Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Options
Relic System
Baneful
Member
When I first encountered the Relic system, I was genuinely intrigued and excited. It’s a very cool and creative concept. However, that excitement started to fade once I realized how much control and decision-making it takes out of the player’s hands. In its current form, the system seems to revolve around a single individual—like a mayor—deciding how those powerful effects are used, which can make the rest of the players feel disconnected from it.
That got me thinking—why not expand on this awesome idea and make it more personal? Imagine a similar system tailored to the individual, something like a “boon.” These could be rare drops found naturally in the world—chopping down trees could give you a small chance to discover a boon that increases lumber yield, and comes with an active ability to temporarily boost your chopping speed, balanced by a cooldown.
Or say you defeat a world boss, like a dragon, and earn a draconic scale. It could offer a passive bonus, like a bit of fire damage resistance, and an active ability that, when timed right, grants temporary immunity to fire-based effects or ailments.
A system like this could bring the same sense of wonder and customization as the Relic system, but in a way that empowers every individual player. While relics offer large-scale, community-driven effects, boons could provide a more personal layer of progression and tactical depth that everyone can benefit from.
That got me thinking—why not expand on this awesome idea and make it more personal? Imagine a similar system tailored to the individual, something like a “boon.” These could be rare drops found naturally in the world—chopping down trees could give you a small chance to discover a boon that increases lumber yield, and comes with an active ability to temporarily boost your chopping speed, balanced by a cooldown.
Or say you defeat a world boss, like a dragon, and earn a draconic scale. It could offer a passive bonus, like a bit of fire damage resistance, and an active ability that, when timed right, grants temporary immunity to fire-based effects or ailments.
A system like this could bring the same sense of wonder and customization as the Relic system, but in a way that empowers every individual player. While relics offer large-scale, community-driven effects, boons could provide a more personal layer of progression and tactical depth that everyone can benefit from.
1
Comments
The idea behind the relic system is that it has to be tied to nodes. The reason is that the relics will be finite amount, and there can be unique relics that are 1 per server. For this to work there should be ways for this relic to be stolen / transferred to another node. And the way this will be accomplished is by siege wars.
It ties up different systems together to form 1 whole ecosystem.
You farm/kill bosses/explore/complete dungeons and ect. to get Relic.
You use the relic on a node which gives bonuses.
Other get envious and want to get your relic so they:
do node wars/resource fights and ect to get the declaration war scroll + weaken the node
then they declare siege to steal the relic
After the siege the Node falls which gives chance to other nodes to increase their level that were previously blocked by the node with the relic
This opens diferent dungeons / bosses/ resources and ect
By farming them you discover another relic and things turn around
When I first saw the Relic system, I was super hyped too, it’s a unique and creative concept. But yeah, once you realize it's mostly in the hands of mayors or a few leaders, it can start to feel like regular players are just spectators.
Your idea about adding personal “boons” is honestly awesome. It would be a great way to balance things, keeping relics as big, strategic, community-driven effects, while giving individuals something meaningful and fun to discover on their own. I love the thought of finding a rare boon while chopping trees or looting a dragon scale after a boss fight. That kind of surprise progression adds a sense of magic to the world.
And since we’re still in Alpha, this is exactly the kind of feedback that could influence future development. Hope Intrepid sees this, because it really adds a whole new layer of depth and player agency.
Thanks for putting it out there, great post. And Ofc for take the time to write all this.
This is the basic concept of the game as a whole.
Node, guilds, castles, taxes, even the resource system. The idea of this game is that the few players at the top can influence how the rest of the players are able to play.
This is how Steven played Archeage, and was always how he intended Ashes to play out.