Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about 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.
Comments
It is hard to pick specific "favorite skills", since its less about the individual skill, and more about its role in the overall combat system that makes it fun.
I do like skills that synergize with each other so you can chain them together on reaction to what the opponent is doing (like reacting to an aggressive opponent by using a high knockback/pushing cc skill, then chaining into a long range offensive option)
Skill ideas
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/54950/proactive-reactive-offense-defense-movement-options-baked-in-at-various-ranges#latest
Favorite combat system/skills
https://crosscode.fandom.com/wiki/Combat_Arts
When referencing that website link, the skills are organized on the chart by
1. element (neutral, heat, cold, shock and wave)
2. by combat function (dash, guard, melee, throw)
3. by progression level
4. by skill tree option (having to choose between different skill options within that category)
I love all the abilities because they all have niche uses and there are a lot of synergies that are naturally inclined to be chained together sequentially.
- The cold skills are good at defense by impeding the opponent and blocking damage (through ice walls, and silencing effects like freezing). Cold is also good at helping to maintain a gap once it is established through (through slowing and freezing effects).
- The heat skills are good at offense (through high raw damage skills and damage over time status effects like burn).
- The shock skills are good at aggressive movement (like fast and long ranged dashes, and stun status effects that help you close the gap) and crossing up opponents to create distance in the opposite direction (fast/long dashes, and status effects like slowing/freezing time down for the enemy while you continue to move, and stun status effects that let you create gaps).
- The wave skills are good at kiting/creating gaps away from the enemy (like knockback effects, spawning decoys), and helping with sustain (through life leech effects).
- The neutral skills are more balanced and using them lets you recharge your elements.
This becomes very interesting since you can switch elements on the fly to get the desired effects, which lets you adjust your playstyle and strategize around the situation at hand.
You might notice that each of those roles aligns with each of the basic combat functions
dash= wave/shock (create or close gap depending on direction)
guard= cold (defense)
throw= heat (ranged damage)
melee= heat (close quarters damage)
So, you are naturally incentivized to switch between elements based on what action you are doing in the moment, which creates a really fun flow and feel, and the need to manage when you need to use an element, vs. when you can use neutral to recharge you elemental resource.
Its also not that simple, as there are situations where you want to use a different element for that function. Like, for throw, you shouldn't automatically switch to heat every time you use a throw skill, because then you are sacrificing the ability to kite as good, meaning you can lose the gap you created, so sometimes you are better off either keeping wave on to continue to kite, or to switch to cold to maintain the gap through slows/barriers, and when you have a comfortable positional advantage at range and have some spare time, you can optimize your damage by switching to heat. So its more about recognizing what your current situational combat goal is (like creating a gap, maintaining it, dealing damage, etc.) in the moment, and using the associated element to fill that role, even if that specific combat action (like dash, guard, etc.) is more geared toward a certain element.
Also, sometimes you don't have time to switch elements as it is too risky, and so you need to use the currently enabled element. This means you might need to use a skill from that forced element to help fill a similar role of the element you would normally use in that situation. (such as wanting to switch to cold to use a guard skill, but you are forced to stay in wave, so you need to use a wave guard skill instead). This is why there is some overlap in the elemental skills, which makes it more necessary to strategize what skills you choose in the skill tree for each element, since you might need to have something that can fill a similar role as a different element for situations like that, or if you would prefer to fully specialize in that element's natural role instead.
The other aspect that is really neat is that as you level up your skills, you can still use the lower tiered versions. It just becomes a charge mechanic to access the higher tiers ones during battle. This makes for even more ability variety and it adds some skill expression of planning/reacting to decide in the moment which tier of ability you want to use. It also adds a risk vs. reward aspect of using "weaker" skills that don't burn as much resource, vs "stronger" skills that burn way more resource.
Skill examples
examples from Crosscode:
A-
The standard throw (the basic throw combat action, not one of the neutral throw skills) is very fun, as you can spam a high fire-rate projectile that has travel time, which is satisfying and skillful to use. It also has an automatic charge feature that boosts status effect procc chances for the different elements, and allows for ricocheting off walls, which makes for some really fun "snipes" to apply status conditions to stubborn enemies. Its also super cool that it charges in the background, so you can dodge around and have a charge shot ready to go as soon as you stop, which makes for a really fun "peekaboo" playstyle where you can dodge around a lot, and either go for perfect parries in between dodging, or snipe enemies before kiting some more.
B-
The level 1 and 2 cold dash arts (indigo strike and indigo rush)
These are really fun because of how tactical they are. You can create a ice barriers in any direction you dash, and you can use that to weave around back and forth to get shots off of your own while protecting yourself from enemy shots. It also lets you maintain distance in a more organic/skillful way by moving around the wall tactically in response to the enemy's attempts at approaching.
C-
The level 1 and 2 wave melee arts (ki thrust and spirit blast)
These are really fun "get off me" tools when you are feeling pressured up close, as they have a ton of knockback which is very satisfying. It also sets you up to chain into follow up attacks as well since it changes the combat situation from a short range engagement into a long range one.
D-
The decoy option for the wave dash arts (level 1 warp decoy, level 2 toxic revenant, and level 3 gungnir)
These are great for creating a gap and setting yourself up to kite, since the enemy will prioritize the decoy, allowing you to retreat.
E-
The dash option for the shock dash arts (level 1 lightning dart and level 2 lightning prophecy)
These are really fun for kiting in an aggressive way, by crossing up the enemy. You can get a lot of distance out of lighning prophecy since it is 3 manually placed dashes in a row, which makes for a fun and tactical skill. "Tesla waltz" is a comparable melee version of this, which is really fun since it lasts a while so you can linger on the enemies for a bit and apply a lot of damage before moving away, which is a great example of the nuance of decision making of "using a movement option but getting some more damage out of it if you have the resources to burn"
F-
The freeze status inflicting option for the cold guard arts (levels 1 frozen stance, level 2 freeze frame, and level 3 crystal keeper)
This one is super satisfying, as you turn the enemy's attacks against them. It is also skillful since you get a little icon that you have to aim in tbe enemy's direction and they have to make contact with that icon's area to apply the effect. It also doesn't last very long, so its not just about "turtling" into an invincible shield in an exessive or unfair manner. Its more of a perfect parry type of use-case, but with more benefits.
G-
The level 3 cold throw art (gatling artillery)
This one is just awesome and super fun/satisfying. From the insane fire rate/damage to the responsiveness, knockback, and feeling of impact, there is a lot to like.
H-
The heat throw arts (level 1 burn and level 2 flare burn)
The flamethrower one is very satisfying and responsive stream of fire, which is very useful since its a reliable way of applying a burn status. Flare burn is awesome since it can shoot over top of obstacles, and is great for clumps of enemies.
I-
The life leech option from the wave throw arts (level 1 essence drain, level 2 vital pulse, and level 3 wave motion beam)
These are fun because they reward you for being in good postioning/planning ahead. You should use these when you create a comfortable gap and have defenses set up already, where you can then farm some hp back before going back on the offensive.
Overall, most of the skills are fun and useful, but those are some that stand out to me.
shadow magic. Besides the classic rolls of swashbuckler, assassin, cutpurse etc. Consider shadow magic using Denzin's of the Dark, with spells like tarpit slowing and controlling movement. maybe minions of shadow. Just food for thought.
-the combination of using Lightning Flash meanwhile casting meteor shower which has a channeling time, and would allow me to reposition
- Shocking Aura
- hunters call
- Swoop (soulbeast leap) https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Swoop_(soulbeast)
- feeding frenzy
- Nature Renewal
- Thump (untamed)
- Healing Spring
- Cleansing Wave
- Tidal_Surge
- pretty much all the skills from harbinger shroud set aka necromancer Devouring_Cut
- Foul_Current
- Magnetic_Aura
- Lava_Skin
- Blinding_Flash
- Dust_Devil
- Overload_Water
- Overload_Earth
- Overload_Air
- Mirage_Advance
- Axes_of_Symmetry
- Lingering_Thoughts
- Chaos_Storm
(mainly from elementalist, necromancer, mesmer and ranger plus some of their elite specializations)
from dd2(dragons dogma 2):
- sorcerer: meteoron and maelstrom aka tornado (really love these 2), High Seism, High Hagol;
- magick archer: Sagittate Avalanche
from bg3:
-warlock: Hunger of Hadar https://baldursgate3.wiki.fextralife.com/Hunger+of+Hadar
-wizard/sorcerer/warlock: Circle of Death
-druid/sorcerer/wizard: Sleet Storm
-cleric/druid/sorcerer: Insect Plague
-cleric/druid/paladin/sorcerer/ranger: Daylight
-cleric light domain: Radiance of the Dawn
-paladin: Thunderous Smite
from Hogwarts legacy:
-obviously lumos
-Crucio https://hogwarts-legacy.fandom.com/wiki/Crucio
-Bombarda
I feel that all the classes need more breakstuns/cc options (in gw2 every class had a good amount of breakstuns to choose and pick from), also clerics need more aoe heals for large scale fights selecting single individuals i dont see it work at all.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Aura as for the shell spell it could reflect projectiles as well
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Cleansing_Wave
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shocking_Aura
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tidal_Surge
a combination of a teleport like https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lightning_Flash implemented in an incanting spell like meteoron (dd2 meteor shower) so it allows to reposition, since moving cancels the casting
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Overload_Air casting a storm while able to move as well while doing it, combining with https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blinding_Flash in one skill
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Overload_Earth + https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dust_Devil as a finisher
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Overload_Water
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lava_Skin
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Hunter's_Call
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Feeding_Frenzy_(ranger_skill)
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Nature's_Renewal
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Thump_(untamed)
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Swoop_(soulbeast)
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Harbinger_Shroud the entire skill set
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Foul_Current (instead for land)
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mirage_Advance
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Axes_of_Symmetry
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lingering_Thoughts
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Storm (more of a static field than an actual storm)
dd2(dragons dogma 2)
sorcerer: Maelstrom (aka tornado), Meteoron, High Seism (stone eruptions), High Hagol (Summons a huge blizzard)
magick archer: Sagittate Avalanche (conjures and fires a multitude of magickal arrows), Ricochet Hunter (could of hit multiple targets in a radius instead), Frosthunter Bolt (inflicts frostbite)
bg3:
https://baldursgate3.wiki.fextralife.com/Hunger+of+Hadar (huge dark cloud)
https://baldursgate3.wiki.fextralife.com/Circle+of+Death
https://baldursgate3.wiki.fextralife.com/Insect+Plague
hogwarts legacy:
crucio (Curse) and bombarda
Also as for melee nothing ever felt as satisfying as the heavy blunt overpower attack from Assassin's Creed Odyssey
p.s: combo fields maybe pls 😁
Bluff
Tricks the enemy to show its back.
Life to Soul
Cannibalizes your own life to increase your physical attack and increases life steal.
Contagion
Aggravates a bleeding wound and hemorrhage with additional attacks, and spreads it to surrounding targets.
Demonic Rush
The longer you run in combat status, the more stackable buffs you gain that increase attack and evasion.
Death Mark
Stigmatize target with Deduff - increases the chance of receiving a critical hit.
Checkmate
(enabled only on targets with the Death Mark debuff) Makes three quick stabs at your enemy's vital organs. Causes high damage to those marked by Death Mark, ignoring shield defense.
Veil
Blurs enemy's (only mobs) vision, discouraging aggressive behavior.
Fake Death
Makes play dead and dissuades the enemy (only Mobs) from attacking. Continuously consumes MP.
Chameleon Rest
Allows you to sit and rest while being protected from a monster's pre-emptive attack. MP will be consumed continuously.
Lure
Quietly lures only one enemy (only mob).
Sixth Sense
When stamina is almost used up, the sense reaches its peak. Increases Evasion when HP is lower than 30 percent.
Initiative
When hidden and out of combat status applies a buff to himself, which he loses when performing the first hit, gives you a X% chance to critically strike on your first attack or ability.
Currently in Ashes the best cleric spells I feel are: Deliverance epically with the passive added. It is a good long cast time heal that you can stop casting and get an immediate effect. It also has a good mana to heal ratio.
Defiant light: a great hot with some added effects, when you put it on your target you can tell it is working and that always feels good to a cleric.
Restorative consecrating wave: A great fast heal and damage spell that is fun to use in any situation.
Divine flare: good utility with the silence and a must have in any kit.
Bless weapon: a good passive that keeps the cleric functioning even without a bard around to help great spell.
Soothing glow: a good solid hot but nothing super special about it, but a needed element of any healing kit.
Other games:
EQ: loved complete heal in the clerics kit it was always fun to see how low you could get your tank before he was full life again. the long cast time made it an interesting game.
Daoc: The group insta heal was really strong and helped so much in pvp battles. another spell i loved in that game was the healing pool ability, i cant remember the name but basically it was a ability you could use and it created a healing pool for the group that would heal players during a fight and you could put it up for a long duration until the hp it could heal was fully used.
Issues with a few things on the cleric kit in Ashes.
1) Purify: good overall spell however, when fighting most mobs in ashes the purged effect just get put onto the player again so fast at times you cant even get off a instant heal. Give the purify spell an immunity aspect to it as well giving a 3sec window where the same effect can not be put on the target. This would help this spell a lot
2) Communal restoration: this spell has such low heal power it makes it almost useless in a real situation. If this spell healed more or put up a bigger damage shield or a larger hot it would be more useful and used more often imo.
3) mend: while it looks cool and it can be a good heal, you cant use it on a target while hover healing... this needs to be fixed then it would become a cool ability.
4) Wings of salvation: This spell needs to do something more like giving the cleric a hot since they just leapt into a fight while using this spell or give the cleric a 3 to 5 sec movement buff so they can race out of danger again.
Keep up the great work, and thank you for let us give you feedback.
Best abilitites from other games:
DAOC Enchanter/Eldritch/Runemaster/Ice Wizard: Bomb!
A point-blank area of effect (PBAOE) spell where the wizard hammered his staff into the ground, creating a massive shockwave of ice. The damage was AOE from the center of the caster, and it was huge damage. The further you were from the wizard, the less damage you took. Often, the wizard had to stand in the middle of the mob pack, and if he was guarded by a tank, he could wipe out foes in no time. It felt awesome!
The idea of a point-blank AOE that scales with distance is such a cool mechanic. The fact that it encouraged wizards to stand in the middle of the fray for maximum impact added a level of risk and reward. In pvp group setups called: Bomb groups and important to note that one hit from a melee opponent would obtruct the wizard casting.
DAOC Tank Guard Ability
In DAOC, the Armsman, Warrior, and Hero classes (i.e., tanks) had the guard ability. These three classes could guard other players. It wasn’t a fixed percentage of damage that the tank took from other players; rather, there was a chance to absorb the entire hit. Every time it happened, a small animation played.
This was a really neat idea: tanks being able to guard other players, with a chance to fully absorb damage. I loved how it wasn’t just a flat mitigation number, but also had interactive, visual feedback when you successfully absorbed a hit for someone else. It made the player feel like they were actively protecting others.
DAOC: Bard/Healer/Sorcerer – CC Classes
Take a look at their CC kit. It’s awesome: AOE snare, AOE sleep, AOE stun, etc. I wish these types of CC abilities were part of AoC!
Honorable Mention: DAOC Nearsight
Nearsight was a castable ability that made the enemy nearsighted, often used on other mage classes, reducing their range by 10-40%.
DAOC Realm Abilities
The realm abilities were a beautifully crafted endgame system. Tons of choices between active and passive abilities, all laid out in tiers:
https://darkageofcamelot.com/content/realm-abilities
Something like this would be cool to implement a longside dual classes.
(Cleric main here)
Bless weapon with all the different dimensions the talents give it to me makes what could be a very bland ability much more interesting.
I love Deliverance for the wind up mechanic. Just adds a lot of depth and engagement into what could be a very boring/customary ability otherwise.
I like how Res is just another ability and there's no combat restraint just the implication you're a very attractive target.
Which spells or abilities stand out the most to you from games you’ve played in the past?
I love the League champ Seraphine. Her W heal and wind up to shield. Her note charges which impact how her abilities perform when used at that time. And her ultimate feels so good. Also, a shout out to Bard in that game. His ult is really interesting and fun to use as well.
In Overwatch I loved Mercy for managing ult charges more than anything and while I'm dodging everyone like a firefly 8 lattes in. In Rivals I'm enjoying Cloak and Dagger for debuffing enemies at the right time and dodging aggressors while cycling my healing abilities and my ult to counter ult.
In pen and paper I love spells like Sleep, Enlarge Person, Confusion, and Wall of Force. I like control spells that have a big impact but might be less flashy or "boom" but when used people are like "oh shit."
I also love WoW Holy Priest's holy words and lightweaving. They feel good in a gameplay loop to do. The upcoming patch (minus the lean into renew) I like the improvements they're doing to Lightweaving in the next patch.
What made them special to you?
I like playing characters that support others through healing and buffs with their gameplay revolving around decision making due to resource management. I also really enjoy impactful with crowd control abilities that may not be the most flashy/damaging.
Outside of Ashes, even though it seems kinda dumb to design spells/skills that are purposefully mediocre, I feel like small utility spells really help sell the class fantasy. An example would be that WoW's Druid had travel form, but (disregarding flying) it was only somewhat useful in specific situations like in water or minor run speed boost when outdoors. Minor bonus, but felt very "Druidic" to just transform into a water creature instead of using a potion of water-breathing.
Vanguard had it's necromancer class, and while there were many issues with many things in that game, the ability to upgrade your main pet by essentially harvesting corpses stuck with me as a really cool idea. It basically boils down to just pet equipment slots, but I liked how it fit the fantasy of continually upgrading your "creation."
Beyond movement, I also love malleable abilities--those that serve multiple functions and adapt to different situations. Guild Wars 2’s combat system does this exceptionally well, with skills that change based on weapon swaps, positioning, or game mode. Another favorite game of mine would be Destiny 2’s abilities (ai would also love to see Destiny 2's approach of puzzles and mechanic somehow implemt3d into Ashes).
What makes these abilities truly special to me is how they enable player creativity. The best abilities aren’t just raw damage numbers; they offer utility, mobility, or versatility, encouraging adaptive playstyles. I love abilities that let me express my own tactical choices...whether it’s repositioning dynamically, outplaying an opponent with clever ability usage, or supporting allies in unexpected ways.
For Ashes of Creation, I’d love to see abilities that aren’t just "press button, deal damage," but instead give players a sense of momentum, adaptability, and strategic depth. Movement mechanics that impact combat flow, spells with dual-purpose effects, or even abilities that shift based on environmental factors or synergy with party members could make gameplay feel even more engaging.
WAR engie had a flare ability where he would pop a flare that lit up the area then ended in a single target DOT. Also, WAR engie had a bomb turret; when then the bombs exploded the animation was like a tactical nuke went off, that was taken out later on. Better than both of those was the LOTD Skeleton Banner, that popped a squad of skeletons for a short amount of time, you had to earn it, and any class could use it.
My favorite AoC skills so far are the extended radius Shielding Dance and electric slide. Shortbow animation looks good but it is way too fast and should not be effective at zero-point range.
Something like Jecht in Dissidia FF.
Lightning abilities where you become faster and faster by casting them, but it also becomes harder to hold or increase the speed even more because you reach your reaction limit at some point.
Imagine you getting faster and becoming lightning itself step by step. Sounf of crackling thunder is not optional.
There's a cool looking enhanced ability of Kharazim in HOTS where from a single punch it becomes a furry of blows and it looks neat. He's a meele healer that heals by striking enemies, but imagine modifying that to be able to strike an ally and instead of fists he makes gusts of "holiness" with his open palms unto a friendly guy. Looks like punching a friend, but actually heals them.
A spell where you need help from others to cast it. Since it is powerful, enemies will try to interrupt it and that creates a cool dynamic where allies try to shield it.
I have played mage and rogue in WoW for 20 years, and I played mage in countless other games. I was a 2000-2300 RMP 3v3 arena junkie for TBC and WOTLK.
Mages are often controllers of the battlefield and typically have one of the highest skill-caps in a video game. They are one of the main things someone think of when they consider a fantasy MMO. Between sleeps, chill, counterspells, and potentially fire related stuns, most mmorgp's allow them to do master of the battlefield level crowd control, only second to tank. AoC's mage just feels like a low skill-cap battle mage. At its current state, I won't play the class long term and have to simply wait on rogue, which looks amazing.
Hoarfrost should freeze and be off the GCD. This would put the spell on par with the WoW classic mage's water elemental pet freeze. The purpose of this is to be able to synergize with other classes, like bard or Rogue chill, and allow us to combo better. I can't tell you how many times I've lost chill to diminishing returns because of other players. It feels REALLY bad. Hoarfrost being off GCD allows us to slip freeze in there as needed, which allows us to play they way we're supposed to be playing. You can notice a chill from afar while fighting player A, use Hoarfrost to freeze player B, and switch targets with a big shatter combo to win the fight. The range and GCD requirement of CoC is very dangerous and forces you to sacrifice your life to try and get a freeze. Meanwhile, we're extremely squishy. Ultimately, when dispells are more skillfully used (everyone is learning), the mages CoC freeze will be obviously coming and they will become useless. We need to be able to load up a lightning spell, and then throw down our freeze like 1 split second before it goes off. This gives 0 timing for dispell and allows a higher skilled player to achieve great combos. It feels amazing doing that in WoW. You can make CoC chill, which makes more sense to me anyway. They are close? Slow them to escape. Then, freeze as beeded.
My dream: Imagine keybinding lightning strike as shift F. Hoarfrost as Shift 2. You hold down shift F to load the Lightning Strike and as it's about to land you quickly drop Hoarfrost with shift 2. This would be a level of mage gameplay rarely seen in an MMO, but it would barely effect balancing.
I believe this is an extremely important issue for the mage class, but luckily the fix is very easy. I hope this is taken into consideration because I am not the first to mention it. Please unlock the mage.
1. What is the best ability or spell you’ve used and why?
I played only as Tank so far and the best ability i have used is the Shake it Off: Unyielding so you can actually survive few more seconds after being focused in big PVP battle with the combination of Dodge/Roll.
2. Which spells or abilities stand out the most to you from games you’ve played in the past?
- WotLK Classic:
Restoration Shaman - All skills, talents and totems feels really good with this Class Specialization.
Restoration Druid - Wild Growth where you can heal up to 5-6 withing 15 yards range of the initial target over 7 seconds. At first the Amount healed is applied quickly and then slows down.
Tranquility - Heals all Group Members every 2 seconds for 8 seconds and the skill must be channeled to maintain.
Gift of the Wild - Improving all Raid Armor, attributes and resistances.
- Lineage 2:
All passive skills felt really well and impact-full where you could learn the next tier of additional Power Defense, Magical Resistance, Shield Mastery for every level category 10-20;20-30;40-50;60-75.
Knight: Ultimate Defense - Instantly increases P. Def. and M. Def. significantly but you can't move.
Spellsinger: Hydro Blast - Water type ability(Shoots out a spray of highly pressurized water)
Since it was told we gonna have Elements such as - Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Electrical. I would like to suggest to add some Air, Water abilities as well.
3. What made them special to you?
All the abilities i have mentioned above felt really impact full and well designed. They felt amazing in every type of dungeon, raid or pvp scenario. I also really love the Water/Air abilities for the Visuals.
Best Regards,
I want a spell that starts off like this:
Animates like this:
Fires like this:
And becomes this:
I really like the tank reflection spell in the game it feels really good to pop that before big damage comes in, it feels like it rewards good gameplay.
Abilities I like from other games:
along the same lines I like the following types of abilities:
"for X sec incoming dmg becomes healing" or "for x seconds all dmg taken is turned into healing over y seconds:
These have a similar vibe although the first is more potent, if not used correctly these really don't do anything, that being said if used correctly they can really impact a boss fight or help a tank survive a pvp opener from a burst dps class, they usually have long cds but if timed well have great impact.
spell deflect/ full counter spells:
similar to the reflection already in the game having a spell with a very narrow timing window that deflects all damage or magic damage also feels really good in late game pve encounters and in pvp where you can influence the direction of a fight.
What is the best ability or spell you’ve used and why? Which spells or abilities stand out the most to you from games you’ve played in the past? What made them special to you?
Asherons Call:
All the magic abilities felt good. Why? Because player anatomy.
WoW:
Old School Windfury, why? Because it's death by a thousand cuts, nonstop damage. And the new Survival skills.
Diablo Series:
The Druid kit, see above, but especially Tornado and Ravens. Though the new Spiritborn looks like it applies the same concept. Or when we go into bear, the amount of survivability it gives.
GW:
The entire spell/class design.
GW2:
Mesmers entire kit, there's no one good spell, but the key take here is player autonomy and fluidity.
Engineers entire kit, though its a bit clunky and annoying, it's got autonomy and utility.
ESO:
Dual Wield rapid strikes is my all time favorite, because its death by a thousand cuts.
SWTOR:
The Inquisitor, for the same reasons as above.
PoE2:
Warrior Totems are fucking awesome. Well the entire warrior kit is fun because of the same stuff as above.
Smite:[/]
From Smite one, I love playing as Osiris, Bellona, Cern, Surtr, Tsukyomi because they all have a piece of autonomy, timing, patience, utility, and relentless.
Smite2:
Mordred
Predecessor:
Mourn, Terra, Aurora, Grux, Steel, Fey, Khaimera, Kira are my favs.
Anything that honors autonomy, timing, patience, utility, and relentless. I am a hardcore push/pull player and I absolutely despise burst monkey metas.
What is the best ability or spell you’ve used and why?
ASHES: In Ashes I really like chain lightning - I feel that it is magical, ambient, but still minimalistic and concentrated. It doesn't arbitrarily take up space it doesn't need to.
I feel that many of the abilities in Ashes are going down a path where everything looks like it's tied into magic, and it sort of makes the kit seem over the top, especially with classes like ranger or fighter where there are many many colors and visual effects for simple attacks. I literally played both classes to ten then quit because I just didn't feel immersed in the class fantasy given the animations were truly outrageous.
These attacks make me feel way too powerful and take away from my class fantasy as a physical damage dealer. Things like the hunter marks that shoot a giant necrotic bolt or the snipe ability where there's a giant green weave of magic, just seem too over the top for my taste.
Which spells or abilities stand out the most to you from games you’ve played in the past? What made them special to you?
1. Yasuo
Yasuo I think is one of the most tasteful melee champions I've ever played. His abilities are understanded in terms of visual effects, but you can still totally feel his connection to wind and the swiftness of his movement / style. He is in my opinion the pinnacle of balance for a fighter weaving magic / elements into his abilities.
2. Aurelion Sol
I think kit is interesting as a cosmic magic set, but I think it would also be an incredible representation of arcane magic using darker blues and purples.
3. Darius
I wouldnt say his kit is one of my favorite abilities, but I think it aligns well with what I imagine a fighter would feel like in a game. I like that his animations aren't so exagerated, they are intention, devastating, and powerful.
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What is the best ability or spell you’ve used and why?
In AoC I really enjoy all the group protection skills such as Aegis, Protect and Absorption Field.
I believe there's room for improvement with many of the tank skills though such as:
Grapple: Give us an option/passive to pull in more than one target - up to 3. maybe make the range a little lower or make the 3 grapples fan out in pvp and thus harder to hit on multiple targets.
Another passive option could be to use grapple to grapple the caster towards the target (or even terrain!) acting as a pseudo dash. It could allow us to scale short walls or siege engines etc.
Taunt: I like the additional debuff on it, however I would love it if the team could explore ways of making taunt work in PvP. In AION (my main game over the years) Taunts would make you PvP targets swap the targeting over to the caster, causing them to attack the caster or forcing them to swap back over to their previously targeted player/pve target.
I'm not sure how that could work in AoC due to the additional action combat targeting, I'm thinking maybe it could cause the taunted target to have their camera angle forced towards the taunt caster for a split second? Anyway, it would be cool to see taunting useful in PvP settings.
Tomahawk(tuah): Outside of chasing down a single target in PvP, I don't see any other useful scenarios for this skill to be taken. Even in PvP I would probably run something else over this skill. Needs a rework.
Protect: I like how protect currently functions. I think it adds a bit of extra teamplay to the tank and the protected target, forcing both of them to make decisions on whether or not to stay within range of protect or if it may be safer for the protected teammate to kite further away. I don't think this skill needs any changes, bar maybe enabling an auto on/off based on if the target is in range or not instead of manual recasting every time the protected teammate leaves and reenters the xx meter range of the skill.
Grit: maybe make it a 30 second duration at the cost of more courage. Also could allow it to stack more than twice and add some more skills that use courage to introduce more decision making during combat.
Inciting Strikes: For some reason this skill doesn't really feel powerful. Something with the animation and audio just doesn't quite feel right. I'd like the skill to feel more powerful or have the two strikes be more pronounced.
Most of the tank's skills are physical damage.
It would be nice if more skills could scale off of magic damage and HP and even based on how much courage is consumed:
An example could be charge:
Consumes courage to charge after the initial 10 mana cost and allows the tank to charge until all courage is consumed. Knocks back enemies and deals x damage based on charge distance.
In general, I'd just like more options to build the character, but also the skill trees. I'd like to be able to build a magic damage-based tank, or a tank that relies more on courage than other tank builds etc. Just more flavor would be awesome.
Although the combat in The Elder Scrolls Online is floaty and kinda bad, I really love the skill tree variety in that game and just feel that right now, the tank doesn't really have much variety and choices.
Edit:
Taunt: after some discussion with guildies here's some more suggestions instead of camera jacking:
Taunt:
Highlights the caster for the affected player (affects their attention)
Forced targeting
The next spell/skill cast within the next xx seconds will go onto the Tank that taunted you instead of the intended target.
Tank main. Working on my GPH
Follow the links for the massive array of sklils these classes had, upgrades constantly being earned as you leveled up, so they managed to get away with very few "lines" of abilities
some had to be crafted, and earning or crating these improvements made leveling actually feel meaningful to your abilities not like in ashes where its anti climactic.
Ashes abilities really don't scale well but AO having seperate upgrades to each skill line every few levels let them render a power law curve of growth rather than a linear one
I will focus on Tanks because having played every current class in ashes I can say they are the ones that feel nothing like their archetype and honestly are not really that fun to play
Aggro control is Binary in ashes
Tanks ( Enforcers )
- Long Temporary Health & Entity Scale
- Short Massive Temporary Health & Entity Scale
- Scaling Absorption Shields
- Scaling Damage shields
- Scaling AOE Taunts
- Detaunt
- Fear
- Remove Debuffs / CC Break
- Change Element of Weapon Attack ( improve aggro control )
- Taunt Procs for when AOE taunt is death
- Initiative Buffs
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=enforcerHere are some of the others i played them all and they all felt like their archetype from level 1
Summoner ( Meta Physicist / Engineer / Adventurer )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=meta-physicist
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=engineer
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=adventurer
Rogue ( Shade / Agent )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=shade
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=agent
Ranger ( Agent / Shade )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=agent
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=shade
Fighter ( Soldier / Keeper / Martial Artist )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=soldier
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=keeper
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=martial+artist
Mage ( Nano Technician )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=nano-technician
Cleric ( Doctor / Fixer )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=doctor
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=fixer
Bard ( Beurocrat / Trader )
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=bureaucrat
https://auno.org/ao/nanos.php?prof=trader
Combo-ability has been what made abilities special to me. Whether that is with my other abilities or with teammates' abilities. Especially if it with a teammate.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles had it so that if you cast 2 spells at the correct timing you could combine them for greater or even new effects. Like casts 2 fire spells would make a stronger fire spell or casting 3 different elements would make a gravity spell. With different timings affecting the strength of the spell.
Or in League of Legends. I don't find Malphite's R ability all that great, nor do I find Orianna ult ability all that interesting. However, combo-ing the two abilities makes them both far more interesting.
Then you have Final Fantasy 11. Where if you time your weapon skills properly you create a skillchain. And if you setup a team with supporting weaponskills you can have all the team members participate.
In addition, a skillchain would not only increase the damage of the weaponskill, but also active a magic burst. Where a mage class, that doesn't normally use weaponskills, can time their spells, of the according element, for strengthened effects.
So for me, cool abilities are nice and all, but if I cannot use them in interesting ways or in coordination with others, then the abilities won't be interesting no matter how awesome their effects are.