Steel Bloom Dungeon Gameplay, Kaelar Story Arc Sneak Peek, and Firebrand Dragon Boss Breakdown | August Development Livestream
The countdown begins until Alpha 2 launch with some amazing group gameplay showcasing the Citadel of the Steel Bloom encounter!
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Citadel of the Steel Bloom
The encounter starts with Steven and his team of Intrepid Studios colleagues right outside of the Citadel of the Steel Bloom within the Winstead Node. The raid group starts in the Harrower’s March, named after one of the Ancients lead slaughterers. He led his marauders to decimate the Steel Bloom as they tried to protect their Citadel and what was locked within.
It is a piece of ruined land, with large ditches, leftover rusted weapons, and degraded human remains. This is one of the opportunities the environment designers took to fully utilize the upgraded Mature rating for the game, making it a bit more grisly than some may be expecting.
The event takes place a few steps within a particular Kaelar Story Arc. The Citadel is occupied by the Forsaken Blades - a defected military unit of the Kaelar - who have made a deal with Cultists (no not the copium kind) in order to get a major increase in power. The raid group has gotten word that they’re attempting to break into the vault within the Citadel for a particular relic, and the raid groups goal is to stop them before it’s too late.
The initial pull starts off strong with Elite (2 or 3 Stars) Flame-type mobs, so this is definitely not a soloable area at the appropriate level. These range from Rangers, Raiders, and Captains. The mobs also have unique abilties, including creating burning patches of land that apply a DoT to those who stand in it.
These mobs have been altered due to the currently in-progress Story Arc, resulting in these Elite mobs, instead of the usual lower-level mobs, elevating this area into a higher difficulty. This invariably also changes the loot tables of these mobs, showcasing the Dynamic World as well as the Dynamic Loot Tables that were described in the Alpha 2 Test Phase descriptions.
Once the group reaches the 3 Star Magma Golem, they progress to the next phase of the encounter, requesting you to stop the Essence Ritual along with the Lady of the Rose - the official leader of the Citadel of the Steel Bloom. The original Lady of the Rose was a warrior who the Queen commanded to construct a warrior group around her. This transformed warrior group gets summoned in waves, filling the objective that appears at the top once you trigger the event.
As you progress deeper within the Citadel, the Lady of the Rose appears as a friendly NPC, and begins a channel on an altar. This summons an enemy NPC, He-Who-Beguiles, triggering another wave event. This time however, you have a dual goal: defend the Lady of the Rose, and keep her alive. You may heal the Lady of the Rose, but you cannot kill the enemy NPC He-Who-Beguiles.
As the waves of mobs get summoned within these close quarters, it increases the likelihood players may get caught in burning flame patches spawned by a variety of Elite Mobs, including a Flame Dash from a Flame Elementalthat leaves a trail behind them. This flame trail can also damage the NPC Lady of the Rose, so players should keep an eye out and try to not aggro these mobs through her to keep her healthy.
Once you successfully defend the Lady of the Rose, you can retrieve the Orb of Ultimate Essence - that looks oddly like a Dragon Egg. This then summons the raid boss - Firebrand, the Devouring Flame. This final part of the encounter requires many more people, so Steven and his group meets up with 32 more players, mainly Pre-Alpha 2 testers.
The Firebrand Boss will drop crafting materials to help craft gear that is very powerful, so this is one of the main encounters players will be attempting in Alpha 2 in order to get better gear.
Firebrand, the Devourer
Firebrand is a level 25 Raid Boss, requiring many players to group together in order to take down. It is classified as a Young Adult Red. This is a classification of Dragon within Ashes of Creation, implying this is just one small Dragon within Verra. The Citadel of the Steel Bloom Story Arc progression is just one of the ways this Raid Boss may spawn, with many others possible as well.
Boss Patterns
The fight begins as you would expect, with various swipe mechanics, ground stomps, as well as AoE Flame waves. Gradually, Firebrand starts flying, breathing large swathes of fire on the ground ina a straight line. This does a high amount of damage, resulting in a few deaths almost immediately. Firebrand also does a gradually widening AoE attack, requiring melees to fall back, then jump back in, timing each progressive wave to avoid damage. Firebrand also repositions himself frequently, requiring players to often move around the area to keep within range.
Do note, Steven has activated God Mode for himself, so he is not taking any damage. This is to keep the recording fluid and continuous, as this is merely a showcase, and not representative of real gameplay.
A frontal cone AoE is also launched, targetting the largest group of people. Several players continuously die even before the boss has reached 75% HP. With a full raid group of 40, as well as several Clerics, this is a good sign for the relative difficulty of the open-world raid bosses.
Many of the attacks in the first phase are AoE, but easily telegraphed, resulting in players that may not be paying attention dying very quickly. This is most likely on purpose, as these bosses will also be actively contested by other player groups, distracting many players from the Raid Boss and resulting easily avoidable damage now playing a much more important part.
As Firebrand gets below 10%, he flies up and spawns several Flame Minions, that are static adds with a flame aura around them. As he flies, he breathes fire down, and eventually lands. After a brief period of time, Firebrand absorbs all remaining Flame Elemental, adding a stack for each surviving one. This increases Firebrands Damage, as well as healing him a large amount.
One thing to notice is the relative mana bars on surviving players. Mana continues to be a major restriction when it comes to output on many classes, limiting many classes rotations and abilties. While mana potions are a thing, it remains to be seen how much it can mitigate the continuous low mana problems that plague players.
Eventually, Firebrand gets felled, resulting in a successful fight. The body of Firebrand remains for a short time after, but there is no indication that it itself can be harvested. This may be possible due to how the Hunting profession has been described, but there was no mention of this particular interaction existing.
All the loot dropped was either full items, or Glint. No crafting materials were dropped, even though it was mentioned as part of the loot table. As later mentioned, this is due to the functional state of Alpha 2, and the loot table is still as of yet not representative of the final product. No mention of personal loot, as expected, as bosses are meant to result in a finite amount of loot, mitigating the effective power of zerg groups.
Post-Fight Q & A
Some of the questions from chat that viewers may also be curious about:
Firebrand’s HP will not scale with players in the vicinity, but certain mechanics might increase in frequency to scale with players. This may not be available immediately on Alpha 2 launch
Loot tables are still in a functional state, but players can expect full items, crafting materials, recipes, as well as the ability to deconstruct full items to recoup some of the base materials for a different purpose
If you missed the fight and would like to watch in full 4K, you can check it out here on the official Ashes of Creation Youtube Channel.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Ashes Moments Youtube Channel as well to see the best moments, funniest clips, and incredible plays from all over the world! Also, subscribe to the newsletter to keep up-to-date on the latest Ashes of Creation information as soon as it becomes available!
Post-Stream Q & A
Some noteworthy viewer questions
Phase 3 will have the bulk of the legacy content, including many of the newer weapons. The main work of the newer weapons is the skill trees, as this is required to make each weapon unique from a gameplay aspect
No current plan for World Boss design to interact with the Hunting Profession
Monster Coin levelling results in gaining access to additional abilties as that specific Monster
Guild Castles that don’t have an active siege from players planned at the end of a month may or may not result in an NPC-led Siege - this is still in discussion
Animal Husbandry traits will relate to some traits on each animals statblock, meant for players to have an active trading economy where they purchase and match different animals for specific traits/stat genetic probabilities
As the purpose of vassalship is for vassals to have a positive relationship with the Node they are vassals to, there are no current plans to have vassals rebel/war on their parent node - this can change as testing progresses if it shows that players tend to have a negative relationship and need an outlet
Updated Alpha 2 Bundles
Due to feedback from the previously posted bundles, those of you that may be aware that the Alpha 2 bundles have been updated to include Beta access, 1 month of game time, as well as $15 of in-game currency (Embers). Below is the updated bundles, so be sure to be fully aware of what you’re buying into if you decide to purchase it.
Do note, buying one key results in you having access to all subsequent phases.
That wraps up the August Development Livestream! One more monthly livestream to go until the Alpha 2 Launch on October 25th, 2024! Keep an eye out for the announcement on when the official Ashes Moments Website launches to allow YOUR submissions to share your best Ashes of Creation Moments with everyone!