Coastal nodes

Pre-alpha naval concept.

There will be healthy amounts of sea content within the coastlines of the continents that does not fall into the "open sea" area. – Steven Sharif

There will be nodes along the coast and on islands.

• These nodes will have specific water oriented influences, services, and questlines, that relate to the seas.
  • There is a healthy amount of sea content within the coastlines of the continents that does not fall into the open sea area.

• The open sea does not contribute to the advancement of coastal nodes, even if it falls within the ZOI of the node. This is subject to change during Alpha-2 testing.

• Coastal nodes change the spawn tables of the nearby water content and can also trigger specific events.

• Coastal nodes are not directly siegeable by sea. Instead, harbors offer objective-based naval gameplay during node sieges.

We've gone back and forth a little bit on whether or not the design intent for sieging of nodes is intended to include, for certain nodes, the naval component. The concern there was that it would be a difficult thing to balance around that particular node having accessibility from the water for those types of defenses. So what we've presented as an opportunity where harbors are the focal point of those naval interactions; and during sieges you are aware that nodes have certain objectives, which have ramifications and can influence the outcome and/or the ongoings of a particular against a node. And if one of those objectives is a naval objective, because that node might own a harbor, which is a point of interest that gets adopted by a node which advances far enough around it. So you might have one harbor and five nodes that can own that harbor. And the first to hit the village stage adopts the harbor. Then that can become an objective point during a siege that has naval interaction. So that's the direction we've moved towards, rather than allowing the naval component to interact directly with sieging the node itself as opposed to being a part of the objective-based gameplay that exists for a node siege. – Steven Sharif

• Island chains are part of Ashes of Creation naval content.

Harbors

Alpha-1 harbor early preview concept.

Harbors that are located in specific areas around the world along the coast and those are points of interest that get adopted by a node when they reach certain levels in proximity to that harbor, or if the node gets vasseled by a parent or sovereign node in relationship to their vassal owning that harbor. – Steven Sharif

Harbors are initially dilapidated points of interest that appear in coastal areas. Harbors have a significant amount of influence over the waters.

Harbors are where ships get built and launched and harbors are essentially dilapidated points of interest that progress when a node nearby, coastal or not, adopts that point of interest or that harbor. Then the node can contribute towards building up the harbor; and players who may not be citizens of that node can still go to that harbor and access its services. – Steven Sharif

• A nearby node, coastal or not, will adopt the harbor point of interest and will contribute to its progression.
  • Ship building, ship upgrades, and other services offered by the harbor can be utilized by citizens and non-citizens of the node.
  • Previously it was stated that harbors would be controlled by a nearby Dorp (fase 3) (or higher) coastal node. It was also stated that ship workstations are only unlocked by the advancement of that coastal node.

• Harbors have a disembarkation zone that merchant ships can cross to be guided into the harbor.
  • Merchant ships can only be launched and received at harbors in a similar way that land caravans can only be launched and received at a caravansary.

• Harbors will grant quests that are related to naval content.

• Coastal nodes are not directly siegeable by sea. Instead, harbors offer objective-based naval gameplay during node sieges.

Naval content

Alpha-1 naval concept art.

Snapchat Sneakpeak, 2017-11-9.

Naval content refers to content above and below the sea.

• Aquatic mounts.
• Coastal nodes.
• Fortresses.
• Harbors.
• Island chains.
• Raft caravans.
• Naval NPCs.
• Naval PvP.
• Quests.
• Raids.
• Ships.
• Trade routes.
• Treasure hunting.
• Underwater dungeons.

Enhanced naval content was unlocked as part of the $1,500,000 Kickstarter stretch goal.

There will not initially be naval content (such as a Dark Lake) in the Underrealm, but this may be something that gets added in future expansions.

There won't be class abilities that are specific to naval content, but some utility skills (such as underwater breathing) may be of some benefit.

Zie ook

• Nodes
• Caravans
• Naval