Ashes of Creation Phase 3 adds two races and a new starting zone to the MMORPG

Ambitious MMORPG Ashes of Creation is gearing up for the next stage of its ongoing alpha test, and there's a lot to look forward to. In a new development livestream, Intrepid Studios reveals a big chunk of what we can expect to see in the Ashes of Creation Alpha 2 Phase 3 launch in August. The early preview gives us a glimpse of two more playable races, the elven Py'Rai and dwarfen Nicua, along with a look at the multiplayer game's second starting region, The Anvils. There's also details on a big crafting update, the ability to reach the town stage of Node development, and improvements for guilds and PvP.

Intrepid's road to building what could be a serious contender to our best MMORPGs has been a long and gradual one, and that process is very much continuing. As he sits down with director of communications Margaret Krohn for the Ashes of Creation June development update, creative director Steven Sharif warns that it involves some glimpses of earlier, more work-in-progress features than recent such livestreams. "July's going to be a fun month, we're going to have some exciting discussion points, but I want you to keep in mind this is going to be a little different from what you've seen in the past six months with regards to completion, polish, and bugs. It's going to be more bleeding edge."

As such, the PTR (Public Test Realm) will be opened up to all Alpha 2 players from Tuesday July 1, and it will be kept running 24/7 for three weeks between Monday July 14 and Sunday August 3. Once Phase 3 arrives in full on Monday August 4, there will be "at least" one NA realm and one EU realm, and the servers are planned to remain up permanently outside of specific downtimes for maintenance. With that scheduling laid out, Sharif and Krohn begin teasing what we can actually expect to see in Phase 3.

First up is The Anvils, the homeland of the Dunzenkell Dwarfs and Ashes of Creation's second starting location. Choose to begin your journey there and you'll set out from inside the mountain itself. The region features a total of eight pocket dungeons (with two more already planned), 28 quests, and 15 events, and we'll be delving into the abandoned forges to learn about their past prior to the fall, and discover what lies within them today. Once you're ready to move on, there are two potential paths to head to The Riverlands.

Sharif adds that the team is currently working on a big revamp for overland NPC populations. There will be more characters patrolling or wandering around, more people and creatures interacting with the environment. These can also be impacted by factors such as weather to help the world feel more alive. "During the winter season, bears spawn in the lower sections of the world, and during the summer they are going to be higher up in altitude."

Next on the list are two new races that will be available in Phase 3, the Py'Rai and the Nicua. The Py'Rai are Ashes of Creation's spin on wood elves, a reclusive group that fled into the forest to forge their society, but has recently decided to reintegrate with the wider world. The Nicua are a separate dwarven faction that settled in coastal volcanic mountains after the exodus from Sanctus. They're a matriarchal society, and boast striking tattoos and impressive beards across their range of customization options. The Dünir are also being given an update to improve their designs.

Another big part of Phase 3 are changes to the economy and stats. A crafting redesign introduces three tiers of gear within each profession tier, with the lowest being particularly easy to make, ensuring everyone can get quick access to them. Drops are being made more frequent for lower-tier materials, but you'll need them through the full crop of recipes to ensure they remain useful, while the more high-end options will be increasingly rare. The team is also working on improved gear menus that lay out information more clearly.

Crates are being introduced, and will become a big part of how Nodes are developed. They're a physical representation of resources being moved about the world of Ashes of Creation, can be carried by players, and have the ability to give out the likes of currency and materials. The initial crate types are commodity, construction, personal, and relic, with resource caches to follow as a fifth option. Players can see that you're transporting crates, although killing someone to steal their load will apply the same corruption as any other PvP troublemaking.

For now, we take a look at the construction crate. As you'd expect, these are most directly used for Node development and building construction. When you're ready to contribute one to an in-development project, you can walk up to the building in question, likely clad in scaffolding and tarps, and use the crate to work on it and advance its progress. Level 4 Nodes will allow towns to be created in Phase 3; the planned city tier has been cut from the future progression to ensure that every level of a Node feels like a meaningful change, meaning that the next upgrade will be to a metropolis.

For guilds, Phase 3 will see the old tree system replaced by a new point-spending system with more flexibility to choose your priorities, and the experience curve has been adjusted to make the early levels easier to gain. Weekly guild activities will allow guild leaders to assign a certain number of missions, alongside passive quests that members can take part in. Guilds will gain item and material storage, with the ability to unlock more space through the use of guild points and gold, and a ledger will keep track of everyone's contributions and spending.

Intrepid is also making PvP changes, most notably introducing a new feature called 'Dynamic Lawless POIs.' Every so often, a key point of interest will be flagged with a warning period, after which it will become temporarily 'lawless,' flagging everyone who's present in the zone as a willing PvP combatant and also increasing the earned experience and drop tables from the area. If you've had trouble with griefers, you'll be pleased to hear that non-combatants will now be immune to crowd control, and that the penalties for attacking low-level players are being increased.

Ashes of Creation Alpha 2 Phase 3 begins Monday August 4. Access requires a purchase of one of the Alpha Two keys, which start at $100 and include access to future beta tests, a month of game time, and $15 worth of the in-game currency, Embers.

Alternatively, take a look through our pick of the best multiplayer games and the best open-world games on PC right now, for plenty more places to explore.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We've also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.