Aion Online brings new shine to the classic MMO combat system. It may not reinvent the wheel, but it certainly provides the wheel with very shiny new hubcaps. Since combat is the heart of any MMO, Aion stands to set the bar for interactive combat in the online gaming world with gameplay feature like chain skills, directional buffs, and in-flight combat.

We’ll start at the top with chain skills. As players progress, they will receive certain skills which cannot be activated on their own. These skills require another ability be used first before they become available. Once the first ability is used, the second ability in the chain becomes active for a few seconds. The more abilities unlocked, the more possibilities arise. Some skills at the beginning of a chain unlock multiple abilities, forcing the player to quickly choose which chain ability to use.

Chain skills get their own menu

Aion’s default UI causes the same button to activate each skill in the chain. In other words, if ‘1’ activates your Sorcerer’s Flame Arrow spell, an icon will appear alerting you the second spell in the chain, Blaze, is active once Flame Arrow casts. Pressing ‘1’ again will now cast Blaze. Some players choose to disable this setting in favor of keybinding chain skills to entirely different buttons, allowing them to repeatedly cast one ability without being forced to cast the next ability in the chain. Also, only the first skill in a chain is shown on the hotbar if the chain is bound to one key. Since most abilities have cooldowns, you will be unable to see second and third chain ability cooldowns unless they are bound to their own hotkey.

Directional buffs add another twist to Aion’s combat. Run forward for a damage buff, backwards for a defense buff, and strafe for an avoidance buff. At this time, the exact stat boost numbers are not known for any of the direction buffs. However, when we demoed the Assassin class, there was a noticeably higher dodge rate when strafing around targets. For classes such as Assassins who activate a counterattack after dodging an attack, combat movement will play a key roll in gameplay. For casters who must remain stationary while casting many spells, directional buffs will likely be used more sparingly.

Flight combat is as awesome as it looks

Finally, no overview of Aion’s combat would be complete without a discussion of flight combat. After level 25 all players may access the Abyss, a huge zone of shattered, floating islands. Players have full flight access anywhere in the Abyss, and being as the entire zone is PvP enabled, aerial dogfights will constantly rage. While flying, each class receives unique buffs, but all become more vulnerable, as damage against any flying target is increased by a percentage. Players must also beware of enemy Spirit Masters, who can dispel wings, sending their opponent crashing to earth or simply flailing through the endless void of the Abyss. Flight literally adds a third dimension to combat; be prepared to attack your enemies from whatever direction necessary to gain that extra edge.

Chain skills, direction buffs, and aerial combat are just some of the awesome features in store. Aion Online clearly has potential to be engaging PvPvE MMO, throwing players new challenges and tools to bring back that spark of excitement we’ve been missing for so long.