The official launch of the Ashes of Creation Alpha Two fresh server, Shol, was on May 1, 2025. With the launch, a handful of unique bugs were identified, including a bug that greatly impacted elite enemy NPC damage values.
While these bugs were quickly resolved, the team recognized that the resulting challenge level of what the damage should have been was a little too intense for early progression, and the community made that very clear. As a temporary measure, the team nerfed enemy power ratings.
The key word here is “temporary”. After about a month or so, the team was able to gather enough valuable feedback and data and is now beginning to slowly restore the elite enemy NPC values back to what they were initially intended for. As future updates continue to come out, additional buffs to elite enemy NPC damage will be done until it reaches the initial values that the development team intended.
What Happened to Elite Enemy NPC Damage?
To be more specific, the updates to elite enemy NPC damage can be viewed below. These changes are now currently live in the current version of the game.
- 1-star enemy damage has been increased by about 15%
- 2-star enemy damage has been increased by about 22%
- 3-star and above enemy damage has been increased by about 25%
- Elite enemy speed boost has been slightly increased
- Named mobs should respawn properly if they die on a different server worker than where they originally spawned
- Highwayman Arsonists abilities Flame Throw and Firebolt have been decreased in damage
- Highwayman Rangers ability Killshot has been significantly decreased in damage, and Lighting Shot and Basic Shot have been slightly increased in damage
- Highwayman Raider Brutal Cleave attack has been increased in damage, and their heavy slash attack has been slightly decreased in damage
- Skeleton ability Rib Throw and their axe attacks have been decreased in damage. Black Lung has been slightly increased in damage, and the damage type has been changed to necrotic
- Rot Hound attacks Bite and Pounce have been decreased in damage
- High level bats will no longer spawn near Riverland and Sandsquall Desert Nodes
- Humanoid enemies in the Jundark no longer drop treasure map related loot 100% of the time
How to Defeat Elite Enemies
Yes, these elite enemies now pack more of a punch, but don’t worry – there are a few tips and tricks below that could help you as you continue to take down these powerful foes:
- Tip #1: Consumables
- Be sure to utilize certain consumables that increase your power rating or constitution, as well as potions and rations to restore health quickly in times of need.
- Tip #2: Group Up
- You shouldn’t be fighting these elite mobs alone – be sure to grab a few friends, use your crowd control skills wisely, and start taking these mobs down.
- Tip #3: Enhance Your Gear
- Consider visiting the marketplace in different nodes to see if you can purchase some gear for quick upgrades. The difference one or two pieces can make can be major on the battlefield!
Additional Updates to Ashes of Creation
There were a few other changes made to the game with this update, including the following:
- Fixed a bug that allowed Caravan Commodities to be transported without risk using a Caravan Recovery Beacon
- If a Caravan driver goes offline, their Caravan will stay in the world for up to 10 minutes while out of combat. This timer will be extended by any length of time the Caravan is in combat
- GM characters will have their messages display differently in chat, so people know they’re GMs
- Fixed a trading bug that could cause materials to disappear during a trade
- Fixed a revive bug that could cause the revive box to disappear, and make a character unable to respawn
- Wildport Node lighting bugs have been fixed, and the lighting should no longer change quickly while moving in this area
Start Playing Ashes of Creation
If you are interested in joining in on the fun and playing Ashes of Creation, then create an account here and visit the “shop” section of the Ashes of Creation website to purchase your key. Upon purchase, you will receive access to play the rest of Alpha Two, along with a key for Beta 1 and Beta 2.
Additionally, you will receive your one month of gameplay for Ashes of Creation upon launch, and $15 worth of embers (in-game marketplace credits). We hope to see you soon in Verra!
