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
About being a Mana-Bard
Hi together,
first of all: playing a Mana-Bard in pvE is easy an no Problem and feels good (maybe a bit too strong) - the team never drops in mana.(maybe a bit boring)
in PvP instead it make basicly no sens to play it at an mana-build, but I would love to.
problem here is, the max range poking in group pvp makes it nearly complete useless to play the pensive melody, because I will not prog 3 finisher to push the big mana-boost.
also a bit annoying is, the cleric is not able to autoattack, because of busy healing, to use my mana-saga, to recover mana.
WHAT I would like to see:
- Mana-Saga will be used as the Healing-Saga does (no autoattack needed - just a big mana push)
- Add an "Mana-Dance" like Shielding-Dance to the toolkid. I will be able to jump into my Frontline team and give them mana with my risk of getting attack. (would be a big funny way to play)
- rework hyme of the mind. its basicly useless, low mana-push (also in single target), not really funny to play this skill
first of all: playing a Mana-Bard in pvE is easy an no Problem and feels good (maybe a bit too strong) - the team never drops in mana.(maybe a bit boring)
in PvP instead it make basicly no sens to play it at an mana-build, but I would love to.
problem here is, the max range poking in group pvp makes it nearly complete useless to play the pensive melody, because I will not prog 3 finisher to push the big mana-boost.
also a bit annoying is, the cleric is not able to autoattack, because of busy healing, to use my mana-saga, to recover mana.
WHAT I would like to see:
- Mana-Saga will be used as the Healing-Saga does (no autoattack needed - just a big mana push)
- Add an "Mana-Dance" like Shielding-Dance to the toolkid. I will be able to jump into my Frontline team and give them mana with my risk of getting attack. (would be a big funny way to play)
- rework hyme of the mind. its basicly useless, low mana-push (also in single target), not really funny to play this skill
KaiWhat
1
Re: Melodies dropping from CC is too punishing
It breaks Counterpoint, and that alone was the reason why I use the alternative. It also breaks bard's Resonance mechanics.
Melody cast being interrupted by everything is one of my main frustrations as a bard player. Melodies should not be interrupted by anything, but death. Melody casting should be also FAR quicker, 2 seconds cast time is far too long in pvp.
Melody cast being interrupted by everything is one of my main frustrations as a bard player. Melodies should not be interrupted by anything, but death. Melody casting should be also FAR quicker, 2 seconds cast time is far too long in pvp.
Re: Is Under-water Gathering Intended?
Yeah... I suppose it would be nice to have something rocks on a rope to help us stay anchored, or some equipment that counters the flow of water, would be helpful to gathering where currents are flowing. Maybe potions of water breathing and current resistance?
Re: Steven, Please Rethink “Not for Everyone”
So, if I log back into a zone I camped out of a few days earlier, that has since turned Lawless, does this mean I have to fight my out to leave? Should there be a "Get out of Dodge fast" option?
Edit: Not to derail from the original topic but just following the stream of consciousness of this thread....
As much as I like to give Steven well deserved shit, I also do try to be fair.
To that end, I feel it worth pointing out that he said "areas" not "zones". Since he also said there will be objectives in these areas, I am taking this to be that areas around top end bosses will infact be lawless - which is something I have assumed for actual years.
If this is the case, my actual assumption for how this would work (based on Stevens reliance on other games for his ideas) is that there will be bosses in a set spawn timer (probably with an in game calander) that when they spawn they will turn the local area lawless.
If this is accurate, you should never be in a situation where you don't know that an area is due to turn lawless, as they will all be known well in advance - and the areas themselves will always be known.
My big issue with this is the lack of any mention of anything to do with this in 8 years of communication during what is claimed to be "open development".
Noaani
1
Re: Ideas for Glorious Mounts and Creatures
some animals as of inspiration for creatures or mounts
pseudo melanistic tigers
sloth bear
Brown Hyena
Andean Bear
African wild dog
dwarf cassowary
Masked Palm Civet
Green Junglefowl
Aye Aye
Fossa
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove
Bat-Eared Fox
Namdapha Red Giant Gliding Squirrel
Red and White Giant Flying Squirrel
Northern Bald Ibis
potto
Spiny Softshell Turtle
Golden Common Brushtail Possum
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
eastern lesser bamboo lemur
Asian Glossy Starling
fringed leaf frog
Iberian lynx
nyala
Bushbuck
Bongo
thylacine
white Flying Fox Bat
Matschie's tree-kangaroo
Malayan Colugo
Tibetan brown (blue) bear
sorraia horse
Tiger quoll
Northern River Terrapin (batagur baska)
Lowland streaked tenrec
Sulawesi Bear Cuscus
Leopard seal
Hypselodoris bennetti
pseudo melanistic tigers
sloth bear
Brown Hyena
Andean Bear
African wild dog
dwarf cassowary
Masked Palm Civet
Green Junglefowl
Aye Aye
Fossa
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove
Bat-Eared Fox
Namdapha Red Giant Gliding Squirrel
Red and White Giant Flying Squirrel
Northern Bald Ibis
potto
Spiny Softshell Turtle
Golden Common Brushtail Possum
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
eastern lesser bamboo lemur
Asian Glossy Starling
fringed leaf frog
Iberian lynx
nyala
Bushbuck
Bongo
thylacine
white Flying Fox Bat
Matschie's tree-kangaroo
Malayan Colugo
Tibetan brown (blue) bear
sorraia horse
Tiger quoll
Northern River Terrapin (batagur baska)
Lowland streaked tenrec
Sulawesi Bear Cuscus
Leopard seal
Hypselodoris bennetti
Kallysha
1
Re: Node Level Confusion.
@ELWOW
I think we just have fundamentally different priorities for what Ashes should be, and that’s okay.
You’re concerned the game might lean too hard into sandbox design—I’m more worried it won’t lean far enough. Personally, I’d be thrilled if they ditched most of the scripted story elements and leaned fully into a true player-driven experience, more like EVE Online on foot.
Ashes is going to be a niche game no matter what. The gamers who crave story, exploration, and hand-crafted lore already have tons of high-quality options. I doubt Ashes will pull many of them away from titles that already do that better.
Where I think Ashes has the strongest potential is in appealing to PvX sandbox players who want long-term investment and systems that create emergent gameplay. That’s the crowd that won’t get bored—just look at how EVE has endured for decades by staying true to its niche. It’s not mainstream, but it’s still thriving.
I agree node balance matters, but I see it more as a tool for emergent gameplay than as something that needs strict leveling ranges or developer-shaped hotspots. To me, a well-designed sandbox can outlast a sandpark if players are truly shaping the world.
Exactly, players that are only playing for some kind of storyline or questline, or just to grind to max level will only last a couple months in the game. The players that will be playing the game for years are the ones who are invested in the competitive node systems and the PVP around them. Part of that is having balanced options right from launch on which nodes to go grind at and progress.
It also helps distribute the player base so we arent all bunched up in one zone right off the bat either. If we could get to level 6ish from lionhold and then run to desert or jundark and start leveling/gathering, it would alleviate many of the "not enough copper" complaints.
I hope phase 3 starts out like this, but then how do they ensure that each node has item drop potential? Should every node have a tower of Carphin level POI, with a variety of bosses that can gear up players? They have invested alot of time and effort into getting the riverlands POIs well developed and fully sustainable.
I can understand the hesitation in making every node as complex as Miraleth or Winstead, but what is the alternative, cutting back on their content just to balance them with new nodes?
Xeeg
1
Re: Make PvP Viable
Oh please, i didn't said take it 1 for 1 but the concept is objectivly better than a system where you are "forced" to stop pvping because you risk your gear and i also didnt claim you should just sit afk you could also labour task you have to do in order to do your sentence. The idea of going to do to task in order to reduce your blight so you can kill 5 people again (as example) before you have to these tasks again is just worse design. You may think otherwise but i am correct
davenb
1
Re: Node Level Confusion.
@ELWOW
I think we just have fundamentally different priorities for what Ashes should be, and that’s okay.
You’re concerned the game might lean too hard into sandbox design—I’m more worried it won’t lean far enough. Personally, I’d be thrilled if they ditched most of the scripted story elements and leaned fully into a true player-driven experience, more like EVE Online on foot.
Ashes is going to be a niche game no matter what. The gamers who crave story, exploration, and hand-crafted lore already have tons of high-quality options. I doubt Ashes will pull many of them away from titles that already do that better.
Where I think Ashes has the strongest potential is in appealing to PvX sandbox players who want long-term investment and systems that create emergent gameplay. That’s the crowd that won’t get bored—just look at how EVE has endured for decades by staying true to its niche. It’s not mainstream, but it’s still thriving.
I agree node balance matters, but I see it more as a tool for emergent gameplay than as something that needs strict leveling ranges or developer-shaped hotspots. To me, a well-designed sandbox can outlast a sandpark if players are truly shaping the world.
I think we just have fundamentally different priorities for what Ashes should be, and that’s okay.
You’re concerned the game might lean too hard into sandbox design—I’m more worried it won’t lean far enough. Personally, I’d be thrilled if they ditched most of the scripted story elements and leaned fully into a true player-driven experience, more like EVE Online on foot.
Ashes is going to be a niche game no matter what. The gamers who crave story, exploration, and hand-crafted lore already have tons of high-quality options. I doubt Ashes will pull many of them away from titles that already do that better.
Where I think Ashes has the strongest potential is in appealing to PvX sandbox players who want long-term investment and systems that create emergent gameplay. That’s the crowd that won’t get bored—just look at how EVE has endured for decades by staying true to its niche. It’s not mainstream, but it’s still thriving.
I agree node balance matters, but I see it more as a tool for emergent gameplay than as something that needs strict leveling ranges or developer-shaped hotspots. To me, a well-designed sandbox can outlast a sandpark if players are truly shaping the world.
Vhaeyne
2
Re: PvP arena in cities (like a colosseum)
And your response to Azherae just proved this to me. You only care about ganking someone for the sake of it, rather than for some other reason (such as loot or the content that they're doing). So if you just want to kill people, how would arenas not accomplish exactly that? All the pvpers can go hang out in the arenas and have their pure pvp fun, just as pure pvers will clear the story instances and move onto something else. All while the rest of the world should be dangerous at all times and at the same level, rather than only in specific spots and only at very specific times.
Like I've already said, majority of my gameplay in L2 consisted of pvping others for my pve. Yet none of that pvping required the game to have lawless zones. We simply had laxer corruption balance and proper war design. That's it. And that is exactly what I'm asking for Ashes.
And yes, not everyone wants the same thing. It's as if the game is not for everyone
HUH? clearly you misunderstood, i advise you to read again, and its becoming to be clear you simply dont have the capacity to understand or more like choose not to understand, so its kinda pointless to keep on going... (plus i did mention above (guess you didnt read as well...) that i am a versatile pvper i dont only gank, ive successfully defend camps/keeps/towers/castle many times, take them as well ofc not alone, 1x1 in most cases actually skilled pvpers, small scale fights as of gankers/roamers against guess? other gankers/roamers, gvg even and also large scale zergvzerg or blobvblob, sometimes around 150+), for more than 10 years that was pretty much all i did in an mmo)
Kallysha
1