10 Things I wish I'd known about Aion

For all of you that didn't get a chance to play the betas I've put together a short list of some things that I wish I'd known before I started playing. You'll find most of this stuff out before you get out of the noob zone, but maybe it'll save you a little time by learning from my mistakes.

1: Bind Early, Bind Often. Obelisks, located in almost every outpost, are your binding location. A simple click and a nominal amount of Kinah will allow you to update your bind/recall location. Since there are no "graveyards" in Aion, a death will return you to your bind-point which, if not updated, may cause a long travel back to the location you were in.

2: Swimming is for the fishes. Your Aion toons are about as bouyant as a lead pipe filled with sand; if you decide to take a few laps around your local pond and the water is deep you might also end up taking a few laps around the zone while you run back from your death...especially if you didn't listen to point #1.

3: Bigger isn't always better (at least that's what my wife tells me....). Large characters will also have larger hit-boxes in PvP. The hit-box difference from the smallest toon to the largest toon doesn't make a huge difference, but every little advantage counts.

4: Maybe bigger IS better! Extendable weapons allow melee classes to double their attack range and clip those pesky ranged classes that are trying to get away.

5: Use the Express-Mail option, that's what all the cool kids are doing. If you need to get an item to someone in a hurry, make sure to use the "Express Mail" option. It's well worth the extra Kinah!! (It's also, to me, one of the best "unexpected" features I've seen in any MMO!)

6: Take a little time to stop and smell the roses...or the oranges...or the ore. There are a lot of quests that require you to harvest items, but if your harvesting skill is too low you'll end up either skipping the quest or wasting time in a zone you've already completed just to keep it up to date.

7: Looks can be deceiving. In Aion you have the ability to not only dye your armor but also to completely transpose the stats of one piece onto the looks of another piece. Just because that funny looking Asmo in the corner is wearing ghetto armor doesn't mean he's not the best geared toon on your server!

8: UI Customization: There are two "default" UI layouts in the options menu; both are full featured. The game defaults to what I call the "Aion Layout" but if you prefer something a little more familiar you can turn it into a "WoW Clone" UI.

9: Don't spend too much time looking for an Aion Profile for your G15 keyboard. This may change in the future, but at the moment Aion blocks all the advanced functions of gaming devices like the G15 keyboard or your Nostromo Gamepad, so don't waste too much time trying to find a workaround.

10: Don't trust your minimap too much. Your minimap has a radar that will identify mobs/players around you, but it's only effective for a 120-degree Arc in front of you; It doesn't see that SpiritMaster coming from behind to own your soul!