Zumbaro’s Ultimate Guide to the Spiritmaster

This a free guide for the Aion Spiritmaster class. The guide currently lists only a handful of subtopics but delves in detail about them. We like this guide because it shows that the author is serious in writing and if the current is anything to go by, the guide will grow over time as well. The relevant subtopcis are The basics,Skills Review,Crafting and PvE Tactics. The basics talks about the various spirits (Namely earth,fire,water and wind spirits) and the basic game mechanics involved with each spirit. He explains the manual and automatic modes of spirit control and how to maintain mana efficiency. The skills section of the guide is amazing, where he explains the game mechanics behind various skills and the numbers involved. It helps us realise the importance of proper planning and knowledge. The stigmas and skills section is so well written out that we are considering switching to spiritmasters just to gain advantage from this guide. He goes on to give a “more than basic” introduction to Crafting and PvE tactics. He leaves us with a promise that he will continue this guide. We surely hope so, we loved it. If you are a planning a spiritmaster, give this guide a read, definitely worth it for beginners.

Author: Zumbaro

The guide follows..

Link to the guide

Zumbaro’s Ultimate Guide to the Spiritmaster
UA: The following guide is written by Zumbaro for free distribution via Aion Source. It may be replicated for free distribution but may not be reproduced or quoted in any document not available to the general public absolutely free.

Version 0.0.1 (under construction)

The following guide is intended to help those in the community wanting to play a Spiritmaster. I intend to cover everything starting from the very basics of pet control and finishing with very detailed strategies for end game player versus player situations. The guide will cover topics including skills, equipment, player versus environment, and player versus player. Everything stated in this guide is the result of my own experiences and testing on various clients but primarily focused on the Korean Retail Client runnig patch 1.2, unless otherwise stated in the version information following the user agreement.

Before we get into the details and intricacies of the Spiritmaster class it is important that you set aside the common misconceptions surrounding the class. There are a lot of what I consider to be general misconceptions surrounding the class that are either the result of inexperience or out dated information. I will not be dealing with these specifically now but will give you the facts surrounding each one and do my best to convince you that they are nothing more then myths. After reading this guide you should be able to go to the forums and better understand the arguments surrounding several of these issues.

As a final note, readers should be aware that as an Elyos this guide reflects specifically upon this faction and may not represent all the faction differences associated with playing Asmodian.

The following paragraphs cover basic concepts involved with playing a Spiritmaster. It is broken down into subtitled sections for easier browsing and future reference. If you ever think there is something that is left out or you are having difficulty finding something you believe is contained within this section please send me a private message or respond to this thread and I’ll do my best to resolve any issues. Please keep in mind this guide will be continually evolving along with the game and while under construction may not contain everything so please be patient in your requests.

If you are not familiar with the basics of the game in general such as attribute names then I advise you familiarize yourself with such concepts before reading any further as I will not be discussing such information.

Spiritmasters at this time may choose to summon any of up to five different spirits. These spirits make are often referred to as our “summons” and represent the namesake of our class. The spirits are not available initially but will be gained via skillbooks as you progress through the levels. Each spirit is based on one or more of the four core elements; fire, earth, wind, and water. Each of our four base spirits represents one element and as of patch 1.2 we receive our 5th spirit as a representation of the two elements most related to our faction. That makes six total spirits in the game with each faction having shared access to four of them and a unique level 50 spirit requiring DP.

The following paragraphs will go further into depth on each individual spirit excluding the Tempest spirit until we have concrete information from the western client relating to it. I will be covering the strengths and weaknesses of each spirit as well as a general overview of its purpose. For each spirit I will also discuss any unique abilities related to the commands that may come up at a later time in this guide.

The Fire Spirit - The Fire Spirit is a melee style summon with high burst damage. It is prbably the spirit that will be used the most by players before they reach the level cap. It has average Vitality, Speed, Attack, and Physical Defense while suffering from a lower then average Magic Defense. The commands are almost entirely damage focused usually consisting of a single nuke accompanied by an effect lowering the targets defensive capabilities. When used with the Wall of Protection command the Fire Spirit provides a boost to Physical Attack and a shield that reflects damage back upon its source.

The Fire Spirit is a solid source of damage for any party but is preferred especially in situations where the target may be significantly higher then the Spiritmaster. Its high damage single shot abilities have a lower chance at being resisted then many of the over time damage sources associated with other dps spirits.

The Earth Spirit - The Earth Spirit is a melee style summon with average damage accompanied by strong defensive capabilities. When soloing there is no better choice as high Vitality and Defenses mean very little healing is required. Accompanying its high Vitality, Physical Defense, and Magic Defense are an average Speed and Attack. Not only are its attributes built for tanking but many of the commands are similarly directed through effects like the returning of damage to the spirits health. When used with the Wall of Protection command the Earth Spirit provides HP recovery as well as the elimination of debuffs.

Parties will rarely have a need for the Earth Spirit as it is uniquely designed to serve as a personal tank to the Spiritmaster. The Earth Spirit also suffers against higher level targets as it splits damage sources between burst and easily resisted over time effects.

The Wind Spirit - The Wind Spirit is the third of the melee style summons offering high damage and the ability to stun. Probably the preferred spirit for PvP prior to the level cap, the Wind Spirit is the fastest and strongly based around criticals. High Speed and Attack are the cornerstone of the Wind Spirit backed by average Vitality, average Magical Defense, and below average Physical Defense. The Wind Spirit is designed with damage in mind and functions much like the actual Spiritmaster itself, combining high damage over time effects with an element of control via stuns. Through commands the Wind Spirit can bolster its critical values or go directly for a stun on the target. When used with the Wall of Protection command the Wind Spirit provides boosts to Accuracy and Evasion.

Parties may wish to use the Wind Spirit for rare fights where interrupting a longer cast skill is highly beneficial. Its damage output will be similar to that of the Fire Spirit but it will lack a little bit of survivability. Additionally several of its command effects may be easily resisted making it a suboptimal choice for fights against higher level targets.

The Water Spirit - The Water Spirit is the only of the four original spirits to be of a ranged nature and also deal mostly magical damage even on auto attacks. Although most people may feel a need to acquire a Water Spirit prior to the level cap, its use is almost ansent from existance prior to reaching said cap. This spirit is very focused in its nature and as such suffers across the board with below average Vitality, Speed, Attack, and Physical Defense but standing out with the highest Magical Defense. Its command ability to crash opponents from their flying state causing them to immediately fall to the ground or their death is unique within the game. When used with the Wall of Protection command the Water Spirit provides boosts to Magical Accuracy and Magical Resistance.

A Spiritmaster may find that it prefers to use the Water Spirit in many parties because of its ranged nature and magical damage. When most of your targets are going to have high Physical Defenses then the magical burst style damage of the Water Spirit can be very useful. Additionally it can be kept at range during fights containing significat aoes and can help to prevent escape during PvP.

The first thing to understand is that the basic controls for your pet have two modes; manual and automatic. Changing between the two modes is as simple as clicking a small button located on the spirits control bar. I highly recommend that anyone serious about this class plays only in manual mode. The reasons for this will be clarified later but it allows you much better control of your pets’ actions. Automatic mode plays much more like the defensive modes of other MMOs pet classes and can be a problem at times in Aion.

Automatic Mode - While in automatic mode your pet will always be in what is best defined as defensive mode. This means that anytime a hostile target attacks you it will automatically begin attacking, seems nice but can be a real bother if you don’t want your pet running off after every little bit of aggro. Times when this mode becomes especially hindering are during PvP situations where there are aggresive mobs in the area or when you are attempting to just run through an area of aggresive mobs in order to reach another area. This mode also makes it very difficult to pull your spirit off of a mob with which you are already engaged in combat. Again I don’t recommend anyone uses this mode if your are serious about playing the class.

Manual Mode - In manual mode you gain a higher degree of control over your pet relative to how and when it atttacks, or doesn’t attack, a hostile creature or player. In manual mode your spirit will not automatically attack something that attacks you but it will still initiate auto-attacks following the issuance of a command. Manual mode also allows you to easily withdraw your pet from combat when you wish in case you want to run away without losing or having your pet despawn. Initially you may not find much difference in these two modes but the ability to have absolute control over when your pet attacks is highly advantageous.

Both Spiritmasters and Sorcerers in Aion are very mana intensive classes and as such understanding of mana efficiency is crucial to properly playing either class. Different situations may alter things like cast sequences thus changing your mana usage and effecting efficiency accordingly. Depending on whether you are in a group or soloing you may use different pots or have more or less time for recovery effects. All these things need to be considered and as such I’ll cover the basics of certain aspects here and leave more detailed examples for later in the guide.

As a Spiritmasters the first recovery skill we receive is Energy Absorption, a Sorcerer skill by trade but one that all mages receive as a tier 1 skill. It may not seem like much but you should always use it when its available as it ends up being about a 4 mana per second regen. The next skill we receive is Mana Treatment which every class in the game receives and I will discuss in conjunction with potions in the next paragraph. The last skill we get is Spirit Absorption, a skill that sacrifices a fraction of our spirits health pool in order to restore a percentage of our maximum mana. The Spirit Absorption skill is a phenominal skill for our class as it comes just as we’re starting to fall off the losing side of the mana efficiency curve.

Potions and the Mana Treatment skill offer us several combinations of mana recovery methods available at any time. A couple of things everyone should realize is that the over time effect of the weaker mana potions may recover slightly more mana each but does not stack with mana treatment. This means you cannot have both up at the same time which suggests that the use of the stronger instant potions in combination with the mana treatment effect goes much further towards maintaining our mana pool. This means in situations where you are constantly casting you’ll receive more mana recovery without using over time potions but when moving slow the over time potions may be cheaper and just as effective.

The last thing to note about mana efficiency is casting sequences and the relative value of a skill based on its damage versus its mana cost. For the sake of PvE combat its generally beneficial to only use the most efficient skills in this sense while in PvP combat the necessity for more damage or a certain effect can override the value of efficiency. For example at level 20 we gain our first stigma, a skill called Vitality Absorption which many people mistakingly use as a nuke in PvE. The problem being that the skill is very expensive because of its overall effect making it massively less efficient then the majority of your other skills. Details regarding skill efficiency, cast sequences, and situational use will be covered in depth further but keep in mind that if you find yourself having mana trouble it may be due to the use of just such an inefficient skill.

I’m choosing to place the skill reviews early on in the guide because in order to properly understand the strategy sections you will need to recognize and understand the terminology being discussed. When I evaluate skills I will do so using several calculated numerics as well as its overall value in the greater scheme of things. I’ll start by explaining the numerical values discussed and what they mean followed by detailed descriptions of skills and stigmas.

Damage Per Second (DPS) - DPS is a direct measure of how much damage you get from a skill based on the length of time it takes you to use the skill including any globally associated cooldowns. So in the case of an instant cast it would be the total damage a spell does during its duration divided by the global cooldown. Obviously the higher the DPS value of a spell the higher its priority in any situation.

Efficiency (Eff) - Efficiency is a measure of a skills cost versus its reward, basically comparing the damage done by the skill to its mana cost. Higher efficiency spells would take precedence assuming two spells have the same DPS value.

Comparative Adequacy (CA) - I’ve chosen this term to evaluate the effectiveness of a “crowd control” skill such as fear or silence. The actual calculation of this skill is based on the duration of the effect, its associated cast time, the associated cool down, and the range of targets against which it is effective. A skill that does not have a damage coefficient associated with it will be assigned a Comparative Adequacy value in order to determine the priority of a spell when several are available. As this is a very hard thing to assign a numerical value the exact calculations for this variable are still developing and when I am happy with a version it will be placed here.

Note this equation does not have a factor involved regarding the fragility of a given cc effect to differentiate between a cc skill that breaks on damage versus one that doesn’t. This is difficult to evaluate considering that some skills will break on direct damage but not on damage caused by a DoT which effectively acts as a debuff instead of damage. Additionally I’m hoping to find a good way to encorporate the difference between a cc effect that disables only part of a skill set versus a cc that entirely incapacitates.

It will likely be a value set based strictly on the state of the environment and other skills and will not reflect any specific calculation based on values actually associated with the skill. Additionally at this time for the %PvE value I’m assuming 40% of mobs use melee skills, 40% use spells, and the other 20% fit into neither. These values will be better adjusted as we gain a better understanding of the world population in Aion. The %PvP value is simply the number of classes out of the total available classes for which melee skills or spells make-up the majority.

Flame Bolt – DPS=26.50 – Eff=1.395 – Your primary DPS skill until level 13 at which point you should never cast it again.

Restraint – CC – Since its chance of success is static across all levels its just as useful at level 50 as at 1. As basic and as useful as crowd control gets you’ll use it frequently in PvP and PvE situations.

Ice Chain – DPS=33.00 – Eff=1.571 – A preferable opener at low levels you may use it for its follow-up ability until level 22 when you receive your Earth Chain follow-up. The spell should never be used after level 22 as it shares a cool down timer with your Earth Chain.

Blaze – DPS=92 – Eff=1.533 – The follow-up combo with Flame Bolt, usable until level 13.

Erosion – DPS=180 – Eff=4.865 – Your primary damage over time effect and your most commonly used skill. Keep in mind this skill acts as a debuff on the target so there is a chance to resist the over time effect after the initial damage is dealt. It should also be noted that if multiple Spiritmasters are attacking a single target only a single instance of the over time effect may be present so the Spiritmaster with the highest Magic Boost should be the only one casting Erosion. Note the high values for DPS and Efficiency.

Frozen Shock – DPS=101 – Eff=2.02 – A solid temporary stun good for openings in PvE during the low levels but get replaced by the Earth Chain effects at level 22.

Stone Skin – Effectively a health boost when in use it can save you in many situations. Notable should be the fact that when the shield is up certain skills like the Templar’s pull ability of Stunning Strike are prevented. Take note as well of the differentiation between the duration of the shield and the cool down as it lets you effectively have double the effect available for 2 minutes. Keep in mind as well that damage over time effects are a debuff present on you so the shield only prevents the initial damage of such an effect and not the damage from the following debuff.

Energy Absorption – Definitely a solid source of mana during the lower levels you should always be using it since even at higher levels it will grant you an extra cast or 2 and effectively increase mana regeneration for free.

Command: Thunderbolt Claw – Your first and primary pet command until it is replaced at a much higher level. It should always be early in your cast sequence and is a great way of starting out your pet’s assault on any target.

Strengthening Spirit: Armor of Light – As your first Divine Power skill its easily the most useful in the game at this level and it makes you a Player vs Environment god. Not as useful in Player vs Player at this level but honestly no one should be concerned with PvP until the level cap.

Root of Enervation – The definition is incorrect at this time, the skill decreases the targets attack speed not its movement speed. A good skill in pvp early on when you don’t have many other option but relatively useless in the larger picture. It can be used in end game Player vs Player but only in situations where you are probably going to lose anyway.

Command: Threatening Stance – All there really is to say is that for Player vs Environment it should serve as your opening skill for the remainder of your play.

Summon: Energy of Fire – DPS=300+ – Eff=2.205+ – Your primary damage skill, the orbs will hit as often as once every 2 seconds for a total of up to 5 strikes. At worst they hit 2 or 3 times and generally the damage even at the lowest levels and without resistance debuffs is 75+ per strike. This skill is the single highest DPS skill you will ever receive and should be the first non command skill you cast in any situation.

Chain of Earth – DPS=150 – Eff=2.205 – These numerical values are the maximum possible for the skill, if the damage over time effect is resisted the numbers are approximately a sixth of those given. That said it replaces the ice chain you received as a mage once you get its combo skill. It should generally be the second non command skill cast during combat slowing an enemy that may be getting a little close for comfort.

Dispel Magic – Almost never useful as you won’t be pvping until you receive the enhancement burst effect which is preferred in almost every situation. Get to used to using this and you’ll just find it acts as a massive waste of mana.

Element Replenishment – It heals your pet by sacrificing your own health but since you later get a health drain and have the ability to use cheap methods of health recovery its way easier to let your pet do the tanking while you use this skill to keep it alive. You’ll probably want this skill on a click bar as opposed to using a key bind.

Command: Wrath Position – Depending on the pet you may have a hard time noticing the effect of this skill. With its short duration and pet based effects I find that it generally isn’t worth the time or the mana to use it. The only time it is useful is certain Player vs Environment situation where an enemy is much higher in level then the player or the spirit. It can also be used in certain Player vs Player situations when you have the wind or water spirit out and have a lot of time without someone targetting you.

Summon: Wind Servant – See the skill “Summon: Energy of Fire” and take note that the two skills are basically identical if there are no resistance debuffs on the target. This means that generally you will want to coordinate the damage type with that of your currently summoned spirit. The exception may be choosing an element that matches another debuffer such as a sorcerer in party.

Command: Erosion – One of your most useful commands allowing the pet to place a Damage Over Time effect on the target. If successful the DoT also reduces resistance against the elements type and increases the targets chance to drop items by 20%. Note that this is one of the commands that emphasizes coordination of your servant summon with your pets element type in order to take advantage of the resistance reduction. Also keep in mind that the increase in drop rates is not static so it only increases the current drop rate by a factor of 20% (eg: normal drop rate of 50% is .5, new drop rate is .5×1.2 giving .6 or a 60% drop rate.)

Stone Shock – DPS=158 – Eff=1.411 – The second stage of your Eath Chain skill it has high dps and a brief knock back effect associated with it, all at instant speed. As an instant keep in mind it is also castable while moving using WASD.

Summon: Energy of Land – See the skill “Summon: Energy of Fire” and take note that the two skills are basically identical if there are no resistance debuffs on the target. This means that generally you will want to coordinate the damage type with that of your currently summoned spirit. The exception may be choosing an element that matches another debuffer such as a sorcerer in party.

Wide Erosion – DPS=858 – Eff=6.085 – It should be obvious from the numbers where this skill stands. The damage isn’t fast but on a per cast basis on just a single target it both provides the damage and does so with the same high efficiency of any Damage Over Time skill. If it does catch even one more target the numbers start climbing rapidly as with any Area of Effect skill. The important thing to note is that its good even on just a single target.

Fear – Two things of importance that many people may not recognize with this set of skills; it becomes an elemental, it runs from YOU. What I mean by this is that don’t forget that skills you receive later in the game that may seem useless in pvp because they only effect elementals become very good when an opponent is feared. When I say it runs from you thats exactly what it does! In most games something that is feared just runs around randomly but in Aion it runs from your character, use this knwoledge to pin a feared target in a corner where its only way out is past you and if you don’t get to close it will stay there. This is your strongest CC and one of the few in the game that isn’t easily broken by damage or potions.

Command: Disturbance – The single most important command you get in Player versus Player prior to level 50 this skill provides you with an on command effect through your pets. The crash effect of your water pet is the most notable as the only skill in the game that instantly knocks a target out of flight. Learn the effects, study their uses based on classes and location, if you know when and where to use each pet and this skill you’ll find you win many of the fights other Spiritmasters may be complaining about.

Disenchantment – Situationally very good especially if you aren’t equipped with the Disenchantment Burst stigma. Be careful however, many players will use this just because its there and never bother to actually concern themselves with whether or not they receive a useful result. In Player versus Player you never want to waste a cast and this skill is specific to magic buffs and should not be used if the target doesn’t have a qualified buff or two.

Summon: Energy of Water – See the skill “Summon: Energy of Fire” and take note that the two skills are basically identical if there are no resistance debuffs on the target. This means that generally you will want to coordinate the damage type with that of your currently summoned spirit. The exception may be choosing an element that matches another debuffer such as a sorcerer in party.

Mudra of Submission – One of the single strongest skills in your pvp set even though it may not seem so. By allowing you to cast your summon skills at instant speed it allows you to quickly replace or change summons in times of need and can be the difference between winning and losing a fight when used with proper timing.

Command: Wall of Protection – Usable if you have absolutely nothing else to do, the effects are short duration and the only one thats really useful is the Earth Elemental’s and you’ll almost never have this summon out during player versus player.

Spirit Absorption – I have yet to see it desummon a spirit as it suggests but instead it consumes a fraction of the summons health and restores 25% mana to the caster. Easily off set by your elemental replenishment you will use it as often as possible during end game combat. If it does begin working as suggested remember you can use it in combination just before mudra of submission to get some quick mana before resummoning an elemental.

Blade of Earth – Its an Area of Effect slow but don’t over estimate the effect, its not crowd control and its generally not gonna gain you as much time as it takes you to cast it. Best when used from the air on targets that are grounded.

Command: Detonation Claw – Probably the closest thing you get to a true nuke up to the point at which you get it, but via your pet. It should replace the earlier skill “Command: Thunderbolt Claw” entirely.

Cloud of Curse – DPS=6,480 – Eff=N/A – You first DP skill that isn’t a pet buff is one of the most powerful Area of Effect spells up to the level at which you acquire it. If you can hit a group of targets that don’t have a cleric to cleanse or don’t have pots readily available for the same purpose the damage can easily kill everyone effected. when used in combination with a similar Area of Effect skill from another class its almost impossible for anyone effected to survive.

Curse: Fire Spirit – Another Fear, one which I have had minimal experience with but is designed for use with the DP summon at level 50 as well as later level skills that specialize in a specific element depending on your faction. Take note of the resistance reductions granted by this skill and plan your following casts appropriately to achieve much higher damage especially in player versus player situations.

Stigma Force – I have had no experience with this skill but it appears to be useful against other Spiritmasters in one versus one situations.

Wing Decay – Not to put it lightly OMG, you can’t underestimate the rediculous power of this skill. Best used when competing for aerial nodes in contested zones since it can basically drop the opposite faction out of the sky after they have been farming a node. Otherwise it always turns battles taken to the air into a timer on your side, but watch out there are classes with the ability to regen flight time so don’t just assume your flight time will be enough without potions.

Command: Substitution – Once in a while its better to keep your pet close by then to let them run off, combined with your pet heals and the “Strengthening Spirit: Recovery” stigma you can effectively increase your health buy 300% or more using this skill. Keep the pet alive and keep it close while you let your opponents health drain away through Damage Over Time effect and the few nukes you can muster not involving your summoned elemental. If melee classes want to come in close and you think you can survive it then you can effectively use both but don’t get overly anxious to do so.

Command: Elemental Flow – Give a good Area of Effect skill to your pet and your effective sources of damage only get better and by the time you get this they really start to hurt. In mass player versus player situations you can roll through your are of effect skills to do massive damage to a close group of players.

Vitaltiy Absorption – DPS=125.500 – Eff=2.229 – Although one of the higher efficiency skills in your book its long cast time makes it less preferable in most situations. Its a good follow-up to a spirit heal that sacrifices your health but can cause you to pull aggro from a spirit quite easily. I generally use it only as required in Player vs Environment situations and usually find the DPS value of it to make it very rarely usable in Player vs Player although don’t rule it out, especially against melee opponents that you know are not able to catch you in the 2 seconds.

Body Root – This skill is probably one of the more overlooked in our group of crowd control skills. Although useless in Player vs Environment it can shine when used properly against melee opponents in Player vs Player. For example, drop it on a Chanter that may be catching up to you and use the extra few second to cast more solid crowd control skills and increase your distance. The better you become at Player vs Player combat the more you’ll realize there are some situations where this skill is absolutely incredible.

Enmity Swap – Seems good up front but its entirely useless and a waste of a stigma spot to use it. Even at the level you acquire it don’t waste the stigma shards.

Disenchantment Burst – Warning results may vary. The skill can be extremely powerful but also very useless. Its best against Chanters and Clerics but even against them you may find it yields sub-optimal results. Currently I keep it equipped for mass pvp situations but pending changes to the stigma system may warrant a re-evaluation of its usefulness.

Magic Blocking – Your version of a silence skill it essential for defeating clerics and chanters in a one versus one situation and very good against any other casting class. Its necessary for a small scale setup and can be a really good option for mass player versus player combat if you have a good burst dps squad.

Weaken Spirit – DPS=349 – Eff=5.022 – I mention elsewhere that you will get skills that seem useless against everything but elementals, the glory of it being that the fear skills turn your target into an elemental making this a massive nuke usable against the majority of targets you will encounter. After gaining the skill I have never removed it for anything but a higher tier. Don’t underestimate the strength of the skill during pvp just recognize the lengthy cast time before using it against a fleeing target.

Fear Shriek – The strength of an Area of Effect Fear skill can’t be underestimated but it can be overly used. Remember you have two other fear effects by end game and the most powerful of them should not be the first one you use unless its necessary for survival.

Strenthening Spirit: Recovery – Part of a crucial set of stigma skills that effectively grant you massive amounts of health best used during small scale player versus player situations. Not entirely useful without the other skill but very very good when used with it.

Command: Elemental Flow – See the skill of the same name, I don’t recommend bothering with the stigma for the skill unless it is a pre-requisite for a stronger stigma after the 1.5 release.

The following tables represent specific values for skills and their different tiers eventually I hope to include specifics for each of the command skills that deal damage as well.

Yet to come

There are only three crafting options that offer any kind of an advantage to Spiritmasters. Sewing is used to produce the cloth armor that our characters wear. Cooking produces food items that provide useful buffs and DP. Alchemy produces not only potions necessary in both PvP and PvE but also conveniently is also the profession that can craft the weapons we use.

I recommend that anyone serious about playing an end game spiritmaster for the sake of PvE content masters in the Sewing profession. The recipes you will receive from instances and elite zones will provide you with the ability to make some of the top gear in the game. Additionally all Spiritmasters should prefer the Sewing title above all others for both PvE and PvP because of the speed bonuses it provides.

Alchemy is generally a poor choice for your master profession but should definitely be levelled to the cap. The problem is we really don’t gain anything from alchemy after reaching 399 and the weapons that are craftable really don’t stack up to either the Abyss gear or end game instance drops. I recommend skilling up alchemy as you level in order to save a lot of Kinah on potions. Having potions around and the ability to make them will also allow you to use them often and level slightly quicker.

Cooking is probably the best choice for most Spiritmasters since many will not be willing to go through the process of levelling an armor crafting skill simply due to the time and effort of acquiring materials. If you don’t have someone that can cook for you or don’t have the resources of a well organized legion to help you level an armor crafting skill I have to recommend cooking. The DP foods available to masters of this skill make life a lot easier and make Spiritmasters much better for both group PvP and instance content. Additionally with out a good picture of where the end game crafted armors fit in as of 1.5 its the only profession guranteed to provide a steady source of income to those willing to keep a close eye on the markets.

The following sections cover in depth what I find to be the most effective strategies for solo and group Player versus Environment situations. In following the Spirimaster discussions through out the Aion community at large you will find these strategies divided into four categories; 3 specific to soloing (pet tank, kiting, player/pet tanking) and the other just being group play. For the sake of keeping this guide specific to playing the Spiritmaster as efficiently as possible I will not discuss the player/pet tanking strategy where you engage two mobs allowing the pet to fight one and the SM to fight the other. I have never found it to be as strong or as efficient as the other two.

Rarely discussed is strategies for group play, this is something I’ll cover in a much broader sense since many times the strategy and cast sequences are not determined just by being in a group. Things such as the group make-up, the instance being ran, the groups approach to that instance, and your role among all these will determine the proper approach to combat. This is probably the section where many people will gain the most from this guide regarding specifically PvE content concerning the Spiritmaster.

Link to the guide

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• » Aion Elyos Leveling Guide 10-25 - by Akyros
• » Elyos Leveling guide 1-10 by Akyros
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