sorcerer pvp primer 2

Getting jumped (and not in the good way)The Sorcerer doesn’t have personal space protection like real armor. A cloth robe is not much in the way of protection, so keep that shield up at all times. While leveling up, get very comfortable with the various roots, stuns, and crowd control measures. When getting into PVP land, you’ll have to know instinctively which to cast in a given situation. If you have some distance while fighting a single target, you have some time to cast Sleep or Ice Chain or something similar. If however you don’t have the luxury of time, be ready with an instant cast Root. Blowing the wrong spell in the wrong circumstance can be deadly (ask me how I know).You must be a Premium Member to view this Pro Tip.Find out more about the benefits of membership.Choosing Stats and StigmasAs mentioned above, there is a distinct difference between how a player should gear up for PVP versus PVE. Beyond adding as much HP as you can get your hands on, you’ll want to make some choices when it comes to stigmas and gear.In contrast to many of the games on the market I’m surprised at all of the options for specializing the Sorcerer skill sets. Feel free to try out different blends of damage increases and crowd control measures. Most of the Sorcerers tend to go down the survivability tree and end up with Sleep Storm as their end-game Advanced Stigma. Between that skill and the predecessors like Illusion Storm, the Sorcerer has a plethora of self-defense mechanisms. Having multiple stuns, snares, etc. at your fingertips is essential as most players will drop a potion to get out of the first stun placed on them. Additionally, you’ll want to grab the Illusion stigma to help avoid some of the incoming damage.When it comes to weapons the Sorcerer is fairly limited. The weapon of choice is typically a Book instead of an orb due to the ranged attack (orbs are melee) and the fact that books typically have stats for greater percentage of landing spells (magic accuracy). The enemy won’t die if you don’t land that spell.The gear decisions should be based on the stats provided to the Sorcerer. The primary stat is Magic Boost which will increase overall damage and this is a good thing. The next tier of stats to look for include Magic Accuracy and Casting Time Boost. Both compliment the Sorcerer casting requirements and should be included (I’d give the nod to accuracy over casting time, but your mileage may vary). The last tier would be HP increase and Attack Speed. Attack Speed helps Sorcerers even though it sounds like a melee bonus. Attack Speed actually increases the combat animations for your character which will reduce the “down” time between casts. I’d load up on more health if given the option between the two though.Bringing It HomeThe blessing and curse of class is that there are so many possible combinations for damage output versus crowd control. I’ve outlined some of the thoughts behind the choices for increasing survivability, but you may (and probably will) find combinations that work better for your play style. Please let me know some of your choices and the successes (and failures) that helped you come to those decisions. I’m always looking for that optimal way to tweak my character and bring the most out of my class.

sorcerer pvp primer 1

Walk softly and carry a big can of whoop ass.Aion provides a fairly decent learning curve for players to learn their class in the early levels. That gingerly hand-holding goes away as soon as players enter the Abyss and world PVP. Similarly, optimizing a Sorcerer for PVE is quite different from preparing for PVP. In the early levels a Sorcerer may load up on manastones that boost magic, but once you go toe to toe with another player those stones should all add HP. This is just one area that a Sorcerer needs to shift the thinking between PVE and PVP. Let’s review some of the others and discuss the Sorcerer’s role in PVP.Strengths and WeaknessesThe obvious strength of the Sorcerer is the high output of damage. If a Sorcerer can stand back away from the fray and lob big direct damage spells, the fight is not going to last too long. And if an enemy does manage to get up close and personal, then the Area of Effect stuns (Sleeping Storm) and crowd control can allow the Sorcerer to put some distance between them and the attacker.The glaring weakness of the class is the lack of damage mitigation and overall health. The primary weakness of the class is its inability to handle incoming damage. As stated earlier, load up on manastones with health to help offset this as much as possible. The Sorcerer that can balance between dealing damage and managing incoming damage will truly understand how to play the class. As with any class, knowing when to cast which spell is critical especially with the small margin for error for such a delicate class.

class preview of aion

Immerse Yourself In The ClericThe Cleric is one of only two healing classes in Aion; both come from the priest archetype, but the Cleric is the closest to a traditional healer of the two. Armed with an arsenal of player buffs, heal over time and direct heal spells, the Cleric is an essential element of any complete group. Strengths:Ability to wear chain armor, allowing for higher survivability than cloth casters. Powerful heals that when used properly can make the Cleric nearly impossible to kill. Bulk of their power comes from ranged abilities, further enhancing survivabilityLow damage output when soloClerics are Aion's healers of the mind and bodyThe Cleric possesses the ability to resurrect its allies which no other class can do. While the Chanter is more of a dedicated group buff class with strong damage potential, the Cleric is very much the healbot or walking potion of the group. Healing in Aion, however, is a very dynamic process and resource management is key to being an effective healer here.Unique AbilitesClerics learn a race specific Divine Power skill at level 10. The Elyos get Salvation while the Asmodians get Pandaemonium's Protection , a different name for the same ability that allows the player to trade two thousand Divine Power points for 50% of their maximum mana and hit points. Divine Power (DP) is accumulated by killing mobs or Baldur, it is not a resourse to be used lightly as it is not gained quickly or easily.

a different breed of spellcater

If there were only one piece of advice I could give players before they choose the path of the Spiritmaster, it would be this; you are no longer a Mage. As simple as it sounds, there are still a number of players out there that treat their Spiritmaster as a Mage with a new toy. During your first few levels as a Spiritmaster, it's very easy to fall into this mindset, but if you do, it's only going to make things rougher as you go along. Your pet is more than just an added boost of DPS for you and the sooner you get that through your skull, the easier your life is going to become. For some players, this will require a leap of faith, especially since it's very easy to still act like a Mage in the beginning. Trust me when I say this is a mistake. Your pet is not just added damage. They will become both your close companion and your savior.Whenever you receive a new spell that can be used by your pets, you'll notice that some of them have a list of the different spirit types and what the spell does for them. For example, when you first become a Spiritmaster, one of the spells you'll be able to buy from the trainer is Command: Thunderbolt Claw I. The Fire and Water pets use this as a magical elemental strike, while the Earth and Wind pets use this as a sustainable attack (it ends when they get hit). Another example is Command: Threatening Stance I which you can use at level 13. The spell has different levels of effectiveness depending on which pet it's used in conjunction with. It’s virtually useless when used by the Water Spirit, but extremely effective when used with the Fire Spirit.The key to staying alive with the Spiritmaster is learning to use the right pet for the right job and being ready to swap on the fly.

aion mastery leveling & kinah guide

This is my second favorite Aion leveling guide for a number of reasons. While it’s no doubt a very good guide, Aion Mastery suffers from a few minor things which may not be important to everyone, but that’s what makes excellent leveling guides stand out. First, there are no screenshots included in Aion Mastery, only maps of areas which are unfortunately not labeled in any way. Quests are all listed but unlike in Kozen’s guide there are no additional author comments to help you figure out what you have to do. Most quests in Aion are pretty straightforward so it is not always necessary, but I think these little things are what makes Kozen leveling guide the best.
Despite not having as many additional guides as Kozen or Killerguides guide, I think Aion Mastery is really good in the leveling department and as such is a very good alternative. There is one bonus in Aion Mastery, a kinah guide, and it’s really incredible but you have to pay for it separetely.

mastery kinah guides

Aion Mastery isn’t the best Aion leveling guide but it’s a very strong kinah making guide. It’s more detailed than anything you’ll find for free and obviously the author really knows what he’s talking about. While I can’t recommend it as the absolutely best kinah making guide, in my opinion it has what it takes to compete with Killerguides Kinah Guide. I was debating whether to rank it first or second but I think it might be even better than Killerguides guide, especially because you can also get leveling guides with it.
My recommendation is to get both Aion Mastery and Killerguides kinah guides as they compliment each other very nicely, but I doubt you want to spend money on two guides so this time I’ll leave the decision about which one to get to you: both of these kinah guides are good and either one will undoubtedly help you become a wealthy player.

elyos poets guide

Poeta is the starting area of the Elysea, the homeland of the Elyos and the lower half of the world of Atreia. Your character awakens in the Akarios Plains near the first quest giver, Elpas. Elpas admonishes you for some laziness then sends you off down the road to meet to with Mires. Upon completing your first quest Mires will then offer you a quest to help take back a small farm that has been overrun by some unruly kobolds and other creatures. Completing the quests in this area will take you quickly through the first few levels and guide you down the road to Akarios Village.
Akarios VillageIn Akarios Village you will meet your class trainers, NPC merchants and the quest giver who will begin the quest chain that will lead you eventually to the main goal of Ascension.This area is the main player hub for all of Poeta and contains an obelisk that binds your soul for resurection should you be killed in your early endeavors and a travel portal for teleportation and quick travel to other areas of the zone via a very cool in game flight sequence. There will be a lot of quests to grab here as well as the cube vendor and the class trainers selling spell books. I recommned upgrading your cube, it may seem like a lot but it is very worth it as there are so many trash drops and you will want to sell every single one of them. It is also a good idea to purchase as many spell books as you can afford to maximize your time in the field.

cliona lake in aion

Cliona LakeQuests from Akarios Village will set you about exploring Cliona Lake where you will help the local populace with clearing out more threats as well as collecting some rare items and retrieving a lost axe. The lake is meant to be the centerpiece of this zone and while the number of quests here do not neccessarily reinforce this feeling, the scenery certainly does. There are several spawn points of the begining gathering recourse here, grab any of these that you can. Gathering quests are a big part of early Aion for a reason, start now so that you wont need to backtrack later. If you are saddened to leave this picturesque spot you need not fret to long, you will be back here to help complete your ascension quest later.

Abyss and PvP Guide

Battling in the Abyss
Time to take to your wings and battle in the Abyss. Learn everything you need to know about the mysterious Abyss and how to enter the zone to participate in some of the best PvP of any online game.

Abyss Fortress & Artifacts
The great thing about the Abyss is participating in fortress battles. Our Abyss guide teaches you everything about fortresses along with how to defend and attack them to gain control. Learn how to capture a artifact out of the 31 rare artifacts throughout the Abyss.

Abyss Points and Ranks
Earning Abyss points and gaining ranks will help you as you progress in the Abyss. Learn the best ways to earn the Abyss points to purchase abyss gear as you gain experience and ranks as you level your way through the abyss.

Abyss and PvP Guide

Battling in the Abyss
Time to take to your wings and battle in the Abyss. Learn everything you need to know about the mysterious Abyss and how to enter the zone to participate in some of the best PvP of any online game.

Abyss Fortress & Artifacts
The great thing about the Abyss is participating in fortress battles. Our Abyss guide teaches you everything about fortresses along with how to defend and attack them to gain control. Learn how to capture a artifact out of the 31 rare artifacts throughout the Abyss.

Abyss Points and Ranks
Earning Abyss points and gaining ranks will help you as you progress in the Abyss. Learn the best ways to earn the Abyss points to purchase abyss gear as you gain experience and ranks as you level your way through the abyss.

Aion Online Mastery Guide

Kinah the Aion Currency
Kinah is the currency of Aion and is always of importance as you journey through 50. Having enough gold for new armor and weapon upgrades can help a player level at their fastest potential. The ability to make Kinah as part of the leveling process is an important role in your efficience in Aion.

Buying Kinah is for Fools
There is no reason for anyone to ever buy Kinah! Why would you spend hundreds of dollars on Kinah and put your account in risk of being banned, when you can just earn it yourself?

The Auction house and Private Stores
One of the best ways to make Kinah is using the Auction House. It doesn't matter what level you are you can use the auction house to make hundreds of thousands of Kinah and build your wealth early on. Our Kinah guide teaches you how to make gold while questing, using the auction house and private stores.

Class guides

The Cleric class is one of the most essential classes in game. Without the you would find it difficult to see some of the most exciting parts of the game. A good cleric has to know how to use the skills of his class. This character is based on 3 activities: heal, resurrect and cure harmful effects. Of course they can fight too. It is better to join a party when you have a cleric character and let the others fight while you take care of other aspects.

The cleric's healing skills are the most appreciated, but also the resurrection skill. But the job doesnt go without its difficulty. If they cleric doesn't pay attention they may find their whole party dead within minutes.

The cleric decides if the party survives or not. Both, the cleric and the chanter are priests but there are some differences between this two classes. The cleric's healing skills are much more powerful then the chanter's and besides that only the cleric can handle a large party in which members take high damage from the monsters

Class guides

The gladiator is one of the most defensive classes in game (but less than templars). This class usually serving as a back up class to templars or sustained medium DPS. Gladiators wear plate armor which means his defence is really high. Although both classes can serve as tanks the Templar is a better tank.

A gladiator is based on HP not on MP, that's the reason why it has a large amount of hp and a really small one of mp. A gladiator can fight as long as it has hp because it doesn't require much mp to fight, Its a real advantage.

This character can survive in well in partys but also is able to solo. One of the most wanted classes especially in important partys looking to tackle something big.

Its faster to fight in party mode to gain xp faster due to the DPS of a gladiator isnt that high.

In PvP the gladiator has real problems in beating up any mage class because of the high DPS that those classes have. If the mage can keep the distance between him and the gladiator then the mage wins the fight. Although this doesnt mean that the gladiator is a weak class.

Anuhart Weapon Sets Show

Aion: Beginner’s Guide to Skills and Chains

A beginner’s guide to the skills and chains of Aion.

Whether you're an Elyos Gladiator, an Asmodian Assassin, or a living version of Napoleon Dynamite, you can't get anywhere in Aion without any skills. Sure, you have an auto-attack at your disposal, but if you’re relying on that to fulfill your destiny as an almighty immortal you might want to just quit now. Skills are the source of all your power, to both heal and destroy. Without them, not only will you fail in your quest, but you'll also never discover the pure, unadulterated joy in unleashing a chain skill upon your enemies.


I Don't Have Any Skills

This is essentially true in the beginning of your Aion adventures, no matter which archetype/class you choose. You'll start out with a couple of basic skills and be sent out into the world. This early in the game, the skill system works the same way every hotbar-based game in existence does without exception. Simply set the skill you want to use in the hotbar of your choice, then either hit the corresponding key (1, 2, Alt+1, etc.) or click on the icon with your mouse and you'll be on your way.

As you level, you don’t gain skills automatically. Skills come in the form of books and can be obtained in one of three ways. You can buy them for your class trainer, acquire them through drops yourself (after level 10), or purchase them from other players. This last option can be done from the player private stores scattered throughout the land, or through the Auction House.

No matter which method you choose to gather the myriad of books that will reveal the pathway of your destiny, the same technique to harness their power applies to all of them. Once a book is in your inventory, simply double-click it and voila! You have now learned the skill. Pretty simple, eh?


Skills Basics 101

To see which skills you have at any time, click the up arrow beside your hotbar for the game menu list, or hit the "k" key by default. Once there, you'll see a number of different tabs. The three you should be the most concerned with are the Active, Passive, and Actions tabs. The Crafting and Emotes tabs are also available to you, but unless you have a special interest in either one, there's little or no need to use them.

The Crafting tab displays the amount of skill you have in a given craft along with its current maximum rather than any actual abilities you would need. The Emotes tab displays all the emotes available to you in the game. Who would have guessed? For those that use a few of these on a regular basis, being able to move them to a hotbar for easy access actually is useful for them. These aren't the two tabs I wanted to go over with you though.

The least used (but no less important) tab out of the three major players I listed earlier is the Actions tab. At first glance, the abilities on this page appear useless, but before you close the tab in disgust, you may want to move the Rest skill to a free spot on one of your hotbars. I've heard players complain for weeks about not being able to regenerate health and mana at a reasonable rate, even if they're sitting down. It's important to understand that as far as the game is concerned, there is a huge difference between sitting down and actually resting. It may look the same as sitting to you, me, and every other player in the world, but unless you actually use the Rest skill, you're going to be there a very long time waiting for anything to regenerate.

Aion New Player Resource

Everything you need to get started in Aion
Players have less than a week before Early Start and official launch of Aion. Are you ready? To get fans prepared, Ten Ton Hammer has put together your one essential resource for your time as a new player. Keep game vital info, do a little pre-launch research, and save newbie guides all in one easy location. Just bookmark and visit as needed!
Aion, the stunning fantasy MMORPG that has already swept through Korea, China, and Japan, will soon be making its way to an official launch in North American, Europe, and Australia. Boasting rich graphics, compelling storylines, and fun player versus player gameplay, the game will no doubt find as much success here as it did in Asia.

As we all await our early access or release, I wanted to put together a comprehensive resource for players tying together in one, easy to access, guide. Browse through the available information or bookmark for future reference to have valuable game information right at your fingertips!

Important Dates:

Character Pre-Selection - September 18, 2009 12PM PST
Early Start for all Pre-orders - September 20, 2009
North American Launch - September 22, 2009
Australia and New Zealand Launch - September 23, 2009
Europe Launch - September 25, 2009


Getting Started - The Details
Getting in on pre-selection and early start is still possible if you haven't done it yet! The pre-order is still available at various brick and mortar stores. If you cannot find it locally, digital purchase is a great option and can be done through NCsoft or sites such as Steam and Direct2Drive. If you have already pre-ordered but have yet to download the game client, you can find it here.

The machine that you intend to run Aion on will need to adhere to these minimum system requirements and hopefully be within recommended. The better your system is, the smoother your gaming experience will be, particularly if you hope to run on exceptional graphic settings.

Minimum Requirements:

Microsoft Windows XP SP2
2.8GHz CPU or equivalent
1GB RAM
NVIDIA 5900 Ultra with 128MB RAM / ATI x700 with 128MB RAM or higher
15GB Hard Disk space
DVD-ROM drive
Direct X 9.0c (6/2008 update)
Sound Device
Broadband Internet Connection
Recommended Specs:

Microsoft Windows XP SP2 / Vista
Dual Core CPU 2.0GHz or equivalent
2GB RAM
NVIDIA 6800 with 256MB RAM / ATI x800 with 256MB or higher
15GB Hard Disk space
DVD-ROM drive
Direct X 9.0c (6/2008 update)
Sound Device
Broadband Internet Connection
The minimum specs are fairly reasonable allowing for even the modest of systems to handle the tax of the graphically intensive MMORPG.

Research, Research, Research...
Once launch happens, none of us are going to want to waste time trying to decide on our race and class, right? We want to know what we want and we want to get in there and play as soon as possible! Ten Ton Hammer has done hands on previews of every class in game not to mention our interview series that gives an official look at the classes and preliminary skill lists from our tireless site writers.

Sorcerer - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Spiritmaster - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Chanter - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Cleric - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Assassin - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Ranger - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Gladiator - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Templar - Dev Interview | Class Preview | Skill List
Now if you happen to be a fan of crafting and/or lore, you certainly are not left out! We have both beginner and advanced crafting guides and a well written history on the lore of Aion. These guides will introduce you to the storyline and secondary game before you log in.

Getting In Game - Help For the New Player
While this game doesn't have a terribly steep learning curve, the first 20 levels of any game can be a struggle. These 13 tips will help get you started and the following features and guides will get you through your young years by offering assistance when you need it. Each race experiences unique

For Elyos players, you'll start out in Poeta, ascend and travel to your home city of Sanctum and then make your way to Verteron.

Poeta Newbie Guide
Ascension Guide
Verteron Zone Guide
For Asmodae players, you'll start out in Ishalgen, ascend and travel to your home city of Pandaemonium then make your way to Altgard.

Ishalgen Newbie Guide
Ascension Guide
Altgard Zone Guide
These resources should get you through the initial levels in game. If there is something you need to know that we haven't covered, you can always check out our dedicated Aion Community Site for more guides. We also have staff and plenty of players that keep an eye on our forums that are always willing to help should you need it, so don't be shy about asking!

Everything you need to get started in Aion

Get the rules of PUG survival before the next time you go out looking for group
Love them or hate them, at one time or another everyone needs a pick up group. Not only can they be frustrating, but they can cost us time, soul healing costs, and occasionally our sanity if we end up in a bad group. They don’t have to be as bad as they are though and with these few simple tips you can survive PUGs!

The first rule of PUGS – Don’t try to wing it. When putting together a group and playing with people you don’t know, it really isn’t the time to see if you can do the instance without a healer. Poorly balanced groups have a challenging time even when you have people that know each other and work together well, playing with people who may or may not have the skills to pull it off would just be a waste of everyone’s time.



Come ready to fight and well prepared.

The second rule of PUGs – Come prepared! This is true for any group you join, but especially true for PUGs. Bring your potions and scrolls and plenty of them because you’ll likely need them. In Aion, the rez stones and ailment cures can be vital because you can’t always count on everyone being able to do their jobs well.

The third rule of PUGs – Set ranks immediately. Everyone should have a clear role in the group and someone should take charge of these. Take charge and make things clear right off the bat. Decide on main tank, tank assist, crowd control, and be sure that everyone knows how these roles will play out. Aion has tools in game to mark mobs and I suggest that you learn to use these. The tank should be marking the mob that everyone will be attacking and those that will be receiving crowd control measures so that everyone is on the right target and not breaking mez.

The fourth rule of PUGs – Relax. With PUGs you need to go in knowing that things may not go smoothly so keeping your sense of humor and staying calm will be helpful. Getting worked up or upset won’t help you or anyone else and it may just drive away your teammates. No one wants to be yelled at, called names, or told how to play their class. Some people are more sensitive than others and some are more abrasive so learning how to keep an even temperament and rolling with the punches will go a long way in getting through with a group.

The fifth rule of PUGs – Make friends. If you are running through an instance and manage to find some good players, for goodness sakes, add them to your friends list! Good players are hard to find and good players who are open to PUGs is even rarer so if you do stumble across someone who you enjoy playing with, make sure that you can hook up again in the future for more fun.



Be a good groupmate and you may get on friend lists.

The sixth rule of PUGs – Know when to cut the fat. If you are leading the group and there seems to be one consistent trouble maker, don’t be afraid to give them the boot. Don’t abuse this and only take action if the offending player is being a serious ass and you have the support of the group. Really this is a rare situation, but if needed it is certainly okay to kick another player.

The seventh rule of PUGs – Know when to walk away. If your group has gotten completely unfun and you’re racking up an experience debt that makes you cringe then it’s okay to just walk away. Do so politely of course, but don’t stick around in a really bad group out of feelings of obligation. Soul healing costs are high at upper levels and if the risk is greatly outweighing the rewards then run away and don’t look back.

In the end, remember that gaming is supposed to be fun. If you’re having a good time, nothing else matters all that much. Dying repeatedly and playing with less than cool people though is not fun but with our tips, even something as distasteful as pick up groups can become not only survivable, but even completely worthwhile.

Making Kinah in Aion

Tired of being poor? Get simple kinah making tips that won’t cost you a lot of time.
If Donald Trump played Aion, would he be Elyos or Asmodian? It doesn’t really matter because once you’ve read this guide; you can be on your way to being as wealthy as the Trumpster without the bad comb over and weird lip thing. There are a wide variety of ways in which you can earn extra kinah in game. Some take more effort than others but even the easiest and smallest tip can amount of more change in your pocket that you may not have otherwise had.

Know Your Enemy - Just as some mobs of the same level give different experience, mobs will also drop different loot. Humanoid creatures will drop coin in addition to loot and while the difference isn’t staggering in reward, the extra coin does make it worthwhile to choose your targets wisely if you happen to be out grinding for XP or kinah.



Crafting is a great way to make a little extra kinah

Also keep in mind that named mobs and Abyss mobs will drop better loot. I don’t advocate farming named mobs during peak hours of gaming, but if it’s a quiet day, hopping back to lower levels (a tier lower than what you currently play in works well if your solo farming) and hitting all the good named mobs is a easy way to pick up a little extra cash.

Pick up a Side Job – Gathering is a super easy and money making side job that every player should be taking part in. You do have to pay money in order to advance your extract ability, but it is well worth it in the long run. This will particularly pay off if you happen to level with the bulk of the player base and again at end game when capped characters are crafting more and in need of the resources.

Crafting, if you can tolerate it, is also an excellent way to make extra kinah. Crafting consumables is always highly and consistently profitable since nearly every player needs them, and will continue to need them throughout their gaming career.

Playing the Market – The broker is your friend! First, you need to learn to price items well. The idea is to get the most you can within a reasonable amount of time so you’ll want to stay in the median of what your item is selling for. If you think that you have a great item and the market seems over saturated with the same item bringing down the cost, save it for when there are fewer on the broker. A crop of green armor can sell out quickly and the less your item has to compete, the more kinah you will get for it.

Another great trick is buying underpriced items and then re-selling it for more. There are players who will sell something, unaware of the value or they are trying to make kinah quickly at the sacrifice of getting a more fair value. Buy low and sell high! It may not work every time at first, but if you spend a lot of time watching the broker, it can become second nature to spot good deals.



The broker can be your best money-making friend!

Manastone Magic – There are quests that allow you to trade manastones you can’t use for manastones you can use. Common manastones don’t fetch much on the broker or at the merchant, but +attack or +critical are two that sell quickly and for a nice sum of money and you have the chance of getting these when you trade in common manastones for the quest. You can either pick up the quests (each tier will have them available at manastone removal NPCs) and use whatever you loot during your travels or you can gather cheap manastones off of the broker and use those.

Most of these little tricks can be done easily without having to go out of your way. Nothing is more valuable than your time so always choose money making tricks that fit into what you are doing in game. If you have any of your own tips to share, please visit our forums and let us know how you’re making kinah in game!

Grouping and You

Group etiquette? In MY MMORPG? It's more likely than you think.
Killing droves of innocent animals and running through the wilderness is good and all, but there is more to life than soloing in Aion. Unless you're one of those lovely melee classes that have earned the ire of /autoreporthunting , grouping is a part of Aion on your way up. It provides variety, loot, and helps build cohesiveness and understanding of other classes that you'd be clueless about otherwise until they had a knife in your back in the Abyss. So without further ado, here's your starter kit on how to not ruin parties in Aion!


The Basics

Respect the Mark - Marking enemies in this is incredibly important when grouping. Group-type monsters do not go down quickly, and focusing your damage is imperative to minimize the amount of extra healing needed, and allow those who should be taking hits to maintain the monster's attention on them. Not only can you designate the order of killing, but you can throw up an incredibly obvious ZZZ icon to indicate sleeping secondary mobs so that the gladiator holds off on the area of effect moves. That probably won't stop him from doing it anyway though, but you tried!

Stay at your optimal range - Most area of effect spells from non-boss monsters do not have much of a blast radius. Melee classes can haul ass out of most of it if they see a cast bar and don't think they can stun them out of it. Ranged classes can stand at a good distance and still heal or unleash hell without missing a single HP afterwards. It means a lot to clerics when we can heal an ability for 100 mp instead of 350 mp.

Go all out! - DP and big cooldown stigmas are meant to be used. If you die, you lose your DP anyway, so before things go to hell, try and save it with your big damage and recovery moves. Dropping on monster on a 3-4 pull of group mobs in 15 seconds can make it a manageable experience. So pop that Empyrean Armor, Templars, and don't be shy with the Flash of Recovery, Clerics. If we don't do our jobs, we all fall!



Sometimes, a strategic retreat is necessary. Please don't fall off the edge of Sky Temple doing this.

Be aware - In most group areas of Aion, patrols are wide and respawns are fast. You need to keep moving and watch your back, and call out approaching targets before they jump the guy in robes. Voice chat isn't always an option, so try marking them or jumping like a retard in front of the healer so he realizes something is wrong instead of staring blankly at the health bars.

Be respectful - Clear up your loot rules before you begin. When people start rolling on random greens and someone loses out on something they really wanted, things go to hell fast. Don't be a drama queen. Pass.

Eat a meal! - Most casters will automatically place their buffs and chants with no warning, but very few people use food or drink. It's cheap and effective. One white weapon dropping will supply you with enough money for weeks of beneficial goodness. If you don't want to level cooking, the broker will still be cheaper than the NPC goods most of the time.


More Specifically


Inescapable Judgement -
As cool of a skill it is, as tempting as it may be, if the mob is not ranged you should try and save this. Every time I'm in the middle of a massive brawl and I see an angry fire elemental run at me, only to see a Samus-style laser whip grab the guy and pull him back into the melee, I smile. I cheer. Hell, I congratulate him on the coolest saving move ever. The actual utility of it is the fact that most monsters will select a new target and immediately use a special attack, and Inescapable Judgement will break channels where as Provoke will not.

Sleeping targets need hate too! - Crowd Control in this builds a lot of hate. Healing an encounter for 45 seconds builds even more hate. Unleashing that monster upon the healer is a bad idea, so if you feel you have the situation under control, taunt that sleeping fool. This goes for you too, gladiators! Better you get hit than the cleric!

Save your stuns - The area of effect attacks in this game are generally quite nasty. If you know a monster type has them, stopping them can speed up pulls and prevent people from sitting on their ass resting for too long. There are no damage meters in this game, so relax and don't think you have to earn your spot in the group by mashing those chains as fast as possible (you actually do less damage doing this!)

Rest efficiently - I know you might have 800 Odella Powder on you, but you don't have to chug it. When a monster dies, take a knee while you see what the tank's next move is. If the tank can take a special attack and be perfectly fine, take a seat as a healer. Don't be the guy that holds up the party. If a boss encounter is going to run for a while, use your Mana Treatment as you lose mana and not when you're totally out of mana. Once it's down and you're out, good luck with that offense of yours.

Don't rush! - A rogue add or patrol jumping in can cause a horrible wipe. Take it easy. Pull everything in your path, and not just the ones not hugging the furthest wall. Get creative with your route and follow it. Remember that while you can jump and glide past some things... you might land in some others, and some people might not land at all in some dungeons. Make sure everyone is on the same page before you try something different.

There's one last thing--talk to people. If you have no idea where the quest mobs are, or why the hell we're standing around this Ice Claw Flag's corpse for, ask. Grouping is all about communication and having a good time. It's okay to screw up, but learn from your mistakes and do your best. A good reputation for grouping can get you invites to Rifting and Fortress sieges!

Making Kinah in Aion

Tired of being poor? Get simple kinah making tips that won’t cost you a lot of time.
If Donald Trump played Aion, would he be Elyos or Asmodian? It doesn’t really matter because once you’ve read this guide; you can be on your way to being as wealthy as the Trumpster without the bad comb over and weird lip thing. There are a wide variety of ways in which you can earn extra kinah in game. Some take more effort than others but even the easiest and smallest tip can amount of more change in your pocket that you may not have otherwise had.

Know Your Enemy - Just as some mobs of the same level give different experience, mobs will also drop different loot. Humanoid creatures will drop coin in addition to loot and while the difference isn’t staggering in reward, the extra coin does make it worthwhile to choose your targets wisely if you happen to be out grinding for XP or kinah.



Crafting is a great way to make a little extra kinah

Also keep in mind that named mobs and Abyss mobs will drop better loot. I don’t advocate farming named mobs during peak hours of gaming, but if it’s a quiet day, hopping back to lower levels (a tier lower than what you currently play in works well if your solo farming) and hitting all the good named mobs is a easy way to pick up a little extra cash.

Pick up a Side Job – Gathering is a super easy and money making side job that every player should be taking part in. You do have to pay money in order to advance your extract ability, but it is well worth it in the long run. This will particularly pay off if you happen to level with the bulk of the player base and again at end game when capped characters are crafting more and in need of the resources.

Crafting, if you can tolerate it, is also an excellent way to make extra kinah. Crafting consumables is always highly and consistently profitable since nearly every player needs them, and will continue to need them throughout their gaming career.

Playing the Market – The broker is your friend! First, you need to learn to price items well. The idea is to get the most you can within a reasonable amount of time so you’ll want to stay in the median of what your item is selling for. If you think that you have a great item and the market seems over saturated with the same item bringing down the cost, save it for when there are fewer on the broker. A crop of green armor can sell out quickly and the less your item has to compete, the more kinah you will get for it.

Another great trick is buying underpriced items and then re-selling it for more. There are players who will sell something, unaware of the value or they are trying to make kinah quickly at the sacrifice of getting a more fair value. Buy low and sell high! It may not work every time at first, but if you spend a lot of time watching the broker, it can become second nature to spot good deals.



The broker can be your best money-making friend!

Manastone Magic – There are quests that allow you to trade manastones you can’t use for manastones you can use. Common manastones don’t fetch much on the broker or at the merchant, but +attack or +critical are two that sell quickly and for a nice sum of money and you have the chance of getting these when you trade in common manastones for the quest. You can either pick up the quests (each tier will have them available at manastone removal NPCs) and use whatever you loot during your travels or you can gather cheap manastones off of the broker and use those.

Most of these little tricks can be done easily without having to go out of your way. Nothing is more valuable than your time so always choose money making tricks that fit into what you are doing in game. If you have any of your own tips to share, please visit our forums and let us know how you’re making kinah in game!

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Aion Flight Facts

Learn what you need to know to get off the ground!
Aion is a game that not only allows for multi-dimensional combat, but encourages it to the point where players may never again want to return to strictly land bound gaming. Having never...

Aion is a game that not only allows for multi-dimensional combat, but encourages it to the point where players may never again want to return to strictly land bound gaming. Having never played a game quite like Aion, I was very anxious to make my way to ascension and earn my wings so I could get my taste of freedom and find out what all the hype concerning Aion flight has been all about. I have found that flight is not at all overstated and while the best way to get to know flying is to learn the system hands-on, we want to give you a running head start with some quick facts that will make mastering flight a lot quicker and easier!

How is flight in Aion possible?


Enjoy views unlike anything you have seen before!

Aion’s lore tells us that prior to the world shattering, flight was common in Atreia and Elyos and Asmodians alike enjoyed this powerful gift as thoughtlessly as we enjoy drawing breath. After the world split, flight had been somewhat forgotten for a time until the discovery of the shards of Aion that were found scattered across the lands. Elyos and Asmodians reclaimed their gift of flight through ascension and Daevas once again soared through the skies of Atreia.

It is amongst these shattered pieces of Aion that we find our ability to fly, and while flight isn’t possible in all parts of the world, it is in many major areas throughout the world and within the Abyss.

When will I get to start flying?
There is no flight through your first 9 levels. The ability is granted once you have completed your ascension quests and you join the ranks of the Daevas. Your first real introduction to flight will be the cities after you have left the newbie area. It is here that you will learn about maneuvering, fighting, and gathering while in the air. It can get a little tricky though, so I strongly suggest flying around as much as possible at first to get the hang of it.

Where can I fly?
Pieces of Aion need to be present in order for players to have the ability to fly. The Abyss highlights aerial combat so you may plan on using flight as part of your strategy here. Around the rest of the world, the best way to tell if flight is possible is to glance at your UI. There is a button on the lower right hand corner that shows a wing graphic when you’re in an area where you can fly and turns black when you cannot fly. This flight indictor will be your best friend whenever you fly.

How do I fly?
You can take off by hitting your “Page Up” key and land by hitting the “Page Down” key on your keyboard. I personally did not like the location of those keys but luckily the game also provides a hotkey icon that you can find in your skills window under the actions tab. Drag and drop the icon from this tab to your hotbar where you can use it to take off or to land. If you prefer mouse control over keyboard, you can also click the flight button on the lower right hand corner of your UI.



Learn to use your UI flight tools.

Flight movement is controlled by your mouse and arrow keys. Use your forward key (either the up arrow if you use the arrow keys, the W key if you use WASD for movement, or the Num Lock for auto-forward) to propel yourself through the air. To maneuver, hold down your right mouse button and mouse look in the direction you wish to travel! Pushing the mouse away from you makes you fly up and pulling it down towards you brings you back down to the ground. You can fly in either first person or third person camera view and Aion’s key mapping allows for customization of the keys you use in game so if the default doesn’t work for you, you have plenty of options to work with.

Are there limits to flight?
Other than the previously mentioned limits to where you can fly, there is another significant limitation that you will always need to keep in mind.

Flight has a time limit. I learned this lesson the hard way in the middle of playing with my flight controls and ended up respawning in my bind location before I even realized what had hit me!

Aion has falling damage and if you are hovering miles above the ground when time runs out, you will die when you hit the ground. That nifty little flight indicator button that we have already talked about also has a timer around it. This ring around the button has 16 bubbles that tick down while you fly and turns red and angrily flashes when it gets down to 4 bubbles to indicate time is almost up. That is generally enough time to find a place to land assuming you haven’t gotten yourself somewhere rather dangerous. You can land in out of the way places like ledges, cliffs, on top of buildings and other structures so even if you aren’t near the ground, finding some place (any place!) to stand while you wait for your flight bubbles to tick back up again is totally okay!

Is there any way to augment flight?
Because flight is a key feature in Aion, there are ways to boost your flight capabilities. Skills and consumables have the ability to raise both your flight time and your flight speed. If you are questing, early on you will likely receive flight time extension potions that will come in handy as you are learning this new aspect of gameplay.

Will there be class skills that are dependent upon flight?


Fall from this distance and you will die!

Most skills follow the same rules as ground combat, but there are class skills that are focused on aerial combat. So far the only skills that I have come across are passive flight skills, but it is clear that some class skills will be more effective while in flight than others.

Is there anything else I need to know about flight in Aion?
Flight is a fun factor in PvE gameplay and it will quickly become a favorite form of travel the very first time you find that you don’t have to walk around anything and instead can fly right over. Many of the PvE zones don’t allow for flight, so it generally ends up being more of a convenience skill than anything but it does make scouting for mobs and adventuring a lot nicer!

In PvP flight becomes a strategy, a hindrance or a blessing, and a whole new level of combat that most players have never experienced before. The Abyss is a dangerous place and each player will need to utilize flight in order to stay competitive on the battlefield. Learn your controls early and play with them often to master this element of gameplay that could very well be the edge in winning!

Guide to Aion Graphic Settings

Make the most of your average computer
Probably my one biggest regrets during the release of Aion is that I can't upgrade my system to enjoy a higher quality of graphics. I updated for EverQuest II and again for Age of Conan, but alas I have been hit by the economic troubles that many have dealing with and I can't splurge this time. The machine that I run as my main gaming comp is very mediocre. I can run anything on the market with good stability but because it isn't top of the line, I do need to make some concessions in my graphic choices to get the best of my gaming experience and I want to share my tricks with you! Please do keep in mind that I am a typical user and not at all a professional. These are my experiences and what works well on my middle line machine.

Graphic Basics
You won't know what to change if you don't know what they do! Here is a quick tutorial on what the sliders and drop downs on your graphic panel are.

Anti-Aliasing - This setting smoothes out the blocky edges of pixels. The higher the setting, the more blended the edges will be.
Bloom Effect - This is your light effect. The various setting change how pretty the lights are!
Background - Graphics that load in the distance. Lower setting limits the detail of what you see far away.
Water Effect - Controls the quality of how water looks. Water is very graphic intensive and one of the first to get mucked up if your graphic settings are too high for your system.
Shadows - Controls the depth and darkness of shadows that are cast by characters and items in game. This is also fairly graphic intensive as it needs to move and render for nearly everything in game if it is set on "high".
Terrain Range - Controls how far away you can see the background and world graphics.
Object Range - Controls how far away you see objects such as other characters, mobs, etc.
Texture Detail - Textures cover nearly everything in game. A higher setting allows for higher detail.
Shader Quality - Quality of detail on background and characters.
High Versus Low Settings
There is a huge difference between the best graphics you can get and the worst. By moving all of the settings low, I accomplish this:



By moving them all to the highest setting, I get this:



Very few machines will need to run on the lowest settings, and clearly you wouldn't want to if you didn't have to. Even during fast-paced PvP or raids, working with settings that low isn't necessary and it is not at all attractive.

Getting the Best for Your Machine
Whenever I log into a MMOG for the first time, my immediate action is to go to my graphics and start setting everything up. Some games have a system detection that will (hopefully) give you the best set up for your machine. Unfortunately I used this feature in Aion and it didn't do what I had hoped and I do not recommend using it. It changed my settings much lower than I would typically run and changed my resolution to something that I would consider unplayable.


So how then do you know what will work for you? Trial and error is probably the best way, but a few tricks can get you started.

Shadows are nice to see, but they take time to render on a mediocre machine so they aren't really worth having. Turn them to the lowest setting! This will relieve stress on your video card and will make things run smoother.

Water effects in Aion look awful on the lowest setting, but this also takes time to render so rather than turning this off, set it to a moderate level using the second or third bar. I have mine right in the middle of the scale and it makes water attractive without making it use up my resources.

Background, terrain range, and object range are things I like to see. If you are playing in game, it's helpful to see what's coming at you before it smacks you upside the head. Most system should be able to handle having these at a moderate to high setting without taking too big of a hit to performance. I feel that what you gain in visibility is worth what you may lose in render speed.

Texture detail and shader quality just make everything look prettier, but the difference you will see between moderate settings and high settings is minimal. Put these towards the middle of the slider and you'll be rewarded with a bit more speed in performance.

Anti-aliasing is the best thing since pixels were invented. To avoid that awful blocky edge that can happen in game you will want to set this as high as you can. My graphic card over rides this setting in game, automatically forcing settings to the highest possible but really all you need to do is try the settings in game to see which is the highest your video card can handle.

Bloom effect is something that you want some of, but more than that doesn't really make the in-game appearance too much more appealing. I don't like harsh bloom so I have mine set on Type 1 in game. I've been reading that a lot of people prefer Type 2, but it's all personal preference. Just watch the background light (if you can find it in Asmodae!) and choose which appeals to you without making your eyeball hurt.

Aion Gear and Enhancement Preview

One of the big things about Aion is building up your gear to help make your avatar a defensive juggernaut or a ruthless killing machine. There are several ways to do this, but with each you need to understand the basics of what they are and how they work.







Gear comes in a number of rarity grades in Aion.



Gear Grades

There are four levels of gear rarity in Aion, each tier more powerful than the next. Some gear you acquire will have sockets for placing manastones or godstones. Chest, legs, shoulder, gloves, and boots will offer socket slots. The more rare the gear, the more sockets the item has.



Normal (Gray): Normal items are the common drops and often found on vendors. Normal items have between 1-2 socket slots.

Rare (Green): Rare items are a bit harder to find but they offer better statistics then normal items. These items drop off of creatures across Atreia and on contribution vendors for those looking rare items for a PvP boost. Rare items generally come with 2-3 socket slots.

Legendary (Blue): Legendary items are difficult to find, but they provide some of the best statistic gear in the game. Contribution vendors also carry these items at a high cost. Legendary items come with 3-4 sockets.

Unique (Orange): Unique items are the hardest to come by, but they also provide the best statistics gear-wise. You can find these on contribution vendors, but expect to pay greatly for them. Unique items come with 4-5 socket slots.



Enchantments

Enchantments improve specific attributes on weapons and armor and are a bit tricky, but the way this works is you will need to buy a set of extraction tools from the general goods vendor. You can then use these tools on an item to try and extract an enchantment stone from it. It is important to note that this will destroy the item. However, the higher the level of the item, the better the enchantment. Once you have your enchantment stone, you can try to use it on one of your items to boost its stats. There is also a chance that you will fail here and lose the stone. Lastly, if you try to enchant an already enchanted item and fail, your item will lose one level of enchantment. So there is always a chance you could do more harm than good through enchantments, but if you can succeed, your power will be enhanced, making it risky, but worth it. One way to reduce your chance of failure is to try and use a higher level stone than your items level.







Manastones enhance a number of stats and can be socketed into armor.



Manastones

Manastones are used to socket your gear and provide it with a number of possible enchantments. You can usually find these stones on various creatures throughout Atreia and very commonly on the trade broker. Manastones provide a number of possible enhancements such as boosting evasion, parry, hitpoints, attack, mana points, and much more. Read the full list of manastones here.



To socket a manastone, you first need an empty socket in a piece of gear. If you have already placed something in the socket, you can pay a visit to the specific vendors in town that can remove your current manastones. Before you remove a manastone, make sure it’s the one you want to be rid of as removing it will destroy the stone.



Godstones

Godstones are the last and one of the most powerful enhancements you can add to gear. Much like manastones, you will need a free socket to use a godstone and you will need to visit a godstone vendor in your faction’s main city. Unlike manastones however, godstones can only be placed in weapons. You can begin socketing godstones at level 30. More importantly, socketing a godstone to a weapon will give you a nice new shiny effect. What good is it to have all that power if you can’t smite an enemy in style? Godstones offer a number of enhancements to your weapon to enhance your attacks, Read the full list of godstones here.



Overall, Aion provides a huge number of options to customize your character’s gear and enhance their power. Enchantments may be risky, but the payoff can sometimes be well worth the risk. The early use of manastones is an essential tool for boosting your gear statistics and the later addition of godstones can turn your weapon into a giant, glowing, instrument of death. With all these enhancements available, you can march into battle well equipped and ready to monkey stomp opposing forces. And if the strong gear enhancements don’t earn you victory, you can always pop your wings and fly away while screaming like a school girl.

Aion Carebear's Guide to Dodging PvP

Not in the mood for a face off? Get tips on how to avoid PvP!
The term “carebear” is often used in gaming as a derogatory term to describe those who choose to not engage in heavy player versus player combat. Yeah, I’ve been called a carebear but since I’m not evil and have nothing against these cuddly little bundles of fluff, I’m okay with it!

Being more PvE centric in a game like Aion isn’t a bad thing. We all have our different play styles, and each should be respected. It does make it hard though when you want to head out to gather for your crafting profession and you end up getting stabbed in the face every time you attempt to do so. You can try to defend yourself but let’s face it; carebear twitch reflex isn’t quite the same as the Ranger that just popped you with an arrow in the back then ricocheted across your screen until you finally died without landing even one hit.

Because Aion encourages PvP, and should, PvE players have to find a way to dodge the player killers and we have a few tips that will make it easier to avoid unwanted PvP gameplay. Whether you are a staunch PvE player who may never step foot in the Abyss, or a regular PvP player who just wants to get a few quests or some gathering done, these tips will work for just about everyone.

My Safeword is Blueberry Pancakes



Zones, like this one in Asmodae, have absolutely no risk of PvP encounters.

Probably the best way to avoid PvP is to go where it cannot. Each faction sports a decent sized zone that has absolutely no access for the opposing faction. For Asmodians it’s Brusthonin and for the Elyos, their PvP free zone is Theobomos. These two zones cover levels 20-40+ but not completely. Best uses of these safe zones are between levels 20-25 and 40-45 which leaves you to your own devices through most of your 30s but these zones can still be utilized for gathering across all levels.

When those zones aren’t appropriate but you’d still like to progress your character unfettered by ganking, grab a group and hit some instances! Dungeons give good and fast experience without the worry of having to watch your back. You may have to live with pick up groups, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made in the name of leveling.

Run Forest, Run!

When playing in a safe zone won’t work for whatever you need to do, you’ll end up having to make your way into one of the several rifting zones and this means you may face players looking to beat you down. It is pretty much impossible to avoid PvP completely in these areas, but you can take control and minimize your exposure. One way to do this is being aware of where the rift incoming locations are at. Opposing faction players will only make it so far in a zone so if you stay away from these hot spots, thus you lower your risk of coming face to face with them.

Another trick is the “radar”. Easy to set up and so extremely helpful in either finding PvP or avoiding it, utilizing your existing chat filtering tools you can set up your own warning radar to go off when danger is near.

Step 1 – Open a new tab on your chat box via the chat menu and drag it to a separate location where it will be easily noticed at all times.

Step 2 – Right click on your new tab and choose “tab options”. Only have selected “Combat-Others” and in the sub section, mark all that are for your Enemy’s.

Step 3 – Make all font colors for the selected sections something that will stand out, such as bright red then hit your “change” button.







Now when an opposing faction enemy enters the area and casts any sort of skill or spell, it will scroll onto your screen before you even see them giving you a chance to either protect yourself, or get the heck to a safe location.

Just Me, Myself, and I

Some times of day are busier than others. Weekends are extremely active and weekday evenings are peak times when a lot of people are on and looking to make war. If at all possible, do your gathering and other low key gameplay when tons of people aren’t on. During the day and late night are perfect for this and often off peak hours will be the key in getting stuff done without getting ganked while doing it.

For those times when you can’t avoid peak gameplay times, be more social! If you spot enemies sneaking around in the shadows, link their map location into regional chat and wait for the cavalry. If you see open rifts, tell people where they are! Aiding your own faction’s PvP players is probably the best way to keep the other faction at bay while making the lands safer for your own travel.

You don’t have to be a hardcore PvPer to enjoy Aion and you don’t have to be the victim every time. Take these tips with you next time you get in game and you’ll find yourself the target of unwanted bloodshed a little less often.

Aion Enchantment Guide

Improving your gear is easier than you might think!
Armor is really the biggest investment you make for your character. We upgrade regularly, spend countless amounts of kinah to buy the best we can afford, and spend countless hours to get the best drops. Making these investments more worthwhile for longer is what enchantments can do and if you haven’t tried using them yet then you are not getting the most you can out of your gear.

Below you will learn all about enchantment stones, what they do, why you need them, and how to use them. Hopefully by the time you are done reading, you’ll be ready to make your gear better and battle ready!

What are Enchantment Stones?

In a nutshell, enchantment stones are player created enhancements that you can buy from other players or create yourself then add to your armor pieces. Once successfully added to your gear you will enjoy an increase in stats that can be very valuable in both PvE and PvP gameplay. Often referred to as “leveling your gear”, you can use up to 10 enchantment stones per armor piece making them a great way to boost your base stats.

How Does Enchanting Work?



Step by step, enchantments aren't that complicated.

Each piece of your armor and weapons start out at basically level 0. Your gear will never degrade beyond its original level 0 stats. Each enchantment stone you add will give you an additional level indicated by a (+1) next to the name of your item. You can add up to (+10) on each piece of gear eventually adding a large amount of extra stats that can be very valuable.

You will obtain enchantment stones, add them to your weapon and armor pieces, and then see the resulting stat benefits. It sounds easy enough but it can get a little complicated.

How do I get started?

First you’ll need extraction tools. You can find these from general merchants in the cities and they go for around 1000 kinah each. They can only be used once so if you intend to do all of your gear you’ll need a stack of them.

Now you need gear to disenchant. If you’re planning ahead, you can save green armor drops which are by far the cheapest way to obtain enchantment stones. If you aren’t thinking ahead then you need to either pick up good deals off of the broker or just buy the enchantment stones. You’ll need gear the same level as the gear you intend to enchant or higher and preferably of green quality or better.

To use the extraction tool, right click on it then click on the gear you wish to disenchant. This destroys the item so don’t use anything you didn’t want to lose. Once the process is complete you’ll have anywhere from 1 to 3 enchantment stones to use. The stones will either be blue, white, or gold and what quality you receive seems to be random though whites or equal level to the piece of armor you extracted from are the most common. I extracted from 6 pieces of armor and weapons of green and white quality and all level 12 and got back 4 white level 12s, and 3 gold level 21s. Not a bad return!

I Have my Enchantment Stones, Now What?



Enjoy better gear immediately

Now comes the fun part…failure! If you intend to do all of your gear, the first order of business is to get everything to +1. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is to add enchantment stones that are about 5 levels higher than the gear you are enchanting if you are working with typical green armor. Blue armor would need stones 10+ levels higher and orange gear would need at least 15+ levels higher. Anything lower will just add to your chance of failure and even at this point you can expect to fail part of the time.

Higher level enchantments have a lower chance of failing, but you will still fail sometimes. This is why as you add multiple levels of enchantment to your gear you’ll really want to invest in higher level enchantment stones to avoid de-leveling your gear back to 0.

In doing my own gear, I had about a 50% success using enchantments about the same level as the gear I was enchanting so I’d really recommend not wasting kinah on higher level enchantments until you’ve achieved a level or two on each of your pieces. You cannot use enchantment stones a lower level than your gear; I tried several times and all failed. My best results were in using enchantment stones 10+ levels higher than my gear; I failed in about 1 of 3 attempts in this case.

Actually applying the enchantment stones is just a matter of right clicking on the stone then clicking on the gear you wish to enchant.

What will the Enchantments do for my Gear?

Daggers and swords get +2 Attack per level.
Greatsword, Polearm, and Bows get +4 Attack per level.
Mace, Orb, Spellbook, and Staff get +3 Attack and +10 Magic Boost per level.
Armor gives a +Defense that depends on what type of armor you are enchanting and what slot it fills.
Shields get a +2 to Damage Reduction per level.
These kinds of stats are certainly nothing to sneeze at and while I don’t recommend enchanting at lower levels unless you’re playing a twink with cash to burn, it is something that is essential at higher levels as part of your typical armor upgrade routine.

A Guide to Selling in Aion

Review the various methods of turning your junk into cash successfully
Have you just been selling those mob drops to any ole merchant? Stop right there then! There is kinah to be had and some of what you have floating around in your inventory can be sold to other players to net you some much needed coin. If you haven't used the player store or broker yet for selling though, it can be a complicated process and it isn't always clear which feature you should be using. We are going to take a look at player stores, the broker, how each works, and what advantages each method has so that you know how to sell your items to get more kinah quicker.

Broker Me This Batman


Just drag and drop from your inventory right into the broker window.

Most players are familiar with the brokering process from other games, and this process is very standard. Brokers are located in the major cities giving you accessibility when you’re out adventuring. The broker has three tabs labeled "Buy", "Sell", and "Sold". To sell an item, it's always a good idea to browse the market for the items you are selling so that you have an idea as to what they are going for. Once you have a price in mind, click on the "Sell" tab, drag and drop the item you wish to sell into the window and another window will pop up asking you how much you'd like to sell the item for. There will be a suggested price, but these really don't reflect the current market so it is unwise to use this number without doing a little bit of research. You will notice that there is a cost to using the broker selling service which will also be displayed at this time. Put in your price and accept the broker fee and your item will be immediately removed from your inventory and listed.

Now that your item is up, it will stay on the broker until it sells or for 8 days. If it doesn't sell, the item will be returned to you. If it does sell then you will get an on screen message that tells you that you have a sale to settle at the broker. You'll see this message as the item sells if you are logged in, or you will see it as soon as you log in if it sold while you were offline.

To retrieve your kinah, visit the broker and click on the "Sold" tab. It will list what items have sold and for how much. The kinah is not given to you automatically and you must click on each item that was sold and then click on a small button at the bottom of the window that says "Sold Item" to get your coin.

The expense and process of using a broker is this method's downfall. It costs both time and money making it sometimes inconvenient when you have a bagful of stuff and no plans to travel back into town anytime soon. The upside is that you can put your items on the broker and forget about them until they sell (or don't). Nearly everyone checks the broker so you are reaching a wide audience and if you have needed and reasonably priced items, they will likely sell.

Working the Corner in a Whole New Way


Click the button at the bottom to get your kinah!

Private stores have gotten a bad rap since the launch of the game. They were unfortunately abused recently to prevent players from logging out of game prompting the developers to put a 30 minute time limit on their use when a player is AFK. They also tend to become this sea of never ending characters that clog up busy areas making it difficult to even see what is up for sale. Player stores do have some benefits though; most notably the lack of cost involved and the convenience of being able to set up shop anywhere and at any time.

To open a player store, either hit your "Y" key or click on the menu icon and select "Player Store". This opens the store window where you can drag and drop items into your store and add the sale price. There is a dialog box that allows you to put a message up for potential buyers to see when you activate your store. This message should give an idea as to what you are selling or a reason why other players will want to take a look at your goods, but you can pretty much put whatever strikes your fancy.

Because your own player store is free and always accessible, this makes it appealing for the average seller. However, it is very limited on how long you can utilize this feature and the only people you can sell to are those that can see you. This ends up working well for things that people need when they are out and about; consumables, such as potions, are great to see at a good price no matter where you are but truly, well priced items are always welcome. Chances are you won't get as much kinah for items sold in this manner, but the ability to quickly unload a few things from your inventory when you're taking a real life dinner break is priceless.

Which Do You Use?
Both! If you don't have a preference, then you can easily use both in certain situations. If you're not close to town but have some nice items in your bag, stop in at the nearest outpost, toss up your store, and go for a bio break. Save your biggest and best items, such as green or blue armor and weapons, for the broker as these tend to fetch quite a bit on the market but feel free to unload your smaller items wherever you happen to be and you will be rewarded with lighter bags and a heavier purse.

Aion Elyos and Asmodian Ascension Walk-through

Find out how to earn your wings!
Whether you are Asmodian or Elyos, the first 10 levels of your time in Aion are just a small taste of what you will experience for the length of your character's life. Real adventure and challenge begins once you have completed your ascension quests, have chosen your class path, and are initiated as a Daeva. It is at this time you gain your wings and finally get to learn the intricacies of your character's career choice.

There are two ascension quest lines in game, one for each faction. These quests are given to you automatically when you reach level 9 and can be found under the "Campaign" tab of your quest journal. You can choose to do the quests as soon as you get them, or you can wait until you've finished up your time in the newbie area. You won't be able to progress much further until you've chosen your class path and have ascended, but remember that you can always travel back to the beginner area after you have ascended if you want to complete quests or help out friends!

Elyos Ascension


The first order of business is to find and speak with Pernos. If you've been questing then you've probably already met him. If not, he can be easily found along Agaric Spore Road in the northern part of Poeta. After a long dialog, he sends you on a mission to fill a vial from the center island of Cliona Lake. Once you've found the location, open your inventory and right click the vial to fill it!

With the full vial in your bag, you need to visit Lord Daminu in Daminu Forest. He's pretty much the only huge tree with a face along the road so he's hard to miss! He craves the nourishing liquid from Cliona Lake and you will use it to force Lord Daminu to share his essence. Luckily this isn't as gross as it sounds and you end up watching the old tree cry out an apple which you will nab up and take back to Pernos.

These things are suppose to help restore your memory and reveal your destiny. After speaking with Pernos again, you'll be taken to a scenario. You'll look pretty pimp and people will be hailing you as a "Lord" as you walk up the ramp to meet Belpartan. You'll speak with him and Belpartan will tell you that they need your assistance in defeating the Balaur, then your character will do a nose dive off the cliff and go flying in a cutscene. When you land you'll gain back control of your character as enemies attack you. The small group of mobs are easy to defeat and no match for your obvious glory and skill. The next guy is only slightly more difficult. The Orissa of Horror will spawn and attack you. These encounters are meant to be won so none of the enemies hit very hard or take much to destroy. Before you defeat the Orissa of Horror, you will again be transported to a cutscene where you will witness the rest of the battle.


All of this is meant to show you who you are and reveal you as a powerful warrior on the path of a Daeva. Now that you know that you aren't simply a scout, warrior, mage, or priest you will choose which specialized path you wish to follow. You choose your class then are taken back to the beginner area where you were, next to Pernos. He will ask you if you wish to stay and finish up your business in Poeta or if you are ready to head to the Sanctum and complete your Deava ceremony.

When in Sanctum, you'll need to speak with the tiny little Leah who will be just ahead of where you spawn in the city. She will send you to speak with Jucleas in the Lyceum. A cutscene will take you through the ceremony which is when you are granted your wings (yay!). After all is done here, you will be asked to visit your trainer to receive your gift for completing the ascension. The gift seems to be a weapon or off-hand item of good quality and very nice to have in those young levels.

13 Things to Know Before Playing Aion

Kick start your journey to the Tower of Eternity!

If you're jumping into Aion for the first time this weekend, you'll find it's different than other MMORPGs you might have played in more ways than one. Ten Ton Hammer has compiled a quick list of 13 hints and tips to get you off to a great start in your first 10 levels. Have a look!

13 things to know before playing Aion



If you're jumping into Aion for the first time this weekend, you'll find it's different than other MMORPGs you might have played in more ways than one. Ten Ton Hammer has compiled a quick list of 13 hints and tips to get you off to a great start in your first 10 levels.





Collect early, and look forward to aether harvesting when you get flight at or about level 10.

Start collecting early. Aion has two gathering skill progressions: collecting and aether harvesting. Collecting can be done at level on, e but aether gathering doesn't start until you start flying at level 10 (look for the floating green nodes at that point). You can avoid backtracking to earlier areas if you start early. Crafting and even some quests hinge on your ability to collect and gather aether..

Titles not only look cool, they add stats as well. Look for titles as you complete longer quest lines under your character profile and equip them early.

Manastones are a cheap and easy way to add a little extra umph to your equipment, but keep in mind that while you can remove a manastone to free up a slot, you won't get that manastone back. +4s are fairly plentiful early, but save your +12s for green and blue items you'll be hanging onto for a while. You'll start seeing two-socket items around level 10.

Unlike other MMORPGs, you won't find yourself fully kitted out early in the game as the result of completing class quests. Spend some of that hard earned cash on clothing upgrades as you can and enjoy dying less often.

Thankfully, Aion offers a nice amount of inventory space (i.e. your "cube") but should you find yourself running out of space, a cube vendor in the starting village will be glad to expand your cube. The first upgrade is now pretty cheap.

Resting (keystroke [comma] by default) helps you regain health and mana much more quickly. Try it and save bandages / potions for when you really need to reduce downtime.

Upgrade early and often at the starting village's market area.

Both starting areas have an end dungeon where players tend to converge. You're all after the same thing, so why not try a group on for size? It's as simple as a right click on another player and then clicking "invite," and you'll get through the dungeon content with far less risk.

Power shards are sort of like ammo for all weapon types (mage spellbooks included) and proc occasionally for increased stats. Like manastones, they're fairly common drops and cheap to buy, so keep a fresh stack attached to your weapon.

Using the /pathfinding [name] feature can save you some time and cut down on the wandering aimlessly portion of quest or NPC hunting. /pathfinding can be used to locate areas and NPCs, so have fun with it.

For those of you dual-booting the Windows 7 RC1 preview, Aion's anti-hack program has some pretty nasty qualms with the new OS. Install in Vista or XP if you're dual-booting to save some potential installation headaches (Disabling UAC doesn't work, in my experience).

If the default UI isn't to your taste, experiment with more standard layouts via the settings menu.

Have green items that you don't want or can't use? If you're long on cash and short on manastones, buy "extraction tools" from a General Goods vendor for 1,000 kinah (thanks for the clarification, Deluxion - also note that this is not a skill-based crafting item) to break down green weapons into special "enhancement" stones.

Despite the ominous warning you get when you seek to complete your ascension quest at level 9 or 10, you can speak to a teleporter to return to the starting area if you have quests to complete there. It's worth completing the ascension quest asap because of the new abilities you'll get.

As a bonus, most quest locations are easy to find, but three proved to be a headache for me as I leveled to 10 on the Elyos side. If you run into trouble, here's some locations:



The Ancient Cube (x=231, y=2007)

Cauldron (x=297, y=2077)

Tutty (x=228, y=1903)

Special thanks to Martuk and Sardu for their help in putting together this list, but this is just the start. Jump into the forums to share and read more helpful Aion tips and hints!

Elyos Vitality and Aether Extraction 100-199

Find out where to get the nodes you need!
Now that you're ready to move on to the next tier of gathering, you will be spending most of your time in Eltnen. Unfortunately, as you will likely find, the rifts don't always allow for unhindered gathering and you will become the victim of the occasional band of Asmodians who have come through looking for easy targets. The best way to avoid unwanted PvP action while you're trying to level your vitality extraction skill is by taking the time to travel to Theobomos for vitality leveling. There are less gathering node types to choose from, but you won't have to watch your back every second either.

A couple of nodes to pay particular attention to are the Umblia and Omblic nodes. Umblia, an alchemy material, sells steadily on the broker and Omblic drops the rare Omblic Petal that dyes armor the popular red color. If you are hurting for kinah, it's a good idea to gather from these nodes whenever possible for resale.

You can find vitality and aether extracting for skill levels 1-99 here or check out our full list of gathering guides for both Elyos and Asmodian here!


Material Collecting
Skill Level Collection Node Location
100 Titanium Found nearly everywhere in Eltnen and Theobomos in the 20-30 level range areas.
105 Lumesia Near Eltnen Fortress, Manduri Forest, Putrid Mire, and in the Theobomos Ruins
110 Wiki Through out Manduri Forest
120 Rubashi Manduri Forest
130 Lapia In the water around Eltnen Fortress and in the Putrid Mire
140 Koa Log Found nearly everywhere in Eltnen and Theobomos in the 20-30 level range areas.
145 Topaz Putrid Mire, Manduri Forest, Eiron Desert, Theobomos Ruins, Theobomos Scorchlands
150 Fess Eiron desert, Ruberein wastes, Outpost Ruins, Drake Habitat, Mystic Spring of Anathe, Eastern Eracus, Western Eracus, and the Theobomos Scorchlands
155 Aquamarine Outpost Ruins, Drake Habitat, Theobomos Revenge Valley, Theobomos Ruins
160 Gold Outpost Ruins, Eastern Eracus, and Theobomos Ruins
160 Omblic Mystic Spring of Anathe
170 Umblia Eiron desert, Ruberein wastes, Mystic Spring of Anathe, Eastern Eracus, and Western Eracus
180 Ruta Mystic Spring of Anathe, Eastern Eracus, and Western Eracus
185 Zircon Kuriullu Mountain, Eastern Eracus, and Theobomos Ruins
190 Bacora In the waters at Mystic Spring of Anathe



Aether Extracting
There are quite a few varied level vortexes above Eltnen Fortress. They might be hard to find though because they are popular and frequently in use. At levels 100-150, I'd stick with the vortexes that are surrounding the transportation platform. The rings and floating island make great landing spots to go back and forth. You can also land on the cliffs above the fortress and manage to stay pretty close to a few vortex nodes. There is a vine that sticks out of the southeast side of the cliffs above the fortress that is a usable distance from a couple of 175 nodes.

Gathering from these nodes works a lot better during off hours, either later at night or during the day so if you have free time during these hours, use them to gather aether!

100 Big Vortex Near the transportation platform at Eltnen Fortress
125 Big Vortex Good nodes around the island and on the west side of the Fortress
150 Big Vortex A couple of spots on the south side and west side along the cliffs
175 Big Vortex A couple on the southeast side of the cliffs

Asmodean Vitality Extraction Guide 200-299

Boldly go where no gardeners have gone before.
What keeps you going? What is it that makes you keep right clicking furiously on anything that sprouts out of the ground? You've tackled the titanium and mined the minerals of the earth, and uprooted the ...

To hell with the alliteration. You've done well to come this far in Vitality Extraction. Hitting 200 is the halfway point. And to some, it might as well be the halfway point to the halfway house. This is serious business at this point and there are no easy ways to go about this anymore. Brace yourself.

Things are going to get pretty serious at this point. There are a few fairly safe regions to do these, but they're less than optimal. Hell, if you wanted to do 200-250, you could do it all right outside the Beluslan Fortress walls. But those nodes are sparse and highly botted due to the non-aggressive nature of the enemies in the area. I wouldn't advise being below level 30 for the first half of this guide, and 35 for the second half. You need to at least be able to handle 2 enemies at once and that's the safest blanket answer I can give you for the regions I'll be sending you to. Can you handle it sooner? Probably. Should you? Depends on how desperate you are to be ahead of the curve on your tradeskills.

Make damn sure your backpack is clear. Each one of these nodes at this point will have at least one, sometimes two high quality/rare possibilities. Pure-types sell oh so nicely....


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200-235
Welcome to the Red Lava Cliffs, or the Salitnus Rise. Either one works about the same for this tier, because all you'll likely be tapping is Adamantium. Follow the outermost ridges on the rise as you approach the Ice Claw Village and you'll find plenty of Adamantium for the taking. Jump off the cliff and check the area below for more spawns and as you make your way up mining more, you'll find the nodes have respawned. If you prefer the more dangerous volcano route, do long paths along the road to Alsig Village. Platinum and Adamantite spawns all alongside it, and you can go along the southern of the two roads going east for more opportunities. If you reached a bridge with the Tree NPC, stop! You've gone too far! I've already scouted the area beyond it and there's nothing there :( If all else fails in this tier you can return to the Sprigg Habitat and harvest up another stack of Kirka and Chikra that you did for the last part before.



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235-250
...Now you have to go to the Red Lava Cliffs and run the exact same pattern if you did it already, and target Platinum. If you are level 30-33, I would find an ideal spot, between two or three good nodes, and just get in a grinding rhythm, extracting whenever the nodes are up. It can grate on you but you can level both extraction and your character at the same time at a respectable rate. Take all of the adamantite and platinum you can get, and be on the lookout for rarer crystal nodes as you trek to the east. While they aren't the best to skill up, at this point you know how much those silly handicrafters and alchemists will pay for these fancy stones. Unless you are one yourself, that is. In that case my apologies and I wish you luck on being self-sufficient on your endeavors... but take adamantium to 240 before you start passing it over at least, and go for platinum from there. Most people care less about platinum so you're more likely to find those nodes untouched than the smithing ores.
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250-280

If you're a tailor, you'll love me. Xilix is all over the damn place in the Alsig Crossroad. Look next to trees, in fields, behind you, you'll see it every few enemies. Hell, you'll even see it around town if you're one of those crazy bastards leveling up the skill before you can even handle the enemies in the area. Just look right outside the south gate and to the west after that, outside the southwest gate. Two easy spawns and you shouldn't have to touch a single enemy to get them, and a 250 log or two along the way. This can take you to 300 if you can stomach it. Of course, if you're feeling brave, I have something else in mind.
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280-300

You will likely hate me for this, but the fastest way to do it with no competition is to go to North Brusthonin. Yes, a level 45+ area. I am not sending you to die for no reason. At this point in the game you know how to judge aggro ranges and thread the needle when running in-between two aggressive enemies. You will make use of these skills and go to where no one really is at this point, at least to gather. Zeller and Pressa are in abundance in the area immediately west and north of the NPC guards of the border between the 20 and 45 zones. You should be able to access a Pressa node from within sight alone while standing at the guards, just northeast of them. If you're too much of a sissy to go out further, just harvest this to 300. If you want to get your feet wet and start scouting out the real nodes in the area and start spotting good stuff like Mithril and Subella, head west into Nabor Lake and follow the southern coast to start locating plenty of good node patterns. You just might see me touch on this in our next section as our first run!


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Vitality extraction is getting interesting, isn't it? Or at least, as interesting as right clicking a gathering point can get. With the game having such a low aggro range on 99% of the enemies in the game, this opens up a whole new world of low level gathering. Thankfully it requires some intelligence and finesse, so you can make yourself stand out from the crowd if you're looking to craft the best of the best before you're even capable of wearing it, or want enough tries at that Noble Worthy Ultimate Silly Orange You'll Replace in 5 Levels Anyway for your craft. The choice is yours, and the path is yours. We have one final step left. It'll be brutal. It'll require a high level, or a death wish. One of these is easier to deal with in this game than the other, but only you can answer that for yourself! Decide and we'll see you in our final segment of Asmodean Vitality Extraction!