The launch of Aion for North America is only a week away!
I’m still debating the all-important decision of which class to play as my main character. As I said in a post a few weeks ago, I was thinking of rolling one of these 3 classes:
- Gladiator
- Templar
- Chanter
I decided to remove Templar and Chanter from the list, for the reasons I mentioned in the other post.
Once the Game Guard issues were resolved by NCSoft in Open Beta, I leveled a Gladiator to 11, so I could try out Gladiator with a 2h. I enjoyed the Gladiator a lot more with 2h; the burst damage is much better.
On a whim, in Open Beta, I also rolled a “Sin” (Assassin).
I was very curious about the Assassin class based on the positive comments from players on the AionSource.com forums. Here are some of the strengths of Sins at higher levels:
- high burst and sustained DPS. Sometimes you only get one or the other with a DPS class. With a Sin you get both
- lots of stuns to work with. This will be great for handling kiters and healers
- strong soloing capability
- highly desired for PVE groups, because of the high, sustained DPS
I’m now thinking of rolling a Sin as my main.
Which class are you thinking of rolling as your main and why?
Taugrim's MMO Blog 
I want to roll an Assassin too, because I played a similar class in another eastern MMO (Ragnarok) and from what I’ve read they are kind of similar.
What worries me is the lack of versatility though. The character I currently play (feral druid in WoW) has stealth, but it also has a survivability “form” and selfheals. On the contrary, from what I’ve understood, Sin relies on bursting the target down fast, and doesn’t have much in terms of defense. Of course, it’s a part of the traditional “rogue” RPG archetype, but still…
On the other hand, there aren’t much interesting classes in Aion. The one that appealed to me at first was a Sorceror, but it was dissapointing to find out that he is more akin to WAR’s BW (pure damage and not too much versatility/survivability) rather that WoW’s Mage (an excellent kiting/burst class).
BTW an interesting choice you have there, I was 90% sure that you will roll a ranger or a chanter because of your kiting/versatility fetish LOL :)
I do enjoy kiting, but if I had to pick, I’d rather be the pursuer than the pursuee.
I’m not sure re: Sin’s versatility and survivability. I have watched a video of a skilled Sin kiting 3 opponents. I’ll find out in a couple months, I guess.
Sin is a great class because it excels in group and solo PvP as well as PvE. I imagine it will be a very fun class to play and I definitely look forward to your videos of ganking people.
I’ll be rolling an SM because they have very powerful PvP CC (fear is no joke and we get what, 3 with stigmas?) and good pets. It’s a class with a lot of random utility and situational skills, and I like options. Plus they are one of the fastest levelers.
In open beta the class that gave me the most trouble was Chanter. Granted I was only fighting people in the level 15-20 range, but they seemed very strong 1v1, and are of course needed for groups because of their buffs, backup heals and decent dps.
Exactly re: Sin.
From what I’ve read: Chanters are OP relative to other classes < 30. But by the mid 30s and 40s, DPS classes can significantly out-damage the rate of healing that a Chanter has.
So Chanter, from a 1v1 perspective, peaks early and tails off significantly.
A lot of veteran Chanters on AionSource seem to get prickly when players complain about Chanters lack of endgame soloability.
The oft-repeated statement is that Chanters are a support class. That is true, but I think it's too bad when some classes aren't able to solo effectively. At least, it matters to someone like me, who likes to do a bit of everything when it comes to PVP, including soloing.
I’m also still debating wether to roll Gladiator or Assassin as well. It’s a game time decision on Friday ;)
Gladiator has one of the best skills in the game for kiters. It’s called “Ankle Snare”. 10 second unbreakble root.
But in the mornings I play a lot during work and will probably be solo a lot. So that’s where an assassin will have an advantage for me.
It’s a tough choice. I don’t like alts much either. I burned myself out with alts in NCsofts older game Guild Wars. I basically maxed out every class in the game through everything. That’s 10 classes! Never do that…. hehe.
Yea I heard Ankle Snare is a big help to Gladiators.
The interesting thing for soloing is some classes can CC the Gladiator (e.g. Sleep Arrow) for the duration of the snare.
The interesting thing about Sin is the class has no snares but lots of stuns. AFAIK, there is no stun immunity in this game, so stuns should be very powerful.
Let me know which class you end up rolling.
Also, it sounds like both Tempest Wolves and a large guild (A New Level) are rolling on the server Zikel. A lot of the really cool players I’ve grouped with in WAR from the Phoenix Throne guild Irony have also app’d to ANL. So a lot of the best players from both factions from Phoenix Throne will be playing on the same side in Aion.
FYI: Irony pulled out of ANL. Looks like enough Irony players are trying Aion that they have critical mass to run as their own guild.
Oh so they switched to Zikel then? Guess that’s where I’m going as well.
Well, if you decide you want to go the small guild route then we’ll have 6 or 7 active which we could expand upon or just roll with depending on how our playtimes match.
If we are going to roll together we should figure out what classes we’re picking so we cover our bases.
With all the CC I think roaming 6 man groups are going to actually amount to something, so having good group composition will be key.
Yo. Cleric, Asmo, Zikel. I was really sort of on the fence with Aion until Tempest Wolves held their vent meeting to decide which server to roll to keep PT going so to speak. There were around a hundred present, with 637 (i think) being represented through their Guild Leaders and such. My sig on WHA forums has been “Phoenix Throne is Warhammer” since I can remember, and that meeting really got to me. I will miss many things about WAR, but I’m not going to miss out on this opportunity for that same sense of community.
As for classes, it comes as quite a surprise to see you considering the Assassin, Taug, though I’m not sure why. I knew they were highly skilled at solo pvp, but I had no idea they were so needed in groups (outside of pvp, that is). I heard Sinnzer or Skrigg or some ex-choppa saying on the Aionsource forums you’d be on Zikel, and that’s pretty exciting! Can’t wait to heal-bot you some more!
Sto, who all do you know is planning on joining up? The usual suspects? I actually talked to Rhavin the other day and he said Kim was deffinately going to play but he thinks Aion is way too queer for him, hahaha. He’ll come ’round, I reckon.
It seems like nearly every big guild is going asmo on Zikel from what I’ve seen. That could be bad for the server once everyone starts hitting max levels and finds only weak competition to kill.
But who knows. We won’t really know for a few months.
How did you come up with the total of 637? That’s an order of magnitude more than I was expecting coming from WAR’s Phoenix Throne server to Aion’s Zikel server.
Rhavin can make his characters look and sound manly, just by clicking one of the premade looks.
There was much deliberation and talk about which server PT refugees decided on, but I think it really came down to having a target rich environment (lots of well-known or otherwise talented guilds on both sides, Elyos as far as we’re concerned for that purpose). I’m not sure exactly who all the 637 people were, but I believe it was a combination of PT folks and some people from ARP (whatever that is, I have no idea, honestly) and with an estimated overlap worked out, they came to around 637 people heading to Zikel.
Sorry to hear you won’t be able to play often, but you always seem to go through some cycles. At least it’s good to know you’ll be playing Asmo!
Nam, can’t wait to play with you again, man! Make sure your glad keeps the nasties off my back. Hope we can get a nice little team going.
That’s a lot more people going Asmo on Zikel than I anticipated. I have no intentions on switching to Elyos to balance as Elyos is 100% lame. Asmo back hair is where it’s at. I’m going to guess Asmo is going to start off strong, but like any other game I’ve played, the population balance will drift around so I’m not worried about it.
ANL sounds like a promising guild, but large guilds scare me. Hobbitual from lotro is going to be playing Aion, and I want to find out what server. Would be funny if they went Zikel as well.
Sorry taug I don’t mean to use your blog for communication means with other parties, but this is for Nam and Jostle. I’m still down if you guys want to get something small. I know another guy who will be joining us so that brings our total to 5. If things don’t work out we could hit up TW or something. Contact me on the WAR alliance forums if you need to.
As for Sin..I think that would be a good choice for you Taug. If the class is as strong in PvP as I’ve heard then I’ll be glad to be on your side. Also given that you won’t have as much play time Sin will be excellent due to its fast leveling and ability to be useful in groups and solo. Seems like a smart choice. Do the Sin end game stigmas appeal to you?
np re: using this blog to communicate with Jostle and Nam.
I haven’t done much research into endgame Sin stigmas. I just know the class is popular, and there isn’t much whining from Sin players about endgame, whereas I see a lot of that from some classes I was interested in (e.g. Chanter).
Choosing Sin is more a matter of whether I’m up for playing a stealther and being less durable than a Warrior.
I’ve decided to go Elyos on Zikel.
As y’all have noticed, sounds like a lot of folks are rolling Asmo on Zikel. I had thought it would be the other way around, but apparently the PT community’s decision is having some odd effects on RP and server population. Lots of drama, apparently.
I don’t really care too much about the graphics on either side.
I’m going templar. Endgame templars can be beasts. SM, Sorcs, rangers, all that CC can be eliminated by potting in this game from alchemy.
Gladiators as well aren’t too bad off. Watching a cleric go down in a matter of seconds to a gladiator burst is pretty sick. Hell honestly, all the melee classes in this game can burst fairly well and even rely on it.
Templar? Block and crit
Sin? Crit and whatever
Gladiator? Crit and whatever
Sorry I haven’t looked up enough to know what else the two bottom classes try to get but you get the idea. If you’re looking for a burst class then don’t just limit yourself to assassins because they aren’t the only class with good burst.
PS I would try to get some hit gear as well in preparation of the templars once we get geared up :)
Isn’t it true that some Templar’s chains require that they be attacked in order to be used? I.e. the chains are reactive?
That is my understanding.
If that is the case, it makes Templar less attractive for me to play, at least for PVP. If opponents choose to ignore me, and that limits what chains I can use, that would kind of suck.
I have considered Templar quite a bit, after having played a tank in WoW (Feral Druid) and in WAR (Swordmaster). I enjoy MT’ing, making instance runs smooth by controlling aggro and such. But at the end of the day, for me PVP > PVE, and I make class choices accordingly.
Fan of your SM stuff from warhammer, and although I’m sad to leave that game there just isn’t really much holding me onto it. Anyway, I was wondering if you had decided rolling Asmodian or Elyos. From reading around on the aionsource forums a lot of people are choosing Asmodians, and curious to know your input as well.
Thanks :)
The guild (A New Level, led by Skrigg) I’ve been talking to is rolling Asmo.
The fact that it seems that so many former Phoenix Throne players are rolling Asmo concerns. I wasn’t on the 2 hr vent meeting where Zikel was chosen as the server, but I heard that there were over 600 people represented.
Thats pretty impressive that, that many people are choosing to go Asmo on that server. I’ve been thinking about rolling Asmo as I have always typically played the good side of things (Alliance, Order). I’m still very iffy on a class though, I mean I’ve normally played a healer but it seems like so many people will be playing them in this game :S
I had preordered the game but never got the time to participate in the betas, which is annoying since I wanted to test classes out so badly. So its hard to figure out what would be good for me to play
As I just posted in another comment, I’m rolling Elyos.
Going against the tide, baby!
Still rolling on Zikel or a different server? I’ve been having doubts lately about which side would be the better choice. I don’t know how big of an influence the PT community will be. I’ve heard that of the 600 or so people represented, 400 are going Asmo and 200 are going Elyos. I don’t know how accurate that is, but hopefully it’s not too far off as a heavily imbalanced server isn’t as fun.
Sorry for not being specific.
Zikel
Elyos
Assassin
Guildless atm
I was going to guild with A New Level (Skrigg’s guild). They have a good roster of talent from PT, mostly players I fought against. They’re Asmo for sure, so I’ll be on the opposing side from them again.
Let me know where you end up.
Known/reported population totals on Zikel. This obviously doesn’t represent every guild, but it lists the main PvP guilds as they all seem to be active on the forums. I didn’t realize the numbers were so off with PvP guilds. Elyos is going to get stomped. Hmmm…
http://www.aionsource.com/forum/zikel-east/52321-numbers-legions-elyos-asmo.html
Well im also moving from War to Aion, and i played the open beta on Zikel Elyos side and it was awesome.
I’m going to be either playing gladiator or assassin (depends on the class one of the people ill be running with frequently chooses), and according to people in my guild they say there moving to luminel because its going to be the RP server with alot of mature players (not exactly sure just the buzz going around the forums).
TBH you playing assassin is a great idea becuz from your vids you seem to be able to get great damage out of your characters while still being able to keep your char alive, and thats exactly what a sin needs for a player somone who will keep it alive and also doin damage (unlike most who play the class just so they can burst ppl down quick enough so they dont have to worry about what comes next).
Fezz, which WAR server did you play on?
Re: Zikel vs Lumiel…So I heard the ARP (Aion RP) community is pretty mad at the PT (WAR Phoenix Throne) community, because the PT folks were pushing for Zikel to be named the unofficial RP server instead of Lumiel, and the ARP folks are concerned about the RP players being “split” across 2 servers.
I don’t know the ARP folks, but I can say this about the PT folks: a lot of them are very skilled, mature players. A lot of them are not into RP per se but are very much into a good server community (and I would classify myself that way too).
How is WAR anyways? I just kinda found this blog on a whim and noticed it was about WAR and some bits about Aion. I checked out some pvp vids of WAR(just some 1v1) and noticed how smooth it looks.
Just wondering since most pvp except for some tournament pvp vids I’ve seen in this game looks a bit too stationary to me (though the idea of not having an overwhelming about of CC is nice).
As for the chains things. Sins need to chain their skills for their burst too as well as gladiators (but they kinda have a knockdown thing going on).
Good luck though, pretty sure I heard they separated mag rest and phys rest so stuns should be a bit more effective now and if you think Templars are more of a PVE character you are very wrong. Give the class a bit of time but once templars are geared up you will see (unless we get groundbreaking patches by then).
As long as you play your class well though I wouldn’t worry about what class you pick. Nothing is totally useless in this game thanks to only having 8 classes.
WAR has some great points. Leveling via PVP is awesome. The combat system overall is fun and well-designed. Positioning and movement in WAR really matters, which is great.
The biggest downers for me about WAR are:
1. the game crashes for me several times in several-hour session. It’s too frustrating
2. the player base has been eroding since the game launched, for a variety of reasons (bugs, lack of stability, lack of class balance, etc)
I do agree with you that the stationary nature of Aion is an unattractive feature. I prefer mobile combat, even for melees. But I think a big part of the reason is Aion has a high number of situational skills and chains, and movement affects how much damage dealt, damage taken, and avoidance.
My point wasn’t that Templars were more of a PVE class. It’s just other classes will run away from or ignore Temps because they’re a pain to kill.
I don’t know the Templar mechanics, but it would be interesting if they could apply a buff to someone like the IB Oath-friend ability that would build them “grudge” (or more specifically for Aion, access to chain abilities depending on the buff etc) as well as their guard (if Templars have a guard of sorts). Could allow them access to chain abilities if they have the problem you’re saying they might.
No Oath-friend mechanics AFAIK. The only classes with meaningful group buffs are the Priest classes.
Templar does have one “I’ll take your damage” ability with a 2+ min cooldown, but aside from that, no Guard. For group PVP, aside from that damage transfer ability, Temps have a ranged pull, which is great for picking off opponents.
From what I’ve read, my impression is WAR did a better job implementing tank archetype than Aion.
But Templar is a very well-rounded class.
ah yes ok I understand what you mean now haha, I got that wrong my bad. Well one interesting thing coming is how attacking will no longer affect autorun.
http://abyssaddicts.com/
the guy translates korean stuff about aion. Anyways, hopefully what that means is that we can move and skill at the same time except for the cast time ones or I might be completely off base about that one…
One thing that’s going to be nice is how CC isn’t going to affect the game as much. There isn’t as much and what there is you can pot out of. I heard champions online (which I was going to try) has way too much CC and very little balance because there are no classes (too bad).
Stationary might be ok as long as its fast acting. I haven’t personally experienced anything so I can’t really say yet, but I know I used to play a private RO server on the higher rates for PvP. God that game had good pvp. Armor switching to counter elements, mind games, various builds, etc…good times and I just hope Aion brings the PvP home.
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I played on PT and got my kotbs to 40 and 2 months after i got him to 40 we ended up switching to iron rock to play destro.
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