Utility skills

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Pre-alpha rogue climbing a Metropolis wall.[1]

We have what are called utility skills and a lot of MMORPGS really only focus on active combat skills, but some of the favorite things that I've had as a gamer is tabletop RPGs like Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons, and there are skills in those games that are relevant to either your environment or the quest line; and they're a little bit sometimes "story mode".[2] – Steven Sharif

A utility skill is a non-combat skill that interacts with the environment.[3][4][5] Utility skills lend themselves toward how classes navigate and deal with hazards in the world.[6]

  • Classes will have different utility abilities, such as detecting traps and other hazards.[3][4][6] For example: The Mage's detection spell casts light and reveals magical explosive hazards.[7]
    • Certain classes are able to climb/parkour in certain areas.[8][9] This is not a free-form ability. It will likely be restricted to certain quests, locations or objects.[10][11]
    • Certain classes (such as Rogues) will have stealth abilities.[12]
Q: What kind and how many special or unique activities can we expect classes to perform outside of combat, such as rogue's opening locks, tracking enemies as a ranger, or removing corruption from the ground as a cleric?
A: Just thirty minutes ago I was talking about those utility abilities like finding tracks, or cleansing poisons, arcane eye to reveal secret passages. The idea is how do we blend the traditional tabletop RPG role of utility and/or skill checks into the setting of a graphical MMORPG; and I think that it's both a complement of the skill kit that's available and how it interacts with the world for those curated or special designs within these locations. So to answer that question: that is intended- we've shown a little bit of that in the past and it is something that we want to make feel compelling and rewarding and viable as a use-case scenario in many different settings that you might find yourself in within the world.[3] – Steven Sharif
  • All classes will have maneuverability/traversal utility abilities.[13]
  • Utility skills exist that can help players discover hidden paths and entrances and may lead to discovering hidden quests while exploring.[4]
  • Certain objects exist in the world (such as ladders and slides) that aid player mobility.[14]
We don't just have the approach of your class being reflected in your combat abilities but also there are utility abilities that certain classes have that other classes don't have.[15] – Steven Sharif
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
  • There will be a grappling hook utility skill or item.[16]
  • Rogues may also have a spyglass utility skill.[6]

List of utility skills

info-orange.pngThis section contains information from early testing phases. It will be updated as soon as new information is made available.
Skill Icon Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3
Bless Weapon Flash Cure.png Imbues your target's weapon with radiant light, causing each of their weapon combo attacks to deal additional radiant damage and applies a mana regeneration buff to the caster. Each hit extends the duration of the mana regeneration buff, up to a maximum of 15 seconds. Has a 10% chance to proc bonus radiant damage and apply a stack of Burning to the target.[17][18]
Blink Blink.png Instantly teleport a set distance in the direction you are moving.[19][20] - -
Camouflage Grants stealth at a distance. At mid and short range the Ranger is revealed.[21] - -
Family summon Long duration cast (30 seconds to a minute) with an approximate 30 minute cooldown that slowly summons each of your family members to your location (up to eight members).[22][23] Players cannot be summoned in the following cases:
This will be tested in Alpha-2.[26]
 - -
Pathfinding Reveals corrupted player locations on the bounty hunter's map.[27][28] Activating this ability will flag the bounty hunter for combat only to corrupted players for a period of one hour from the time of activation.[27] The pathfinding ability can be toggled on or off.[27][29] The accuracy of the pathfinding skill is determined by a player's progression in the bounty hunter system.[30] The accuracy of the pathfinding skill is determined by a player's progression in the bounty hunter system.[30]
Shell Shield.png Create a protective magical shell around yourself that absorbs a large amount of damage before breaking.[31][32] - -
Stealth This does not render a player completely invisible.[33] Instead, there will be indicators that can help players "feel out" where stealthed individuals may be.[34] - -

Jumping puzzles

Jumping puzzle in early Alpha-1 dungeon entrance.[35]

Jumping puzzles will occasionally feature in the world.[36]

Underwater breathing

Mechanics for breathing underwater:[39]

Death by drowning is possible.[40][41]

  • Players that drown will respawn on shore.[40]

Darkness

Pre-alpha Mage's detection utility skill casts light and reveals magical explosive hazards.[42]

How deeply we take this though is really going to come down to how much fun it actually is, which we’re still in the process of discovering. As long as we can nail some interesting mechanics, and it’s not more frustrating than fun, make sure you bring your torch.[43]

Darkness as an environmental obstacle is being considered as part of the game mechanics.[44][43]

  • The developers are requesting feedback on the intensity of illumination and darkness that will be present in Alpha-2.[45][44]
In more survival oriented games you're expected to have really dark night times because you utilize instruments like torches and lights that can be present, but when you think about an MMORPG and you think about the types of player numbers and player count you're expected to have in certain locations and dungeons, you need to be able to accommodate those types of visibility lines and those mechanics around that large multiplayer environment. So when you guys are giving feedback think about whether or not you want the outside night time to really be very dark, or if you want that to be reserved for specific locations in game, like certain dungeons and towers where we can utilize mechanics like different types of lighting mechanisms in order to facilitate that more dark feel.[44] – Steven Sharif

See also

References

  1. ↑ Video, May 9, 2017 (0:57).
  2. ↑ Livestream, July 25, 2020 (42:49).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:13:19).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (6:51).
  5. ↑ Livestream, June 30, 2017 (30:34).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Livestream, May 12, 2017 (33:10).
  7. ↑ class utilities.png
  8. ↑ Livestream, May 15, 2017 (15:10).
  9. ↑ utility skills.jpg
  10. ↑ Livestream, January 18, 2018 (34:56).
  11. ↑ Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:21:46).
  12. ↑ class stealth.png
  13. ↑ class mobility.png
  14. ↑ Livestream, October 29, 2021 (1:07:11).
  15. ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (57:41).
  16. ↑ Livestream, May 12, 2017 (18:00).
  17. ↑ Video, July 28, 2023 (14:03).
  18. ↑ Bless Weapon Info Panel.png
  19. ↑ Video, April 28, 2023 (4:40).
  20. ↑ steven-rogue-augments.png
  21. ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (1:20:58).
  22. ↑ Podcast, July 26, 2020 (1:34:47).
  23. ↑ Podcast, July 26, 2020 (1:32:15).
  24. ↑ steven-family-summon.png
  25. ↑ steven-family-summon-2.png
  26. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 steven-bounty-hunters-2.png
  27. ↑ Interview, April 27, 2017 (9:28).
  28. ↑ corruption toggle.png
  29. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (48:00).
  30. ↑ Video, April 28, 2023 (6:15).
  31. ↑ Shell Description.png
  32. ↑ Livestream, January 28, 2022 (1:12:27).
  33. ↑ Livestream, May 3, 2017 (49:39).
  34. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Video, May 31, 2020 (26:42).
  35. ↑ Livestream, July 28, 2017 (39:49).
  36. ↑ Video, March 31, 2023 (8:47).
  37. ↑ Livestream, February 9, 2018 (10:42).
  38. ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (38:46).
  39. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:08:27).
  40. ↑ Livestream, July 28, 2017 (50:22).
  41. ↑ Video, February 7, 2017 (0:02).
  42. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Interview: Ashes of Creation on Building Their Virtual World, 2017-04-13.
  43. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (53:01).
  44. ↑ Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:08:06).
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