Ashes of Creation Tips & Tricks: Stop Dying and Start Actually Progressing
Ashes of Creation throws complex systems at you with zero tutorial, so here are the essential strategies that separate players who thrive from those who quit after two hours.
Ashes of Creation's Early Access launched with ambitious interconnected systems and absolutely no hand-holding. The game assumes you will figure out how weapons level, why your stamina management matters, how to not accidentally flag for PvP, and what the hell Glint actually does. Most players stumble through their first sessions dying constantly and running out of money. These tips cover combat optimization, economic strategies, and the advanced techniques the game never explains.
Collect All Starting Weapons Immediately
The spawn area has weapons lying on the ground that you can pick up and equip regardless of your class. Grab everything and test them on early goblins. New characters start with only one weapon, but you should always equip both slots because the stats from both weapons apply simultaneously. Leveling both weapon types unlocks their skill trees, giving you tactical flexibility even if you only primarily use one.
Fix Auto-Attack Settings Before Combat
The default combat requires clicking for every single attack swing, which makes combat feel incredibly clunky. Immediately go to Settings > Gameplay > Combat > Auto-Attack and enable the options. Change to "hold/press to continue attacking" mode so your character attacks automatically between skills. This makes combat smooth and lets you focus on your rotation instead of clicking your mouse into oblivion.
Master Stamina Management for Survival
Blocking, sprinting, and dodging all consume stamina from a shared pool. Active dodging grants 100% evasion for half a second, but it costs half your entire stamina bar. It is tempting to dodge every attack, but if you do, you will drain your stamina and be unable to sprint away when you actually need to escape. Use sprint for sustained kiting and save the dodge for high-damage telegraphed attacks.
Prioritize Weapon Upgrades Over Armor
Weapon upgrades provide the biggest power increases in the game. Better weapons mean faster kills, which leads to faster leveling and less damage taken overall. Always upgrade weapons before armor.
Check vendors in different settlements because prices vary. Avon's End, west of Lionhold, sells the same gear as Samia's Hope and Lionhold but cheaper. Also, make sure to complete the Surplus Coin questline starting at level 5 in Samia's Hope by talking to Esh-Rumat Qeyara. Surplus Coins let you buy gear from vendors in major settlements at good prices, providing solid early upgrades.
Group Leveling XP and Loot Ranges
You get zero XP if grouped with players 10 or more levels apart, so stay within 9 levels of your group members. For loot, the best drop rates occur when the group is within 3 levels of the mob being killed.
For Glint farming, find high-density mob spots with enemies 9 levels below you. You can AoE murder ball them quickly while remaining within XP and loot eligibility ranges. This is the most efficient way to make money through combat.
Understand Market Variations and Economy
There is no global auction house, so markets are node-specific with different prices. Sell raw materials on local markets instead of to vendors. Low-tier materials like copper and basic wood remain valuable forever because high-level crafting recipes still require them.
You should also use alt characters for processing. Processing raw materials takes time and keeps you stuck in town. Transfer gathered materials to an alt, let them handle the processing while your main character adventures, and double your effective playtime.
Avoid Accidental PvP Flagging
The biggest PvP mistake new players make is accidentally flagging as a combatant through tab-targeting. When cycling targets with Tab, you will target nearby players. If you hit a combatant, you flag yourself, and they will kill you.
Enable "Require Force PvP to use harmful abilities on combatants" in Settings. Also, never loot ash piles (dead player remains) or break material packages near settlements unless you want to fight. These actions flag you as a combatant immediately, and some players use them as bait.
Mount Management and Backup Strategies
Mounts exist as items in your inventory, not in a collection UI. When your primary mount dies, it goes on a 10-minute cooldown. Always carry a backup mount in your inventory so you aren't stuck on foot in dangerous territory. Also, remember to desummon your mount before entering dangerous areas or walking away, as persistent mounts can be killed by mobs or players.
Commission Boards and World Events
Check commission boards in every settlement. Adventure boards provide exploration quests, Artisan boards offer gathering tasks, and Hunting boards require groups. These are easy passive income and XP that require zero extra effort if you are already in the area.
You should also always participate in World Events marked with red warning symbols on the map. They provide excellent rewards, XP, and Glint, and they scale based on participants so even solo players can contribute.
Advanced Tips: Camera Swapping and Cleric Gathering
The game features two camera modes: Action and Tab-Target. You can swap between them mid-combat, and I highly recommend rebinding this toggle to Mouse Wheel Click for seamless switching. Action mode is better for AoE grinding, while Tab-Target is superior for precision.
Finally, if you plan to gather solo in dangerous zones, consider playing a Cleric. Self-healing allows access to remote high-level areas other classes can't survive in, granting you access to uncontested resources worth significant gold.