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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.
Monster info book
Kyltia
Member, Alpha Two
Monster info book
I wanted to throw out a system idea that I think could really fit into AoC's focus on exploration, knowledge, and player interaction: a Monster Info Book, inspired by a system in an older MMO that I absolutely loved called Atlantica Online.
What Is It
The Monster Info Book is essentially an in-game bestiary that players fill out by encountering and defeating monsters. But it's not just for lore or flavor—it’s a progression and utility system with real in-game benefits.
Here’s how it could work in AoC:
Four Tiers of Monster Info:
1. Basic Info (Combat Insight)
Shows basic stats, monster story description and its skills and gives slight combat bonuses (e.g. +10% damage dealt, -10% damage received against that monster).
2.Location Info (Tracking/Exploration)
Reveals spawn zones or patterns; enables map pins to known spawns.
3. Item Info (Loot Knowledge)
Lists potential drops from the monster and increases drop rate slightly for those who’ve unlocked it (e.g. +5-10%).
4.Origin Info (Lore/EXP Bonus)
Unlocks deeper lore + +10% EXP bonus when fighting that monster. Could tie into story progression or quest lines.
Back in Atlantica Online, you needed to kill a monster dozens—or even hundreds—of times to complete its info, and obtaining that info was purely based on luck, much like getting rare drops. Because of that, some players who had full info on bosses could sell it for hundreds of millions of gold back when I played.
Monetization and Player Trade
Here’s where it gets even more interesting: Monster Info could be tradeable. Imagine a system where:
Players who have full info on rare monsters can sell or trade that info in-game.
This creates a knowledge-based economy, where players who explore can make gold by being the first to get full info on certain monsters.
How It Ties into AoC Systems
Node System: Some monsters may only spawn based on node types or levels—driving exploration and making some monster info even rarer.
Seasons & Events: Monster info could change with seasons—limited-time info = high value.
Why It Matters:
-Encourages exploration
-Adds value to PvE grinding beyond just loot.
-Enables a knowledge economy with tradeable progression.
-Creates long-term goals for collectors and lore hunters.
-Offers potential for merchandising and community-driven lore development.
With the thousands of recipes, monster types, and item types Ashes of Creation will have, I truly believe a system like this would be an immense help to the player base. At the same time, it would also introduce something new for players to trade—whether they’re sharing info within a guild before a boss fight for that slight advantage, or selling it for some extra money.
Could also add a reward for completion, something minor for like every 25% of the monster book or every 100 mobs or something.
What do y'all think?
I wanted to throw out a system idea that I think could really fit into AoC's focus on exploration, knowledge, and player interaction: a Monster Info Book, inspired by a system in an older MMO that I absolutely loved called Atlantica Online.
What Is It
The Monster Info Book is essentially an in-game bestiary that players fill out by encountering and defeating monsters. But it's not just for lore or flavor—it’s a progression and utility system with real in-game benefits.
Here’s how it could work in AoC:
Four Tiers of Monster Info:
1. Basic Info (Combat Insight)
Shows basic stats, monster story description and its skills and gives slight combat bonuses (e.g. +10% damage dealt, -10% damage received against that monster).
2.Location Info (Tracking/Exploration)
Reveals spawn zones or patterns; enables map pins to known spawns.
3. Item Info (Loot Knowledge)
Lists potential drops from the monster and increases drop rate slightly for those who’ve unlocked it (e.g. +5-10%).
4.Origin Info (Lore/EXP Bonus)
Unlocks deeper lore + +10% EXP bonus when fighting that monster. Could tie into story progression or quest lines.
Back in Atlantica Online, you needed to kill a monster dozens—or even hundreds—of times to complete its info, and obtaining that info was purely based on luck, much like getting rare drops. Because of that, some players who had full info on bosses could sell it for hundreds of millions of gold back when I played.
Monetization and Player Trade
Here’s where it gets even more interesting: Monster Info could be tradeable. Imagine a system where:
Players who have full info on rare monsters can sell or trade that info in-game.
This creates a knowledge-based economy, where players who explore can make gold by being the first to get full info on certain monsters.
How It Ties into AoC Systems
Node System: Some monsters may only spawn based on node types or levels—driving exploration and making some monster info even rarer.
Seasons & Events: Monster info could change with seasons—limited-time info = high value.
Why It Matters:
-Encourages exploration
-Adds value to PvE grinding beyond just loot.
-Enables a knowledge economy with tradeable progression.
-Creates long-term goals for collectors and lore hunters.
-Offers potential for merchandising and community-driven lore development.
With the thousands of recipes, monster types, and item types Ashes of Creation will have, I truly believe a system like this would be an immense help to the player base. At the same time, it would also introduce something new for players to trade—whether they’re sharing info within a guild before a boss fight for that slight advantage, or selling it for some extra money.
Could also add a reward for completion, something minor for like every 25% of the monster book or every 100 mobs or something.
What do y'all think?
4
Comments
That said, I would just add one important nuance:
If implemented, I’d personally prefer the bonuses from the Monster Info Book to remain mostly cosmetic or thematic (titles, achievements, unique lore pages, visual flair, etc.), rather than offering numerical advantages like +10% damage or increased drop rates.
Why? Because Ashes is very focused on fair competition and horizontal progression, and a system like this—if too reward-heavy, could give early grinders or info-sellers a tangible combat edge that others can't easily catch up to, which goes a bit against the spirit of balance and risk-vs-reward.
Still, I totally love the knowledge-based progression and trade idea. Maybe this could tie into the Scholarship system in Scientific Nodes, or be part of a library others can access once discovered?
Great post! Would love to see more systems like this to deepen the world without turning it into a meta race.
If the spawns stay in the same place every month, there’s really no point in making a new monster book, everyone would already have all the info they need.
So, this is one thing I hate about PvE: the nests are all there in the same spot everyday and everything is the same.
While it will provide an advantage, it’s likely to be a small one, as players will probably share common information with friends and guild members anyway. What will actually be traded or sold is the rarer boss-related info. That said, the main reason I thought the monster info book would be a good idea is because there are thousands of items in the game. Something like this would be incredibly helpful for players to know where and what drops each item, which was also the main use of the monster info book in AO.
I thought this would fit nicely with the scholar's academy and would be a helpful bonus for those that joined, downside would be that it might limit while also making it vastly harder to complete the book completely. Last I checked, even after over a decade, it seems nobody had completed the book 100% in AO
As I mentioned in a previous reply, the main reason I thought the monster info book would be a good idea is because there are thousands of items in the game. Something like this would be incredibly helpful for players to know where and what drops each item, which was also the main use of the monster info book in AO.
They could also make it so that completing the book isn't easy, even with players constantly sharing information with each other. In fact, last I checked, even after over a decade, nobody had managed to complete the book 100% in AO.
Let's also not forget how monster location will constantly be changing with nodes leveling up or being destroyed and so would be nice if the monster info book could help us keep track of where they moved to
Not bad idea but that's a whole game within a bigger game, I think Intrepid has its hand full already. For this kind of thing we have the community creating sites and guides
I thought of the monster info book because I don’t like the idea of having to leave the game to check a website for information that could be available in-game. The monster info book could tie in nicely with the Scholar's Academy. It would be a great feature for collectors and players who enjoy this type of content. Rare information could even become a tradeable item, giving players something extra to sell—though rarity might not last long, since the info would likely be shared within guilds and among friends and quickly spread from there.
It could also serve as great additional content for those who love learning about the world’s lore, while offering small but meaningful bonuses like increased damage, reduced damage taken from mobs, higher drop rates, and other rewards for players who manage to complete certain percentages of the book or maybe make it only for 100% like AO had done.
Yes, as you mentioned, the community is already doing something similar through external sites. But players would have to keep going back to those sites whenever they need information, missing out on learning more about the world and its lore—especially since that kind of depth isn’t included on the websites, and the players wouldn’t have earned the info themselves.
Is it more work for the devs? Yes, I agree with that. But would it provide a lot of small advantages and extra content for players through the addition of a single system? Absolutely. It would offer a long-term goal and an incentive to explore and grind for anyone who wants to complete it.