Active blocking
The shield version would probably be better but you'd still be able to parry or whatnot with a two-handed weapon, or even maybe a dual wield.[2] – Tradd Thompson
Active blocking is a universal skill that applies to all classes.[4][5][2][6]
- Active blocking might be an ability that- it's universal, of course it's universal- but it might be consuming mana; and you'll be able to adjust that mana consumption based off of your passive spec into your skill trees. In addition, it might also consume stamina, where that's something we're going to be testing as part of Alpha-2.[5] – Steven Sharif
- Shields are better for active blocking, but any melee weapon can also be used to parry with a lesser amount of mitigation.[4][2]
- Q: How are you designing encounters around active blocking? Will it be situational use, or would I expect to be laying on my block keybind for most of the fight to prevent getting deleted by bosses?
- A: It depends really on the type of adversary you're facing. Some of them are going to have indicators or tells that a big attack is coming. It's an animation wind up where you'll have an opportunity to use active block in very unique situations that are based on timing and additional mitigation for those incoming one-off attacks. In other occasions you'll be able to use it off of rotational cooldowns, or if you're waiting for a particular ability or you're during the use of your Aegis. There's different situations for when active block is a relevant use-case.[9] – Steven Sharif
- Previously the developers had not finalized designs for active blocking and were leaning toward using more traditional buff-oriented universal damage mitigation for the MMO, and were also considering interaction between action-based blocking and a passive block stat.[10][11]
- The Paladin's Might shield in Ashes of Creation Apocalypse had its own hit box and hit points (HP); that could actively block projectiles.[12]
Contents
Dodging
Evasion moves such as dodging and weaving will be present in Ashes of Creation combat.[4][14][15]
- The developers are considering the inclusion of dodging in a subset of universal skills that apply to all classes.[6]
- Dodging will not use I-frames (invincibility frames), but it may affect accuracy and mitigation stats when used.[4]
- Previously it was stated that hybrid combat will likely have true evasion skills relating to action-oriented combat and also have I-frames that apply to tab targeting.[15]
- So you see an animation windup that's a telegraph on what's coming; and then you have response actions that you can take as a result of that in order to dodge, weave, move, do whatever. It is both a combination of what your rotation is but also how you have reaction abilities ready to go that you save for certain circumstances that are important.[14] – Steven Sharif
Combat revamp
I can move while swinging on this guy. I can back up then continue to attack him. Just have complete control over my character while attacking.[17] – Steven Sharif
A revamped combat system will be rolled out during and post Alpha-1 testing based on player feedback.[18][19][20]
- The goal is to give more agency to the player and achieve a more fluid flow of combat with greater mobility when using abilities.[21][22]
- The current hybrid tab and action combat system will remain after the revamp.[21]
- This revamp will not represent the final form of combat, but will set the general direction that combat will be taking.[23]
- The revamp will be iterative and will be rolled out to testers in different phases.[22]
- The developers will be testing whether or not to use global cooldowns GCDs on different types of abilities during Alpha-2.[24]
The revamped combat system will feature split-body animations, where the character's upper body can be locked by weapon attack animations while the lower body is free to continue moving.[17][25][26]
- You'll be able to move forward while swinging your weapon; and this will allow you complete control over your weapon attacks for melee.[17] – Steven Sharif
Alpha-1 combat was focused on core functionality rather than combat balance.[26] Alpha-2 combat will include archetypes, significant ability support, augments, split-body combat, weapon attacks, and many additional items, among other things.[27]
- Changes that allow templated abilities to apply to 3D positions in the air or water will be prototyped and may be included in Alpha-2.[28]
Directional attacks
There will be directional attacks (back attacks, flanking attacks, frontal attacks) that deal additional damage depending on the positional context of the attack.[29]
Cleaving

As I attack I am hitting multiple numbers of these opponents; and that's important because all weapons, regardless of whether you are in reticle mode or tab-targeting mode will be able to have a action-based type weapon attack. Not active skill, but weapon attack.[30] – Steven Sharif
All weapons have a forward attack cone, regardless of being in tab or action mode.[30]
- The cone's arc and distance will vary based on weapon type.[30]
Polearms for example will have a much wider arc and much further out. Daggers will have a more fine-tuned arc, so you have to be more precise in that regard.[30] – Steven Sharif
This is described as a weapon attack not an active skill.[30]
Mobility
The general approach that we're kind of taking based on a lot of feedback and just good combat design in general. You know philosophy is that we want to give more agency in the hands of the player and the antithesis of that is locking the player down for really long amounts of time. The sort of concept behind that is like you could make an animation effects as glorious looking as possible but if it's taking away control of the player, none of that really matters. Especially the 100th or thousandth time you're using the spell you're tired of that happening you don't feel powerful: You feel the opposite of powerful. So we're trying to like give a lot of control back to the player while they're using these abilities so they can still control their movements, they can react simultaneously while they're taking actions; and we just want to get overall more of a fluid flow, I guess, of combat. And that's kind of the general design philosophy we're using to approach the overhaul.[22] – Tradd Thompson
- The revamped combat system features split-body animations, where the character's upper body can be locked by weapon attack animations while the lower body is free to continue moving.[32][17][25][26]
- Most abilities in Ashes of Creation are capable of being cast while moving. Some abilities may slow the caster down during the cast, but only rarely will the player be rooted in place.[33]
- Skills with the greatest power may require the caster to remain stationary while channeling them. This is a risk vs. reward mechanic.[33][34][35]
- Most abilities you'll find in Ashes of Creation are capable of being cast while moving. Some of those abilities might slow your movement during the cast, but you can continue to move. Very rarely, and depending on obviously the importance of the ability or the power level of that ability, you might be rooted in place. So, for example, the AoE ability [Chains of Restraint] has a lot going on. It has damage ticking over time, it is an area of effect, it also has a status condition application; and in those instances the player character gets rooted.[33] – Steven Sharif
- Unreal Engine 5 has enabled improved forms of locomotion, such as crouching, tilting and mantling.[36][37]
- The ability to prone is not be in the game.[38][39]
- Moving backward will likely not affect block and parry.[40]
- Player movement speed during combat is balanced for both PvE and PvP.[41]
- There's a balance in the game design between your movement speed on attack and the movement speed of your opponent. When you have a game that is both PvE centric as well as PvP centric, you have to make sure that combat is blended for both approaches; and we can always run into problems where, if you're significantly hampered in your movement speed, that has an effect on how we expect player versus player engagements to interact; and we don't want to restrict a player's ability to be mobile if they're the target of an attack. And as a result of that we need to make sure that we don't restrict the movement abilities of the player who is doing the attacking as well. So we want it to be relatively free for you to stay with each other. Your opponents move around the battlefield together and if we're hampering you on the attack action, we have to then implement some type of snare, or slow, or cc effect essentially on your opposing target; and that's not the approach we want to take for for PvP.[41] – Steven Sharif
- Q: If a ranger is super mobile, what are the melee's options in order to catch them?
- A: Different class kits will provide different gap closers. They'll provide different mobility skills. They'll have lockdowns. They'll have chains to pull back. They'll have a lot of different things in the rotation. That's part of what an MMORPG experience is. You're not just restricted to three or six skills, you have a rotational suite; and depending on the type of challenges you face is going to help determine which of those rotations you spec into from your skill tree.[42] – Steven Sharif
Skill | Icon | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blink | ![]() |
Blinks forward in the direction you are traveling.[43][44][45][46] | Now deals damage to enemies surrounding your departure location.[47][46] | Reduced cooldown.[43][47][46] |
Rush | ![]() |
Rush toward a target; and upon reaching the target, deal an amount damage with a chance to knock the target down.[48] | - | - |
Player movement
- Sprinting will consume a percentage of a character's mana pool. Sprinting will not be permitted while in combat.[50]
- I've instructed design to incorporate a mana consumption that's percentage based for sprinting. So it'll be a similar amount of time that each class, regardless of their mana values, will have in order to sprint and it will not be accessible while in a combat.[50] – Steven Sharif
- There is a toggleable walk/run (autorun) capability.[52]
- There is not going to be any "go to waypoint" (auto-pathing) mechanics.[53]
- Unreal Engine 5 mantling was demonstrated by the developers.[36][55]
Collision
There are player and spell collision mechanics in Ashes of Creation.[56]
- Inertia and momentum physics will help prevent blocking doorways/access points. This is based on a character's direction and movement speed, and can be used to push people out of the way.[57][56]
Animations
The intensity of those weapon trailings; how they scale based on the type of weapon, the level of weapon, that you have; but not just the trailing on the weapon per-se but also the ground decals. Like for this heavy weapon, that first strike you see that decal in the ground is- I love that look- and even on the backswing when I hit the ground behind me, it's causing that decal.[58] – Steven Sharif
- We really wanted to build the combat system to- like i said earlier- be as physical as possible. So we have it very animation driven. Everything is handled based on a reference of animation as opposed to nebulous timings, which allows it to feel very impactful and very responsive.[59] – Keenan Reimer
- We're not going to be having I think unique combat animations. However we will have unique non-combat animations, such as your idle, your walk, your run cycle: things that the combat attacks do not have to blend back into.[60] – Steven Sharif
Animation cancelling
Animation cancelling will not be a combat mechanic.[62][63]
- Players will be able to cancel channeled abilities.[62]
Combat targeting
Part of what we're exploring with this approach of our hybrid combat is offering the player the functionality to utilize either tab targeting or a reticle-based action camera mode; and you know there are benefits to each; and both of them are providing the player what they feel most comfortable with playing. All of our attacks are going to be stat opposed unless they're a templated attack, in which case there will be certain bonuses and/or stronger applied chances for certain types of CC effects to be applied or potentially evasion and accuracy aspects of it. These are all things that we plan to to test throughout alpha two to see where the player base lives in those two options of the action or tab target based attack modes. The important part here is that this is still a work-in-progress. This is meant to give you a look at where our approach has now been living over the past several months when it comes to combat based off of what we learned in alpha one, what player feedback has been along the way and how we can create a compelling system of combat between these very different classes and weapon types.[65] – Steven Sharif
Hybrid combat refers to the choice between tab and action combat in Ashes of Creation.[66][67][68][69] A toggle button (default Z, but can be re-bound to another key) allows the player to switch between action and tab combat modes.[70][21][30][71]
- The action mode camera is tied to the to the player's reticle (crosshair).[72][73]
- Targeted skills require either a soft or hard locked target.[72]
- Soft locking is when the reticle moves over a valid target while in action mode. The targeting plate will appear slightly grayed out to indicate that this is a soft-lock target. If the reticle moves away from the target or the target moves away from the reticle, the target is lost.[72].
- Hard locking is when the player uses right-mouse on a soft-locked target in action mode, or when the player selects a valid target in tab mode. The targeting plate will not be grayed-out to indicate that a hard-lock target is selected. Unlike soft locking, if the target moves out of the reticle, the target is not lost. Tab will still cycle between hard-locked targets in action mode based on proximity priority.[75][72]
- Templated skills allow "blind firing" without a target while in action mode. If an entity moves into the path of the attack they can be struck.[76][77][72]
Q: What the benefits are for tab versus action. I feel like a lot of people feel like tab is just easier so why would I use action?
A: If you're in a massive brawl, the ability to pick and choose targets that are far in the back line that might might be more advantageous towards tab target users because they're able to click, but the reaction time to acquire a target for a cursor versus acquiring a target for a reticle is much faster and less cumbersome because it doesn't require as many actions on behalf of the user.[78] – Steven Sharif
Templated and targeted versions of skills will have different characteristics.[65][70][79][80][81]
- Skill progressions, skill point allocation is determined by the player. The player will be able to choose either more tab-target oriented skills or more action-based skills and customize their playable experience to what accommodates their preference. From a balancing standpoint for us developers, we need to make sure that certain abilities house certain functions so that there's a balance between skill shots and tab-target abilities.[80] – Steven Sharif
- Targeted skills will be greyed out if the target is not within a valid range but templated skills will generally require the player to assess the correct range for the skill.[82]
- Different ranks of the same skill can change the skill from tab to action or vice-versa.[83]
- Variables will change based on which version of a skill is chosen.[81]
- It may not be possible to be able to fully spec into just action or tab targeted skills. There might be a 75% cap on choosing skills from any one type.[80]
- For the purposes of balance, certain skill types will be either tab or action oriented skills.[84]
- As an example: Let's say you're playing a ranged class. You could have an action-oriented power shot in your skill tree or you could have a single target power shot that ramps up and does more damage.[81] – Steven Sharif
Hitboxes
The developers are testing different approaches to accommodate varying hitboxes between the races.[86]
- There may be a single unified hitbox with some exceptions or some special collision rules as opposed to having different sized hitboxes.[86]
More than likely we'll have some sort of unified or unified-ish hitbox. But again it's going to probably have a unified hitbox with some exceptions or some special sort of collision rules based on them as opposed to kind of just making it smaller for one and not the other.[86] – Jeffrey Bard
There aren't separate types of hitbox categories in the Ashes of Creation MMORPG as there were in Ashes of Creation Apocalypse.[86]
We don't have separate types of hitbox categories, for example. There's no head hit box in the MMORPG like there was in APOC. So from a critical standpoint you're not going to see a greater risk of critting for a larger hitbox.[86] – Steven Sharif
Weapon swapping
Weapon swapping (between equipment slots) is possible while in combat.[88][75][89][90]
- You can always hot weapon swap even in combat, but you can't swap your armor and gear. Nothing that's in a hand or range slot if you're in combat.[88] – Steven Sharif
Players cannot swap armor while in combat.[88][91][93]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Video, January 27, 2023 (35:51).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Video, December 2, 2022 (34:41).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Video, December 2, 2022 (16:55).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:06:02).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Video, January 27, 2023 (40:24).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Livestream, November 19, 2021 (50:38).
- ↑ Livestream, January 27, 2023 (15:22).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:05:08).
- ↑ Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:13:29).
- ↑ Livestream, September 24, 2021 (1:22:46).
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:19:50).
- ↑
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:19:24).
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (51:17).
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Livestream, January 30, 2020 (1:34:12).
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:24:06).
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Livestream, July 30, 2021 (31:22).
- ↑ Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:14:50).
- ↑
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Video, February 26, 2021 (6:17).
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Livestream, February 26, 2021 (27:41).
- ↑ Interview, February 7, 2021 (49:18).
- ↑ Livestream, July 29, 2022 (1:05:20).
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Interview, June 13, 2021 (4:12).
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:13:05).
- ↑ Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:11:41).
- ↑ Livestream, May 27, 2022 (1:16:17).
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:11:25).
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:15:39).
- ↑
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (46:30).
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (59:47).
- ↑ Livestream, April 30, 2020 (1:17:13).
- ↑ Livestream, May 8, 2017 (43:30).
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (55:32).
- ↑ Video, December 23, 2021 (23:53).
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Livestream, October 14, 2022 (48:45).
- ↑ 39.0 39.1
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:30:40).
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (49:42).
- ↑ Livestream, September 30, 2022 (51:28).
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 Alpha-1 screenshot.
- ↑
- ↑ Video, December 23, 2020 (1:17).
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Livestream, July 31, 2020 (57:33).
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Video, December 22, 2020 (7:35).
- ↑
- ↑ Video, May 25, 2017 (0:02).
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 Livestream, July 30, 2021 (1:11:29).
- ↑ Reddit - Developer response to unique ability visuals.
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, May 4, 2018 (51:57).
- ↑ Livestream, December 15, 2017 (1:35:38).
- ↑ Video, December 23, 2021 (7:05).
- ↑ 56.0 56.1
- ↑ Interview, March 27, 2020 (15:20).
- ↑ 58.0 58.1 Video, June 30, 2022 (20:29).
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 Video, June 30, 2022 (21:19).
- ↑ 60.0 60.1 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (53:33).
- ↑ Livestream, December 22, 2020 (1:12:56).
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (1:09:37).
- ↑ Livestream, May 17, 2017 (1:05:11).
- ↑ Video, September 30, 2022 (17:03).
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 65.3 65.4 Livestream, September 30, 2022 (41:06).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, August 27, 2021 (1:16:04).
- ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (22:34).
- ↑ Livestream, November 16, 2017 (30:45).
- ↑ 70.0 70.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (27:43).
- ↑ Livestream, April 30, 2020 (1:09:51).
- ↑ 72.0 72.1 72.2 72.3 72.4 Video, September 30, 2022 (17:00).
- ↑ 73.0 73.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (59:21).
- ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (26:11).
- ↑ 75.0 75.1 Livestream, September 30, 2022 (49:16).
- ↑ Livestream, September 30, 2022 (52:33).
- ↑ Livestream, September 30, 2022 (48:10).
- ↑ Livestream, September 30, 2022 (54:35).
- ↑ 80.0 80.1 80.2 80.3 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (37:57).
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 81.2 81.3 81.4 81.5 Podcast, August 4, 2018 (1:07:59).
- ↑ Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:11:07).
- ↑ Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:12:50).
- ↑ 84.0 84.1 84.2 84.3 84.4 84.5 Podcast, August 4, 2018 (1:11:05).
- ↑
- ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 86.3 86.4 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:15:59).
- ↑ Video, August 17, 2018 (0:01).
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 88.3 Livestream, September 30, 2022 (51:09).
- ↑ Podcast, September 29, 2021 (40:50).
- ↑ Interview, May 11, 2018 (16:32).
- ↑ 91.0 91.1 Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:03:45).
- ↑ Livestream, May 30, 2019 (1:15:58).
- ↑ Livestream, July 28, 2017 (34:32).