Ashes of Creation players had questions and creative director Steven Sharif had answers, as he offered up AMA responses in a new video in which he talked about game systems and the PvP sandbox’s steps to Alpha 2.
According to Sharif, there are a number of milestones and barriers that still need to be handled before Alpha 2 can kick off: Core systems like progression, server tech, combat stats, skill trees, and node leveling need to have content added to them like new classes, professions, naval systems, and quests, while the speed of Intrepid Studios’ QA process, bug squashing, “lofty” networking and scale goals, and the scope of AOC’s content are noted as some of the biggest challenges the team has to clear.
Incidentally, certain members of the community will be included in spot tests for specific core systems over the next several months, which will be under NDA.
Other responses of note:
- Archetypes will have an average of 35-40 abilities.
- Healing will apparently be more skill-based with the use of proximity abilities or those that paint lines on the ground (which sounds a lot like WildStar Healslinging). There are plans for additional classes like Summoner, Cleric, and Bard before Alpha 2.
- Questing and grinding are noted as the primary vehicles for leveling up.
- Professions will split from three artisan types – gathering, processing, and crafting – many of which fall into traditional roles like weaving, hunting, mining, and armor and weapon smiths; about the only ones that might be a standout are scribing and arcane engineering.
