ELYOS LEVELLING GUIDE

For the asmo version of the levelling guide, please refer to the other thread I made, available here (link).

First off, you should know that most of this guide is intended for solo/duo fast levelling, but can become boring fast, so finding a group to level and hang out with is important, just as taking regular breaks, as in most MMOs.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Pick up your [Growth] pink quests in one of the main elyos hubs (for example, in Sanctum it's right up the stairs before the Elyos Square). These give you scrolls, potions, and sometimes other things like crafting levelling charms, 1-day mounts, bonus entry scrolls, teas of repose and Kahrun mark boxes.
  
• A new quest appears every 5 levels and stays for 5 levels, so be sure to check back every 5 levels for free levelling goodies (so at levels 10, 15, 20, etc., until 55). There are also [Growth] quests available around lvl 45-46 for killing some balaurs. These give manastones and XP; you have until level 53 to pick them up in Heiron Fortress and in Observatory Village in Theobomos, after which they will disappear. You can use these for their XP rewards as well as just picking up the quests to do them easily at 65 to have something to start the game with. From these last Growth quests, you can get manastones, stigma shards, gold stigmas and platinum coins.
  
• You will receive handy levelling aids through surveys from simply levelling up. The whole list is here (link). Note that you can only have one XP boost at a time. As for Teas of Repose, they're extremely efficient if you use a repose pack, otherwise they're practically useless.
  

Levels 1 to 9
Kill the mobs on the way to Pernos, near the entrance of the mushroom zone. Kill mobs in that area until you hit lvl 9 and ascend to the class you would like to level.
Level 10
Head to Sanctum to complete your Ascension. Once at the Hall, you should expand your inventory at the nearby shugo and fix your gear: equip the level 10 orange (eternal) armor you can now receive from the box in your inventory.
Levels 11 to 25
Make your way to Verteron and kill any mob you see. The Tursin Outpost to the West is ideal. Kill all you see until you're deep into Tursin territory and hit lvl 16. Move back to the Verteron Citadel, pick up the dark blue quest near the Obelisk and take the flight transpoter to Cantas Coast, where you will follow the aforementioned quest into Haramel. Complete the quest and keep grinding the dungeon until lvl 25 or until you're bored- the alternative is killing mobs in Eltnen, the next map, from the North-East to the middle-eastern part of that map. To reset Haramel, you will need to stay over 10 minutes outside of the instance (you can log off to character selection during this time to save time on your XP amulet). It's a good idea to unlock the Stigma system at lvl 20, at which you'll get the mission to do it.
Levels 25 to 30
Move back to Eltnen Fortress and ask for a group holder on LFG ( /3 in chat or Shift+V is the default keybind). You will need a group holder for most things from now on. The quick entrance to the Noschana Training Camp is at the two NPCs right outside the main building. You might need more than one run to hit 30, if you do, you will need to reform the group by having all members leave it, and then remake the group and go into the instance again.
Levels 30 to 35
Move to the Eltnen Observatory and then towards the Fire Temple entrance, a door underground in the Kyola Temple on the map; once you're underground, take a sharp turn right and navigate those couple of rooms to the end where the entrance will be. You will need a group holder; alternatively a friend or someone from LFG to duo/trio is also good. Once inside FT, try to keep to the mobs that are alone or in groups of two. Remember that FT has unlimited entries, so if you run out of mobs that you can solo easily, just drop group, regroup and go in again.
Levels 35 to 45 or until 46
Move to Senea's Campsite on the Heiron map. You'll need to mount up and ride full north until you get to the Lepharist-heavy zone, and then you can take a quick look at your newly revealed map to guess where the entrance will be, a bit towards the north-west. The mobs outside hit a bit harder than the ones inside the Aetherogenetics Lab, so don't worry if they seem a bit strong. You have 10 or 16 entries per day so don't hesitate too much to drop group if you run into a ridiculously hard-hitting mob (like the mage...) you can't kill. Alternatively, duo or trio the run instead. You can level here until 45, then move on to the Observatory Village in Theobomos and do the local mission there until you hit 46. If, however, you want to stay clear of quests, just grind mobs in the Lab to 46, then head right into Adma Stronghold; the entrance is at the Observatory Village in Brusthonin (a bit off-center of the map), right next to where you land from the flight transporter.
Levels 46 to 48 or until 53
You can grind Adma to 48 and head to Dark Poeta at the Kishar Observation Post in Heiron, which is very easy to grind for classes like cleric and songweaver, but harder for physical classes, which will need potions and Greater Healing Potions to get through mobs easily. If you want the straightforward way and aren't too bored of clearing Adma yet, keep to it.
Around this time and before heading to BT, it's generally a good idea to start unlocking Greater Stigma slots and maybe pick up some Greater Stigmas if you have the AP for it. Check the mini guide about stigma unlocking below for details.
Levels 53 to 60
Remember to pick up any [Growth] quests from Heiron and Theobomos you might've forgotten before heading into Beshmundir Temple, since they disappear when you hit lvl 54. To get to BT, you'll have to fly to Soteria's Sanctuary on the Inggison map (you unlock this through the mission "Lavirintos' Call"), then glide down the hill and run towards the Weeping Valley until you get to a windstream (it shows up on your map in blue if you zoom in), in which you will jump, enjoy the short scenic route and walk the rest of the way to the Silentera Canyon entrance, the light green portal between the two Inggison forts, to the East of the map. The mobs in BT are, honestly, quite hard at 53, but you'll level so quickly they will be a memory before long. Make sure you use your Administrator's Boon item to ensure you have no Soul Sickness after dying (you get a 3-day one from the [Growth] quest around level 45-50), it will help with getting back into battle quicker. If you're having trouble, don't hesitate to ask for help on LFG. The first boss is a handful and requires a lot of running around and not much dpsing per say. It's flat out impossible for a templar without Inquisitor's Blow, and a bow is necessary for assassins and gladiators. For other classes, simply run and dot- 10 minutes of running is to be expected here. As mentioned before, if you need help, don't hesitate to ask !
Levels 60 to 64 or until 65
You can choose to carry on with more BT solo/duo or head over to Tiamat's Stronghold at lvl 60. Either way, you'll need to grind to 64 and then do the Katalam and Danaria missions at level 64 (the gear is excellent starter gear for both pve and pvp, it gives extra accuracy for physical classes, and cast speed for magical classes), along with some Bloodmark quests at the flippable camps on the way, or grind to 65... and do the same BM camps, except you won't need the XP from the quests anymore.
Now, for the TS way specifically, you will need a friend or two, and you will have to kill one boss, Invincible Shabokan, which drops aoes in which you shouldn't stand. Afterwards, you will have to head into the Military Ward where you must not aggro a Grenadier-type mob, so stick to those walls very closely. Clear the fatty mobs in the four corners of the zone until you drop the Eternal Prison key. One person will have to head down the elevator, not hit the boss in the way (Kumbanda), open the door to the room behind the boss, talk to the NPC there (Surama) and then head back up. The door upstairs should open the way to Laksyaka, also called "the Skeleton Boss", because of the mobs he spawns which give juicy XP and can be one-shot with one of the two skills you acquire after being transformed into a ghost. Make sure your friend(s) are waiting outside of the room so they don't get transformed by mistake, nor leech XP from you. Alternatively of course, you can alternate the person killing the skeletons and the one waiting outside the room but still in XP range.
Ideally, they will have to wait for a bit more before leaving the area and potentially help out resurrecting you, because getting the hang of that transformation isn't easy. Once you get it, though, it's 0.5-1hr to 65 with a 200% charm and teas, so it's worth it if you can't bear to see BT anymore. If you want an idea of what it's like, there is a video here (link) made on the official servers a few years ago, but keep in mind you can level much faster on Aion America.

And there you have it, you should be 65 by now ! Let's quickly review the things you should do once you hit 65 or while levelling:

• Expand your inventory (up to 90 slots through quests and NPCs, reached at level 35, without extra expansions from the shop), you can check the quests to do here (link).
  
• Unlock regular stigma slots (lvl 20 mission) and greater stigma slots (lvl 45 quest chain).
  
• For greater stigmas (lvl 45+) particularly, the dark blue quest chain starts at Miriya in the Protector's Hall, up the elevator of the Artisans' Hall in Sanctum. The quest chain should generally guide you well, but in short you'll have to do a quick trip to Heiron to the Kishar Obersation Post. To the East of the NPC camp, up a hill, you'll find a shugo with a dark blue quest, which will unlock Steel Rake (you can also do this around lvl 40-44, the quest marker should show up on your map so the shugo will be easier to find). You'll need a trip into Steel Rake Cabin (solo) to pick up an item from a side room next to a mage mob. Then you'll need to go into Steel Rake (group) and kill Engineer Lahulahu to get the drop to pursue the quest. Afterwards, a quick trip to the Kishar Observation Post to talk to the NPC there, before heading into DP and killing some specific mobs, along with Hewahewa in her cave, to get the drops needed to finish this quest.
  
• If any of these sounds like a drag, worry not, because you can buy the drops instead of killing the mobs for them. Pick up the [Daily] The Sanctum Shulackwalk quest from the Shulack NPC next to the Steel Rake entry shugos and head to Latheron Coast Base Camp in Theobomos to exterminate some Karnifs in the desert. As an added tip, particularly if you outlevel the mobs and easily kill them, you can kill 20 of the Karnifs without looting them, then rush back to loot them, and have two turn-ins for the time of one, saving you the trip back here after the [Daily] quest resets, at 9AM server time.
  
• Do your abyss entry quest (lvl 25 mission), you will need it eventually if not ASAP.
  
• Farm Bloodmarks weekly; at first for great entry-level eternal PVP and PVE gear, and later on for either mythic supplements you can use or sell for kinah, or to trade for Ancient Coins at Windswept Camp (West of Sillus Fortress), or to trade for AP at the elusive Idian Depths shugos.
  
• Farm Ancient Coins through daily quests and Steel Rose Quarters and Cargo; you can unlock more Ancient Coin daily quests in Idian Depths through quests that you can pick up down there, but also from the quest chain starting with Opirinerk's (link) quest "All You Need is Kinah" in Danaria. Those quest chains give around 500-800 Ancient Coins which is a very nice start on an AC weapon. Along with Steel Rose Quarters and Cargo solo/duo, you can have an AC weapon ready in as little as one or two weeks.  I don't recommend running Steel Rose Deck as it takes longer than the other two combined unless you have a lot of time to spare. Just make sure to take a Greater Healing Potion for the last boss' debuff.
  
• Do Sauro Supply Base when you can; the gear isn't as top-notch as it could be, but it's a great start, and the accessories are among the best in the game, particularly for supports.
  
• Run Ophidan Bridge when you can; the gear is only good for skins and disenchanting after you have BM, however you can get a few BM and medals from the box, along with Fury Powder that sells well on the brokers, as it's needed for extendable crafting. If you play glad or templar however, keep them, you will need them later to make your own extendable.
  
• If you play a support class (chanter/cleric), you will need a HP set eventually, so starting from level 55, start farming the daily and weekly quests for Kahrun Marks available in Sarpan and, at 57, in Tiamaranta. For extra Kahrun Marks, you can also do Aturam Sky Fortress daily (solo, starting at level 55) and Raksang starting at level 56 (recommended 3+ players for speedy runs).
  
• Attend sieges ! These give some PvP fun, sometimes some AP and, if you conquer or defend a fortress, ceramium medals which will allow you to buy the best PvP gear in the game later down the road. The siege schedule is available on the website (link).
  
• PvP in Tia Eye for AP and some PVP fun.
  
• Participate in Arenas, Dredgion, Engulfed Ophidan Bridge, and other PvP instances. There's also Battlegrounds seasonal rewards (link) for the top scoring players in each of those instance.
  
• Join a legion ! This game is much more fun with a group.
  
• Once you have a bit of gear, try to get into an Eternal Bastion group that runs at a time that's appropriate for you. EB can be a huge boost to both pve and pvp gear (through the medals and AP acquired when successfully completing a run).
  

Additional tools and helpful resources:

• Aion Aspirine's Stigma calculator. Gives you both AP and stigma shard cost for all classes. http://aion.aspirine.su/stigma/
  
• Aion Aspirine's Equipment calculator. http://aion.aspirine.su/
  
• Aion Codex. A patch-appropriate database for everything Aion, from quests, to gathering maps, to calculating crafting costs, to finding specific pieces of gear and drops. https://aioncodex.com/4x/
  
• Aion America Discord. There's a bunch of helpful things like schedules, rules and other essentials pinned, so you don't need to look for them every time. Also, the community is (generally) helpful and relies promptly, so you can always ask for a hand there. Sometimes there's memes and drama. Here's the link, which is the same as on the homepage of the website.
  

TL:DR version
1-9 Kill mobs to Pernos
10-16 Kill Tursin in Verteron
16-25 Haramel
25-30 Nochsana
30-35 Fire Temple
35-46 Aetherogenetics Lab
46-48 Adma
48-53 DP or more Adma
53-60 BT
60-64 TS or more BT

Thank you for taking the time to read this long guide ! Hopefully it helps out. =)


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As a small afternote, I'd like to add some alternatives to the speedy levelling route which are slower but some of them are easier for certain classes.

• Questing in general- quests aren't bad, but generally mobs will reward more XP with the increased XP rates of the server along with XP charms and teas.
  
• Kromede's Trial (lvl 37+) : Not worth getting out of Alquimia if you can clean the mobs there quickly, however the mobs in KT are much weaker so it might be worth levelling there for a few levels. For elyos specifically, the entry quest for this (starts at Perento in Heiron, "Scoring Some Bad Stigma") can sometimes bug out.
  
• Draupnir's Cave (opens at 39, but realistically you will want to be at least 42 before attempting to kill mobs here) : The mobs hit ridiculously hard compared to Alquimia, you might end up with room-wide pulls, all around it's a real pain to level up here.
  
• Steel Rake + Steel Rake Cabin (lvl 40+) : The mobs in the group version (SR) hit quite hard for a level 40, meanwhile the mobs in the solo version (SRC) are quite weak but don't reward enough XP.
  
• Esoterrace (lvl 50+) : Can be decent for group levelling; some bosses have special mechanics which might require reading a guide.
  
• Udas Temple + Lower Udas Temple (lvl 51+) : Can be decent for group levelling; same as Esoterrace, some bosses have specific mechanics which include hard-hitting room-wide skills, might require reading a guide.
  
• Taloc's Hollow (lvl 51+) : Doesn't give as much XP as Theo or Dark Poeta, but it's a fun instance.
  
• Aturam Sky Fortress (lvl 55+) : Mobs are weak, gives Kahrun marks, XP isn't that good.
  
• Raksang (lvl 56+) : Mobs are kinda weak, XP isn't that good, gives Kahrun marks which is good if you're levelling as a group with a cleric/chanter healer; it will help them jumpstart their Kahrun farming.
  
• Rentus Base (lvl 59+) : The XP isn't that good, but some of the drops and skins can be worth it. A songweaver with Half-Stop stigma or a spiritmaster is recommended for the last boss to dispel its reflect, otherwise the healer will suffer a lot.
  

Make sure to take a look at the Instance Guides section of the forum (link) if you don't know how to run a dungeon or need a refresher.