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.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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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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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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!
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!
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.
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.
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