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Core Concepts

This section breaks down each of the six pieces of GAS in depth. The Mental Model introduced them at a high level — here, you'll learn how each one actually works, what its API looks like, and where the gotchas hide.

The Six Pieces

Every GAS feature is built from some combination of these:

Piece Page Role
Ability System Component ASC The hub — owns and orchestrates everything else
Gameplay Tags Tags The language — hierarchical labels that drive all GAS decisions
Attributes & Attribute Sets Attributes The stats — numeric values like Health, Mana, Armor
Gameplay Effects Effects The pipeline — the only way to modify attributes during gameplay
Gameplay Abilities Abilities The actions — discrete things a character can do
Gameplay Cues Cues The feedback — VFX and SFX, cosmetic only

How They Depend on Each Other

These pieces aren't independent — they build on each other. Understanding the dependency chain helps you learn them in the right order.

graph TD
    ASC[Ability System Component<br/><i>The Hub</i>]
    GT[Gameplay Tags<br/><i>The Language</i>]
    AS[Attributes & Attribute Sets<br/><i>The Stats</i>]
    GE[Gameplay Effects<br/><i>The Pipeline</i>]
    GA[Gameplay Abilities<br/><i>The Actions</i>]
    GC[Gameplay Cues<br/><i>The Feedback</i>]

    ASC --> GT
    ASC --> AS
    ASC --> GE
    ASC --> GA
    ASC --> GC

    GE --> GT
    GE --> AS
    GE --> GC

    GA --> GE
    GA --> GT

    GC --> GT

    style ASC fill:#4051b5,color:#fff
    style GT fill:#7c4dff,color:#fff
    style AS fill:#00897b,color:#fff
    style GE fill:#f57c00,color:#fff
    style GA fill:#d32f2f,color:#fff
    style GC fill:#8e24aa,color:#fff

Reading the diagram bottom-up:

  • Effects depend on Attributes (they modify stats), Tags (they use tags for requirements and grants), and trigger Cues (for visual feedback).
  • Abilities depend on Effects (they apply effects for costs, cooldowns, and results) and Tags (for activation rules).
  • Cues depend on Tags (they're routed by GameplayCue.* tags) and are triggered by Effects.
  • Everything flows through the ASC.

Suggested Reading Order

You can read these pages in any order, but this sequence minimizes "wait, what's that?" moments:

  1. Ability System Component — Start here. It's the hub that owns everything else, so understanding it first gives you context for the rest.
  2. Gameplay Tags — Tags are the language everything speaks. You'll see them referenced in every other page.
  3. Attributes and Attribute Sets — Your stats. Effects modify these, so learn what they are before learning how to change them.
  4. Gameplay Effects — The pipeline that modifies attributes, grants tags, and triggers cues.
  5. Gameplay Abilities — The actions your characters perform. They use effects, tags, and attributes.
  6. Gameplay Cues — Visual and audio feedback. Depends on effects and tags.

After this section, the Deep Dives go into exhaustive detail on Effects, Abilities, Cues, and Networking.