Legions in control of a castle are entitled to funding from taxes and players within the faction get specials from NPCs and discounts for travel and vendor items.

[7] Players of a very high rank are also granted the ability to transform into what is known as a Guardian General, a form that bestows an exceedingly large boost to certain stats.

Players start the game by choosing one of the six primary classes: Warrior, Mage, Scout, Priest, Technist or Muse.

Warriors may become a Templar or a Gladiator; Mages may become a Sorcerer or Spiritmaster; Scouts may become an Assassin or Ranger; Priests may become a Cleric or a Chanter; Technists may become a Gunslinger or Aethertech; and a Muse will become a Songweaver or Vandal (as of the new update 7.0).

The base process involves learning a particular form of crafting, of which there are seven in Aion: weaponsmithing, armorsmithing, handcrafting, tailoring, alchemy, cooking, and construction.

Flight is initially limited to 60 seconds but can be increased with various armor, titles, and other items in-game, especially wings, that can be obtained from level 10 on.

However, the most important aspect is gliding, which unlike actual flying is possible everywhere in the game (with very few exceptions) and allows to easily cross chasms or slopes that would otherwise block the player's path.

While the outside world continued to be ravaged by the Drakan, who had become the more ferocious Balaur, the humans within the barrier managed to tap into the Aether, gaining their own powers.

This surprise proposal drew criticism from within the faction; after a lengthy and heated debate, seven of the twelve Lords became the winning majority to move forward with the plan.

When the Balaur arrived at the Tower of Eternity, a commotion broke out, killing a Balaurian captain; the remaining Balaur, enraged, marched upon and destroyed the Tower, which set off a chain reaction that threatened to destroy the planet, but Israphel and Siel made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their own lives to protect Atreia.

The world was shattered into two "hemi-shells", with a dark Abyss lying between them, but it was held together by the aetheric field created from the Tower Lords' sacrifice.

They both took their humans and Daeva with them, and over time, they adapted to their respective new worlds and declared the opposing side their mortal enemies.

[citation needed] The game was then localized for Western markets, including North America, Europe, and Australia.

NCsoft held six weekend long closed beta tests for North American and European players beginning in June 2009.

GameGuard is used in many Asian-market games to stop botting and cheating, but was abandoned for Western markets due to a range of issues experienced during the open beta.

Players will receive new challenges; novel and updated instances and zones; an increased level capacity from 50 to 55; and fresh weapons, items, skills, and flight mechanics.

The expansion also introduces functional pets equipped with in-game benefits that will rapidly become constant character companions.

[18] Released on October 19, 2011, The Promised Lands (Ascension in NA) takes Aion further into Balaurea, including areas where opposing factions must work together with the Reians[19] to drive the Balaur back into Tiamaranta, where players face Dragon Lord Tiamat in her fortress.

[citation needed] Released on June 26, 2013, Dark Betrayal features two new classes, the Gunslinger and the Songweaver, as well as three new zones, Katalam, Danaria, and Idian Depths, as well as increasing the level cap to 65.

[21] The official Aion: The Tower of Eternity Original Soundtrack was released as a single CD featuring 22 tracks written by composer Yang Bang-Ean (also known as Kunihiko Ryo in Japan).

The soundtrack was released in Japan and Korea on October 21, 2008, and in North America and Europe as part of the Collector's Edition.

[22] The second official album called "AION – Annales of Atreia" was released on May 10, 2010 via the iTunes Store for $9.99 USD.

Composers Inro Joo and Wonki Kim created the original soundtrack with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.

The game generated 40.6 billion won ($32.7 million) in the fiscal quarter in South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Japan.

[35] Positive reviews have cited that Aion provides a "refreshing look" from an artistic perspective and a "great first impression", with a lot of polish and balance.