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.
Guesses and Theories on Pre-Portal Mages, Summoners, and Clerics?
Tyranthraxus
Member, Alpha Two
@Freemeta brought up an interesting point, in another, un-related thread: Since we know there will be a Sanctus story-arc, how's that going to work for the magic-based classes?
Are we guessing at a tutorial/basic-gameplay intro, or might it be deep enough to see us level a couple of levels - and if so, how's that possibly going to work for the magic-based classes?
Are we guessing at a tutorial/basic-gameplay intro, or might it be deep enough to see us level a couple of levels - and if so, how's that possibly going to work for the magic-based classes?
1
Comments
Sanctus is a key story arc, that will likely have very little revealed about it prior to the Betas.[3] – Steven Sharif
The Verdant Keeper... are a sect of people that keep track of all the things that are necessary to have successful crops and to grow things and to make sure that the cultivation of these things allows a society or civilization to keep growing. So in the transition from Verra to Sanctus these people had to relearn how to grow things without magic. There were druid like people before and now we have to go to this place where there's no magic to support those things. So they spend their time learning about the world and learning about it in sort of a scientific way and keeping track of all of these seasons of the different years, of the decades, of the centuries that go by to sort of create a map for themselves and for the civilizations that they support: Kind of a means to be successful in growing crops and keeping people healthy and happy.[24] – Jeffrey Bard
And a final caveat, no use twisting yourself into lore knots until it is revealed. Steven's ideas were the base, but the imagined lore from earlier quotes has been cleaned up by the team handling that aspect. Your "plot holes" will be filled.
I dunno. Am having a hard time imagining the start of the game being as plain as a menu with "choose your portal"; I imagine it'll be an in-game choice, on which one to walk a character through, manually.
The start area could be an instance, where you talk with a few NPCs and chose your start gear and based on some choices you end up in a place or another on Vera.
Another solution could be like a slideshow with text and NPCs shown with greater detail. The slideshow could have many more ramifications than a 3D environment, specific for each race and class and other things. And finally a short movie ending with you entering the portal.
Anything's better than just a portal-option at the end of the character creator.
At present? Yours truly suspects it'll be a "use these buttons to move like this", "interact with stuff by clicking them like this" tutorial. There'll probably be a short quest-line that *doesn't* garner you any experience - but will probably offer some minor extras like a collection-title that is only available in the start area. Probably gives the "general history" of Sanctus, and a hint at what histories have instead devolved into legend.
This makes the most sense to me, in a world bereft of magic for the magic-based classes. Otherwise, you'd have to come up with an explanation about how magics have never worked, and then suddenly *do*, on Sanctus, for the level 1 magic-classes.
AoC class wish: https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/422108#Comment_422108
With the portal open, it's possible that *some* affinity to Essence and magic could be accessable on Sanctus, before a magic-based character goes through to Verra. It would also fit the roleplay - since you'd be low-level and not-yet-adept at your magics.
This would probably result in more players with similar game-play styles playing together, on each server.
In the end, though, it feels appropriate for players to be able to choose their starting locations.
I don't think characters can be "magic-based" while they are on Sanctus.
It's possible characters could be versed in magic theory - the equivalent of understanding ancient Verran Alchemy, but that theory just doesn't work on Sanctus.
Sanctus just does not have enough Mana for Verran magic to work.
Examples from our current world:
- You could study how to speak Irish (Gaelic) in your home country, but it is no use to you until you get to Ireland where you are slightly understood, but you still have so much to learn once you can use it.
- You can read books and study how to use a sword, but until you take a fencing class you only have theoretical knowledge. Enroll in a class and practice to really start learning.
So, studying a bit of magic in Sanctus is like learning a bit of Irish or swordplay, but until you really do it (jump to Verra) and start using it, you don't really know what you are doing. Until you have that sword in your hand, you don't know how to really fight.
This is an interesting statement. It reminds me to The Riftwar Saga where worlds were connected through a rift which once closed made the magician Pug to not be able to tap into powers from the other side. So I remember, was long time ago.
another question:
if background are related to sanctus this could really limit their influence (and as pen and paper player i really love background, traits and drawbacks (more than racials)
AoC class wish: https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/422108#Comment_422108
This is akin to my theory, for the time-being. Since the portal is open, it *might* make sense that something like levels 1-5 magic could work on Sanctus.