Blazing the Way - Mage Alpha One Preview

✨ Are you ready to rain raw destruction on your foes? 🔥

Meet the Mage and find out more about their might from level 1-10 in our Alpha One Preview: https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2020-12-23-blazing-the-way-mage-alpha-one-preview

https://youtu.be/lQo1WK0HkcI

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Ralms

I've provided this feedback on Youtube comments, however I felt it would be interesting to also start a thread here on the forums so see if others share a similar opinion.

The following feedback is regarding the recent video from Intrepid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQo1WK0HkcI

Whoever is the animator of these skills, has a clear addiction with skills that make you jump or float.... Way too much and feels unnatural.
I know it's alpha and I'm sure it will be improved, however it's something I've noticed lately is that the skills animations are not taking into consideration combos and fight fluidity, they don't chain with each other.
And mostly due to the very long floating stuff.
For example, "Fireball", it's just a fireball, you have all that build up as the character is about to drop a crazy AoE, but then just a measly fireball...

Also Mages use Robes, not metal armor

.

Overall here is my feedback and opinion on the skills presented on this video:

0:29 Fireball: The jumping / floating is too much, have the fire build up on the chars hands and shoot, make the animations a bit quicker.
0:42 Lightning bolt: Love it, nice and short, sudden like electricity.
0:48 Black Hole: The jump once more unnecessary, I would rather see the character stay grounded use his hands as he was forming an imaginary sphere, which matches the big dark sphere showing up near the enemies.
1:00 Drain Essence: It's ok, meh. My main criticism is that you are draining, however the ray animation is towards the enemy, it's contradictory, it should be the opposite, like you are sucking energy from the enemy.
1:15 Blink: Overall love it, just too much smoke on the arrival. The first animation of entering the portal is spot on, 10/10, so maybe consider inverting it, making the arrival location start with the energy sparkles and the portal showing up quickly without smoke.
1:26 Lava Storm: Overall like it. The jump/ floating makes sense here and adds more impact specially being an AoE skill. What I would improve is on the ground animation right now looks more like an eruption rather then a storm, as such consider making the lava splatters on the ground smaller and higher in number, having some falling rocks or lava drips as it would be raining lava, matching the lava splatter on the ground.
1:38 Meteor Storm: I'm confused about this one, as its almost the same thing as Lava Storm. The falling "Meteors" are way too big. Maybe save this one for a higher level? And instead of having 3 meteors just call it Meteor and have a big AoE rock fall from the sky. After all a Meteor naturally gets on fire when falling thru the atmosphere.
1:50 Prismatic Beam: Love how it looks, but make the big splatter animation on the character hands like 60% the size of what it is now. It's too big. The energy beam looks really cool.

I would love to hear from your guys, if you agree with me or what is your opinion about these skills.

Thank you and looking forward to trying Ashes one day.

Best Regards,
Ralm

JesusHealYou

No stun?

Ralms

rogonja wrote: »

No stun?

Can you elaborate? you mean no stun skill?
This is lv1 to lv10 though, you usually don't get it on low level stuff.

Leiloni

Worth reposting Steven's pinned comment on that video regarding cast speed -

Hello friends! As a reminder these are early works in progress, and represent lower level spells for our Alpha One playtests. One important thing to note, the speed of casting is not augmented by buffs in this video. So as many of you may know from the many mmos we all play, lower level casting can tend to be slower than the casting at higher levels due to passive augments and active buffs that can be applied. This will speed up cast times and overall combat for casters (and across all classes). Hope you enjoy the progress! We love reading your feedback ❤️❤️💪

Personally for pre-Alpha I think they look great. I know things will change and be refined down the road, and sped up once we have gear/buffs, but I like the direction they're going right now.

Also regarding mages in cloth gear - you can wear any gear/weapons you want. And some gear even if it's just cloth, may have elements in the visual design of plate, leather, etc. while still being just a cloth piece.

Trs

Hi there guys!

I just watched your Alpha One Preview of the Mage Archetype video, and I am completely overwhelmed by the character animations on really basic skills;

Characters jumping on every single skill and doing aerial acrobatics might be apealing for a cinematographic preview of the game but playing a game where you constantly need to cast your basic skill and it includes jumps and dramatic stuff for the simpliest basic skill, should be a no go, I was already exhausted after watching the video, I can't imagine doing some PVE for like 3 hours of constantly watching the character jumping over and over.

Please, reconsidere all this aerial animations skills, the game will be equaly great without them

Khronus

This is a recurring discussion and I believe the community is pretty mixed on this opinion. At first I HATED the cleric animations but they have kinda grown on me. I personally would like to see faster animations. Watching that video for 40 minutes....I can only imagine what it's like as a mage to levitate and cast a fireball 200 times. Some abilities I would love to see have long drawn out animations (like revive).

One thing to think about is in March or May (I can't remember), there is a combat rehaul. I remember hearing something about this on the last stream.

Leiloni

Khronus wrote: »

This is a recurring discussion and I believe the community is pretty mixed on this opinion. At first I HATED the cleric animations but they have kinda grown on me. I personally would like to see faster animations. Watching that video for 40 minutes....I can only imagine what it's like as a mage to levitate and cast a fireball 200 times. Some abilities I would love to see have long drawn out animations (like revive).

One thing to think about is in March or May (I can't remember), there is a combat rehaul. I remember hearing something about this on the last stream.

I agree the animations for both have definitely grown on me and I hope they stick with this style. It's definitely the type of game I prefer and it's similar to the types of games this is inspired by. People forget that they will be refined and changed as development continues. As for cast speed, Steven said we'll have stats and buffs at later levels to increase that.

Ralms

Leiloni wrote: »

...
Personally for pre-Alpha I think they look great. I know things will change and be refined down the road, and sped up once we have gear/buffs, but I like the direction they're going right now.

Also regarding mages in cloth gear - you can wear any gear/weapons you want. And some gear even if it's just cloth, may have elements in the visual design of plate, leather, etc. while still being just a cloth piece.

Yes it looks great.
I understand and know from part MMOs experience that low level stuff is boring and slow, however it's usually mostly in cooldown and not so much in very long cast speed.
Although I would be ok if the cast speed remains the current one, however some of the animations don't make sense currently as I explained above.

Leiloni

Ralms wrote: »

Leiloni wrote: »

...
Personally for pre-Alpha I think they look great. I know things will change and be refined down the road, and sped up once we have gear/buffs, but I like the direction they're going right now.

Also regarding mages in cloth gear - you can wear any gear/weapons you want. And some gear even if it's just cloth, may have elements in the visual design of plate, leather, etc. while still being just a cloth piece.

Yes it looks great.
I understand and know from part MMOs experience that low level stuff is boring and slow, however it's usually mostly in cooldown and not so much in very long cast speed.
Although I would be ok if the cast speed remains the current one, however some of the animations don't make sense currently as I explained above.

The animations and cast speed are the same thing here and stats/buffs will increase the speed of both. Steven's comment refers to Korean MMO's we've all played and that AoC is inspired by - they typically use this type of system. I don't expect cooldowns to change...

Trs

Khronus wrote: »

This is a recurring discussion and I believe the community is pretty mixed on this opinion. At first I HATED the cleric animations but they have kinda grown on me. I personally would like to see faster animations. Watching that video for 40 minutes....I can only imagine what it's like as a mage to levitate and cast a fireball 200 times. Some abilities I would love to see have long drawn out animations (like revive).

One thing to think about is in March or May (I can't remember), there is a combat rehaul. I remember hearing something about this on the last stream.

Thats exactly the point.

want to ressurrect a target? okay go ahead and levitate and jump! great!

need to cast 8 times fireball on a level 10 bear to kill it? not fun to watch ur character jump 8 times...

And Steven just confirmed on youtube comments that casting speed will affect on the animations speed... so it will look just absolutely ridiculous to have your char bouncing and bouncing for hours

LieutenantToast

Hey there friends! Merged a few different threads for feedback on these Mage skills into the main post

Ralms wrote: »

Also Mages use Robes, not metal armor .

While in Ashes of Creation neither weapons nor armor are class-locked, we appreciate the feedback on wanting to see more light armor in upcoming videos!

rogonja wrote: »

No stun?

You can take a look at a more detailed description of some of the spells here, including the effects they gain upon leveling them up further. For example, Lightning Bolt gains a knockdown and Meteor Storm gains a stun!

Stretch

Loving it already! Can't wait to play!

My only 2 thoughts are

Fireball:
I think the jumping with the fireball is a bit overkill. It seems like in a pvp setting its like announcing you are there by going up in the air before you launch your fireball.

Blink:
If you compared 2 people side by side, 1 person running 1 person casting is it faster to blink than to just run? While the animation for it looks really cool

Rest of them, I like! Awesome Job!

Arugan

The only recommendation is
1. Too many jumping/flying animations
2. The beam is awesome but the beginning of the beam is a bit too much.
3. The lava move would be cooler if he was slamming the ground instead of flying up(Some earth bending feels).

Everything else is absolutely stunning! love the look of the fireball!! The lighting, Blink, and the meteor is perfect!!

Liniker

It was mentioned in earlier References that animation locks, would only happen in a few exceptions, for what we've seen so far in regards to Cleric, and Mages abilities, there are plenty of animation locks, especially with all those jumping/flying animations even for casting a fireball, and I was wondering if this is something that is now intended as part of the combat..

I understand that there will be a combat revamp happening in March, however, those animations are being showcased now, and that makes me think they are here to stay, although they look cool, in my opinion, they make combat really stiff, I would love to see this change and have animations to be shorter, removed, or just the possibility to cast while moving, (maybe even by enhancing a skill) which for sure would make combat more dynamic.

PS: as always, upvote to decrease the particle effects

SoRaTheSLaYeR

fireball is excessive, should be like lightning bolt.

lightning bolt is solid.

black hole hole looks great, jump looks ok here.

drain essence feels very stiff and doesnt feel like its actually draining anything. shouldn't be a jump on a basic skill like this.

lava is great, jump makes sense and nice touch on aoe around caster.

meteor looks cool but i personally think its a bit excessive of an attack. meteors in general are just way too strong to br summoned like that, especially at low-mid level. i think this skill should be changed into something similar to what it is, maybe even another element, like have this be icicles forming midair and crashing down instead. the meteors could be an augment for mage/mage class where you actually could use much stronger magic.

the beam is great, but it looks like an ultimate, feels like an ultimate, can be used like an ultimate. its perfect for a very high level skill, but too strong for a mere level 10.

one of the problems I've had with MMOs and effects is that literally everyone has super OP spells with amazing effects and it all just becomew boring clutter. where summoning a meteor should be a devastating attack that could at least change the flow or battle, you have low level players spamming it which just ruins the wow factor. I think lower level spells should just be smooth and look somewhat satisfying. The actually good skill effects should be for high level stronger spells.

bloodprophet

I like the skills as they are so far. They are different from most stuff out there.
Having gear be agnostic I think is a step in the right direction. I am sure the RP crowd likes the idea the most being able to equip as they choose to tell the story they want to tell.

Gizban

General observation: too much jumping/floating, and some animations seem to be ill-fitted to the spell.

Fireball: The fireball itself is good, but the jumping animation for a bread-and-butter spell is too much. I think a better fit would be the wind up from the Meteor Storm, paired with Prismatic Beam animation.

Lightning Bolt: Overall good, especially the lightning itself. An animation that starts with the hand high and then leveling out towards the enemy would be appropriate, as if the caster is calling the lightning from the sky. The quickness of the animation is spot on.

Black Hole: Not bad, perhaps less jumping. (unless jumping is made the cue for AoE spells?)

Drain Essence: Here the caster plainly shoots something at the enemy, rather than 'draining' from the enemy. Perhaps a pulling motion from the caster? More grounded would be appropriate.

Blink: Nice! Perhaps less smoke at the exit. The jumping animation here I really enjoy.

Lava Storm: Here the caster looks up, jumps/levitates, and then shoot lava towards the enemy. Lava should come from below the surface, so the caster's attention should be initially directed down.

Meteor Storm: Here the caster looks down, and conjures a meteor in his hands before launching it up, which then comes down as a meteor. Swapping this animation (along with a few tweaks) with Lava Storm's would be a better fit.

Prismatic Beam: Love it! A bit less at the caster would help with being able to see whats going on. /wink

Vhaeyne

I know a lot of people thought the animations for cleric were a a little over the top last month. I really did not fall into that camp. These mage animations though. There is way too, much movement for my taste in casters. Specifically the fireball levitation into a superhero throw. There were a few other moves that start with a levitation into something. Like black hole or lava storm.

The lightning bolt and Prismatic beam animations are prefect. A simple fluid motion. What it really gets down to is that I don't imagine mages to be so coordinated. I see a mage doing something like drawing a sigil in the air, reading a book, or doing some kind DBZ energy ball power up. Some of the moves in that video look like NBA jam style slam dunks. I half expected to hear "Boom-Shakalaka!" when that fireball went off.

I know Steven commented on the Youtube video explaining that this is alpha, and casting speeds can be augmented to be faster. I understand this. I just wanted to see what y'all think? Are the mages overly coordinated? If there this coordinated at level 10, will they be dunking from half court at level 50?

Wandering Mist

The Mage animations are a rather mixed bag, and I agree that the Fireball and Black Hole animations are very over-the-top. I can understand the Mage levitating into the air a bit due to the amount of power they are using, like you see in the Lava Storm animation, but leaping into the air like a gymnast isn't the first thing I think of when I see a Mage.

Pvp player

I am aware of the iterative process of improving these effects but I'm nonetheless going to comment as is.

Both the Mage and the Cleric can levitate. Regardless of whether you're going to do something with the fact that the floaty animations don't seem particularly well-liked in the comment sections, I would suggest giving just one that ability for class identity purposes (and I'd go with the Mage).

There's an overabundance of what some other commenter called "firework effects". The same particle effects were used for the Cleric, and here, both lightning and fire use it. Seems kinda random (but probably easy to progam).

Overall, there's again many skills with a rather long cast time with animation locking. And some skills don't seem to merit that because of what they do.

I gather that the Fireball spell eventually has going to have a DoT and an AoE effect to it if you level it up.
1. Is the animation the same for all levels? (I hope not)
2. As of right now, only your character floats up, not the camera, ignoring the added benefit of having a better view of the battlefield.

The pirouette doesn't seem to add anything in the sense of momentum to the fireball because it's so small and close to the character.

Lightning Bolt shoots an electrifying beam that damages enemies in a line in front of you. As this ability grows stronger, it will knock down enemies and even chain to additional foes.

Same as with the Cleric, I don't see any connection between what a skill does and how long it takes for them to do it.
Here, lightning bolt is insta cast, it damages multiple enemies, and even does a knockdown to one (or more?)

Black Hole, Drain Essence and Lava Storm target animations are cool, but I don't really get why there's levitating here as well.

The Blink animation is way over the top and cast ought to be instant in my opinion.

The following is more a personal preference of mine. One that Intrepid probably consciously rejected based on lore, but I like the idea of having element specific mages, instead of jack of all trades mages that can use fire, electricity, healing, telekinetic and health draining (and even summoning).

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