Aika: Ashes of Betrayal & Nation Balancing

Ashes of Betrayal: New Nation Balance Mechanic Gives Free In-Game Items

There is no feeling in Aika Online like the rush of adrenaline from invading a rival nation's territory, leading a huge army of fellow warrior-citizens, and returning victorious with a precious relic which will give your entire nation a permanent buff. Every day in Aika, nations wage war through these invasions to prove their power and increase their strength. One of the keys to building up strength is population, ensuring that new players stay in your nation so that there will be more people to participate in offensive and defensive military tactics. But what happens if new players flock to stronger nations with larger populations, worsening a strength imbalance?

In Ashes of Betrayal, there will be a new national balancing system, giving new players an incentive to join the least populated nation. Creating a new character in the least populated, or "underdog," nation will automatically transfer a non-tradable starter package of potions and other useful items to the character's inventory. Then, after completing the citizenship quest in the underdog nation, the character can receive more free items to help level up. Lower level characters already bound to the underdog nation will also be able to receive these gift packages.

When the formerly least populated nation is flourishing in numbers, a new underdog nation will be set. New and low level players will be able to receive free, useful in-game items, and our massive nation vs. nation battles will become more challenging than ever before!

Ashes of Betrayal will introduce a powerful timed buff which can be accessed in any nation in the PvP channel (except in the underdog nation, where it will be available in both PvP and PvE channels). This buff will enhance a character's stats for a short period of time, allowing the player to level faster, fight harder, and challenge powerful rivals. Receiving this buff will be as easy as speaking to an NPC - and it's free. As monsters are already weaker in PvP channels than PvE channels, this feature will encourage players to participate in Aika's thrilling range of player combat modes, including Relic War, Altar War, Battlegrounds, and more!

In celebration of the launch of Ashes of Betrayal on June 17th, there will be a daily server-wide 200% EXP boost from 7am to midnight PDT starting this Thursday, June 10th and running an entire week! Now is the time to get in-game and hit level 50 to be able to experience all the new content right when it comes out! For more information about this and other AoB launch events, visit the official Aika website.

The Arcanist and Saint Class Evolutions

Magic lovers have waited with anticipation for this week, since we're previewing the second tier evolutions of the Spellcaster classes! This archetype includes the infamous Warlock class and the feisty Cleric class, both known for spells that can turn the tide of battle.. The Warlock, a master of offensive magic, specializes in single target crowd control and destroying masses of enemies with powerful AOE spells. The Cleric is a powerful healer and buffer who also has a couple of DPS surprises up her sleeve for any monsters who mistake her for an easy kill. In Ashes of Betrayal, the Warlock and Cleric will be able to advance to their second tier evolutions: Arcanist and Saint. Check out their new gear and skills below!

The Arcanist
Archetype: Spellcaster
First Tier Class Name: Warlock
Second Tier Evolution Name: Arcanist

Calamity, the Arcanist's level 59 skill, is a hard-hitting DOT spell which also afflicts the target with a movement debuff. Unlike many of the Warlock's aoe attacks, Calamity is an instant cast, establishing the Arcanist as an ambush-ready nuker for dungeons and mass PvP alike. It's also a skill with long range, giving the Arcanist more time to finish off survivors as they slowly approach or run away. With a large MP cost and a 5-minute cooldown period, Calamity must be carefully reserved by even the most bloodthirsty Arcanist.

The Saint
Archetype: Spellcaster
First Tier Class Name: Cleric
Second Tier Evolution Name: Saint

The Cleric must undergo intense spiritual training to become the Saint, developing the ability to call upon the Goddess Aika's power to heal herself and others, and even make allies temporarily invincible. The level 59 spell, Aika's Grace, recovers a single target's HP and MP (over 5700 of each) and makes the target immune to all attacks for at least 5 seconds. No other skill in the Cleric's arsenal can restore both HP and MP, save the essential dungeon-running spell Resurrect, which can only be used on members of the same party. This new powerful bubble can save tanks from party-wiping crits and buy some precious time for the Saint to heal her party.

Pretty sneaky but REALLY smart! Kudos to Aika devs!

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