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10 things to know about Aion Online

With the release of Aion Online looming ever closer (and open beta starting tomorrow), I thought it might be a good idea to get some kind of basic points out there for people that a teetering on the edge of joining. If you’ve been following it for some time, you may have heard some of these points before. Without further adieu…

  1. You make your own race. Alright, that may not be exactly true but for most people, it will be. You start off the game choosing either Elyos (good) or Asmodians (evil). By default, they look human; however, the character creator is powerful enough to let you customize them to your hearts content. Want a dwarf? Make one. Want a goblin? Make one. Want Orlando Bloom? Yeah, you guessed it. Make him.

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  1. Sorry, no talents here. Without any outside factor, all characters of the same race/class will be exact duplicates. However, Aion’s answer to WoW’s talents are stigmas. Stigmas are slottable abilities and ability modifications that will commonly be found as drops. Each character will have five slots for “normal” stigmas and three for “advanced” stigmas.
  2. Before level 25, Aion is a PvE game. If you’re getting into Aion solely for the PvP, prepare to wait a while. The main PvP zone (and endgame) is the Abyss and is level bound to only those above 25. Before that, it’s possible to engage in PvP through rifts (portals) that open throughout the world and transport players into enemy territories. Aion has a solid PvE aspect to it. If you liked WoW’s leveling game, you’ll probably like Aion’s.
  3. Aion is not just a PvP game. It’s PvPvE. Most readers can break down the acronym into its parts but may not be familiar with how such a system will actually work. Imagine this, you make your way into a dungeon through a tunnel from the south. You’re running along and all of the sudden an enemy group of players bursts out from an intersecting tunnel, heading towards the same boss as you. Only one group can make it there and battle ensues. That is PvPvE. Players fight each other for strategic control of resources and dungeons. There’s also the added issue of the Balaur…
  4. The third NPC faction is there to hold you down. Apart from fighting amongst ourselves, Aion also features a third computer controlled faction known as the Balaur. This guys jump into battles throughout the Abyss. Typically, they target the winning side to keep things balanced. Expect them to come for you at one point or another. This faction also has hold of a very cool PvPvE dungeon known as the Dredgion.
  5. Flight is easy to do, hard to master. It’s one of those beautiful little systems that you anyone can use but few can use well. I’ve read reports from some top PvPers out of Korea and China and the ability to use flight well can make or break a fight. Don’t expect to be a master a flight based PvP based on wafting around the earlier zones. You’re going to die and probably a lot to begin with.
  6. Choose your class with grouping in mind. If you’re planning on PvP’ing, plan on playing in a group. Some roles are more effective within groups than others. Like most games, very few can play well alone in PvP. As you’re leveling, consider the skills, abilities, and stigmas that will help you maximize your potential while playing with other people.
  7. Collecting Abyss points is like collecting honor. You earn Abyss points when you kill other players and Balaur. These points determine your PvP rank, which is effectively your badge of honor. There are a limited number of slots for each rank, so not only do you have to earn enough points to qualify, you need to remain competitive while you’re playing to keep the rank. On top of that, Abyss Points can be exchanged for new gear, in turn lowering your rank. Check out this article for more details.
  8. The higher your PvP rank, the more you have to lose. When you die in the Abyss, you lose some of your Abyss points. At the lowest Abyss rank, you’ll have to die five times to lose the value of a single kill. At the highest rank (of which there can be only one person) dying twice loses 140% of the points a single kill will earn you. As you can see, dying is meaningful and something you’ll want to avoid. Hence, playing solo is a lot more dangerous than playing with a group.
  9. You can learn every available profession. This is a big selling point for me; however, even though you can learn everything it’s going to be hard, if not nearly impossible, to max everything out. If you do become a master crafter however, you receive a special title and stat bonuses depending on what craft you’ve mastered. On top of that, crafted items have a chance of being created with special attributes over the base item, somewhat like LotRO’s crafting system.

Hopefully these points help some of you decide whether you’d like to try the game and inform some of you that haven’t already heard them. The game is lot deeper than this list might imply but it should give you some basic insight into how things work.

Oh, and number ten. I almost forgot. Take the game for what it is. Similar to WoW in many ways, different in others and a melting pot. Unreasonable expectations will only lead you to be let down with this game for the sole reason that it’s core focus is not revolutionizing the genre.

If there’s something you’re curious about, check out this great Aion Online Wiki. If you have any other insights, feel free to share them below.

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  1. /AFK – Sept 6 « Bio Break

    […] Game By Night has 10 things — not 8, not 12 — that everyone should know about Aion upon the pain of torture. […]

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