Aion Grindy? Questing? What?

**Artemicon** · 2009-12-28 11:24

Okay to start i'm a long time FFXI, and World of warcraft player although I never got big into end game in FFXI I raided in a top server first guild in WOW for a little over a year and enjoyed it much during this time I leveled 6 classes to 80 and had 2 years of fun gameplay that I wouldn't change a thing in. Against all the harsh words I have heard from the wow community about the game being "Just another Korean Grind" I picked up AION also due to wow feeling a bit stale to me and I wanted something a little fresh to pass the time until FFXIV comes out.

I've been playing for a few days now and I've gotten a Templar to level 24 my quests around me in Eltnen are all 24-25 and I haven't touched Theobomos which i've been told has some level 21-25 quests and later picks up at higher levels. Now from all the talk of the game having little questing and a ton of grind I can honestly say i've not had to grind a single mob everything has just been questing and killing for quests. My question is does this playstyle continue throughout much of the game or can I expect to have to grind a fair bit later on in the game? It also feels that its been quite efficient doing it the way I have been, I haven't had to do repeat quests unless I just wanted to. Also any leveling hints or strategies that any of you have used would be appreciated even though im not really having issues it never hurts to have a more experienced opinion.

Also just wanted to say contrary to the talk i've encountered I'm having an absolute wonderful time playing the templar its quite a bit more fun tanking in AION than in wow although I never tanked new content the moment it was available in wow it never did seem to challenge me all that much when I was getting around to it.

Just wondering thanks in advance for any replies.

**arus2001** · 2009-12-28 11:50

Sometimes you'll get some dry spots in questing, or you just find yourself with a log full of group quests. Not so bad if you're a Templar, since people usually want one along with a Cleric, but even then it's practically impossible for quests to cover your EXP needs after hitting the mid-30s. From there, it's just a matter of some quests being far more stupid than others. Expect your usual Kill X, Fetch Y, Go to Z type of stuff. That's pretty much an MMO staple despite how much people bitch about how unimaginative such things are. Sometimes the problems spring up where Fetch Y really should just be called "Kill 4x of mob that drops Y because you're not gettin' it in Y drops!" Even worse when it's a repeatable and one of the few options you have for a quest.

Overall, even though the game's young, I'm not really liking its current economic state. Unless you're super lucky, the ripple effect of high prices placed by those who play far more doesn't trickle down equally throughout your level progression. And if there's an activity for moneymaking that's easy to do, you can pretty much guarantee the RMT have it flooded. The whole "playing the broker" deal where rich people buy cheap stuff and relist it at a mark-up also doesn't help the little guy much.

I worry a bit about the game since the launch hype has passed. A lot of people here merely look to Aion as a stopgap until XIV. Some are just sick of XI or WoW. You'll have people who defend some of Aion's glaring flaws just because addressing them would create an Easy Mode game where suddenly everyone is 50 in a couple hours with gold everything. The game is touted as PvPvE, but for those interested in just the E, you have to put up with the trashtalking of the PvP crowd and get screwed out of potential gear in the long run since it's not stuff you can get killing a rifter here and there. There's still some class imbalances, too, which while they may stand out more in PvP, are still a factor in PvE.

Either way, anyone who says Aion is JUST a grinder probably hasn't played it and is just guilting it by association with the developer. Yeah, there are some grindy elements, but welcome to the MMO timesink. Like any MMO, though, I'd say it's best enjoyed if you have a friend or two along with you for the ride.

**Artemicon** · 2009-12-28 12:15

Oh another question I had, I really enjoyed tanking for a group doing the Verteron Krall Campaign quests are there alot of these throughout the game? And do people eventually wise up and learn to use the player search/LFG system? The groups I got in earlier were by accident and the players didn't seem to know it existed heh...

**Sta** · 2009-12-28 12:40

In short: 80% of the time grinding is faster than questing, especially at 'x2 exp weekends' The only quests i do are the ones that require me to kill a certain amount of mob my level so i can grind while I'm questing.
There are some quests at level 35-38 that give you 200k exp for 20 mins work... 15 mins of grinding a mob 3 levels above you will get you double that plus a chance of green/blue items.

I'm 38 temp and I've done all my Campaign quests up to lvl 42 because I've ran out of quests... so I'm forced to grind is in the abyss because there are some nice drops there and the balaur items sell fast, however, get used to being ass raped by the opposing force, often 10 levels above you -.- So try and grind near a guard post where you can retreat to.

To answer you other question: Yeah, there's a bunch of groups like that, your next place to go will be "NTC" which is Nochana's Training Camp. It's very very nice Exp there and the pulls aren't hard at all. (as you can't enter there after lvl 28 try and get 95% of your EXP bar full then enter so you get as far in to 29 as you can) Also.. at 27-28 you can 3-man NTC with a Sorcerer and Cleric, that's awesome EXP... If you're rested + Lodus amulet + x2 weekend = drool.
After NTC there is "FT" or Fire Temple- the EXP sucks there but it has 6 mini-bosses there that drop some nice items, and of course the main boss that can drop the best sword for you until... Xeno's at 45 lol (such a rare sword though).

**Drex** · 2009-12-28 12:50

Quests really dry up in the mid 30s. At 36 or so I could only get a quarter of my level through worthwhile quests, and had to grind the rest. Now that I'm in the 40s I end up grinding almost all of it because my options are:

a) Quest that takes 30-45 mins and gives 300k xp
or b) Grind for 30-45 mins at about 30k-40k xp per minute
or c) Grind elites for slightly better xp but having to pay more attention and deal with more risk

Questing most of your xp is great until abyss access, then you want to grind in the abyss and do training camp runs as often as possible until 29, then quest and grind to 32 or so, then mix up FT and quests/grinding til 40. I was never impressed by FT actually and only went a couple of times ever - the XP is not that much better than soloing in terms of xp/hour unless you are on a bad solo job, and the droprates are so depressing that you could very well get better items overall by grinding and selling those drops to buy broker gear instead.

After 40 just do campaigns whenever you can get in a group that seems not-retarded and spend the rest of your time grinding. I kinda hate steel rake tbh so I've stuck to grinding still, but a lot of people go the group route as well.

**Artemicon** · 2009-12-28 15:25

Haha it just occurred to me that the past three days were part of that double exp weekend thing... lol. Well I feel a little more foolish but hey maybe ill see what real aion is tonight when I get home ^^. Oh well im sure itll get boring grinding but atleast I enjoy the playstyle of my toon.

**Franzer** · 2009-12-28 16:58