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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
I wonder if every other archetype will get such passive healing abilities for themself through cleric augments in a less effective form.
i agree with that. Being rooted in place just feels bad for non-chanelled abilities. I'd much rather habe them auto-cancel hardcast when i move. Rooting just takes away from fluidity and player control.
The terms aren't specifically Christian.
For example - Exorcism isn't purely a Christian thing. Plenty of world religions practise it. Hallowed ground is simply an area of ground that has been blessed. Again, it doesn't specifically relate to Christianity.
I don't mind a healing spell called "Devotion". It could signify the Healer's devotion to their party member, or the Cleric's devotion to a healing god/goddess. My biggest query with it was that, for a "quick heal" spell, it didn't appear to be that quick.
- I wonder if the ratio of damage to heal abilities fulfill the healer fantasy. It'll probably change as more skills are unlocked, but are these level 1-10 abilities sufficient for the design of the New Player Experience? The low level combat loop seems to focus on damage first and healing second.
- I could be totally wrong about this, but it seems like Castigation is meant to be the spammed ability for low level Clerics. If that's the case is the design subverting the traditional idea of a caster healer in the back to more of a frontline melee? There are many casted abilities shown, but again I'm thinking of the low level combat loop and what Clerics spam when all the other abilities are on cooldown or when players are flustered.
- I wonder why there is a delay (about 1 second maybe?) between finishing the cast of Devotion and the target receiving the heal. Usually low level skills are designed to be more forgiving and it is much less satisfying when there is a delay.
- The cast time for Resurrection seems pretty short (about 3 seconds?). I liked how in Archeage, Revive had a 7 second ish cast time which was a decent buffer for enemies to counterplay (gap close + interrupt).
I am definitely being overly critical without having firsthand experience, but I hope these points are considered. Many MMOs struggle with their New Player Experience and I hope AOC's NPE is heavily critiqued to facilitate growth after initial release.(my bad, I didn't see the class discussion topic prior to posting this so I reposted it there. Please delete this post)
- I wonder if the ratio of damage to heal abilities fulfill the healer fantasy. It'll probably change as more skills are unlocked, but are these level 1-10 abilities sufficient for the design of the New Player Experience? The low level combat loop seems to focus on damage first and healing second.
- I could be totally wrong about this, but it seems like Castigation is meant to be the spammed ability for low level Clerics. If that's the case is the design subverting the traditional idea of a caster healer in the back to more of a frontline melee? There are many casted abilities shown, but again I'm thinking of the low level combat loop and what Clerics spam when all the other abilities are on cooldown or when players are flustered.
- I wonder why there is a delay (about 1 second maybe?) between finishing the cast of Devotion and the target receiving the heal. Usually low level skills are designed to be more forgiving and it is much less satisfying when there is a delay.
- The cast time for Resurrection seems pretty short (about 3 seconds?). I liked how in Archeage, Revive had a 7 second ish cast time which was a decent buffer for enemies to counterplay (gap close + interrupt).
I am definitely being overly critical without having firsthand experience, but I hope these points are considered. Many MMOs struggle with their New Player Experience and I hope AOC's NPE is heavily critiqued to facilitate growth after initial release.Yeah, it's labelled as a "swift act". It didn't seem very swift, to me.
I remember a Fire Mage in my WoW raid back in Legion, who got the legendary boots that let you move while casting...
He never had them equipped because he could not cancel his casts by moving anymore xD
Also, I've played my fair share of mmos and I feel like resurrection abilities usually look about the same. Actually seeing a vague shape of a humanoid figure (depending on race) being pulled and faded back into the target would give the feel of resurrection. Then having the cleric making motions as if they were actually trying to coax the life energy down from above.
That's my two cents.
In regards to my concern about the loading/channeling of the skills to complete and comparing them with just the auto-attack from the spear (which is pretty quick) I hope it can balance out in a good way to heal in comparison to the faster-paced weapons....not sure I'm making any sense lol
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Sounds like you're worried that the damage from weapons will out-pace the healing that can be done? Players/NPCs will be using similar Cast-Time skills against you too, so hopefully they should counter each other nicely.
In one of the early videos they talked about this and making their version of cleric of of an up front in the mix of things play style. So maybe this is an early example of things to come.
I dont think that you want to spam any abilities in Ashes. If you watch closely during the combat videos like the one were Steven etc fought against the Elite NPC bandit, you will notice that they were at 50% mana after 1min of combat.
I think that you want to use the whip only to keep up the buff tbh and use weaponskills as filler.
I would like to see resource management be a thing again. Thinking ahead and planning how and when to use abilities would be nice. Is kind of a sad state the genre has devolved into when you can spam abilities with out a care and have the same out come and never get close to running out of whatever resource the class uses.
That would make it a non-issue.
When it comes to abilities, if the healer has time to do damage in addition to healing then there aren't enough mobs in camp. If a full group should have a tank, add tank, support, healer and DPS, then have the healer focus on healing. There are literally at least 6 other folks doing damage in a full group. Let a support class be the one to combine DPS and off-heal. Make the healer class meaningful and necessary so folks don't zerg through everything with DPS only.
I agree with the statements about resource management. Please, please let there be thought involved in the class and not spam healing. There is nothing more boring as a healer than spamming heals with no thought given to resources. Make the players weigh their choices; the quicker the cast the higher the resource usage.
* Is there time for the slower, more powerful heal on the tank at the rate they are losing health?
* Is the tank good enough to keep all adds off the DPS so they don't squish while you cast a slower heal?
* Will the squishy DPS last long enough for a moderate heal or should we burn massive resources for a quick heal?
* How many folks are taking damage simultaneously? Is now the time for an AoE heal?
* Will you lose someone in the time it takes to cast the AoE heal?
* Is the tank high enough on health to survive any burst damage so we can top off the squishies?
* Is the add tank good enough at picking up strays that the DPS can survive being at less than full health?
Adding DPS abilities at higher levels when there is specialization makes more sense than at the lower levels. This the the healing class, not a DPS class. Let folks specialize later if their play is more focused on damage with some healing thrown in. There is one Primary healing class as opposed to 6 other Primary classes that do DPS; have healers focus on healing.
We currently dont know any damage values for any of the cleric spells though. Remember, they most likely have on op game master equipment for these demonstration videos.
this.
That hovering is way over the top and gets annoying very fast. Simple animations for simple skills.
Ahhhhhh yeah. That's why we like playing the Healer. Excellent summary!
Only addition I'll make is:
* Everyone's health is looking ok, is it time to add to the group DPS?
Clerics in dnd and pathfinder are generally melee oriented casters with life saving tools that require foresight and planning to keep other players alive without wasting your spell slots. From the currently teased abilities I could guess that most of your healing will be passively done via hots or attacking enemies rather than a wow cleric that sits in the back and spams heals 24/7.
lets hope its -1
I hope that Intrepid continues to place emphasis on the sounds with all their skills. I would like to "feel" the power of magic not simply through the colors & light, but also the sounds. Like in anime when a ship or mech is firing a laser-canon. You can "feel" the reverberation and get a sense of the power and devastation behind that blast.
Additionally: The subtle rainbow colors in the Resurrection spell was a nice touch.
/thumbs up!
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“That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.”
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