Intrepid Studios has acknowledged the higher-level lighting and progression problems that slipped into Ashes of Creation Alpha Two Phase III while mapping the immediate future of the sandbox MMORPG. In the August development stream, creative director Stephen Sharif confirmed that Unreal Engine’s Lumen lighting is struggling with the new zones and that XP pacing data is actively being collected and will be tweaked in coming months.
The studio’s Harbinger milestone is locked for Tuesday, 18 November, with feature drops beginning around 2 September. The headline addition is fully fledged corrupted areas: dynamic PvPvE spaces that spawn incursion and foothold events driven by player actions, rewarding corrupted resources for clearing or controlling the threat. Each phase—incursion or foothold—changes objectives and the loot table, directly impacting regional economies.
Additional systems shipping with Harbinger include open-sea fishing, the long-promised Summoner class, a new world boss and “economic features” aimed at expanding seed trading and node markets. Weekly maintenance has been set for every Tuesday to smooth rollout, with public-test-realm builds appearing ahead of each patch window.
Sharif closed the stream by previewing the Anvils starting zone while fielding rapid-fire Q&A, stressing that all values tested now are temporary as the team chases final tuning before launch. A full VOD of the stream is available on YouTube.
