Mobs

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Elite monster 3D turntable.[1]

It's a really big dude and the idea behind him is you're gonna see big monsters- I think that the character comes up to like his elbow maybe, or just beneath the elbow I'm not sure- but you're going to see these big elites just roaming and wandering through the world. They're not assigned any to to any particular hunting ground, they just roam; and I think that component is pretty cool especially when you have an open world where you can see something unique that's not matching the monsters you're hunting in a certain area but just strolls by.[1] – Steven Sharif

Goblin 3D render. 3D model by Chris Atkins.[2]

There are going to be different types of "Goblinesque" creatures; and this one has not skipped out on his leg or arm day, which is a good thing for him because he's probably going to be in a lot of fights.[3] – Steven Sharif

There will be a mix of different monsters and difficulty levels throughout the world that are tied to the development of nearby nodes. As nodes advance, mobs will present new and increasing dangers that players can participate in.[4]

In the world naturally there will be locations that are going to have a mix of different levels of monsters and difficulty levels; and then those spawn tables relate to the development of nearby nodes. So as nodes develop they'll be changing the spawn tables around them to reflect their further development in the world, presenting new and more difficult dangers that the players can participate in.[4] – Steven Sharif
  • Not all creatures are immediately hostile to players.[5][6] Some creatures may hunt other creatures.[7]
We've talked about this a little bit in the past when talking about taming and/or certain types of like creature gatherable resources there are herds that exist out there. There are big game that exist out there, where they're not going to aggro and attack you per-se. Also lower level monsters and certain type of like social monsters may not attack you off the bat.[6] – Steven Sharif
We will have flying monsters but essentially what that means is there's going to be rotations either in the behavior tree that might make them inaccessible to targets, or they might do some like swooping attacks; they might come and land on the ground and fight you. But generally monsters are going to be accessible from on the ground, so we're not creating content for the limited number of individuals who are going to have access to a flying mount.[8] – Steven Sharif
Leashes are relevant. There's other gameplay implications that happen when you're able to actually move populations around. We don't want to really give that to the players perspective.[10] – Steven Sharif
  • Named mobs will usually have a unique character appearance.[11]
There is something to be had there about those types of screen-shake effects. We want them to be present when we're emphasizing certain things, but we don't want them to be a nuisance, or annoying, or too plentiful; and having screen-shake apply to every step would probably be too abundant. Will players have control over those on-screen type effects? Yeah I think so. I think that's something we want to provision as a customizable option for players to be able to turn off, because it can be somewhat nauseating for certain groups of people and a distraction from what's happening in the world.[12] – Steven Sharif

Mob types

Mob types will have different resistances.[17][18]

Elites

Sergeant of the Grove elite/boss mob Alpha-2 screenshot.[19]

Elites are a tier of mob or boss in Ashes of Creation.[11][1]

  • Certain elite monsters that are not assigned any to any particular hunting ground will roam throughout the world.[1] Other mobs will have leashes that will cause the mob to reset if it moves too far from its point of origin.[10]

List of elites

NPC variants

NPC variant of the Harvest Guard pre-order pack cosmetic skin.[20]
NPC variant of the Corvid Castigator pre-order pack cosmetic skin.[20]

There will be variants of the monthly cosmetics for NPCs and Mobs.[21][22]

We've mentioned this before about what the cosmetics do, but all of those pre-order pack items allow us to create the world. They're the NPCs in the world. They help us make NPC variants. The clothing and costumes are costumes that we'll be putting on NPCs. You're actually helping us create the world.[23] – Margaret Krohn

Zones and mob levels

Dungeons, Raids, World bosses, Mobs, Quests, Events, Resources, Narratives and other content within a node's ZOI will have a diverse level range; but will scale with the advancement of that node and its racial influence.[24][25][26]

  • Portions of the spawn tables (for mobs and resources) are static and other portions are dynamic and adapt to node development.[27]
We don’t have a strictly level 25 zone. Instead, that zone might have some level 10 creatures near the road, some level 20 creatures deep in the forest, and some level 30 creatures up the mountain. These ratios will change based on the Nodes that inform them, becoming generally more dangerous as the Node grows. All this civilization attracts the attention of Things-That-Should-Not-Be. This does not mean that wilderness areas are safe, by any means. Some may be safe-er, but all will have dangers that even the most experienced traveler needs to watch out for.[28] – Steven Sharif

NPC perception

Alpha-1 preview Seer of the Infinite 3D render.[1]

There are different perception modes for different NPCs.[29]

  • NPCs in certain encounters may be aware of their local environment and can seek cover behind obstacles, for example; but this will not be prevalent in general AI designs.[30]

The best was Final Fantasy 11 back in the day where you had scent, you had sight, you had magic. Like there's all sorts of different things that you had to like protect yourself against so that certain mobs couldn't see you; and you could maintain that ability to like sneak past easily... It made those monsters unique and gave them character outside of just how much damage they did to me.[29] – Jeffrey Bard

Artificial intelligence

Jermaine Torment of Illwind boss mob.[31]

You can see how we utilize some of the different armor pieces- you've probably seen some of these pieces on different outfits like that toast Corvid Castigator cloak is on him.[31] – Margaret Krohn

Ashes of Creation utilizes an adaptive artificial intelligence (AI), meaning different encounters with similar mobs and bosses will yield different player experiences.[32][33]

  • Some NPC AI behaviors may be randomly selected at the time of initial engagement causing them to make decisions dynamically during an encounter.[32][34][35][36]
    • Higher frequency of AoE attacks depending on how many players are participating.[34]
    • Unlock rage, recovery effects and buffs.[37][34]
    • Supporting other monster types or classes nearby.[37]
    • Additional adds and add classes.[34]
    • Some NPCs may attempt to seek cover behind obstacles during encounters.[30]
  • NPCs performing "idle actions" to make the world seem more alive has been discussed by the developers but is not confirmed.[38]
Part of the NPC encounter design is not always going to be the same behavior tree. There will be purposefully behaviors that exist for the boss that are rolled at the time of the initial engagement; and so that is in an effort to keep things emergent, to keep things different, to try to not keep a static monotonous engagement idea.[32] – Steven Sharif

There are AI systems that don't relate to controlling NPCs.[39]

There are some additional AI parameters that are set that don't relate necessarily to controlling NPCs. There are AIs with regards to the development of the borders for nodes in the direction and also the decisions that are made of which lower nodes to enslave as vassal states. There's AI that relates to a little bit of the stock market that's going to be present in the economy. There's some AI systems that are going to be announced also that are pretty innovative I think with regards to the MMORPG genre and that's going to make the triggered event system very interesting I think; and that's with regards to how nodes develop and the environment reacts to that development by spawning these triggered events of a horde of zombies attacking a city or a legendary raid boss coming out of the mountain. I think there's a lot of opportunity for some of the innovations that's been in the AI sector of game development too to come out in Ashes.[39] – Steven Sharif

Adaptive content

Alpha-1 preview pirate themed dynamic point of interest.[40]

This is actually a dynamic POI. This one will evolve as players evolve the node that it's attached to. So this is its final state.[40] – Jeffrey Bard

New points of interest (such as dungeons, world bosses, and corrupted areas) spawn as nodes develop.[41][42] This content adapts to the node progression of the zone it is in.[40][43]

Certain dungeons and other points of interest across the map will all be affected by the server’s node development. Some dungeons will only be unlocked if nodes are developed to certain stages. The storyline objectives for players inside dungeons will also be dependent on the story arc paths chosen through the node system. The drop tables in area and dungeons will also be tied into the progression of certain areas. For example, let’s say that the humans have developed a node in Region A, and a storyline has opened up that leads players to inspect the ruins (dungeon) of a nearby area. And let’s say that this node was developed in a scientific (crafting) zone… Well before the node developed, this dungeon was accessible… But now the dungeon has propagated new monster assets that include a drop table catering to a crafting emphasis because of the development of that scientific node. And perhaps, a new boss appears in different rooms of the dungeon that includes different adventure quest starts, like a mysterious item with a storyline that can only be progressed if a node develops to the metropolis stage in a certain region, across the world. Our system is so vast, when it comes to interconnectivity and how the world reacts to the players.[44]

Looting

Alpha-2 looting UI preview.[50]

In the group loot obviously there's a lot of functionality here that parties have the ability to customize. There can be loot master, there can be round-robin, there can be need/greed/pass that's applied on a per rarity basis depending on the party's choices.[50] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-2 vote to change loot allocation method UI.[51]

Ashes of Creation intends to use traditional loot rules, selected by the party or raid leader.[52][53][54]

  • Group loot rules are defined on a per-rarity basis.[50]
  • A majority of party members must vote to approve any changes to group loot allocation changes.[51]
  • The developers are considering using a double-tap interaction to loot all containers within a close proximity radius.[55]
  • There won't be auto-looting pets.[56]
  • It will be possible to kick a player from a party prior to them acquiring loot.[57]
Yes, technically it would be possible for you to kick a player prior to acquiring loot. However, again because we are a game that relies on social interactions, there are reputations to be had; and if you acquire a reputation as a raid leader, or as a party leader, of doing something dirty like that, then it's unlikely you'll be able to Garner the support of future party members and/or raids to lead efforts against these raid bosses.[57] – Steven Sharif
Free-for-all.[54]
  • Whoever is first to loot gets the loot.[52]
Lootmaster.[50][54]
  • A master looter (or lootmaster) is a player designated by the party leader to decide how loot is distributed in a dungeon or raid party.[54]
Round-robin.[50][54]
Need or greed.[50][54]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
Bidding system.[54]
  • Intrepid are investigating a potential bidding system, which allows players to bid on items instead of rolling for them.[54]
    • The highest bidder wins the item.[54]
    • The gold then goes into a pool that is split among the rest of the party members.[54]

Loot tables

Alpha-2 Looting UI.[50]

Loot tables (drop tables) of world bosses or dungeon bosses have a small RNG chance of dropping gear (completed items).[59][60] Monsters drop hunting certificates, Items and crafting materials rather than gold.[61][62]

Hunting certificates

Hunting certificates are bound items that house the value of a mob's death and are also provided as rewards for completing certain quests, events, and achievements. These are intended to be the primary method to generate gold in the Ashes of Creation economy.[72][73][61][62]

When you kill certain monsters or when you complete certain events and/or achievements, you will be granted some number of certificates; and you will take those certificates to Hunting Lodges that exist within different nodes around the world, and you will trade those certificates in either for a direct gold value or for commodities; and if you're trading them in for commodities, those commodities are tied to the economic region where the commodity is granted; and that commodity can only be traded in at a nearby economic region; and the greater the distance is from the originating location of the commodity to the turn in location of the commodity is what determines the ratio of return for gold given.[72] – Steven Sharif
The important thing to note about these certificates is that they are also the basis of your tax economy. So you don't turn in certificates if you intend to use them for either citizenship dues or your land taxes and housing taxes. That means that you are not going to have the ability for players to RMT gold or to land baron essentially without them directly engaging with the game in some way shape or form, because those certificates are bound.[72] – Steven Sharif

Healing mobs

Overhealing indicated by a blue temporary health bar overlay on a player's health bar.[79][80]
No one is going to fill the role of a primary healer other than the healer archetype; but there will be secondary class options that you can select, which will provide you with some level of sustainability under restoration, most of that will be centralized to yourself, especially in the case of a Paladin.[81] – Steven Sharif
Q: Will AoE and action heals also heal raid and alliance members?
A: Depending on the type, if it's a templated AoE, yes it would heal any non-combatants essentially.[85] – Steven Sharif
You cannot heal enemy mobs. There's just really not a a relevant use-case for that when it comes to the design mechanics of such a thing, other than its primary use, which would be to grief other players.[86] – Steven Sharif
  • Certain healing abilities, such as Communal Restoration, can overheal. This is indicated by a blue temporary health bar overlay on top of a player's health bar.[79][80] If the temporary health points expire without being consumed they do not count as effective heals.[79]
Q: Do you plan to add any sort of counters for healing? For example, a debuff that applies a reduced healing effect or maybe even cause damage upon healing?
A: Ashes aims to be a more difficult leveling experience than perhaps we have been accustomed to over the past decade of MMO gameplay. And with that in mind, when it comes to balancing during Alpha-2 and thereafter, there is not going to be an overage of healing that's available. We will tune those things. We'll have an opportunity to balance those things... Some of the debuff options that the fighter class has within their class kit are debuffs that can reduce received healing on the target.[87] – Steven Sharif

Telegraphs

In specific circumstances there will be telegraphs (tells) to communicate something that's happening.[88]

  • Animation tells.
  • Templates.

Day and night cycle

Alpha-2 day/night cycle.[89]

Day and night cycles in Ashes of Creation are actually over the course of a few hours.[90] – Steven Sharif

Node concept art.[91]

There is a day/night cycle in Ashes of Creation.[92][93]

  • Day and night cycles occur over the course of a few hours.[90]
    • Fifteen IRL minutes may equate to one hour in game time but this is subject to change.[94][95]
    • Day and night cycle tied to server time will be tested in Alpha-2.[96]
The day night cycle is tied to server time, yes. So there is a number of hours that exist between each of the cycles. That's something that we'll be fine-tuning of course during Alpha 2 as well, but it is intended for players to interact with certain systems even based on in-game time as well.[96] – Steven Sharif
Certain creatures will react differently. Certain spawns react differently during night times and different day/night cycles. Those might also influence things like abilities and/or buff/debuff vulnerabilities. You'll have to find out based on the type of creature you're experiencing.[99] – Steven Sharif

Tamable creatures

Mounts and combat pets can be found in the wild and tamed.[103][104][105]

For example: A wolf or a dog may look different but may be balanced to the same templated behavior.[106]

Visuals

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (54:26).
  2. ↑ Livestream, July 31, 2020 (1:45:40).
  3. ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:14:42).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Livestream, May 26, 2017 (24:33).
  5. ↑ Video, May 31, 2023 (4:17).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:22:04).
  7. ↑ Video, May 31, 2023 (5:01).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:28:02).
  9. ↑ Interview, September 10, 2023 (28:15).
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:00:23).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:10:12).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Livestream, May 31, 2023 (43:04).
  13. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2023 (40:52).
  14. ↑ Video, June 30, 2022 (24:18).
  15. ↑ jqWtRci.png
  16. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2023 (45:26).
  17. ↑ Twitter - Creature resistances.
  18. ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:08:23).
  19. ↑ Video, January 27, 2023 (27:47).
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:49:24).
  21. ↑ steven-cosmetic-variants.png
  22. ↑ steven-cosmetics.png
  23. ↑ Livestream, April 30, 2021 (6:46).
  24. ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (19:35).
  25. ↑ Livestream, May 15, 2017 (30:53).
  26. ↑ Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
  27. ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:28:50).
  28. ↑ Interview: Ashes of Creation on Building Their Virtual World, 2017-04-13.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Livestream, June 4, 2018 (29:28).
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Livestream, February 25, 2022 (1:03:32).
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (21:24).
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Interview, September 10, 2023 (34:51).
  33. ↑ About Ashes of Creation.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Interview, June 13, 2021 (22:20).
  35. ↑ Livestream, July 28, 2017 (43:57).
  36. ↑ Livestream, May 5, 2017 (11:55).
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Livestream, July 29, 2022 (1:23:56).
  38. ↑ Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (3:56).
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 Podcast, May 11, 2018 (24:23).
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 40.4 40.5 40.6 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (50:33).
  41. ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (22:53).
  42. ↑ Livestream, November 17, 2017 (36:22).
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 Livestream, November 17, 2017 (18:29).
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 MMOGames interview, January 2017
  45. ↑ steven-pois.png
  46. ↑ steven-dungeons.png
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (46:08).
  48. ↑ Livestream, April 29, 2022 (40:21).
  49. ↑ jindrack-pois.png
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 50.4 50.5 50.6 Video, January 27, 2023 (16:44).
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Video, January 27, 2023 (32:01).
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (1:01:40).
  53. ↑ Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:24:56).
  54. ↑ 54.00 54.01 54.02 54.03 54.04 54.05 54.06 54.07 54.08 54.09 54.10 54.11 Group dynamics blog.
  55. ↑ Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:08:06).
  56. ↑ Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:04:52).
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Livestream, May 31, 2023 (1:07:45).
  58. ↑ Livestream, November 30, 2020 (1:12:03).
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (8:43).
  60. ↑ February 8, 2019 - Questions and Answers.
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 61.5 Interview, July 18, 2020 (27:11).
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 62.2 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (44:14).
  63. ↑ Interview, July 20, 2020 (21:57).
  64. ↑ Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (55:49).
  65. ↑ Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:00:15).
  66. ↑ Livestream, June 30, 2022 (1:18:55).
  67. ↑ Livestream, December 22, 2020 (1:15:01).
  68. ↑ Livestream, May 3, 2017 (35:25).
  69. ↑ Ashes of Creation Forums - Former Lineage 2 PvP'er wanting to discuss PvP loopholes.
  70. ↑ Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:14:46).
  71. ↑ Video, May 27, 2022 (2:21).
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 72.2 72.3 72.4 72.5 72.6 72.7 Interview, September 10, 2023 (53:47).
  73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 73.2 Livestream, October 29, 2021 (1:06:31).
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 74.2 Interview, July 19, 2020 (1:08:22).
  75. ↑ Interview, April 17, 2019 (49:55).
  76. ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:07:33).
  77. ↑ a419c5398b542a713545e4f393d67215.png
  78. ↑ Podcast, May 5, 2017 (43:05).
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 79.2 Video, July 28, 2023 (16:02).
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 Video, July 28, 2023 (33:49).
  81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 81.2 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:02:54).
  82. ↑ Livestream, July 25, 2020 (58:38).
  83. ↑ Interview, May 11, 2018 (51:11).
  84. ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2018 (47:18).
  85. ↑ 85.0 85.1 Livestream, July 28, 2023 (59:33).
  86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:01:15).
  87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 Interview, September 10, 2023 (9:52).
  88. ↑ Livestream, May 22, 2017 (49:38).
  89. ↑ Livestream, November 30, 2020 (41:49).
  90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 Video, December 2, 2022 (11:11).
  91. ↑ Ashes of Creation - Screenshots.
  92. ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (29:58).
  93. ↑ 93.0 93.1 93.2 Livestream, May 12, 2017 (57:41).
  94. ↑ Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:13:39).
  95. ↑ time.jpg
  96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:07:29).
  97. ↑ Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:08:06).
  98. ↑ Livestream, December 2, 2022 (53:01).
  99. ↑ 99.0 99.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:10:14).
  100. ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (15:55).
  101. ↑ day cycle.jpg
  102. ↑ Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:09:42).
  103. ↑ racial mounts.jpg
  104. ↑ Livestream, January 18, 2018 (33:09).
  105. ↑ Livestream, January 18, 2018 (34:08).
  106. ↑ 106.0 106.1 Livestream, January 18, 2018 (33:07).
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