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The latest eye on the community finally answers a major question that people such as puremallace have been asking in Aion Discussion - xp will not reset in 2.0 and soul debt will not be forgiven.

They also provide several guide links, although they missed our very own guide for Taloc's instance from VashioKun. I wanted to point out to the community that his guide is in the guides section right now, because it's a very detailed guide with lots of images to help people through. I love those types of guides.

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Cheers,

Snoozle

~Nukey~ Tells All - From the Korean Perspective

~Nukey~ is a member of our community who just happens to speak both Korean and English. He also plays on both the K-Aion server Siel and the NA server Vaizel as an Asmodian in the <MAYHEM> Legion (NA + Chinese + Korean Guild). He is somebody who knows more about what is happening in the Korean game version than we've been able to figure out with Google Translate (Google Translate has a personal vendetta against Snoozle creatures).

Without further ado, here's what ~Nukey~ wanted to tell us.





It sounds bad, but 1.5 to 1.9 ~Nukey~ did not accept Templars in his group, except for doing Tahabata "Easy mode" runs if some high dps was not on to get it done faster. Even if they were full 40 elite, 50 elite or fenris.... Now, ~Nukey~'s group is taking a Templar or not going.

Yes, everybody who rolled a Temp believing that they were the end game tank, who then discovered that everybody could use a Glad or maybe even a Sin for tanking, well, now you ARE the end game tank.

Hate is 100% fixed along with P.def now. If a ranger takes a mob from 100% to 10%, it is now possible to use voke + taunt and grab aggro on the mob from 10% to 0%. This was not possible with 1.51 or 1.9.

Why is a Templar tank needed? Here's a video that demonstrates the concept - look at 2:05 - 2:30 especially. The Templar goes from 14k to 0 in one shot. He didn't use the 4k DP + Iron Skin that he was supposed to use for the next 2-3 skills and died. The group just managed to recover.



2.0 end game bosses aren't able to be tanked without a Templar. Padmarashka and Sematariux have been attempted with a raid of 90 level 55 full eternally geared Koreans and they got it down to 75% at best with a 200,000 HP Governor Templar tanking. ~Nukey~ calls them Ped and Sed as they are the eternal god dragons.

They are the only two mobs in the game that have not been killed yet. They cast AOE/SLEEP/SILENCE/STUN/TREE/SLOW and can throw instant 10k-50k hits.

In PVP, Templars can be real beasts. Watch how he switches from GS to Mace + Shield depending on who he's fighting. Look at the weaving, the motions, and the 5-10+ banging on him while he can still kill people >____>!!!



And for those Templars who are out there that think they're geared, check the following out and drool.



Here are some videos ~Nukey~ has given us for our enjoyment. If you click on the links then it will take you to the full browser versions.










In Korea with version 2.0.1, the Divine fortress is fixed and the Balaur take it quite often. I believe NA will go live with 2.0.1. The Balaur fortresses go vulnerable 3-6 times compared to the 1-3 in the regular abyss and the Balaur take them back like crazy.
The first two new forts for each faction are easy, with just sheer numbers. Around 300-400 per takeover.

The enemy faction forts are extremely difficult just because you need to move 500+ faction members through the canyon (which is all 55 elites + 55-57 legendary/heros with a large aggro radius), move into the enemy zone, and defeat faction "guard towers and defenses" (2-3 of them, because you are not going to glitch or glide or chance a 300-500+ raid on mountains). Once in the enemy land and in position, players need to take both artifacts before attempting a successful attempt on a fort. Artifacts are the safest spot to kisk after using 2 of them. The following are some videos showing important parts of the new fort system.

Gelkmaros Dragons/Balaurs Taking Back a Fort

NC-KOREA finally addressed the issue of preventing an "imbalance in gear" when there is one faction overwhelmingly in power. If The Elyos have 0 forts and the Amso have all 4 of the new Forts, then the Elyos Govenor will spawn in 2 hours at the "outpost center", located in the mid-eastern part of the Ingg. map. On a side note, Korean's do come prepared to Siege (that's 50-60M in weapons alone below).



The benefits of one faction having the four forts are as follows.

• Pet's are available for questing once the 4 forts are taken. Yes, the mystery Shugo is obtained from a fort quest on the enemy faction's forts.
  
• You are unable to craft the Orange to Orange Eternal proc without owning 4 forts ( Craft-able items from the NPCS). If you are a master crafter.
  
• Quest items are obtained by taking the enemy faction forts, losing them, and retaking the forts again.

The question everyone on these forums and the official ones have is "How the heck do I do the quest <Blessing to the Agent>" (editor's note: there is a version for all the weapon types on the Armory). There is a 117,000 kinah item available from the general goods vendor.



Well, it is Part #1 of 4 for the lvl 54 extendable weapons quest. If the Elyos (as a group) use 100 of these items total on their Governor, then the Governor will use (1 time only) an "insta gib move" to the other faction. The Regional Governor is absolutely Insane. It has wiped 400-700 players in Korea with using that single move. It is very hard to recover without kisks.



For the quest, players need to use 10 of these items, to complete 1/30 for the part #1 of the quest. In total it costs around 32,000,000 to complete 30/30 repeats for the "generator" to "heal" your faction's governor.

With that being said, The Asmo council will have to give up the 4 forts to the elyos and not defend or attack in order to start the quest. On the flip side... When either faction attacks the other faction's forts and *gains the most AP + CP for their legion* They obtain a special quest item in the mail.

The item is as follows: Mastarius's Favor

So on the Korean servers, the dominating faction takes the other sides forts over and over, and loses them on purpose to obtain the quest items. When "the player base" decides they are ready they keep the forts, they turn in the 9 quest items for this weapon for example.

When the Governor spawns and is killed, the players receive god-stones, enchantment stones, quest starting rewards and the coveted "quest item". It is possible to turn in that item plus the golden item for an eternal item, such as this weapon. After a player completes the 5/5 armor plus the weapon, they are given the "chain" unlocked quest to turn in for the eternal.





Level 55 Eternal Weapon's do drop with some of the best PVE stat's in the game. One example is Yamennes' Tome, although the 19% is a cast speed increase and not an attack speed increase.

Some new information is that the Divine Splinter Drops *ACTUAL PVP DEF% + ATTACK% gear* lvl 52-55 golds with 4-slots. Comparable or better to lvl 50 elite shirts.



The Inggison/Gelkmaros set is an amazing set that is fairly cheap to obtain, even if you have Fenris. Many Korean sin's for example have this set stacked with 100% MR. Along with the new sin skill that gives +500 MR + (-200 MR) for the enemy by using lightning slash. So +700MR from skills plus all the MR from the set bonus and socketed. I will be obtaining mine.

It is only 13,000,000 Total for 5/5 Set at around 10-15 days of "grinding". Here's an example shirt.

• 2M for Gloves Killl XXX Mobs obtain XXX items repeat 40x times X 50k
  
• 2M for Shoes Killl XXX Mobs obtain XXX items repeat 40x times X 50k
  
• 2M for Shoulders Killl XXX Mobs obtain XXX items repeat 40x times X 50k
  
• 3M Pants Killl XXX Mobs obtain XXX items repeat 20x times 150k per turn in x 20 times = 3M
  
• 4M Shirt Killl XXX Mobs obtain XXX items repeat 20x times 200k Kinah per turn in X 20 times = 4M

People have gotten full Vielle/Mastarius sets (the quest series is detailed in a section above), but if you're talking about the "eternal gear set" then the answer is no. 500-2,000 Koreans lead to the Gov's drop of 2-4 Eternals (100% eternal drop rate confirmed by Korean DEV on playforum.net/aion). Everyone who helped with the kill will get godstones, enchantment stones, and the quest item (the really good item you want) in the mail.



Here's a picture of the Ing/Gel armor quests from the Korean version. It's the same as in the NA version.



The level 53 craftable eternal set is available for players too. Things like the Master Carved Hoca Tunic can be made by players.







~Nukey~ has been able to identify that dueling should not be affected by the defense buff obtained whenever you're in a lower level homeland area. This means that right now, the PTS and Korean versions differ in at least that manner. We know that the swimsuits aren't in the NA version either. ~Nukey~ believes that all other factors are the same between the PTS and the Korean version - this includes the guards.





~Nukey~'s favorite part, because he loves both PVE & PVP and doesn't just side one with aspect of the game....

FREE ( haha nothing's free in life ) Eternal RING + NECKLACE + EARRING from quests!

The steps needed for this quest are:

• Take 24 hopefully level 55 char's ( usually take another full alliance with you, to guard you in PVP)
  
• Kill 3 Hero lvl 55 red bar Guards
  
• Spend Kinah
  
• Get Free Eternals: ring quest, necklace quest, and the earring quest

Both factions guard these (NPCS) insanely on the Korean servers! They don't want the other faction to obtain free externals. The kinah amounts are incorrect on the website for NA too. It should be a 20M Neck, 15M Earring, and 10M ring.





Since Asmo's often complain about being under geared compared to the Elyos, here's a "hidden" quest for them. The Elyos can figure out the quest for their side themselves.













So that's the interview that ~Nukey~ gave us over PM's and he is looking forward to seeing everybody in 2.0. I personally am looking forward to dusting off my Templar for the uber tanking experiences of 2.0.



Cheers,

Snoozle

Aion Armory is at 2.0 and Needs Volunteers

2.0 is Live on the Armory

I just wanted to let everybody know that the armory is live with 2.0 data. In Aion 2.0, there are:

• 3725 new items for you to collect
  
• 327 new quests to be done
  
• 400 new recipes
  
• 6 new item sets
  
• Lots of pets to <3

2.0 promises to be an exciting expansion. Also, I'd like to take this moment to let everybody know that the French and German versions of the Armory are coming up soon (at http://fr.aionarmory.com/ and http://de.aionarmory.com/ respectively) in time for when 2.0 goes live on the 7th.



Aion Armory Volunteers Needed

As one can expect, Aion Armory has changed quite a bit since it first started and it's the volunteers who help approve your edits that make it tick since Curse chose not to break the Aion TOS by having players collect data with a client outside of the game. We are now looking for new volunteers to help with the Armory.

The Armory staff are assigned with the role of approving screenshots/guides/stigma builds/NPC&Item edits and anything else remotely related. They are also responsible for porting guides to the Armory, checking for bugged/missing content and repairing said content where possible (or reporting it to those that can).

If you're interested in volunteering, please throw me a PM with all the information you deem relevant. Things like name, location, availability, and past experience (with databases/wiki-type systems) are helpful.

Cheers,

Snoozle

Good morning my lovely Aionsourcers, today I'm happy to not only give a rather delayed public welcome to new staff but also announce a change to existing ones.

Firstly a warm welcome to our new trainee moderators Szalkerous & Widow.

Some of you may have met these lovely two already, do try to be well behaved around them or I may be forced to release Diablo... that will not be a pretty sight. Needless to say new moderators take some getting used to as everyone has their unique moderating style although if you guys have any concerns please feel free to contact Snoozle or Myself. Besides that though we've been very happy with their work so far and hope you guys treat them well!

This brings me to my next point ever so conveniently, our most beloved Snoozle.

Snoozle is a creature that needs no introduction here on Source however I am extremely happy to officially congratulate it on becoming our newest Administrator. Snoozle will be heading up the content management team and assisting with the moderators so a big thank you on my behalf for the fantastic work you've already done Snoozle and that which you will no doubt do in future.

A big thanks to all our staff and to our users for supporting them!

Warmest Regards,
-Cynic.

As people have been exploring the pets, the new instances, and the new zones in the Aion 2.0 expansion on the PTS, many have also asked, "Where's the PvP?". Given that Aion is a two-faction PvP-oriented game, it's a fair question. There are some really good PvP possibilities with 2.0 headed up by Silentera Canyon, but there are also some very big flops from the PvP player's perspective. As a person who loves PvP (RIP Shadowbane), I thought I'd take a crack at telling the community what's up.

The Good

Silentera Canyon

The biggest positive from my point of view is easily Silentera Canyon. I was able to have a looksee at the canyon after GMs helped to take the two fortresses for entrance to it on the test server and it looks like it has some really good potential. As a disclaimer, I entered when the Elyos were unable to enter and it's possible that more guards may spawn when both sides can enter the canyon. Kisks can't be used in the canyon.

The big thing I noticed at once is that the mobs are spread out and look easy to kite. This has got to be the dream instance for any class that kills elites through kiting. The instance also links to perpetual entrances into the enemy lands and you can stay there as long as you want. I was never ported back when sitting in Elyos territory when I was on the Asmodian faction. The following map from a PC Gamer article shows the Silentera Exits for both factions.



I took quite a few images of the instance as I was able to wander around in between the elite mobs. Even the central area of Jotun Square had only a few, very large Jotuns that were easily avoided. There were quests available for things like collecting items in the instance and so there are things other than PvP to do in the instance. And what's not to like that I could potentially gank somebody at Pacifist's Walk?

Elyos Side Guards Overlooking from Western Corridor

New Fortresses

For those who like large and more epic PvP, there are two new fortresses for each faction side in Balaurea and you can't fly in either one of them. Those fortresses have a purpose - when you obtain them for your side you'll open Silentera Canyon for your faction. The fortresses appear to be more difficult to obtain and retain when compared to regular Abyss fortresses.



It is possible to obtain all 4 fortresses (2 on your faction's side and 2 on the opposing faction's side) in order to spawn a regional governor two hours later. That governor drops an eternal class item and apparently can mail players gift rewards involving platnum medals, stigma shards, etc.



More Interesting Map Aerodynamics and Design

The new maps in Balaurea make better use of gliding and gliding itself has been incrementally improved. Gliding actually works more like gliding now where you can lay off all keys and occasionally gain altitude, but when you press the forward key (the "w" for most people), you increase your speed and go down quickly. The below image shows what this now looks like - it's very obvious when people are holding down the forward key now.



There are a fair number of canyons and places that seem separated from the rest of the map. However, the difference between these places and previous maps is that they now have water/air spouts and windstreams that will change the dynamics of how people travel on the map. These added features should make for some different types of PvP experiences. For instance, you can fall both up and down in a geyser will this make it easier or harder for people to escape PvP? And can you imagine a Templar pulling a character out of a windstream with IJ from a hill?

The Meh

The Meh category is for things are aren't great, but aren't so horrible that I want to bang my head into the wall over-and-over-and-over (no Cynic, you may not tell me to do eet anyway). It generally includes things that have some good parts and some of what I just call meh things.

Chantra Dredgion

So I was all excited that a new Dredgion instance was coming out and it's good that a new instance came out, but... it looks and feels kinda like the old one. With some different colours thrown in. Surk guardians can't be CC'd anymore and everybody sees through stealth, which is a good thing. The new hero mobs are apparently taking around 10 min to kill from reports in the Chantra Dred thread. It's just not the new instance I was hoping for.







Less PvP Emphasis Overall

The expansion seems to primarily deal with new content for PvE rather than PvP. There are pets and even new solo instances like Haramel and Nightmare where people can escape from ever encountering another person. For what is supposed to be a PvPvE game, it seems to be veering off towards the PvE side of things.

As part of this, it has become more difficult for individuals to seek solo PvP encounters. The entrance to Silentera Canyon is filled with rows of Balaur and I had to die before I could raise myself and enter the canyon as a solo player. The image below gives something of an idea of how to enter the canyon after passing in the middle of a row of Balaur.



The Balaur seem very aggressive on the PTS with retaking the forts on either side in Balaurea. As of the time of this writing, both forts that belonged to the Asmodians have been retaken by the Balaur. Remember that you cannot enter Silentera unless both forts belong to the faction wishing to enter. Additionally, the PTS groups have not really managed to take the fortresses without GM intervention. While the PTS groups are small, this probably means that the fortresses are challenging to take. This spells trouble for servers without active factions on both sides.

Debris of Abyss



There is a new instance for the Divine Fortress called in the patch notes Debris of Abyss (patch notes). While I'm sure the instance will be fun for those who own Divine Fortress, this instance probably isn't going to help the faction imbalance that exists on some servers where Divine was overwhelmingly taken by a single faction.

Gear

The level 55 PvP gear from 2.0 on the PTS has not been well received by players (No Abyss Eternal Gear?). Those who want to PvP in order to obtain gear may want to look at the Veille's/Mastarius's gear sets that are obtained from fighting to take fortresses in the new zones. These sets are very noticeable with the winged capes they have (oooh, pretty).

The Ugly

Rifting Nerfs

It appears that rifting was nerfed in the Korean version of the game fairly badly (see this initial article and comments on it via Google Translate). That's 76% of the Korean players commenting that a defense buff protecting people from twinks is not needed. However, we do know that there is a defense buff to protect individuals from twinks in Morheim/Eltnen and Beluslan/Heiron. The goal of this move appears to be to force twinks into either the Abyss for PvP or towards the end game rifting in Balaurea.

Kisks can no longer be placed in the mountains, making the best hidden kisk locations obsolete. Of course, there are now camouflage kisks to make up for this, although I personally liked concentrating on where to glide in order to find or hide a kisk.



The truly ugly part of all of this is that rifting on the PTS is entering the realm of the impossible for the lower level zones. Rifting quests are equally almost impossible as rifting characters can't actually fight off the native inhabitants.

Localization

After the PTS came up, a couple of different threads were started about perceived PvP difficulties on the PTS. One was about rifting in lower level zones and the other was regarding guards that exist on the PTS that don't exist in the Korean version of the game. Numerous images have shown the greater number of guards in the NA version of the game now.

A guard that only exists in the NA version of the game

It is currently unclear whether the rifting nerfs are different between the NA and Korean versions, but given the greater number of guards in the NA version, it's quite likely that rifting was nerfed harder here than it was in Korea (this is not yet confirmed however --- if somebody could look into this it'd be great). Quotes from the thread on the rifting nerfs mention as much as an 80% damage debuff for the Eltnen/Morheim zones.

Whether or not solo PvP'ers can navigate the new maps with the extra guards actually doesn't matter - it's the fact that localization seems to be aimed at reducing PvP that is of concern. Rift type PvP appears to be the primary form of PvP that people will encounter at level 55. Hanging all the hopes of Aion 2.0 PvP onto the small instance of Silentera Canyon (it's not a large instance when compared with current zones), seems like a bad idea that will effect the open world PvP feel of the game. Remember that there are no new Abyss zones for level 55's to choose from and that Silentera Canyon itself is not always open. Those who enjoyed PvP in the neutral core from those who farmed there, may be disappointed.

While there is certainly a population in Aion that does not like open world PvP, those who remember games such as Ultima Online fondly will mourn the loss of the open world PvP feeling in the game in Balaurea. At this point, I personally am unsure of how to balance the game between those who wish to pursue PvE challenges (PvE is much improved in 2.0) and those who prefer to go out and PvP consistently. Most games balance these two with having a PvP specific server where things like the extra guards and rifting nerfs would be taken out. Is this what will need to happen in Aion for the future?

TL;DR - the Summary

The PvP in 2.0 is a mixed bag with Silentera Canyon promising an interesting experience, the new fortresses that need to be held to open Silentera, and the interesting new aerodynamics of the Balaurea maps. The Chantra Dredgion is at best a meh PvP instance as it's very similar to the old Dredgion and there seems to be an emphasis on PvE over PvP in the expansion overall. The really ugly things that have happened in terms of PvP are the rifting nerfs and overall the fact that localization of the game appears to be trying to nerf PvP even more.

It is not currently known what the overall direction of Aion in the future is, but if PvP continues to be de-emphasized, the PvP crowd is going to only become more disenfranchised. The only thing I've been able to think of personally has been asking for a PvP-oriented server. Which seems rather strange in a two-faction PvPvE-based game.