My glorious friends, my oh my…what a year it has been…and what a year 2024 is about to be!! Thank you for your patience, your support, and most importantly your feedback. Because of your participation in our development journey, we have turned a significant corner in the development of our combat…and it is feeling good. As always please give us your thoughts on our ranger showcase today, what you enjoyed and what could be done better. Next year things are about to heat up. 💪❤️🙏
Thank you and the team at Intrepid for such a wonderful year of updates, Steven! Loving what we've seen so far, it's absolutely amazing, and I know everyone is ecstatic for Alpha 2 next year! Would love if we could get a few interviews on the road to Alpha 2, similar to what we got with Alpha 1. We NEED that Narc interview, haha! Voices of Verra also have a great podcast, would love to see you join them.
Everything honestly looks amazing and lol this is probably already far more of a finished product than many of the games that we have to deal with on the market right now, so keep up the great work. The only thing I’ll say is could we at least get one more cosmetic/keys pack change that’s maybe even winter themed? I ask this because this unseen order stuff really ain’t it tbh and it’s alittle dark for the festive season we are now in. I know y’all are ending the Alpha 2 Keys but I believe in y’all to give us something more festive that fits the season alittle more then what we got. It could even be an old cosmetic pack that’s winter themed and I’m sure you’ll make a ton of people happy for it. Besides that, like I said keep up the great work, can’t wait to get into this game one day and Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all! ❤️💪🥳
I would love to see loads of English longbow styles and not just have everything be a recurved bow (New World) or composite bow like the little Q icon from your UI.
In the realm of archery, ponder the impact of arrows lodged in living beings-a subtle dance of weapon and flesh. Imagine the arrow's journey within a creature or human, where its depth in the wound shapes the unfolding narrative. If the arrow doesn't embed deeply, envision a scenario where it not only poisons but inflicts a persistent, cutting damage until it either dislodges or breaks. This realistic portrayal adds depth to the Ranger's arsenal. The arrow, symbolizing both venomous affliction and physical harm, embodies the Ranger's strategic prowess. The narrative unfolds as a delicate balance between the lethality of poison and the constraints imposed by the arrow's integrity. Picture the practical limit to the sway and cutting potential of the lodged arrow-a manifestation of the Ranger's skill and the material's resilience. In embracing these subtleties, the Ranger's tale becomes an authentic exploration of combat's nuanced artistry. The arrow's trajectory is more than a fleeting event; it's a carefully choreographed interplay of danger and consequence.
⭐Hey AoC! ⭐ I think the Bow really needs 2 things: 1) A draw arrow animation as part of casting the spell 2) A Quiver on the back or the hip. Firing an arrow out of no where with no animation of loading the arrow feels very odd and "missing". Old MMOs such as WoW, ESO, and LOTRO all have arrow drawing animations and quivers. So it should not be too difficult to Add. I hope you see this, thank you. 😁 Edit: The way to approach this is by having the character reaching to their back, or side, to draw another arrow during the 1 second global cool down. That's how most games tackle it.
Totally agree, issue I have aswell, which would also be a problem for draw animation, is the fire rate is too fast. Rather have it slow but impactful, a bit more realism.
I get what you're going for but im not sure some of the abilities would be able to have a good looking animation adding in loading an arrow with how fast they are being shot.
Although the clutter would be way too much in large scale pvp if all templates showed. There has to be some indications on what ability the player is using so you can play around those abilities. I at least hope that some of the templates are visible so you can see the hitboxes for aoe abilities etc.
That armor looks so dang cool!!! Everything about this showcase was perfect. The abilities look so interesting and unique, the visuals are amazing, the class overall just looks sick. I cannot wait to play this, you guys are doing such an amazing job.
This combat looks so much better. The animations in general just look more "crisp" when compared with the previous showcases. The spell/ability effects also look great. My one point of feedback is I think the damage numbers should display sooner after impact. Currently there's a small delay between when the ability hits, and when the number is displayed, and it somewhat reduces the "punchiness" of the combat.
This. The timing of combat numbers and their appearance/animation is super critical. If people have to download an addon to get better info/animation then you are doing something wrong (in most cases)
Scatter shot charging is an awesome idea. These kid of abilities always tend to be forgotten about since the overall dos tends to be low, but with this tech it has a huge variety and skill potential!
Loving the Ranger so far! One thing I noticed, that is nice, was when the creatures tethered and started running back, you can still do damage to them. Every game I've played once that happens the creature usually can't be killed. I also like that even with it being in winter the white snow doesn't overpower everything visually.
The combat fluidity and build-crafting are noteworthy as of this update. I really appreciate the display. This update took me from the category of “watching but not excited” to “watching, optimistic, and excited”. Great work! Edit: Can’t stop thinking about how good the quality of life around Omnidirectional Disengage. As a deadeye pvp player in GW2, trust me it’s appreciated to not have to rotate camera.
The progress has been amazing...the ranger armor is fantastic! I'm not sure if this comes later but being able to see tracks in the snow at least temporarily would go a long way in immersion. The team has done absolutely brilliant work this year and it shows! I'm very excited to see what's in store this time next year.
Thanks for all your transparency and updates. Keep it up and take all the time you need and deliver us the game we all want and deserve. We will be there to support you all the way.
Honestly a perfect class IMO (Except for the obvious balance stuff that will come later) Animations: Perfect Mobility: Top Notch Offensive Abilities & Combos: Ooooohh boi And finally Steven slaying his team while saying "Oops" & pulling a named mob like a true DPS player: 10/10 Can't wait for Q3! Hopefully it will drop on my Birthday late July, nice present for me hahaha! Keep up the amazing work! ♥
44:50 I have full faith that the team will resolve that issue to not have moments like this that break character and immersion. Maybe re-aggroing, or mobs not instantly healing to full when they reset, but slowly (or quickly) regenerating their health when out of combat. Moments like this reminds you that the mobs in the game are programmed NPCs that have no intelligent let alone creative thought rather than fostering suspension of disbelief to see the creatures as living entities with complex nature and behavior.
As a Ranger only player, I am extremely pleased. Loved it, loved the mobility, loved the bursty. Also looking forward to seeing a bit more Longbow gameplay in the future!
Its pretty good to see that you have a clear idea of the overall kit and its interactions. This is good progress giving me high hopes that the combat will be good. And i hope it will be because for a mmo combat is one of the key components that either makes or breakes the game. The skill that penetrates armor is one of my favs because it gives the players not only a lot of situational options but also makes information gathering on targets much more important. Cc breaks for every class is also great, not only for skill expression but also for reducing frustrating situations and overall balancing
LOVING this update, please continue the excellent work Intrepid! Incredibly fleshed out and already implementing feedback from the community, and it's only Alpha still! Can't wait to see where this game goes, the journey may be long... BUT ITS SO WORTH IT!
Hands down best ranger combat I’ve seen in any MMO ever! Only 2 points of feedback: 1) Pets? Maybe because it’s only the base class showcase but would love to see pet gameplay 2) damage numbers are hard to see, perhaps making them an easier color to see or bigger/bolder like WoW and more immediate when abilities hit would make the combat feel punchier and satisfying. Such small points of feedback because this was such a perfect update!! 🙌🏻
what if you had a spirit that you could turn into a raven tiger or bear and have it level with your hunt and mark abilities its close to being set up like that.
Something really cool for airstike and similar abilities on other classes~ Its nice you have control in the air but instead of having that initial locked movement one way, it would feel super good, and i mean SUPER good if you can control the direction of that ability, for example, holding W + airstrike you can leap forwards, holding S + Airstrike you can leap backwards, same for A and D. Having the freedom and flexibility on such skills during combat across any class would be huge in my opinion.
Great suggestion, this would be a nice addition and looks like it wouldn't be too hard to implement since the concept exists on the evade and in the current iteration of the skill with aerial movement.
I think you guys nailed it. You're at the point now where the overall quality of the combat experience for ranger is being held back by character models/animations rather than design principles or spell effects. The character models/animations really do feel like a vestige of the ue4 days and I can't wait to see what the next iteration is like. Really digging the dynamic abilities.
Animations and spell effects look so much better. Especially the air attack and the charge cone aoe. This combat and the intricacies look fun to play and just watching them makes me want to try. I hope all the classes get their own really cool to watch and fun to use attacks.
I've been following for years. I can't find the two part videos where you explained the vision of the game over a map anymore, though those two videos is when I knew something special was trying to come to life. Patience is a virtue, not one we are meant to master. Though practice every single day. Here's to progressing forward!
Its crazy how good you managed to make this class look aswell! Cleric, Mage, and Ranger all looked amazing! Iv been dreaming of playing an aoe based mage in AoC for awhile now but by launch ill prob want to play every single class. Gonna be rough to decide what to do, I hope ill actually have some free time when this finally comes out cuz man am I gonna need it.
I absolutely love the Air Strike ability. I think it might need some polish with regards to how easy it is to aim the actual projectiles, since it seems pretty hard to predict where they will land. Otherwise, it really does seem like a 10/10 ability in terms of coolness and satisfaction while using it.
Combat is starting to look good!! Seems like the game's moving in the right direction and i love to see it. Can't wait to see the final product and play it! Keep going guys. Revive the MMORPG genre!!!
Combat and the ranger itself have really started to come together! Proud of you guys / the team 🎉👏🏻 Very excited for A2, and the near future pvp showcase
I'm a web developer and you are making me want to switch from building cool webpage templates to build cool skills. Ahhhh so, so good. I really admire the work of the devs, designers, qa and all of the team I know this is a lot of work to make, really proud of you guys.
As ranger main who transitioned to healer because the class was never done justice... thank you! Im so excited to come back to this class and I cant wait for Alpha 2 so I can play it!
The Vek model is looking really cool and I am in love with the fur + bone, sort of spirit animal vibe to the set they're wearing. Hope to see more like it and PRAYING that Pyrai will be able to wear similar styles. The blue runes/details on the skull are neat af. One of the BEST silhouettes I've ever seen on a hood in-game. love the ears. I'm honestly blown away by the animations, the particle effects are beautiful and varied.. I especially like the decals that only casters can see, like the tracing sigils on the ground or that seem to close in and connect when a ranger is holding to cast the green spread shot... I love the mechanics that allow you to instantly release a spread or hold for a focused-fire skill shot, really REALLY cool, can't wait to see more like it for other archetypes/classes. I'm excited by the "rock, paper, scissors" approach to class balance. It's not ALWAYS fun but I think it's really important to be wary of certain solo battles and to be encouraged to team up and socialize. Rangers /should/ have to think carefully about when (if ever) they should risk engaging a tank or rogue on their own... I think it's a lot of fun to have mobility skills that can (sometimes) give them an upper hand if they're being clever and using terrain to outplay an opponent. I am obsessed with the omnidirectional *option* on disengage, It's so much more beautiful and immersive to be able to appreciate the agility and acrobatics compared to spinning my camera while jumping to execute the maneuver.. sometimes that is fun which is why I think it's so great to have the option... I was a little worried that the marks + hunts may result in bloated bars and end up just being a macro if that is possible but it seems fun to have to consider synergies and play around them in various situations. The gem springs were breathtaking, with such stunning and ethereal vibes. new wallpaper for sure. Before this showcase, I felt confident I was a mage-based character but with the acrobatics shown today, I am thinking it just won't be as much fun to play a wizard as it will be to flip over chasms and traverse verra with true elven agility. Hoping to see a rogue or ranger mechanic that is sort of a "saving throw" when they fall off of ledges - react quickly to catch the ledge, throw a grappling hook, or stab the wall to stop your descent and mantle back up.. just sayin ;)
There is literally dozens upon dozens MOBAs that have whole variety of them and I want to see all of them in Ashes. Smite skills should serve them as inspiration too.
This snowscape is so fucking cool! I usually hate these types of areas in MMOs, but there’s so much depth and personality to what you’ve created. Also, that Air Strike animation is possibly the sickest thing I’ve seen from a ranged class!
Snipe (the first ability) is the best ability in the game I've seen so far. The particles of many skills are cool, but this also has WEIGHT, which i adore ! How the back curls to be able to sustain the energy of the shot, HUUUGE BRAVO to the animator of the skill !! Give this man the mage skills, to put weight into them !
Beta2 is practically finished state.. Ashes is not close to being near beta before launch. There is at least 1.5-2 years before release I would say.@@BaxxyNut
@@BaxxyNut what you said couldn't be further from the truth map is going to be 50% finished during alpha 2, combat still isn't finished with them still improving fx, animations and balance for multiple different archetypes some of which which haven't even been ready to showcase yet, augment system/dual class system hasn't even been shown yet, crafting still isn't finished many different artisan skills aren't even finished you're talking out of your butt
Looks very fluid and slick. With all the CC flying about though I do hope you're planning to incorporate diminishing returns or similar. Can't recall if you've commented on this or not.
Awesome. I'm going to have to listen to this a few more times, but the Ranger kit seems pretty good to me. I hope Camouflage remains part of the kit, though.
I'm feeling the gap that has been left by a good fantasy mmo very heavily recently, super excited for AoC to get into Alpha 2 so I can get back into mmo gaming!
Looks awesome!! Does the ranger have a camouflage? Not just a invisibility but something where u blend into the background or turn into a tree. That would be cool 🎉😄
raining death would be really cool if you broke the damage cone into three zones of of distance breakpoints. like zone 1: 0-5m from player, zone 2, 5-10m zone 3 10-15m or whatever. could charge it up rolling thunder style and the animation was up to 3 quick "bam bam bams" doing damage in each zone of the cone depending on how long you pressed it . Could have talents that make the different zones do nifty synergy stuff to smoothe the rotation out as needed.
zone 1: 5m knockback. zone2: increased ammo imbue effect zone3: marked forbonus crit to targets. imagine max range charge raining death into that other dynamically closing cone aoe for a huge crit
Seemed like when demonstrating the combo attack, it seemed random. The developer even had to say "thats 4 hits" because it wasn't clear what was happening.
Unfortunately I am not that big on bows, so without guns, crossbows or throwing weapons, its probably nothing for me. Which makes me wonder why nobody ever implements throwing weapons as a viable alternative. Leaving that aside though, it looks absolutely great. I especially love how much control the player has over the Scatter shot and Air Strike.
The focus on building with an emphasis on the verticality of the map makes combat look way more amazing than it used to. Glad to see Ranger getting some love.
Great to see that the mobs can stagger and physically impact you and throw you around. That makes PvE fighting much more alive and dynamic. I am also interested to see how physicality like this might impact PvP fighting.
I can not wait to start making content for this game. I have been following since the very beginning and I love the passion and drive the whole team has and how far you all have come. Much Love
This ranger looks like what I’ve been missing for years - YEARS! my favorite class was the ranger class from Aion; this feels fast paced, organic and abilities that matter. Not surprised you guys knocked it out of the park. The mobility abilities also look great. Devs well done! 👏 👏👏
One thing that does concern me about the skill tree is that the player may be forced to spend skill points on a skill they never wanted in order to gain access to a skill they do want, assuming the unwanted skill is not necessary for the function of the desired skill of course.
This showcase is amazing! it gives me alot of Guild Wars 1 vibes, but with added verticallity. I can't wait to play every class and archtype! One minor point of feedback from me: could the "hold button" skills also get a toggle option? so press twice to instantly shoot, press once to "hold button". Best of wishes and happy holidays to the hard working development team!
ok, i'm starting to see actual good progress with the combat now, finally. altough i'm way more catered by action combat, this is looking very good rn, specially for an alpha
I cant say really that I like action ranged combat. It seems really difficult to balance so that it isn't OP for an experienced player, or useless for a novice.
@@TheToledoTrumpton Agree but...the novice can spec into tab skills or other classes. AoC isn't all or nothing. Like you say though, balancing those is critical
@@erismo2138 Right but then probably only 5 people on a server are skillful enough to (say) headshot consistently enough to make the ranger playable. If you make it 100 people on a server there are 10 rangers that are 1 shotting people all over the place. I literally meant it when I said it is _impossible_ to balance. If you want to play that kind of exacting skill FPS, you really should be playing a multiplayer FPS, not an MMORPG.
well, for ranged to be action, u dont necessarily need headshot mechanics or things that complicate it a lot. to me the best action combat i've played was Tera. its a shame the WHOLE rest of the game was complete garbo. its a testament of how much combat can carry a game. it lived more than it should for how bad the rest of the game was LUL Also, i think usually people care too much about balance when a game is never gonna be balanced. a class will always, and i mean ALWAYS be stronger than others. It might be worse in some specific content that is built towards another class but in general, if balance comes before fun and fluidity, it usually has a bad effect on the end product.@@TheToledoTrumpton
Looks nice. I am curious how this plays. I wonder whether you could run around without abilities animation interrupting (maybe a slow down while casting)? I think going into the mobile ranger gameplay direction sounds cool! :) Especially air strike looks so fun to use. I wonder if the ranger could have a side step dodge shot ability like the ranger in BDO ;). That was always super fun to play.
The new guy on the VFX team is so talented! New unique and interesting abilities and upgrades Can't wait to see more! This was a great showcase. It's nice that you say even VFX can change in the future because people don't know that and are tired of "false" alpha games that push everything to later, but you actually deliver everytime.
After the last showcase on crafting and the things I see from paladin/tanking wise. I finally brought home a pre-purche! Looking forward to explore this game, both in beta and release =)
It looks sooo much better than previous iterations. Really like the direction you are taking. I agree there is something off about the animations though regarding no quivers and never drawing an arrow. Makes the bow feel "gun'y" if thats a word. The sound of the string getting drawn is usually super satisfying, really think you should include that
As a ranger main in every mmo I play, this livestream was very good! The addition of a quiver on the back that has the same aesthetic as the bow would add so much immersion to this class. First off, snipe looks fantastic and feels like it had the most love put into it. The arrow paths curving to the right or left seems weird as only in trick shots would archers fire in a curved path like this. The arrow pathing animations for the lightning arrow and the headshot skill strike me as a little less convincing than the snipe ability. The spread shot and the rain of death look beautiful and honestly I have nothing I would want to change until I get my hands on it. The ability to change direction in airstrike is awesome and I love this ability. The bear trap also looked smooth and pleasing to use. The concepts behind all of these abilities, especially the marks, are awesome in my opinion and I have nothing that I can think of to improve besides how some of the abilities aesthetic design. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the skills in alpha 2! I'll definitely be playing a ranger in this game. I can't wait to see what this work of love becomes when it comes out!
I always see rangers/archers as strong trackers. Would be awesome if they would have some interesting tracking abilities. Examples: see footprints of enemies, smell scents of enemies, hear things from further...that kind of thing - advantage (small or big) over other classes.
Thank you Steven and everyone at Intrepid! You guys are making a lot of our dreams come true and every stream makes me proud to be a big backer for this project. I can’t wait to dive back in!
looks great how ever nameplates could use work. colour and size changes depending on if you have agro or are targeting. was that spider at the end an elite? nameplate should be more obvious for an elit. i just hope all UI is customisable on release
IF all classes have the same mobility capabilities as the Ranger, this games combat is going to me insance! Great content as always, promising for the future, lets go!
first of all: great progress, keep goin! can we get: > ultimates like in lost ark for each class? > what if I want to role/ -play a "Dark Ranger" (for example Sylvanas from WOW) is there a chance to get modifications down, for "black-shadowy" arrows instead of red/blue/green ones/abilities, or is that what augements are for? > would love to see even more "umphs" behinde the abilities -> see lost ark what I didn't like: > the kinda curvy arrow shots (the blue one, and even the headshot?) > steven was fighitn a spider/mushroom and the target enemy was besides/almost behind him and he even tho he didn't look in its direction the arrows still hit the target -looked weird...?
The more I see the new class design come out, the more excited I am to see how the combination classes work - particularly the Mage/Rogue, Rogue/Warrior, and Summoner/Cleric.
I really loved the focus on player agency. It really showed through in many aspects of the Ranger gameplay here, even more than in the other class showcases (Either because classes and combat is more fleshed out now than in the previous periods or just because the concept of agency was hit even better in Hunter's design). You are doing Ranger players justice with this design. I really appreciated the comments about playtesting, as it seems many developers do not put enough time iterating on their gameplay design enough throughout the dev or class design pipelines,
Hey AoC Team! I'm here again for a second post! This one is more positive feedback than constructive criticism. So I hope the feels good vibes really come through! 1. Armor: Holy moly the amount of excitement I had to see a Ranger using the skull of a beast as a helmet was an excellent touch! It makes me very very excited to run around with Bone, Fur, and Leather armor styles. --- 10/10 2. Environmental Effects: Steven did a crazy good job showing us the views. It was spectacular to just watch the fog from a chilly, snowy day etched into the landscape. Winter was a great theme to showcase the Ranger in! --- 10/10 3. Art: The direction of the art is great! Superb even! I love all the icons the abilities have. Headshot's red background and skull icon just feels deadly! Easily recognizable when performing it as well with the draw. Every SFX looks like it has been severely worked on and thought out. The different ammo types and Marks will also be fun to play with from a situational awareness standpoint! Love those visual changes when utilizing the ammo types and marks! --- 10/10 4. Abilities: HOLY! You have done what other players can only dream about. Added variance to skills adds so much DEPTH! The skill ceiling with this kind of mechanic (Scatter Shot/Air Strike). Adding mobility to Air Strike was such an excellent idea! I feel like it is going to be a lot of fun traversing around a battlefield with it! Simultaneous Casting with those Marks are going to crazy to employ, but again it adds more depth and higher skill ceiling! Everything is starting to come together very nicely! Also, having an extra effect for being at a longer range for certain abilities is such a good idea to encourage counterplay! I do recommend adding a tooltip for these kinds of abilities --- 10/10 I hope to see more of this level of class direction in the others to come!
it looks amazing! but i hope youll tweak the mobs to not reset as fast lol but i think thats an easy call after the 1 HP spider :D cant wait to see more, you guys are great
The Talent system seems solid, My favorite talent system came from a game called rift where you would choose different souls to specialize in. I encourage you to take a look into their system and tell me what you think of it.
