What are the requirements to become a Citizen of a Node in Ashes of Creation?

To become a Citizen, a player must usually contribute a significant amount of resources, complete specific quests for the Node's leadership, or own property within the Node's sphere of influence.

What benefits do Node Citizens receive?

Citizen benefits include reduced taxes on marketplace transactions, access to exclusive high-tier crafting stations, better prices from local vendors, and the right to vote in Node elections.

Ashes of Creation How to Become a Citizen of a Node

Becoming a citizen in Ashes of Creation is one of the biggest decisions you can make. It affects taxes, access, bonuses, and how you interact with the world long term.

How to Become a Citizen in Ashes of Creation

To become a citizen, you must own player housing inside a node that has reached at least Village stage.

Once you own housing, citizenship is not automatic. You must manually claim it.

You do this by speaking to the Town Hall Administrator NPC in that settlement and applying for citizenship.

Requirements to Claim Citizenship

Citizenship has a few hard requirements.

The node must be Village stage or higher
You must own housing within that node’s zone of influence
You must manually apply at the Town Hall

If any of these are missing, you cannot become a citizen.

Important Citizenship Limits

You can only be a citizen of one node per server realm per account.

This means all characters on the same account and server share the same citizenship. Alts cannot vote or hold citizenship elsewhere on that realm.

You do not have to be a citizen of any node. Citizenship is optional.

What Happens When You Become a Citizen

When you claim citizenship, several systems unlock.

You gain access to citizen only vendors, services, and bonuses tied to that settlement. You also begin paying citizenship dues and property taxes.

Your tax rates are locked in based on when you joined the node. Joining later usually means higher dues.

Citizenship Benefits Explained

Citizens gain meaningful advantages.

Reduced taxes and service fees
Access to the settlement reliquary
Access to citizen only vendors
Access to higher tier crafting benches
Access to certain buffs and events
Ability to vote or run in settlement government
Access to titles and organizations tied to the node

Non citizens can still use many services, but they pay more and miss exclusive systems.

Soft Caps and Why They Are Important

There is no hard cap on citizens, but there is a soft cap.

As more players join a node, citizenship dues increase. This naturally limits population without blocking players outright.

Players can still join if they are willing to pay more.

Citizenship Is Not Guild Based

Guilds do not own settlements.

Citizenship, guild membership, and mayorship are separate systems. A guild can be spread across multiple nodes.

In conflicts, node citizenship overrides guild loyalty. If two nodes go to war, citizens defend their node even if guildmates are on the other side.

Losing or Changing Citizenship

Citizenship can be renounced at the Town Hall Administrator.

There is a cooldown when changing citizenship. This prevents players from hopping nodes freely.

If your settlement is destroyed in a siege, you lose citizenship automatically and become a refugee.

Refugees can join a new node without the normal cooldown and may receive temporary cost reductions.

Housing ownership is not lost when citizenship changes.

Taxes and Ongoing Costs

Citizens pay two main costs.

Citizenship dues
Property taxes

These scale based on settlement stage and when you joined. Taxes fund node development and cannot be taken by players.

Mayors can adjust tax rates for different activities like crafting, Burbs hunting, or commerce.

Final Blurb

Citizenship in Ashes of Creation is a long term commitment, not a quick checkbox. It ties you to a node’s success, costs you ongoing taxes, and grants powerful access in return. Choosing where and when to become a citizen matters just as much as becoming one at all.