Mobs

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Elite monster 3D turntable.[1]

It's a really big dude and the idea behind him is you're gonna see big monsters- I think that the character comes up to like his elbow maybe, or just beneath the elbow I'm not sure- but you're going to see these big elites just roaming and wandering through the world. They're not assigned any to to any particular hunting ground, they just roam; and I think that component is pretty cool especially when you have an open world where you can see something unique that's not matching the monsters you're hunting in a certain area but just strolls by.[1]Steven Sharif

Goblin 3D render. 3D model by Chris Atkins.[2]

There are going to be different types of "Goblinesque" creatures; and this one has not skipped out on his leg or arm day, which is a good thing for him because he's probably going to be in a lot of fights.[3]Steven Sharif

There will be a mix of different monsters and difficulty levels throughout the world that are tied to the development of nearby nodes. As nodes advance, mobs will present new and increasing dangers that players can participate in.[4]

In the world naturally there will be locations that are going to have a mix of different levels of monsters and difficulty levels; and then those spawn tables relate to the development of nearby nodes. So as nodes develop they'll be changing the spawn tables around them to reflect their further development in the world, presenting new and more difficult dangers that the players can participate in.[4]Steven Sharif
  • Not all creatures are immediately hostile to players.[5][6] Some creatures may hunt other creatures.[7]
We've talked about this a little bit in the past when talking about taming and/or certain types of like creature gatherable resources there are herds that exist out there. There are big game that exist out there, where they're not going to aggro and attack you per-se. Also lower level monsters and certain type of like social monsters may not attack you off the bat.[6]Steven Sharif
We will have flying monsters but essentially what that means is there's going to be rotations either in the behavior tree that might make them inaccessible to targets, or they might do some like swooping attacks; they might come and land on the ground and fight you. But generally monsters are going to be accessible from on the ground, so we're not creating content for the limited number of individuals who are going to have access to a flying mount.[8]Steven Sharif
Leashes are relevant. There's other gameplay implications that happen when you're able to actually move populations around. We don't want to really give that to the players perspective.[10]Steven Sharif
  • Named mobs will usually have a unique character appearance.[11]
There is something to be had there about those types of screen-shake effects. We want them to be present when we're emphasizing certain things, but we don't want them to be a nuisance, or annoying, or too plentiful; and having screen-shake apply to every step would probably be too abundant. Will players have control over those on-screen type effects? Yeah I think so. I think that's something we want to provision as a customizable option for players to be able to turn off, because it can be somewhat nauseating for certain groups of people and a distraction from what's happening in the world.[12]Steven Sharif

Mob types

Mob types will have different resistances.[17][18]

Elites

Elites are a tier of mob or boss in Ashes of Creation.[11][1]

  • Certain elite monsters that are not assigned any to any particular hunting ground will roam throughout the world.[1] Other mobs will have leashes that will cause the mob to reset if it moves too far from its point of origin.[10]

List of elites

NPC variants

There will be variants of the monthly cosmetics for NPCs and Mobs.[21][22]

We've mentioned this before about what the cosmetics do, but all of those pre-order pack items allow us to create the world. They're the NPCs in the world. They help us make NPC variants. The clothing and costumes are costumes that we'll be putting on NPCs. You're actually helping us create the world.[23]Margaret Krohn

Zones and mob levels

Dungeons, Raids, World bosses, Mobs, Quests, Events, Resources, Narratives and other content within a node's ZOI will have a diverse level range; but will scale with the advancement of that node and its racial influence.[24][25][26]

  • Portions of the spawn tables (for mobs and resources) are static and other portions are dynamic and adapt to node development.[27]
We don’t have a strictly level 25 zone. Instead, that zone might have some level 10 creatures near the road, some level 20 creatures deep in the forest, and some level 30 creatures up the mountain. These ratios will change based on the Nodes that inform them, becoming generally more dangerous as the Node grows. All this civilization attracts the attention of Things-That-Should-Not-Be. This does not mean that wilderness areas are safe, by any means. Some may be safe-er, but all will have dangers that even the most experienced traveler needs to watch out for.[28]Steven Sharif

Artificial intelligence

Jermaine Torment of Illwind boss mob.[29]

You can see how we utilize some of the different armor pieces- you've probably seen some of these pieces on different outfits like that toast Corvid Castigator cloak is on him.[29]Margaret Krohn

Ashes of Creation utilizes an adaptive artificial intelligence (AI), meaning different encounters with similar mobs and bosses will yield different player experiences.[30][31]

  • Some NPC AI behaviors may be randomly selected at the time of initial engagement causing them to make decisions dynamically during an encounter.[30][32][33][34]
    • Higher frequency of AoE attacks depending on how many players are participating.[32]
    • Unlock rage, recovery effects and buffs.[35][32]
    • Supporting other monster types or classes nearby.[35]
    • Additional adds and add classes.[32]
    • Some NPCs may attempt to seek cover behind obstacles during encounters.[36]
  • NPCs performing "idle actions" to make the world seem more alive has been discussed by the developers but is not confirmed.[37]
Part of the NPC encounter design is not always going to be the same behavior tree. There will be purposefully behaviors that exist for the boss that are rolled at the time of the initial engagement; and so that is in an effort to keep things emergent, to keep things different, to try to not keep a static monotonous engagement idea.[30]Steven Sharif

There are AI systems that don't relate to controlling NPCs.[38]

There are some additional AI parameters that are set that don't relate necessarily to controlling NPCs. There are AIs with regards to the development of the borders for nodes in the direction and also the decisions that are made of which lower nodes to enslave as vassal states. There's AI that relates to a little bit of the stock market that's going to be present in the economy. There's some AI systems that are going to be announced also that are pretty innovative I think with regards to the MMORPG genre and that's going to make the triggered event system very interesting I think; and that's with regards to how nodes develop and the environment reacts to that development by spawning these triggered events of a horde of zombies attacking a city or a legendary raid boss coming out of the mountain. I think there's a lot of opportunity for some of the innovations that's been in the AI sector of game development too to come out in Ashes.[38]Steven Sharif

NPC perception

NPC perception is intended to have different sensory types, ranges, and angles.[39][40][41]

  • NPCs will have varying fields of view. Some will have the ability to perceive sounds.[39][40][41]
We are talking about things like unique abilities played by characters that extend the perception radius, or sounds and different types of walking that are angular from the mob's perception perspective to be unique, different types of creatures that might be of three-dimensional in space, whether it is in water or birds in the sky that have a downward cone angle type perception as well. Those are things we want to do, but we haven't yet spent the time on the AI behaviors there.[40]Steven Sharif
Q: How far away from hostile targets will be before they act aggressively towards us? More specifically, will creatures watch us murder their friends in the open world with no reaction, will they try to kill us in retaliation, or will they run away in sheer terror?
A: Obviously as MMO Gamers we're accustomed to the concept of social aggro. When I hit a target out in the field, they're going to aggro other creatures nearby. We have similar functionality. Obviously however we also have this concept of a more puzzle-oriented level design, where you have different patrollers that might be moving around the world. So that dynamic is always changing the creatures that are near each other might be something that you need to be cognizant of as you begin to navigate those areas. And there might even be certain faction types, where you may have dedicated aggro social tags between certain creature types; and that might be like goblins with their goblin dogs. They could be far away but they send off an alert to those nearby enemies when you aggro another target. And then you also have these perception radiuses; and there's a number of different perception radius types that we incorporate as part of our AI. Those things might be a forward-looking perception cone that represents sight-based perception; and then you might also have a rear perception radius that might represent kind of sound; and those perception types might even interact with unique stats. So, as a Rogue you might have a stealth ability, or as a Ranger you might have camouflage ability: Those are going to dampen those stats which are checked by those perception radiuses; and then you might even have different creature types that fly above the battlefield, or beneath the battlefield, and they may have downward cone type angles. The whole idea is that that navigating the world should be like a puzzle as you move throughout.[39]Steven Sharif
  • NPCs in certain encounters may be aware of their local environment and can seek cover behind obstacles, for example; but this will not be prevalent in general AI designs.[36]

Adaptive content

Alpha-1 preview pirate themed dynamic point of interest.[42]

This is actually a dynamic POI. This one will evolve as players evolve the node that it's attached to. So this is its final state.[42]Jeffrey Bard

New points of interest (such as dungeons, world bosses, and corrupted areas) spawn as nodes develop.[43][44] This content adapts to the node progression of the zone it is in.[42][45]

Certain dungeons and other points of interest across the map will all be affected by the server’s node development. Some dungeons will only be unlocked if nodes are developed to certain stages. The storyline objectives for players inside dungeons will also be dependent on the story arc paths chosen through the node system. The drop tables in area and dungeons will also be tied into the progression of certain areas. For example, let’s say that the humans have developed a node in Region A, and a storyline has opened up that leads players to inspect the ruins (dungeon) of a nearby area. And let’s say that this node was developed in a scientific (crafting) zone… Well before the node developed, this dungeon was accessible… But now the dungeon has propagated new monster assets that include a drop table catering to a crafting emphasis because of the development of that scientific node. And perhaps, a new boss appears in different rooms of the dungeon that includes different adventure quest starts, like a mysterious item with a storyline that can only be progressed if a node develops to the metropolis stage in a certain region, across the world. Our system is so vast, when it comes to interconnectivity and how the world reacts to the players.[46]

Looting

Alpha-2 looting UI preview.[52]

In the group loot obviously there's a lot of functionality here that parties have the ability to customize. There can be loot master, there can be round-robin, there can be need/greed/pass that's applied on a per rarity basis depending on the party's choices.[52]Steven Sharif

Alpha-2 vote to change loot allocation method UI.[53]

Ashes of Creation intends to use traditional loot rules, selected by the party or raid leader.[54][55][56]

  • Group loot rules are defined on a per-rarity basis.[52]
  • A majority of party members must vote to approve any changes to group loot allocation changes.[53]
  • The developers are considering using a double-tap interaction to loot all containers within a close proximity radius.[57]
  • There won't be auto-looting pets.[58]
  • It will be possible to kick a player from a party prior to them acquiring loot.[59]
Yes, technically it would be possible for you to kick a player prior to acquiring loot. However, again because we are a game that relies on social interactions, there are reputations to be had; and if you acquire a reputation as a raid leader, or as a party leader, of doing something dirty like that, then it's unlikely you'll be able to Garner the support of future party members and/or raids to lead efforts against these raid bosses.[59]Steven Sharif
Free-for-all.[56]
  • Whoever is first to loot gets the loot.[54]
Lootmaster.[52][56]
  • A master looter (or lootmaster) is a player designated by the party leader to decide how loot is distributed in a dungeon or raid party.[56]
Round-robin.[52][56]
Need or greed.[52][56]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
Bidding system.[56]
  • Intrepid are investigating a potential bidding system, which allows players to bid on items instead of rolling for them.[56]
    • The highest bidder wins the item.[56]
    • The gold then goes into a pool that is split among the rest of the party members.[56]

Loot tables

Loot tables (drop tables) of world bosses or dungeon bosses have a small RNG chance of dropping gear (completed items).[61][62]

Q: Can only one gathering artisan harvest resources from a single boss, or can multiple different artisans harvest different parts from a boss for different resources? For example, a lumberjack gets a special wood from Tumock's tree weapon, while a herbalist gathers the flowers from that same tree.
A: We don't have the concept of harvesting from bosses. NPCs follow a reward table format, where those reward tables are global. They're not unique to particular players. So, once the NPC is vanquished, you have access to the loot container that is its corpse; and it has a static value of either materials or items that get dropped; and whatever the party loot settings are that you might be a part of, or if you're a solo player you will be able to recover those things.[80]

Glint

Glint in a player's inventory in Alpha-2.[82]

You're hovering over an item we call Glint. [It] comes in a few different rarities. It was formerly known as the monster certificates but we have rebranded them.[82]Chris Justo

Glint rarities in Alpha-2.[82]

Glint (previously known as Hunting certificates and Monster certificates) is a bound currency that drops from mobs and players, and is offered as a reward for completing certain quests, events, and achievements. Glint is intended to be the primary method for generating gold in the Ashes of Creation economy.[83][84][66][85][63][64]

Glint serves a very integral role in the economy within Ashes of Creation. It is a material substance that is acquired through various means, but primarily hunting different antagonists within the world; and it is the physical form of Essence within the beasts of Verra. So when you acquire this it is bound to your character, and that is a very important component of the economic systems here because glint will be used to pay for certain services, such as taxation for buildings that you have, or citizenship dues that are necessary.[86]Steven Sharif
  • Glint may be traded with commodities vendors for player commodities. These commodities can then be transported to other nodes (via caravan or merchant ship) where they can be traded for gold.[66][87][63][88][64] The gold value is based on the demand for the commodity at the destination node (over the last seven days) as well as its distance from the originating node.[90][66]

Healing mobs

Overhealing indicated by a blue temporary health bar overlay on a player's health bar.[92][93]
No one is going to fill the role of a primary healer other than the healer archetype; but there will be secondary class options that you can select, which will provide you with some level of sustainability under restoration, most of that will be centralized to yourself, especially in the case of a Paladin.[94]Steven Sharif
Q: Will AoE and action heals also heal raid and alliance members?
A: Depending on the type, if it's a templated AoE, yes it would heal any non-combatants essentially.[98]Steven Sharif
You cannot heal enemy mobs. There's just really not a a relevant use-case for that when it comes to the design mechanics of such a thing, other than its primary use, which would be to grief other players.[99]Steven Sharif
  • Certain healing abilities, such as Communal Restoration, can overheal. This is indicated by a blue temporary health bar overlay on top of a player's health bar.[92][93] If the temporary health points expire without being consumed they do not count as effective heals.[92]
Q: Do you plan to add any sort of counters for healing? For example, a debuff that applies a reduced healing effect or maybe even cause damage upon healing?
A: Ashes aims to be a more difficult leveling experience than perhaps we have been accustomed to over the past decade of MMO gameplay. And with that in mind, when it comes to balancing during Alpha-2 and thereafter, there is not going to be an overage of healing that's available. We will tune those things. We'll have an opportunity to balance those things... Some of the debuff options that the fighter class has within their class kit are debuffs that can reduce received healing on the target.[100]Steven Sharif

Telegraphs

In specific circumstances there will be telegraphs (tells) to communicate something that's happening.[101]

  • Animation tells.
  • Templates.

Day and night cycle

Alpha-2 day/night cycle.[102]

Day and night cycles in Ashes of Creation are actually over the course of a few hours.[103]Steven Sharif

There is a day/night cycle in Ashes of Creation.[104][105]

  • Day and night cycles occur over the course of a few hours.[106][103]
    • Fifteen IRL minutes may equate to one hour in game time but this is subject to change.[107][108]
    • Day and night cycle tied to server time will be tested in Alpha-2.[109]
The day night cycle is tied to server time, yes. So there is a number of hours that exist between each of the cycles. That's something that we'll be fine-tuning of course during Alpha 2 as well, but it is intended for players to interact with certain systems even based on in-game time as well.[109]Steven Sharif
  • The developers requested feedback on the intensity of illumination and darkness that will be present in Alpha-2.[110][111]
    • Based on feedback the developers increased the nighttime darkness.[106]
Certain creatures will react differently. Certain spawns react differently during night times and different day/night cycles. Those might also influence things like abilities and/or buff/debuff vulnerabilities. You'll have to find out based on the type of creature you're experiencing.[113]Steven Sharif

Tamable creatures

Mounts and combat pets can be found in the wild and tamed.[117][118][119]

For example: A wolf or a dog may look different but may be balanced to the same templated behavior.[120]

Visuals

See also

References

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