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[Information] Nodes and sieges

I’ve combined and summarized the info we’ve been given so far on nodes and sieges. This info is subject to change as new information is provided.

Nodes

Encompassing each server are carefully placed points of development called Nodes. Every node is given purview over a predefined zone of influence (ZOI). Player activity (questing, gathering, raiding, etc.) within this ZOI counts toward that particular Node’s advancement. 

There are six stages of node advancement:

  1. Expedition (Few hours)
  2. Encampment (Many hours)
  3. Village (Few days)
  4. Town (Many days)
  5. City (Few weeks)
  6. Metropolis (Many weeks)

After every advancement, an increasing ring of neighboring nodes are locked out from progressing to the next stage. The advancement of a node unlocks its unique content, which comes at the cost of locking out unique content available in neighboring nodes.

Node government

A node's government and it's mayor are chosen depending on the node type.

  • Divine node governments are chosen from citizens via service oriented quests that prove faith and dedication to the node.
  • Economic node governments are able to be bought and sold by citizens with the most money.
  • Military node governments are chosen from citizens through last man standing combat.
  • Scientific node governments are elected democratically.
Guilds do not control nodes.

Node sieges

Node sieges allow players to delevel a node (reverse its advancement) and to ultimately destroy that node entirely. This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world. 

Declaring a node siege

Sieges are declared directly by any player who completes the prerequisites for the siege initiation. During the declaration period, individuals or guilds can also register to attack.

Siege declaration is very tough and will scale with the type of node being sieged:
Once a siege is declared there is a period of time before the siege will commence, determined by the size of the node:
  • Village (2 days)
  • Town (3 days)
  • City (4 days)
  • Metropolis (5 days)

Node siege mechanics

    Completing a siege

    A node siege will last for up to two hours. Defenders will be required to hold a central point in the node, removing the defender's flag and raising their own. If the node survives, there will be a cooldown before the node can be sieged again:
    • Village (20 days)
    • Town (30 days)
    • City (40 days)
    • Metropolis (50 days)
    Node housing and freeholds will only become vulnerable if the parent node falls in a siege. Housing will be destroyed if the node delevels below stage 3. Your housing designs will be retained and can be placed again later.

    A successful siege will delevel the node by one stage. There will be spoils from successfully sieging a node.


    Ashes siege warfare (pre-alpha footage)

    Sources: Ashes Of Creation About, A Reactive World, Node Series Part IIAoC Wiki, Aggelos Q&A, Livestream Q&A 7-18-2017

    Other informational posts

    Comments

    • You're a star ! Thanks for the amazing information! ❤️
    • Nice!
    • This was helpful. Thanks for summarizing for the lazy people like me.  :#
    • Thanks for this @lexmax :sunglasses:
    • Summoning larger siege creatures is a nice idea.... did they say anything about creating siege equipment that directs and focuses amplified magical blasts?  Then, in turn, you would want to have equivalent defensive equipment that casters utilize, creating empowered barriers rather than the ones we see when the mage backflips.
    • DarkTides said:
      Summoning larger siege creatures is a nice idea.... did they say anything about creating siege equipment that directs and focuses amplified magical blasts?  Then, in turn, you would want to have equivalent defensive equipment that casters utilize, creating empowered barriers rather than the ones we see when the mage backflips.
      No mention of this so far, but it sounds awesome :) Brings to mind these epic scenes


    • This is great! Thanks for the info.
    • Great stuff! My favorite part of the node system has nothing to do with pvp... the automatic housing upgrade when the node upgrades. I hope I end up with a mansion.
    • I just thought of this now.

      Do nodes have predefined names or will it be up to players to name regions?

      Do villages / towns / cities have predefined names as well? Will players have any influence on what a towns name is at any stage?

      A town won't develop if it wasn't thanks to players investing time into developing them. At the same time, I'm not sure how you would be able to choose who gets to name the town unless it monitored each individual players contributions to a region.
    • Fanzhon said:
      I just thought of this now.

      Do nodes have predefined names or will it be up to players to name regions?

      Do villages / towns / cities have predefined names as well? Will players have any influence on what a towns name is at any stage?

      A town won't develop if it wasn't thanks to players investing time into developing them. At the same time, I'm not sure how you would be able to choose who gets to name the town unless it monitored each individual players contributions to a region.
      It would be cool if it started with a set name but the King/Queen could get it changed in a way that was effected by the type of Node
    • From watching the youtube videos it seems that as a Node levels up it's ZOI, zone of influence, will spread to other nodes.
      If this is the case if someone is gaining xp in the area of another node but falls under ZOI of the main node will the xp go to level the bigger node or will nothing happen with it? Do we know at what level of nodes the ZOI will increase?
    • J_M_O_ said:
      From watching the youtube videos it seems that as a Node levels up it's ZOI, zone of influence, will spread to other nodes.
      If this is the case if someone is gaining xp in the area of another node but falls under ZOI of the main node will the xp go to level the bigger node or will nothing happen with it? Do we know at what level of nodes the ZOI will increase?
      After your node has been absorbed into a larger node's ZOI, your XP activity goes to the larger node. This causes your node to be "locked out" from development until the larger node is deleveled, so that it's ZOI no longer intersects with your node.
      Every time a node develops to the next stage it's ZOI increases. 
    • Dude. Go to Discord. Stop spamming, Best, Skafftaruss.
    • Update: Added links to developer quotes and more info on nodes and sieges.
    • Fanzhon said:
      I just thought of this now.

      Do nodes have predefined names or will it be up to players to name regions?

      Do villages / towns / cities have predefined names as well? Will players have any influence on what a towns name is at any stage?

      A town won't develop if it wasn't thanks to players investing time into developing them. At the same time, I'm not sure how you would be able to choose who gets to name the town unless it monitored each individual players contributions to a region.
      It would be cool if it started with a set name but the King/Queen could get it changed in a way that was effected by the type of Node
      Player will NOT be able to name nodes, castles, towns, and landmarks. Signage on freeholds, housing, stalls and such will most likely have a report feature with increasing penalties for repeat offenders. While the majority of the "community" will be mature, there are always those who post (insert adjective here) stuff just because they can.

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