Environments

Alpha-0 Screencaps.

Information on the environments (biomes) in Ashes of Creation.

Day/night cycle

There is a day/night cycle.

• Different monsters will spawn at different times.
• NPCs and mobs may be awake at different times of the day.

Climate

Alpha-2 dynamic weather change caused by the Beneath the Stone Shadows event.

Since you instigated this event, which changed the weather, that will also now influence spawns nearby. You could potentially be spawning- well you are spawning side quests that relate to the rain, changes in enemies that relate to the rain, and that's driven on player action. So it is like a feedback loop. – Skott B

Some environments (Biomes) have fixed climates and others are variable. Dynamic weather of varying intensity can triggered by certain events.

During those weather events, the area of effect that the event is occurring in will likely have its climate descriptor overridden by whatever the event is specifically. So tornadoes might be windy, blizzards might be cold. And if an arctic dragon comes into a temperate climate it brings the cold weather with it; and that can be interacting with skills and abilities or other functions like farms. – Steven Sharif

• Certain abilities and also professions (such as Farming) may be enhanced or hindered during certain climates and seasonal weather events. For example: lightning might be stronger in the rain.

There are climate effects that occur from a buff standpoint. They can also affect skills like, let's say you're using a frost bolt in a winter climate. There's the ability for those effects to be enhanced and/or stronger in those climates. – Steven Sharif

• Weather conditions affect mob spawning, side quests, gatherables, vehicles, mounts, ships, resistances, targeting, and boss mechanics.
  • Access to dungeons and raids may also be hindered or blocked by changes in climate.
  • It was later stated that loot tables will likely not be affected by weather conditions.

They affect crops and gatherables, vehicles, and mounts, ships, creatures; and loot tables change: their behaviors might change. Resistances and weaknesses or synergies might be relevant in certain seasons or weather systems. Targeting might change the AoE radius might grow for a fire effect if you're in the middle of summer, or it might shrink if you're in the middle of a storm. – Steven Sharif

• Some weather conditions can be hazardous to mobs and players.

Weather events and encounters themselves can include hazards that can appear and shake things up. They can also help too, if you can kite enemies into the lightning strikes or whatever. – Skott B

See also

• Seasons
• Exploration