A Brief Leveling Guide to Aion 40-50

5 Tips to Leveling in Aion 40-50

Aion is getting some flak right now for being too grindy and not having enough quests at the end levels.
While this might be true (though reportedly, in 1.6 they are substantially increasing the amount of XP one receives from quests) I think a lot of players take the attitude “if I can’t solo it, it must be too hard!”

I don’t want to get too philosophical here, but we seem to live in an age where people want the fruits of their labors NOW, or similarly, the only way they are going to have fun is to get to max level before anyone else.
Since I am a guide writer, who advertises the fact that you can level fast, it may seem odd that I actually do not think this way about MMO’s in general.
Why?
Well, I have experienced getting to the top level first a few times.. and generally it just breeds what I like to call “MMO A.D.D.”. Get to max level, get bored, find another new and shiny MMO to max out on.
I think back to when I first started playing MMO’s, with Asheron’s Call.
Why did I find that game so fun? Primarily it was because it was totally new to me, of course (like chat rooms in the ‘90s hehe) but the other element was adventure and exploration… and I didn’t have to get to max level or play the game 24/7 to have fun, I had fun every time I logged on!

What I am saying is, Aion is a lot like this. When you take the attitude “Oh, I need 40 billion XP to get to 50, how boring” then yea, it’s going to be boring.
There are so many options though, that people do not take into account, such as the amazing instances, group quests and neat PVP battles that can take you to 50 actually having fun. If instead of logging in and just thinking that you have to grind to max level every day, why not log on and try to make your own group for an instance, to get some nice gear (a few of the quest lines end in fabled weapons)

Really though, what good is getting to 50 in a week, a month, going to do? To me 40-50 is the best part of Aion, because you can pretty much do the most fun stuff in the game, the coolest instances, and you can gank noobs like crazy!
Steps to leveling 40-50 in Aion, the FUN way.

1) Do the [Spy] quests. There’s quite a few and they give some great loot and XP. Also, they are really a BLAST, because of course, they send you into the enemy territory which is really what makes Aion the most fun.

Asmodian Spy Quests Recommendations

[Spy] A Friend’s Whereabouts (You can start this at L 43)

This awesome chain leads to Fabled extendable weapons! You shouldn’t have any trouble getting a group to do this chain.

Complete chain

[Spy] A Friend's Whereabouts
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/2651/spy-a-friend%27s-whereabouts

[Spy] Finding Bollvig
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/2653/spy-finding-bollvig

[Spy] The Last Persuasion
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/2654/-spy-the-last-persuasion

 [Spy] Removing the Reaper Squad
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/2655/-spy-removing-the-reaper-squad

 [Spy] Letter to a Friend
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/2656/-spy-letter-to-a-friend

Elyos Spy Quests Recommendations

Chain Starter: A Disturbing Report (You can start this at L 41)

This is the Elyos Fabled weapon series.

A Disturbing Report
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1933/a-disturbing-report

[Group] RM-78c
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1934/-group-rm-78c

Tissue? I Don't Even Know You!
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1935/tissue-i-don%27t-even-know-you

What Nerison Saw
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1936/what-nerison-saw

[Spy/Group] A Suspicious Box
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1615/-spy-group-a-suspicious-box

[Spy/Group] Suspicious Scientists
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1616/spy-group-suspicious-scientists

[Spy/Group] The Key is the Key
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1617/spy-group-the-key-is-the-key

[Spy/Group] The Research Journal
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1618/-spy-group-the-research-journal

A Lepharist Monstrosity
http://www.aiondatabase.com/quest/1937/a-lepharist-monstrosity

[Group] RM-114c
http://www.aiondatabase.com/search?q=[Group]%20RM-114c

2) DO ALL the group/instance quests. The amount of XP and loot you will get is worth it, the levels will blast by, and you’ll actually be having a good time, which is the sole reason we play the game, right?

 One key to successful grouping is communication; make sure your group is on the same page. I always like to check (when in a PUG) that everyone has time to actually complete the series, make sure everyone knows what they are doing.. and that no one has to leave to pick up their kid from school, and make sure that sole healer in your groups’ mom is going to come home and kick them off the computer J

3) Help your friends once in a while. It boggles my mind how many players never try to touch base with their lower level friends. I find it a lot more enjoyable to go back and help with some hard quests, then you also feel good about yourself in game, and you can gain a rep for being a nice guy/gal.

4) Join an XP grinding group. If you must grind, it is a lot more fun in a group. Grinding elites can also lead to fantastic loot.  This game isn’t designed to be solo 100% of the time, though you can do it.

5) Be a leader. Again, I am always surprised how few people will step up to lead a group. You don’t have to know everything to lead, sometimes it just takes that extra step to get people together. Try using the search feature and PM’ing the classes you need, that works for me 99% of the time over just spamming LFG chat.

Well that about sums it up, it’s all in your head! If you want to have fun in the game, you will. Don’t look at it as your mission in your gaming life to just get to 50, there’s a lot more fun along the way, you’ll not only learn how to play your character properly, but you’ll gain loot, knowledge and friends!

If you would like to check out our complete AION 1-50 Elyos and Asmodian leveling guide, along with our bonus guides and crafting guides check it out here. See exactly how we level up fast and efficiently so you can spend more time having a good time in the game!

Nochsana Training Camp - A Guide to the first instance in Aion

Nochsana Training Camp is the first instance you'll come across in Aion and is located in the Abyss, it was introduced in patch 1.5 and is designed for a 6 person group. The instance was designed as a introduction to instancing in Aion, and many people see it as a tutorial to future instances.

Where can I find the Nochsana Training Camp?

The newly introduced instance Nochsana Training Camp is located in the lower level of the Abyss, so you can only enter once you reach level 25, however once you reach level 29 you're unable to do the instance again. The actual entrance to the instance is a small portal found behind the main building as you enter the Abyss.

Any requirements?

Aside from being within the level 25-28 range, you must complete a simple delivery quest. This can be accepted from is An Important Message from Konto who's inside the main building in the Abyss.

After completing the quest you're free to enter whenever you want, however once you complete the instance you're put on a 16 hour lockout, at which point you're unable to do the instance again until the timer reaches 0.

To check your lockout times you simply type /checkentry in-game and you'll be given a list of instance timers.

Quests!

Both Elyos and Asmodian have three quests for the instance which are:

[Group] Prototype Weapon for Asmodian
[Group] Weapons Inspection for Elyos

For these quests you're required to collect four Prototype Weapons which look like chests, these can be found at the end of the instance in and around the ouside of the building with the Nochsana General.

There are plenty of boxes for an entire group, so don't worry about not getting them all.

[Group] The Draconute Instructor for Asmodian
[Group] Cut Off the Head of the Class for Elyos

For these quests you're required to kill 4 mini bosses which are:

Nochsana Protector  is located directly ahead on a hill as soon as you enter the instance, there's only about 4 normal mobs and 4 elite mobs before him.

You can get a free buff by clicking the fountain looking object the boss is near -  this buff gives you a 3000 damage absorbing shield which lasts for 50 seconds.

Nochsana Guard  is in front of the second archway, like the first boss he's really easy. His only attacks consists of a short range knockback and a cone fire attack, so have your tank face him away from your group and he'll go down easy.

Aetheric Guard Field  is located directly on top of the second archway, this boss doesn't do anything really special, so just tank and kill him and move on.

Nochsana Teleporter  is located on the top floor of the building at the end of the instance, he's not very difficult, his only real ability is that he summons an add to attack your group, but if you focus on the boss and kill him, the add will disapear.

[Group] Killing the Nochsana Fortress Guardian Deity General  for Asmodian
[Group] Killing the Guardian Diety General of the Training Camp for Elyos

For these quests you're required to destroy the gate on the final building at the end of the instance by using the siege weapon in your inventory and then kill the Nochsana General (after you clear the room) who's standing on the platform as soon as you go through the gate.

Killing the Nochsana General and trash

The trash in the room is nothing special, the only one worth mentioning is the Nochsana Doc who is a healer, aside from him the rest of the mobs are just tank and kill with no special abilities.

The Nochsana General is a 4-dot elite boss who only has one ability which is that he pulls your group into him and does a small AoE after a certain time, all you have to do is step back if you get pulled in and continue fighting until he dies.

Conclusion

Overall it's a really fun and quick instance, on your first time there, if you complete all 3 quests and clear the instance of trash, you'll recieve almost an entire level in about 30 minutes, as said before, the instance is meant to be an introduction into sieging in Aion, although it's not exactly accurate, it does give new players an impression of how end-game in Aion is played out.

On a fun note, the instance is completable by 3 people if you want a challenge, each mob will net you about 40k exp and 50 abyss points, although it's not recommened to a beginner, if you've done it a few times it's a fun and challenging task!

If you'd like more information about this and other Aion Guides you can check our Aion Leveling Guide out here

Introduction

Champions Online is a new super hero (and possibly soon to be super villian) themed MMORPG created by Cryptic Studios, who also brought us City of Heroes & Villians . The game is being developed for Windows and Xbox 360.

PvE

Gameplay

Players who've played any of the common  MMORPGs will notice right away the PvE in Champions Online is an extremely fast paced experience. From level 1 to 40 the pace maintains a very upbeat speed which leads to some  intense gameplay.

Another thing you'll notice is that every hero has nearly infinite energy (mana) or at least can regen it near instantly, which means there are no down times in this game , aside from the odd heal which is almost always a full heal.

You're able to go from group to group without stopping, and speaking of groups, another great thing about this game is there are hardly any times where you're fighting one mob at a time.

Every normal mob comes in packs of 2-3 or more depending on the area, so you really get the feel of being a super hero stopping petty criminals and the like, overall the gameplay is spot on for the theme of the game and does a fantastic job if you're into the hero genre.

Quests

Questing in Champions Online is by far the fastest I've seen due to the fact that every quest is marked on your world map and mini map as soon as you accept it, and to make it even faster with your travel powers you're able to go from quest to quest almost instantly, even if it's across the map it will only take about 10 seconds to get there. This is a refreshing change from hour long traverses designed to suck your playing time (WOW I'm looking at you...)

However, as of now there's just barely enough quests to get to about 36-37 then you're pretty much forced to grind Open Missions or do instances, which isn't as bad as it sounds, the Open Missions reward you based on how much you participated and once one is finished, it will re-appear as soon as the timer ends (the timer varies on each Open Mission). Its rather similar to public quests in Warhammer Online, with more colorful spandex and muscles.

One thing I've noticed however is that a person with more AoE will end up gaining levels a lot quicker, it seems to be a pretty heavy AoE game, I've played a 40 Dex/Ego - Power Armor/Gadgeteer and a 40 Con/Str - Single Blade/Power Armor and the difference in extremely huge (and a bit unfair as of current), with my Dex/Ego character I was able to use Mini Mines to do about 3,500 (over 5,000 with crits) AoE damage every few seconds, however my Str/Con character was barely pushing about 2,500 on single targets every few seconds! The upside to Str/Con is that you're pretty much unkillable, so it evens out, regardless the pace of the game never slowed down for either char.

Traveling the World

In Champions Online you have the ability to train 2 traveling abilities (one at 5, the other at 35) which include Acrobatics, Earth Flight, Fire Flight, Regular Flight, Hover Disk, Ice Slide,Jet Boots, Rocket Jump, Super Jump, Super Speed, Swinging, Teleport and Tunneling, each has their ups and downs, and some are a bit gimmicky, while others are almost a must, such as teleporting. Teleporting lets you bypass any nearly any mob (except Psis) without them seeing you, almost everyone I talked to started with Teleport for questing and then chose their last Traveling Power based on their heroes story or based on the fun value (swinging is probably the most fun in my opinion)

The downside to travel powers is once you start the game, at least from levels 1-5 you'll have to run everywhere which makes the world seem nice and huge, but in reality as soon as you get your first travel power, you realize that it's actually pretty small, although they will be expanding the game pretty soon, as of now you're able to literally go from corner to corner of every zone in the game in about 10 minutes with teleport.

Economy

Money is Champions Online currency is called Resources, the actual names are Global, National and Local (most people just call it G/N/L), the need for Resources in Champions Online isn't very high at this point, the only real need for Resources is to re-train (Retcon is what they call it) your skills if you decide you want to use different abilities later, on top of that the only other real thing you would use it for would be to buy equipment off the auction house, which is actually used extremely well by almost the entire server.

Crafting

Crafting in Champions Online is actually pretty decent, there are 3 main crafts which are Arms, Science and Mysticism.These 3 crafts they break down into 3 subsets which are mostly the same in each craft, but they have different items and different looks to suit your heroes look and story.

The items you make are actually really great and often are better than anything at the equal level that you would get from questing so no fear of wasting time on newbie garbage, and you're able to make even better items if you find or train rare recipes that allow you to control the quality of the item (from poor to major). As you increase the quality the requirement goes up as well.

From 1-200 crafting is a breeze, you're able to experiment (breaking the item) to gain crafting levels which also gives you materials based off the items quality, you're able to break down quest items as you go which makes it very simple.

From 201-300 it gets a bit more difficult, as you break down about 20 items a time you get about 2 points, so the best way to level it is to go out and hunt crafting nodes which give 1 level each.

Over all crafting is a great and profitable thing to do in Champions Online, if you put a lot of decent things on the Auction House, you will make lots of Resources.

Instances and Raids

This is where Champions Online starts to lack for people who enjoy long drawn out instances and raids, as of now there's only a handful of instances such as Dr. Destroyer's Robot Factory in MC and Telios Tower in Canada, they're both around the same level (30ish) and are pretty fun if you can get a good group to do them (healer!).

If you do get a group for either of the two, you'll find that they are actually really fun and well scripted and require a lot of group effort to succeed.

For raids however, there aren't any yet sadly, aside from Grond who just jumps around the Desert smashing people, he requires about 20-25 level 25ish people to take down. Thing is, you can't form a raid yet, so you just have 5 groups of 5-6 people together, and only one of them gets exp/loot, it really makes things difficult when only the group you're in can see your chat.

I'm sure as the game progresses raids will be added, right now the only thing to really do at 40 is some of the UNITY missions which vary from solo to insanely hard 5-6 man groups.

PvP

Hero Games

Ah, this is where the game gets interesting, Hero Games are a type of arena where you enter solo or in a group and you're put on either a red team or a blue team, and the two different teams fight in a sort of deathmatch area until the requirement is met, usually which ever team gets 15 kills of the other team or such.

The fun thing about it though, is that everyones characters are so different you never know what to expect. you might see a  tiny character that's actually a tank, or a massive character that takes up your whole screen who's actually a squishy caster, the diversity in characters really makes you think about what you're doing instead of just jumping in and screaming at everyone to get the healer, because honestly, you don't really know who the healer is!

Combat

The combat in PvP is probably faster than any other MMORPGs I've played, with people jumping around with super jump, disappearing with teleport or even running laps around the arena with super speed, it really adds a whole new dimension to the PvP gameplay. Currently however it's a bit unbalanced, a fully Str/Con character with Invincibility slotted can hold block forever and take 1 damage from just about anyone, where as the casters who were dominating PvE with their AoEs, are pretty much one shotting either each, like most things I'm sure future patches will fix these problems, but lots of people are re-training to go pure Str/Con until it's fixed.

Others

Graphics

The graphics in Champions Online are meant to give you a comic book feel with dark heavy outlines and bright colours, the look of Champions Online is very pleasant and actually fun to look at for hours a day, the various powers in the game add a lot to the bright colourful graphics and add a whole level of detail on their own.

You have a huge say in how your details look, at the lowest it's almost an unreconizable game, but almost any computer can play it. On the highest details, it can slow down even the mightiest of computers, but it looks absolutely amazing... sort of a cell-shaded look.

When fighting some villians or worse they'll often have an image over their head when using their special skills like the old comic books had such as POW ZAP CRRRRRRK ERK! (note: these particular ones aren't in the game, but other funny ones are!).

Community

Another thing that Champions Online could use some improvement on is the community, as of now you can solo from 1-40 without meeting or grouping with anyone else, in most MMORPGs you see people running around towns, or grouped together in certain areas, but in Champions Online, they added the 3rd dimension of Travel Powers, so often people are in the sky or underground even, and are sometimes hard to notice.

However because of that, I have to say that the chat is extremely nice, unlike mostly MMORPGs, the global/region chat in Champions Online is used maturely and is actually used the way it's suppose to, it really gives the game a nice community feel.

Even though you can change instances to any of the different ones per area, the chats are always linked, so if you're in instance 1 and your friend is in instance 90, you will both see the same chat, so it really is handy for looking for groups and what not.

Pros

Amazing character creation

Awesome story

Intense high speed combat

Fantastic community

Cool nemesis feature

Every champion  is different

Cons

Lack of instances/raids (soon to be fixed)

Some powers need a bit of tweaking

Respeccing needs to be cheaper

Needs some more zones

Final Notes

Overall, I'd certainly rate Champions Online to be one of the fastest paced, fun MMORPGs that have come out this year or even last year (Sorry AoC/War!), the depth of the game could use some work, which they are already working on btw, but the over all game itself really rates high as has been becoming more and more popular each day that passes. It's not the kind of game you'll slave over for hours and months, rather its a fun and fast paced break from the grind games that are out there.

If you'd like to really experience the game on another level, please check out our Champions Online leveling guide, at only $19.99 its a great accompaniment to the game and will carry you through some of the tricky levels with ease!