Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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.
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.
Playstyles you would liek to see in AoC
Veeshan
Member, Alpha Two
Figured we could have a little fun and suggest some play style you would like tosee in AoC could recommend a class too that you might think it work well for,
Summoner
Enchanter (Summoner/Bard) This play style would forgo traditionals pet summons to more summons that augment via enchanting enemy/allies equipment this would play more as a support role however does do some dmg still, Some of there enchants will apply a negative or possitive effect depending if used on enemy for example casting a weapon weight enchant would be lighter for allies (Allow for faster attack) or heavier weapon on enemy slowing there attacks, They can enchant equipment to be more resistant to certain dmg types. enchants should be low mana cost but constantly drain mana over time till they get removed from there targets, there should be a way to regain mana aswell mayve enchanting an animated weapon which will attack enemies gaining a stacking buff to where the enchanting dismisses the weapon they regain mana based on the buff count.
Necromancer (summoner/cleric) - Summons undead summoners these pets applies debuffs depends on the current summon and necro have spell that interact with the debuffs for example summon ghoul applieds disease debuff which stacks 10 times reduces healing by 5% per stack however a necro spekll can transform this debuff into a DoT when they use a certain spells in there kit, i feel they should have life steal spell in there kit and maybe a way to transfer their heal to heal their summons (Or maybe players too)
Beastmaster - Kinda wouldnt mind seeing this class be able to transform into the beasts they summonm too getting a new skill set could be interesting
Ranger
Strider (Ranger/fighter) This one i think should be all about swapping from melee to range so zipping in and out of melee and range, melee attacks should apply buff to the range attacks and range atatcks should buff there melee to incentise swapping weapons (Should probaly get a dash to get into melee and a disengage ability to accomodate)
Falconer - I would love to see falconers have the ability to channel a skill to see/control there falcon in the sky to be used for scouting from the air
Anti tank class (Soulbow maybe) - Wouldnt midn seeing a class where there base dmg is lower that all skills however there attacks penetrate armor so they do more dmg than players on tanks but less dmg on lightly armored as a trade off, Soul bow might make sense here basicly his attacks target the soul over the physical being there for bypassing armor but overall they have much less dps basicly they be cxounter to tanks but weaker to ligherly armored.
Anti aoe class, I would like to see a class probaly a tank class like a spell shield possibly that has the ability to pop a short duration shield that greatly reduces aoe dmg this is to allow for a way to bust through choke points in seiges without being aoe to death trying to get through a door way by 50+ players :P having a couple of these in a seige would allow for a couple groups to push through and distracted the aoe player in there form the doorway for everyone else to push though.
Summoner
Enchanter (Summoner/Bard) This play style would forgo traditionals pet summons to more summons that augment via enchanting enemy/allies equipment this would play more as a support role however does do some dmg still, Some of there enchants will apply a negative or possitive effect depending if used on enemy for example casting a weapon weight enchant would be lighter for allies (Allow for faster attack) or heavier weapon on enemy slowing there attacks, They can enchant equipment to be more resistant to certain dmg types. enchants should be low mana cost but constantly drain mana over time till they get removed from there targets, there should be a way to regain mana aswell mayve enchanting an animated weapon which will attack enemies gaining a stacking buff to where the enchanting dismisses the weapon they regain mana based on the buff count.
Necromancer (summoner/cleric) - Summons undead summoners these pets applies debuffs depends on the current summon and necro have spell that interact with the debuffs for example summon ghoul applieds disease debuff which stacks 10 times reduces healing by 5% per stack however a necro spekll can transform this debuff into a DoT when they use a certain spells in there kit, i feel they should have life steal spell in there kit and maybe a way to transfer their heal to heal their summons (Or maybe players too)
Beastmaster - Kinda wouldnt mind seeing this class be able to transform into the beasts they summonm too getting a new skill set could be interesting
Ranger
Strider (Ranger/fighter) This one i think should be all about swapping from melee to range so zipping in and out of melee and range, melee attacks should apply buff to the range attacks and range atatcks should buff there melee to incentise swapping weapons (Should probaly get a dash to get into melee and a disengage ability to accomodate)
Falconer - I would love to see falconers have the ability to channel a skill to see/control there falcon in the sky to be used for scouting from the air
Anti tank class (Soulbow maybe) - Wouldnt midn seeing a class where there base dmg is lower that all skills however there attacks penetrate armor so they do more dmg than players on tanks but less dmg on lightly armored as a trade off, Soul bow might make sense here basicly his attacks target the soul over the physical being there for bypassing armor but overall they have much less dps basicly they be cxounter to tanks but weaker to ligherly armored.
Anti aoe class, I would like to see a class probaly a tank class like a spell shield possibly that has the ability to pop a short duration shield that greatly reduces aoe dmg this is to allow for a way to bust through choke points in seiges without being aoe to death trying to get through a door way by 50+ players :P having a couple of these in a seige would allow for a couple groups to push through and distracted the aoe player in there form the doorway for everyone else to push though.
1
Comments
Irelia from league could work for her however i think thet be better fior fighter/summoner
I want a return to large hotbars with many active, accessible abilities at any time and not a global cooldown. Each ability should have its own mp cost and cooldown based on its impact and effect.
In games like ESO the opposite is observed. A character has so many skills, but can only slot 12.
And in ESO you have access only to 12 active abilities but you have hundreds of passive abilities boosting those 12 abilities. I call that passive playstyle. Passive build.
1) Even though you have unlocked so many active abilies from your class, weapon, cults and so on an so on you must select 12/100 abilities and that's it. That's your playstyle after all this time of building your character. 12/100
2) You cannot incorporate critical thinking or strategically react to whatever is thrown at you. You only have 12 abilities and you must perform that rotation even if your enemy could be a tank, a nuker, or summoner or a rogue. Your 12 ability rotation is locked, and you cant access the rest of the 100 abilities you unlocked.
3) The hundreds out of thousand passives available that your character has working 24/7 have locked you into a a very narrow objective.
Your passives may for example focus on direct dmg, not aoe dmg, not dot dmg.
Passives that focus on physical dmg, not poison or burn or bleed.
So if you have chosen to empower the penetration, crit rate, mp cost reduction attributes of your direct dmg active abilities you slotted in your 12 skills hotbar, that's it.
You wont slot a dot ability, which you could use if you chanced upon an enemy that has low defence but high mobility. The dot would hurt that enemy even if he ran away from you.
You wont slot an AoE ability that you could use against a summoner or against multiple players.
Situational abilities are awesome and lead to very interesting pvp that requires a ton of knowledge of the game and general awareness of your surroundings.
I want to be able to slot my direct dmg abilities for my main dmg source.
I want to have room for my dot abilities in case of a fight against somebody who is good at evading hits.
I want my crushing abilities that factor armor penetration and less crit chance for example. You know... in case I go against a tank.
I want room for a couple of ranged abilities that I can use agsinst enemies that are good at maintaining distance.
I want room for my selfbuffs, consumables and utility abilities.
Not a small hotbar.
AoC will let us choose an archtype, spice it up with a combo, draw power from our weapons and also learn the secrets of various cults and organizations.
I want access to MORE than 12 active abilities for MY playstyle.
I wont be able to use all of them all the time, but if I need to react to a specific situation I want to have MANY of them slotted.
Not having to swap skills out of the hotbar every other step, depending on what I encounter next.
Summoner/rogue Shadowmancer:
There’s several mage primary classes I’m interested in as well, but once again my most interested combo includes a rogue secondary Mage/Rogue Shadow caster:
Another mage primary Mage/Bard Sorcerer:
So many more I wonder about but those are my top 3. I really hope we get more class augment school information soon so we can further speculate on what separates all the classes from one another.
So I would hope that there would be a few builds that would not rely on constant, twitchy play, a style more like EverQuest than Mortal Combat. I would not want the game watered down for players like me at the expense of vastly more players who would seek to excel at a combat style of keeping up fast combos for hours.
From what I understand, this might be accomplished by having at least some abilities for some weapons for some classes with a longer delay than the majority of the twitchy attacks. By playing within such a palate of slower abilities, one could have more sustainable pace.
Ashes of Creation has a lot of great ideas, and I really want to see this game succeed. I'd really like to participate myself, without my character being utterly impotent at PvP.
But I wouldn't want the game ruined either.
I'm probably going cleric so here's some cleric ideas I think would be cool:
Cleric/Bard (Scryer): This is a class I have high hopes for, if done right it could be more useful than pure cleric in raids I think. For this class I think it should give different buffs in addition to healing. It would be very useful if your AoE heal now to also boosts DPS and everyone would be trying to stand inside the AoE while burning down a raid boss. Also maybe on the cleric whip attack or spear throw it can also give the target a debuff like slowed slightly or 10% damage reduction. I'm just thinking of bards and all the buffs and debuffs they could apply that would be fun to mix with healing abilities.
Cleric/Tank (Apostle): Of course with the tank secondary I would hope for some damage mitigation abilities for yourself but not only that, I would love to see you be able to pop magic shields on people you heal, or give them extra defense/damage mitigation with some heals.
Cleric/Ranger (Protector): Would be awesome to shoot people with healing arrows. Also the AoE damage spell instead you could shoot one glowing golden arrow in the sky and it rains down arrows on that AoE zone. Also instead of throwing a light spear its just a big light arrow.
Cleric/Mage (Oracle): It would be cool if this class added in some splash damage and elemental effects like on the cleric whip if it was coated in lightning and when you strike someone lightning can arc off that person to anyone also within 5 feet or something. On the spear throw it could be a flame spear and on impact it explodes and does a small AoE fire damage and knockback. For the AoE heal and damage circle it could be a ball of ice you launch and splashes into a frozen zone of ice on the ground that does damage and heals that also slows any enemies that wander into it.
Cleric/Summoner (Shaman): First of all, a cleric summon... Gotta have spiritual weapon like from dungeons and dragons! A giant holy hammer slamming on enemies or a holy spear at appears over their head and stab down onto them. Also another cool nod to DnD would be if you make the AoE heal/damage zone just like spiritual guardians, have a bunch of little fairies swarming around healing allies and damaging foes. I personally would also love to have a little flying summon that can shoot out small auto heals to whoever is lowest within my range, but some people might feel that's too easy mode haha maybe I'm just bad at healing and need some help lol
Cleric/Rogue (Shadow Disciple): Some cool ideas for this class would be if when the cleric throws down the AoE heal/damage circle it now has a poison effect and anyone who was in the AoE or enters the AoE will have a damage over time applied even if they leave the circle. Also maybe the whip can apply a small bleed effect. I was trying to think of ways maybe stealth could play a factor but I'm not sure which skills stealth could be applied to for the cleric lol.
Cleric/fighter (Templar): Honestly I cant think of many cool ways the fighter could add to the cleric. If you guys have some cool ideas let me know.
For tank i realy want each tank class to specilise in a certain aspect in some way
Tank/Tank - specilised in physical attacks defence kinda weak to magic attacks tends to be your standard MMO tank absorbs alot of physical dmg not to much tricks to him
Tank/Mage (Spell shield) this one your anti mage tank not as strong to physical attacks but great at absorbing magic attacks (Should get an aoe 80% dmg reduction buff for 5 seconds or something to AoE attacks to i think (This is to chokepoint bust during keeps seiges and things)
Tank summoner has a tanky pet that can be used to off tank or taunt mobs off the tank allowing him to get topped up kinda thing
Tank/Rogue - Evasive tank mitigate advoid attacks rather than eats them
Tank/Cleric - a weaker tank/tank but makes up for it with some healing
Tank/Bard - average defence/MR but offers more support maybe replenishes mana buff to allow to help sustain healer since he need more healers due to lower defence than your tank/tank makeup
Fighter/Mage (Spellsword) This classes gains mana (Or a power meter) by melee attacks and they consume this bar via their spells which often has range. So there meleeing and when people get out of melee range they can consume a bar they built up for there magic attacks.
Taunting players in PvP imo should reduce there dmg output to everyone else but the person who taunted them there should be of course some indication to show who taunted you aswell. Lets say taunt reduces dmg output of a person by 75% to everyone but that person who taunted them for 5 second or so or till the person who taunted you takes x dmg from you.
Easy way is taunt applies debuff to enemy and urself, debuff reduces enemy dmg output by 75% unless hitting somone with the debuff (So person who taunted) the debuff also highlights the player who taunted can be likea giant floating arrow or change the character model colour or what not.
I do say taunt should do something in PvP otherwise u have a useless skill for Pvp which doesnt feel good.
Ashes will have Tab Target Skills, threat forcing the enemy players to take your target and not letting they get other target for a sort duration (the same way it worked in both Lineage 2 and Archeage) can probably be taken for granted, as for Action Skills as stated by @Veeshan the best way to make threat work against them is by making it debuff the enemy by reducing the damage they cause to players other than the one who taunted them.
Aren't we all sinners?
This is how taunts work in PvP in SWtOR basically. I personally loved it and main tank in that game. Tanks are hugely important in PvP in that game
Aion also did an amazing job with their tank classes in PvP. They dish out a reasonable amount of damage but their big thing in that game is the amount of control they give over the battle field with knock downs/backs, stuns and pulls.
I could see the tank/bard Argent working somewhat like the chanter from Aion. The chanter also had lots of knock downs/disruption(everything does in that game), but it’s main gimmick was the 3 mantras (static AoE buffs) they could have up at a time. The “mantras” would effect the group if they were close to the character, and even though you had general ones that were preferred to be up you would rotate through them as necessary.
I like the idea of tank/bard placing buffs on allies that would cause negative effects to enemies when that ally is attacked. So many possibilities with that; damage, mezzes, slows to movement/attack speed, all or partial damage being redirected to the caster of the buffs, reflecting damage from attackers. Sounds fun.
I think the cleric fighter should encourage a agresive playstile to His team,like giving lifesteal bonus,and maybe a Small percentage of His damage could heal His allies making like the most offensive clerical
All this ideas look great to me ,but maybe we áre dreaming too much Haha.
It's the Active Skills that define the Primary Archetype role, so any of the 8 types of x/Cleric should be sufficient. Same for any of the 8 types of x/Tank.
It's mostly just a matter of personal style - especially with regard to how you synergize your augments with the other members of your group.
Cleric/Fighter would be adding some damage to the Cleric's heals - or adding Physical damage to Active Skills that deal Magical damage. In some ways, could be a very mobile "vampire" - dotting around the combat field draining the life from foes.
I think it would be super cool to see a ranged tank using their minions to control mob/boss positioning. Sounds like something that could have I high ceiling cap for the type of plays it could make.
I had a whole line up of how their abilities could flex for that style too.
Out of all the healers in all the mmos, the DoK from Warhammer has been my favorite. The melee version since that class could be a caster or melee healer. I wish to see more of this play-style where a healer is more like the tank/dps where your focus is on surviving and killing and less on babysitting.
My ideal playstyle would be like the Warhammer DoK dpsing and healing at the same time. You would have your close range AoE HoT heals, your large single target heals for emergencies and something like the ability to split a portion of your dmg to heals that can be applied on another player both single target and aoe form, this would make up the majority of your healing.
One thing I did like about Lost Ark was the mentality that comes when there is a limitation on when you can be healed. The healer is not responsible for keeping you alive, YOU are responsible for keeping yourself alive by evading attacks until the healer can heal you. Even if this is too much to ask at least you'll have more fun healing as one of these healers.
I can see the Cleric/Fighter being sort of like a Holy Paladin in World of Warcraft. The main focus is on buffing and healing teammates but you do so mainly through your offensive abilities. Was always a blast for me!