Last week in our community address for October we told you about a few changes we’ve been working on for an upcoming update. Today we’re happy to announce that the update is currently in testing and will be coming to the live servers in the near future. As promised, we are transparently giving you as much information as possible so to alleviate some of the concerns that you’ve expressed.

It gives us great pleasure to share with you the tentative patch notes for the Aion 1.5.1 patch.

Because this update is still in testing, we’re unable to release the official date these changes will go live. Additionally, remember that changes could occur due to issues we find in testing.

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[NPC]

1. Added a new function to prevent abnormal game play as a result of specific terrains in the Instanced Dungeons.
— When a player moves where a monster cannot follow, the monster will now correctly continue to attack the player.

2. You no longer receive a reward when you defeat a field boss using a specific NPC.

3. Assigned additional guard NPCs that can detect Stealth to protect allies in the main villages of Heiron (in Elysea) and Beluslan (in Asmodae).

Region	Assigned villages
Heiron	Paserta Village, Juprosine Village
Beluslan	Besfer Refugee Village, Red Mane Cave Village

4. Increased the eyesight and Stealth detection ability of Mau Warriors and Mau Hunters—the NPC guards assigned to the Silver Mane Village in Morheim.

5. Changed the name of the guards near the Dredgion entrance in both Elysea and Asmodae.
- Changed the name of the guard in the Teminon Bind Point to Garrison Senior Soldier .
- Changed the name of the guard in the Primum Bind Point to Garrison Senior Soldier .

6. Corrected the spelling errors in the dialog with Stigma Master Nobus in Teminon Fortress.

[Instanced Dungeon]

1. There is now a high chance of obtaining class Stigma crystals from defeating the boss in the Fire Temple, Raged Judge Kromede.

2. Changed the drop rate of class Skill Books in the Aetherogenetics Lab and Alquimia Research Center.
- Slightly increased the drop rate from monsters in the Instanced Dungeons.
- Greatly increased the drop rate from the final bosses in the Instanced Dungeons.

3. Changed the movement speed of certain bosses in Dark Poeta.
- Increased movement speed of Vengeful Spirit of Forest Protector Noah
- Increased movement speed of Vengeful Spirit of Elim Elder.
- Increased movement speed of Spaller Insect Echtra.

4. Lowered the difficulty of Steel Rake Hutkin, the final boss of the Steel Rake.
- Lengthened the summoning cycle of minion monsters.
- Lowered the level and stats of minion monsters.

5. Changed the system message that displays when the food/water supply unit inside Hutkin’s Safe in the Steel Rake fails to activate.
- Displays system message, “It will be difficult to do this alone. I need one more person to help me push it!” when a character tries to activate the food/water supply unit alone.

[Items]

1. Changed the options of some items.

Item Name	Before Change	After Change
Cloth Shoes of Steel Beard Pirates.	HP +145 MP +346 Magical Resistance +17 Magic Boosting Power +24 Concentration +8	HP +162 MP +346 Magical Resistance +17 Movement Speed +22% Concentration +8
Leather Shoes of Steel Beard Pirates.	HP +145 Physical Defense +31 Magical Resistance +17	HP +162 Physical Defense +31 Movement Speed +22%
Chain Boots of Steel Beard Pirates.	HP +145 Magic Boosting Power +24 Parry +37 Concentration +8	HP +162 Magic Boosting Power +24 Movement Speed +22% Concentration +8
Plate Boots of Steel Beard Pirates.	HP +145 Magical Resistance +17 Physical Defense +31	HP +162 Magical Resistance +17 Movement Speed +22%

2. Changed the full set effect of some set items.

Set Item Name	Before Change	After Change
Cloth Set of Steel Beard Pirates.	Magical Resistance +60 Movement Speed +22%	Magical Resistance +60 Magic Boosting Power +48
Leather Set of Steel Beard Pirates.	Evasion +65 Movement Speed +22%	Evasion +65 Physical Critical Hit +48
Chain Set of Steel Beard Pirates.	Physical Defense +110 Movement Speed +22%	Physical Defense +110 Magical Accuracy +34
Plate Set of Steel Beard Pirates.	Parry +130 Movement Speed +22%	Parry +130 Attack +10

3. Changed the properties of some items.

Item Name	Before Change	After Change
Miragent Weapon/Armor	Destructible Extractable Cannot be sold at NPC store	Indestructible Unextractable Can be sold at NPC store
Fenril Weapon/Armor	Destructible Extractable Cannot be sold at NPC store	Indestructible Unextractable Can be sold at NPC store
Elemental Stone of Revival	Cannot be stored in account warehouse Cannot be stored in legion warehouse	Can be stored in account warehouse Can be stored in legion warehouse
Wandering Soul’s Garnet Earrings	Cannot be sold at NPC store	Can be sold at NPC store

4. Resolved the problem where the weapon effect of Miragent’s Jewel/Fenril’s Jewel could not be seen.

5. Slightly increased the EXP gained from gathering and crafting.
- Skill level increases at the same rate as before.

6. Added description “A hidden effect(s) is activated when you equip the complete set” at the bottom of the tooltip of the item that has a hidden set effect.

7. The maximum number of contribution decorations that can be stacked in a slot is now 1000.

8. Corrected the spelling errors in the tooltip description of some items.

[Quest]

1. New repeat quests have been added to supplement the difficulty of ‘Craft Skills Test’ [Elyos] and ‘Proving the Proficiency of Crafting Skill’ [Asmodians] quests of Level 50 Daevanion quests.
- You can obtain ‘Boiling Balaur Blood Stain’ as reward from the new repeat quests, which are the craft material items required to complete the Daevanion quest.
- Elyos can obtain the new repeat quests in Sanctum, and Asmodians can get theirs in Pandaemonium.

Race	Quest Name	Required Items	Reward Items
Elyos	Koruchinerk’s Offer	5 Hearts of Magic	100 Boiling Balaur Blood Stains
Asmodian	Muorinerk’s Offer

2. Increased the EXP reward of some quests.
- These quests include many quests in the [Elyos] regions of Eltnen, Theobomos and Interdikah, and the [Asmodian] regions of Morheim, Brusthonin and Beluslan, and also the [Elyos/Asmodian] quests in Reshanta.

3. Increased the Kinah and item reward of some quests.
- These quests include many [Elyos/Asmodian] quests with the recommended level of 20 or higher.

4. Increased the chance of gaining contribution decorations as reward from [Elyos/Asmodian] repeat quests that require defeating the elite guards in the upper layer of [Reshanta].
- The list of quests is as following.

Elyos	Asmodian
[Group] Assault Roah Elites	[Group] Attack Roah Elites
[Group] Assault Kysis Elites	[Group] Attack Kysis Elites
[Group] Assault Miren Elites	[Group] Attack Miren Elites
[Group] Assault Asteria Elites	[Group] Attack Asteria Elites
[Group] Assault Krotan Elites	[Group] Attack Krotan Elites

5. Increased the drop rate of quest items for [Elyos/Asmodian] repeat quests inside the instanced dungeon Steel Rake.
- The list of quests is as following.

Elyos	Asmodian
[Group] Shulack Pirate’s Hairpin	[Group] Hat of the Steel Beard Pirates
[Group] The Pirates’ Pouch	[Group] Trade Ledgers of the Black Cloud Traders
[Group] For the Leader	[Group] A Present for Father

6. Corrected the spelling errors in the description of reward items and NPC dialogs of some quests.

[Abyss]

1. You now receive contribution decorations as reward for successfully defending a fortress under the control of your Legion.
- Gold and silver contribution decorations are issued as a reward.
- The number of contribution decorations you receive for defending a fortress increases as you move from lower layer to upper layer to the deepest layer. (Lower

Number of Contribution Decorations received

Fortress Name	Gold Contribution Decoration	Silver Contribution Decoration
Sulfur Fortress	20	60
Siel West Fortress	20	60
Siel East Fortress	20	60
Roah Fortress	50	70
Asteria Fortress	50	70
Miren Fortress	70	90
Krotan Fortress	70	90
Kysis Fortress	70	90
Divine Fortress	150	150

- Contribution decorations issued as rewards are delivered to the mailbox of the Brigade General of the Legion occupying the fortress.

2. Extended the time it takes for the Guardian Deity General to appear after a fortress enters the Capturable state.

[Skills]

1. – Increased the amount of enmity increased by Templar’s ‘Incite Rage’ skill.

2. Changed the cool time of Assassin’s ‘Contract of Evasion’ skill from 30 seconds to 1 minute.

3. Increased the damage inflicted by Assassin’s ‘Counterattack’ skill.

4. Increased the damage inflicted by Assassin’s ‘Apply Poison’ skill.

5. – Increased the amount of enmity reduced by Assassin’s ‘Calming Whisper’ skill.

6. Reduced the MP cost of Sorcerer’s ‘Flame Harpoon’ skill.

7. Increased the damage inflicted by Cleric’s ‘Thunderbolts’ skill.

8. Resolved the issue of the cooldown time not being seen clearly when using Cleric’s ‘Ripple of Purification’ skill.

9. Resolved the problem of abnormal mental conditions not being removed by using Cleric’s ‘Splendor of Purification’ skill.

10. Resolved the problem of the range of Spiritmaster’s Command skills not being modified in PvP.

[Character]

1. Slightly reduced the EXP penalty due to the difference in the levels of group members when in a Group or Force.

[Combat]

1. A character transformed into a Guardian Deity General can no longer be pulled in by using Templar’s ‘Inescapable Judgment’ skill.

[Level]

1. Resolved the problem of the Primum Bind Point in Reshanta where you could enter inside by going through the wall of the lower part of the base.

[UI]

1. Resolved the problem of the right mouse click not working when purchasing items from the list in the Sales Agency window.

2. On the Sales Agency window, items listed under the categories ‘Weapons’, ‘Armor’, and ’Accessories’ tabs are now displayed correctly.

3. Resolved the problem of group members in different channels not being displayed correctly on the map.

4. Characters under Level 5 can no longer use the Search function on the Find Buddy window.

Source: http://powerwiki.na.aiononline.com/aion/Patch+Notes+1.5.1.0

As I sit here listening to the sound of twats and idiots freaking out at the mere thought of having to re-engage their brain for a few hours while the servers are down, I can’t help but wish there was a way to put the same muting them the same way NCSoft is working on the gold sellers. A few smiley faces and “buy gold here” shop signs are far easier to ignore than spammed “NOOOOOOOO what am I going to do?! — WTF?! — HUH?!” all in capital letters across say channel.

With each new fix to the gold sellers, came a new way to annoy us. First there was the whispering and a stop was put to than. They moved to the chat channels and again, NCSoft stepped up. The personal stores came in later, although I’m surprised it took them that long…  The latest annoyance for me, possibly even more so than the first two, is the in game mail. I can ignore a whisper, I can leave a chat channel… but having to click 5 or 6 times to delete spam is just not on.

First you have to open your mailbox, sigh at the “thankyou dear customer” or “sorry to bother” give-away headline, click to open the unwanted letter, click the delete button and then click the “yes I really want to delete this waste of time” confirmation. Really… not cool.

So I’m personally very happy to see they are putting in not only a level restriction on sending mail, but also a decent one – level 10. If those spammers want to get their customers, they’re going to have to waste more time doing it. And I’m sure it takes way longer to get to level 10, do the /who search and send the mail than it does me to click delete a few times. Especially as I’m getting faster with practice! =p

I’m also happy to see the level restriction upped on the chat channels, shame it won’t help the IQ levels of some of it’s users. At first I thought it was a bad move that they removed the ability to view and chat, but then I realised what’s the poing of allowing people to read if no one can talk LOL! I also personally feel that the only channels worth reading full time are the class ones (which you need level 10 for), and even then it’s debateable. I’m still waiting for the Ranger channel on Nezeken to prove it’s worth… I guess the levels 1 through to 10 are going to be veeeerry quiet from now on lol.

1.5.0.11 Client Update

• All chat channels now have a level 10 restriction, both to join and participate
• Whispering now has a level 10 restriction:
  • Players can receive whispers but cannot respond below level 10
• Players cannot send in game mail until level 10
  • Players under 10 can still receive in game mail
• Players cannot search for ’who’ in game until level 10
• Players are now limited at the amount of in game mail you can send per hour
  • If players exceed this limit, they will not be able to send mail. There is currently no message saying players have exceeded your limit
  • Legion Abyss ranks have been fixed and will now display properly

1.0.0.3 English Update

Maps:

• Fixed alignment issue with Sanctum map

UI:

• Fixed truncated text for chat channel listings
• Changed chat channel names to be consistant
• Changed “Sold Items” button in broker to “Collect Money”
• Support messages at account login are now correct for NA/EU regions

NPCs:

• NPC Jielinlinerk now refers to himself correctly in greeting text
• Fixed NPC Cachus greeting text grammar error
• Fixed NPC item “An Account of the Expedition to Reshanta” grammar
• Fixed NPCs Garantin, Steinkel, Lukea and Bephax text to match other merchants
• Removed quotation marks from text inside various NPCs shop buttons
• Corrected various NPCs gender references

Items:

• Items related to Halloween giveaways have been edited for grammar
• Fixed quest items that had titles cut off when viewed by players

Quests:

[Elyos]

• Fixed html tag in Quest RM-78c
• Fixed “Illegal Logging” quest to point to correct quest mob ‘Tursin Overseers’
• Fixed reference to say ‘Loom’ instead of ‘Ormea’ for “A Flute for the Fixing” quest
• Fixed quest dialog and journal to refer to correct quest MOB

[Asmodian]

• Fixed missing Quest Item name from quest journal for “Parica’s Special Order” Quest
• Changed quest item from ‘scarlet brisket’ to ‘Daru brisket’ for “Irresistible Soup” Quest
• Changed quest item from ‘Flag Box’ to ‘Gerger Insignia’ for “The Gerger’s Insignia” Quest
• Fixed wording in “Helping Apelbine” quest to refer to correct quest item
• Fixed crafting quest recommendation letters to refer to correct experts and crafting type
• Fixed grammar in dictionary term for ‘Fine-haired Larva’ for “Pollution Solution” quest
• Fixed journal entry for “A Polite Request” to refer to specific NPC

Abyss

• Corrected “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” quest text to be more detailed in when/where NPC appears
• Fixed html tag in quest journal for “Meeting with the Brigade General”

Audio:

• NPC Captured Engineer greeting/goodbye now appropriate to text dialog
• NPC Metea greeting/goodbye volume has been fixed
• NPC Jhaelas now has consistant greeting/goodbye
• NPC Tigares now has appropriate greetings and goodbyes

Last night, Aion Update 1.5.0.10 was released across the servers and the update was simple:

Gender Tag Fix for French and German languages
And Updated Chat Spam Filter

Nothing too exciting there, although the updated chat spam filter did intrigue me, but after a momentary glance I shrugged it off as nothing major. But then, I logged in. I have to give HUGE kudos to Aion for what ever filters they have put in, I can now finally see all the player-written drivel that is “Aion is better than WoW, Chuck Norris said so”. Yipee!

Of course, I would much rather see that sort of spam than the eye-gouging horrendous use of stars and hearts that was this:

The above was CONSTANT and made it impossible to use any of the chat channels – anyone attempting to, had their message lost before it was even read. And what is a MMORPG with no open chat channels for the kiddies to converse in? Where else are they going to learn how not to spell? Graffiti, that’s where. We can’t have that.

This morning, I logged in to see the following:

Ignoring the idiots who don’t understand that LFG is not Let’s Fracking Gassbag and is instead Looking for Group, the silence that is the removed gold spam is well worth the misuse. I’d LOVE to know the furstration that the gold spammers are feeling right now, I hope it’s really ticked them off. Yes, we’re still going to get the occassional one through, and yes they’ll probably still force us to fill up our block list every time they whisper, but this is yet another step forward in improving our gameplay.

The next step I’d personally like to see is the players name on my block list automatically removed when the character is deleted. If NCSoft really are banning accounts by the thousands all the time, then they’re either getting every single character OTHER than the ones that spam me, or the characters are not removed. I think it’s great that blocking a spammer can bring it to the attention of NCSoft, but having to individually remove each of the names when your block list is full can be just as annoying.

Still, in the entire time it’s taken me to write, proof and fix this blog post – not one single letter of gold spam came through the chat channels. Sweet!

— Edited not half an hour later —

I have to laugh as I finished writing this post and made my way from Pandaemonium entrance to the banks, I see the following:

At first I was confused by the message and thought it was one of the slow people unaware that the server queues were no longer a problem. Then I realised they were sitting in-front of someone and I moved closer.

A threesome I’ve never seen before, that’s two players treating the gold seller like a Chinese finger lock and hiding their sales window advertisement. My second kudos for the day goes to Lunatrix and Ambience of the Revelations guilds for spending their time doing this – be they AFK or not. Standing in front of this for a few minutes, it appears as if the gold seller is using a program to have them spam “HEY HEY HEY” every few minutes, supposedly to not get dropped and get some attention.

Oh well, while we wait for NCSoft to come up with a fix for this new trick, I can easily ignore them. I barely notice any store messages unless there’s pretty coloured links in there anyway…

Aion will during the next maintenance period receive a new update addressing a couple of common game and localization issues. We are right now focusing on getting rid of critical game bugs and polishing our French and German versions of the game. Keep reporting issues and bugs as you encounter them through the appropriate channels, and we will track them down and squash them as quickly as possible.

Patch Notes: 1.5.0.8

• Dredgion Instance Maps now show in correct languages
• Item comparison tooltip has been rearranged
• Gender Tags for title will now show up appropriately in FR and DE
• Fix to Auction House where some users were not credited correctly for crafted items

FR Language Update:

• Fixed Abyss Maps
• Fixed LC1 map
• Various terminology changes
• Corrected various punctuation and spelling errors in dialog and quests
• NPC Audio fixes
• UI fixes for FR language
• Bug fixes/grammatical edits for Item descriptions
• Various translation corrections in dialogs and quests
• Various cutscene text/audio issues have been fixed

DE Language Update:

• Fixed Abyss Maps
• Fixed Sanctum map
• Made various map name changes in Altgard and Morheim
• Various terminology changes
• Corrected various punctuation and spelling errors in dialog and quests
• NPC Audio fixes
• Various Skill books have been edited for grammar and consistency
• Various cutscene text/audio issues have been fixed
• UI fixes for DE language
• Bug fixes/grammatical edits for Item descriptions
• Various translation corrections in dialogs and quests

There’s a lot of info coming out about the 1.6 Patch coming up soon – although ironically, no date information about when it’s coming. I’ve gathered some info from all over and will update this post with anything else I find.

There’s some really cool stuff in there, like the CAPTCHA image to stop botters farming, the ability to change the order of your skill combos, and the best part: You can no longer run out of range of player spells after they’ve started casting. I haven’t started any ral PvP yet, but that has to be a pretty big deal for those who are already up there!

Items

1. There’s now a low chance of getting metal poisoning every time a player attempts to collect ore; metal poisoning can be cured by using ‘Chant of Purification’

Chant of Purification can be used by entering the prompted combination of numbers and letters (CAPTCHA) you will be given a total of 3 chances to enter the combination correctly if a player fails all three attempts, the character won’t be able to collect any more ore for an extended period of time.

2. In order to prevent any more accidents with item extraction tool, NCSoft has made several changes. Item extraction tool’s icon has been changed. Using the automatically align function in the inventory will move the extraction to the first cell the progress bar of extraction tool will now be shown as red, equipped items cannot be extracted.

UI

1. In Aion have added a new information tab that displays the remaining waiting time for all of the instances. The new tab will display both you and your party members waiting time for all instances.

2. Added a number pad for any Kina input box there can be used to enter numbers by clicking the color will change depending on the amount.

3. Have made the following changes to the auctioneer. NCSoft has added ‘includes words’ option to the search tab along with ‘exact match’ items can now be added to your auctions just by right clicking on the item with auction window open.

4. You can now choose to automatically align items in the inventory. Players can also change names of each cube.

5. Aion now has a preview option for color sprays and hair dyes.

6. A new preview option for hats.

Skills

1. You can now change default order of combo skills in the combo skills tab. You can make those changes by simply drag + dropping the skills.

2. You can no longer run out of range of player spells after they’ve started casting.

Aion Quests

1. NCSoft has increased quest item drop rates for Stigma quests.

2. Additional special descriptions for quests with special rewards, such as more cube space, abyss points, or titles.

3. Significantly increased the HP of NPCs associated with Daevanion quests. Some of these NPCs will not respond to enemy faction players nor can the players attack these NPCs.

Aion Instances

1. NCSoft has made significant changes to stats of every monsters in Dark Poeta instance.
- These monsters are now more vulnerable to spell damage.
- These monsters are now more resistant to physical damage.
- All monsters excluding the bosses now have lower hp.

2. Nerfed the damage of several skills the Dark Poeta S rank boss Tahabeta casts.

3. Lowered the difficulty of Steel Mane instance.

4. Increased the drop rate of stigma fragments in Steel Mane instnace.

5. Added an elevator to the Steel Mane instance.

6. Added NPC guards to Dreadgion instance exits.

7. Changed the stats of monsters in abyss fortress instance. They will have lower hp but more resistant to physical damage

Aion Characters

1. Lowered the effectiveness of elemental resistance.

2. Attacking will no longer interrupt auto run

3. Lowered the amount of stigma shards required to equip stigmas.

4. Increased the daily AP limit for characters higher than 1star lieutenant rank.

5. Summons (Pets) can fly!