Character Creation href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71561"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 99px; float: right;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71561" />

So you've decided to roll Asmodae. Contrary to widespread
belief, Asmodae aren't necessarily "evil," but certainly got the worse
end of the deal when the cataclysm rent the Tower of Eternity in two.
No matter how much time you put into making your character pretty,
remember that your Asmodae-ness will shine through in several ways.
More sinister-looking Asmod visual attributes - large-ish claws on our
feet and hands, a length of mane on your back, sallower shades of skin,
scars, and spell effect like red eyes - are simply adaptations or the
result of their environment. Nonetheless, living in a rugged land has
made the Asmodae into a hard people, and at first brush they are
certainly act a little more barbaric than their Elyos cousins.

Archetype, sex, and appearance are three options you won't be
able to change with your Aion character, so choose wisely. Be sure to
read the archetype descriptions closely and pick something you'll be
happy with over the long haul.

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 125px; float: left;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71558"
hspace="5" />

Aldelle Basin href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71558"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; float: left;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71558" hspace="5" />

You'll start your journey in Ishalgen with Aldelle Basin.
Double-click Vandarnt, one of the ubiquitous Ulgorn's raiders, to
receive a quest to eradicate the local sprigg population in The
Sprigg's Revenge. Spriggs don't pose much of a
challenge, so this is a perfect time to learn a little bit about your
(rather limited) combat skills. You'll add more skills and spells at
level 2, 5, 7, and 9, so be sure to read up on and get the most out of
each successive round of new abilities.

Complete your first mission and Vandarnt will send you on your
way with The Sprigg Report. Trek down the
road a goodly ways until your just past the ruins on the hill. On the
other side, below, and to the left lies Guheiten's Tent. Turn in The
Sprigg Report (grats! Level 2!) and pick up For The Love
of Fruit from Vanar. Start at the Sprigg Den just to the
northwest of Guheiten's Tent, double-clicking the fruit baskets (be
sure to "Take All" each time) and working your way counterclockwise.
Return, turn in, and get Sight for Sore Eyes,
which will take you just to the northeast once again. Turning in this
one will get you Level 3 and Vanar's Flattery,
and you're off again to your next quest hub: Aldelle Village.

Aldelle Village href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71559"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 125px; float: right;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71559"
hspace="5" />

Pull up your map (keystroke [M] by default) and you'll see the
cusp of Aldelle Village down the road to the southwest. Entering the
village will grant you one of two "pop-up" quests: Captain's
Orders. Hit [J] to pull up your quest journal and see
that this is also your first campaign quest. Campaign quests are
mandatory storyline quests that also provide you with some excellent
equipment upgrades, so it's worth your while to complete these first.

[protip]Roads aren't always the fastest way between two
points. Go offroad! You won't have to worry about aggro (kill on sight
mobs) until you get into your level 6 or level 7 quests.[/protip]

Ulgorn is standing in the middle of the village. Report to him
to get a few more campaign quests (Thinking Ahead,
The Search for Rae, Memento
Mori). While you're in the village, grab The
Shinier The Better from Bacorkerk (sell off any misc
items you have to the general goods vendor next to him) and Urd's
Request from, not surprisingly, Urd. Before leaving the
village, talk to your class instructor and pick up the next round of
spells (Priests and Mages will find their trainer in the northwest of
the village, Scouts in the eastern part, Warriors in the west). Then
chat with Boromer to advance Thinking Ahead (and see your very first
cutscene, and get in touch with your bad Asmod self). You'll then
venture down the road to talk to Nobekk for another Thinking Ahead
quest advance, plus Angelica for Health and Wellbeing.
Off to Lake Tunapre.

Lake Tunapre

You'll pick up Talking with Mirou
on the way to the lake. Start cranking on the slinks and airons around
and in the lake and you'll hit level 4 soon enough. Keep an eye out for
Angelica to harvest for Nobekk too. When you finish, talk to Bohr next
to Negi's Dock. You might as well accept his proposal for the
experience and cash - if you refuse you'll be able to accept again
immediately. It seems Bohr's cowardice knows no bounds. If you're
lucky, you'll loot a rolled scroll. Double click it to get Return
to Sender, a simple delivery quest that's the perfect
way to return to Aldelle Village.

[protip]Remember that you can gather multiple times on each
Angelica node, but Angelica grows throughout the intro areas, so don't
worry about getting your ten on the first trip. It's good to get in the
habit of gathering whenever you stumble across a node, since you'll
have at least one quest later on that requires 15 points in
gathering.[/protip]

Turn in this round of quests to advance Thinking Ahead, then
pick up Idle Hands from Kaindal (he's
wandering through the center of the village). Take care of the Sprigg
Gatherers next to the lake, and you should be level 5! Train your new
spells and abilities, set up your hotbar, and return to the village.
This is a great time to sell your stuff, put any potions you have on
the hotbar, and expand your cube (or inventory, since soon your trips
will take you farther afield), and buy your level 7 spells / skills.
Finish any remaining business you have in Lake Tunapre and Aldelle
Village, then head west on the road to Munihele Forest.

Munihele Forest

When you first venture into Munihele Forest, you'll come
across Dabi and Motgor. Motgor will complete Idle Hands and offer you Insect
Problem. Whichever insect you choose, both the Sparkys
and Sylphon are in abundant supply nearby. Talk to Dabi to get Search
for Rae, Token of Lost Love,
and Sap for Leather. Before heading
southeast to Verdandi, take care of Insect Problem and Token of Lost
Love then hand them in, but save Sap for Leather for now. Head to
Verdandi to advance Search for Rae, and she'll want you to gather
sticky mushrooms. These grow on the base of certain trees, and several
of the spawns seem to be broken. Just keep clicking and searching until
you get a usable node.

Verdandi will "tell your fortune" - a little bit of a playable
cutscene that's to be continued later. Cull the Doru population a bit
(and welcome to level 6), then Verdandi will ask you to figure out
which ribbit is the meddlesome little Rae. As you can probably guess,
the cute ribbit is the correct one.

Instead of returning to Aldelle Village, venture onward to
Auturoon Sentry Post, your next quest hub. There's a flight transporter
to Aldelle Village that you can unlock there to make your village trips
hassle free.

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 125px; float: left;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71562"
hspace="5" />Auturoon Sentry Post

When arriving, the first thing you should do is click at the
Obelisk to bind yourself to the area. You're bound to die at least once
(get it?) in this area, and returning here after death will save you a
trip (you could opt to bind in the village, but that couple hundred
kinah for the flight can add up). Next talk to Derot to advance Memento
Mori and grab Up to No Good, then Mijou
will advance Teaching a Lesson and give you Food Thieves
and Checking on a Friend. Grab Brax
Skin Rug from Denma too. Before starting the grind, fly
to Aldelle Village and turn in Sap for Leather and get Delivery
of Leather. Now is a great time to replace your leg
armor from the armor vendor.

[protip] Don't replace your chest or foot armor - you'll be
getting upgrades to the chest piece soon enough, and foot pieces seem
to drop with higher frequency than other pieces.[/protip]

Now you can save a few kinah and use your return ability to
get back to Auturoon. Once there, hunt the nearby brax and karniff
(note that these wolf-like creatures are the first kill-on-sight aggro
creatures you'll meet). If the brax are overhunted (they're both few
and you only have a random chance of picking up the quest loot), keep
going on the karniff, and work your way into the sailors and peons on
the dock leading to the ship. Return to Auturoon when you've completed
this stage of Taking a Lesson, then grab Treasure Map
from Ludun. The treasure map is on a table amidships once you've fought
through the sailor spawn. Take out some enough brax and karniff to
knock out those quests on your way back to Auturoon. Turn in the
Treasure Map quest, pick up Black Opal.

By this time you should be a comfortable level 7. Place your
new spells / abilities on your hotbar for your next formidable task,
stealing the Black Opal out from under Carak in his nearby lair. Note
that you don't have to kill Carak if you're careful (or happen to be a
rogue and can stealth in). Carak is a challenge at level 7, but
entirely beatable. The treasure is at the far end of the lair, click to
loot. Congrats on your Treasure Hunter title (press [p] and click , and
be sure to equip your new necklace. You're done with the Auturoon
quests

[protip]Titles give stats in Aion, so be sure to have a title
equipped. At level 10, the Raider Hero title is great for melee
classes, and the Fluent in Mau title is excellent for magic users
(though you'll need quite a bit of kinah to buy the language skill in
Pandaemonium).[/protip]

alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71565"
hspace="5" />Ishalgen Prison Camp

(Note: at this point you can choose to do Odella Plantation
quests or the Prison Camp quests. Odella Plantation quest chains tend
to be a little longer, but the Prison Camp is farther away. My usual
plan was to do the Prison Camp quests, then use your "return" ability
to get back to Auturoon, turn in your Prison Camp quests, complete the
Odella quests until complete while waiting for return to recover, then
head back to the Prison Camp. Seesawing back and forth seemed fairly
fast, but if you want to start with Odella, feel free!)

Head north to the Prison Camp, which is more like a graveyard.
Along the way you'll pick up Captain's Secret from
Jephoni. The ghouls for Memento Mori, but the plant-like creatures
flatten themselves against the ground and can be a little elusive. Take
care of Captain's Secret too, then return to Auturoon, where you'll get
Treasures Within Treasures from Derot.
It's a great time to work on your Odella questline, so feel free to
skip down to the Odella questlines while your Return ability recovers.
The Prison

Along the line you'll likely loot a silver necklace, a quest
item. Click it for a super simple delivery quest that leads you back to
the Prison Camp and Ashes to Ashes. The
bone piles are scattered on the ground around the incinerator (just to
the right inside the Prison Camp, just before the first wall (loc: 493,
1944). You may need to clear the spawn to safely dispose of the bones.
Click on gravestones and kill mobs to satisfy Treasures Within
Treasures. Then bounce into Auturoon.

Return to the Prison Camp. Continue up the ramp to find Munin,
a daeva imprisoned deep within the Prison Camp. He'll be more important
later on, but for now advance Treasures Within Treasures and grab A
Demanding Request. You can complete this quest at your
leisure but, though I can't speak for all the rewards, grabbing a
Ginseng Root from an Odella Plantation farmer produces Murin's Hat, a
nice looking hat that almost completes your ensemble. Kill the
necessary Grave Sparkeys and return to Murin. you won't be able to go
any further in Prison Camp.

Unless you're level 9, you won't be able to work on Munin's Ascension
quest at level 9, but pick it up if you can. With all quests complete,
return to Auturoon.

Odella Plantation

Pick up Hit Them Where It Hurts
and The Robbery Plot from Mijou in
Auturoon (you may need to advance to level 8 first, so work on your
Prison Camp quests if you like). Head up the road to Odella Plantation,
advancing your quests and grabbing Pearls Before Swine
from Alfrigh and Devalin on the way. The dumdum pots are close to the
buildings on the plantation. Keep in mind that while the farmers won't
aggro you, the sentries and Grey Man Fighters and Sentinels will.
Gather the pots with caution, and take out a Sentinels and Iron Ore
nodes whenever you see them. Both of the latter are scarce, but the
Iron Ore is harvested three at a time and leads to a shiny new weapon!

[protip]Additional Iron Ore nodes can be found at the
following locations (/loc) 668, 1358 and 790, 1478 or 415,
1406.[/protip]

When finished, return to Alfrigh and Devalin and turn in on
the way back to Auturoon. Sell your miscs, and by this time you might
have looted a green item that you can't use or don't want to use.
Instead of selling it, consider buying a set of Extraction Tools to
convert it into a special level 12 enchantment stone that will convert
one or your items into a "+1," with increased stats across the board.
Use these stones only on an powerful item you've just received and are
sure to keep uptil level 12.

Fly back to Aldelle to advance The Robbery Plot with Hephe,
and take the opportunity to sell down your equipment and pick up your
level 9 spells. Another trip to Odella will close out The Robbery Plot,
and you can track down Gray Mane Fighters for the last stage of Pearls
Before Swine too.

[protip]If you're having trouble here's a decent 3-spawn of
Gray Mane Fighters atop the hill at 466, 1391.[/protip]

By now you should be level 9, so if you don't have Munin's
Ascension quest, make a quick trip to Prison Camp to get it before
returning to Aldelle.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71560"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 600px; height: 375px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71560" />

Dubaro Vine Canyon: The Abyss Gate & Ascension

A quick trip to Adelle will get you The Abyss Gate, and you'll
need to get quest advances from Nobekk, Derot, and Verdandi for this
and to gather the cards you need for the Ascension quest. Pick your way
into Dubaro Vine Canyon, which is west through Odella Plantation
(consult your map). Naalto will advance The Abyss Gate quest, and offer
you Suspicious Activity. The patrol mobs
you need to complete this quest are in abundant supply on your way to
destroy the Abyss Gate. The fastest way to get there is to go straight
on when the road forks, but DON'T try to rush through the mobs or sneak
past any unless you're sure you can make it. It's a long run back into
Dubaro Vine Canyon from Auturoon if you die. Speaking of which, it's a
great time to group up if there are other players working on the same
objectives about.

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 125px; float: left;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71567"
hspace="5" />When you reach the Abyss Gate area,
Rae is just to the left before the door. The blue power generator is
off to the left and the green generator is around the room to the
right. The violet generator is at the top of the platform (destroying
it will grant you a nice little Abyss Gate destruction cutscene), and
likewise is the boss mob you need for Suspicious Activity. He's not
much of a challenge as long as you clear the platform of potential
adds. When complete, talk to Rae again, then work your way ever upward
to Naalto to finish out Suspicious Activity, return to Auturoon, fly to
Aldelle, and receive the thanks of Ulgorn. You've got a new title to
equip too - "Raider Hero". Just one more step to complete.

Fly back to Auturoon, then run to Munin at the Prison Camp.
Cards in hand, Munin will guide you through a piece of cake interactive
cutscene, at the end of which you'll choose your class. Read well and
pick just the class you'll want over the long-haul - not just the class
that sounds the coolest. When complete, take Munin's offer for a free
ride to Pandemonium. Congrats on level 10, your new class, and for
completing the Asmodae side of Ishalgen!