Rogue Status Update, Desert Walkthrough, and Treasure Scavenger Hunt | January Development Update
Hunting treasure maps to practice for hunting fully stealthed Rogues
Rogue Status Update
While we don’t yet have a release date, Steven did give an update to the current status of the much anticipated Rogue Archetype.
Currently, Rogue is out of the Design team’s hands and into the VFX pipeline, working on making the Rogue even more fun to play visually than previously seen. Animation and design work has been completed so far, so we’re getting ever closer to finally getting our hands on that stealthy class.
The current roadmap includes release on the PTR in Early February, so if you have access to the PTR, you’ll be able to test it then. If not, you can anticipate several content creators to make full breakdowns as soon as it’s available. Steven also discussed how it has a sophisticated Stealth mechanic worked on by Intrepid Developer Bucky, leading the Rogue design.
Patch Notes Highlights - 01/30/2025
We hit our first Major patch of Phase 2, with several changes that have completely changed players experience. These include
Tank Rework
Bard Rework
Desert content heavily expanded
Artisanship heavily expanded
And much more! Check below for more highlights, check out the full highlights on the Ashes Moments Twitter or visit the forums for the full patch notes!
Treasure Hunt Live Walkthrough
Steven, Margaret, and several other Intrepid Studios employees hopped on the live Lyneth server to do this months livestream, and explored the new Desert update, as well as hinted at some future game updates.
Steven showed off a hidden dungeon near the giant Stone Statue near Azmaran, and hinted at a prerequisite that would unlock this dungeon for players to explore.
After a brief introduction, Steven discussed how the temperature, wind, precipitation, and humidity can be modulated and how it can affect several systems within the world, including growth rate and speed of gatherable resources. There was also a brief demonstration of how the wind effects can cause a sandstorm in the world.
With the new Desert update, the team discussed how they are experimenting with sub-biomes within the Desert, with altered foliage, wind, moisture, lighting for several different atmospheric vibes within the singular biome. This is similar to how the Riverlands have multiple aesthetic sub-biomes that each have their own mobs, resources, as well as aesthetic.
After a bit of distracted roaming, the team discovered the location of the hidden cache, and showed off the new Treasure Chest visuals as well as discussed how the treasure map loot is meant to fulfill the gap in scarce resources that players have been expressing frustration with, while still making you interact with the world.
Live Q&A
As the team explored the several new Pocket Dungeons throughout the Desert, Margaret grabbed questions for chat for the team to answer. Here are a few of the highlights:
Can you speak more on mounts?
As Animal Husbandy expands, mounts will gain more stats and abilities that match the theme or ecology of the specific animal, and allow players to blend these stats through breeding to create brand-new combinations
How long until we get all secondary archetypes?
The Tank/Cleric Secondary Archetypes planned in Phase 3 will help set the pace of how other Archetypes get added as Secondary Archetypes
When wil the new Weapon Types be added?
Daggers/Spears may come earlier as a mid-update in February ahead of the Rogue
Will I get penalized for selling information to Guilds for in-game gold?
You can sell information for gold but if you’re selling it for gold that was gained fraudulently repeatedly, then actions will be taken
When will you add more content to the Tropics?
Once the Desert is completely expanded and all planned content added, Tropics will be the focus
More Node ZoIs, much more content to be added like events, commissions, and narrative layer
Goal is to be expanded to the level of the Eastern Riverlands
Will you look at the TTK?
TTK is always looked at constantly and data is being gathered throughout the playtest
Group vs Group perspective is the focus for balance, not a 1v1 scenario
8v8 Tournament was great for information regarding TTK (Shoutout Polar, Lloyd, and Crix!)
When will the new Node Layouts be added?
Node Aesthetic work ongoing, goal is to Kaelar aesthetics to have full 1-6 Node levels before moving to other races
Will you improve solo play?
Yes, we will imrpove solo play viability, shouldn’t be as difficult as it is now
Should be viable but not the most efficient way of playing, as groups are the goal
Things like the player shops were a large solo player buff
Margaret ended the live demonstration with a call-to-action for players to submit feedback on the Discord and Forums, especially in their new initiative asking players for 3-5 main points of feedback. These posts get collated into large reports sent directly to developers by the community team, and she espoused the massive help the feedback has been to direct development and changes coming in the future. So make sure you dive deep into what exactly causes you frustration, and what suggestions you have that could help improve it!
That’s it for January’s Development Update! Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter for more weekly updates regarding content, Discord dev leaks, featured content creators, guides, and more!
Check out the latest episode of Top Ashes Moments if you missed it, and follow us Twitter to stay up-to-date. See you next week!