Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
My favorite class will be, like in every mmorpg, the healer class, the cleric in AoC. In theory, the highpriest (cleric/cleric) is the most expected combination, because i hope, that this is the class with the highest output of healing with a combination of Hots, direct heals (possibly a few instant heals (with timer), ae-heals, ae-hots and a few preventionskills to avoid the massive cc of the other classes.
combinations:
cleric/tank: perhaps heals with a damageshield or resis
cleric/fighter: heal with attackbuffs, damageskills (whip/speer) with a cc (knockdown, root, snare)
cleric/rogue: some damageskills with lifeleech or invisibility for a short time would be very nice
cleric/ranger: spells will be debuff augmented
cleric/mage: damagespells will get some residebuffs, blink would be nice
cleric/summ: perhaps a healingpet
cleric/cleric: healpower, heals in all variations
cleric/bard: movementspeed
just my 2 cents
bb
I am new to the MMORPG world and this will be my first game of that type. Thus I am not building my character for PvP or PvE (because I really don't have a good grasp on what I will like most), rather I am building my character on exploring the world as a whole. And as such I will be playing a Scout. My goal for this game is to be a Master Herbalist Gatherer and so my character will be exploring mountain tops, diving in caves, and finding things rare herbs that grow in the most obscure and hidden places in the underdark.
From the Lore that we have available, I will be playing a Tulnar, for they have the most experience on Verra looking for things, scavenging to survive and thus the highest knowledge about the fauna/herbs.
Thank you,
Skylarck The Botanist
I love nature and hiding in stealth while gathering rare flowers and occasionaly hunt someone down with a safe distance.
If the battlemage enable me to use spells like swords skills and able to use swords fully like fighter class(or not), then yes if not then shadow caster it will be. My battlemage build is inspired by shalltear from my best novel/anime to watch&read overlord. Shalltear is a perfect balance between mage and fighter, been able to use both swords and spells.
For me a Scout should be FAST. Like outrunning people on mounts type fast. Extremely fluid movement. Very hard to pin down, kiting and shooting on the move. They should have utility based around spotting targets and their weaknesses, more a support role with only a few hard hitting assassin type abilities. Definitely some sort of stealth, but not based on it. Good wilderness/survival skills. Long range on everything, glass cannon, low to no armor at all.
They should really live up to the Scout title, not many games ever capture this. The scout should be out far in advance, darting around the world, evading capture, spotting weaknesses during events, etc. Lone wolf solo type.
But seriously going fast is fucking fun. Make Scout feel like you're playing Tribes, jumping through trees like a blur, able to provide intel to allies during overworld events better than anyone else, able to flank around the back and pick off a healer at range then dart off without a trace, being able to kite the heavy boys, but all with the downside of if they get you, you're done for.
That's my ideal Scout. Finding games that let you be a real fantasy scout type is way too rare.
I have expectations through the roof, I fantasize about the idea of having super strong heals, being able to unlock a mass resurrection or a instant ressurection. Another thing that has my head spinning is what all the skills will look like, which I imagine them to be super golden and beautiful, recreating that greatness of divine power, which to a greater or lesser extent will be linked to the High Priests.
Conclusion, for me the ideal in the High Priest, are skills that really differentiate you from other variants of the cleric, and that gold and the light that surrounds the divine.
Aurora Discord
- Enchanter, with summoner/bard. I'm thinking the default summoner will have abilities to buff their summons, and if this is the case, it would make sense if the bard variant allows summoners to use these buffs on allied players as well. Depending on what kind of abilities are available, I think this class would be unique, useful, and from what I see from others' responses to questions like this, somewhat rare, which makes it even more exciting.
- Some other version of Summoner, maybe Brood Warden (with Tank if I remember correctly), Conjurer (double Summoner), or Wild Blade (fighter mix). I like the idea of being a formidable opponent even if alone, and the possibilities that summons open up for that are hard to pass on. I'm especially interested to see what the Brood Warden and Wild Blade look like. Also, another thing I'm curious about, but maybe less interested in playing, is the Spellmancer (Summoner/Mage). I think it'd be cool if it allowed summons to cast magic as well, and could potentially have some crazy DPS.
In general, what I'm most excited for is seeing how much the "second classes" make a difference, as well as what kind of awesome builds and powers people are gonna use.It would also be amazing to have support classes with abilities that combine for unique buffs and effects within raids, thus making each support class uniquely useful within the team, and their ability to coordinate with other support classes as well.
This would be an ideal class if the many skills of traditional bards play a role in the character design. While modern pop culture focuses on the musical talents of bards, they were also well known for their prowess in storytelling and poetry. The Bard class would incorporate all three in such a way that Bards would weave their words and music together as they transition from different "stances".
Storyteller
-Bards tell tales of heroism and wonder to their allies to raise their morale during combat.
-Stance focuses on buffing allies.
-Examples: removing crowd control, raise defenses, next ability costs 0 mana
Poet
-Bards are known for their sharp wit, using their mastery in verse to distract and debilitate their enemies.
-Stance focuses on debuffing enemies
-Examples: stunning, remove defenses, removes enemies current target
Musician
-Bards are known far and wide for their soothing and beautiful music
-Stance focuses on healing allies and utility
-Examples: heal based on damage taken in next 3 seconds, heal that removes soft cc, teleport ally/party a short distance
I really enjoy a class that has both magical and martial elements so many of the class combinations here appeal to me. If I can swing a greataxe to bring down a bolt of lightning or create a flaming wave of energy with a swing of my sword I will be happy.
I am also very excited for some of the religious aspects of this game so cultist fits the theme!
-Cleric/Cleric
-Cleric/Fighter
-Fighter/Cleric
These are in no particular order. I like the thought of supporting my team but still being able to hold my own in a fight so they don't have to worry so much about me!
I mainly like the support, healer and sometimes the tank role in other games, but in MMOs I always play as healer and I also play MMOs for the PVP.
I know for sure if there is a structured PVP with a ranking system like an arena and battle ground, then I would definitely would like to be the healer.
if there is nothing like that then I will just pick an assassination class like a Rouge or a Ranger and try to do world PVP until I get bored because there is no goals no sense of achievement and hard to find a worthy opponent. at least from my experience in open world PVP in MMOs.
However, I am more inclined towards the enchanter; A class which takes a look at both defensive and offensive support through buffs and debuffs of different kinds. I would love for these to be creative as well, to not only look at debuffs and buffs to be damage or mitigate but thinks like targetable snares that maybe have an effect when it is destroyed, maybe even depending on who destroys it. Maybe a buff that increases aggro gain (this could be both used in PvE and PvPvE scenarios). What about an enchantment that reduces the effect of other enchantments?
There are so many fun and creative ideas for enchantments, I want them to be more than just a numbers game. While it's fun to give a huge boost in damage you'll get tired of it after the 200th time. Give me something to play with and be creative with.
Thank you for everything!
I like being in stressful, close combat and love the thought of constantly applying pressure on the opponent. With the possibility healing/buffing my allies and I that are near and keeping my DPS above par, I feel like I could self sustain very well.
I don't know if one of the 64 classes will have the following abilities.
I would like to see a kind of brawler who can strike without weapons or simply with a bo staff. Marshal arts can and deals with hands and feet as well as his pole weapon or brass knuckles. He should have the possibility to play offensive e.g. more dmg when attacking the opponent from behind and defensive (more dodging when standing in front of the opponent).
The brawler in Everquest 2 was my personal favourite class and I hope to find a similar one in Ashes of Creation.
Otherwise I would like to play a mage/bard with, again, augmenting magic that buffs allies with elemental damage or protects them from it. I like playing support, but not mindless click this buff on this person. I want to have synergy with my teamates and be able to execute tactics/plans that maximize effectiveness of our tools.
In general with cross-trinity roll classes, there should be some way to lean more heavily into one trinity role (dps-tank-heal/support) than the other without feeling the same as the flip side of the combo (e.g. a mage-bard and a bard-mage). If indeed the spells will only be augmented, it feels feasible to play a mage(primary)-bard(secondary) and choose to lean more heavily in support than dps (even if the support role will be worst than a bard(primary)-mage (secondary)).
2) Healing summoner where you pet does 70% of damage output but you provide solid buffs and passive healing
3) Elemental Rogue where they are fast and mobile but can debuff their targets with slows and burns
I guess a supportive tank with distruption would be cool as well.
Some Auras, battle abilities that deal damage as well as buffs/debuffs.
Maybe some cool illusion/sound based magic like Shatter from D&D.
That would make me a very happy bard!
I do know I want certain functionality. However, since little to no information is really known about any archtype or class, my list I do have of "things I require my character to do", is kind of pointless. So currently, I don't know what my ideal class is or what the base archtype for that class would even be.
As time went on the paladin was buffed massively and became god tier with the deathknight and so I lost all interest. Wanted to try DPS so I went with a mage because I liked the idea of an all or nothing style. High risk(don't get hit), high reward(high damage). This however was short lived as the mage eventually got ridiculously over powered and became to easy to hold my attention.
This is when I found my favorite RPG class, the rogue. The rogue always has so many tools available. In my experience they are typically ultra high damage played correctly but complicated and your moves have to absolutely flawless in timing or you wind up with a reset fight skill being equal. From what I have seen very few rogues make it to the top of class in pvp or pve because of this. As opposed to say a mage who is typically easy mode dps. So this is the kind of game play that will keep me coming back.
of course some other typical aspects of the rogue class that is enjoyable... The ability sneak around in the shadows to pick and choose your fight. Fight your way in to a quest objective, or stay in the shadows and get as close as you can to the objective before opening up. The ability to apply poisons or controlling effects to be effective in mostly any situation. Dual wielding different effects adds a great angle and diversity to every fight.
hmmm.....what else... I do hope the game isn't centered around mass AoE fights. I would like the rogue to be high single target damage with a simple throw ability to pull mobs that doesn't do a ton of damage. Leave the ranged damage for the ranged classes.
Something that has long become meaningless and very uninteresting that was historically a rogues trademark is lock picking. I would like to see meaningful and somewhat rare treasure chests and other similar things like locked doors in group areas and the open world that require a rogue to access.
Invisibility is probably the most paramount aspect of choosing to play a rogue. So this should be very well thought out and integrated into the class ability tree extensively.
On the topic of unusual, someone had mentioned something about a class that specializes in alchemy and throwing/using postions for in-fight buffs or damage. I think that idea fits in perfectly with the rogue.
P.S. Lich please.
Game for fun, not for life
Class Design/Feel
Being a great one-to-one fighter class I would still like it to have some sort of AOE damage/control. Once again as being considered a great one-to-one class I would like to see both close-range and medium-range combat. I think of it as a fighter weaving medium-ranged attacks as it closes the gap and a great brawler once you're in melee range.
I would like these attacks to feel impactful and what I envision is not necessarily for example when you think of a "hammer toss" or a medium-ranged stomp/ground slash type, I envision more of a "magical" looking sword slashes that travel the distance and hit the target really hard.
Generally, when it comes to being useful in larger scale combat, let's say be it 3 people and above, I would like it to play the role of a controller in some sense, this can be achieved by having a very high damage mitigation/invulnerability skill that would in terms slow you down both in movement speed and perhaps attack speed/damage output but gains in terms of controlling the area and allowing&preparing engages for your team. When thinking of larger-scale combat I also think about having some sort of area slows or debuffs. What it comes to mind in terms of actual skills I think of something like "earthquake" or "cascade" as either a CC skill (slow) or as a damage-dealing attack or debuff.
My problem with summoners is due to my previous experience. In many games, they end up being useless after the summons are killed. Or they have not other roles than pulling mobs/bosses. Or their damage is a joke with/without summons.
In some cases they can heal but are not healers, they can put damage but are not DD, pets can tank but really lose agro after DD hits twice.... (pffff) Bottom line, they end up in a corner while I continue playing healers.
Since I see how ashes have been developed, and the philosophy behind the game is visible to anyone that wants to see it, I am hoping this will be the exception. That this will be the one game that actually gives a purpose to all classes, including summoners!. So yes, probably I will give the summoner a try first.
This says it all for me