Ashes of Creation Apocalypse Heads Into Early Access!

The time has come, glorious Ashes community - the divine gateways are opening, and Ashes of Creation Apocalypse is heading into Early Access! Starting Tuesday, September 24 at 12PM PDT, Ashes of Creation Apocalypse will be available as a free-to-play download from Steam and the Ashes of Creation website. To kick off Early Access, the Battle Royale mode will be available for Solos, Duos, and Squads of players on our North American (East & West), European (Central), and Southeast Pacific (Singapore) servers.

Ashes of Creation Apocalypse heading into Early Access means that persistent game servers will be online, so you can hop in and join us for Battle Royale testing at any time! As we move towards Castle Siege and Horde Mode testing, Early Access will allow us to gather valuable feedback and data from our community on the key systems that are essential to the Ashes of Creation MMORPG - whether that’s action combat, game performance, network infrastructure, user interface, or overall player experience. Getting to this phase of testing would not have been possible without all of your help so far. Every time you jump in and play Ashes of Creation Apocalypse with us, you help us with the iterative process towards building a better and more polished MMORPG.

In order to play Ashes of Creation Apocalypse during Early Access, you will need to have a registered Intrepid account - you can do so by creating an account on our website here if you don’t already have one. To stay up-to-date with the latest Ashes of Creation Apocalypse testing news as we progress through Early Access, be sure to follow us on our new Facebook and Twitter handles!

As you join us for Early Access testing, you may run across rogue in-game bugs - please help us by reporting them on our Bug Reporting forums here! You can use the search tool to take a look at the other threads that have previously been posted, to ensure that your bug is not a duplicate of what someone has already shared; if you have more information to add, please include it in the original thread rather than opening a new one. We’ve also included a Known Issues list at the end of this post and on our forums here - be sure to check back often on the forums to see what may be updated on that list! If you’d like some helpful tips on what to include in your bug report, there’s a handy guide on our forums as well.

Throughout our recent play tests, your feedback has been critical in helping us identify issues and areas for improvement. As you continue to help us test during Early Access, your thoughts on combat balance, player experience, and game performance will help us shape our development roadmap for Castle Siege, Horde Mode, and the Alpha 1 phase of the Ashes of Creation MMORPG moving forward. You can join in the discussion and share your feedback on gameplay topics on our official forums here!

We’ve included answers to some of your frequently asked questions below, in addition to an updated list of known issues and patch notes. Please reach out to us on Twitter, our official forums, or Discord for additional help if there’s something we haven’t covered below!

From all of us here at Intrepid Studios, THANK YOU for helping us reach this milestone, and we’ll see you in the Apocalypse!

Q: Do I need to have an Intrepid account in order to play Ashes of Creation Apocalypse through Steam? A: Yes, you will need to have a registered Intrepid account in order to play Ashes of Creation Apocalypse via Steam - you can create one through our website here.

Q: Can I log into Ashes of Creation Apocalypse on Steam using an existing Intrepid account? A: Yes, you can use your existing Intrepid account to log into Ashes of Creation Apocalypse via Steam - you will be prompted for your Intrepid login credentials upon launching the game in order to link your accounts.

Q: Can I trade or gift in-game items to my friends? A: Items you purchase or unlock in-game are not able to be traded or gifted to other players.

Q: Can I unlink my Steam and Intrepid accounts once they’re connected? A: At this time, there is no way for you to unlink your Steam and Intrepid accounts once they’re connected.

Q: Can I link more than one Intrepid account to my Steam account? A: At this time, each Intrepid account you have will need to be linked to a separate Steam account.

Q: Since Ashes of Creation Apocalypse will be available on Steam, can we expect to see the Ashes of Creation MMORPG on Steam as well? A: Currently we do not have plans to support Steam as a platform for the Ashes of Creation MMORPG.



To stay up-to-date with the latest changes during Early Access testing, please keep an eye on our Known Issues forum thread.

Gameplay

Melee weapon attack combos have been updated.

Zero Stamina attacks have been updated.

Heroic Leap has been removed.

Lunge Attack distance is now consistent across all weapons.

Lunge Attack damage has been reduced.

Performing a Lunge Attack while not in combat allows you to move your character forward on the ground or in the air without swinging your weapon. This can be performed multiple times in succession.

Block will continuously drain Stamina while enabled, and incoming melee attacks also drain your Stamina while blocking.

If an attack reduces your Stamina to zero while blocking, you will be staggered for a brief moment.

Players now enter each match from a randomly chosen route.

You can now place waypoints on your map (default hotkey MOUSE 3) that are visible to all squad members. You can remove a placed waypoint by double-clicking MOUSE 3.

Time of day is now static in order to address visibility issues.

Fixed an issue where opening the map would cause decreased framerates.

Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck in a white screen while loading into a match.

Fixed an issue where the storm would sometimes be visible from long distances or not be visible.

User Interface

Additional head options are available for male and female characters.

The map has received additional improvements for increased readability.

Art

The base armor for male and female characters has been updated.

Updated weapon trails for all melee attack animations.

Added animations for collecting and summoning a horse.

Adjusted banking animations while riding a horse.

Updated clouds with new visuals.

Audio

Fixed bug where small prop destruction played incorrect explosion audio.

Optimizations with active ability stance sounds.

Updated melee weapon audio to match new combos.

General bug fixing and mix changes.

New Default Hotkey Guide