies independent of the pet owner.[340]
  • Combat pets will also be categorized into different rarities.[337]
  • Combat pets may not be able to be summoned in certain dungeons, instances or other spaces.[332]
It will participate in combat. It will allow you different options sometimes, but it won't necessarily increase your power and... you'll be sacrificing something for it.[338]Jeffrey Bard

Naval combat

Tea transport PAX East 2018 exclusive cosmetic ship skin.[341]

Sailing will be pretty in-depth and it's going to be based on the size of the ship that you're using. So there will be components for seamanship that other players you will need to have on board if you want to operate a vessel to the best of it's abilities: Let's say in combat or traversing just the world.[342]Steven Sharif

Ships are owned by the player who has the ship item in their inventory. Only that player can summon the ship.[343]

  • Ship creation is generally delegated to players. There won't be many non-player-owned ships.[344]
    • Quest lines may have NPC driven ships.[344]
    • NPC ships will be present on the ocean that are adversaries or monsters that will be targets for players to try to raid or hunt for treasure.[344]
For the most part all ship creation will be delegated to the player. You have to build up a ship or find somebody who has one if you want to get across the seas.[344]Steven Sharif
  • There won't be mechanics for players to hire NPCs to carry out tasks on ships.[345]
  • Permissions will be present to allow other players to access ship functions who are in the same party or raid, such as weapons, anchors, utility items, and the ship's helm to navigate the ship.[343]
  • Players will have quests that navigate them toward creating a personal vessel at around level 10-15.[346]
Alpha-2 Negalith naval raid boss.[347]

This is one of the Alpha-2 raid bosses that are going to be in the ocean. That'll be interesting when you come across that, what might happen. Good luck. We should have added a scale there because yeah, it's a big boy. The number of ships needed for that one's going to be a lot.[347]Steven Sharif

Naval combat involves different types of Ships with varying capabilities, armaments and roles to play out on the high seas. There will be a balance and counterbalance between ships from PvP and PvE perspectives.[347][348]

Battles at sea will be epic. They will have some supreme rewards and/or losses if the battle succeeds or fails.[353]Steven Sharif
Q: Will there be a way to produce enough experience for a node for those who want to spend the majority of their time on the open seas?
A: The open seas have have a good amount of content; and that content when completed will give its contribution to a nearby node; and that is something that people who live on the sea, or desire to live on the sea, will be able to um contribute in a way.[355]Steven Sharif

Addons/ DPS meters

Addons, DPS meters, and threat meters will not be supported.[356][357][358]

My decision is not to allow DPS meters nor add-ons. I feel we have adequate measures in place to prevent a majority of potential third party trackers. I know this subject has passionate voices on both sides and I respect the various opinions and positions many of you have expressed.[357]Steven Sharif
  • The developers do not want addons/mods to be necessary to experience the game.[359]
  • The developers believe that DPS meters (parsers) can cause toxicity and other negative behaviors.[356][360][358]
What role DPS meters provide in online communities that I've noticed in the past my experiences: they can be a bit toxic, they can be a bit exclusionary; and that's why we don't want the DPS meters.[356]Steven Sharif
  • Threat meters will also not be present in the game. There will instead be visual in-game queues to indicate threat.[356]
Meters in my opinion are a removal from the the game immersion; and what I mean by that isn't necessarily even the fact that having the meter takes you out of the game per-se, but it is- there's a lot of diegetic approach that you can take that doesn't rely on UI elements like a meter to indicate how you should do a thing; and when you're not utilizing those types of meters you can do different types of strategies and encounter design. You can have things that can be more subtle and aren't going to be immediately given away by a meter indicating something; and that's the type of gameplay that we think that I believe we want to emphasize; and for that reason, we're not going to be including threat meters. What we will be including however are animation indicators. We're going to be including ability indicators to show the tank "hey I might be losing aggro here." I'm observing in the world these immersive elements that are not tied to any specific type of UI, but indicate to me that this monster might be moving off to attack somebody else in a very immediate future; and now I should be using the abilities that I'm saving to regain that aggro, or to lock them down with a taunt or something. That to me is a bit more representative of the type of gameplay we want to to bring in our encounter design.[356]Steven Sharif
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
  • There will be integrations available for streaming services such as Twitch and a few other services, but it's not something that will be exposed through an API just yet.[361]
  • The design of the game API is still under consideration.[362]

Combat logs

There are combat logs in Ashes of Creation.[363]

We will be providing combat data for individual players in their chat window, that players can filter and analyze for themselves. The goal is to mitigate and make the practice less prevalent through the ease that DPS meters provide. Also to place actionable enforcement for players who attempt to circumvent the decision by use of 3rd party programs, for which we will be monitoring.[364]Steven Sharif

Floating combat text

Alpha-2 Floating combat text work-in-progress UI.[365]

Damage you take, which is indicated in this red number, floats towards your left-hand side; and when you do damage to a target they float to your right-hand side. Now one of the very important aspects of these floating texts is providing the player with customization options that they can adjust the size of the floating text. They can adjust the color composition on how these texts are represented. They can also include damage icons to indicate the ability that's used for those floating texts; and importantly we also call out the crits that you do in a separate way: how they pop in they're slightly above the other number; and then more so, we also have additional functionality for cumulative damage.[365]Steven Sharif

Floating combat text shows damage taken, damage dealt, cumulative damage, crits, heals, XP gained, and other important combat indicators.[365]

  • Damage taken appears in red and floats to the left.[365]
  • Damage dealt appears in yellow and floats to the right.[365]
  • Crits appear larger and are slightly above the other numbers.[365]
  • XP appears in white and is slightly lower on the UI.[365]

Floating combat text is able to be customized by the player.[365][366]

Providing maximum flexibility and player customization options for these floating texts I think is super important.[365]Steven Sharif

Factions

There are no predefined factions in Ashes of Creation.[367]

We present the player with these soft friction events and then that determines who your friends and your foes are.[368]Steven Sharif

Because we are non-faction based, you want to grant the user the ability to either do things that are "evil" or "good", so there has to be a plethora of choice on the evil side for them to participate in.[369]Steven Sharif

Videos

Community guides

See also

References

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  188. 189.0 189.1 Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:04:34).
  189. 190.0 190.1 steven-aggro.png
  190. 191.0 191.1 191.2 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:25:11).
  191. steven-taunt.png
  192. Livestream, October 16, 2017 (21:48).
  193. 194.0 194.1 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (1:09:37).
  194. Livestream, May 17, 2017 (1:05:11).
  195. Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:19:00).
  196. Livestream, May 30, 2017 (16:25).
  197. 198.0 198.1 198.2 Livestream, December 6, 2018 (48:52).
  198. Livestream, October 16, 2017 (1:00:44).
  199. Interview, August 8, 2018 (22:27).
  200. 201.0 201.1 201.2 201.3 Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:05:04).
  201. class secondary.png
  202. Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:47:55).
  203. 204.0 204.1 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (30:04).
  204. 205.0 205.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:05:01).
  205. 206.0 206.1 Livestream, February 9, 2018 (41:56).
  206. 207.0 207.1 Livestream, December 17, 2019 (1:13:14).
  207. 208.0 208.1 208.2 208.3 Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:07:06).
  208. 209.0 209.1 Forums - Livestream Q&A 2022-08-26.
  209. class same.png
  210. February 8, 2019 - Questions and Answers.
  211. Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:09:22).
  212. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (20:45).
  213. augmentcolors.png
  214. Interview, May 11, 2018 (53:15).
  215. 216.0 216.1 Livestream, September 24, 2021 (1:18:06).
  216. Livestream, June 25, 2021 (23:08).
  217. Interview, July 29, 2020 (55:44).
  218. Interview, July 19, 2020 (53:59).
  219. Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:07:51).
  220. 221.0 221.1 Livestream, July 28, 2017 (19:05).
  221. 222.0 222.1 Livestream, November 16, 2017 (30:02).
  222. Interview, July 29, 2020 (54:44).
  223. Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:21:03).
  224. 225.0 225.1 225.2 Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:24:29).
  225. Livestream, May 3, 2017 (15:15).
  226. 227.0 227.1 Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:41:42).
  227. Livestream, October 14, 2022 (57:45).
  228. Livestream, October 14, 2022 (9:02).
  229. 230.0 230.1 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (53:48).
  230. Livestream, May 19, 2017 (43:09).
  231. Livestream, June 30, 2017 (29:13).
  232. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (26:19).
  233. Elemental Empowerment Description.png
  234. 235.0 235.1 235.2 Video, December 22, 2020 (7:36).
  235. Video, December 23, 2020 (1:29).
  236. 237.0 237.1 237.2 237.3 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (33:26).
  237. 238.0 238.1 238.2 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (59:28).
  238. 239.0 239.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:05:51).
  239. 240.0 240.1 Interview, October 20, 2018 (2:40:17).
  240. 241.0 241.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (1:01:01).
  241. Podcast, April 11, 2021 (13:30).
  242. 243.0 243.1 243.2 243.3 Group dynamics blog.
  243. 244.0 244.1 244.2 244.3 Livestream, May 22, 2017 (46:04).
  244. 245.0 245.1 Interview, October 20, 2018 (2:40:16).
  245. 246.0 246.1 246.2 246.3 Podcast, April 11, 2021 (54:35).
  246. 247.0 247.1 Livestream, April 7, 2023 (1:15:02).
  247. Interview, October 20, 2018 (2:53:52).
  248. Twitter - Take a look at our new basic weapon attack combos!
  249. Video, April 28, 2023 (16:35).
  250. 251.0 251.1 251.2 Livestream, January 30, 2020 (1:28:40).
  251. Livestream, January 18, 2018 (22:46).
  252. Livestream, September 30, 2022 (43:45).
  253. steven-auto-attack-definition.png
  254. Livestream, September 24, 2021 (1:19:17).
  255. Livestream, August 27, 2021 (1:04:30).
  256. Livestream, April 28, 2023 (39:06).
  257. 258.0 258.1 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (51:16).
  258. 259.0 259.1 Livestream, September 30, 2022 (51:09).
  259. Livestream, July 28, 2017 (34:32).
  260. Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:03:45).
  261. Livestream, May 30, 2019 (1:15:58).
  262. 263.0 263.1 263.2 263.3 263.4 263.5 263.6 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (1:14:01).
  263. Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:14:46).
  264. Livestream, May 22, 2017 (49:38).
  265. Video, May 9, 2017 (0:57).
  266. Livestream, July 25, 2020 (42:49).
  267. 268.0 268.1 268.2 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:13:19).
  268. 269.0 269.1 269.2 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (6:51).
  269. Livestream, June 30, 2017 (30:34).
  270. 271.0 271.1 271.2 Livestream, May 12, 2017 (33:10).
  271. class utilities.png
  272. Livestream, May 15, 2017 (15:10).
  273. utility skills.jpg
  274. Livestream, January 18, 2018 (34:56).
  275. Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:21:46).
  276. class stealth.png
  277. class mobility.png
  278. Livestream, October 29, 2021 (1:07:11).
  279. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (57:41).
  280. Livestream, May 12, 2017 (18:00).
  281. Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:58:24).
  282. Podcast, April 23, 2018 (49:21).
  283. Livestream, September 24, 2021 (51:20).
  284. 285.0 285.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:07:33).
  285. 286.0 286.1 a419c5398b542a713545e4f393d67215.png
  286. 287.0 287.1 287.2 287.3 287.4 287.5 287.6 287.7 287.8 Podcast, May 5, 2017 (43:05).
  287. 288.0 288.1 Interview, July 18, 2020 (27:11).
  288. Podcast, April 11, 2021 (34:41).
  289. Livestream, May 19, 2017 (13:37).
  290. Ashes of Creation Forums - Former Lineage 2 PvP'er wanting to discuss PvP loopholes.
  291. 292.0 292.1 Interview, February 7, 2021 (13:14).
  292. Interview, July 29, 2020 (16:46).
  293. 294.0 294.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:26:02).
  294. 295.0 295.1 295.2 295.3 295.4 295.5 Livestream, January 29, 2021 (1:24:27).
  295. 296.0 296.1 296.2 Livestream, September 27, 2018 (47:46).
  296. Livestream, October 28, 2022 (24:28).
  297. 298.0 298.1 298.2 Interview, July 18, 2020 (41:54).
  298. Livestream, November 17, 2017 (35:20).
  299. steven-corruption-gear-drop.png
  300. Interview, May 11, 2018 (15:41).
  301. Interview, April 27, 2017 (9:28).
  302. Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:15:37).
  303. corruption.jpg
  304. Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:50:50).
  305. Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:29:45).
  306. 307.0 307.1 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (1:14:52).
  307. 308.0 308.1 Livestream, August 27, 2021 (1:22:56).
  308. 309.0 309.1 Livestream, December 22, 2020 (1:13:51).
  309. Livestream, May 15, 2017 (36:23).
  310. 311.0 311.1 311.2 Livestream, February 25, 2022 (1:06:45).
  311. 312.0 312.1 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:08:27).
  312. Livestream, July 28, 2017 (50:22).
  313. 314.0 314.1 vaknar-gold.png
  314. Livestream, January 28, 2022 (1:16:02).
  315. 316.0 316.1 Livestream, May 5, 2017 (22:44).
  316. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (12:34).
  317. steven-mount-pvp.png
  318. 319.0 319.1 319.2 Livestream, January 28, 2022 (1:15:30).
  319. Livestream, January 28, 2022 (1:11:40).
  320. 321.0 321.1 Livestream, July 29, 2022 (1:01:02).
  321. 322.0 322.1 322.2 322.3 322.4 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:11:24).
  322. 323.0 323.1 323.2 323.3 Interview, July 19, 2020 (1:05:41).
  323. Livestream, May 10, 2017 (38:27).
  324. 325.0 325.1 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (32:35).
  325. Video, February 26, 2021 (20:25).
  326. Livestream, October 29, 2021 (51:48:).
  327. mount stats.png
  328. 329.0 329.1 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (1:25:36).
  329. 330.0 330.1 mount abilities.png
  330. 331.0 331.1 331.2 331.3 Livestream, February 25, 2022 (1:14:21).
  331. 332.0 332.1 332.2 332.3 332.4 Livestream, April 30, 2021 (1:10:04).
  332. mount speeds.png
  333. dragon abilities.png
  334. 335.0 335.1 335.2 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (51:49).
  335. 336.0 336.1 Interview, January 14, 2022 (42:18).
  336. 337.0 337.1 337.2 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:21:14).
  337. 338.0 338.1 Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:24:27).
  338. Livestream, January 18, 2018 (33:09).
  339. Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:27:22).
  340. Ashes of Creation Store: Tea transport.
  341. Livestream, October 31, 2018 (54:21).
  342. 343.0 343.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:52:15).
  343. 344.0 344.1 344.2 344.3 Livestream, September 24, 2021 (1:26:46).
  344. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:32:00).
  345. Livestream, July 30, 2021 (1:14:04).
  346. 347.0 347.1 347.2 347.3 Livestream, March 31, 2022 (1:10:43).
  347. 348.0 348.1 348.2 Livestream, July 28, 2017 (47:53).
  348. Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:03:25).
  349. 350.0 350.1 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:23:34).
  350. 351.0 351.1 Livestream, October 14, 2022 (58:46).
  351. steven-island-castle.png
  352. Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:12:08).
  353. Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:12:33).
  354. Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:21:51).
  355. 356.0 356.1 356.2 356.3 356.4 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:19:29).
  356. 357.0 357.1 Ashes of Creation Forums - No Damage Meter?
  357. 358.0 358.1 Livestream, May 10, 2017 (20:02).
  358. Interview, October 20, 2018 (6:29).
  359. Livestream, April 30, 2020 (1:28:19).
  360. Interview, May 11, 2018 (49:03).
  361. Livestream, May 10, 2017 (21:41).
  362. Ashes of Creation Forums - No Damage Meter?
  363. Ashes of Creation Forums - No participation trophy.
  364. 365.00 365.01 365.02 365.03 365.04 365.05 365.06 365.07 365.08 365.09 365.10 365.11 Video, June 30, 2022 (16:39).
  365. 366.0 366.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (29:09).
  366. Livestream, May 26, 2017 (39:36).
  367. 368.0 368.1 368.2 368.3 368.4 Interview, July 18, 2020 (22:26).
  368. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (11:27).