What is Aion?

The Tower of Eternity Awaits


Aion: The Tower of Eternity is a visually stunning massively multiplayer online role-playing game featuring cutting-edge imagery, breath-taking environments, and a unique world of fantasy. You play a pivotal role in the fate of Atreia, where flying takes on a completely new role and the enemy is not only the other player faction, but a deadly ancient evil as well. Here are some distinctive aspects of Aion:

• The World: Aion is set in a unique land where players explore the inside of a shattered world, separated into two halves with the Abyss between them.
  

• Aerial Combat: No longer limited to two-dimensional combat on the ground, players in Aion can fly. Now think of online combat on a massive scale where attacks can come in any direction.
  

• PvPvE: Players will be able to engage in intense raids and other encounters with computer opponents, not to mention the opposing player faction.
  

• Classes: Players have a choice of four classes to start with, and can then move on to two more specialized classes once they attain a certain level of capability.
  

• Character Customization: You can customize your character in a multitude of ways with a thorough character creation and crafting system, as well as detailed item customization options.
  

The World of Aion

The universe of Aion is stunningly beautiful and unique.



Your adventures and travels take you to the shell-world of Atreia, once connected by Aion, The Tower of Eternity, but now shattered into two halves and a myriad of shards by an ancient cataclysm. Players will traverse these lands in their first steps on a journey to bring salvation to the world, explore floating islands, voids and other amazing vistas.



Each half of the shattered world is inhabited by one of two playable divine factions, the Elyos and the Asmodian. Isolated by the cataclysm that broke Atreia apart, each side brooded on the catastrophic events of the past and their hatred intensified for the other.



Many centuries later, fragments of the destroyed tower began to float mysteriously in the air, and soon investigations discovered unstable portals or gates that opened into an unknown place of darkness and wonder where fragments of Aion drifted. Called the Abyss, where the once-lost power of flight is now commonplace, the two races eventually discovered one another and very quickly went to war.



As the Elyos and the Asmodians uncovered new, more stable portals to the Abyss, they encountered a primeval terror that they had known only in their histories: the Balaur. Previously imprisoned within the Abyss during the cataclysm, the Balaur are the ancient enemy of all the peoples of Atreia, and it was the Balaur’s continual war that had led to the eventual shattering of Aion. Now they have returned, and the survival of both races is now more uncertain than ever.

Aerial Combat

Before the Tower of Eternity was broken and the world shattered, the people of Atreia enjoyed the immense freedom of flight. After a renewed war with the Balaur split the world asunder, the isolated factions of the Elyos and the Asmodians lost many capabilities and inherent powers, including flight. Many thought the ability to fly had been lost forever.



After centuries of isolation, however, broken pieces of Aion began to float in the air and the two factions discovered portals, or Gates, into the region of space between the split halves of the world: the Abyss. Soon thereafter, the factions rediscovered the power of flight when they ascend as Daevas. While this ability is somewhat limited in their own lands, they found that mastering flight was a necessity in the Abyss.



Aerial combat is one of Aion’s unique features and offers many exciting new possibilities. Players will engage in three-dimensional combat in the Abyss like never before, and must take into account attacks from any angle. Control of resources and territory will take on a completely new dimension in the Abyss. Wing designs will be varied and as unique as your imagination will allow, and independent flight serves as an integral part to the Aion experience. You’ll learn what it’s like to fly in Aion.

PvPvE

The story of Aion: The Tower of Eternity is rife with conflict between factions. Harboring centuries of hatred, the Elyos and the Asmodians are now at war with each other, with nothing less than the fate of their entire people in their hands. Large fragments of Aion, floating in the Abyss that separates the two halves of the shattered world, serve as battlefields between these two factions. Players will venture into these areas as they attain enough experience in their own lands through a series of portals or Gates. They may even venture into enemy territory.



The factions constantly battle for various fortresses and artifacts within the disputed areas of the Abyss. Each of these captureable areas garner various bonuses and special resources to the controlling side, and certain items can only be obtained from vendors operating out of these areas. In addition, players can accumulate points and special ranks by defeating other players, and then use these points to acquire better equipment.



The Elyos and the Asmodians won’t just be battling each other in the Abyss, however. A third faction exists, the ancient enemy known as the Balaur. Depending on the situation, players may end up battling the Balaur as well as other players, or there may be times when the Balaur can ally with one faction and fight the other. Other lethal denizens of the Abyss may also come into play. This is the heart of Aion’s PvPvE system.

Classes

Aion offers a choice of four classes for starting players, who then at level 10 advance to two further specialized classes.



Warrior
Warriors specialize in close combat, utilizing their great physical strength and prowess. They exhibit a wide range of dazzling battle skills other classes cannot perform, though Warriors are relatively easy to play.


Gladiator (Spec)
A Gladiator lives and dies by the sword. They are skilled in using avariety of weapons and can master a mixture of fighting techniquestailored to the characteristics of their weapons.


Templar (Spec)
The Templar acts as a guardian, fighting with a sword in one hand and ashield in the other. Templars can use a chant or incantation to protectand heal allies, but also serve as front line fighters.





Scout
Scouts provide the best variety of play styles of all the basic classes. They benefit from great agility and can make speedy attacks, though how well they perform varies, depending on the player. The scout is an extremely versatile class.


Ranger (Spec)
Rangers are expert archers and are a natural with a bow. They are alsocapable of using other weapons like swords and daggers, and are adeptat observing and utilizing their surroundings. They can survive in theharshest of environments.


Assassin (Spec)
The assassin is an expert in silent movement and quick termination ofthe given target. Though not considered true warriors, Assassins arevalued for their deadly skills and stealthy nature. Their skills are considered formidable.





Mage
Mages rely on their mastery of magic to deal large amounts of damage at long range. They are comparatively weak at close combat, and it is important for them to learn how to divert and evade the enemy


Sorcerer (Spec)
The Sorcerer follows the path of magic, mastering the elements ofwater, fire, air and earth. They channel powerful magic in combatthrough their understanding of the true nature of the Aether. ASorcerer's talents have single-handedly turned the tide of battle.


Spiritmaster (Spec)
Spiritmasters use the power of the Spirits to strike fear in theenemy’s heart, and have the capability of summoning pets to turn thetide in combat. By all accounts, the path of the Spiritmaster is one of the more testing paths to journey.





Priest
Priests specialize in healing magic and can use long-range spells to help allies and hinder the enemy. While Priests are more than capable of engaging in melee combat, they can use healing and protection spells to aid allies in battle.


Cleric (Spec)
Clerics follow the path of healing, using the power of magic to fortifyan ally’s body and heal their wounds. They even have the power ofresurrection, and are formidable opponents in close combat with a mace and shield.


Chanter (Spec)
A Chanter’s ethos is duty and faith. Infused with a fierce discipline,Chanters use mantras to strengthen allies and raise their morale, andcan grow powerful enough to affect the outcome of an entire battle.

Character Customization

NCsoft has designed Aion to give the player a wide variety of customization options when it comes to their characters. Players can easily mold their character’s face and body structure with a multitude of sliders, easily manipulating nearly every aspect of their physical appearance. They can also choose from a selection of hairstyles, facial hair types, and skin tones.



With item crafting, players can not only make their own weapons, suits of armor or other important items, they can alter how these items appear in the game with dyes and other modifications—even visually mimic another item. For instance, a crafter can create a suit of armor that looks much tougher than it really is. The crafting system in Aion is robust and should be familiar to fans of the genre.



A character’s customization however is not just limited to how they look. Aion uses a Stigma system, where Stigma stones represent a way for a character to utilize skills and abilities that do not belong to that character’s class. This way even though a player may choose a particular class path, their play style is not limited to only what that class can do.