Hello guys, Flanker here! In case you missed it, the verbal NDA for Ashes of Creation has been recently lifted, and now we can finally talk about what went down during the Pre-Alpha 2 testing phase. However, keep in mind that we still can’t share in-game footage or screenshots. As someone who had the chance to dive deep into the early build, I’ve gathered 25 critical tips to help new players avoid common pitfalls, save time, and get the most out of their journey. This is just the beginning — more tips and guides will come, so consider subscribing if you’re serious about thriving in Alpha 2!
1. Choosing the Right Bag Matters More Than You Think
When purchasing novice-level bags, it’s important to know what you’re actually going to do. Don’t blindly buy bags for harvesting, fishing, or hunting if your goal is just chopping trees. Lumberjacking bags are specifically designed for woodcutting and make a difference because wood, being 3×1 in size, needs that specific slot setup. For everything else, stick with mining bags. Here’s why: any type of resource can be placed into any bag, but the correct bag offers increased stack size. For instance, ore placed into a mining bag stacks to 23, while putting fish there only stacks up to 20. Plus, mining bags are roomier and more versatile compared to fishing or hunting bags. In short, mining bags will serve most players best, unless you’re focusing exclusively on hunting or lumberjacking.
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2. Always Carry Rations
A simple, cheap, and massively underrated tip: always carry a couple stacks of rations. These items restore both HP and Mana out of combat, dramatically cutting down the time you waste sitting around recovering. Solo players especially benefit here, because without a cleric or a bar nearby, healing yourself quickly becomes essential for efficiency.
3. Repair Gear Early and Often
When speaking to any vendor, look carefully: in the bottom-left corner of the dialogue window, there’s a repair button. It’s easy to miss, but clicking it lets you repair your gear for a tiny amount of copper or silver. Keep your equipment in top shape without having to waste tons of resources later.
4. Avoid This Easy Mistake While Trading
If you buy something from a vendor and immediately right-click it in your inventory without closing the trade window, you’ll accidentally sell it back! It’s a common rookie mistake. To avoid it, close the vendor window first, then open your inventory and equip your new item safely.
5. Equip Two Weapons — Always
Even if you’re only using one weapon, equip a second. The reason? You gain the passive stats of both weapons and earn weapon XP for both. That’s free progression even if you never swing the second weapon once.
6. Stay Away From Griefing
The consequences for player killing have been heavily increased. Even killing one non-flagged player now applies a 25% dampening penalty and risks you losing up to three pieces of gear. Don’t try to game the system by swapping gear — it doesn’t work. The simple rule: don’t PK.
7. Commissions: Do Them Casually
While commissions are fun if they happen to be along your path, they’re not efficient for leveling or gold farming. Stick to grinding mobs if you’re looking for real progress. Use commissions more for exploration and quest flavor.
8. Activate Respawn Points
Whenever you arrive at a new location, find and activate the Ember Spring. It becomes your respawn point, saving you the agony of a 15-minute corpse run.
9. Don’t Waste Money on Vendor Gear
Early game goblin camps drop plenty of starter gear, including armor and jewelry not even sold by vendors. Farm them a little instead of spending your precious coins.
10. Participate in Events
Whenever events pop up, especially near Lion Hold, join them. They’re usually easy and reward hefty XP — for example, a caravan defense event gives around 12,000 XP, which is huge at early levels.
11. Stock Up on Consumables and Buffs
Visit the Laboratory vendor northeast of Lion Hold to pick up novice health and mana soul wess, buff scrolls for attributes, and XP scrolls. Scroll buffs last three hours but note that only one scroll effect can be active at a time.
12. Boost Yourself with Food Buffs
Continue northeast to the Cook House where you can buy fresh and fruit salads. These foods grant physical and magical power buffs for an hour, and just like scrolls, you can only have one food buff active at a time.
13. Listen to NPCs
Not all quests have map markers. Sometimes critical hints are dropped in dialogue, so pay close attention when NPCs are speaking. It could save you a ton of wandering later.
14. Master Movement with Dodge and Jump
Combine Dodge + Jump for a boosted escape maneuver. Especially useful when fighting on hills — jumping downhill after a dodge creates extra momentum and much more distance.
15. Invest in Artisan Gear Early
Each vendor sells artisan gear for gathering, processing, and crafting. You don’t need to unequip your battle gear — artisan gear slots are separate. If you’re planning to focus on a profession, grabbing novice artisan equipment early will help your progression massively.
16. Processing XP Bonus
Processing isn’t just for crafting resources — it also grants adventuring XP. And since processing doesn’t require active gameplay, you can set it up and walk away while passively earning experience.
17. Upgrade Your Glint
When inventory space starts choking with Glint, right-click it to upgrade. The ratio is 10:1 — 10 dull glint becomes 1 dim glint. Managing this will save you a lot of bag space.
18. Know Your Skill Trees
You have three separate skill trees — Archetype, Stamina, and Weapon trees. You gain points for each one independently through leveling and mastery, so distribute wisely based on your playstyle.
19. Beware of Wolves, Bears, and Shamans
Some mobs are deceptively lethal. Wolves and bears can wreck you even if they’re the same level. Goblin shamans are nasty too — they cast poisonous clouds that require you to dodge quickly or suffer huge damage.
20. Toggle Abilities After Death
If you die or reload, your toggle abilities (those you activate and leave running) turn off automatically. Always double-check and reactivate them after respawning.
21. Efficient AFK Fishing
You can go AFK fishing by placing your fishing skill on your action bar and activating it at a lake. Be cautious though — the AFK timer (currently 30 minutes) can kick you if you stay completely idle. Repair your fishing rod beforehand!
22. Archetypes Feel Better Later
Don’t judge an archetype too early. Many classes truly start to shine around level 12 once you unlock a good spread of abilities. Give it time before making any final decisions.
23. Report Bugs — It’s Important
Ashes of Creation is still in Alpha 2. If you encounter bugs, type /bug to open the report form. Don’t be lazy — the devs need this feedback to improve the game, and your quick report can lead to faster fixes.
24. Make the Grind Fun
Grinding can feel repetitive, but you can make it better. Watch a movie, listen to podcasts, or stream YouTube on a second monitor or floating window. Keeping your brain lightly stimulated makes long sessions much more enjoyable.
25. Stay Tuned for More
If you found these tips helpful, subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss the next batch. This is only the beginning — we’re all learning together during these exciting early phases of Ashes of Creation. See you soon!
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