Best Of

This seems like an appropriate topic to go into a little more detail about some things i've already brought up in the past.

It is hard to pick specific "favorite skills", since its less about the individual skill, and more about its role in the overall combat system that makes it fun.

I do like skills that synergize with each other so you can chain them together on reaction to what the opponent is doing (like reacting to an aggressive opponent by using a high knockback/pushing cc skill, then chaining into a long range offensive option)

- I made a thread in the past about skill ideas I think would be fun.

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/54950/proactive-reactive-offense-defense-movement-options-baked-in-at-various-ranges#latest

A lot of the gifs from my thread might not work anymore, but they came from the following website link under the "spheromancer" class abilities. I am going to reference this link for the rest of the post.

https://crosscode.fandom.com/wiki/Combat_Arts


When referencing that website link, the skills are organized on the chart by
1. element (neutral, heat, cold, shock and wave)
2. by combat function (dash, guard, melee, throw)
3. by progression level
4. by skill tree option (having to choose between different skill options within that category)


I love all the abilities because they all have niche uses and there are a lot of synergies that are naturally inclined to be chained together sequentially.

- The cold skills are good at defense by impeding the opponent and blocking damage (through ice walls, and silencing effects like freezing). Cold is also good at helping to maintain a gap once it is established through (through slowing and freezing effects).

- The heat skills are good at offense (through high raw damage skills and damage over time status effects like burn).

- The shock skills are good at aggressive movement (like fast and long ranged dashes, and stun status effects that help you close the gap) and crossing up opponents to create distance in the opposite direction (fast/long dashes, and status effects like slowing/freezing time down for the enemy while you continue to move, and stun status effects that let you create gaps).

- The wave skills are good at kiting/creating gaps away from the enemy (like knockback effects, spawning decoys), and helping with sustain (through life leech effects).

- The neutral skills are more balanced and using them lets you recharge your elements.


This becomes very interesting since you can switch elements on the fly to get the desired effects, which lets you adjust your playstyle and strategize around the situation at hand.


You might notice that each of those roles aligns with each of the basic combat functions


dash= wave/shock (create or close gap depending on direction)

guard= cold (defense)

throw= heat (ranged damage)
melee= heat (close quarters damage)

So, you are naturally incentivized to switch between elements based on what action you are doing in the moment, which creates a really fun flow and feel, and the need to manage when you need to use an element, vs. when you can use neutral to recharge you elemental resource.

Its also not that simple, as there are situations where you want to use a different element for that function. Like, for throw, you shouldn't automatically switch to heat every time you use a throw skill, because then you are sacrificing the ability to kite as good, meaning you can lose the gap you created, so sometimes you are better off either keeping wave on to continue to kite, or to switch to cold to maintain the gap through slows/barriers, and when you have a comfortable positional advantage at range and have some spare time, you can optimize your damage by switching to heat. So its more about recognizing what your current situational combat goal is (like creating a gap, maintaining it, dealing damage, etc.) in the moment, and using the associated element to fill that role, even if that specific combat action (like dash, guard, etc.) is more geared toward a certain element.

Also, sometimes you don't have time to switch elements as it is too risky, and so you need to use the currently enabled element. This means you might need to use a skill from that forced element to help fill a similar role of the element you would normally use in that situation. (such as wanting to switch to cold to use a guard skill, but you are forced to stay in wave, so you need to use a wave guard skill instead). This is why there is some overlap in the elemental skills, which makes it more necessary to strategize what skills you choose in the skill tree for each element, since you might need to have something that can fill a similar role as a different element for situations like that, or if you would prefer to fully specialize in that element's natural role instead.


The other aspect that is really neat is that as you level up your skills, you can still use the lower tiered versions. It just becomes a charge mechanic to access the higher tiers ones during battle. This makes for even more ability variety and it adds some skill expression of planning/reacting to decide in the moment which tier of ability you want to use. It also adds a risk vs. reward aspect of using "weaker" skills that don't burn as much resource, vs "stronger" skills that burn way more resource.

So, it is hard to pick specific "favorite skills", since its less about the individual skill, and more about its role in the overall combat system that makes it fun. However I do think I have a few favorites from this game.

examples from Crosscode:

A-
The standard throw (the basic throw combat action, not one of the neutral throw skills) is very fun, as you can spam a high fire-rate projectile that has travel time, which is satisfying and skillful to use. It also has an automatic charge feature that boosts status effect procc chances for the different elements, and allows for ricocheting off walls, which makes for some really fun "snipes" to apply status conditions to stubborn enemies. Its also super cool that it charges in the background, so you can dodge around and have a charge shot ready to go as soon as you stop, which makes for a really fun "peekaboo" playstyle where you can dodge around a lot, and either go for perfect parries in between dodging, or snipe enemies before kiting some more.

B-
The level 1 and 2 cold dash arts (indigo strike and indigo rush)
These are really fun because of how tactical they are. You can create a ice barriers in any direction you dash, and you can use that to weave around back and forth to get shots off of your own while protecting yourself from enemy shots. It also lets you maintain distance in a more organic/skillful way by moving around the wall tactically in response to the enemy's attempts at approaching.

C-
The level 1 and 2 wave melee arts (ki thrust and spirit blast)
These are really fun "get off me" tools when you are feeling pressured up close, as they have a ton of knockback which is very satisfying. It also sets you up to chain into follow up attacks as well since it changes the combat situation from a short range engagement into a long range one.

D-
The decoy option for the wave dash arts (level 1 warp decoy, level 2 toxic revenant, and level 3 gungnir)
These are great for creating a gap and setting yourself up to kite, since the enemy will prioritize the decoy, allowing you to retreat.

E-
The dash option for the shock dash arts (level 1 lightning dart and level 2 lightning prophecy)
These are really fun for kiting in an aggressive way, by crossing up the enemy. You can get a lot of distance out of lighning prophecy since it is 3 manually placed dashes in a row, which makes for a fun and tactical skill. "Tesla waltz" is a comparable melee version of this, which is really fun since it lasts a while so you can linger on the enemies for a bit and apply a lot of damage before moving away, which is a great example of the nuance of decision making of "using a movement option but getting some more damage out of it if you have the resources to burn"

F-
The freeze status inflicting option for the cold guard arts (levels 1 frozen stance, level 2 freeze frame, and level 3 crystal keeper)
This one is super satisfying, as you turn the enemy's attacks against them. It is also skillful since you get a little icon that you have to aim in tbe enemy's direction and they have to make contact with that icon's area to apply the effect. It also doesn't last very long, so its not just about "turtling" into an invincible shield in an exessive or unfair manner. Its more of a perfect parry type of use-case, but with more benefits.

G-
The level 3 cold throw art (gatling artillery)
This one is just awesome and super fun/satisfying. From the insane fire rate/damage to the responsiveness, knockback, and feeling of impact, there is a lot to like.

H-
The heat throw arts (level 1 burn and level 2 flare burn)
The flamethrower one is very satisfying and responsive stream of fire, which is very useful since its a reliable way of applying a burn status. Flare burn is awesome since it can shoot over top of obstacles, and is great for clumps of enemies.

I-
The life leech option from the wave throw arts (level 1 essence drain, level 2 vital pulse, and level 3 wave motion beam)

These are fun because they reward you for being in good postioning/planning ahead. You should use these when you create a comfortable gap and have defenses set up already, where you can then farm some hp back before going back on the offensive.


Overall, most of the skills are fun and useful, but those are some that stand out to me.