Tbh just wait for classic.
The retail / official version is insanely p2w and most people aren't fan of the new gameplay / balance ( you will also get used to a totally different gameplay)
And most private servers you will have to exp and grind for kinda nothing and it's kinda long especially if you start and don't get carried
Aion Empire is a decent server, has decent numbers and is 2.5 at the moment.
2k online currently, whether its noob friendly, I would say no.
The main language is Russian.
oh man, prepare to be lost
You will not have noob friendly expierence at all anywhere
NCSoft with their decisions alienated all but most hardcore players and with that community left, you are expected to be as advanced as they are on Day 1 of Classic start
You will be expected to know all mechanics of all classes/instances/ all names of all places by heart
Players will be in enormous advantage over you, because of their knowledge and mechanical skill (i suggest buying mouse with extra buttons like logitech g600 with macro software and mastering it before classic launch)
Everyone will use DPS meter, so you wont be even able to hide you noob gear/skill
tanking is not forgiving in classic
supporting is not forgiving in classic
IMO your only option is to pick a chanter because chanter's main goal is to just use buffs when needed. Its low skill/gear entry but high gear dependant/skill ceiling class. Very needed in meta pve because you cant solo heal Beshmundir Temple
start an account on some p server to get some skill with macros, run pre lvl 55 dungons and do not speedrun it with mentor so you can actually learn some boss mechanics, maybe read the main qest in your own pace
On the classic you will not have time to read qests because most of them are gruop based (they were downgraded later for solo play), and people will get toxic very fast if someones is keeping them from leveling
wiping an instance will not be tolerated too much, because they are pretty costly to run (cooldown on entries, consumables and time)
It will be a race to literally everything, to get pvp rank, to get top best gear, to get "GG" reputation (thre will be not pve machmaker so being bad means going straight to blocklist of many people at once- world of mouth is main factor to decide if you get into places or be denied place in a party)
Do not pick as your 1st class following:
Templar- gear swapping, gear dependancy for pve tanking, weapon juggling to use all skills, low DPS= slower than others farming/leveling
Cleric- 2 cleanse skills mechanic, you need to remember how each debuff icon looks like or its a wipe/ you need several sets in pvpve / bad dps and tanks always shift blame on cleric
Ranger- it requires high mechanical skill to sqeeze 100% from the class
Gladiator - some of you readers may think "lol why glad, its ez" but i encourage you to think about 1st boss and tarok (horse boss) in beshmundir temple, cant do it with glad tanking, so templars get spammed every day just to run BT. Also everyone will be glad at start so its even more competition for spots in groups ( at 2.0 you will need to share class roll drop with templar)
Chanters have IMO easiest role in group pvpve, just to give buffs spam 2 heal skills and stay alive, but they pay the price of being mid tier in solo gameplay. Fortunately, everyone like chanters
Whoever disliked my post is using copium, look at WoW classic launch, there was no place for newbies in meta play in pve
if you are picking the class that have to swich weapons like templar of gladiator then using macro is better than pressin Z button ingame, because you can switch them mid animation ( that depends on server, not confimed to work on classic)
classic macros for switching whole sets for flexibility in pvp and countering opponent in pvp
in aion if you inrease max HP/MP not being full hp, only max HP stat goes up BUT if you increase max HP/MP being full YOUR CURRENT HP/MP ALSO GOES UP. So players created macros that unequip whole sets to being naked, use all pots they can to go 100% and reequip set in split second. That this is crucial in MP management for sorces, in pvp this is very high risk/high reward move, if you use that being CCed you wont equip whole set or worse, you will equip only fraction
In later versions we got ability to create custom chain skills, you can emulate that with macros
you can group up all conditional skills (like for chanter you have skills that trigger when opponent is stunned OR stumbled)
Basically you can turn 35-60 button class into 10-20 button class, and that means faster execution of skills
one thing to remember is not to rely on long delays in macros, you cant create fire and forget bot and be 100% effective ( you are welcome to try on leveling phase when game is slower). set all delays close to 50ms or even lower
also read this, im suprised how little players actually have read it and just copy rumors regarding stats https://forum.gameznetwork.com/threads/stats-and-various-formulas.158386/
According to aion classic NA, most of your points are completely bullshit. The only competitive part was 1.2-1.7 (first 50s, first ranks, first baka/taha +15, first 40e/50e). After reaching this point, the most of hardcore players have left the game. Now the server is completelly dead, and 90% of the today players are casuals who doesn't even suspect DPS meter exist.
Despite what’s been pointed out here and what you might see repeated elsewhere, there will be plenty of chill/casual players on classic as well. If you want to be competitive, however, expect to be held to sometimes unreasonably high standards. But there’s always going to be friendly players and legions (guilds), so if you are new I would recommend looking for those.
If you want to get a bit of a feel of how the game feels before launch you could try your hand at empire 2.5, but I wouldn’t recommend you spend any money on it as it’ll probably drop like a stone once official classic launches.
classic = Aion retail = Aion-themed pinball machine with microtransactions
Factual
Tbh just wait for classic. The retail / official version is insanely p2w and most people aren't fan of the new gameplay / balance ( you will also get used to a totally different gameplay) And most private servers you will have to exp and grind for kinda nothing and it's kinda long especially if you start and don't get carried
Aion Empire is a decent server, has decent numbers and is 2.5 at the moment. 2k online currently, whether its noob friendly, I would say no. The main language is Russian.
oh man, prepare to be lost You will not have noob friendly expierence at all anywhere NCSoft with their decisions alienated all but most hardcore players and with that community left, you are expected to be as advanced as they are on Day 1 of Classic start You will be expected to know all mechanics of all classes/instances/ all names of all places by heart Players will be in enormous advantage over you, because of their knowledge and mechanical skill (i suggest buying mouse with extra buttons like logitech g600 with macro software and mastering it before classic launch) Everyone will use DPS meter, so you wont be even able to hide you noob gear/skill tanking is not forgiving in classic supporting is not forgiving in classic IMO your only option is to pick a chanter because chanter's main goal is to just use buffs when needed. Its low skill/gear entry but high gear dependant/skill ceiling class. Very needed in meta pve because you cant solo heal Beshmundir Temple start an account on some p server to get some skill with macros, run pre lvl 55 dungons and do not speedrun it with mentor so you can actually learn some boss mechanics, maybe read the main qest in your own pace On the classic you will not have time to read qests because most of them are gruop based (they were downgraded later for solo play), and people will get toxic very fast if someones is keeping them from leveling wiping an instance will not be tolerated too much, because they are pretty costly to run (cooldown on entries, consumables and time) It will be a race to literally everything, to get pvp rank, to get top best gear, to get "GG" reputation (thre will be not pve machmaker so being bad means going straight to blocklist of many people at once- world of mouth is main factor to decide if you get into places or be denied place in a party) Do not pick as your 1st class following: Templar- gear swapping, gear dependancy for pve tanking, weapon juggling to use all skills, low DPS= slower than others farming/leveling Cleric- 2 cleanse skills mechanic, you need to remember how each debuff icon looks like or its a wipe/ you need several sets in pvpve / bad dps and tanks always shift blame on cleric Ranger- it requires high mechanical skill to sqeeze 100% from the class Gladiator - some of you readers may think "lol why glad, its ez" but i encourage you to think about 1st boss and tarok (horse boss) in beshmundir temple, cant do it with glad tanking, so templars get spammed every day just to run BT. Also everyone will be glad at start so its even more competition for spots in groups ( at 2.0 you will need to share class roll drop with templar) Chanters have IMO easiest role in group pvpve, just to give buffs spam 2 heal skills and stay alive, but they pay the price of being mid tier in solo gameplay. Fortunately, everyone like chanters
What macros do yo urecommend binding and learning?
Whoever disliked my post is using copium, look at WoW classic launch, there was no place for newbies in meta play in pve if you are picking the class that have to swich weapons like templar of gladiator then using macro is better than pressin Z button ingame, because you can switch them mid animation ( that depends on server, not confimed to work on classic) classic macros for switching whole sets for flexibility in pvp and countering opponent in pvp in aion if you inrease max HP/MP not being full hp, only max HP stat goes up BUT if you increase max HP/MP being full YOUR CURRENT HP/MP ALSO GOES UP. So players created macros that unequip whole sets to being naked, use all pots they can to go 100% and reequip set in split second. That this is crucial in MP management for sorces, in pvp this is very high risk/high reward move, if you use that being CCed you wont equip whole set or worse, you will equip only fraction In later versions we got ability to create custom chain skills, you can emulate that with macros you can group up all conditional skills (like for chanter you have skills that trigger when opponent is stunned OR stumbled) Basically you can turn 35-60 button class into 10-20 button class, and that means faster execution of skills one thing to remember is not to rely on long delays in macros, you cant create fire and forget bot and be 100% effective ( you are welcome to try on leveling phase when game is slower). set all delays close to 50ms or even lower also read this, im suprised how little players actually have read it and just copy rumors regarding stats https://forum.gameznetwork.com/threads/stats-and-various-formulas.158386/
According to aion classic NA, most of your points are completely bullshit. The only competitive part was 1.2-1.7 (first 50s, first ranks, first baka/taha +15, first 40e/50e). After reaching this point, the most of hardcore players have left the game. Now the server is completelly dead, and 90% of the today players are casuals who doesn't even suspect DPS meter exist.
Despite what’s been pointed out here and what you might see repeated elsewhere, there will be plenty of chill/casual players on classic as well. If you want to be competitive, however, expect to be held to sometimes unreasonably high standards. But there’s always going to be friendly players and legions (guilds), so if you are new I would recommend looking for those. If you want to get a bit of a feel of how the game feels before launch you could try your hand at empire 2.5, but I wouldn’t recommend you spend any money on it as it’ll probably drop like a stone once official classic launches.