One of the most popular selling points for Aion is the fact that you can take to the air and engage in aerial combat with your enemies. Though flight is limited to specific areas, it’s best to try and master the mechanics once you ascend as it will become a major part of the game, especially when you enter the Abyss. However, there are other small things you can pick up along the way to help save your neck in a pinch and come out of a fight alive when you clearly should have been fertilizer for the landscape.

style="margin: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; float: right; width: 200px; height: 118px;"
border="1">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72571"
title="" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/72571" alt="" width="200" height="106"
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 106px;" />

style="font-style: italic;">Tower fragments emit Aether, allowing flight in certain areas.

Why can I only fly in certain areas?

To elaborate on what Savanja wrote in her initial flight guide, flight in Aion is only possible when you are in the presence of Aether. This magical material was a big part of the Tower of Eternity and rooted in the lore is the answer to why flight is only possible in certain areas. In order for flight to take place, Aether must be present and when the Tower of Eternity shattered, it sent fragments across the land. Areas that contain these fragments emanate Aether and will allow you to take flight. However, these fragments aren’t everywhere and this is why flight is restricted to certain areas.

One area that flight is open to is the Abyss. This is also driven home in the lore. The Abyss was created by the planet leaking Aether from the two main fragments of the Tower of Eternity. The leaking Aether created the Abyss and that is where all the bleeding Aether goes. It is also believed that if either the Elyos or Asmodian fragment is destroyed, the Aether will stop leaking and thus save the world for one side. This is one of the key reason for the Elyos and Asmodian conflict.

Gliding

I can’t say enough how important it is to learn this little skill as soon as you have your wings. By default, you can glide by pressing the space key. However, you need to be headed downhill at a downward angle, falling off a cliff or from a high distance at the time. Gliding is a bit different from flying. You can maneuver the same as when you are flying. Unlike flying, you can glide anywhere in the game, even in areas where flight is not supported, but you can’t ascend or do combat. Gliding is in a steady state of descent with an occasional boost if you hit an area that can propel you upward just right.

Gliding works much like you would expect hang gliding to function in real life. Your ability to glide works in coordination with your momentum. The faster you are moving, the better your glide ability will be. However, if you hit a level or uphill patch of land while gliding, you will land. Like flight, you have a limited glide time and a 10 second cooldown. Keep an eye on your flight gauge as if you are high in the sky when it runs out, you may string out a random collection of obscenities as you bring a whole new meaning to the words “high impact”.

Combat

There are a few tricks to combat and these will work just as well on the ground as in the air. You may think standing still and going toe to toe with an enemy is the best way to fight a battle, but in Aion that is not the case. Movement actually affects your stats in Aion. By moving in a given direction for a short time, you can gain combat bonuses. These can be indicated by a small arrow that glows in the direction you are moving for the bonus. Below I have listed the movement bonuses you can acquire in combat.

• Attack Bonus: Moving forward increases your attack bonus and decreases your physical defense and magical resistances.
• Block Bonus: Moving backward increases your block rating
• Evasion Bonus: Moving left or right increases your evasion rating.

style="margin: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; float: right; width: 200px; height: 118px;"
border="1">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72569"
title="" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/72569" alt="" width="200" height="106"
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 106px;" />

When moving forward, your attack receives an increase, but your defense takes a hit.

As stated, these bonuses can be used in both ground and air combat.

Another important thing you need to be aware of is that there are skills out there that can retract your wings. I learned this the hard way on my Asmodian gladiator when I engaged a flying enemy who then proceeded to hit me with an attack that took away my wings. This might not have been a problem if I wasn’t flying high enough to take a cloud nap at the time. Unfortunately, I became the first Asmodian air to ground missile.

Flight isn’t too difficult to learn, but it plays a major part in Aion. However, there are many little tricks you can pick up along the way to help make your aerial combat skills more deadly. Until then, fly softly and carry a big stick.