The Ashes Post

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  • Second Pathfinder Campaign

    Second Pathfinder Campaign

    Ashes of Creation Lore Reveal

    – The following lore is canon to the Ashes of Creation MMORPG, taken from the 24-Hour charity stream

    The Arrival: Barefoot with a toothy grin, Casseia was a sight to behold. Gangly and lanky, she hardly seemed accustomed to her newfound height. No, this overgrown child clung to her tomboy ways as deeply as clung to the wooden ship of her father’s creation. Dangled from the ropes like an eager chimp, the breeze tossed her locks into a matted mess. “Look Strahaigal!” she yelped like a pup to her father, who scrambled to twist the oars in response. Waves of salt crashed over the sturdy oak and filled their shallow boat with a pool of the Fjord. As her laughter grew, Casseia was quick to gurgle a mouth full of the sea. Disgusted her huge tongue was sent into a fit as she tried to spit it all out. Now it was her fathers turn to laugh at his daughter. Bells were soft at first but grew alongside shouts, they were at last home and greeted by the village’s children. Young boys with braided heads jumped and waved as they raced the boat along the shoreline. Casseia beamed, now was the perfect chance to show off. Slowly she turned to her father and eyed his oars with a pleadfull look. A challenge had been issued. The two stared in a battle of wills, her puppy eyes fixed against his strong fatherly gaze. With a sigh he was easily defeated. “Br’ah, intella nu’um, muun ma’alma”. Her jump for glee nearly sent her straight over the side. Practiced arms however were quick to swoop her up. Steadied within her father’s protection, she laughed once more as she took his place at the end of the ship. Timid hands grasped the splintering wood before her audience. With held in breath, Casseia dipped the oar into the crystal waves. In a bid for concentration, she bit down on her piqued out tongue, eyes fixed heavily on the nearing dock. Besides her, her father’s hand began to hover nervously, ready to take over if she had sent them all crashing forward. Casseia swatted his hands away playfully though, it seemed she was a natural. Smoothly she guided them to the side of the dock, as the wooden ship brushed against the pier and moaned, the girl ran to throw the rope upon the walkway for anchoring. Like a tightrope walker, she moved with similar grace along the rails, eager to show off the sailor knot she’d been taught. Ma’arkell leaned back with beaming pride as he watched on in silence. Before her father could say another word, the girl was consumed, waving goodbye frantically towards him – It seemed she was already off in a sprint towards the glade with the other children. He watched on in envy, oh to have all that energy again.

    The Betrothed: As the children one boy in particular pushed forward to be close by Casseia’s side. Slyly he linked arms and began to slow down, as the children passed and the chatter faded, Addicus stopped with her behind a nearby tree. With a shove he offered up a droopy flower to the girl, who began to laugh. “What’s this for?” she asked, in her foreign tongue. The boy turned red, “I-I was told girls were supposed to like these sort of things”. Her laughter grew even louder, “What for? Does it taste good? No? Well then who would tell you such a silly thing?”. Flustered the boy’s answer was muttered under his breath. “Come again?” she said. Addicus threw the flower onto the ground, “My mother!” With a cheshire cat grin Casseia desperately tried not to laugh again. The boy noticed and smiled, more determined than ever. Unsheathing his weapon with a playful roar, he was quick to accost her with a wooden sword in hand. A battle ensued between the two betrothed children as she dodged and danced like the hidden people, spry on her feet. Back and forth they slashed one another before more of the children joined in. Overwhelmed Casseia charged into the forestline with laughter as the warlike calls of the miniature army chased after her.

    Part Three: The village was but a distant memory now, for they were finally in the thick of nature. Would they hunt for the hidden people today? Casseia had sworn that she had spotted a Hu’ldarth in the glades, which had whipped all the town boys into a frenzy to set their gaze upon it. Addicus, the boy she most eagerly wanted to impress, remained skeptical however. With a snarky grin he assured the other children that Casseia was simply telling tall tales again. Fresh dew of the recent dawn doused the forest damp. A trickling waterfall that was once distant was now a booming thunder that roared with their nearing steps. Stillness swept over the heard of miscreants. Were they still asleep? Two women were half submerged beneath the raging falls, blinking as if to cast this forest from view. Casseia’s eyes travelled the length of their bodies before she inhaled a quick excitable shock, turning to Addicus she pointed for his gaze to follow. Flickering back and forth, impish tails adorned the creature’s backs. The girl slowly bent close to the other children, she let out an excitable word as she practically tackled them with jumping joy, “Hu’ldarth!”. Exchange faces of shock from the whole of the party, once more Casseia’s stories had proven to be right. With whispered giggles the boys eagerly gawked at what splendors the creature might do next. A rustling of the above trees was all it took to break Casseia’s wonder however. While Addicus and the village boys stared on in delight, Casseia’s head turned with ferocity of a mother lion protecting her flock of cubs. With studios eyes she peered into the still forest, hand twitching towards her blade.

     

    Extra Life Charity Stream + Pathfinder Campaign

    Intrepid Studios ready to begin the 24-hour stream

    Players: 

    • Kevin McPherson – Lead Programmer (Game Master)
    • Margaret Krohn – Community Marketing Lead
    • John Moore – President
    • Steven Sharif – Creative Director
    • Clifford Robins – Board Game Creator
    • Samantha Paige – Junior Writer
    • Alex Khudoliy – Senior Engineer
    • Bryan Ferguson – Gameplay Designer

    Primary Setting:

    • City of Gallentere 
    • The city consists of 2 smaller towns (Trellamare & Norseguard)
    • 4 sections of the Gallentere Militia known as Stoneguards of Gallentere
    • Vorkerus leads the Martial Faction called Red Shields (RS)
    • Kalood Mabrock leads the Sorcery Faction called Dweomerveil (DV)
    • Desmaria Entaurus leads the Rogue/Ranger Faction called Shadow Striders (SS)
    • Sister Winella Fayne leads the Paladin/Oracle Faction called Sanctus Ordinem (SO)

    The players are attending the militia recruitment event and have no knowledge of each other prior. Since the town of Gallentere is rather large now, naturally it has attracted higher tiers of monsters. The players are told they receive their equipment tomorrow, including a week’s worth of payment. The players head to the Broken Shield Tavern to grab some mead. While at the tavern a large man with a flowing beard walks in and demands some mead, roaring for some pork belly as he chugs down the remainder of his mead. This man was known quite simply as ‘Bacon’. Bacon is known as the leader of the Turtle Street Gang does work for the Rogue’s Guild occasionally. Nigel (Steven) the half orc picks a fight with Bacon as he chomps down on his bacon. Nigel rolls a strength check to push over Bacon and succeeds – Causing people around them to stand up, triggering an initiative check for the entire party. The one known as Bacon smacks Nigel (Steven) across the face with his pork chop while another member of the Turtle Street Gang attacks Steven’s Tankard character. The initial round of opener attacks result in Alex, Bryan’s characters falling to 1 Health Point and Margaret losing her first character immediately. The second round opens with Steven attacking Bacon with all three of his characters, resulting in the final blow using a broken bottle slashing Bacon’s neck – killing the leader of the Turtle Street Gang. The loss of their leader causes the remaining members of the Turtle Street Gang to lose their morale (-2 points of Charisma).

    TheIncredibleDash’s Useless Rock from last year’s Pathfinder campaign (2018) is brought back – This time as a Cursed rock.

    Clifford steps on his victim’s neck and twists his foot to smash it. John and Alex shut down some of the small fry while Samantha’s character throws her Tankard at the enemy as her Wizard Grandma attempts to flip a table on the enemy and fails. The enemy lashes back, beheading John’s character. Nigel (Steven) attempts to attack and misses while Rigel (Steven) beheads an enemy and rubs their blood across their face, akin to tribal warpaint. Margaret uses this opportunity to sneak around the brawl. Clifford raises the last remaining member of the Turtle Street Gang and slams him down over his knee, bringing the brawl to an end. Vorkerus the Militia leader thanks the party for helping out and hands them a bag of gold for passing the test. Those that did not pass the test were told to return home and were not allowed to join the Stoneguard of Gallentere. The party members that levelled up take their turns rolling for stat and skill upgrades. Nigel (Steven) attempted to claim 3 traits on his character but was shut down and restricted to 2. Using the 1 gold each that was given to them as their reward, the party acquires their gear from their respective player factions within the Stoneguard Militia. The armor provided by the faction is damaged, patches cover the holes in the leather, the shields have dents in them, but even though battered, its still functional equipment.

    With the tutorial now complete, each of the players locks in their characters for the active party:

    • Clifford: Simon +2 Initiative
    • John: Rohan +5 Initiative, +6 Perception, 11 HP
    • Alex: Olaf +5 Initiative, +1 Perception, 12 HP
    • Bryan: Chad +3 Initiative, +3 Perception, 12 HP
    • Sam: Gran Gran Nora +1, +0 Perception, 11 HP
    • Steven: Nigel Sparrowsong +1 Initiative, 5 Perception, 8 HP
    • Margaret: Bixby +6 Perception

    Backstory of each of the characters:

    • Simon (Clifford) the elf, his dad was a baker which is why he named him Simon the Pie Man. Simon did not want to be a baker in elven society forever so he joined the clergy and became a cleric. He joined other adventurers to bring truth to the world for his cause.
    • Gran Gran Nora (Sam) was one of the first people to come through the gateways during the exodus. She used to be a saucy elf back then. When the gods were not looking she hitchhiked her way into Verra. She now embraces Cthulhu, worships him and loves him. Praise Cthulhu.
    • Olaf (Alex) comes from a family of hunters. He is a skilled marksman. The family had some struggles and his father fell sick, so he joined the militia to earn some coin. Since he is not as skilled as his father he wants to get better at his job.
    • Chad (Bryan) comes from a family of smiths.
    • Bixby (Margaret) was blessed as a young child, she was an orphan and street urchin. One day in a dark alley a shadow spoke to her and ever since then she has had strange powers. Shadows move and dance for her.
    • Rohan (John) is a thief but nobody knows that. He has stolen over 1000 gold of trinkets and keeps them as a memento. He has a backstory of one day having to steal something worth 15,000 gold.
    • Nigel (Steven), son of Rachel and Grolan the destroyer. He is the grandson of Eric Sparrowsong, saviour of the white sparrow’s guild. 50 years ago his family came in from Sanctus to conquer the unknown. Long ago Nigel’s mother was kidnapped by Grolan the destroyer, where she gave birth to Nigel in captivity. Eric led a raid against them, where Grolan got away. Nigel still seeks revenge against Grolan.
    The party taking on the Mighty Wizard Bacon at the tavern

     

    Desmaria, the Shadowstrider trainer gathers them around, sharing news that the sister city of Trelemare has been attacked. Besides the 3 primary cities the 10 other cities are rather poor. Trelemare has been raided in the recent weeks and kidnappings have been occurring. A strange mist transcends the town, followed by a lot of howls and yelling, then the mist disappears and people with it. Nobody knows how or why, but this mist is causing merchants and traders to steer clear of the city which is hurting its economy. The attacks tend to occur during the new moon, when the night is at its darkest. Nigel inquires as to whether the people of Trelemare have any news regarding a blonde half orc, Gaelan, who is Nigel’s brother. The Barracks are unable to offer the party mounts, as such the players are expected to travel on their own and find a solution to the strange mist. The city of Trelemare is south-west of Gallantmere, roughly a mile away.

    ~350$ Donation – CDKinetic donates two items to the party
    ~20$ Donation – Doom on one of Margaret’s characters

    Donation items are distributed. 2 of the 3 items are secretly cursed:

    • Alex/Olaf – +1 Light shield
    • Steven/Nigel – Ring of Animal Friendship
    • John/Rohan – Cloak of Resistance

    The dice is rolled and Sam/Gran Gran is chosen as the owner of the Cursed rock. The party rolls a D6 for the encounter roll with 6 being the worst encounter. Alex proceeds to roll a 6.

    The party encounters a pack of wolves in the desert while on their way to Trelemare. The wolves begin closing in around the party as the players attempt to close the distance between them. Bixby (Margaret) takes cover behind a nearby tree. Gran Gran Nora (Sam) summons and empowers her Cthulhu minion to take down the wolves, ending her turn by empowering Nigel (Steven). Steven quickly swaps to a shield and takes his place at the front of the party to assume his role as tankard. Chad (Bryan) shuts one of the wolves down while Olaf (Alex) snipes another wolf with his bow. Each player is awarded 400 EXP, 120 gold, 7 goblin arrows, 7 goblin daggers and arrows to restore their ammunition.

    Following the encounter with the wolves, the party finally arrives in the city Trelemare. Nigel asks around in order to find a figure of authority in the town. The guard tells them they can find a shaman named Watenga down the road, within a tent. As the party moves through the town, they spot a colourful tent with skulls hanging over its entrance. Within the tent, they spot Watenga deep in meditation, the room filled with the scent of incense burning. Nigel immediately requests if Watenga can remove the ring from his finger, Watenga declines.They then ask Watenga regarding the mysterious kidnappings relating to the mist. Watenga shares that the mist comes in from the north, swiftly. Olaf questions the type of people kidnapped, to which Watenga shares that it’s mostly women and girls that vanish within the mist. Additionally the Colonel Portland is suspicious as he constantly fiddles with his stick and has been suspiciously talkative. Colonel Portland has been bragging about tales of his skill, usually fiddling with his walking stick while the mist comes in. Inquiring further into the details of the kidnapping results in Watenga sharing that the mist has swept by twice now, with over two dozen people missing. Since the next day is a new moon, they’re expecting the mist tomorrow. Watenga also offers to sell them the following wards which the party purchases:

    • Ward against Poison – Purchased by Olaf
    • Ward against Death Magic – Purchased by Bixby
    • Ward against Elemental Distress – Purchased by Nigel

    Nigel inquires as to whether Watenga is willing to sell any potions, which Watenga shares that he only has a potion that turns the user into an animal when making love. Nigel acquires all of these potions out of curiosity. Rohan then requests a divination – Which results in the divination that he will be victorious. The party approaches the Colonel Portland. Nigel immediately casts detect magic on the Colonel, infuriating him and causing him to approach the party with his men, swords drawn. When questioned on their spell cast, Nigel and the party immediately apologise, claiming they did it to protect the Colonel. The Colonel does not believe them and insists that they follow his orders and listen to his commands as he is a colonel. The party questions why the Colonel has not protected the people of the town. To which the Colonel defends himself by stating that the mist passes by the farside of the town, the area with half-orcs primarily. Magical Intervention donation affects Nigel’s ears and makes it deformed and mis-coloured, distracting everyone. Bixby uses this opportunity to pickpocket Colonel and steal a piece of cloth. While the party tries to figure out what’s wrong with Nigel, Bixby moves aside and inspects the piece of cloth she stole, only to realize its filled with boogers and is actually his napkin, she then drops it behind him and lets him pick it up.

    Ambushed on their journey, the party takes on a pack of wolves

     

    ~500$ Donated by Fooshy – Turn Steven into a Fox-like Tulnar
    ~251$ Donated by SoSplease – Magical Item to the party

    The magical intervention that struck Nigel earlier fully transforms him into a Fox-like Tulnar with the characteristics of a Kitsune. wDue to the Magical Intervention, Simon the pie man screams and falls onto the ground with blood pouring out of his eyes. Nigel quickly sticks his pussing and deformed ear into Sam’s mouth and Sam begins to lick it. After about a minute, Sam staggers to his feet. Purple black energy ripples out of Sam the pie man, triggering a Roll14. Those that succeeded the roll took 2 points of damage, those that failed took 4 points of damage. The black energy corrupts the holy sigil that belongs to Simon, causing Bixby to run over and stare at it in awe. Simon leans in and whispers to Bixby ‘The Darkness grows”. A dark god takes over Simon, Bixby who has an affinity for shadows is drawn to Simon and whispers back “The new moon awaits us”, implying that they have some relation to the mist.

    Before heading to the inn for the night, Nigel heads out to hunt for rabbits as he is now a Fox Tulnar. Nigel attempts a jump to chase after the rabbits but fails the roll and turns to return to the camp, but then quickly uses Magical Ring to befriend animals. The rabbit slows, turns around and then sprints away, immediately the magic animal ring rusts and turns to dust, beginning to crackle, causing a sharp pain in Nigel’s chest. Nigel rolls to safe roll, and successfully evades the Lycanthropy curse. He then returns to the camp, saddened.

    Colonel Portland walks up to the party, declares that he has had enough of the filthy orcs and tulnar for causing the mist, triggering a battle encounter. After a painstaking battle, the party defeats Colonel Portman and everyone levels up. The Vek and Half orcs that watch the battle unfold show their gratitude and the party now has favourable currency with them. One of the other Colonel’s walks up to the party and thanks them – stating Portland had lost his mind, hoping he can count on the party’s assistance in the upcoming night. The party rests up at the inn and recovers +2HP each. The next morning they sort through their loot and prepare for the events of the day. As night strolls by, the mist rolls in thick and the party braces themselves. They hear a noise coming from the North East direction. Nigel leads the way. The party cautiously makes their way through the mist and hear horses approaching. The party decides to take cover and hide, while Olaf (Alex) decides to shoot on sight.

    The party fights off the horsemen within the mist and head to the Colonel Yorrick to report their findings. The militia commander is intrigued at finding out the Mist actually comprises of men who travel within it that are responsible for the abductions and not the mystical mist itself. The party probes Colonel Yorrick for additional information regarding Colonel Portland. Yorrick admits that Portland had issues with outsiders, complimented his archery and swordsmanship. The party discovers a trail from where the horsemen had appeared through the mist, but before they can decide what to do, one of Yorrick’s aids hurriedly whispers into his ear. Yorrick turns to the party and gravely states that they had 8 more people taken, all of whom were non-human. The party decides to strip down the horsemen from the mist but Yorrick stops them under the guise of protecting the dignity of the bodies. Nigel’s (Steven’s) attempt to eat the bodies for additional information is stopped immediately. They decide to take one of the bodies with them for clues and follow the trail on foot instead. Once some distance away, Nigel decides to open up the body and identifies that the mist horseman had consumed deer, rabbit and berries sometime before. Nigel (Steven) as a tulnar fox, decides to eat the rest of the body anyways to please twitch chat, but is ashamed of himself. The party follows the trail for about half mile, they are now coming across hills and hear tapping and hear horns being blown. The enemy attempts to ambush them, however Bixby’s Shadow Vision spots them, preventing the ambush.

    After barely making it through the fight and losing one of their allies – Simon (Clifford), they make it back to the camp, bloodied and tired, barely making it out. They decide to get some upgrades and stock up to better prepare for future fights. They sell the loot from their previous fight and split it within the party for 64 gold each and return to the enemy hideout for another battle encounter. However, he party is ambushed within the corridor and is brought dangerously low due to hails of arrow fire, the group falls back, regroups and goes back in, only to get wiped out completely – with only Bixby (Margaret) surviving. The party has to introduce their new characters as their previous ones were wiped out.

    Gran Gran Nora was eventually killed by The Incredible Dash’s cursed rock as it caused her to take damage while downed. 

    The final battle of the campaign commences

     

    With the fresh party established, Bixby being the only surviving member of the previous party, heads back into the enemy hideout to sneak around and obtain information on the enemies. She discovers that their primary threat this time are two superior beasts, she returns to the party and they begin discussing a battle strategy. A huge round of donations buff the party as Steven and Alex return after their naps. The party gets overloaded with over 3000$ worth of boons and begins the encounter with heavy CC and rolls for surprise mage balls. After winning the fight, they discover that the superiors they beat had an agreement with Colonel Portland, where Portland said he did not care about what they did with the non-humans. The party loots a heavy Iron shield, Longsword, Locked Crate and 20x Arrows. The party decides to split up and explore different areas of the hideout/dungeon. The middle of the room opens up like a sinkhole, disclosing children marinating in the hole down below. Nigel (Steven) attempts to send one of the trolls down the pit, the troll disagrees and is killed by Nigel for disobeying orders. Nigel then ties the rope around himself and lets himself down the hole, going down 80 or so feet. At the bottom there’s a pile of salt brine. Nigel uses detect magic and finds nothing but salt.

    The party finds out that the kidnappings were caused by the slave traders arriving within the mist. However they were kidnapping the non-humans primarily and were being assisted by one of the Colonel’s who did not like the non-humans. The party returns the captives that had not been sold off yet and collected their bounties on the Evil priest (Simon the Pie man) and the two superior guards that the party defeated who were wanted by the Stoneguard of Gallentere and as such are rewarded greatly for completing the bounty. The nodes were strengthened as a result of their contributions, bringing the campaign to an end.

     

    The full transcript with Steven in a cow costume, T-Rex lightsaber battle and more can be found below:

  • A Journey for Knowledge

    A Journey for Knowledge

    A Journey for Knowledge

    This article is a compilation of the lore and information pertaining to the background lore of the world of Verra in Ashes of Creation.
    This article will be kept updated as more Apocalypse lore is revealed. Most of these hypotheses are opinionated, and not factual. Please take that into account while reading and form your own opinions on the subject after reviewing the source materials provided.

    I have supplied as many sources for the contents of this article as I could. For those who wish to simply see a summary of this article, please scroll all the way to the bottom. The summary will not include the majority of minute details that make this entire process worth investigating, so I’d suggest reading the full article. This project took approximately 80+ hours to complete. Some of this time was spent in game while the majority of it was spent searching for information and compiling all of it into a single article for others to read. The twelve weeks of Adventure Pass lore is split across three segments.  If there are topics that you would like to see added, further investigated, or to provide new sources of information, please contact me with my Discord tag: Feardraconis#4422

    Enjoy!

    Background Lore

    The creation of Verra has some significant background lore. We start by learning of a race of beings known as the Ancients and that were created in the likeness of The Ten. This term is used to represent the ten Deities of Creation. These Gods imbued their qualities into a single race known as the Ancients. This allowed the Ancients to have ownership over all creation. Eventually there was a divide among the Gods on how to control their new creation. Three of the Ten Gods separated from the others and began to teach The Ancients the Secrets of the Essence. (Essence, we can assume is like Midichlorians from the Star Wars universe. Whether good or bad, they are included in all of life in Verra) This “Essence-Weaving” could be used to create magic that was not divine in nature. When the Seven remaining Gods learned of this, a large celestial battle ensued. In Legend it is believed that this war created the universe of Ashes of Creation and the world of Verra. As the war finally concluded, the Three Gods and the Ancients were banished into the Void. After this horrific event, the Seven decided to split their qualities across four races instead of one; this is how the mortal races known in Verra were created.

    As a world rich with diverse cultures, Verra has been influenced by these four major races; Humans, Orcs, Elves, and Dwarves. Throughout history they have fought numerous wars against each other and the lesser races of Verra. These lesser races were seen as barbaric and crude, often finding refuge in makeshift villages and settling in tribal and possibly nomadic societies. Within the darker areas of Verra were the twisted and terrible abominations of creation. Twisted through essence to disrupt what times of peace that these mortal races knew. Many great churches dispatched heroes to destroy these threats to civilization. Roughly twenty-five years before the Fall, there were four great empires that spanned the known world. The Aela Empire, Pyrian Kingdom, Kaivek Protectorate and the Dunzenkell. Furthermore, there were many city states, some self governed and others vassal states of the great four empires.

    The above information is a summary of this livestream transcript.

    SolarSystem.jpg

    Battle Royale Quest Lore

    In this section I will cover the Battle Pass Quest Lore from the Battle Royale of Intrepid’s Apocalypse. There is a lot of information, some of it is fairly vague. However it does provide some insight into the world of Verra. This includes: legendary characters, mythical weapons, corruption, essence, racial lore, factions, theology, and some creatures. I believe Intrepid Studios have done a great job of giving us some information without giving away too much of the primary lore.

    Once again, the statements below are not factual, but opinionated using a hypothesis. Sources are included on the second page of the article, I encourage you to read the quests for yourself and form your own opinions.

     

    Week 1

    1. Cry Havoc: Harbingers in this context refer to “Omens”. This is further backed by the blog post called Dillia’s Diary . The “Others” termed here are referenced often throughout these quests. I believe Corruption acts similar to the Flood from the Halo Universe (essentially taking control of the minds of mortals and the Essence around itself, effectively allowing it to spread to all life as everything is made to some degree of Essence). From the description, Corruption is the largest threat that destroyed the Old World. Prayers and Spells had no effect upon the Corruption. Creation (the Seven) may have forsaken the Old World and left the mortals to fend for themselves.

    2. Terrorwraith: This piece of Lore hints at what could be a naturally occurring dynamic event in Verra called a “Manastorm”. The choice of words here is shocking, almost as if Mana and Essence are different substances. While the rest of the quest does not mention much else besides some backstory for the Terrorwraith creature. The description of the Manastorm stuck similar to a Biawac from the RPG Pillars of Eternity.

    3. Cleric Training: Here Creation is referenced as some sort of Religion (or Godhead, namely the Seven). He-Who-Groveled is a large creature which has massive tentacles, this may be referencing the Kraken glyph’s and architecture found in the Underrealm. It is interesting to note that this same theme is shown in a dungeon showcase on Intrepid’s YouTube channel. This creature that is mentioned could possibly be a future Raid/World boss or an Ancient. Also by this context Resurrection magic does exist in Verra, however it is unknown if this magic will be included in some of the Class Kits. Finally a Legendary figure named Aventia is mentioned and may be further referenced in the MMO.

    4. A Blunt Instrument: Creation is referred to once again either as a religion or Godhead within the Lore. The Lightpact is also mentioned, which we learn later on is an alliance of all the mortal races to combat the Corruption and Harbingers. Also to note is that there are several High Priests (one for each of the seven deities). One may assume that for the Religion Mechanic in the MMO, a Player would choose one of these seven paths of religion for their character’s progression. A location called the “Godforge” is also noted. It is possible that this forge was used to produce the weapons used to fight against the Corruption, and these weapons may be legendary weapons usable by players in the MMO. Another possible legendary figure named Brother Balmo may be referenced in further Lore.

    5. A Treasured Find: The Fallow Hold is a location mentioned here, it is quite possible that it will be a Dungeon in the MMO. Ancient treasures were stored here by an individual name Atrax, which may be another legendary figure referenced later.

    6. Seeking Penance: Penance in this context I believe is repentance or forgiveness. A Starchild is referred to here which could have number of different meanings. The Starchild could be a servant of Creation (comparable to an angel) or an individual with unique magical abilities. Obviously, the village did not offer what the Starchild wanted or heeded its warnings and were punished accordingly.

    7. War of Towers: In this Quest, we learn of Lemlong, which is a possible city node/country within Verra. The Kaelar were not a united people and commonly fought each other, which we could assume on multiple occasions throughout their history. The Empyrean Empire also conquered these factions shortly after the war. There could possibly be an occupation or complete takeover of the Kaelar people by the Empyrean Empire in Verra at this point in the timeline. This war may be one of the Great Wars in the timeline of Ashes of Creation.

    Elven Gateway

     

    Week 2

    1. Let Us Remember: We learn here that the Lightpact is an alliance between the four major races of Verra to combat the Harbingers. This means that there is quite possibly more than just the Corruption threatening the Old World. It also says that the “stars fell, chaos reigned, and corruption spread.” It may be possible that the Corruption arrived to the Old World via meteors. Or that the natural disasters were the Harbingers themselves. This is further supported by the volcano being named Harbinger in the Battle Royale Map.

    2. Dragon Lines: Eremus is introduced here, possible legendary character. A dragon is inlaid in his wand, which can be considered a symbol of power. It is specified that he is going on a journey for the Lightpact.

    3. Savagery: Mentioned here is another legendary figure know as Rikashi the Blackened Ember. Mainly this quest is just a narrative, however it is notable that Rikashi kills what we may assume were Others and proceeds into a cavern. This narrative is continued in following few weeks quests.

    4. They Cannot Hide: Mostly just a narrative here, not much that is Lore significant. Gellchrist, at least in this context will probably not be a legendary character. The Others here are interestingly described almost as a Hivemind entity.

    5. Working Steel: The Obsidian forge here is shown as another location. The Dunzenkell are a Dwarven faction and are said to have amazing blacksmithing capabilities. It is quite possible that they will have innate racial abilities towards blacksmithing in the MMO.

    6. The Arrow’s Mark: In this quest, Creation is recognized as an “Entity” or even a location. We also learn that Corruption may have arrived to the Old World via “Portals”. This could be a part of the Horde Mode in APOC where the players will have to close portals to halt the current wave of creatures attacking the Node. It may also be a future mechanic in the MMO if Corruption ever returns to Verra with possible quest-lines or dynamic events. Three “Behemoths” are suggested as well, these may be references to world bosses in the MMO or bosses that will be in the Horde mode of APOC. It does not take much imagination to guess that the Behemoths are actually the Ancients.

    7. In The Face of Inevitability: Harbingers here again, assuming in the context used meaning “Omens”. Interestingly “abyss” is used here, I do not regard this as a reference to the Others . Yet I believe it refers to the Void, or it may be just a figure of speech in that the Lightpact had lost hope in combating these Harbingers. Upon further inspection into the lore, one could accept that the Harbingers are natural disasters and may not be in exact reference to the Others.

    Elven Dungeon

     

    Week 3

    1. An Alchemical Answer: Its unknown at this point if Cashitan will be a legendary character, not much description of him besides the fact that he is a fairly talented alchemist. One thing to note is however the wording of “he wouldn’t do this by hand”, in my opinion it may be possible that there is an auto crafting option in the MMO. However I doubt it will be to the extent of BDO’s (Black Desert Online) AFK Life Skills. You could assume by doing auto crafting, that it would take severely longer to complete said item and lower the potency of it. For example, a blacksmith who auto crafts an iron breastplate with X amount of durability on it may have a lower amount of durability than a blacksmith who manually crafts the iron breastplate. There are pros and cons to this. While it would allow the player to then go about other tasks, the items made would have less value. However, if said player always crafts manually they could potentially lose time in other aspects of the game like raiding, gathering, questing etc. I have no idea if there is a auto crafting system being discussed for the MMO, but it is a possibility.

    2. An Evolution of Power: The Mountain Dwarves, better known as the Dunzenkell are respected as master engineers. They use a mixture of metalworking and Essence to create their items. It is interesting to note that an esteemed artisan in their culture holds higher or similar status as the nobility. Kaelmuir (Legendary Smith?) is mentioned as one such example. Creating the crossbow from a miniaturized version of a siege ballistae. Also in this quest, Intrepid gives us a very important answer to whether or not Essence-Weaving was passed down from the Seven to the four mortal races. Therefore, we can assume that all “magic” in the universe of Verra is actually just the manipulation of Essence whether for good or evil.

    3. Rarefied Ingredient: The four Divine Gateways (one for each mortal race) were actually constructed by the Lightpact. However this process was near impossible as the materials required were very dangerous and difficult to acquire along with The Harbingers constantly affecting their efforts. Despite all of these factors, the Lightpact sent teams of experienced individuals to gather these materials. Also note that these individuals had to have strong minds to resist the Corruption taking hold of them. Even for some, that wasn’t enough.

    4. Here One Moment..: Disclosed in this quest are mainly three topics. The introduction of a faction called “The Blue Rose”, a possible type of Essence-Weaving resulting in what is termed as “feytouched” and Dyvek, an individual who fought against a Knight from this faction. Feytouched, it seems is the ability to bend physics allowing for teleportation. While the Blue Rose isn’t mentioned more, I believe it could be a mercenary faction trying to capitalize on the chaos brought on by the Harbingers.

    5. Lion’s Peace: Theron, Paladin of the Herald holds a mythical weapon named “Lion’s Peace”. There is a chance this would be an attainable mythical weapon within the MMO. It also says that he had a “devotion to his God” which may help confirm that a player may choose a Deity as part of the religious character progression system. Note also, that the Others killed did not live the same as him. The assumption here is that in one point of time they were living, and that in killing them he would have been breaking his vow to take no life. However because they had been Corrupted they were no longer living. (basically meaning that they were once mortals or creatures who had then been corrupted)

    6. Going It Alone: The Harbingers here are recognized as being events. While still being omens, it would make sense that these were mainly natural disasters of some sort. In this context, the Harbinger that Rikashi has entered is some sort of cavern (possibly the volcano from the Battle Royale map). She also uses a meditation technique to avoid the army of Others surrounding her which may be a skill in the MMO. Whether this is used for stealth or possibly to restore ones Essence.

    7. A Champion Appears: The Celestial Games is a tournament held every seven years where individuals participate in seven different events (one year and event for each Deity) where they test might, mettle, magic, and mind. Arenas are also present in many cities across Verra. This is very intriguing as players may be able to use these arenas for tournaments and may be used for the “Arena Style” PvP. “Celestial Champion” may be a title that players can earn by participating in arena content.

    Dunir Dungeon

     

    Week 4

    1. Divine Gifts: I believe that these chests were left behind as caches of powerful weapons by the Lightpact. These weapons were effective in fighting the Others. These chests are described identically to the ones used in the Battle Royale as they “glow and chime, as if they want to be found”.

    2. Old Reliable: Sadly, this quest is mostly just narrative. It is interesting to note however that Hrngnir is trying to escape Verra and that it had become hell. Also that he was having to fight so much that he actually dulled his axe.

    3. Cairon’s Wing: Molle is described as a master artisan. She has created a heavy plate which she has named “Cairon’s Wing”, and this is most likely a mythical item that could be attainable in the MMO. The item was imbued with Essence to give the item more tensile strength and higher mobility. With this detail, we can assume that working with Essence will have a large impact on crafting.

    4. Hand of Fate: It is possible that with the information in this lore that Essence allows an individual to control the specific elements like fire for an example. Despite Ashlar being able to use his wings to fly, I believe Intrepid Studios has taken a stance on no flying for players and mounts. However gliding will be a system for mounts as far as we know. These wings described may be future cosmetics or even skills available to certain class kits.

    5. A Moment of Crisis: Another narrative with Aventia which talks about each member of her group’s Essence. She was able to recognize her companions through their “Essence Strand” which she sensed “familiar, warm, and felt of friendship and love”. In the area there was little ambient Essence, Aventia had to use her own Essence to save her compatriots lives. Note, that there is a different terminology between ones “Essence Strand” and ones “Lifespark”. It is possible that these are in fact, the same. However, different races or cultures may refer to it differently. One detail that I find perplexing is the concept of “ambient Essence”. In a sense, Essence can be view as a resource and specifically get low in quantity in certain situations. Because of this, Essence may be a food source for creatures or fuel for certain magical interactions. With that being said, I believe that “Mana” is condensed Essence that can be used to help fuel ones magic.

    6. Stereotypical Mages: Mostly just narrative here but it does introduce the idea that spells can be cast without an item. But this comes with a con, as more complicated spells in the spur of combat, become very difficult to cast without an item to channel through. Logically this makes sense and when you take it to a game-play situation, spells that are used without an item may be weaker or have a longer cool-down. This may hint at what Intrepid has previously stated as ‘Sigils’ being an item that a player could equip in their off-hand to bolster their stats and usage of magic.

    7. The First and the Last: This meeting I believe was between the Champions of Verra (possibly some of the individuals introduced throughout the quest lore) and the leaders of the Lightpact. These leaders called this gathering to decide who among those champions would lead the military efforts against the Others. Every living being on Verra depended on this decision.

    Elven Spawn

     

    Languages of Verra

    Elder and Younger Futhark: If you look closely at the scope UI of the Crossbow of Revealing and the Grimoire, there are runic symbols within these elements. These symbols are similar to the Elder and Younger Futhark Runic languages. Elder Futhark originated as a writing system used by early Germanic tribes. It was then simplified in Scandinavia and eventually became Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. The Anglo-Saxon and Younger Futharks remained in used during the Early and High Middle Ages. The wiki pages provided give quite an interesting read. Surprisingly enough, these runic languages are extremely similar to Dwarvish runes across many different fantasy settings. Tolkien’s writings, World of Warcraft, and even Dungeon and Dragons Dwarvish appear similar. However they are not a direct match to many of the symbols shown. It could also be true that this is a home-brewed language (as Ashes of Creation was originally Steven’s home-brewed Pathfinder campaign) as some of the symbols do not match any of these other languages. While attempting to translate these runes provided very little insight into their purpose, I believe that a cipher is needed to fully comprehend the meaning behind them. In my opinion, it is quite possible that they are Words of Power imbued within these weapons themselves to give them their abilities and mainly just add some extra flavor to the UI.

    Unknown: There are three shrines in the Battle Royale map that have these symbols. They bare some resemblance to the Draconic runes used in Dungeons and Dragons. However I have been unable to find runes/glyphs that match directly with them. Attempting to find Elvish translations also bore no fruit. It is probable that these runes are an early hint towards the Tulnar. Sadly, this logic does not fit the timeline well as the Tulnar appear after the Fall. As there isn’t a system of runes that matches well, I believe these are glyphs. (runes and glyphs are very different, runes have a more alphabetical meaning creating words or sentences. Whereas glyph’s hold more of a meaning comparable to “Beware, dangerous path ahead!”. You could assume similar to an Inuit Inukshuk.) These shrines or runes may hold a meaning in there is dangerous Essence here or that an area is rich with ambient Essence. The same assets show up in this environment teaser on Intrepid’s YouTube channel.

     

     

     

    Landmarks

    Map ToC:

    • Spiral: Possible Node Locations
    • Blue eyes: Points of Interest
    • Orange eyes: Locations with strange Objects
    • Red G: Possible Future Mob Inhabited Areas
    • Yellow W: Areas That Hint at Larger Creatures

    The reasoning behind this labeling is based on personal opinion. A lot of the layout of certain areas can give you a glimpse of what they could be in the MMO. Especially as the map for the Battle Royale is using assets and landscapes from the MMO, however they have been shrunk down into a playable size for the Apocalypse version. Most of the cities and towns we can assume will be small nodes in the MMO or have similarities. If you have noticed in playing the Battle Royale so far, the south west part of the map has a Elvish design (Empyrean) while the north east side has more of a Human architectural design (Kaelar). It is interesting to note that both in the Underrealm and just south of Fort Ryll, there are the exact same two crystals as the ones show below in the concept art. It is possible that these crystals were used to “seal” dangerous Essence or creatures in those areas.

    Locations like Sky Mesa, Rotweald Forest, La’sai Village, and Farstrider Outpost have more primitive designs. This could be hinting at the Lesser races in the background lore and may represent Goatmen, Goblins, Lizardmen, Birdmen, or others that have yet to be referenced.

    The Three Behemoths mentioned in the quest lore may also be referenced within the map itself, designated Kraken, (possibly “He-Who-Groveled) Groot (is actually a Treant) and lastly the giant stone head north-east of Brighthold could be a stone Golem.

     

    Summary

    Please note that the information listed below is my personal opinion and not factual material.

    Over time, four great empires arose from the ashes of conflict into the Aela Empire, Pyrian Kingdom, Kaivek Protectorate and the Dunzenkell. Just when relative peace seemed to settle across Verra, the Harbingers appear. Surely this was a evil omen, foreshadowing the end of civilization. After all natural disasters must be a sign for the Gods. Not too long after, portals from the Void appeared. Carrying with them numerous corrupted beings never before seen by the eyes of mortals. Prayers went unanswered, Spells had no effect, traditional weaponry barely held them at bay. It seemed as though Creation had forsaken Verra. In an act of desperation, the major empires formed an alliance called the Lightpact whose sole focus was the survival of Verra. Many heroes were born, and more perished by the Others. However not only did the Others appear, but Corruption also twisted the land and the minds of those infected. It was never ending. The Lightpact began to create powerful weapons using the master smiths from the Dwarves and Words of Power from their most esteemed scholars. But it was too late, the Corruption could not be stopped. In an act of desperation the Lightpact sent their best artisans and warriors across Verra to gather materials for what would be their last hope; the Divine Gateways. These materials were extremely dangerous and between the Harbingers, Others, and Corruption, it was near impossible to gather enough. However despite their efforts the Lightpact fell. Those who were still sane made their last desperate attempt to survive the chaos by fleeing through the Divine Gateways. Many however did not make it. Creation, seeing the mortals desperation took pity upon them and created the sanctuary known as the Underrealm. A immeasurable amount of time has past, the Verra that the mortals had once known is gone.  Those who had survived have been thrust into a familiar yet exotic world. At this point I believe the Apocalypse timeline ends, and thus begins the MMO’s timeline.

    Creation is the term used to describe the 10 Deities of Verra. Three of these Gods taught their offspring known as the Ancients the art of “Essence-Weaving” causing the Ancients to gain a great deal of power. When the other Seven discovered this, there was a great Celestial War. Eons past, and the energy from the battles fought is what created Verra. Eventually the Seven Higher Gods won the war, and cast down the Fallen Three and The Ancients into the Void. Realizing their mistake, the Seven decided to imbue their powers into four races instead of one. Thus the Humans, Elves, Orcs, and Dwarves were born. It is important to note that the Lesser races were also a factor, and may have been subject to genocide, slavery, and discrimination. The Harbingers were natural disasters that affected the world of Verra and the mortal races considered them ill omens.  However it is fascinating to learn that the knowledge of “Essence-Weaving” was also past down to this mortal races. It is also disturbing to learn this as it makes the Seven seem like hypocrites for teaching this secret art to the four Major races. While casting down the Three and the Ancients into the Void for the exact same reason. There is a high probability of celestial politics at play for the majority of the Ashes of Creation lore. The Fallen Three and the Higher Seven are obviously at war with one another, but there is most likely some contention within those two groups as well. Surprisingly, this shares similarity with ancient Greek Mythology as the Greek Gods held each other often in contempt, pitting their children against each other. The Ancients also heavily remind me of the Titans from this Mythology as well. Each of these Ancients may have a singular Essence that they focus in like fire, earth, water, air, light, void, etc.

    It is important to note that Essence, Magic, and Mana, are very different things. I will attempt to clarify why and how. To understand this terminology, one must realize that Essence is basically the building blocks of all organic and possibly inorganic life in the Ashes of Creation universe. Scientifically, you could consider Essence to be the atoms of everything. Now Magic is the process of weaving this Essence into shapes and processes. An individual can use this Essence-Weaving to bind these atoms to create materials, items, organics, etc. Resulting in special abilities or higher tensile strength. The actual applications in this regard are almost endless. The art of weaving Essence can allow the control of elements in the form of spells. Now doing this without an Essence infused item is possible, however less efficient especially in combat situations. As this process requires tremendous mental fortitude and focus unless an individual is inherently gifted. Therefore in combat most Mages use an item to help channel their magic in a sense. Mana can be seen as a fuel for these magical processes. To simplify, Mana is condensed Essence that can be consumed to help cast magic. It is also important to note the term “Lifespark”, as it is unknown if this is just a reference to an individuals “Essence Strand” or in other words, ones soul.

    Now this is opinionated, not entirely factual. The three fallen Gods possibly control the forces of Corruption, Abyssal, and Demonic Essence respectively. Whereas the seven higher Gods may represent the seven virtues: Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility. It is quite possible that when choosing a religion within the MMO that a player may choose one of these seven higher virtues or one of the three fallen faiths as their religious progression for their character. This system may also include how NPC’s and Nodes will interact with a player. We could consider the seven and even the fallen three as “Creation” in that they are referred similar to the Godhead in the Christian faith. It is important to note that the story of creation bares similarities with Greek Mythology and their “Myths of Origin”.

    From the description of the “Others” it seems that Corruption may operate similar to a “Hivemind” entity. It corrupts the land, creatures, and mortals eventually overtaking them and causing their free will to be controlled and then used by whatever power controls the Corruption. It seems logical to assume that Corruption can affect both organic and inorganic substances.  To combat this the Lightpact created very powerful weapons imbued with different types of Essence. These weapons may be future legendary weapons attainable in the MMO.

     

    Final Words

    In conclusion, the world of Verra is vast and much of lore has yet to be obtained. However, I hope that this article helped shed some light on some of the lore in the Ashes of Creation that we know so far. I will be updating this article throughout Apocalypse with more insights as the lore progresses and breaking it up into segments. Personally I would like to thank the entire staff at Intrepid Studios for their amazing work so far on Ashes of Creation. I am truly excited to see what will come next and hope that they realize that their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. I would also like to thank everyone in the guild Mythic who helped me gather this information in game and allowed me to bounce ideas off of them. Finally, I am grateful that The Ashes Post allowed me to use their website as the medium to deliver this content. I hope that you enjoyed this article and I look forward to the future of Ashes of Creation!

    See ya’ll in game!

  • Hard Power for Hire

    Hard Power for Hire

    Hard Power for Hire: Management and Employment of Mercenaries in Ashes of Creation

    Note: This is article is written by Davlos, posted from another platform on Nov. 11, 2017.

    To provide sound military and strategic advice.
    To provide a highly professional and confidential military advisory service to legitimate governments.
    To provide the most professional military training packages currently available to armed forces, covering aspects related to sea, air, and land warfare.
    To provide advice to armed forces on weapon and weapon platform selection.
    To provide a total apolitical service based on confidentiality, professionalism, and dedication.
                – Mission Statement of Executive Outcomes

    Introduction

    Most “mercenary” player organizations (i.e. clan, guild, corporation) in MMOs are mercenary companies in all but name. When there is a lack of agency among players to inflict meaningful consequences among others (without resorting to means which breaks Terms of Service), the idea of paying an organization (“guild”) to exert the client’s will over another guild is meaningless.  Based on information publicly available by Intrepid Studios, Ashes of Creation is a MMO which maximizes player agency by a) allowing players to capture, hold and develop territory, b) allowing competing power blocs to attack each other, to c) inflict permanent and material harm (or consequences) upon opposing power blocs, and ultimately d) has no overly oppressive NPC enforcement to play the role of night watchman to keep the peace among players. All of the above conditions point to the viability of having a mercenary guild in Ashes of Creation which may accept contracts to achieve objectives of substance on behalf of a client.

    Mercenary work in Ashes of Creation may take on different forms. On the most fundamental level, external military support in the provision of and/or supplementing the client’s hard power is the service offered by any such mercenary guilds – profit-driven organizations specializing in providing military skills, ranging from combat at the tip of the spear, strategic planning and intelligence gathering at command and control, and logistical support, training and technical assistance at the rear echelon. The quoted mission statement of Executive Outcomes – a now-defunct private military company with roots in the South African Defence Force, succinctly sums up the range of services and expertise any aspiring mercenary guild should strive to offer.

    Services Offered by Mercenary Guilds

    The mere act of killing other players on behalf of the client, while certainly core to the concept of hiring a mercenary army, is not the only service provided by this profession. Trade and supply lines are facilitated by caravan, which must be escorted by players and NPCs alike. Merchant and other PVE guilds which seek to carry out their economic activities unmolested may lack the necessary experience or aptitude to defend themselves against hostile players who threaten them. Fledging PVP guilds who may have the numbers but lack the equipment or expertise can very well use the advice of advisers dispatched from experienced mercenary organizations. An alliance at war with an opposing power bloc may realize it lacks capable scouts, or requires an alternate supply route which may be closed off to the client but grants permission for the mercenaries to pass. Where open world raids are concerned, mercenaries may be hired to guard the entrance to dungeons or intercept any other competing guilds who wish to contest the dungeon.

    Other options are available to enterprising guild leaders who seize the opportunity to align itself with the interests of a major power bloc, thus securing themselves a stable source of contracts and potentially a node for itself to serve as a base of operations. To build further along this path, a nominally unaligned mercenary guild could also be employed as the vanguard in distracting an enemy’s forces as an alleged third party, throwing a wrench into the enemy’s deployment plans before launching an invasion.

     

    Key Criteria for Successful Mercenary Guilds

    Beyond the typical requirements for recruiting and retaining skilled PVP players, the aspiring mercenary guild must possess these qualities and staff for enduring success:

    • Disciplined force which travels light: Unless the mercenary guild has found a powerful sponsor with nodes to spare, there is typically nothing to go home to. Intrepid Studios promises Verra to be a large world, and contracts may call mercenaries to different ends of the world at any given time. Members must be active and on the same page with leadership on where they are deployed to, and what they are expected to bring with them. In order to facilitate smooth deployments, the mercenary guild must also have a
    • Capable logistics wing: Alexander the Great once described his logisticians as a humorless lot, for they knew if his campaign failed, they were the first ones he slew – and for good reason. PVP losses will result in lowered gear proficiency, and if a contract requires for mercenaries to get flagged as corrupted, gear loss is a very real risk. Replacing these losses is crucial for the continued success of a military campaign.
    • Diplomatic Corps: While it appears irrelevant at first blush, it must still be stressed that even if mercenary guilds are the means of a client to apply force on another client, to quote Carl von Clausewitz, “War is a mere continuation of politics by other means.” The application of hard power, no matter how harsh must always lead towards some kind of negotiation towards a political solution, which is ultimately up to the client. Offering the service of facilitating or even negotiating on the client’s behalf provides a value-added service to the client. Furthermore, enforcing a code of civility among PVP mercenary combatants is highly recommended in order to avoid ruining future relationships with the client’s target. Based on personal experience, civility is rare enough among PVP players, and being able to project an image of civility and “professionalism” will be remembered by friend and foe alike. Just as well, the enemies of today may become tomorrow’s clients.

     

    Principles for Successful Mercenary Guilds

    While “principles” and “mercenary” hardly sound like they belong in the same sentence in colloquial terms, what is going to be described below are suggested guidelines to be followed. Within the marketplace, even when it comes to the sale of force, a business lives and dies on the basis of its reputation. Growing and nurturing too odious a reputation will cause all but the most desperate and unreliable clients to approach it, and that is generally bad for business.

    • Apolitical and Non-Partisan Affiliation: This is unnecessary for mercenary guilds who have already found a power bloc to align with. As for the vast majority of mercenaries, this is the key principle to pay attention to: in order to put hard power for sale on the free market, the client must be assured of the guild’s intrinsic neutrality and will satisfy their contract to its fullest. Mercenary guilds which run afoul of this principle will be hard-pressed to find interested clients.
    • Resistance to Switching Sides Mid-Contract: Throughout history, mercenaries have been famous for switching over to the side which offers more money. While this definitely presents a short-term gain, in most circumstances this does not bode well for the long-term. A mercenary outfit which gains a reputation for cheating on its contract will swiftly find their proverbial rolodex of clients running empty in short order. Switching sides is only advisable when the guild is in an existential crisis (i.e. guild is at risk of losing substantial amount of assets in return for little gain) or if the client fails to make payments.

     

    Suggestions for Clients in Hiring Mercenaries

    As outlined in the previous section, clients require acute awareness of the inherent risks in hiring mercenaries to provide whatever services required of them. The most common and hazardous risk lies in the mercenary switching sides when simply offered a greater sum of money. The suggested approaches are:

    • Set a clearly-defined and attainable objective: This may seem to be common sense, but mistakes made in the real world show this is neglected even in high-stakes decisions. In the run-up to the Gulf War of the 1990s, the Powell Doctrine (named after then-General Colin Powell) was a list of questions which had to be answered with confidence before military action was taken. #2 of the list was, “Do we have a clear attainable objective?” Even though the Powell Doctrine was widely hailed as the gold standard used to redeem the US military from the past legacy of Korea and Vietnam, it was clearly ignored in the war of choice in Iraq on 2003.
    • Split payment up over regular time periods: Avoid paying for contracts upfront in one lump sum. If done so, there is nothing to stop mercenaries from simply leaving and not performing what they were paid for if they do not have a reputation to worry about. Better yet, set performance targets which are easily quantifiable (for example, destroy 40 freehold properties in a node per week) and offer bonus payment if performance targets are exceeded.
    • Pay them on time: Yet another obvious common sense factor, but past experience in EVE Online had cases of clients who may have paid for the first two weeks but defaulted from that time onward. This resulted in mercenaries swiftly performing “asset relocation” on their erstwhile client. The community of MMO mercenaries tend to be small, and word of mouth travels rapidly among them. Getting marked as an unreliable paymaster is the easiest way to exclude oneself from hiring desirable mercenaries.
    • Prepare for a diplomatic solution and exit strategy: To borrow from Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, “The purpose [of war] is never to… just be killing [the enemy]… but to make him do what you want him to do.” If mercenaries are hired, whether to do the killing for the client, supplement their capabilities, transport war materiel or making better PVPers out of guild members, they are not going to be at the client’s beck and call for perpetuity. Furthermore, success nor victory are never guaranteed. If the conflict/war is not proceeding well, even mercenaries can grow tired of losing and may switch sides abruptly. The client must have a keen nose for when is the appropriate time to sue for peace after objectives are achieved, or when to cut their losses before things get worse.

     

    Potential Pitfalls in the Use of Mercenaries

    The act of hiring another party to provide for one’s own security, to supplement it or support its functions in some capacity is never without disadvantages. There will always be tensions between the client’s security objectives, and the mercenary’s motive towards making more money. Whereas the mercenary may announce itself as an apolitical actor, and an agent of the client’s interests, this may not necessarily be the case. This is due to the primacy of judgement which has shifted from the client to the mercenary, who now gets to make decisions which are critical to the client’s security.

    Suppose an alliance made up of multiple guilds wields sovereignty over multiple nodes, it may very well be considered a state in all but name. In Charles Tilly’s seminal article War Making and State Making as Organized Crime, Tilly underscored “the importance of the [state] authority’s monopoly of force. A tendency to monopolize the means of violence makes a government’s claim to provide protection, in either the comforting or the ominous sense of the word, more credible and more difficult to resist.” An alliance’s over-reliance on mercenaries to project power or defend itself will over time, dilute its authority over its own members and other dwellers in their nodes.

    Worse still, the alliance that may lean too much on mercenaries to perform specific tasks may swiftly lose institutional memory of the how in performing said tasks in the future. Past experience in EVE Online demonstrated this in action where a regular client, Northern Coalition, was and is a powerhouse in fielding capital ships and frequently depended on Mercenary Coalition to provide support in sub-capital ships. Game mechanics dictate that capital ships are defenseless without sub-capital support, and there was such an over-dependence that Northern Coalition soon lost the capability to deploy sub-capital ships competently, leading to an enduring relationship at great expense to Northern Coalition and highly profitable to the mercenaries.

    As the issues of incomplete information and monitoring typically accompany the act of outsourcing, there can be a lack of oversight and defined requirements. Mercenaries may be tempted to cut corners or overcharge clients, or worse still may not perform tasks the best they can. Mercenaries are incentivized to prolong their contracts for as much as possible, and to minimize risks to their own assets. All of the above may result in an unnecessarily protracted conflict: antithetical to the Powell Doctrine, which favors swift and short wars achieved with overwhelming force.

    Introducing mercenaries into an ongoing conflict may also invite unintended consequences. When one thinks of the mercenary in recent times, the oft-used newspaper file photo of security contractors from the infamous Blackwater (now known as Academi) comes to mind. While academia and the press have covered the 21st century private military company as a relatively recent phenomenon, there is nothing new about the use of mercenaries. Mercenary armies shaped history by warfare, and in some very successful cases, shaped the history of humanity itself.

    Dating from the Barbarian mercenaries of the Roman Empire, mercenary armies of 14th century Italian city-states and Swiss regiments under the employ of Napoleon, the case of 14th century Italy is particularly relevant. Machiavelli was known to have detested the idea of employing mercenaries, and he described his position in great detail in The Prince from chapter 12 onwards. The small Italian city-states had few natively-raised forces of their own, and mostly depended on well-organized mercenary armies to do the fighting for them. By keeping most of the plunder for themselves, the mercenaries used the new wealth to found their own noble houses, which led to forming more powerful states of their own. These new states became the patrons and progenitors of a storied age of Western discovery and art: the Renaissance. How this spread to the rest of Europe and led to greater levels of human flourishing is best left to historians.

     

    Conclusion and Final Remarks

    When Intrepid Studios remarked that players who controlled trade and the economy were likely to wield more power and influence than pure PVP players, it was not mere hyperbole. If the losses of warfare inflict painful and permanent consequences, unprepared PVP players may find themselves at the mercy of those who wield coin as their weapon. Even though large groups of players are bound to group themselves into tribes, claim territory, develop it and clash with each other to exert their will to power, it is only inevitable that some groups will emerge to hawk their hard power on the free market. On the other hand, “However, simply declaring players with the largest quantities of gold will win by paying others to fight their battles is also inaccurate – it still takes shrewdness and finesse to manage these soldiers of fortune. This reality raises new possibilities and dilemmas which are fascinating to observe in the years to come, and I look forward to further develop my understanding of this phenomenon.

  • AoC FAQ and Troubleshooting

    AoC FAQ and Troubleshooting

    AoC Apocalypse FAQ & Troubleshooting

    Last updated – April 12th 2019
    All data was compiled with the approval and assistance of the Ashes of Creation moderator team.

    Have questions about Apocalypse, Download problems, Crashes, Annoying Bugs, Errors, Troubleshooting Help and more? Look no further.
    The first section of this article is a compiled spreadsheet of errors, crashes, bugs and data. Followed by Frequently Asked Questions and the third section covers Troubleshooting.

    (Spreadsheet too large? Use this direct link to view the spreadsheet in full)

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: Apocalypse ‘Corrupted Index in PaK file’ error fix:
    You have leftover game files from an older version of the game. You need to perform the following steps to manually delete residue folders and then clean re-install the game.

    • Uninstall Intrepid studios launcher through your control panel.
    • Delete the APOC folder located in %LocalAppData%\ (Can be found by typing it %localappdata% into the run box)
    • Delete the APOC_Update folder located in %LocalAppData%\
    • Delete the Intrepid-launcher folder located in  %LocalAppData%\Programs\intrepid-launcher
    • Delete %APPDATA%\intrepid-launcher
    • Delete %ProgramFiles%\Intrepid Studios
    • Delete %ProgramData%\Intrepid Studios Launcher
    • Delete the folder where you installed the game (Main AoC Game folder)
    • Download and install the launcher from the website here
    • Install the new game client.

    Q: What does ‘Authentication Failed Beta Credentials not active yet’ mean?
    Error: Authentication Failed Beta Credentials not active yet – This is a message generated by the game launcher. It means everything on your end is working perfectly fine, however the game servers are down for maintenance. You can check the server status page to see if servers are online. Source

    Q: What time does the open/beta start?
    At this moment, it is unknown what time it will begin. Keep an eye on the #news channel on the AoC Discord for future announcements. All announcements by Intrepid operate on PST. Convert as needed. Delays are possible.

    Q: Where can I download the game client?
    You can download the game here. Testers, please read through your testing email thoroughly to understand the testing process.

    Q: Can I pre-download the client?
    Yes, here.

    Q: Do I have to register for the beta?
    If you want to play Apocalypse, you have already registered in the beta test when you created your accounts (registered on the main site). Apocalypse will exist separately alongside the MMORPG and helps with testing.

    Q: How long will Apocalypse be up for?
    The Apocalypse portion of Ashes of Creation is permanent, and will be playable alongside the main MMO.
    NOTE The current game modes you have seen in the alpha so far, is not representative of the final product that will be released in late 2019.

    Q: I bought an Alpha/Beta package, when can I play the game?
    Depending on the pack you purchased, you’ll be able to join different stages of the MMORPG testing. The Apocalypse mode (Battle Royale, Castle Sieges, Horde Mode) is open to the general public and begins its first phase on December 18th 2018. More information on the updated release schedule can be found here

    Q: I bought a package that includes Alpha 1/Alpha 2 but I did not receive an Email with access.
    If you recently purchased an account, you need to contact support to receive your access as quickly as possible.

    • Alternatively, check the spam folder within your Email.
    • Ensure you are using the correct email tied to your ashes of creation account.
    • If you are a kickstarter backer, check your AoC account to ensure the kickstarter pack is applied to your account.
    • Submit a support ticket on the main site or follow these instructions to get your account access sorted.

    Q: Why cant I log in on the launcher?
    The server is most likely down. Please check the #server-status channel on the AoC Discord. The status.ashesofcreation.com website does not work as intended.

    Q: How do I know when the server is live?
    Intrepid posts regular updates regarding the server, including crashes, restarts, bugs and more in the #server-status channel on the official Ashes of Creation Discord.

    Q: How do I gain access to the hidden NDA stress-test channels on discord?
    In order for you to gain access to the NDA channels you must do the following:

    • First you must click the link provided in your email which should say something like: “Review our NDA at this time“
    • All you have to do is download the word document included within your email. Downloading it is enough to let the devs know and start the process.
    • After you have done that you will be processed to receive the stress test tag in the forums
    • Once you have received the forum perms you will be able to see this link . Without the forum perms you can NOT see the page.
    • Follow the instructions on this forum thread to receive your Discord perms.
    • If you have already done the steps above and have not yet received your NDA forum perms DM @Belle-bot.exe♡ and provide your forum profile url.

    Ashes of Creation 2019 Roadmap

     

    Troubleshooting

    Q: Test account registration website Error 502 (Bad gateway)
    This is due to high load or the devs updating the account system. Using incognito/private mode or a different browser/device usually gets you through. (Alternatively try clearing your browser cache or simply press CTRL+F5 on your keyboard to refresh with your cache cleared). Do not take a screenshot of the Error 502 page and share it publicly as it contains your IP address at the bottom.

    Q: Patching progress bar stops near the end of patching (ie: patch progress is showing something similar to 97.48%, and does not increment from there)
    The files are being unpacked and processed, please wait until the process completes. Intrepid are adding better user feedback experience for this stage.

    Q: “Access to the path is denied” which lists EasyAntiCheat_x64.dll or EasyAntiCheat_x86.dll
    Open Windows File Explorer in the directory specified in the error message and delete EasyAntiCheat_x64.dll and EasyAntiCheat_x86.dll. Restart launcher.

    Q: When starting the launcher, if you get a “Patcher System Error” message:
    Open the Task Manager, click on Details and kill all tasks matching “Intrepid Studios Launcher.exe”, “APOC-Win64-Shipping.exe”, and “Patcher.exe”. Restart launcher.

    Q: If you are not running the Launcher version 1.0.102 (bottom right corner of the screen):
    Reinstall the launcher from here. You do not need to remove old versions.

    Q: “Error Code: 20006 (Cannot create service (StartService failed: 2))”
    Open Windows File Explorer in the directory where the EasyAntiCheat installer is. For example C:\Program Files (x86)\Intrepid Studios, Inc\Ashes of Creation Apocalypse\EasyAntiCheat. Run EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe, select “Ashes of Creation” and click “Repair Service.” Once completed, restart your launcher.

    Q: Invalid Email / Email address unavailable when attempting to register for a test account
    Ensure you are using the same email connected to your ashes of creation account which can be found here . The field is case sensitive so include capital letters.

    Q: Unable to click on Install or other options within the launcher/installer
    This is a resolution error, click inside the launcher and press TAB  a few times to select/highlight the install button and press enter.
    Alternatively: Go into your display and make sure your scale and layout is set to 100% then restart.

    Q: I get ‘Incorrect Password’ when trying to log into the launcher
    This is shown when the servers are down or if the servers crash. Check #server-status channel on the Ashes of Creation discord for direct updates from Intrepid. Wait for the servers to come back on and try again

    Q: My download is stuck at 0%
    Common 0% download problem solving – quit launcher, restart launcher as admin – make sure firewall/antivirus aren’t stopping DL
    If you can’t click ‘View NDA’ in launcher it’s usually a resolution issue – can be fixed by adjusting resolution or tabbing until button is highlighted and pressing enter

    Q: Game download jumped DOWN from 80% to 50% (Or any other downward jump in download progress)
    Intrepid developers have recommended restarting your download. Exit the client and re-launch it. It should continue the download from the correct point.

    Q: My download is stuck at 100%
    Dont touch it. While it may seem stuck, the patcher is actually verifying the files that have been downloaded. Once done verifying, the launch button will light up.

    Q: ‘Failed to start the game: Game exited with code: 3, signal: null)
    Code 3 errors can be caused by a variety of issues, but seem to most often be a ‘corrupt data’ issue.

    • Ensure you are running the AoC client as an administrator. These might also occur if the launcher is interrupted partway through downloading.
    • Running old versions of the launcher / attempting to install with an old version of the client installed / installing with old App data folder (APOC) can cause Code 3 errors.
    • Restart your computer / restart launcher / attempt to start client as administrator – This might trigger launcher into performing a successful repair.
    • Another possible fix for some people is to install the epic game launcher and then download Unreal Engine 4
    • If none of the above work, perform a clean uninstall of both the client and the launcher. Ensure you download the newest version of launcher.
    • If setup doesn’t ask you for the install location, your uninstall wasn’t ‘clean’. Install into a folder, not a root directory, preferably in \Program Files (x86).

    Q: ‘Failed to start the game: Game exited with code: XXXXXXXXXX, signal: null)
    Restart your launcher. Might require multiple restarts to sort itself out.

    Q: ‘A JavaScript error occured in the main process’
    This is a node.js error that could be any number of possible issues. Recommend a clean install to fix this. No proper solution available currently.

    Q: How do I perform a clean uninstall/re-install?
    Follow the following steps without skipping any:

    • Uninstall Intrepid studios launcher through your control panel.
    • Delete the APOC folder located in %LocalAppData%\APOC (Can be found by typing it %localappdata% into the run box)
    • Delete the Intrepid-launcher folder located in  %LocalAppData%\Programs\intrepid-launcher
    • Delete %APPDATA%\intrepid-launcher
    • Delete %ProgramFiles%\Intrepid Studios
    • Delete %ProgramData%\Intrepid Studios Launcher
    • Delete the folder where you installed the game (Main AoC Game folder)
    • Download and install the launcher from the latest email.
    • Use the new testing credentials to login.
    • Read/Accept NDA and install the new Game client.

    Q: ‘Patching failed: Code patcher xdelta…\patcher\xdelta3.exe’
    Your antivirus or windows defender has deleted the ‘xdelta3.exe’ file during installation. This is due to some files being flagged as a false positive. Completely disable your anti-virus (Some anti virus continue to run even after being disabled, or add the Intrepid/Apoc folder to the exclusions list of your antivirus). Another option is to ask a friend for the ‘xdelta3.exe’ file and copy it over (Be cautious of who you accept files from). After this you need to create an exception in your antivirus for this file to keep it from deleting/quarantining the xdelta file again.

    Q: ‘DirectX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the game’
    Update your graphic card drivers and restart your pc. (Known issue with Nvidia driver version: 416.16, update or rollback). If this doesnt work, re-install directX using the end-user runtime provided by microsoft which you can find here

  • 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.

  • 24-Hour Pathfinder Campaign

    24-Hour Pathfinder Campaign

    AoC Campaign Live Tracker

    This post was updated live alongside the 03-11-2018 extra life livestream.
    Click on the embed below to activate the campaign map. The live blog is located at the bottom of the post or can be found here. 

    (Use your scroll wheel to zoom, click and drag to pan, or use the controls in the bottom right. If it takes too long to load, view the full board here)

    Campaign Info

    Campaign Name: Whispers in the Darkness
    DM:     CEO / Creative Director Steven Sharif
    Players: Lead Designer Jeffrey Bard, Lead Programmer Kevin McPherson, Sr. Producer Peter Pilone, Programmer Alex Khudoliy, and Lead Board Game Consultant Clifford Robbins
    Number of Players: 5 + 1
    Characters: 6 per player (1 active, 5 reserve)
    World: Verra (Ashes of Creation)
    Classes: Paladin, Skald (Bard), Cavallier, Cleric and Druid.

    Livetracker can be found here

    Donate to Extra Life 

    Link to Extra Life Stream

    List of Curses/Boons which can be invoked via donations

     

    Racial Lore/Backstory revealed

    Aela Humans

    Within the temples of the seven, there exist different levels of devotion. Orders of the seven, each of the orders answers to a different hierarchy. Some of the notable orders: The Aelan empire is the most recent successor of the once great house of Lyneth. For over one thousand years the house of Lyneth ruled over the Aela. A golden age endured for most of their reign. It was only during the dawn of the last century before the fall, during the Great War of the Undying, that the house fell. With no suitable hier to the Lyneth throne the country fell into chaos. What arose is the fragile republic we see today. Overseen by the Emperor elected through the Council of Five: The five who govern the greatest cities on the Empire. The Aelan empire is by far the largest nation in all of Verra, with over eight million souls among its inhabitants. Aelans also represent the single largest population on Verra. Their borders touch upon every other nation; and with their interests of expansion on the seas of Verra, they are able to deploy their widely feared armies to any shore. The Empire uses this fear to bully many city states, bending them to their will. Those who deny the will of the Empire often find themselves at the end of a sword.

     

    Kaivek Orcs

    The Kaivek have always adhered to a strict code of tribal loyalty… Roughly thirteen centuries before the fall, a leader named Ran’Kal united the clans into a nation called the Kaivek Protectorate. Kal taught that all Orcs answer to the protection of the divine order. This teaching expressed the belief that it was the will of the gods that all Orc kind should have superiority over the nations of Verra. For it was only through the unity of the clans that the people of Verra would be lead to enlightenment. It was the teachings of Kal that lead the Kaivek to pursue campaigns of conquest across the lands of Verra. Where the Orcs were once nomadic and divided before Kal, through his leadership they became a powerful nation united in conquest. Trophies of each city conquered is found in the capital city of Ren. [Just before the fall] the Kaivek Protectorate have adopted a policy of peaceful coexistence with their neighbors. Having endured centuries of conflict, leaders rose among them echoing the teachings of peace. These recent reformations have once again begun to lead to a fracturing of the Protectorate. Some unrest among the clans have called for a culling of those who are unworthy of the protection from the divine order.

     

    Dünzenkell Dwarves

    Deep in the mountains of Verra legend tells of a forge created by the gods, from whence all Dwarves are originated. Fabled to be the first created of the major races, the Dwarves are said to have arrived on the continents with ships made of stone and steel. Dwarven smiths and craftsmen are found far and wide across Verra. The center of the Dwarven race is the nation of Dünzenkell, found deep in the northern mountains. Dwarven society tends to be heavily matriarchal and their clans existing under the oftentimes eldest matriarch. Dwarves are closely connected to one-another by alliances forged between family guilds. The Dwarven child is marked at a young age with his or her guild sigil. Some dwarves banished from Dünzenkell or having chose to walk a path alone will often have their sigls burned from their skin. The Dünzenkell nation, deep within the mountains of Verra exists the oldest nation in the world. The Dünzenkell have been known as many names over the ages, but only one name has graced the highest mountain, within which their capital has stood since the beginning of recorded history: Dün. The Dwarves of the Dünzenkell rule through a council of guilds. A royal family is chosen once every 200 years by this council to rule. Currently the right to rule falls on the shoulders of King Grimlay. It has been nearly 400 years since a king has lead the Dünzenkell. Traditionally this role falls to the matriarchs of the family. Expeditions are often sent into the Underrealm from Dün; and there many believe lies the source of secrets among the Dwarves and their success with mastering artisanship. Untold magic lies deep within Verra. It’s source not known to many. Dünzenkell has long benefited from this source though. It has fueled the expansion of the Dwarven kingdoms throughout the northern mountains.

     

    Pyrian Elves

    For over 4,000 years the Pyrian royal family of Eradal has endured. The kingdom has seen its share of wars. The kingdom’s borders encompass the great forest of Eranthia. The capital of Amera is among the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world. Its royal families can trace their lines back to the days of the Dark Fires. The Pyrian universities of magic and martial studies are unparalleled in the lands of Verra. Many of the citizens of the Kingdom venture out into the lands of Verra wishing to spread their knowledge of art and science to their fellow Verrans. These ventures are often subsidized by the royal households of Pyria for hopes it will foster a better relationship with their Human neighbors. Once a close ally of Aela and the house of Lyneth, the Pyrian Kingdom and Aelean Empire ended one of the bloodiest wars in Verran history. Eighty years have passed since the last bloodshed; and although tensions have subsided among the citizens of the two nations, there remains a heightened level of distrust among the Empire’s new rulers and the royal family of Pyria. The Elven race is generally a secretive one and exists within the Pyrian kingdom. Primarily a patriarchal society, Elves tend to keep within the natural borders of their forests. It has only been over the past millennia that the riverlands have begun to see colonies of Elves exist. Elven scholars, dignitaries and pioneers can often be found in many of the human cities: Though their presence is rarely seen in sites other than archaeological, academic or diplomatic. Rumors do abound throughout the darker circles of Verra that there lies a particular lineage of Elves that exist within the Underrealm of Verra.

     

    Creation Lore/Backstory reveal

    The story of creation tells us of a race of beings known as The Ancients. Created in the likeness of what was once The Ten. The Ten imbued all of their qualities into one race to have stewardship over all of creation. The power of the Ancients grew and a rift divided the Ten in how to accommodate their new creation. Three of the Ten separated from the others and began to teach the Ancients the Secrets of the Essence. The Essence is present in all magic: Divine, corrupt, it doesn’t really matter. You can pervert the Essence to bring about types of magic that are not divine. When the Seven learned of this, a great celestial battle ensued. Eons passed and you watched as the fight continued through the celestial kingdom. Some say it was the fight the created the stars and heaven we see today. With every blow between the Ten a star was born. When the battle was complete, the others and the Ancients were banished by the Seven into the Void. The Seven found the error their ways and decided to split their qualities into four races instead of one; and this is how the Humans, Elves, Orcs and Dwarves came to be. You watch as the Seven created Verra and placed each of the races within their respective locations.

    Verra is a world with rich and diverse cultures. Much of its recorded history has been dominated by the major races. Humans in the coast and plains, Orcs within the hills and marshes, Elves in the forest and river lands, and the esteem Dwarves of the mountains. The major races have held dominance through countless wars and skirmishes between the lesser races of Verra. Decades may pass between these flair ups of violence. There are many minor races on Verra. Some of the minor races exist in makeshift villages – or tribes, if you will. Some of the major villages among the minor races are comprised primarily of the giants, less reputable sex of human, gnomes, and halflings (not in official sense, but actually half bloods of different races). Wandering the darker places in the world lie truly sinister abominations of creation. The great churches of civilization often dispatch heroes of the state to eliminate these threats to mortals. There currently exists four great nations on Verra – this is 25 years roughly before the fall: the Aela empire, Pyrian kingdom, Kaivek protector of the nation and the Dunzenkell. There were not only four great nations. Long ago, the races were more divided into many nations and city states. In the 7000 years of recorded history, wars upon wars were fought – some for land, others for resources and many for beliefs. Royal houses stood and fell over the years, some now long bereft of lordship. Many city states exist in Verra – some self-governed, bastions of democracy and republics alike. Others are vassal states at the behest of their benefactors.

     

    Human Magic Academy Lore

    Academy of Human Wizards – There are several great universities across the world of Verra during this time period in particular [25 years before the fall]. Most of them convene a Council of Knowledge, they call it. The Council of Knowledge consists of the greatest minds from each nation. They really don’t recognize borders or politics for the most part. Unless their governments try to meddle in their affairs of their pursuit of knowledge. The greatest and most respected elders in the ways of magic – which is basically learning how to manipulate what’s called the Essence: That’s from where all magic flows – and understanding how the Essence exists in parity with your Life Spark and the world around you: The Universe itself. The greatest of these wizards are found in the Pyrian kingdom; and they are solely in pursuit of knowledge as we read earlier with regards to the Pyrian Elves.

     

    Ashes of Creation Board Game

    Clifford Robins spoke at length about the AoC board game. They have created a board game for ashes of creation, has gone through play testing and they are waiting for artwork and class abilities. We (Intrepid) have played it several times. You pick a class and you are attempting to build a guild that takes over the server of ashes of creation. You work to control resources and obtain server firsts. You get to build and construct your guild. Spend action tokens for battles and other activities. There are several types of guild combat, raid bosses, other guilds. Attacking raid bosses makes it a co-op so you work together to take it down, depends on what stage the game is at. At its core, it is a combat and resource management game. Your resources etc. are kept a secret as you use these to win battles. Comes with an adjustable map, comes with 6 components you can put together, comes with expansion packs, very fun game. 20 mins per person. You get to build and construct your build you get action tokens. You can attack caravans. There is an instance arena, there is a character with sheet that tracks abilities, when you do fights there’s a bid from your resources, follows gold, combat skill.

    There will be additional map tiles through expansions. Different structures that can be built, over 40 different structures exist, which let you do things. 6 basic characters. Expansions have special races besides the 6 basic ones such as half orcs. There’s 2 blocks on the board, class skills and artwork that require finalizing. Expected price is around 50$ at minimum, however below 100$. Most likely set to release during the Beta phases of the main MMORPG.

    (Clifford: Are we going to tell them it’s going to be on Kickstarter? Steven: Probably not)

    Link to the below google doc can also be found here.

  • [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
  • Inkarnate – Map Creation Tool

    Inkarnate – Map Creation Tool

    Inkarnate is a powerful map creation tool used to create incredibly detailed maps.

     

    Whether you’re a strategist that likes visual representation or a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon manager wanting to provide significant depth to your playthrough, Inkarnate is a great tool that allows you to dive right into it. The best part? Inkarnate is 100% free for personal use.

     

    To get started, visit the official Inkarnate website,create an account and you’re all set: https://inkarnate.com/

  • Lore Timeline of Ashes of Creation

    Lore Timeline of Ashes of Creation

    A rough timeline of the events of Verra. This timeline will automatically be updated as more lore is revealed. Current dates visible on the timeline will be adjusted once Intrepid makes more information available.

  • Updated Class List

    Updated Class List

    Updated Class List

    As the original class list shared by Intrepid caused some confusion amongst the community regarding which was the Base/Sub Class, here’s an updated class list with a much cleaner look!