Novus Opiate
Two allegiances clash at the gate of a stone town at dusk: crimson-banner fighters and war mages on one side, blue-and-silver defenders on the walls, and a glowing blue lifestone in the square beyond the gate.

AC: Novus · An Asheron’s Call fan project

Nowhere was safe.

We are bringing it back.

Darktide was one of the best PvP MMOs ever made. AC: Novus is recreating that fight for the modern era.

Enter the Golden AgeThe fight we are building

The legend

The war was the game

  1. 1999

    No safe ground

    One world of six where every character is a player killer, forever.

  2. 2000

    Blood rises

    A guild unites under one name, takes Kara, and becomes the power to beat.

  3. Late 2000

    The AB Wars

    A frontier town becomes the battlefield of the age.

  4. Dec 2000

    The oath

    Blood kneels to Bael’Zharon at Kara. The antis swear to Asheron.

  5. 2001 →

    The Last Stand

    The guilds Blood broke band together, and outlast it.

Hotspots

The ground they bled for

A coastal town of sandstone domes and upswept tiled roofs on a ridge between dark forest and a cold sea at dusk; a glowing blue lifestone crowns the hill above the houses as a raiding party arrives in its light, and an islet offshore is reached by two rows of pale pillars standing in the water.The Direlands · “AB”

Ayan Baqur

The richest, hardest-to-reach town on the map. The prize of the AB Wars.Walk the ground A volcanic island: a glowing crater with lava floes, a winged beast's aerie on a second peak, a turquoise lagoon harbour guarded by two lighthouses and coral columns, white ruins in the ash, and a portal on the harbour beach where fighters gather.Offshore · reached by emissary

Aerlinthe Island

Darktide’s one truce. When it broke, whoever held the ties held the island.Walk the ground A hidden mountain village of dark timber and tiled roofs terraced above a still grey-blue lake beneath snow peaks, a blue lifestone glowing at its heart, a smithy on the shore and crimson banners on the gate.Black Rose’s town · Blood’s seat

Kara

A hidden mountain town that became a capital, and heard the oath to Bael’Zharon.Walk the ground

Every hotspot

Why it was great

Six reasons it worked

  1. Territory that paid

    Prices, lifestones and dens gave every war a reason.

  2. Stakes with counterplay

    Death cost gear and pyreals. Players planned around it.

  3. Allegiance as politics

    Recruits and defections were the scoreboard.

  4. Skill in the hands

    Spells you could dodge. Nowhere safe, by the developers’ own account.

  5. Theatre that picked sides

    Live events turned into oaths and sieges.

  6. Law made by players

    Truces, town codes and reputations, written by the people living under them.

At night a lone adventurer crouches beside a glowing blue lifestone as hooded hunters with drawn weapons close in from the pine forest.

Every road had a price.

The client

Rebuilt for the fight

  • Purpose-built for PvPThe client exists for the fight.
  • Visual upgradesMany of them.
  • A rebuilt UIThe interface, rebuilt.
  • New content supportNew items, new characters, new dungeons, and more.
The client
The AC: Novus character screen: a cloaked, armoured adventurer with a sheathed sword stands in an autumn pine forest beside a weathered stone archway, with a misty waterfall valley and a pale fortress city behind. A roster panel at the right, a character panel at lower left and an enter button at lower right.

The scene

The war needs a home

Today

  • Many PvP and PK servers have opened since 2019.
  • Most did not last.
  • Rule sets churn: full loot, heavy experience multipliers and de-leveling were tried, then dropped.
  • What survives is small-group PvP: arenas, 2v2, 3v3.

What changes

  • Built for massive numbersAC: Novus is built for massive concurrent users.
  • Built by people who understand PvPA dedicated, professional development team that understands PvP.
The scene

The New Era

What we are building

PvP

The fight

Ground worth holding. No safe walls.

Systems

The machinery

Fast into the fight. Fair once there.

Stability

The foundation

A world that holds under a siege.

One of us was there.

Kho’saf played Darktide in its golden era, and is here to bring that back.

Status

Where it stands

Stage
In development
Builds
Running internally
Closed test
Not started

Last updated

Dispatches

Latest dispatch

Introducing AC: NovusNowhere was safe. We are bringing it back.Read
Black slate monoliths rise from violet fog under a heavy dark sky, with a faint amethyst glow between two standing stones.GalleryThirteen heritages, and the character screen
Two vast armies with crimson and blue banners face each other across a misty plain at sunrise, a ruined watchtower between them.

Raise your banner.

The Golden AgeDispatches