Gear appearance

Alpha-2 Vek plate armor 3D renders. 3D model by Jan-Allen Cauton.^[1]

Dünir tier 5 in-game achievable plate armor 3D turntable.^[2]

The Dünir are suited up for battle with these in-game unlockable tier five armor pieces!^[2]

Alpha-1 female plate armor 3D render.^[3]

We want to be realistic with the application of particular types of armor, such as plate armor. In this regard for the different sexes there's a fine line that has to be drawn between accentuating the form of the sex as well as making it somewhat realistic and actually applicable to the environment.^[3] – Steven Sharif

Gear is intended to be realistic in appearance.^[4]^[5]

There will not be "oversized" weapons.^[6]
Armor will not be overly sexual in appearance.^[5]
I'm more of the mind that it wouldn't really serve a purpose to have bikini plate armor, just in like reality, if you're going to have armor, it should be protective. I think from a fashion statement is enjoyable for some people, but it's a an immersive issue.^[4] – Steven Sharif
- Some armor and costumes will be more revealing than others, but there will not be nudity in the game.^[7]
There might be sliders, but there are not gonna be naked sliders.^[7] – Steven Sharif

Armor will take on a racial appearance.^[8] Weapons will scale in size based on race.^[9]

Each race is getting its custom geo pieces, which then will share thematic components such as color palette, attachments, design filigree. Those types of things will get shared across the geo but generally you're going to see unique races with unique geo.^[10] – Steven Sharif

Cosmetics can be used by all races but there may be slight variations to make them work with the body builds of each race.^[11]

Players can change gear colors using dyes.^[12]^[13]

Helmet display can be toggled on and off.^[14]

Hair will likely be masked if helmet display is toggled on.^[15]

Particle effects are used to denote the importance and rarity of some weapons.^[16]

Crafters are able to influence what their crafted items will look like.^[17]^[18]

Weapons are able to be sheathed.^[19]^[20]

Appearance slots/Transmogs

Alpha-2 plate armor set 3D renders. 3D model by Jan-Allen Cauton.^[21]

Gear will have appearance slots (Transmutation/Transmog/cosmetic slots) that are used to copy the appearance of an item (in some cases).^[22]^[23]

There are rules when applying cosmetics to specific items, unlike costumes, which don't have level restrictions.^[24]
Cosmetic slots can be toggled on or off on their character by the player.^[25]
A "default player appearance" may be automatically applied during sieges or other large scale battles to improve client-side performance.^[26]^[27]

Cosmetics, whether purchased from the shop or earned in game, are an important component of MMORPGS I personally enjoy; and there's a lot of collectors out there who spend a great deal of time either in-game achieving these things or spend money purchasing them from the cosmetic only marketplace; and we don't want to demean or reduce that achievement or that expenditure. So it's going to be situational where the default appearance will be applied and can be activated.^[26] – Steven Sharif

Racial weapons and armor

Armor racial appearances in early Alpha-1.^[28]

Violet light and myself are wearing exactly the same armor set right: Same stats, same everything, but it drops for her it looks one way, it drops for me it looks another way; and... a small part of that is gender, but then the other part of it is race. So because I was a Vaelune in that playthrough my armor was in the Vaelune style; and when she picked it up it was in the elven style because she was an elf. So that gives you an example of sort of the breadth of looks that we're going for and how we try to capture like who you are as as a character and allow you to build your look that way.^[29] – Jeffrey Bard

Dünir and Empyrean racially styled armor concept art by Keith Kovach.^[30]

We have essentially sets that exist across all races; and each race that dons those armor sets is going to have their own racial influence on the presentation of those particular sets. So that's something that's unique in how each of the races get diversified.^[31] – Steven Sharif

Weapons and armor are not race locked, but armor will take on a racial appearance.^[31]^[32]^[33]

The customization of equipment per race is really focused on Armor sets not Weapon props. Weapon props will, from a model standpoint, will translate pretty one-to-one across the races.^[8] – Steven Sharif

Racial appearance of gear is focused on Armor. Weapons will not change in appearance but will scale in size based on race.^[9]^[8]

Let's say for example you have the Eagle set or something, right: The Eagle set has in art, it has a thematic design that's going to include certain attachments to the armor. It's going to include color palette and theme. It's going to have some aspects to it that define it as the Eagle set, right. When a Elf wears the Eagle set or when an Orc wears the Eagle set, you obviously have two different cultures there; and you don't want to stomp out that culture by assigning a de facto 'This is the Eagle set and this is how it looks on everybody.' What we want to have is cultural influences play a role in showing how that set looks.^[8] – Steven Sharif

Racial appearance of gear sets is tied to the character model of that race.^[34]

When you say, what if I'm an Orc but want to look like an Elf and I want my Eagle set to be the Elf representation? Well the issue becomes there that Orcs have a different organic model. You know, their body is different than that of the Elf. So, from a scope-creep standpoint, it's one thing to add different influences that represent the cultures that are donning the armor; it's another thing to adapt each influence as a matrix that can be worn pretty much by everything. From a scope perspective, that's a very difficult task for the character artists to tackle. So instead what we've done is, in order to facilitate a variety of cultural representation between the races but allow for the sharing of assets like different armor sets, we give different representations of those armor sets to each race.^[34] – Steven Sharif

Crafted items

Crafting UI. Alpha-1 screenshot. Image credit: Guild:Overlord

Crafted items (also referred to as Completed items, Finished goods, or Final products) are items produced by crafter artisans using crafting stations.^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38]^[39]^[40]

Completed items can be accessed by players in warehouses at any node regardless of citizenship or housing ownership.^[41]^[35]^[42]
Crafted gear is considered best-in-slot in Ashes of Creation.^[38]
- Previously it was stated that crafted items will be on-par with boss dropped items.^[43]^[44]^[45]
- Crafters will be able to assign different skills/abilities and stats on gear.^[17]^[46]
  - Master crafters will be able to influence several (but not all) stats on their crafted items.^[17]^[47]

Crafted gear in the game is the best gear... One thing that I'm not a fan of is that you develop a crafting system in a game and you've spent a lot of time making this from a material and resource perspective. All the tables that you can receive, all the connectivity in the economy and how crafting is associated with the game; and then you undermine the crafting entirely by presenting a separate route of gear acquisition that is on-par with the crafting efforts. So here you have these people who are acquiring all of the resources getting, all the recipes, leveling up their professions and then everything they make is less or equal to anything you could just have chosen the easier path of and gone down the questing and received the best gear. So what we do focus on is that crafters make the best shit. Excuse me, the best things.^[38] – Steven Sharif

The rarity of crafted items will be commensurate with the effort required to gather, process and craft the items.^[45]
- Stats on crafted items will vary based on the item's rarity.^[48]

That plays into our crafting system in and of itself. The idea is for those stats to be variables that can be dictated based on the mastery level of the particular crafter; and the higher they become a master of those professions, whether it be for armor or for weapons or for accessories, they're going to have some agency and put their mark on essentially what items they're introducing into the economy.^[48] – Steven Sharif

Crafters are able to influence what their crafted items will look like.^[17]^[18]
- At the moment, harnessing corruption to warp items into demonic or decayed things is not on the cards.^[49]
- A crafter's name is embedded in the items they craft.^[50]

We believe that every item that exists in the world should in some way reflect its creator. As such, there will be extreme versatility in our crafting system – giving crafters the ability to create unique items that represent their strengths and weaknesses.^[51]

Skins

Cinderhorn Steer pre-order pack cosmetic mount skin.^[52]

Providing these limited options that collectors out there like when it comes to achieving and/or purchasing cosmetics. It means something I think when players make that decision to purchase or they go through the rigorous portion of achieving those things in game that it is not just everywhere around them and becomes meaningless at that point.^[53] – Steven Sharif

Accessories/armor, Buildings, Caravans, Mounts, Pets, and Ships sold in the cosmetic store are skins.^[54]^[55]^[56]

Skins are cosmetic items that do not grant the user any benefit.^[57]

Skins are only be able to be applied to things that have already been earned, crafted or found within Ashes of Creation.^[58]^[59]
- Certain skins require specific items or item tiers have been achieved in-game before they can be used.^[60]^[24]^[58]^[61]^[62]

Owning cosmetics does not guarantee the acquisition of the item the cosmetic can be used on. Players must still achieve the corresponding item/building.^[58] – Steven Sharif

The lore on store cosmetics is flavor text.^[57]

Caravan skins change the appearance of an in-game mount and in-game caravan that are hooked up to each other.^[63]^[64]
- The caravan and mount skin components are not able to be utilized separately.^[63]^[64]

The best skins will be in-game achievable.^[65]

The best skins will be in-game achievable (obviously “best” is subjective, so I’d say the most ornate and detailed/unique).^[65] – Steven Sharif

Cosmetic store

Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.^[66]

There is going to be legendary cosmetics that can be earned and achieved in the game through the game systems, but that's going to take a significant amount of effort and work; and those cosmetics are going to be on-par with the cosmetics offered in the marketplace... What that does is it provides additional revenue to the company so that we can continue to fund the development of content as well and bridge the divide that not having a box cost would have and not having any pay-to-win mechanics whatsoever.^[67] – Steven Sharif

The Cosmetic store enables players to purchase Cosmetics for use in Ashes of Creation.^[68] The cosmetic store offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development.^[69]

Equitable cosmetics, both from a quantity and quality standpoint, are achievable through in-game means.^[69]
Nothing in the cosmetic store will be pay to win.^[70]

Nothing in our shop will ever be pay to win as we believe this practice greatly hurts the MMORPG genre.^[70]

Cash shop cosmetics will offer a diverse selection of unique looks.^[71]

I want to incentivize purchase in the cosmetic shop for sustainability of what expansions we have intended, since we are not a box cost. I want to incentivize purchase by offering limited items: limited time, limited quantity, so you have confidence that when you purchase them, they won't be offered later on in some other way.^[69] – Steven Sharif

All cosmetic store items will be non-tradeable.^[72] There will be no gifting mechanism for cosmetic items.^[73]

I don't want cosmetic items that can be purchased from the market to be transferable... because it is in a way a transfer of money for potentially something in-game.^[73] – Steven Sharif

Artistic style

Ashes of Creation will have a higher graphical fidelity than most western games. It will not be too stylized or "cartoony".^[74]

We can push the limits a little bit on the graphical fidelity, especially using Unreal Engine 4... My desire was not to see very cartoony games. I'm not a big fan of highly stylized art.^[74] – Steven Sharif

The game will not have steampunk elements.^[75]

It's not to say that people can't do steampunk well. I've enjoyed some steampunk stuff. I'm a very high fantasy oriented type of storyteller; and the inspiration for Ashes obviously comes from my pathfinder campaigns that I ran long ago; and those are always set in a high fantasy world. So it just compromises what I believe is the perspective of the storytelling in the environment.^[75] – Steven Sharif

Attachments

Attachments are able to be unlocked as flair pieces to armor to create a customizable look.^[76]

There will be hundreds of attachments available ranging from a small clasp to the front plate of a breast plate.^[76]

Gear slots

Alpha-2 character sheet work-in-progress UI.^[77]

We wanted to create something that would handle a couple of different roles, with obviously your equipment slots for what we call a "paper doll", which is that display of your character. Eventually it won't just be a image of your character, we hope to have the 3D character and be able to rotate around, look at what you're wearing. And then we wanted to support a couple of different features here, with some base stats; the equipment, which will show what equipment you have available to quick swap, so you don't have to have your inventory and the screen open; detailed stats for those people who want to get into all of the details; and then of course gear sets. So this is going to be able to swap to your sets of gear quickly; and being able to save different loadouts.^[77] – Colby Marchi

There are multiple gear slots in Ashes of Creation.^[77]

3 Back slots.^[77]
- 1 Ranged slot.^[78]^[77]^[79]^[19]
- 1 Cloak/cape slot.^[78]^[79]^[19]
- 1 Backpack slot.^[78]^[19]

3 Belt slots.^[77]
- 1 Mainhand slot equips a player's primary weapon.^[80]^[81]^[82]^[83]^[19]
- 1 Offhand slot can equip shields, spell focuses, sigils, and dual weapons.^[84]^[19]
- 1 Potion/Pouch/Scroll slot.^[79]^[85]

8 Armor slots.^[77]^[86]
- 1 Helmet slot.^[77]^[14]
- 1 Shoulder slot.^[77]^[87]
- 1 Chest slot.^[77]^[88]
- 1 Wrist slot.^[77]^[89]
- 1 Glove slot.^[77]^[87]
- 1 Waist slot.^[77]^[87]^[90]
- 1 Leggings slot.^[77]^[87]
- 1 Boot slot.^[77]^[89]
5 Jewelry slots.^[77]
- 2 Accessory slots.^[77]
- 1 Necklace slot.^[77]^[91]
- 2 Ring slots.^[77]^[92]
1 Undergarment slot is used to equip artisan gear.^[77]^[93]
There may be a specific slot for musical instruments, but this has not been finalized yet.^[94]

Previously it was stated there were 16 gear slots.^[86]

Gear is not subject to inventory weight limits.^[42]

Items on back and belt

Players can set the appearance priority for the items they wish to show in their Back and Belt slots.^[79]^[85]^[95] Only one item can show at a time, and that is determined by player choice.^[19]

There'll be a priority system behind that that'll determine... do I show the Bow if the Greatsword is unequipped or do I show the Polearm if the Greatsword is unequipped.^[95] – Jeffrey Bard

Some ranged or melee abilities require a specific weapon to be equipped. Weapons that are equipped in the character's ranged or offhand slots will automatically swap in and out as required by the skill.^[80]^[81]^[83]
- Weapons are able to be sheathed.^[19]^[20]
- Idle animations will be selectible by players in the character creator.^[96]

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.^[81]^[83]^[19]

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.^[81]^[83]
There will be a setting to determine if the ranged weapon or main/offhand is the primary weapon to use for Q or left-mouse-button basic attacks.^[81]^[83]
Rangers do not have a minimum distance requirement for using their ranged weapons.^[97] Previously rangers were intended to have a minimum distance requirement.^[98]

Melee weapons

Low-level shield, one-handed mace, and two-handed staff 3D renders from Alpha-2.^[99]

You can see by the quality of these types of weapons: these are relatively lower level. These are some of the earliest types of weapons and or gear that you can acquire within Ashes of Creation.^[99] – Steven Sharif

Melee weapons and abilities have a maximum range of effect.^[100]^[98]

There are two melee weapon slots: One on each side of a character's belt.^[19]

Dual wielding

Dual daggers 3D render. 3D model by Carson Steil, concept by Jeff Delierre.^[101]

Dual wielding will be permitted for selected one handed weapons.^[102]^[103]

Dual weapons are treated as single items that when equipped will occupy both main and off-hand gear slots.^[104]^[102]
There is a limited selection of weapons that can be dual wielded.^[102]
Shields cannot be dual wielded.^[105]^[103]
Great swords probably can't be dual wielded.^[106]

Q: How will animations work while dual wielding weapons of A) a different type, for example an axe and a dagger; or B) different weapon speeds?

A: Dual weapons will have their own animation sets; and... there will be a limited selection of which weapons can be dual weapons. Players will make that selection. They'll create those dual weapons as as bespoke single items that when equipped will occupy both the main and offhand; and then how we handle the attack speeds is we offer animations at a particular speed and then we adjust that with a modifier based on whatever is influencing that: either increase or slow down in speed.^[102] – Steven Sharif

Weapon swapping

Alpha-2 Mage swapping from a Greatsword to a Wand while in combat.^[107]

It is possible to store and swap gear loadouts with a single hotkey button press when out of combat.^[42]^[77]^[108]

There will be a loadout system that you can use in your inventory to help manage those different types of set that you can customize. So you can do a simple hotkey press and be able to swap your armors, out of combat of course, with a single button click.^[42] – Steven Sharif

Weapon swapping is possible while in combat but armor cannot be swapped while in combat.^[109]^[110]^[80]^[81]^[83]^[111]
- Previously it was stated that swapping weapons (from inventory) into a hand or range slot is not possible in combat.^[110] Prior to this, weapon swapping was said to be subject to a cooldown period (in the range of a few seconds) following any damage taken or done by the player.^[112]^[113]

You may not swap armor when you're in combat, but you may swap your weapons; and there's obviously a few reasons of why this can be important: We're a itemization agnostic class design, so players equip with items that there are most necessary based on the adversary or the challenge that they're facing; and so we want that to be available for players to swap with weapons.^[109] – Steven Sharif

Gear inspection/ Threat assessment

You decide to gank the player, but find out that you have been ambushed!^[114]

Players will have a buff on their nameplate that indicates the gear set they are wearing. Other players will be able to see this buff by targeting that player at a distance.^[115]^[116]^[117]

This will indicate the type of armor (cloth, leather, plate) that they are predominantly wearing.^[118]^[116]

You can target a player. You're going to see what type of armor they have based on a buff they have available to them because obviously cosmetics can change appearance. You might have different silhouettes as a result of that.^[118] – Steven Sharif

The border will indicate the level and quality of the tier set.^[115]^[116]^[119]
- This also indicates if the gear is enchanted, along with visual effects associated with enchanted items.^[116]^[120]^[119]
The developers believe that inspecting gear to obtain an exact equipment list or gear score may lead to "unwelcome behavior".^[121]

When you see a player approaching you and they're wearing a transmog you don't know if that person is a high damage mitigation against physical damage or against magical damage and essentially the way we overcome that is through you being able to target a player at a distance and they will have a buff that's present on them that you will see, which indicates that essentially the piece set that they are wearing. It is important for players to be able to ascertain from a threat assessment standpoint what they're going up against if they're actively checking that, and that will be available.^[117] – Steven Sharif

Character nameplate

Nameplate in the Alpha-2 party UI.^[122]

The icon in the corner next to Steven's nameplate: that little icon is actually his secondary archetype that he hasn't unlocked.^[123] – Margaret Krohn

Alpha-2 nameplates, targeting plates, and raid frame UI.^[124]

There have been some updates to a little bit of the nameplates that Colby and the UI team have implemented, as well as some of the targeting plates as well.^[124] – Steven Sharif

Nameplates are displayed above the head.^[125]

Player character nameplates will have first, and optionally last name (surname).^[125]
- The name of the character's guild is displayed next to their name.^[126]
- The character's nameplate will deteriorate to give an indication of how much damage they have taken.^[127]^[128]^[129]
- An icon will identify the character's class.^[115]
- Hovering over a player nameplate will show information such as level, class name, and archetype combo.^[115]
- A buff icon will indicate the character's gear and grade.^[115]^[116]^[117]
The size and priority of nameplates will be relate to their distance (away from the camera).^[130]
The visibility of nameplates can be obscured by in-game objects, such as trees; by utility skills, such as Camouflage or Stealth; or through the use of disguises.^[131]^[132]
UI settings will enable nameplates to be hidden, resized, and customized.^[133]
Summoner summons' creature type appears in the nameplate above the summon. This cannot be changed by the player.^[134]
Mob nameplates will have indicators that identify resistances, buffs, end elite status.^[135]
- A star format may be utilized to indicate hit point allocation.^[135]

Nameplates in the party UI indicate the player's choice of secondary archetype.^[123]

A padlock icon indicates that the secondary archetype is not yet unlocked.^[123]

Gear sets

2nd Sword Division non-cosmetic gear set 3D renders. 3D model by Keith Kovach.^[136]

Equipping the Titanbark gear set in Alpha-2.^[137]

We're going relatively traditional in the gear access points by being driven by level tier that players will have access to. So as you advance in your adventuring class you will begin to unlock the ability to equip gear of a higher level.^[138] – Steven Sharif

Gear sets (also known as tier sets) are a part of Ashes of Creation.^[139]^[138]^[23]

In general, higher tier gear will be from gear sets.^[139]

Q: How often will armor be part of an entire armor set with other cosmetically matching pieces versus unique armor pieces that don't match or go along with anything else in the game?

A: There is a balance of both set pieces and non-set pieces and usually you're going to see at higher grades within a tier are going to be more predominantly set driven; and the lower interstitial power levels of the gear for that tier are the potentially bespoke pieces; and obviously those pieces are catered around a number of different interactions, such as ones you get from quests, ones that you get from drops, ones that you can craft, ones that you get from legendary bosses, ones that you get from guild-oriented tasks, or in-game favor and unique currencies. So there's different types of acquisition models and each of them has a spattering of either bespoke pieces or set-oriented pieces; and there are even varying levels of set pieces as well. So you might have a full eight piece set, or a three-piece set, or a five piece set, depending on where it lives within the tier.^[139] – Steven Sharif

Players gain bonuses depending on the number and tier of pieces they have equipped.^[139]^[138]^[23]
- An overarching set effect is granted to wearers of exclusively one "type" of armor, for example: all cloth, or all plate.^[140]
- There may be set bonuses that members of certain communities will obtain based on gear set type.^[139]^[23]
- Set bonuses will not provide new abilities, but certain higher-end weapons and armor will have active abilities, but the intention is that these abilities will not radically redefine the way an archetype is played.^[141]

Racial appearance of gear sets is tied to the character model of that race.^[34]

It will be possible to store and swap gear loadouts with a single button press when out of combat.^[42]^[77]^[108]

Approximately 49 unique gear sets were obtainable in Alpha-1 from crafting, quests, drops and exploration.^[142] These were unique sets with different stats, but some may be similar in appearance.^[142]

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Certain set bonuses may trade off core gear stats.^[143]
There are passive abilities that can be chosen to become more adept with certain set types.^[23]
There will be viable non-set builds.^[143]

Item creation suite

An "item creation suite" that allows crafters to create unique appearances for items has been discussed as a future possibility.^[144]

Racial skins

Racial skins enable a player to change their character's racial appearance.^[145]^[146]

Racial skins transform the race of the character to that skin. The original racial appearance of the character is entirely replaced.^[147]

Racial skins can be toggled on and off.^[146]

You're changing your race over to that, which means that you won't look uniquely different if you were a Vek angel or a Human angel.^[147] – Steven Sharif

Racial skins are not costumes. This means that armor and character customization is possible on these.^[148]

Skin color customization.^[149]
Racial skins appear along with any costume appearances.^[150]

There are plans to create other racial skins.^[43]

Some potential future ideas include undead and werewolf (lycan) skins.^[151]

Costumes

Vestments of the Runecarvers pre-order pack cosmetic costume.^[152]

The costume cosmetics that are included in each month's pre-order set are indeed a full piece, and when you put it on it will cover your entire appearance. You will not be able to mix and match/toggle those pieces individually (other than your helmet) when you're wearing the entire costume. This is partially why there is a separate category for accessories - those are able to be worn/equipped on a more individualized basis, so you can mix and match to your liking!^[153] – Sarah Flanagan

Costumes are available for purchase from the cosmetic store.^[154]

They do not include any weapons pictured.^[155]
Costumes are one piece outfits that cover all gear slots regardless of armor type.^[156]^[153]^[157]^[158]^[159]

Full costumes do not mix and match pieces.^[159] – Steven Sharif

Costumes don't have a level restriction or require an in-game item to be obtained first.^[62]^[24]
Costumes are not gender or race locked, but can adapt based on a character's gender and race.^[160]^[161]^[11]^[162]
- Racial skins appear along with any costume appearances.^[150]^[148]
All hoods and head slot items, whether part of a complete costume or individual gear, will have the option to be shown or hidden on the character by the player.^[163]^[153]^[164]