Schools of magic

Different schools of magic exist within Ashes of Creation.

• Arcane magic.
• Blood corruption (Blood magic).
• Chaos magic.
• Regular corruption.
• Elemental magic.
• Summoning.
• Teleportation magic.
• Time magic.
• Transformation (Shape shifting).

There are a lot of different schools of magic... whether it be transformation, summoning magic, arcane magic, elemental magic, blood corruption, regular corruption, chaos, electricity. There's a whole bunch of influences that exist across the player abilities, but also across the environments and the POIs and unique to each of the cultures. – Steven Sharif

• The developers adhere to a style guide for each school of magic.

Schools of augmentation

A player may choose a secondary archetype when they reach level 25. Each secondary archetype offers four different schools of augmentation. Each augment school affects a primary archetype's skills in different ways. For example: A Mage offers Teleportation and elemental schools of augments. These augments will affect a Fighter's primary skills differently than a Cleric's.

When you reach the class phase, which is around level 25 and you introduce that secondary archetype selection to create your one of 64 classes, then you'll have a number of augments that you'll be able to apply on a per-ability basis; and your core ability kit comes from your primary archetype selection; and those augments will change the look and feel of those abilities; and some will have the affect to create more darker thematic aspects to it. Or just generally different aesthetics to the abilities that represent the secondary [archetype] selection. – Steven Sharif

• The player can then augment their primary skills with effects from their secondary archetype.

• Players can augment a limited subset of their primary skills with passive effects from their secondary archetype. Augmentable skills will offer several augment options from the secondary tree. This is an example of horizontal progression.
  • These augments can be rudimentary, or they can significantly change the way the ability works.

The intent behind the augment system is not to provide new active abilities. They're intended to augment existing active abilities that are provided through your primary archetype; and so your secondary archetype selection completes your class selection, of which there's 64 types and you get augment skills that can apply certain attributes and mechanics to your existing active skills. So, if you have certain abilities, like a backstab as a Rogue primary archetype, and you take that healer secondary archetype selection, now the properties of your backstab will still remain the same as an active ability, however it might include things like life steal, or it might include things like susceptible weakness to the target, and reduces their healing because the definition of what those augments are intended to provide based on the archetype selected for the augments is within the schools of magic that live for that archetype: so a Cleric is about balancing life and death and the control of those types of hit points. – Steven Sharif

• Augments are intended to allow each class to feel different, rather than a minor variation on its primary archetype.

When we talk about augments, all we can say right now is what our intent is; and our intent is to execute on it in a way where it doesn't just feel like eight archetypes. So, whether or not we land that intent is something people are going to have to wait and see. But, know that our work is to ensure it doesn't just feel like eight archetypes. – Steven Sharif

• Augments can be rudimentary, or they can significantly change the way the ability works (such as its visuals, audio, and flavor). It is possible that some specific augments may be locked to specific abilities.

Q: How much will a subclass affect the mechanics of your abilities vs the visual and audio flavor?

A: Some of the ideas that we have with regards to augmentation is that they could be very rudimentary mechanics that get adjusted, such as like damage values, cooldowns, mana costs, distance, and range, some targeting changes; but they could also be very fundamental changes, which would include visuals and audios and flavor for a particular ability. – Steven Sharif

• Choosing the same primary and secondary archetype increases focus on that archetype. Choosing different archetypes allows characters to somewhat flirt with their role..

• Each augmentation has a level requirement.

• Augments do not cost skill points. It was previously stated that certain augments will have more expense required on the skill point side.

There's going to be a certain threshold at which you can no longer augment your active abilities based on the decisions you've augmented previous abilities, so you'll have to pick and choose which ones you want to apply the augments towards. – Steven Sharif

• Changing skill augmentations will require visiting a NPC in a Village node or higher. Switching secondary archetypes will likely be made easier during Alpha-2 phase-2 for the purposes of testing.

• Secondary archetype specialization will start sometime after the beginning of Alpha-2 phase-3. Every archetype may start with two augment schools.

The Essence

The Essence is a metaphysical energy or life-force (Chi) that can be manipulated to create what could be viewed as magic. There are different planes of existence (realms) with varying degrees of strength (of magic), determined by their proximity to the Essence. The planes of existence in Ashes of Creation are connected across bridges created by the Essence, referred to as Rivers of Essence.

The higher up you go in these planes, the closer to the source of the Essence you really are. And that's where you can see stronger manifestations of the magical aspects of the Essence. – Steven Sharif

• Plane of the gods (Celestial plane). This is where the Gods exist, and is the most connected to the Essence.
• Ethereal plane.
• Material plane. This is where Verra exists.
• The Void is the plane that is the furthest from being connected to the Essence. Only a minute amount of essence can be found within the Void.
• There hasn't been a definitive understanding of how many planes of existence there are.

The essence is a stream that exists across all planes of existence, but it exists at different levels of strength essentially at different levels that can be utilized; and the void is the furthest... There is a very minute amount of essence that can be found within the void. However the planes of existence that are in Ashes of Creation- they are connected across bridges created by the essence. So these ley-lines in a sense that exist within the different planes provide conduits of access and on Verra, which was a planet that was made after the ancient- the celestial battle. – Steven Sharif

Souls (also referred to as Mortal coils) are the conduits for The Essence to travel between the different planes of existence. This idea is an integral component of the broader features in the storyline.

When you think about souls being a conduit, what are conduits used for? Conduits are passages: they're methods by which Essence can travel between realms, between planes. And there hasn't been any definitive understanding of just how many planes exist. We understand that there is a disparity between the planes when it comes to their connection to the Essence, and because Essence is so powerful; and it flows through these planes almost like a river. You can think that conduits help to maintain that flow and/or even exaggerate the flow; and there might be something at play, that I don't wanna touch necessarily, as to why one would want to create these types of conduits, these souls, this creation on the material plane: Something of significance. – Steven Sharif

• The Essence is so powerful it flows through the planes almost like a river. Soul conduits help to maintain or even exaggerate this flow.

Souls acting as conduits is a very integral component of some broader features in the storyline. If you think about souls being a conduit for Essence and you think of the gods as masters of the Essence: If you think of the Essence being separate from the Gods- let's say they're parallel to each other- one didn't create the other, but they coexist in this almost symbiotic form with one another: almost to the point where their manipulation of the Essence is perfection: They can perfectly manipulate it and lesser beings- and I say 'lesser' in a sense of their alignment or closeness to Essence. They're still perfecting that manipulation and some never achieve perfection almost to the degree of ascendency or enlightenment- Essence being that sort of Chi that exists. In that regard, when a perfect being such as the gods- and I'm not saying 'perfect' as the correlation between sin and not sin, I'm thinking perfect in the sense of how you can control and manipulate the Essence: That control is perfection for them. – Steven Sharif

• The gods are masters of the Essence, but they are separate from it. One didn't create the other, but they exist together in a symbiotic form where the gods have achieved an almost perfect manipulation of the Essence and of "lesser beings" who exist further from the Essence.

One of the great differentiators between mortal divine races and the gods is that aspect of mortality. And one of the ways that the divine races were created in order to interact with the Essence was through the use of a mortal coil; and that mortal coil was malleable. Your soul was malleable. It could change to adopt a greater connection with the Essence around one particular school of magic perhaps, or one type of magic that you might use Essence for. And the more you experienced that, the more adept you became with utilizing that magic. And that's because your coil would start to mold itself to best facilitate that flow of essence: whatever school of magic you were manipulating with it. – Steven Sharif

• King Atrax was the first ruler of Verra to discover the purpose of The Essence, allowing the manipulation of matter and exploitation of magic for any means.

When you have the story of the original Ancients, the predecessor race to the divine races, their coil began to warp and change to best facilitate Essence through the use of corruption and corrupt magic, because it was in their history that they learned the most powerful use- or at least what they believed was the most powerful use of Essence was, through corrupt magic. And that's what allured them towards it. So to give you better context about why that conduit is so important is as your base character, as your core archetype continually learns and manifests things in the world of Verra through the use of the Essence. It will continue to shape and change its conduit towards that purpose. – Steven Sharif

• The Tulnar have souls and these souls act as conduits for the Essence.

Now, how does the soul act as a conduit to the other races, to the other realms? Remember, that Essence is like a river that flows through the planes; and when it touches mortal coils that use it in a certain way, it has reverberations throughout the river that is felt across the planes. And that's how important the divine races are when it comes to the war over their soul, so to speak, is what impact it has across the universe. – Steven Sharif

• During the Apocalypse, The Ancients created monstrosities and perverted nature with corruption, which is the negative aspect of The Essence.

• The player population are more adept at wielding The Essence on Verra than certain sections of the NPC population (commoners), however some NPCs are far more adept at The Essence than players.
  • Part of the interest of darker forces is to manipulate those who are adept at wielding The Essence.

Q: What is the average person on Verra's experience with The Essence? Is everybody using The Essence in the same way, or is this something that's more like a rare gift that us as journeymen heroes have some sort of innate ability to tap into?

A: The relationship of Essence with the common folk, the NPCs that you see around you, is that certain people within this world have a greater ability to focus Essence into stronger effects, AKA magic; and generally among the player population you are all stronger wielders of Essence as a whole, and capable of achieving great things with it. While everyone has some attunement with Essence, because each has a mortal coil, amongst the Divine races not all of them excel in its use or study; and so those more commoner people that you might see in the NPCs and narrative and dialogue and what not, many of them are not going to be as adept with the use of Essence. It doesn't mean that they couldn't be if they tried, it means that they are not adept at using it. But, you'll also see certain characters that are NPC non-player characters that are above and beyond any player character's ability to use it. So, the idea is that Essence flows through this plane. It flows through this universe and the Divine races have a unique relationship with Essence when it comes to wielding it; and oftentimes that's the interest of the darker forces in manipulating that relationship. – Steven Sharif

• Shape-shifting (changeling) is done so through the Essence by focusing on that specific type of magic.

• Glint is a substance that embodies the Essence of the beasts of Verra.

Mana

Resting and mana regeneration.

As you know, a classic MMO thing to do is to sit and rest as you get your resources back. – Steven Sharif

• All archetypes use mana to varying degrees.
  • Even pure melee players use mana to manipulate The Essence for their extraordinary abilities.
• Mana keeps corresponding stats for mana pool, consumption and regeneration relevant.
• There are various ways to mitigate mana consumption, such as gear and set bonuses, tattoos, enchantments, and specs.
  • Resting increases mana regeneration while out of combat.

Mana management I think, not just for mage players but for really every class, is a relevant resource mechanic that they have to take into consideration when they're utilizing their rotations; and there are going to be abilities that will sap your mana faster than others; and they're going to be situational. Now, with that blanket statement of mana is always relevant, there is also going to be mechanics and/or class energies and abilities that you can spec into to help mitigate that. There's itemization that you can utilize from a set bonus perspective, or certain types of weapons and tattoos that you can acquire. There are certain enchantments that you can acquire that might reduce the cost of mana use, that might increase your amount of regeneration, that might increase your mana total pool. There are even specs that you can build towards if mana management is your issue. So we want to make it a compelling case that you need to think about mana use because you don't just want to go 100% all the time with no downside to that. That's a very boring type of interaction. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Augments
• The Essence
• Elements
• Mage