Node sieges

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Node sieges are scheduled for release in Alpha-2 phase-2.[1][2]

As some areas in the world grow, others will fall. This is the foundation of the living, breathing world that is Ashes of Creation, where players will have the ability to make important decisions that matter in the longevity of an area becoming a city, or whether to siege a rival town. Rise above the ashes, create the world around you, and be a part of the story that unfolds because of your actions and decisions.[3] – Margaret Krohn

Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3).[3] This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world.[4][5][6][7][8]

  • Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.[8]
  • There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.[9]
If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city![10] – Steven Sharif
We will have our first iteration of node sieges available come December 20th. This is going to be obviously an event that can occur based off of players acquiring a siege scroll. It'll be in its functional form to begin with and then we will continue to iterate and expand on it as we move forward.[1] – Steven Sharif

Siege defenses

Mayors will be able to allocate resources to bolster node siege defenses.[16][17][18]

Siege balance

There are points of balance that we want to incorporate, such as the defense mechanisms that the defenders have, the types of buffs that are acquired through completing killing the bosses, or capturing control points, the stages before a siege when it comes to those node progressions in the preceding weeks: Those are all going to be balanced considering all things being equal between the two sides. But obviously we're not going to control the state of gear acquisition that one side might have as an advantage over the other. There might be a much better geared team over there. There might be a much better coordinated team. There might be a higher number of individuals who are part of the attacking or the defense. Those are components that we aren't necessarily going to put on railroads so-to-speak. But the aspects of design that we can talk about like the hit point health of a particular wall or door, or mercenaries that can be hired; what's their cost, what's their damage output: Those are things yes we're going to balance. But obviously anything that's player dependent or that has player interaction and activity and determination you can't always balance; and you don't want to balance. Those aspects you leave those to the players.[23] – Steven Sharif

Declaring a node siege

Node sieges are declared directly by any player[24] who completes the prerequisites for the siege initiation.[25] Sieges are started via a siege scroll, which is acquired through a quest that scales in difficulty with respect to the level of the node. A substantial investment is required to attain the siege scroll.[26][3][27]

  • Siege scrolls are specific to the node that is named on the scroll.[28]
    • The lifetime of the scroll begins when the node is named on the scroll.[28]
      • Currently, if the scroll's lifetime is less than the siege cooldown remaining on that node, the scroll will be wasted, but this may change in future.[29]
    • The Mayor is notified when their node is named on a siege scroll.[28]
    The method right now is when you complete a quest line and you're going to receive the scroll, you must stipulate the node that that scroll is valid for and then there is a lifetime on the scroll.[28] – Steven Sharif
    • It was previously stated that siege scrolls were specific to a node stage.[30]
  • Once the siege scroll is brought to the node and is activated, the declaration period begins and a countdown is initiated for players in the region to see. This countdown runs for a number of days equal to the stage of the node being sieged.
  • Once the countdown is complete, the siege begins.[3]
    • Node citizens that renounce their citizenship during the declaration period may incur penalties.[33]
  • Siege scrolls are not able to be modified after they are obtained.[34]

The questing that is incorporated as part of attaining that particular scroll is very particular to the type of scroll you're attempting to acquire and that is inclusive not just of the materials required as part of that questing but also the time associated with completing that quest, because we want there to be a reciprocal relationship between how much time it takes to stand up a node of the particular size and the types of quests that are required in order to attain the siege scroll. So there won't be a method by which you can first attain a scroll for a lower level node and then increase or augment or change that scroll after you've completed the quest. You'll have to go through a new quest again for the type of level of node you want.[34]

Sieging will require a similar amount of resources and time to what it took to develop the node being sieged.[35]

A node siege may not be declared for 21 days following a node advancing to any stage.[36][37]

  • This was previously stated to apply only to nodes advancing to Village (stage 3), not higher stages.[38]

There are new functionalities and mechanisms that come online when a node advances and you want to provide both time for elected governments to take place, which then have direct consequences and choices to be made over defensive capabilities and also gives provides time for that node to collect and receive resources through taxation and/or quests for its citizens to participate in, so that it has available treasury funds and/or resources to allocate towards defensive structures and other types of defensive systems. So it would make sense that if there were to be an occurrence where node advances within that window, that window is reset again for the new stage because there are new correlating services and functions available.[37] – Steven Sharif

During the declaration period, individuals or guilds can register to attack or defend providing they meet the criteria.[26][27]

  • The player who originally declared the siege cannot exclude anyone from joining the attack.[26]
  • Citizens of the node or provincial nodes being attacked are automatically registered as defenders.[39]
  • Players do not need to be citizens of the node in order to register as defenders, but they cannot be citizens of a node that is at war with the node they wish to defend.[40]
  • Citizens of allied nodes cannot register to attack.[41]

Many services are shut down during the siege declaration period, and instead are replaced by preparation quests or services for the siege.[42]

That incentivizes even further the necessity of players to contribute to the defense of a city. It also elevates the need for that city to politically gain allies among other nodes so that they can protect the collective goods of the citizens.[45] – Steven Sharif

  • During the siege virtually all services are suspended.[42]
    • Player stalls may still operate during node siege declaration. This is subject to testing.[47]
  • If a node levels up during the declaration period, the level up will affect the node system for neighboring nodes, but the leveling wont occur until a short time after the siege.[48][49]

Server prime-time

Objective-based PvP events such as node sieges, castle sieges, guild wars, and node wars will occur within a prime-time window somewhere between 3PM and 9PM server realm time. This is subject to testing.[50][51][52]

  • Guild wars and node wars can be declared at any time, but the objectives will only spawn during the prime-time window.[53][54]
The key about the server prime time is that events cater to prime time. So, these inflection points where our expectation from a gameplay design is to allow or afford players an opportunity to participate in highly impactful events within the game: Those get delegated to prime time.[53] – Steven Sharif

Siege alliances

When a siege begins, temporary alliances are formed among attackers and defenders.[55]

  • For node sieges, citizens of the node or provincial nodes being attacked are automatically registered as defenders.[39]
  • There are many reasons to participate as an ally in the attack or defence of other nodes.[56]
    • Titles.
    • Items.
    • Materials.
    • Money.
    • Social bonds.

Many incentives exist that can benefit your node and yourself personally by participating in the attack or defense of cities. These range from titles, to items, to materials, to money. Additionally, aiding others may help you strengthen bonds when your assets are threatened.[56] – Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation may have specific content that revolves around Alliances.[57]

Content that revolves around alliances specifically and progression within the development of that alliance; and the ability to share some common services between guilds that are part of that alliance. I think that additionally allowing alliances to toggle certain relationships with nodes as an interaction is beneficial. That's going to provide an interesting dynamic for players who are either members of the particular node that has the relationship established or members of the Alliance. So I think that obviously building systems is is about creating the channels by which these players can form bonds and the more layers you have around those channels of bonding between the different guilds or players, the more sustainable that relationship.[57] – Steven Sharif

Siege participation

Non-registered combatants are not permitted on the siege field in castle or node sieges.[59]

  • Players may choose to respawn at their HQ as long as they are registered.[62][65]
    • Non-registered guilds are not granted the ability to take ownership of the castle if victorious.[62]

Lower level characters will have usefulness in mass combat that does not depend on their level, such as manning siege weapons, helping repair fortifications, bringing proximity-based buffs to key positions, using stealth or scaling walls. These types of things are relevant to the tide of battle and do not require the player to be max-level or have high combat stats.[67]

Siege mechanics

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

A siege occurs over several phases.[68]

  • Certain siege mechanics may be gated for specific size groups during sieges.[69]
  • There will not be a deserter debuff for leaving a siege before it is complete.[70]
  • More will be revealed in an upcoming blog entry.[68]

Siege weapons

Trebuchet siege weapon in Alpha-1 castle sieges preview.[71]

It wouldn’t be a castle siege without siege weapons. These are massive machines of war that enable attackers to bring down the walls, and defenders to keep their keep safe. Crafters can bring their own powerful schematics to the battlefield, or you can order baseline siege weapons from your friendly neighborhood siege master NPC. The Castle’s defenders will be able to deploy their own defensive weapons and turrets based on how well they maintained and defended their own Nodes. The sky will be illuminated with fire and fury.[72]

Ballista siege weapon in Alpha-1 castle sieges preview.[73]

Siege weapons and siege vehicles are able to be utilized during sieges.[74]

Part of this endeavor of sieging a player-held location (or non-player-held location) is time to prepare; and that includes gathering and crafting these mega weapons or collecting the resources: Whether it be gold or specific quest items to purchase from NPCs.[19] – Steven Sharif
Anything that you want to bring into existence in the world is going to be built by players: Whether that is Ships, Siege engines, Weapons, Armor, etc.[77] – Jeffrey Bard

Siege PvP

Sieges don't use the PvP flagging system.[78]

Death penalties do not apply to objective-based events (such as caravans, guild wars, and node sieges).[79]

Siege NPCs

Siege NPCs, NPC guards, and mercenary NPCs serve as defense points during sieges and other events.[80][81]

  • Only combat NPCs are killable during a siege. Non-combat NPCs, such as merchants, will despawn and will respawn if the siege is unsuccessful.[80][82]
  • Mercenary NPCs can be hired in advance.[80] They are intended to be a significant presence but not the main line of defense in a siege.[83]

Mercenary NPCs

Mercenary gear set. 3D model by Jan-Allen Cauton.[84]

Mercenary NPCs can be hired to participate in node and castle sieges.[85][86][22][87]

  • Varying tiers of mercenary NPCs may be unlocked based on the investment made in their progression. Highest tier NPC mercenaries are referred to as heros.[88][89][86][22]
  • Players can assign mercenary NPCs, but won't micromanage them, in a similar manner to pets.[87]
There are mercenary NPCs that can be assigned to players. We've discussed about that before and those will follow generically... a pet system even adopted majority of the pet system with the added bonus of objective based points of interest that you can assign them to. But we don't want to inundate the field with these mercenaries they'll be few and far between. They'll be assigned specifically like let's say for example as the mayor of a node during a siege you'll be able to assign these two specific players that are citizens within your node and then they'll have those they'll spawn during the during the node siege; or vice versa and the castle siege guild leaders can assign mercenaries that are available based on the progress of those subsidiary nodes around the castle siege whether or not you have those available to your defense or your attack.[87] – Steven Sharif

Dragons

Dragons are royal flying mounts with strong abilities that can be used during Wars and Sieges.[91][92][93]

Skill Icon Description
Battle Roar Battle Roar Icon.png The mount rears up in a stance of dominance, emitting a thunderous roar whilst flapping its wings forward twice. The first wing flap applies a 25% mitigation buff on allies, and the second applies a 25% power buff on allies, each buff lasting for 15 seconds.[94]
Divebomb Divebomb Icon.png Launch into the air and then dive toward target location, dealing (100%ﾒ) physical damage and applying Tripped to enemies around you upon landing.[95]

Siege instances

There may be instanced locations within otherwise open-world castle and node sieges, where specific groups can participate in small, short duration objective-based battles that will affect the overall outcome of the siege.[4][11][12][13][14][15]

What we were talking about was how during castle sieges or node sieges, you're going to have certain instanced locations where it's only going to be a group that's designated to participate versus another group while the siege is happening. And I know in the past we talked about well how do you plan to incorporate these more objective-based waypoints as part of these larger events; and say that not only is it going to be a complement of numbers or in the overall grand battle perspective, but there's also going to be opportunities for smaller more niche groups to participate in more focused objective capturing. And a part of that is going to be small very short, ten minute long instanced battles where groups can go and participate against other groups that are defender versus attacker; and the outcome of which will influence certain aspects of the overall battle while that's still occurring in the background.[15] – Steven Sharif

Siege objectives

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

Each node has a number of districts, depending on its stage.[68]

  • Districts are taken by defeating a "raid boss" guard NPC in that district.[68]
  • If attackers take over a district, they gain that district as a respawn location.[68]
  • Attackers can kill the quartermasters to increase the respawn times of the defenders while reducing their own respawn times.[96][68]

Defenders can assault the outposts of the attackers to hinder them.[68]

  • Destroying the headquarters of the attacking army is a victory condition for the defenders.[96][97]

Attackers may not be capable of deleveling a node. Instead they may carry out precision attacks to disable specific service-oriented buildings within the node. These buildings can be targeted with siege weapons and bombs.[98]

As the attackers are sieging a city they have obviously a win condition- a win objective- but additionally there can be casualties from a structural standpoint during that process. So let's say if the... attackers were to not succeed in completely destroying the node they could still affect damage across multiple types of buildings that are present within the node, which disables services for that those citizens and also will require some type of reconstruction effort on behalf of the citizens.[99] – Steven Sharif

Completing a siege

A node siege will last for up to two hours.[68]

  • Defenders will be required to hold a central point in the node for the duration of the siege or they must destroy the hedquarters of the attacking army.[96][46]
  • Attackers will need to gain access to the node then reach a central point where they must channel a 5 minute cast on the defender's flag. This cast can not be interrupted by CC but can be interrupted through death of the caster.[96][46]

If the node survives, there will be a cooldown before the node can be sieged again:

If the node still exists after the siege has ended, citizens will need to obtain the resources needed to rebuild any damaged infrastructure.[98]

Node destruction

Nodes can be destroyed starting at Level 3 - Village Stage, and are destroyed through sieges. Sieges are started via an item which is acquired through a quest that scales in difficulty with respect to the level of the Node which is being targeted for the siege. Once the item is brought to the Node and is activated, the declaration period begins and a countdown is initiated for players in the region to see. This countdown runs for a number of days equal to the level of the Node being sieged. Once the countdown is complete, the siege begins. There is a cooldown between sieges, and players must wait a certain amount of time after an unsuccessful siege before a new siege can be declared. The higher the Node level, the longer the cooldown between sieges. If a siege is successful, then the Node is brought down to Level 0, and anyone who was a citizen of that Node is no longer a citizen.[3] – Margaret Krohn

Nodes can be destroyed starting at Village (stage 3) following a successful siege against that node.[3]

It is a normal process of the world to see PvP be a catalyst for change. That is one of the defining elements of our world building approach and being a PvX game is that PvE builds the world and PvP changes the world; and as these nodes get destructed this should be a normal habit that players are accustomed to seeing that landscape changing over time, because it is the breath of renewal that then is allowed as a result of that action.[100] – Steven Sharif
Those are like open-world battlegrounds that spawn on the footprint of the node after a successful siege. And these are opportunities that previous defenders have to salvage certain materials and/or equipment from the destroyed node, or that attackers have to do the same. And there's interact points that live within that environment that take time in order to interact with, which makes those individuals susceptible to potential ganking or fighting. And you can control those areas; and that exists for some period of time. It's like an open-world arena system.[103] – Steven Sharif

Destructible environments

Alpha-2 Destructible props at the Remains of Oakenbane Keep.[115]

Destructible environments is a core element of how players interact with the world, in Ashes of Creation.[116][117]

  • Buildings, siege weapons and other structures (such as walls and gates) during events, such as sieges that have been damaged or destroyed will be able to be repaired or re-crafted.[118][119]
  • Destructible props in the open-world will typically respawn after 10 minutes.[120]
  • The terrain itself is not destructible.[118]

Node building destruction

Destructible castle.[121]

You could be more precision oriented in the decision to attack a city. Let's say it's a rival node that's trying to reach a node stage five or something and you want to disable their ability for the religious system to progress so you target the temple during the attack, or you want to disable their scholars academy from reaching a higher level so that your nodes can; or you want to disable multiple buildings that allow for experience and quests to be undertaken by its citizenship, which prevents them from keeping up in pace of experience gained with your node. These can be more precision oriented and don't have to effectualize an actual takeover of the node.[122] – Steven Sharif

Node buildings (including player housing) have hit points and can be damaged or destroyed by different systems.[116][106]

Mayors will also have the ability, if they want, to demolish constructed buildings. So if they if they so choose they can destroy a building if they don't think it's needed anymore. But this will have mandate cost and a player buy-in votes. So we want to make sure that [the] mayor can't just go and blow up the whole node if they're trying to grief or something. So this is very important and impactful decision.[124][125] – John Collins

If building maintenance is not paid, or a building is damaged as the result of an event or siege, the building will enter a state of disarray.[124][125] Any NPCs or services offered by that building will not be available until the building is repaired.[126][106]

If a node siege is successful, or if buildings otherwise take significant damage, they are destroyed and appear as rubble on the plot they occupied.[124][125][116]

Impact on player housing

Player housing designs and decorations are retained and can be placed again later if the housing is destroyed during a node siege.[130][128][129]

Impact on in-node housing

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

Following a node siege, static housing will be scaled back or destroyed based on the advancement of the node.[128]

  • If the housing was purchased at a higher advancement than the node currently is then it will be destroyed, otherwise the housing will be scaled back.

Impact on apartments

Apartments may be destroyed in the following circumstances:[128]

  • If their building was destroyed during a node siege, even if the siege was not successful.[98][128]
  • If the mayor decides to destroy apartment buildings all items and layouts will be mailed to the owner.[132]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Impact on freeholds

Freeholds may be attacked by any player for a period of two hours following a successful siege against its parent node.[133][134][3][135] Freeholds can also be lost by foreclosure for not paying property taxes or other fees.[130]

  • Players and their allies may defend their freehold for this period of time.[135]
  • Structures and guards may be obtained to defend freeholds during this period.[135]
When it comes to losing Freeholds like this, one person’s loss is another person’s gain. While there aren’t enough Freeholds in the world for everyone to have one at the same time, this cycle of players losing Freeholds creates opportunities for other players to acquire one.[130]

After the two hour period of open combat following a successful node siege, any remaining freeholds will exist under a grace period for roughly 1 week where another node may take over the zone of influence of the freehold.[134][3]

  • The freehold owner will be required to undertake a quest process to have their freehold adopted by a new node if one exists.[134]
  • At the end of the grace period, if the freehold does not reside within the ZOI of a Village (stage 3) node or above, it will be destroyed.[130][3][134][136]
If a siege is successful, then the Node is brought down to Level 0, and anyone who was a citizen of that Node is no longer a citizen. Freeholds within the Zone of Influence are subject to a period of vulnerability. These Freeholds can be destroyed by other players during a period of roughly 2 hours after a successful siege. Destroyed Freeholds are subject to material loss, and blueprints for them are mailed to the player to utilize for future placement in order to allow the player to keep their Freehold’s layout and structure. Once the vulnerability period is complete, any remaining Freeholds will exist under a grace period for roughly 1 week where another Node may take over the Zone of Influence of the Freehold.[3] – Margaret Krohn
Q: How many times a year do you suspect that most players will be moving residence based on nodes being eliminated from sieges?
A: There are a lot of variables that influence that answer. I'm not sure I can give an average, but what I would say is that depending on the political dynamic of a server: if a server tends to have more combat and/or sieges against nodes, that is going to increase the amount of opportunity for freeholds to be removed from the world and then replaced. I'm not sure I have an average. what I will say is that it is very important to remember that Ashes is not a PvP game and it is not a PvE game. It is a PvX game and that has a very specific meaning. It means that as these systems are developed as they are designed and they are integrated with each other: they are done so from a competitive viewpoint and how that system relates to both PvE and PvP. Freeholds are one of those systems very much so and it's because of the cyclical nature that we're attempting to achieve with the development of nodes and the destruction of nodes, the world is a rapidly and dynamically changing place really. So it's intended to be something that is constantly recycling and is leaking out different types of content and new content that revitalizes the player interest and stimulates new points of conflict or cooperation.[137] – Steven Sharif

Node redevelopment

A node that was successfully destroyed by a node siege may develop differently due to the following influences:[138][139]

Node politics

There won't be a civil war mechanic within nodes but there will be scope for internal political conflicts; such as undermining the current leadership and disrupting trade.[140]

We want consequences to matter and if that person got elected then you need to work within the means of the mechanics to get them unelected.[141] – Steven Sharif

Impact of monsters and world bosses

Monster coin events (Bosses) cannot destroy or delevel nodes.[142] They can disable certain buildings, services and NPCs within a node.[143][144] Node sieges are the chief mechanic for destroying nodes.[142]

For example, if the service building that got disabled was a blacksmith's building that housed a workbench, which was the only workbench in the region capable of crafting a t5 (or tier 5), or high-tier quality equipment, then of course that would have ramifications economically, as those pieces of equipment that are already readily available would raise in prices; and because there would be a issue within the supply chain of those items being introduced into the economy, you would potentially have some supply and demand changes economically and that could span regions: that could be global even.[147] – Steven Sharif

Impact on player stalls

Players are not able to be attacked or robbed while occupying a player stall.[148]

Player stalls may not be renewed during a siege declaration.[148]

Node atrophy (deleveling)

Node atrophy (based on the stage of a node) is subtracted from the total experience nodes gain each day. Any deficit remaining can lead to services within the node being progressively diminished or disabled.[149][150][3]

Q: What are the systems for node atrophy and will materials be required for upkeep?
A: Node atrophy again is another system that we quite haven't yet implemented. However, what's intended for that system is: as players participate in doing things that build up a node, whether that be participating in experience gain, or fights around the city, acquiring resources, interacting with the services of the city, whatever it is: If players do less and less of that over time the experience of the node will start to degrade. Services within the node may start to become inactive. You may start to get certain buildings that become inaccessible as a result of that atrophy type system, which again will just continue to perpetuate the already existing problem, which is player traffic and activity within the node, making it weaker and more susceptible to potential siege, which is the way by which we remove nodes from the world.[149] – Steven Sharif
  • Node atrophy does not delevel or destroy nodes, but it makes them more vulnerable to player initiated node sieges.[149] Previous design concepts were that nodes could delevel or even disappear based on accumulated atrophy.[150][3]

Siege abilities

War Beast 3D render. 3D model by Jessica Jennings.[151]

Group summons, such as Siege golems and Tank barricades, may be able to be activated by players combining certain archetype abilities while in the same group.[152][153][154][155][156]

  • Bards are not intended to have siege summon capabilities, but sagas may fulfill a similar role on the battlefield.[157]
Do we intend for there to be synergy between multiple archetypes, or different archetypes in skill activation? And I think we've talked about this in the past: We gave an example actually. I think I heard a Golem in this example, but we gave an example of Summoners using combined powers to summon a larger Golem. There is a desire to explore that path. I think our ability system facilitates that already.[152] – 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.

Up to eight players of the same primary archetype can band together to create monumental effects during a siege.[156]

Summoner

Summoners may be able collaborate together during sieges to summon larger creatures, such as Golems.[152][153][154][155][156]

We do have the concept of siege summons being a thing with multiple summoners being required in order to create that siege summon. In those situations your character becomes the summon. So you don't have an AI that takes over your previous character but instead the recipient of those additional spell effects becomes the actual summon itself.[153] – Steven Sharif
  • The target of the group summon becomes the summon itself.[153][155]
    • Previously it was stated that the party-leader becomes the summon.[154]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
  • A siege summon will have an incremental size based on the number of summoners participating in that summon activity, with a maximum of eight.[158]
  • The number of summoners participating in the summon will determine its overall size.[158]
  • All summoners must be in the same party and the party leader must be a summoner.[154]
    • The party leader initiates the summon and then takes control of it.[154]
    • Once summoned, the party leader cannot be changed.[154]
    • If the party disbands, the summon ends. There will be a grace period to handle disconnects.[154]
    • The party may also contain non-Summoners.[154]

Tank

Tanks may in future be able to combine their Walls in a way that snaps to other tank walls.[152]

  • Previously it was suggested that this would require eight Tanks using their summon wall abilities together.[156]

Node wars

Miraleth channelling the Godspike in an Alpha-2 Territory control node war.[159]
God Spike Scholar PvE objective during the Harness the Godspike node war event.[160]

Scholars are going to spawn across the POI. They'll be marked on our map and they're going to increase the time it's required for the enemy to channel; and drop a hefty amount of the materials we need to turn in to be able to channel ourselves.[161] – Chris Justo

Node war map icons
Miraleth Node Icon.png Friendly node
Winestead Node Icon.png Enemy node
Node War Objective Icon.png Node war objective
POI Blue Node Controlled.png Controlled POI

Mayors may declare war on another node and rally citizens to the cause.[162][16][163]

We don't want mayors running around in Ashes of Creation just perma flagging the whole world into a state of PvP, well it's going to cost you some resources to do that.[162] – Chris Justo
  • Node wars are structured into phases, and each phase consists of events. Winning phases and events offer long-term and short-term rewards.[171]
A war contains phases and phases contain events. So, there are conditions to win a phase and then there are conditions to win a war. Winning a phase gets you some amount of in-the-moment rewards and some more long-term rewards. Winning events gets you some amount of in-the-moment rewards and long-term rewards. And then the war is the massive objective that you're competing to towards.[171] – Chris Justo
We have conditions that you can set between nodes with regards to either nodes being friendly with each other and acting trade alliances, or they can declare war on nodes similar to how guild wars may function in different games, where those citizens become hostile to each other based on the player government that's elected in the particular node. So those systems all cater to allowing a conflict that's meaningful and that also provides a non-imbalanced relationship between stronger guilds and not as strong guilds.[173] – Steven Sharif
Q: Are there any plans to have upkeep cost to war in addition to the initiation costs? It would be incredibly compelling to know that crafters and gatherers would have to work double time to ensure that the war can go on, or even stop supporting the war if they find it unnecessary.
A: Not necessarily within the war context, however I think the crux of that question is, how do we include material resource requirements, active artisanship, engagement, all of these other gameplay systems: How are they interconnected with a political event like war? And the way we achieve that is obviously there are things that can enhance your war preparedness or your war efficacy through the use of unique weapons during war. Unique upgrades to your guards by supplying resources to the barracks so that you have stronger guards at your headquarters, or weapons and shields and armors that can be utilized through the barracks system. In addition, vehicle support for sieges. There's a lot of different ways where crafting and artisanship plays a role as enhancing, not necessarily maintaining, a particular war or feature.[174] – Steven Sharif
Q: Will there be a scoreboard detailing the most active participants achievements during the node war. Things like: players KDA, damage, healing done, objectives, etc.
A: You'll be able to see yours for sure and you may be able to see others if they opt-in.[176] – 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.

Zergs

For every play, there should be a counterplay. We often see Castle Sieges turn into zerg-fests, which really doesn’t capture the epic, back-and-forth battles we wish to see in Ashes of Creation. One of our key pillars is that Choice Matters[177], and that applies to tactics and strategy as well. A well-formulated battle plan should win out over stat sheets and bodies. Zergs will generally be difficult to pull off, and will be eminently counterable through siege weapons, traps, and other battlefield tricks.[72]

You cannot easily fast travel throughout the world and that is an intended game design again to mitigate the response from these large number organizations that may not focus as much on subterfuge or espionage, because they have the numbers. But, they don't have the organization or the skill, and that is the textbook definition of what a zerg is. So, fast travel is an additional component that helps to mitigate. There's not one particular solution or mechanic to a zerg. There is a confluence of solutions that make it more difficult to zerg, but ultimately in an MMORPG numbers are relevant. Then, to a degree, they are a mandate of power. So, you can't entirely stop it, but you can put a lot of hoops that they need to jump through in order to manage that large of an organization, which then just introduces the likelihood that that organization will at some point fall apart or be susceptible to some type of political intrigue.[178] – Steven Sharif
Q: For open world bosses, how will we address people that bring way more players than the boss is intended for?
A: This is going to be adaptive AI behaviors that are going to have a higher level of frequency that's going to make it very difficult to zerg down certain content. That is the intent behind that system, is to be an anti-zerg mechanism. In certain encounters where we want to keep the numbers at a very specific value, we will utilize instancing. We've talked in the past about 80% of the world content being open-world and about 20% of it being instancing. That value still seems like it's going to be true.[185] – Steven Sharif
  • Loot in Ashes of Creation encounters is finite and must be distributed between party or raid members who complete the encounter. There is no individual loot system that grants loot to all participants. This essentially acts to balance the lowered risk in large numbers against lower chances of gaining rewards.[187]
Q: Risk versus reward seems to be involved in all systems. Do you feel risk, such as death penalties, or the threat of being PKed during dungeon content will lead to players zerging world bosses and dungeons to minimize said risk, thus trivializing some content and experiences, regardless of that planned difficulty scaling you just spoke about?
A: Another part of our design that is more old school, but speaks exactly to this thought is that the reward is finite; and what that means is in a lot of modern MMOs, each person gets their own reward for participating; and back in the day, the one person was the loot master: they would interact with the raid boss and then there would be some guild-driven system or alliance-driven system that would determine who's next on the list to get this bow, or who's the crafter that deserves this master legendary recipe, or where does this legendary material go. It's not that everybody got your loot box because we all completed the boss together: everyone gets the auto-granted reward from the quest of completing the boss together. What people came for that reward- the reason why alliances and guilds organized the raid to go defeat the dragon, was because the dragon boat dropped, and there was only one that dropped. So, the more people you take, the more slices of the finite pie you have to deliver, which reduces the reward structure. So, if you're going to reduce risk you must reduce reward.[187] – Steven Sharif
We're very cognizant of the fact that we don't want to see zerging be a mechanic that's utilized by guilds to accomplish content or just to steamroll over sieges... There are specific mechanics that we are working on that will be seen through the testing phases that relate to a degree of understanding of certain systems that can't just be overrun with numbers.[192] – Steven Sharif
The best way that I found in games I played previously to take down a zerg is to cause drama from within... It's that conflict inside of the politicking that happens in that big organization. If we provide opportunities for division to occur then it also provides stability to keep a server healthy away from that zerg mentality also... If we approach the castle siege and we've destroyed the walls and we're in the throne room and we're about to cast on the penultimate thing and I at this time am just so excited from what's happening that I'm like "screw it I'm gonna go for it". It's gonna be mine. I'm gonna take the taxes for the next month. I'm gonna take all the gear from the castle. I'm gonna take everything... We want that political intrigue to be present in the game.[7] – Steven Sharif
  • Objective-based game play helps to balance the zerg mentality.[195]
I always feel that if you balance based on groups that in your balance focus is to incorporate features that play well from a player versus player perspective as well as a player versus environment perspective: Having support classes, having DPS and tanks that can obstruct movement and/or create bottlenecks on the field and stuff like that. I think a well-rounded raid it will perform better against a non well-rounded raid, however then you incorporate the second aspect of numbers; and that's where again mobility, organization, leadership tactics. Having objectives in gameplay that make those important helps to balance the zerg mentality that a lot of guilds can tend to have.[195] – Steven Sharif
Zerging is always a problem in a lot of these MMORPGs where you really can't control the number of participants in certain open-world systems; and in that sense instancing is a great tool that designers can sometimes use to curate a particular number of participants that you want. But the predominant amount of content within Ashes of Creation, over 80% of which is is open-world content, so instancing is very limited.[15] – Steven Sharif

Visuals

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Livestream, November 27, 2024 (19:51).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2024-11-27 - Development Update with Alpha Two Giants and Demons.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Blog - Know Your Nodes - Advance and Destroy.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Interview, November 10, 2024 (13:47).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (1:28:14).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Interview, June 13, 2021 (36:38).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Interview, May 11, 2018 (44:20).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 A reactive world - Nodes.
  9. ↑ Twitch Bustin - Practice Sieges?
  10. ↑ Video, April 30, 2017 (5:31).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Livestream, July 3, 2024 (1:59:34).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 steven-instancing.png
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Podcast, May 10, 2024 (46:50).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:00:16).
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 Livestream, January 28, 2022 (17:50).
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (27:42).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:22:40).
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:33:10).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Livestream, January 18, 2018 (37:05).
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 siege equipment.png
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 MMOGames interview, January 2017
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (59:11).
  23. ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:10:52).
  24. ↑ siege declaration.png
  25. ↑ siege prerequisites.png
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:40:10).
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 siege registration.png
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:30:34).
  29. ↑ Livestream, January 28, 2022 (1:07:45).
  30. ↑ Livestream, November 19, 2021 (50:23).
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 31.7 steven-siege-immunity.png
  32. ↑ siege notice.png
  33. ↑ Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:09:45).
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:09:26).
  35. ↑ siege resources.png
  36. ↑ steven-siege-lockouts.png
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:04:46).
  38. ↑ steven-mayoral-siege-cooldown.png
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 siege auto defenders.png
  40. ↑ Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:16:03).
  41. ↑ Interview, August 7, 2018 (14:35).
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 siege-declaration-services.png
  43. ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:03:52).
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (41:32).
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 Livestream, April 30, 2020 (1:14:44).
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (47:07).
  47. ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:06:09).
  48. ↑ steven-declaration-node-leveling.png
  49. ↑ steven-declaration-node-leveling2.png
  50. ↑ Interview, July 29, 2020 (31:05).
  51. ↑ Interview, July 18, 2020 (13:13).
  52. ↑ Interview, July 8, 2020 (22:37).
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 53.3 Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:48:21).
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 54.2 steven-wars-prime-time.png
  55. ↑ siege alliances.png
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Official Livestream - May 4th @ 3 PM PST - Q&A
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 Podcast, May 11, 2018 (21:07).
  58. ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:10:23).
  59. ↑ siege-combatants.png
  60. ↑ steven-siege-zone.png
  61. ↑ Livestream, April 30, 2021 (41:18).
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 62.2 62.3 Podcast, April 11, 2021 (49:40).
  63. ↑ Blog: Creative Director's Letter, April 14 2021
  64. ↑ siege-barrier.png
  65. ↑ siege-respawn.png
  66. ↑ siege-stragglers.png
  67. ↑ Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:12:51).
  68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 68.2 68.3 68.4 68.5 68.6 68.7 68.8 siege more info.png
  69. ↑ siege mechanics.png
  70. ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (37:05).
  71. ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (25:44).
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 Blog: 10 facts about castle sieges in the MMORPG.
  73. ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (11:55).
  74. ↑ Interview, September 10, 2023 (22:29).
  75. ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (20:49).
  76. ↑ 76.0 76.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:04:29).
  77. ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (17:08).
  78. ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (45:14).
  79. ↑ Livestream, December 22, 2020 (1:13:51).
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 80.2 80.3 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:09:32).
  81. ↑ siege success.png
  82. ↑ siege npcs killable.png
  83. ↑ Livestream, July 28, 2017 (36:51).
  84. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2023 (58:25).
  85. ↑ 85.0 85.1 Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:20:00).
  86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:41:24).
  87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 87.2 87.3 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (1:14:23).
  88. ↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:18:09).
  89. ↑ 89.0 89.1 89.2 Livestream, April 30, 2021 (1:01:10).
  90. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:46:56).
  91. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:54:00).
  92. ↑ dragon abilities.png
  93. ↑ Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (51:49).
  94. ↑ Battle Roar Description.png
  95. ↑ Divebomb Description.png
  96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 96.2 96.3 Interview, July 19, 2020 (37:58).
  97. ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (47:07).
  98. ↑ 98.0 98.1 98.2 98.3 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (17:59).
  99. ↑ Livestream, November 22, 2019 (15:48).
  100. ↑ 100.0 100.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (20:54).
  101. ↑ Interview, July 29, 2020 (17:26).
  102. ↑ Livestream, February 29, 2024 (53:58).
  103. ↑ 103.0 103.1 103.2 103.3 Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:36:24).
  104. ↑ 104.0 104.1 104.2 104.3 104.4 104.5 104.6 Livestream, October 14, 2022 (52:31).
  105. ↑ 105.0 105.1 105.2 105.3 105.4 105.5 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (14:21).
  106. ↑ 106.0 106.1 106.2 106.3 106.4 106.5 106.6 Interview, July 8, 2020 (57:46).
  107. ↑ 107.0 107.1 107.2 siege spoils.png
  108. ↑ 108.0 108.1 Livestream, July 28, 2023 (1:26:16).
  109. ↑ 109.0 109.1 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (15:46).
  110. ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:48:43).
  111. ↑ nodes-delevel-to-zero.png
  112. ↑ steven-looting-relics.png
  113. ↑ Podcast, September 29, 2021 (10:49).
  114. ↑ Interview, July 18, 2020 (56:11).
  115. ↑ Video, March 29, 2024 (1:09:52).
  116. ↑ 116.0 116.1 116.2 116.3 116.4 116.5 116.6 116.7 116.8 Livestream, March 31, 2022 (1:13:00).
  117. ↑ Livestream, June 28, 2019 (31:15).
  118. ↑ 118.0 118.1 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:33:05).
  119. ↑ Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:04:29).
  120. ↑ Livestream, March 29, 2024 (2:04:00).
  121. ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2019 (36:20).
  122. ↑ 122.0 122.1 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (16:56).
  123. ↑ Forums - Livestream Q&A 2022-08-26.
  124. ↑ 124.0 124.1 124.2 124.3 124.4 124.5 Blog: Development Update with Village Node.
  125. ↑ 125.0 125.1 125.2 125.3 125.4 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (57:23).
  126. ↑ Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:32:45).
  127. ↑ 127.0 127.1 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:02:12).
  128. ↑ 128.0 128.1 128.2 128.3 128.4 128.5 128.6 Livestream, July 18, 2017 (40:14).
  129. ↑ 129.0 129.1 129.2 Livestream, November 17, 2017 (47:10).
  130. ↑ 130.0 130.1 130.2 130.3 130.4 130.5 Blog: Exploring the Boundless Opportunities of Freeholds.
  131. ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:00:57).
  132. ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (59:21).
  133. ↑ Livestream, November 19, 2021 (54:26).
  134. ↑ 134.0 134.1 134.2 134.3 Livestream, August 28, 2020 (2:04:00).
  135. ↑ 135.0 135.1 135.2 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (28:04).
  136. ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (29:34).
  137. ↑ Livestream, June 30, 2023 (1:39:22).
  138. ↑ 138.0 138.1 138.2 138.3 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (39:17).
  139. ↑ 139.0 139.1 139.2 139.3 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (52:39).
  140. ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (40:50).
  141. ↑ 141.0 141.1 Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:26:14).
  142. ↑ 142.0 142.1 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (22:30).
  143. ↑ monster events.png
  144. ↑ Livestream, May 3, 2017 (36:25).
  145. ↑ monster siege before.png
  146. ↑ monster sieges.png
  147. ↑ 147.0 147.1 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:07:20).
  148. ↑ 148.0 148.1 Livestream, October 16, 2017 (59:39).
  149. ↑ 149.0 149.1 149.2 Livestream, September 27, 2024 (1:59:55).
  150. ↑ 150.0 150.1 Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:00:15).
  151. ↑ Livestream, November 22, 2019 (41:02).
  152. ↑ 152.0 152.1 152.2 152.3 Livestream, July 3, 2024 (1:52).
  153. ↑ 153.0 153.1 153.2 153.3 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:22:21).
  154. ↑ 154.0 154.1 154.2 154.3 154.4 154.5 154.6 154.7 Interview, August 17, 2018 (14:59).
  155. ↑ 155.0 155.1 155.2 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (10:06).
  156. ↑ 156.0 156.1 156.2 156.3 156.4 Podcast, May 11, 2018 (49:20).
  157. ↑ Livestream, July 31, 2024 (2:36:06).
  158. ↑ 158.0 158.1 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (28:01).
  159. ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (57:56).
  160. ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (53:55).
  161. ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (50:16).
  162. ↑ 162.0 162.1 162.2 Video, May 31, 2024 (4:24).
  163. ↑ City hall.
  164. ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (21:14).
  165. ↑ 165.0 165.1 Video, May 31, 2024 (17:03).
  166. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:19:06).
  167. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:40:25).
  168. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:10:48).
  169. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:52:02).
  170. ↑ 170.0 170.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (24:34).
  171. ↑ 171.0 171.1 Video, May 31, 2024 (1:04:30).
  172. ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (44:21).
  173. ↑ Video, April 5, 2018 (41:48).
  174. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:44:55).
  175. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:50:04).
  176. ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:12:38).
  177. ↑ pillars-confusion.png
  178. ↑ 178.0 178.1 Interview, November 10, 2024 (20:29).
  179. ↑ Livestream, May 5, 2017 (23:26).
  180. ↑ 180.0 180.1 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (25:18).
  181. ↑ 181.0 181.1 181.2 181.3 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (1:16:09).
  182. ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (48:54).
  183. ↑ 183.0 183.1 Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:34:06).
  184. ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (17:12).
  185. ↑ 185.0 185.1 Livestream, August 30, 2024 (1:02:37).
  186. ↑ Interview, June 13, 2021 (22:20).
  187. ↑ 187.0 187.1 Podcast, May 10, 2024 (50:37).
  188. ↑ Interview, October 20, 2024 (18:40).
  189. ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (35:00).
  190. ↑ Livestream, September 27, 2018 (55:39).
  191. ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (9:36).
  192. ↑ 192.0 192.1 Livestream, May 22, 2017 (57:37).
  193. ↑ Livestream, May 5, 2017 (23:26).
  194. ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (40:31).
  195. ↑ 195.0 195.1 Interview, August 8, 2018 (11:52).
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