Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Best Of
Re: Launcher already running but unable to switch to it error
To solve this, open your system tray to show hidden symbols. Search for the Intrepid Launcher Icon there, right click on it and select the option to close the launcher. You should now be able to open the launcher normally again!
Overexposed lighting makes the world hard to visually process
One issue I've had since I started playing the alpha is that I have a hard time visually processing the world during certain times of the day - it gets very overexposed. The entire world looks washed out and the lack of contrast bothers me. It causes me to rub my eyes a lot out of discomfort. It's also very confusing, it's hard to understand where mobs are. I think it also makes the world look very bland. I personally prefer strong contrast between terrain features (grass, sand, trees, water, etc) and world entities, within reason - a balance so to speak - I like vibrant colors.
I'm just wondering, is this something that is intended to stay, or is this a lighting bug? I've attached an example image. Notice how it's very white across the entire screen, even the entire sky - it gets worse than this. For reference, I play with everything on cinematic except ambient occlusion and shadows which are on epic.
I'm just wondering, is this something that is intended to stay, or is this a lighting bug? I've attached an example image. Notice how it's very white across the entire screen, even the entire sky - it gets worse than this. For reference, I play with everything on cinematic except ambient occlusion and shadows which are on epic.
thermalx
1
Re: Are we really losing EU servers ?
Why do they want us to play on shitty latency and bad connection to US ???
Don't forget that we'll likely miss lots of the Primetime content, too. Just a shame that the NA players messed stuff up so badly that they needed the EU players to come and sort it out for them.
Re: WHAT is this INSANITY??? 400+ Flax to make a simple set of Level 0 Light Armor!!!!
I 100% agree that this system is absolutely insane.
I just don't get how this went live?
For example, extrapolating for lvl 20 gear. To get 20 dried wood planks, you'd need 540 raw timber! 540!!! For 20 dried planks!!
This has to be a mistake?
I feel sorry for phase 3 people who have joined today, and had been keen to get into artisan focus play. (after hearing how artisanship is important in this game).
I just don't get how this went live?
For example, extrapolating for lvl 20 gear. To get 20 dried wood planks, you'd need 540 raw timber! 540!!! For 20 dried planks!!
This has to be a mistake?
I feel sorry for phase 3 people who have joined today, and had been keen to get into artisan focus play. (after hearing how artisanship is important in this game).
Dracknar
2
Re: WHAT is this INSANITY??? 400+ Flax to make a simple set of Level 0 Light Armor!!!!
I agree this is mental. There is already limited resources and now whom in there right mind is going to farm that much to make items you've already out leveled. Not to mention the the material sink to even level your craft skill up.
Also make it make sense, why would I cut down an entire forest to make 1 bow?
Also make it make sense, why would I cut down an entire forest to make 1 bow?
Facade
2
WHAT is this INSANITY??? 400+ Flax to make a simple set of Level 0 Light Armor!!!!
I will keep this short, because I like you Devs and I think this is just a stupid mistake that wasn't really thought through.
WTF is the point of tripling the amount of Resources for processing, then x5 + the amount of resources needed to make a finished product. A full set of Light Armor will need over 450+ Flax. By the time I have farmed that much, I will be way over level 10. This is a massive mistake. I don't mind End products needing a little more to make (perhaps more different items instead of just more of one item) but Processing should actually be the other way around because it is the lease fun part of the game when it comes to Crafting and gathering. Having to Harvest 10s of thousands of wood etc just makes people want to end themselves.
I really hope this is just a mistake. I know Steven said it on the stream, I must have initially misunderstood his meaning.
Crafting should always outpace Leveling, otherwise WTF is the point of it?
WTF is the point of tripling the amount of Resources for processing, then x5 + the amount of resources needed to make a finished product. A full set of Light Armor will need over 450+ Flax. By the time I have farmed that much, I will be way over level 10. This is a massive mistake. I don't mind End products needing a little more to make (perhaps more different items instead of just more of one item) but Processing should actually be the other way around because it is the lease fun part of the game when it comes to Crafting and gathering. Having to Harvest 10s of thousands of wood etc just makes people want to end themselves.
I really hope this is just a mistake. I know Steven said it on the stream, I must have initially misunderstood his meaning.
Crafting should always outpace Leveling, otherwise WTF is the point of it?
Re: Gear rebalance and TTK gone slightly too far
first note. the title was a little misleading for me, missing the softcap part which is one of your two big points 
i like the new ttk and would maybe even increase it a little more. but i also agree that having endless mana could be an issue. with a rogue syphoning mana from the enemy cleric the issue is resolved in my experience. i would tune that rogue mana steal down, since its too strong for one specific archetype, but add more ways to characters in general to increase mana cost for your enemies. could be a gear stat or something.
for the softcap topic: i agree with the point that the dr is hitting really fast. i like the end result so i would probably lower the amount we get on the gear so its more investment to get to the higher dr thresholds.
i just dont know how it works with lvling if the softcap is tied to adventurerlvl or how they balanced this.
if anyone knows pls enlighten me
as for the cleric: i hope after the (hopefully good) tank rework (soon pls!), clerics gets one as well. that would be a great option to reevaluate the cost efficiency on top of the skills and build variability in general.
i like the new ttk and would maybe even increase it a little more. but i also agree that having endless mana could be an issue. with a rogue syphoning mana from the enemy cleric the issue is resolved in my experience. i would tune that rogue mana steal down, since its too strong for one specific archetype, but add more ways to characters in general to increase mana cost for your enemies. could be a gear stat or something.
for the softcap topic: i agree with the point that the dr is hitting really fast. i like the end result so i would probably lower the amount we get on the gear so its more investment to get to the higher dr thresholds.
i just dont know how it works with lvling if the softcap is tied to adventurerlvl or how they balanced this.
if anyone knows pls enlighten me
as for the cleric: i hope after the (hopefully good) tank rework (soon pls!), clerics gets one as well. that would be a great option to reevaluate the cost efficiency on top of the skills and build variability in general.
Birqa
1
Re: HP/Mana Regen Rate Issues at Low Level
I pretty much play as a ranger thoughThis depends on when Ranger gets meaningful kiting ability, though.Use bow and just finish the mob with an ability when they run up to me. I'd imagine the ranger has at least one attacking ability at lvl1, considering that even tank has it.
Start with that ability and then finish off the mob with autos. I doubt that tank passively has way more defense or hp at such a low lvl. Though even then, I'd usually use rations on 6-7th mob I think. And that's w/o proper kiting of them and instead going into them to use my melee abilities, so a kiting ranger (even just with the backwards dodge) should probably survive the same amount fairly easily.
Ok but the bell curve though...
You're probably meaningfully above average, and whether OP is average or not, someone will be, so it will still apply to them.
Azherae
1
Re: Dev Discussion #76 - The New Tester Experience
I loved Lineage 2's Guild Academy system.
New players (below lvl40 out of 80lvls) could be invited to a special part of the guild. Once they leveled to 40 and did a profession quest (think classs acquisition in Ashes) they'd be auto-kicked from the guild and the guild would get some benefits. The earlier the player was invited - the bigger the benefit to the guild. This part of the guild would not be involved in guild wars, so these newbies were protected from that.
The member slots in this part of the guild were limited, so strong guilds would want those newbies to lvl up as soon as possible, so that the guild receives as many benefits as it can. This meant that the guild would give some gear to the newbies and even help with lowbie pvp, if they were bullied by someone.
This setup would usually lead to guilds almost fighting over newbie onboarding. Some would just try to invite any newbie they see. All would advertise their Academy by giving as much money/gear on invite as possible.
And this whole process would also accustom the newbies to the server's culture. Show them internal interactions of guilds. And fairly often would lead to those Academy alumni joining the guild later, if their vibes matched the guild's.
Imo this is an amazing system. And I know that we're supposed to get the mentorship program in Ashes, but from what has been discussed about it before, it seemed more of a personal 1-on-1 feature, rather than a guild-based thing.
In the context of testing itself, we all know that testing is easier in a group and even easier in a guild. I think a system like the one above would go a long way to help new testers integrate into the realm's life and test way more systems in a much better way.
New players (below lvl40 out of 80lvls) could be invited to a special part of the guild. Once they leveled to 40 and did a profession quest (think classs acquisition in Ashes) they'd be auto-kicked from the guild and the guild would get some benefits. The earlier the player was invited - the bigger the benefit to the guild. This part of the guild would not be involved in guild wars, so these newbies were protected from that.
The member slots in this part of the guild were limited, so strong guilds would want those newbies to lvl up as soon as possible, so that the guild receives as many benefits as it can. This meant that the guild would give some gear to the newbies and even help with lowbie pvp, if they were bullied by someone.
This setup would usually lead to guilds almost fighting over newbie onboarding. Some would just try to invite any newbie they see. All would advertise their Academy by giving as much money/gear on invite as possible.
And this whole process would also accustom the newbies to the server's culture. Show them internal interactions of guilds. And fairly often would lead to those Academy alumni joining the guild later, if their vibes matched the guild's.
Imo this is an amazing system. And I know that we're supposed to get the mentorship program in Ashes, but from what has been discussed about it before, it seemed more of a personal 1-on-1 feature, rather than a guild-based thing.
In the context of testing itself, we all know that testing is easier in a group and even easier in a guild. I think a system like the one above would go a long way to help new testers integrate into the realm's life and test way more systems in a much better way.
Ludullu
12
Alpha Two Update Notes 0.9.3 - Thursday, May 1, 2025
These are the update notes for changes to the Alpha Two that went to testers on Thursday, May 1, 2025, for the start of Alpha Two fresh start on Shol (US East)
For the start of the fresh start realm Shol we have made changes to place a heavier emphasis on crafting, processing, and gathering. The goal of these changes is to empower the artisanship player-run economy
We spoke more about this in our April 2025 Development Update. Timestamp to this conversation
As a reminder, if you come across bugs during Alpha Two testing, please report them to us in-game using /bug
ALPHA TWO UPDATE NOTES 0.9.3 - THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2025
ECONOMY & ARTISANSHIP
QUEST, EVENTS & COMMISSIONS
ENEMIES & NPCs
GENERAL
For the start of the fresh start realm Shol we have made changes to place a heavier emphasis on crafting, processing, and gathering. The goal of these changes is to empower the artisanship player-run economy
We spoke more about this in our April 2025 Development Update. Timestamp to this conversation
As a reminder, if you come across bugs during Alpha Two testing, please report them to us in-game using /bug
ALPHA TWO UPDATE NOTES 0.9.3 - THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2025
ECONOMY & ARTISANSHIP
- Random spawn gatherables will no longer respawn at the same location
- Enemy NPCs will drop completed gear and recipes much less often
- Named enemy NPCs give more experience, and their drop rates have been updated. Named enemies now drop more Glint, and when they drop completed gear it has a chance of being a higher rarity item. They also now have a chance to drop nothing
- Removed all completed gear from regular vendors, with the exception of Copper weapons, and 2nd Sword, Ambitious Academic, and River Stalker equipment
- Removed all consumables from regular vendors, except for rations
- Removed all bags from regular vendors, except for novice bags
- Citizenship and Mayoral Vendors - Gear on these vendors will now be a lower rarity
- Recipe material cost has been adjusted to better account for item power
- Crafting recipes have been changed to require a minimum of 10 general materials
- Most Processing recipes will require a minimum of 3 general materials. Some Animal Husbandry, Farming, Tanning, and Cooking recipes still only require 1 creature material
- Stonemasonry, Carpentry, and Jeweler have been fixed, so recipes display correctly at stations
- Bayan Timber - Fixed an issue that prevented this from being craftable
- Breaching Pickaxe - Fixed an issue that prevented this tool from being equipped after being crafted
- Bayan Mulch recipe has been added to Farming stations
QUEST, EVENTS & COMMISSIONS
- Quest, Event, and Commission experience and Glint rewards have been increased by 30%
- Introductory quests now have a new reward token, that can be used to get gear at a new vendor in Nodes
- Characters can no longer complete both introductory quest chains on the paths to Lionhold and Samia’s Hope
- Snatched Sea Event now has a longer timer, so there’s enough time to complete the event
- Treasure Maps will drop correctly for the zone that they’re in
ENEMIES & NPCs
- Enemy NPC population has been updated in the northern Turquoise Sea and Brinebarrel Island
- The Hollow Oracle pocket dungeon general NPCs respawn time has been reduced, to be more in line with other NPC respawn times
- Zombie Scholars will no longer disappear unexpectedly shortly after spawning
- Keelhaul should now show as friendly, and can no longer be farmed for experience
GENERAL
- Turquoise Sea Trading Post Hunting Lodge vendor has been fixed, so it has vendor items to sell
- Harbor launch radius has been increased, to make it easier for people to find a place to launch ships
- Spindlehemp equipment has been changed back to be a magical damage set
- Grave Lily equipment has been added as a new light armor physical damage set
- Windansea Node War event location has moved
- The Bloomed Maw pocket dungeon exterior has had visual improvements when viewing this from a distance
- Visual improvements to the ocean water south of Squall’s End
- The server worker layout has been updated
Roshen
1