#aiontipstricks

If you're topping off people's health every second and they never get below 80% health, you're over-healing.

Use your "heal over time" skills.  They are less "annoying" to the mobs and will get you less attention.

- Light of Rejuvination - Splendor of Rebirth (stigma) - Splendor of Recovery *group heal but also has a heal over time* - Healing Servant (stigma)

To prevent heal aggro, use smaller heals.  Put Light of Rejuv or Splendor of Rebirth on someone and that will be giving them little baby heals.  And the effects stack which means you can put both on them and they will be getting two sets of baby heals plus your healing servant plus whatever other heals you send them.  

If you need to do direct heals, try Light of Recovery or Healing Light - these are smaller and have faster cast times.  You can sometimes do more healing with small heals than a long cast giant heal.

Don't spam "Healing Grace" over and over on a target that isn't actively dying. This is a BIG solo target heal and is the most likely to make the mobs angry.

Dispel Dispel Dispel

Be sure to dispel often.  Many clerics don't dispel and spend their time trying to heal through dots. In some instances, a debuff that turns people's skillbars green is actually preventing them from being healed.  So unless someone is actively dying, dispel them first and heal them second.  It will save you from spamming heals that are just being taken away by whatever damage debuff is happening.

I have a Naga mouse and Cleanse is #1. Aoe Dispel (splendor of purification) is 10. Both in easy to reach spots.  They are the most important skills you have. (Ripple of Purification is nice if you need to both dispel and heal)

Stability

If you're particularly worried about a specific mob (or boss) and you think it's going to aggro you, use Stability.  This is a detaunt.  It basically tells the mob "Oh hey buddy I'm cool don't look at me" and  If I know I've been healign hard, I'll usually throw it on the boss just to be safe.  It's on a 1 min cooldown so you can use it decently often (But if you're doing your job in a plce like Besh you probably won't need to)

"Prehealing the Tank"

Something I like to do is Preheal a tank as they are getting ready to run in on a boss.  I cast skills that are heal over time, provide extra defense and delays heals so these skills don't register on the boss or mob because it hasn't been aggro'd yet.

- Saving Grace (big heal if their health goes below 50%) - Light of Rejuv (heal over time) - Splendor of Rebirth (extra defense + Heal over time) - Splendor of Recovery (heal over time)

You can choose from these or put on a bunch of them.  Timing is crucial because you want to put them on BEFORE the boss is aggroed, but they don't last forever so make sure it's when the tank is getting ready to go in.

Heal Order

When I heal a group I drag and drop the names of the group in the priority I think is best (ie: who needs to live)

In pve it's usually - Me - Tank - Melee (or supporting heals) - Melee (or weak player) - Ranged - Ranged

If it's a boss that does a lot of close range damage (like first boss in BT or Rentus)  I make sure to have priority on the melee.  If I know we have a weaker player or someone who manages to get into trouble, I put them up higher (unless they are annoyingly doing things to get themselves killed then they go to the bottom and I'll just res them when I have time)

As you know every group is different.  Sometimes it'll be all ranged classes and a tank and an off healer.  There will be some groups that you can just sit there spamming "Healing Wind" and no one will die.  There will be other groups where you'll be healing your butt off and having to pop cleric mau (sages and amplification) just to keep ahead of the damage (Ie: Rentus runs with no dispel)

Healing Yourself

I use aoe heals to heal myself most of the time.  This way I'm still healing my group at the same time.  Blessed shield (the blue shield) gives a 100% boost to your heals (basically doubles them) plus shields you.  So you can pop that to protect yourself and then throw a group heal (Especially splendor of Recovery or Ripple) and heal yourself and everyone around you in one skill.

The only time I stop to target myself and use solo heals on myself is when I am certain I am literally about to die.  Other than that, Aoe heals work fine.

If you are worried about being interrupted by the mob hits - use Prayer of Focus before you do the group heal.  This boosts your concentration (makes you harder to interrupt)

You also have two other shield - Life Curtain (which gives both HP and MP in addition to a small shield and Immortal Shroud which is a nice big shield to help you make some time to get you and your group healed.

Boosting Your Heal Power

- Amplification - Raises your healing boost by 300 which makes every heal you cast incredibly strong. - Sages Wisdom makes you cast twice as fast and not use any mana.  Using them together you will heal like a god for 10 seconds. - Noble Grace - 50% boost to any healing your group takes (including potions) - Brilliant Protection (4k dp - for a really bad situation - 30min cd)

HP Gear

If you're still having problems after applying the above, consider making an HP set (using mace and shield for extra defense, f course)  This way if you're getting hit you won't be dying as often because you have much more health.  

Ah the power of fashion. This is Ireland.  The only differences in the two pictures is 2 skins and a nice godstone.

If there is one thing people pay attention to in Aion, it’s skins.  We know what a Resurgent set looks like.  BOTs Wear Resurgent gear.  As a pvper when I see someone in Resurgent skins running at me, I know I’m not going to have a hard time killing them just because of the difference in our gear.  However if someone dressed like Ireland in the 2nd example runs at me, I don’t really know what kind of fight to expect.

If you don’t have gear, Pretend!

If you are undergeared, Take the time to get a chest piece skin.  A costume skin will cover all of your gear and give you the appearance of someone who has gear (or at least good enough gear that it was worth skinning)

The daily stamp rewards can give some pretty nice godstones!  Use them!  Godstones are very cheap these days as well.  But if you’re very low on kinah use a wind damage godstone (they can look like a silence godstone from a distance)

Taking these simple steps can make a big difference.

For one, it will boost your confidence.  I know when I feel like I look bad ass, I play better.  

Now yes I know, skins aren’t going to magically turn you into a geared player.  BUT keep in mind, not everyone you run into is geared either.  The difference between you and another player who may not have gear is, no one knows because your skins say “I spent money on how I look because my gear is good.”

Looks Aren’t Everything

Now we have you dressed to kill, (Pun intended) but even with shiny skins you still have one more thing to consider about how you look:  

Body Language.

The above picture are two great examples of body language.  Note, neither figure has weapons, but one has a distinct advantage.  

In PvP aggression is a wonderful tool.

Here is an example.

I have a small army of spiritmasters.  I summon myself all over the maps (we’ll get to how helpful that is later lol) and almost every single one of these characters is around level 25.

To position them in good places on maps, I often times have to run through high lvl pvp areas on my lvl 25 toon and be able to reach my destination successfully.

One day in Katalam (RIP)  I was running up a hill and I saw a red player dot.  I knew that there was a 99.9% chance that that dot was purple to me and could kill me with one skill.  But they were far enough away that they could see my dot but not my name color (which would be pink)

So I changed my course to run DIRECTLY AT THEM.

This person, who was just trying to do a bloodmark camp, saw my dot and my aggressive direction and RAN AWAY.

Had they turned around they would have seen I was absolutely no threat to them.  But my aggressive behavior changed the situation from a 100% chance of death, to a victory!

BE AGGRESSIVE

From the moments you see an enemy player, no matter the distance, you are giving off body language.

Standing Still Says -  

“I am AFK.” - “I am frozen in terror” - “I don’t know what to do”

Backing Away Says - 

“I am afraid of you.” - “I am not ready to fight” - “I am unsure of myself.”

All of these suggest that you’re an easy kill for someone who is looking to get some ap or a quest update.

But you’re not afraid!  Remember!  You’re a snake!

^ That my dear, is a caterpillar.  But he had you fooled didn’t he?  

FOOL YOUR ENEMY!!!

Advancing Toward Your Enemy Says

“I see you!” - “I know what I’m doing!” -  “I can kill you!”

Sometimes just running at them will be enough to have them go: “Ooh dear I wasn’t expecting them to be a pvper!   I thought they were a bot or a newbie!  I’m out of here!”

Some extra tips on aggressive positioning

Sometimes I’ll draw my weapon and give my powershards a little flash or two.  This is my way of saying “If you come close I’m going to attack you.  You’re warned.” 

Sometimes they don’t listen and so I’ll start buffing up.  If you’re a class that has buffs, use them.  Nothing that has a huge cooldown (because you don’t want to waste them) but if it’s something that will make a scary noise or give you extra attack abilities, this tells them not only do you see them, you’re getting ready to attack.

Be aware 100% of the time the message you are sending. 

Timing 

Be aware that hesitating is also a way of showing you’re unsure of yourself.  Many times I will run directly at a red dot as SOON as I see it, I will have the benefit of being the attacker instead of the attacked.  Many times that instant sign of aggression sends them packing.

Surroundings

Also be aware of where you are.  This may change how a person reacts to you.  

If they came to the map LOOKING for real pvp - they will be thrilled to see someone buffing up and challenging them.

If they just want to get to Rentus, they will be more likely to want to avoid you.  If you look like an easy kill, they might stop and grab some AP.  But if you look like you’re going to slow them down or even defeat them, they may just decide to move along because they have places to be.

When They React, What Do I Do?

Assuming you do NOT want to fight, pay very close attention to how they react.  The bodylanguage cues I gave you above apply to them too.  

Are they backing up?  Are they running away?  Great!  

You have established that you’re paying attention and willing to fight.  If that is not the case, you can chase them for a bit and then stop. That sends the message “I would have killed you but I didn’t feel like running after you all day.”

But keep an eye out for them if they decide to come back.

Are they buffing up and running at you?

The jig is up! Fleee!

If you’re 100% sure you don’t want to fight,it’s time to drop pretenses and scamper off to the nearest place of safety.  But keep in mind to note the player’s name.  They now will have extra confidence the next time they see you and are more willing to attack.

Marking Preview

I like to know where my pvp is coming from.  If I think someone is going to try to sneak up on me I usually will mark them so I can keep tabs on their location and what they are doing if they are nearby.  I have Skull marked on my keybinds so I can mark someone very quickly before they get out of sight.

If I’m not that worried about them but I want to keep an eye out, I mark them 6.  This reminds me that they are there when I see them but that I saw them as an easy kill....

We’ll talk more about marking in a future post.  

Future posts:

- Marking Enemies and Keybinds 

- Paying attention to your surroundings.   

- Remembering Bodylanguage conversations 

- Know people.  Know Legions. 

- Translator Assistance

- Honesty in PvP

Remember you can’t always control how another person reacts to you but you can do things to encourage their behavior to change to something beneficial to you.  You just have to put some thought into it. 

========================================================== ======================================================= Accessories: Made the Nolan stuff myself.  I am proud.  And broke lol. Awesome for MR, Msupp and Block.  I never change my accessories.

- Exalted Nolan Necklace - Exalted Nolan Earrings x2 - Exalted Nolan Ring - Enraged Hyperion Ceramium Ring - Sauro Commander Sash

I have the 4 star wings but they lose augment so fast I never use them.

Magic Resist Set I bit the bullet and spent some time grinding EB to get my Eclipse set because I knew it was the better MR set out there at the time.

Hat: - Sunayaka Hairpin

Armor: - Eclipse Chest, shoulders, pants and shoes (MR 16s) - Shepherd Gloves (because I got tired of EB) - Eclipse Shield (MR 16s)

Weapons: 

- Enraged Hyperion Mace (MR 20s / MR 16s) - godstone: Immobilize

- Archon Commander's Warhammer (MR 16s) - godstone: Silence  

I have two hammers because I have some weapons that are the same due to the hyperion event boxes being stingy with giving me a staff.  So I'm awash in warhammers.

Also while the Hyperion hammer gives me more MR, the 60aug2 hammer works faster with my macro.  I usually have the Hyperion hammer in a pet so it doesn’t mess with my macro by adding a hammer with a stat I didn’t want.

When I use this set:

Usually when fighting a zerg.  1 on 1 you’ll run into 2 things. - people who have Macc sets to get through your MR or people who can’t hit you at all and the set just becomes unnecessary.  For the 2nd kind of person you’re better off just changing to an offensive set and being done with it.

I use it when I’m fighting 5+ people because it minimizes godstone procs and keeps me able to move.  The Eclipse set is decently sturdy so even with melee hitting me in this set I can tank numerous people as long as I keep moving.

Magic Boost / Magic Accuracy Set

I spent time in 3.0 grinding my little heart out for mithril medals.  My Magic Boost set was 60aug2 for a long time.  When the gear gap got to be a problem I purified the 60aug set and made it into a shepherd set.

Hat: - Remodeled Magic Danuar Helm (Ancient Coin)

Armor: - Shepherd Divine Set

Weapons:

- Legendary Noble Katalium Staff / Modor staff combine (I think) - - godstone: 4050 wind damage

- Vasharti Brigade General's Cane / Hyperion staff (Assorted MA stones) - godstone: Silence  

You'll notice neither of these are actual pvp weapons lol.  My laziness has not lifted when it comes to grinding out pvp weapons.  I'll get back to you if I start having trouble hitting people and need one.  Thus far it hasn't been too much of an issue thanks to the MA staff.

I may make a full on MA set at some point but I haven’t decided.  MR clerics are not that serious for the most part.  So the set would be very rarely needed and I already have no space!

Block Set This is an awesome set.  I'm told the Eclipse set is nice for block but since I already have an Eclipse set I'm nto terribly interested in changing.

Hat: - Remodeled Danuar Helm (Plate) (Ancient Coin)

Armor: - Fearless Skirmisher Hauberk (Block 29s/Block 33s) Very important since this set can only got to +10 to max enchant it.  You will be glad you did when you get a nasty sin attacking you.

Shield: - Legendary Noble Katalium Shield (temp shield) *Now, This shield gives a ton of block but has some drawbacks.  It goes to +12 rather than +15 and isn't a pvp shield so it lacks defense. If you want something that will REALLY protect you in pvp I recommend a second Eclipse Shield or perhaps some of the new gear.  It works fine against normal players (as does a bloodmark shield) but the super geared rangers and sins will still cut through this set.  So don't tank damage when you don't have to.

Weapon: - Bastion Aggressor Mace - Godstone - Blind

I used to use the matching Katalium mace but it had no enchanting on it so I opted to make the change since this is the ONE really drop I'd ever gotten from EB and I wanted to use it lol.

Magic Suppression! This is my BABY stat.  I love being in this stat because you can facetank most sorcs, gunners, clerics, oyu'll live through 7 fears and survive a songweaver burst like a boss and have more mana to use.

Hat: - Remodeled Danuar Headband (cloth) (Ancient Coin)

Armor: - Remodeled Danuar Cloth set

Shield: - Shepherd Divine Protective Shield

Weapon: - Enraged Hyperion Mace (yes another one) - Godstone - Silence

Now this set is AMAZING against casters but it's also very weak against melee.  They will chop you into little pieces so I suggest having a block set macro ready to go and your block stuff on your off weapons.  You can only +5 this armor set  and it's CLOTH.  So keep that in mind. Warning aside though it's an awesome set.  I am currently working on the Rentus version and putting MR in it but since it's not done the jury is out.

How Msupp works:

Magic Suppression "suppresses" Magic Boost 1 for 1.  

So if I am hitting you with 3000 Magic Boost and you have 3000 Magic Suppression I may as well be attackign you in skins because I'm nto going to hit you ver hard at all.

The reason the cloth set is coupled with the shield and weapons is because the cloth set has a very high base for Msupp as well as Ancient Manastone slots to put Msupp 50 (or 40s) in

The Rank 1 AP shield has Msupp in it and the weapon also has ancient manastone slots.  I have the Hyperion one because I already had it to use.  But Any Ancient manastone having weapon works wonderfully - DR/IO and especially Rentus

You'll notice in the picture my msupp is dramatically higher in the Vasharti set that isn't even finished.  Drawback is that there are only 2 normal slots and so it wouldn't be a great Mboost set if I have msupp in the ancient slots.  That’s why I'm trying MR.  I may switch to HP or even scrap the whole thing and do a pve Mboost set if I don't like it.  We'll see.

Also note Msupp 50s are expensive as heck (60mil at lowest).  Msupp 40s are pretty darn effective and a fraction of the cost.  (2mil or so each)

Pve Gear

PvE sets I didn’t take pictures of but I basically take any mythic drop I get and slap either Mboost or HP in it depending on what stats it has.  I’m a Frankenstein of PVE gear and have nothing useful to offer you in that arena  XD

Ok phew I’m exhausted. lol.