Ashes 101 Ashes of Creation Clerics

Overview

For the November 2022 livestream Intrepid Studios did a second showcase on the Cleric Archetype which sort of changed a lot of the things we knew about Cleric. Although they did not go through the showcase the same way they did for Fighter and Ranger, they did attempt to showcase some of the Class and Ability Synergies. Due to the sort of unfocused nature of that particular livestream, what I’ve done is included a link to the entire November livestream over to the right.

New players should be advised that while the role of a Cleric in party play is to be a healer/support that does not mean Clerics cannot build into a Damage Dealing spec if they wish to. Cleric players will be able to build themselves into a set-up where they will be able to handle the world solo. Also, there isn’t a single way to heal in Ashes of Creation. Some builds will focus on burst heals, while others may focus on HOTs (Heals over Time), Shields, Lifesteal, and healing done by damage inflicted to enemies.

Cleric Class Combinations

The 8 Cleric Class combinations are:

Primary Secondary Class
Cleric Bard Scryer
Cleric Cleric High Priest
Cleric Fighter Templar
Cleric Mage Oracle
Cleric Ranger Protector
Cleric Rogue Shadow Disciple
Cleric Summoner Shaman
Cleric Tank Apostle

Role of a Cleric

The role of the Cleric is primarily the main healer/support for party play in Ashes of Creation. This does not mean that Clerics are heal-bots, defensively or cannot spec into a damage build. As masters of both life and death, Clerics through their class choice and the augment system will be able to build into a damage specialization.

Players have questions if a Cleric in a damage dealing spec will be able to do damage on par with the primary damaging dealing classes. While we do not have an answer for that from Intrepid, it is highly unlikely. If Clerics could spec into a DD option potent enough to rival pure Damage Dealers, then that would unfairly skew the weight of the class, giving Clerics more value as they would able to dual-purpose as both healers and damage dealers. What is more likely is that clerics will be able to build into a competent enough spec which can handle small group/solo questing and leveling, but they will not be able to be a substitute to a pure damage dealer.

Abilities

Some of the abilities on this list are outdated, as some previous names have had their spell description changed. In the November 2022 livestream that showcased the Cleric, a Level 14/15 Cleric as shown and several of these abilities were not present on the demonstration bar. Part of this may be due to the level, or several design changes may have removed abilities. When we get an updated list, I was update this.

This list represents only the Rank 1 abilities. As the game is in a state of development and testing, I’m not going to populate the rank 2 and 3 abilities until Alpha 2.

Skills

Ability Icon Ability Name Ability Description
skill icon for Benediction Benediction Chain Heal that heals up to 3 targets.
skill icon for Castigation Castigation Lashes your target with holy energy, dealing direct damage. Provides health regeneration and mana restoration for you and surrounding allies.
skill icon for Chains of Restraint Chains of Restraint Call forth spectral chains in a target area that stagger enemies within or stun enemies already under the staggered effect, then leave behind an area that deals radiant damage each second over 8 seconds.
skill icon for Communal Restoration Communal Restoration Restore health to all party members in range. For each point of Conviction the caster possesses, targets receive an additional 1% of their maximum health as temporary hit points for 10 seconds.
skill icon for Damnation Damnation Curses your target dealing holy damage over time and lowering their damage output.
skill icon for Devotion Devotion A swift act that heals your target.
skill icon for Divine Censure Divine Censure Throws a radiant spear at the target, dealing damage. Any time the target is attacked the attacker has a chance to get healed.
skill icon for Exorcism Exorcism Holy powers rips at your targets spirt channeling damage over time. A holy energy blast damages nearby enemies at the end of the channel.
skill icon for Hallowed Ground Hallowed Ground Fills the surrounding area with radiant energy, damaging energies and healing allies.
skill icon for Judgement Judgement Heals an ally, restoring life to the target. If cast on an enemy, it damages the target with radiant energy and has a chance to generate Conviction.
skill icon for Resurrection Resurrection Resurrects a dead ally.

Conviction - Cleric Specific Resource

The November 2022 livestream was the first time we heard of a class specific resource. Clerics are going to have a class specific resource called Conviction. In order to prevent being a cleric from being a boring heal-bot play-style, they have come up with a system for predictive gameplay. Several of the healer abilities will be able to be used both offensively and defensively. If a spell is used offensively, then the next time it is used defensively it will heal for more, either directly to the player you are healing, or by healing more players.

Obviously, as this is a brand-new mechanic, we will update it as more information becomes available.