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!