Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
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Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
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
Bard was least favorite then archer, Both just not my playstyle, I got both to level 15 and stoped as I wasnt having fun playing them.
Fighter was my favorite and then Rouge, although Fighter needs alot of work, but I still had fun.
Make the fighter like the Darkrunner in Archage. Very high mobility, CC breaks, target CC and Burst damage. Also please remove the animation locks from leap and the momentum when switching stances.
Rogue, Bard, Tank
Rogue
Extremely diverse class with multiple build options. Lots of interactive gameplay and diverging choice during combat. Lots of mobility options and conditional skill usage make for a very fun class.
Bard
Similarly diverse class, with reasons to swap skills depending on party and comp. Feels like skills have more intent and increasingly matter depending on whom the bard is partied with. Mobility options are similarly very fun to play with.
Tank
Despite my problems with the class (more below), Tank is really fun in a PvE context. At least when building for power with your gear. Crit power builds are very entertaining, and feeling like a juggernaut simultaneously a bit more tanky than most, while dishing out decent damage, is a rewarding feeling.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Tank.
Specifically, PvE tank. Blocking is borked, and feels worthless. Grit luckily got put back into a place that is no longer strenuous to play, but isn't ideal. Tanks not only have a terrible time with general gameplay (losing more glint than others, higher gear repairs, more xp debt than others), but also are oftentimes put into situations that are more dangerous. Not to mention the fact that tanks share CC internal cooldowns with other classes, making tank CC skills oftentimes fairly untrustworthy.
Tanks also struggle to find a role as a secondary tank within a party. Shielding skills are far and few between, and only realistically are effective after the player gets access to the level 12 tier of skills. Even when a player has the ally-focused skills, they often are ineffective, and feel like the player isn't helping as much as other members might. This lackluster role also means that finding a party can be difficult as tanks are needed half as often than any other role.
Major points of difficulty:
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Blocking, Weapon Skills
Blocking
Unsure if shield benefits are currently working or not. Regardless, blocking has always felt lackluster. It formerly caused weapon combos to get cancelled and prevented finishers. This has been rectified, but it still causes stamina loss. It generally feels like the worse choice in a situation, and that movement or dodging is just ultimately more effective when necessary. Additionally, entering/exiting a block feels too slow to realistically thread attacks or skills, and successfully blocking an attack seems to do more harm than help in the long term, especially when elite creatures tend to burst a tank down even with blocking. Ends up feeling like a chore that, while fun as a mini-game, isn't currently beneficial to participate in. Would love to see something to rectify this, whether its class-specific skills for counterattacks, perfect blocks, or something else, or just generally accessible options in the stamina tree.
Weapon Skills
Just feels like a bunch of passive effects. Gaining a weapon level rarely feels like an exciting moment. As is, every skill point option feel cryptic, and don't feel like a valuable choice after selected. As a whole, every weapon tree feels the same, and generally feel very same-y between players and archetypes. At most, individual weapons feel as if they are picked as stat sticks, with the most amount of purpose being their attack speed and primary/secondary gear stat.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
Internal CC cooldowns feel like an underdeveloped system. There is very little indication when a CC fails to apply, and overlapping often leads to frustration or confusion.
Besides this, most systems feel fine.
Love the class name for your tanking class btw.
We need to make this class great, unlike other games we only have 1 tank class.
Now, I love the classic feel but we need to cut the girly shit and man up...
The charge ability, feels like I'm a fairy floating around, I need to be stomping the ground on my way to the unlucky foe.
When I get to this said foe, I need to pound fuck him with a shield slam... Hard.
- My idea here
Once I reach the enemy, change the charge button to a potential follow up attack, ie leg sweep, jumping 360 shield slam, war stomp.. you get the idea.
Don't add another keybind we have enough, maybe to many. Just augment the charge to a 2 or even 3 attack combo.
Also the dwarf heavy armor makes me look fat, fix that or I'm not playing your glorious dwarf.
That's it for now, I'm on the throne and my time is up. Love the game, keep it up, you guys kick ass.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? if yes, please describe.
Cheers,
KormVA
]rogue is my favorite, I enjoy the acrobatic, control feel of it. and while I don't use it too often I like having stealth as an option.
when I tried the Tank I felt that it was boring which is not a good sign to me as I am a main tank in other mmo's. one problem I am having is that I am struggling to articulate exactly why, it's more of a vague feeling of not enjoying myself rather than anything big standing out as being bad. but after some thought I think my problem with it is that I feel like it doesn't feel very cool. like it doesn't have many super dynamic abilities. the exception and my favorite being reflect. another issue with it is I felt like I wanted to do more but as a tank I felt very mana hungry so I spent large amounts of time not using abilities too much aside from when I needed to grab aggro which added to the boredom. it's the exact opposite of the way I prefer to play where I keep most of my abilities on cooldown trying to be as fast as possible with a few abilities ready for emergencies.
I feel like good progress has been made when it comes to dealing with mob training behavior but I have noticed it being a bit off every now and again with mobs just showing up out of nowhere without warning in tighter spaces like the area i highwayman hills courtyard. it's not really bad but it could be better.
to me the obvious missing combat feature is combat pets, it's something I'm excited about but I understand it will take time to implement and I'm not in a rush to get it.
While this doesn't relate to archetypes, it does to this question. Soft-Lock as of the moment is unreliable to use as a halfway point to action combat for people who like to use right click to move their camera. It's accuracy is the problem, it constantly strays from focusing on whos infront of your character. The action combat accuracy is perfect so if theres a way you can use that for the aiming, it would be perfect and usable. Secondly, using auto attack after ability option as a replacement for starting your autoattacks with a dedicated button is unreliable aswell. WoW is a good example of a good autoattack system, whenever you press a button that is hotkeyed to an offensive ability, it will start autoattack. It does this regardless of if the ability is usable or not i.e, on cooldown, out of mana or out of range. In Ashes, it only activates if the ability is actually used, causing you to rely on the dedicated auto attack button far too often for it to be a reliable playstyle. I'm loving ashes of creation but ever since phase one I've been bringing this up on multiple formats including the bug report system and will continue until it's fixed honestly haha. This game is the first time I've had fun in an mmo since WoW but these two things are hindering my experience and I'm sure many more who share my playstyle. Please take this into consideration and thank you so much for all of your hard work.
Thank you
I find Bard and Tank the most enjoyable archetypes to play due to their unique playstyles and group impact.
Bard is incredibly fun because it offers immense freedom and skill expression. Its mechanics are beginner-friendly, making it accessible, yet it has a high skill ceiling that rewards mastery. This balance allows players to grow into the role while feeling impactful. The Bard’s thematic “god class” vibe, inspired by D&D, shines through its versatile support capabilities. In PvP, it excels in 1v1 scenarios with niche personal potential, while in 5v5 or larger group fights, it becomes a cornerstone of team synergy through buffs and utility. The cohesive kit, with songs, dances, and melodies, makes every encounter feel dynamic and rewarding.
Tank is a blast because I love being the group’s protector. There’s something satisfying about being the “big fat boy” who shields teammates and anchors the party. The role thrives on reliability, requiring skill to manage aggro and mitigate damage while enabling others to shine. It’s a selfless yet empowering playstyle that makes group content feel cohesive and rewarding.
2. Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
I find Tank, Fighter, and Ranger in Ashes of Creation less engaging due to specific design issues that hinder their PvP and PvE potential.
• Tank: While I enjoy tanking, AoC’s Tank feels lackluster in PvP. It should be a resilient 1v9 powerhouse, capable of withstanding heavy focus, like the Sword and Shield/Wand combo in Throne and Liberty, which excels in survivability and utility. Constitution and mitigation scaling need buffs to make Tanks feel durable. Abilities like Grit and Iron Will require stronger effects to define the class’s identity. Additionally, Reflect is too limited—it should have a longer uptime, affect multiple targets, and reflect meaningful damage in large-scale PvP, not just single-target scenarios.
• Fighter: The Fighter struggles in PvP due to insufficient lockdown, survivability, and damage. While solid in PvE, it lacks the tools to compete in dynamic PvP environments. Whirlwind should grant brief CC immunity, include a trip effect, and have a longer duration to enhance control. Combat Momentum needs extended uptime to maintain pressure. Overall, Fighters need better self-healing, damage output, and stance synergy to feel impactful in PvP.
• Ranger: The Ranger feels underwhelming in both PvP and PvE. It’s outclassed by Mages in group vs. group damage and lacks standout single-target burst or sustained DPS. Abilities like Barrage and Rain of Arrows need buffs to compete, while Thundershot should have two charges without requiring a silence trigger to enable proactive play. A minor suppression effect could add utility. Most critically, Ranger’s range feels too short—40 meters minimum is needed to embody the archetype’s fantasy. Movement also feels sluggish, almost Mage-like, without the corresponding damage output, making mobility buffs essential.
3. Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Several combat mechanics in Ashes of Creation need refinement to elevate the game’s potential for best-in-class MMO combat:
• Reflect: Currently underpowered, Reflect needs a longer uptime and the ability to affect multiple targets in large-scale PvP, not just one. It should deal meaningful damage to fulfill its defensive fantasy.
• Snipe: As a high-risk, easily countered ability, Snipe’s damage output is insufficient. It needs a damage buff to reward precise timing and positioning, especially for Rangers.
• Silence: Silence feels lackluster and should be reworked into a suppression mechanic or gain additional utility to make it impactful in PvP.
• Fighter Lockdown: Fighters need stronger crowd control and synergy in their kits. Abilities like Whirlwind and Trip should have enhanced effects to lock down opponents effectively.
• Class Synergies: More work is needed to ensure class abilities complement each other in group play, creating cohesive team dynamics, especially in PvP.
• Movement: Movement is critical for high-skill gameplay, but recent inertia changes have dulled its responsiveness. Reverting to previous movement mechanics (pre-nerf) and addressing water jumping exploits would restore fluidity and skill expression, aligning with AoC’s potential for dynamic combat.
Overall, the foundation is strong, but these tweaks would make combat feel more rewarding and polished.
4. During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
The group combat and grinding in Ashes of Creation are on the right track, particularly the 8-man grinding sessions, which are engaging and foster camaraderie. However, a few areas need improvement:
• PvE Mob Design: Mobs in PvE feel somewhat generic and could benefit from more dynamic behaviors or unique mechanics to make encounters more engaging. Adding PoI-specific events or quests, as suggested in discussions, would enhance grinding sessions.
• LFG System: While I appreciate the emphasis on social connections, finding groups can be challenging. An in-game LFG board (not instanced matchmaking) would help players connect for group content without breaking immersion. This would encourage players to step out of their comfort zones and form new friendships, enhancing the MMO experience.
Overall, the team is doing a fantastic job, and the 8-man grinding feels rewarding for those who engage socially. Keep up the great work!
Small issues:
1: DPS feels is a bit low.
2: Cathartic Melody is not good enough. No one wants to take it. It should be a really hard choice. not to take any one melody over another.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Reflect so reduntant in PvE and PvP. (Maybe for mana sustain but a good bard will fix this) Reflect should be like grit is atm, a temp buff that runs out. Cost x amount of courage and mana. Should have a longer CD but should return a high amount of % (talking 200% in PvE at the very least and like 150 or just 200% in pvp too) Dmg back and be very visually obvious so in PvP ppl dont just bomb you and if they do.. they will have to pay.
Or have it so you stand still blocking dmg in a direction and reflecting dmg back from your front. just something else.
Grit should be a passive not a active ever so often but maybe make it drain courage over time so ppl have to turn it off when they aint in combat/ taking dmg.
Iron Aura needs to be a "party wide" buff or something.
AEGIS needs to be Larger, like it should be fairly big so you can easily proq it.
FLAG Animation is so weird and shouldnt be this long especially CD and the impact it does does not match its CD.
GRAPPLE needs a fix. been inconsitent FOREVER.
Thomahawk, change it to shield throw or sometihng instead xd why a axe and why backstab???
Vengance is better now that you get more HP which = bigger shield and the stun is nice.
Tank still gets the worse of the stick. first to die and first to lose EXP/Glint. Also gets punished the most if the party is bad. (which is.... not uncommon)
I do hope alot of these changes will come with second archtype option. so who knows.
tokk a long break and tank is basicly the same still and still in a rough state so idk.
on a side note, blocking is hella useless. Saw some post about it and really liked this idea
[/quote]
The issue is simple: there aren’t enough impactful choices. When you can unlock nearly everything, you’re not really building a character — you’re just filling in a checklist. And yes, I know people will say, “Secondary classes will fix that.” But even with dual-classing, the same problem happens: by level 50, you’ll still have almost everything unlocked.
The Core Problem we currently face:
By max level, players of the same archetype end up with nearly identical builds.
Unlocking almost everything removes sacrifice and identity.
Without scarcity, choices don’t feel impactful — and secondary classes risk becoming cookie-cutter.
The Mage Example
Let’s start with Mage. At endgame, every Mage looks the same because they all have access to the same abilities and rotations. Instead, the tree should push players to specialize more deeply:
Fire Mage – AoE burn damage, damage-over-time, explosive finishers.
Lightning Mage – burst damage, crits, mobility-based spellcasting.
Frost Mage – crowd control, slows, survivability.
This way, each Mage feels unique. You’re not “just a Mage,” you’re your own Mage with strengths, weaknesses, and a playstyle that fits your choices.
Secondary Classes Need the Same Treatment
Now imagine layering this deeper specialization system onto secondary classes. A Mage/Rogue combination should feel completely different depending on which path you commit to on both trees.
Here’s how it could look:
🔥 Fire Mage + Rogue = Pyro Shadow Walker
Fire-focused Mage tree + Stealth-heavy Rogue tree.
Playstyle: Strike from the shadows with flaming daggers and explosive finishers. High burst with fire-themed assassinations.
❄️ Frost Mage + Rogue = Glacial Trickster
Frost-focused Mage tree + Mobility-focused Rogue tree.
Playstyle: Slippery and hard to pin down. Uses slows, roots, and icy traps while darting around with evasive rogue skills.
⚡ Lightning Mage + Rogue = Storm Assassin
Lightning-focused Mage tree + Poison/DoT-focused Rogue tree.
Playstyle: Fast-paced assassin who shocks enemies with electricity, then watches poison finish them off. High-risk, high-reward gameplay.
The Fix
Add More Abilities/Passives Than Points Available
Players should never be able to unlock everything.
Gate Deeper skills/passives Behind Specialization
To unlock advanced Fire spells, you must commit heavily to Fire, meaning you’ll sacrifice access to top-tier Frost/Lightning.
Fuse Primary and Secondary Identities
Let specializations define how your secondary interacts. A Frost Mage Rogue should play very differently from a Fire Mage Rogue.
Introduce Endgame Masteries
At cap, offer unique titles/abilities (e.g., Archmage of Fire, Cryomancer, Stormcaller) that finalize your build identity.
Final Thoughts
Skill trees should be about meaningful choices — the sacrifices you make and the strengths you lean into. Expanding trees and forcing deeper specialization would ensure that builds remain unique and exciting not just while leveling, but all the way into endgame.
That’s what will keep Ashes’ classes truly fresh: not just being a Mage/Rogue, but being your version of a Mage/Rogue — a Pyro Shadow Walker, a Storm Assassin, or a Glacial Trickster.
cleric with a short bow using dual target to heal whoever your target is attacking is awesome. so many heals i dont see how cleric could lose to another class 1v1 with equal gearing. i actually find there single target healing op while there aoe healing is severely lacking. one aoe skill that doesnt need to be aimed charged or placed is meh. but in 1v1 or pve group with a tank just straight up ez mode. most skills dont even need to be used a very few skills get so many charges and are so cheap and instant cast it can easily be a three button healer with all other skills gone to waste if you wanted.
worst class for me is bard whenever id do a dance id accidently cancel it early and it would be on a long cd and i deleted him for that.
Bard, Rogue and Fighter seem to be the most fun classes with Mage not that far behind. Ranger, Cleric and Tank seem to be on the bottom of the fun barrel.
Give Rangers something as dynamic as a rogues grapple to add to their elusiveness. Give Cleric tide turning support abilities, the combat mass Rez idea is a great start. Give tanks a large cone active group block like a Reinhardt shield and really feel like a protector of your party.
Give classes fun abilities that fulfill their class fantasy.
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
Bard. I started playing it just to help a friend level and I just fell in love with it. Never seen anything like it in any MMORPG I've played. Truly a masterpiece.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
So I am just gonna say that I still like the ranger in general. I just think there is a lot of work to be done to make it feel as amazing as rogue and bard. And mage.
Why do I not find ranger as fun as they could be, then?
Because I feel like I am playing a mage in combat due to lack of mobility and long cast times, and the ranger talent tree just feels so random and odd compared to lets say bard.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Yes. Give the tank, cleric, fighter and ranger (and probably mage too) an overhaul in their archetype talent trees. The tank is probably due for yet another overhaul, because it is still not sticking to any of my community's tank players.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
My archetype's core features are supposed to be:
Marks - marks/hunts feel fine, mostly. The duration buff helped a lot.
Ammos - Ammo literally feels like just selecting one extra weapon talent. It doesn't feel class-defining at all, and they are kinda bland and boring.
Scouting - our camoflague is great.
Mobility - apart from being able to buff mounts, rangers are literally among the slowest archetypes; only being faster than the cleric and tank.
PS. Ranger's interrupt is in critically bad condition. It is slow, it has a slow cast time and it is *terrible.* And why is it thunder!?
PPS. The game looks amazing. Great work.
Playing a tank here is not very engaging compared to games like Lineage 2 where they felt like a tank in PvP or PvE. My experience in a lot of parties is death XP/glint loss due to bad party members pulling mobs or being trained by others. The class doesn't feel like its great at what is is suppose to do and blocking feels broken. I felt like dodging was much more effective. I played on and off because of the group and that could have been bad luck with bad groups.
I would like to see options for the tank before you pick your second class. What I mean is a different mix of skills where you could be a Healing Tank (Paladin) or Evade Tank you sacrifice some damage but can still spec down the higher Crits where maybe you have more Aura's for threat generation.
It is my first playthrough but as I said Tank just hasn't felt great.
In Ashes this feels INCREDIBLE! I feel the amount of control you hold with an offensive flare and chains can turn the fight so incredibly. As well as not being "gimped" completely with weapon choices/trees to help fill your class. I like that if needed I can be a full healer without having to swap gear.
I have said this before every class in the game feels incredible for their purpose and intent, and just because it may feel bad in a particular role you need to think about what their purpose is and how their playstyle is intended. I give fighter for example everyone I speak to loves to play it for pve it feels incredible, but it is not a tank. And so when it comes to large scale pvp if you play like a tank you just get deleted. Their role may be more inline with someone who plays like an ADC in league. Stay with your support and your protection until you reach a snowball point and then start to dive. I love that not every class is amazing in every role that gives a chosen class a particular feeling of necessity. (On this note: bring back bard/ranger buffs on caravans)
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Well, ironically, the answer to both of these is ranger. I love ranger due to just loving the bow and arrow playstyle in any game and being a ranger main in every mmo such as playing bow in albion, archer in BDO, ESO, ranger in GW2, and other mmos beyond that as well. I love the concept of the ranger but so far the execution is rough. The class fantasy is just not there and the synergy between abilities is also largely missing with much of the build rotating around interaction with snipe and thundering shot.
It needs more skill interactions, some stance or dance interaction like other classes, more room for skill expression, and balancing of mana consumption. Mainly, it needs class fantasy elements such as tracking, ability to increase range on auto attacks and abilities, or more mobility to enhance kiting or skirmishing potential. I think the hunts and marks system also needs to feel more impactful or dynamic but just my personal opinion.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing what the finished classes look like!
and as a range class it has only one gap close/gap creator
fighter has 2 and can get close and trip you and stun you
like what the hell man ? it should have at least 2 charges and some other type of cc
freeze duration is too short to say the least, sometimes doesnt work if the mob or player is moving fast or something, idk maybe server issue related
many skill have a long cast
also blizzard is useless , make it aoe selectable and shorter cast time
you cant be serious that mage should dive into a group and manage to do anything good with blizzard and not die instantly
fireball is worse that firebold, i think they should have their role in certain scenarios
ps: please add arcane volley to accelerative blink as a insta cast abbility BUT instead of 7 projectiles make it ONE BIG sphere castable from above your head and maybe with some special add on after using it ? aoe dmg around the main target ?
The UI in AoC, while pretty, can be very confusing when it comes to tanking. Once particle effects and spells start hitting targets, their gestures (which are sometimes the only indication an attack is coming) almost disappear. Now, it is possible to tone down or eliminate most of these effects but I feel that would be a poorly designed answer. This problem is further complicated by the combat design, below. Also, a lack of any kind of indicator for area of effect (save a few AoE attacks) or even regular attacks makes positioning to block a hit from someone I am not directly targeting impossible.
Mostly, the issues that I have with combat design are how many special or hard hitting attacks don't have cast bars as well as not having any indication of where a target's attention is located. Final Fantasy 14 has a great system to show where aggro is going and how close you are to losing or gaining it. The abundance of non-cast skills is really only an issue when combined with the first concern (the UI) and with enemies of a similar or smaller stature than the player but those constitute a large number of mobs. The lack of an aggro meter or indicators makes tanking difficult and confusing as I cannot see who in a group of targets might be aggroing off me and onto other targets who are in close range, especially given the aforementioned fireworks show that is going on around the targets.
Finally, the skills and mechanics of the tank are fairly boring, lackluster, and ineffective. I have attacked a target who aggroed onto my healer with shield slam, intimidating aura, and slam (combined ~700% aggro) and still not been able to pull the target's attention off the healer who merely did an auto-attack. Most of the time, I feel I am barely holding onto aggro for my targets, which should not be as constant of a worry as a tank. Other than wall, I don't feel like I have big, tide-changing moves to save someone from an attack or draw all the attention to myself so others can wear down a target.
At the end of the day, I will always play a tank because that is what I enjoy doing in MMOs. I do hope that something is done before launch to make this class feel unique, effective, and fun.
The most fun to Play is the bard fare aboth the other to, thats because its kit is the most divers and he has the most always useful skills of them, some of them clearly overpowered. But all of them have their intent and purpose.
The least fun is the tank. Its because he is lacking in a few departments, first of all is the thread on mobs, he can generate so much that even an ungeared tank can easily hold thread against geared and overleveled dds. Most of this problem is coming from the too taunt abilities that are disrupting the balance because they scale of defense and the single target is way overpowered and the aoe one is still very strong. The second thing is the courage mechanic that is now only a second manabar and not its one mechanic where it could be beneficial to have it full, the only thing to remember is that you need to pres it every 20 sec. for the buff. And third of all are tank buster mechanics, i think there are a few of them in the game but most of them the tank can take and the dps are the ons that die when they are standing wrong. for example a tank appropriately leveled and geared can tank in of the following (Rotten fulmination from Bloodmages, Heavy Slash from Humanoid fighters and snipe from Humanoid Rangers), dds are most likely dead if they get hit. IF there are some mechanic that forces tanks to react even if they are more telegraphed i think it would make the combat more interesting.
Combat Systems that need more Refining are in my opinion the combination of abilitys to many abilitys in a lot of kits feel that they hinder themself or others especualt the ons that effect enemys (the ones that debuff enemys.)