Weapon use combo system

A weapon use combo system (also referred to as Combo system, Combat skills, and Combat tree) is utilized instead of a traditional auto-attack ability in Ashes of Creation. No traditional auto-attack system is present in Alpha-1.

• Players can spec into weapon abilities on their combat skill tree, based on their preferred weapon classes (weapon types/weapon groups) and the grade of the weapon.
• The more skill points that are allocated to the combat skill tree, the greater a player's weapon familiarity. This in turn unlocks various proc effects on weapon use that can offer synergy with other active skills. This synergy also applies to active skills from other characters.

  Let's say a dagger has some slashing effects that bleed the target or that cripple the target... Every time you attack you have a chance to proc that effect. That effect then can synergize with what your active skills tree has available to it. So let's say your backstab deals 30 additional damage to a bleeding target. If you attack with your main weapon first and the target gets the bleed proc off and you do your backstab skill then you're synergizing your effects. – Steven Sharif

  Let's say backstab that you can apply to deals damage to the target and it'll have a conditional modifier on that damage if you're behind the target, and it'll have a conditional modifier deal additional 50 damage if the target is under a bleed effect. So you want to synergize essentially your weapon proc conditions with your active skills so that you're timing your certain active skills appropriately with the status conditions that the target has taken. – Steven Sharif

  • These procs may reduce or reset cooldowns on other skills on the player's hotbar.
• Using a skill/ability will in general reset the combo.
  • The developers are considering specific abilities might be able to be used without resetting the combo system.
• The combo system will not have the quicktime event that was seen at PAX West 2017.

It acts similar in the sense of you know the core loop of what an auto attack is so to speak; where you know typically your other skills have a cooldown period, they have a rotation or whatever: Our combo system is a repeatable you know skill effect that you can continually attack with but it's a little bit more involved than what a traditional auto attack is; and it has components from a from an advancement standpoint when it comes to the types of procs that your weapon can have during that combo system... It's not going to have the quick time event that you know you guys saw early on in PAX and gave great feedback on, but it is going to have development with regards to the power of the weapon the type of weapon you're using, the additional proc effects that you can skill into: Those types of things are going to make it a little bit more complex of a system capture. – Steven Sharif

Classes of weapons

Weapon classes (also referred to as weapon types and weapon groups) in Ashes of Creation.

• Blunt weapons
• Slashing weapons
• Piercing weapons

Weapon use combo system status

A revised weapon use combo system will be present in Alpha-1.

• The weapon use ability that was originally shown at PAX West 2017 was reduced to a basic form in Alpha-0.
• The new combo system will not have the quicktime event that was seen in PAX West 2017.
• This is referred to as Combo system, Combat skills, and Combat tree in Alpha-1 preview and early testing.

Weapon progression

Scimitar 3D render by Carson Steil.

Weapons will have their own progression paths and their own applicable types of skills.

• The weapon use combo system determines special effects that proc based on weapon progression.
  • Players can spec into weapon abilities that change what combinations are available, based on the type of weapon.
• Ancillary effects proc based on enchantment types.
• Gear enhancements (power stones) can be applied to add elemental or energy types of damage.
• A skill tree is used to grant effects: making them better or branching off into different directions.
• Passive skills will enable players to work toward mastery of a weapon.
• Weapon proficiency (based on length of use of a weapon) is not a planned feature.

Q: Are weapons balanced towards a proficiency system (i.e. the longer I use a sword, the better my damage will be), or will it be a normal RPG stat system with no long-term scaling?

A: We will not be using a proficiency system as described, but players will have passives available in their skill tree that will increase effectiveness of certain weapons. Becoming a master of swords will be something that is possible, just not in that particular manner. – Sarah Flanagan

Ashes of Creation is all about providing many progression paths... The reason why we don't like the term endgame is because with the amount of progression that's available with the amount of diversity and player agency that that impacts the world... We kind of want the the weapon system and add an element of that as well... You can determine special effects that proc from currently the combo system right; you can determine ancillary effects that proc based on enchantment types; you can power stone weapons to add different either elemental types of damage and/or energy that kind of play rock paper scissor with player defenses ... and then you can skill tree out how those effects that are granted ... you can make them better you can branch them off into a different direction. – Steven Sharif

Ultimate skill

The ultimate skill is a very powerful skill.

• Can be used when enough focus has been accumulated from using the Weapon use combo system.

This 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
Hail of arrows		If your focus is at 80%, use this skill to summon a template and launch multiple arrows within the template.	Adds movement slow.	Adds damage over time to targets in the area.
Ultimate Defense		Provides increasing mitigation based on missing health, up to full invulnerability. Reduces movement speed while active.	Increased duration.	Increased duration. Now applies a large mitigation increase to nearby group members.

Ranged weapons

Pre-alpha Ranger bow modeled by Jon Arellano and concepted by Jeff Delierre.

A character may equip up to two hand weapons and also wear a ranged weapon on their back.

• Characters performing ranged abilities will switch to the ranged weapon, then can switch back to the melee weapon and shield or two-handed melee weapon.
• The weapon held in the main hand slot determines the active weapon ability.

Do I want my main hand to be my ranged weapon or do I want my main hand to be my melee weapon with regards to skill usage. For example, with the Ranger, if you have a range skill it'll automatically swap regardless of what your main weapon hand is, but for the combat ability for the "Auto Attack" feature it would be your chosen weapon. – Steven Sharif

Rangers are going to have a minimum distance requirement where they are eligible to use their ranged weapons.

While melee characters have a max distance proximity where they're eligible to use their sword and melee weapons, Rangers are going to have a minimum distance requirement. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Harvest ability
• Combat
• Archetypes
• User interface