Aion Class Preview – The Chanter

Like
many other aspects of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254"
target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">Aion,
the Chanter class blends just enough familiar elements from previous
MMOs for players to feel completely at home while stepping into the
role while offering...
Like
many other aspects of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254"
target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">Aion,
the Chanter class blends just enough familiar elements from previous
MMOs for players to feel completely at home while stepping into the
role while offering plenty of unique features to keep things fresh and
interesting. The net result is a priest class that functions both as
rugged melee fighter and excellent support class all wrapped into one
neat package. Though they have an exceptionally high survivability rate
while solo in most encounters, chanters are also a valuable asset to
just about any group situation.


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src="/image/view/70097">

Strengths

Above average melee DPS

Mantras that aide allies in
battle

Chain attacks that debuff
enemies

Weaknesses

Must be in melee to utilize
debuffs and stuns

Can only wear up to chain
armor

No taunting abilities

Unique
Ability – Mantras
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There are a few key differences between clerics and chanters that set
the two classes apart and ultimately steer you down a somewhat
different path than what you might expect when first reaching ascension
as a priest. While the most obvious of these will be the direct focus
of melee combat as a chanter, it’s a series of PBAoE
(point-blank area-of-effect) buffs called Mantras that make the chanter
such a fierce melee combatant while still providing plenty of priestly
support to groups.



Before diving into some of the specifics on the first few Mantras
you’ll gain as a chanter, here are a few basic, shared
elements to help give you a better understanding of how they function:

Mantras are an instant-cast,
maintained ability. Unlike our other buffs, Mantras will remain active
until either manually cancelled, or you fall in battle.

As a PBAoE buff, anyone
grouped with the chanter will receive their benefits so long as they
remain within its set radius. While most early combat will take place
on the ground, to help with aerial combat there’s a passive
skill called Flight: Boost Mantra Range that’s obtained early
on in the ‘campaign’ quest line you obtain upon
becoming a Daeva that will increase the base range of Mantras by 100%
while in flight.

Mantras are
‘stackable’, meaning you can keep more than one of
them active at any given time rather than being forced to pick and
choose which benefits you need for a given situation. This is a nice
feature as it keeps Mantras in the realm of being unobtrusive so you
can focus more on melee combat and heals.

From level 10 to 20 there are four core Mantras you’ll learn
as a Chanter as described below:



Victory
Mantra – Obtained
at level 10, this will increase the
Physical Attack of you and your group members within a 20m radius by 10.



Shield
Mantra – Obtained
at level 13, this will increase
Physical Defense by 20, Block by 40, Parry by 40 and Evasion by 20 for
you and your group members within a 20m radius.



Magic
Mantra – Obtained
at level 16, this will increase both
Magic Boost and Magical Accuracy for you and your group members within
a 20m radius by 20.



Celerity
Mantra – Obtained
at level 19, this will increase
the Speed of you and your group members within a 20m radius by 10.

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Core
Combat



Besides your fancy new Mantras, there are a few things thrown into the
mix at level 10 that will greatly enhance your ability to fully step
into a melee role. The most obvious of these will be the ability to
wear chain armor and use a shield, both of which offer a nice
protective boost either when solo or serving as your group’s
off-tank. If you’re like me and are continually baffled by
the persistence of Priests in MMOs being pigeonholed into wielding a
mace as your primary weapon, there’s good news; you also have
the option to use a hefty 2H staff for a noticeable increase to your
DPS at the cost of the added protection of a shield in your offhand.
Your very first quest as a Chanter will in fact reward you with your
choice of either of these weapon types.



Initially, combat will remain similar to what you experienced with the
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70428" target="_blank">Priest
archetype, but as you progress
as a Chanter you’ll
unlock an optional path for your first attack chain at level 13. Using
Hallowed Strike as your opener, Sonic Swing is a Condemnation that does
moderate physical damage but also adds a second
debuff to your target, reducing their Physical Defense by 5% for 8
seconds. Sonic Swing is also on a much shorter cooldown timer, so
it’s fairly easy to keep the debuff active on your target
throughout a given encounter.



The opener for a second attack chain is another melee attack called
Meteor Blow which you can pick up right away at level 10. Another
debuff, this skill will reduce your target’s Physical Defense
by 80, and their Flight Speed by 50% for 4 seconds which will no doubt
come in quite handy later on in aerial combat situations.



At level 19 you’ll finally obtain the second element in this
new attack chain via a skill called Incandescent Blow. This melee
attack will further decrease your target’s Physical Defense
by 40, with a slightly longer duration of 8 seconds.



Stringing these melee attacks together is at the very core of combat
for the Chanter. Between the various debuffs and maintained group
buffs, both help to keep the pressure off of needing to rely too
heavily on direct heals. Chanters also get a much needed upgrade to
their HoT (heal-over-time) spell at level 13, Spell of Revival. This
new spell provides a slightly stronger heal than Light of Renewal, but
more importantly is of a much longer duration at 38 seconds. Chances
are you’ll still need to use Healing Light  when
facing tougher opponents while solo or when in a group as the primary
healer, but Spell of Revival can help keep your focus more on melee
combat and less on playing a backline heal-bot.