Author: The Ashes Post

  • Ashes of Creation Release Schedule (Updated)

    Ashes of Creation Release Schedule (Updated)

    The updated Ashes of Creation Apocalypse release schedule. Apocalypse will be made available to all registered users, including those without alpha/beta packages.

  • 10/31/18 Livestream Transcript

    10/31/18 Livestream Transcript

    Livestream Header

    October 31st Livestream Transcription

    – Halloween Stream, Contest Winners, MMORPG Preview, Battle Royale Concerns, November Cosmetics

    • Testing going well.
    • Working on server stability.
    • Working on server side framerate.
    • Server side frame rate is important for logging packet data, to prevent lag.
    • Client side fps is your pc not being good enough.
    • Server side frame rate needs to be above 20fps to avoid lag on the client side.
    • Up until 8 days ago there was lag.
    • However since, they’ve addressed it and the lag is gone.
    • Current server frame rate they were able to achieve is 55fps.
    • Player density is an important focus.
    • Important to observe player feedback.
    • BR mode is fun, but not MMORPG.
    • End goal is 24×7 testing (Very very soon, few things such as multi regions such as EU need to be locked in)

    MMORPG Alpha 1 Phase 2 content being shown

    • Dynamic day/night/weather cycles confirmed.
    • Rain will create puddles.
    • Monsters will react to weather. (Giant spider moving to a new home due to rain)
    • Catfall on ranger.
    • Icy footsteps + Blink = Large distance ice path.
    • Stage 3 node shown with NPC’s and merchants.

    NPC’s, basic store:

    • Catfall boots with tab target does not jump as high as BR mode.
    • Flashy skills/animations will be adjusted later in development.
    • Night time looks bright due to volumetric lighting issues with the fog.
    • Cities will look very different even if they’re at the same stage. Different aspects will be taken into account such as location/type/race to change the look.
    • Elite monsters have abilities/skills that they cast.

    QnA in Progress

    • Alpha 1 Phase 2 is due march/april 2019.
    • New Halloween cosmetics being shown, live on friday Nov 2nd.
    • Over 40,000 Alpha/Beta testers currently.
    • They’ve noticed confusion and dislike towards BR mode, they want to address it.
    • Addressing BR concerns via:
      • Phase 1 will no longer be referred to it as Phase 1, it will instead be referred to as: Apocalypse
      • BR, Castle Siege and Horde mode will be moved into a side arena, open to EVERYONE (All 3 projects are a side of the main game)
    • APOC folder = Apocalypse
    • Lore-wise, apocalypse refers to people in Verra fighting for survival who did not leave through the gate and are stuck facing the corruption
    • Battle Royale refers to players fighting to survive
    • Castle siege are the last bastions while the world was flooded with corruption
    • Horde mode will be the last and final stand against the corruption.
    • This is being done to void all confusion about BR modes etc.
    • Rewards gained in apocalypse will carry over to main game.
    • All apocalypse content will be free to play (?) (Needs clarification)
    • Participation and performance in all 3 apocalypse modes will reward you with cosmetics, housing, furniture, emotes, weapon variants etc.
    • Characters and rewards in the Apocalypse mode will carry over to the main game.
    • Housing system will be pushed forward and made available in apocalypse.
    • November = 24×7 testing for Apocalypse (Phase 1) – 2-4 weeks from now.
    • Node stage 3 will be when you’ll see the node type kick in.
    • Military nodes will have Barracks. Scientific will have University.
    • Economic will have Marketplace. Divine will have Temples.
    • Pets will attack enemies, doing so will flag you as a combatant as the pet is a proxy of the player
    • New website expected to go live soon.
    • Winners of Halloween 2018 event announced.
    • Closing video of Intrepid Halloween Office tour.

    Google Doc Link

  • Quarrior wallpaper

    Quarrior wallpaper

    The third wallpaper from our AoC wallpaper pack!
    Featuring ‘Quarrior’ phone wallpaper from the July 2018 pledge package.

    Category: Phone wallpaper

    Resolution: 1440×2560

    Download: Imgur Link

     

  • The Winds Veil wallpaper

    The Winds Veil wallpaper

    The second wallpaper from our AoC wallpaper pack!
    Featuring ‘The Winds Veil’ phone wallpaper from the August 2018 pledge package.

    Category: Phone wallpaper

    Resolution: 1440×2560

    Download: Imgur Link

  • Watcher of the Woods wallpaper

    Watcher of the Woods wallpaper

    The first wallpaper from our AoC wallpaper pack!
    Featuring ‘Watcher of the Woods’ phone wallpaper from the May 2018 pledge package.

    Category: Phone wallpaper

    Resolution: 1440×2560

    Download: Imgur Link

  • [Updated] Apocalypse Battle Royale Guide

    [Updated] Apocalypse Battle Royale Guide

    Apocalypse Battle Royale Guide & Tier List

    Last updated – September 25th 2019

    AoC Apocalypse BR Guide. The Ashes Post is proud to present our battle royale guide and tier list created for the ashes of creation community! The tier list spreadsheet includes detailed data on the weapon/armour types present in this game mode, while the battle royale guide will provide a fair amount of knowledge to players new to the genre. The contents of this guide will be constantly updated as Intrepid Studios makes changes to the game.

    Special thanks: Awace#3904 & Zii#2633 for data collection.

    You can find a direct link to the below spreadsheet here: https://goo.gl/GMsMtt

     

    Battle Royale Map

    Besides the general keybinds such as movement, there are a few specific keybinds that you need to know when playing:

    • RMB + LMB – Acrobatic Leap: While holding your right mouse button, pressing left mouse button will trigger your gap closer skill. Melee only.
    • Q – Weapon Ability: Pressing Q will activate the special ability on your currently selected weapon.
    • T – Drop Current Item: Pressing T will drop your currently selected weapon/equipment.
    • C – Chest Armour Ability: Pressing C will activate the special ability on the chest armour you have equipped.
    • V – Leg Armour Ability: Pressing V will activate the special ability on the leg armour you have equipped.
    • X – Dodge: Pressing X will let you dodge in the direction you are moving in.
    • F1 – Repair Armour: Holding down this key lets you repair your armour at the cost of mana.

     

     

    Battle Royale Match Flow

    At the beginning of every match, you will be placed in a training island while you wait for other players. Once all players  are done loading, the divine gateway will sucks you in, signalling the start of the game. You’ll find yourself stuck drifting  within a rift. For those of you familiar with other battle royale games, this rift carries all the players at the start of the  match and moves from one end of the map to the other (Similar to Fortnite’s battle bus or PUBG’s aircraft). Once you are  ready, press spacebar to leave the rift and mount your griffon. While on your griffon, you can press E to dismount,  however doing so from a high altitude will result in you taking fall damage. If you fail to manually leave the rift before it  reaches the end of the map, it will automatically force you onto your griffon. Once on your griffon, navigate through the  clouds to land at the location of your choice.

    Once the rift reaches the end of the map, the first corruption storm circle appears on your map.  Once you’ve landed, your  first priority is to acquire equipment (Weapons/Armour). This is something that you will get better at with experience as  learning equipment spawn locations is incredibly helpful in deciding which location you would like to land in while within  the rift. If you land near an enemy player, prioritise obtaining a weapon first as this will give you the upper hand to shut  them down quickly, giving you some breathing room to recover health/armour.

    Loot chests will have a humming/shimmering audio queue when you are close to one, so if you hear them, look around to get some sweet loot. When gearing up, look for equipment with a higher rarity to improve your damage output and survival. There are 3 rarities within the game as follows:

    • Uncommon: The lowest rarity of equipment. Weapons of this rarity deal the base amount of damage. 20 Armour per piece (Difference in damage is minimal)
    • Rare: The medium rarity of equipment. Weapons of this rarity deal more than the base damage. 35 Armour per piece (1-3 increased damage than Uncommon)
    • Legendary: The highest rarity of equipment. Weapons of this rarity deal the most amount of damage. 50 Armour per piece (1-3 increased damage than Rare)

    There are two types of potions (Fort/Mount potions removed): Health & Mana

    • Health Potion: Take 5 seconds to consume and restores 25/100 health depending on the rarity of the potion. Capped at 100 health.
    • Mana Potion: Consumed instantly once you pick them up. Mana is used in firing magic/arrows to repairing armour durability. Capped at 1000 mana.
    • Mounts: Can be acquired by walking up to a horse and pressing E. After a short animation, the horse can be summoned by pressing H.
    • Fort Schematic Potion: Used to place down a fort in a clearing. Cannot be placed on most surfaces. There are 3 different fort types. (Removed)

    After a few seconds, the corruption storm will begin closing in on the first circle. If you are within the corruption storm, you will take damage over time. The damage caused by the storm scales depending on how far the match has progressed, with the final circle’s corruption storm dealing large amounts of damage.

    Once the corruption storm meets the first circle, a second circle will appear and you will once again have some time to move to the next circle. The circles get progressively smaller and faster as the match drags on. Your objective is to keep moving in order to stay within the boundaries of the circle before the corruption storm closes in.

    Nearing the end, the area of the circle will be incredibly small and there will only be a handful of players left. If you’ve made it this far, you’re inches away from victory. The last man standing wins.

     

     

    Tips and Tricks

    The two prominent ways of winning involve aggressively pushing towards the middle of each circle or surviving around the circle’s border without engaging in fights. As with all battle royale style games, landing farther away from the pink vortex at the start will result in you encountering fewer players and better chances at loot.

    A well balanced loadout places you ahead of the competition (Refer to tier spreadsheet). Ensure that you have both melee and ranged weapons so you can engage enemy players at any distance. An optimal loadout consists of two melee weapons consisting of one of the two spears (‘Spiritpierce’ or ‘Lifebringer’ considered tier 1) and two ranged weapons of your choice (‘Grimoire’ + Bow/Crossbow).

    Headshot hitboxes exist in this game mode, landing a headshot results in double the damage of a body shot (2x damage multiplier). Currently only ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows and wands are able to land headshots, hence carrying one of these is incredibly important. Keep a lookout for players standing still in order to heal or repair armour, stationary targets make for easy kills as long as you land a hit to the head.

    Utilise the over-the-shoulder camera to its full potential. You can position the camera to view your surroundings while keeping yourself hidden. This is incredibly useful for scouting and getting an overview of any fights that are taking place. Keep an eye on your hit indicator as it highlights the direction of incoming damage. This lets you react swiftly and helps even out the element of surprise that an attacker has.

    When playing as a squad, it’s a good idea to co-ordinate where you land (Example D4, G6, F8, etc). You can also right click to place markers on the map. When you spot enemies, call out their direction by looking at your overhead compass. Make sure not to land too close to each other as you do not want to fight over loot.

    There are a variety of destructible environments that can be destroyed using weapons and skills. Use this to your advantage to block paths or cover your escape. You can break doors from a distance using your ranged weapons to check if there are players inside. This is a useful tactic to ensure you do not open a door and get jumped. While doors can be easily broken using your weapons, if you’re taking on a stealthier approach, close doors behind you after you enter a building. This helps cover your tracks from enemy players.

    When you successfully enter the area within a circle, do not make the mistake of assuming every other player is also there. Players will be coming from within the corruption storm and can still attack you from behind. Keep a watchful eye for players using ‘Breastplate of Dark Pact’ as the active ability on it grants the player 50% damage reduction from the corruption storm for a few seconds. This lets them skirt around the edges and attack unsuspecting players while within the corruption storm.

    In most scenarios, you will not be able to run uphill as you will simply slide off. Hence holding high ground gives you a significant advantage over enemies at the base of the hill. However, using the ‘Catfall Boots’ lets you jump over slopes to reduces this disadvantage. They also make your footsteps silent and make for a good gap closer.

    Besides it’s intended use of highlighting players through obstacles, the ‘Crossbow of Revealing’ also highlights players in stealth that are using the ‘Invisibility Aegis’ chest armour. It is also one of the best medium-long range weapons in the game. The ‘Wand of Light’ active ability can be used to mark players, this could potential turn the tide of the engagement as other players will be attracted towards the pillar of light in hopes of eliminating the competition.

    The ‘Firefrost’ (Potion launcher) may be hard to use, but is incredibly powerful for destroying structures and disorienting enemies. While it may not shine as much in solo modes, this weapon’s usefulness increases in squads and enclosed areas, where the AOE from the fire potions shines as it can be utilised to corner enemies within buildings, destroy multiple structures simultaneously or simply assist with zoning enemies.

    Horses can be found in the open world and can be acquired by holding E and then pressing H to summon them. Beware though, as it makes you an easy target as players can see you riding your horse from miles away. However it does make for great situational use when you know you are safe and simply need to outrun the corruption storm. General mobility-based equipment such as the ‘Blink boots’ are more reliable.

     

    apoc adeventure pathQuesting and More

    The Battle Royale mode features an ‘Adventure Path‘ similar to Fortnite’s Battle Pass which lets you complete quests and unlock cosmetic rewards such as weapon skins, appearances, outfits, emotes and more. These quests are of two types, the first being daily quests which can be completed in a short amount of time and the second being weekly quests which are related to the lore of Verra (Ashes of Creation’s world). There are two types of paths, the first is your standard Adventure path which lets you progress through 20 rewards, while the second is a ‘Legendary Path’ which can be purchased for 10$ to unlock an additional 50 progression rewards with even more cosmetics to unlock. Furthermore, all the rewards that you unlock will be carried over to the MMORPG at launch for you to use.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Controls Layout

    Keybinds provided by Intrepid Studios