Answering your Top Questions about Ashes of the Singularity II

As Ashes of the Singularity II continues to evolve, we’ve gathered the most common questions from across the community into one easy place. Whether you’re curious about new mechanics, returning factions, or what sets this sequel apart, this FAQ will help you get up to speed. As development progresses, we will continue to add questions and update answers.

General

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Q: Do I need to have played the first game to enjoy the new, and if so, is there a recap of the first game?

A: You don’t need to have played the first game to enjoy Ashes II. The story is told from a different point of view this time, and the game naturally introduces the core ideas of the Ashes universe as you play. You’ll learn who the PHC, UEF, Haalee, and the Substrate are just by going through the campaign.

Ashes II is built to be fun for both brand-new players and returning veterans. There are a lot of new mechanics, but the campaign is designed to ease you into them, and we’ve worked hard to make sure they’re quick to pick up and start having fun with.

Q: Will all units be returning? If not, which won’t and why?

A: Not every unit from Ashes I is coming back. Ashes II features a brand-new roster, with the United Earth Forces being an entirely new faction with new units, and the PHC and Substrate having a mix of a few returning favorites and fresh units that replace older ones.

We’re still finalizing each faction’s lineup and filling in gaps as we playtest, so we’re not ready to reveal full rosters just yet. But you will spot a few familiar units alongside plenty of new toys to experiment with.

Q: Will the game have new units, and if so, how many?

A: Ashes II has lots of new units. Since the game features far more ground-based troops than Ashes I, we couldn’t just reuse the old hovercraft designs. You’ll see plenty of new tanks, mechs, and other ground units across the factions.

We’ll be revealing many of these units over the coming months, so there’s a lot to look forward to.

Q: Will there be a comprehensive tutorial?

A: Ashes II includes a tutorial that’s woven right into the campaign. As you play, new mechanics and systems are introduced naturally, so you’ll pick things up step by step without needing a separate training mode.

Q: Is there a campaign and what is its scope?

A: Yes, Ashes II initial campaign will be told from the point of view of the newest faction, the United Earth Forces, and will not only ease players into the gameplay mechanics but bring the conflict home to Earth and other locations in our solar system that mankind is fighting to reclaim!

Q: How welcoming is this title to new players of Ashes?

A: We’re hoping to make the overall game very accessible, with lots of UX updates and affordances to make the fun and more accessible without diminishing the depth. We aren’t making anything close to a ‘casual’ strategy title, but we’re focusing a lot of attention on making these big, sprawling battles as enjoyable as possible. There are a lot of new interface and control features to make fighting on our huge maps, with vast armies, really fun.

Q: Can this game be played offline?

A: Ashes II will support full offline play in both the campaign and in skirmish against AI bots. Whether you are teaming up with AI in team vs team or if you want to play massive free-for-alls against numerous AI opponents completely offline, you can.

Q: Does the game have any Co-Op modes or features?

A: You can team up with friends to play online co-op against AI opponents. We’re looking into some additional, new co-op focused modes, but have not made any formal announcements about what will be included at launch.

Q: Will you be able to fill online multiplayer slots with bots/AI?

A: Yes. You can play purely human-player games, or mixed human-player and AI-player games.

Q: What differentiates Ashes II from other RTS games?

A: Scale and Accessibility. Ashes II is not the only RTS to focus on massive maps and vast numbers of units, but we’re putting a major focus on minimizing micromanagement and maximizing strategy. Ashes II has a much larger focus on the push-and-pull across the frontline, moving production buildings to key locations, and timing key strikes into your opponent's regions. You can even set your armies to replenish their units automatically and rally them to wherever the army is, eliminating the need to constantly build-and-rally new units. Our accessibility improvements remove a lot of the humdrum activities in many RTSs and free you to focus on enjoying the massive scale and strategy.

Gameplay / Mechanics

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Q: What is the max number of players supported by multiplayer?

A: Ashes II will have a player max of 8 players on release.

Q: How many maps will be available on launch and what will the variety look like?

A: We are supporting procedural map generation (AKA random maps) for both offline skirmish and online multiplayer. We do expect to include some prebuilt maps for release that are balanced, providing a more known factor in competitive play, but where the game really shines is its ability to procedurally generate maps, encouraging more exploration as part of the gameplay.

Q: Will Ashes II have a map editor?

A: Yes. Hoped for at launch but may not be fully featured until after initial release (part of a free update), allowing you to make new heightmap seeds for map generation that you can share.

Q: Will all the orbital abilities from the first game make a comeback in the second game ?

A: Orbital rosters, like unit rosters, are different in Ashes II. Some familiar faces will return, but many new faces will appear as well.

Q: The new earth based faction has ground infantry, will other factions be receiving their own infantry counterpart?

A: Not exactly. The PHC's units are generally more expensive and powerful than other factions, so they won't throw bodies at a problem in the fashion the Earth forces will. The Substrate do have more access to 'Drone Swarms', but drones are more like autonomous projectiles than individual units. The style of each faction's 'cannon fodder' unit is not symmetric, and that's intentional, as it immediately gives each faction a slightly different flavor.

Q: What does Unit Pathfinding look like in Ashes II? Has it improved?

A: Pathfinding is a highly customized solution for Ashes II. We have several tiers of pathfinding at the army, unit, and element level. Each one actually does pathfinding using slightly different algorithms, for optimization purposes. We hope to do a dev diary on this at a later date, as it’s a unique solution to the vast scale problems in Ashes II.

Technical

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Q: What does Modding of Ashes II look like compared to Ashes I?

A: We’re aiming for Ashes II to be far more moddable than the first game. The engine supports deep customization through our data/scripting, including UI tweaks, AI behavior, and a lot more.

That said, we’re still deciding how much of that modding support will be available directly in-game at launch. As we get closer to release, we’ll have a better idea of what tools and features will be ready on day one or shortly after launch as part of a free update.

Q: How does the new game engine compare to the previous one?

A: The engine is far more advanced, as we've rolled all the tech we worked on with Ara: History Untold into Ashes of the Singularity II. This is what has allowed us to procedurally generate maps, as well as take advantage of numerous other tool and graphical enhancements.

Q: Ashes I was well known for its benchmarks. Will Ashes II also include a similar benchmarking tools?

A: Yes, though Ashes II is focused on gameplay first, we are planning to support a new benchmark for launch.

Q: Will the game use a deterministic simulation? If not, what's the approach to mitigate the teleporting units/army problem that happens often in Ashes I?

A: Yes, Ashes II uses a deterministic simulation. That means the “teleporting units” issue from Ashes I should not be a problem this time around.

Q: The inclusion of controller support to an RTS game like Ashes II is making a lot of players nervous. How are you making sure that mouse and keyboard is fully supported with all the expected RTS control schemes we've grown to love throughout the years?

A: No need to be nervous. PC/Keyboard has its own UX and it’s where we primarily playtest the game. Hotkeys, drag-select, and other inputs are already in-game and work on PC are present (EX: saving hotkey groups). Our desire to support gamepad controllers is to allow Ashes II to be played on portable PCs, like the Steamdeck. But we’re not making a console-focused game; this is still a PC RTS at its core.

Q: Is Multiplayer Peer-to-Peer or Server-Based?

A: The game supports Peer-to-Peer networking, which is why from a quality of play standpoint we are limited the number of players to 8 at launch. The potential for server-based larger battles is something we would love to support in the future if there is demand.