Wings Over Atreia: A guide to Aion's menagerie
What does every Daeva need while jetting around Atreia besides a sturdy set of wings? Why, a Daeva's best friend, of course! And there is certainly quite an assortment of pets to choose from in Aion, from the standard pooch to the very non-standard heavy machinery. Introduced three expansions ago in Assault on Balaurea, pets have become a common sight as you travel about the world, whether you are chillaxing in town or hot on the trail of some XP. Pets are even commonplace in PvP; practically every contestant in the recent PvP tournament had a pet out. That's because not only are pets fun, but they are functional, too.
Just how many pets are there? Back when I first started this project, I had almost everything together in fairly short order. Then I blinked, and the pet population exploded! And every time I thought I had them all, more would pop up. So chances are NCsoft will throw another one into the mix by the time you read this, but we'll forge ahead anyhow; it's time to get this guide out there to help all those who wish to adopt the cute cuddliness of some little critter (just one look in those big puppy/panda/bulldozer eyes, and you know you're a goner) or even those who just want to know where that pet they just saw comes from. So regardless if whether you're in the market for one pet or just have the urge to collect them all, welcome to the Aion menagerie.
Just as the number of pets has increased, so too have the ways in which you can acquire them. Initially there were basically special promotions, the pet merchant, quests, and loot drops. Now, pets can also be obtained from dailies and bought from the Black Cloud Marketplace. Most pets are bought with some type of in-game currency or from the cash shop.
For our purposes here, we will classify pets by how you obtain them, be the manner in-game, through gameplay, or otherwise. Each critter will also be listed with its type: companion, signal/enemy alert, fortune, pack, purebred, looting, and medicine bag. (For a refresher -- signal pets alert to nearby enemies, fortune pets offer an item after feeding, looting pets loot, medicine bag pets auto consume your consumables to buff, and purebreds can have multiple functions.)
Pet Merchant
The in-game pet shop is an NPC called the Pet Merchant, found in capital cities and the major fortresses in Balaurea. Pets here can be purchased with Kinah and are available to all Daevas, meaning level 10+ and able to travel to the Sanctum and Pandaemonium. After you buy the egg (all pets come as eggs), you get it hatched at the Pet Minder. The Pet Merchant also sells pet manuals, which allow you to have special emotes with your pets, and pet food. The possible pets here are:
Companions:
Capped Fungie
Indigo Ribbit
Manic Aukwi
Quick Kirca
Red Eye Larail
Rotund Methu
Striped Elroco
White Dagg
Fortune:
Button-Eye Mookie (gives bundle of gems)
Headstrong Poroco (gives bundle of gatherables)
Mellow Ksellid (gives bundle of minerals)
Rotund Ayas (gives bundle of dyes)
Pack:
Goldentail Dorion (six-slot)
Silvertail Dorion (six-slot)
Alternative game currency
Another way to buy pets in-game is from the various tokens earned through daily and weekly quests with the different organizations or through the Crucible Arenas.
Companions:
Crikey Kitter; Radiant Ops/Blood Crusade
Golden Wuf; Alabaster Order/Field Wardens
Mischievous Manduri; Orichalcum/The Circle
Sawteeth Rotan; Orichalcum -- also by questing in Kromede's Trial
Turkish Kitter; Fortuneers/Charlirunerk's Daemons
Wild Kitter; Alabaster Order/Field Wardens
Fortune:
Pudgy Porgus (gives unknown bundle); Fortuneers/Charlirunerk's Daemons
Runaway Poppy (gives bundle of elemental stones); Crucible
Pack:
Crimson Kerub (12-slot); Orichalcum/The Circle
Woodkeeper Ailu (18-slot); Merry Men
Signal:
Desert Naeda; Radiant Ops/Blood Crusade
Silver Wuf; Crucible
Buff:
Pointy Hat Sprigg; Crucible
Steel Narki; Silverine Ltd
Looting:
Pink Nyanco (looting); Crucible
Quested
Sometimes you can get a pet just by completing a quest or a series of them.
Golden Drakie (pack, 18-slot); Toy Fair (Elyos) or This is Not a Toy! (Asmodian) quests -- Stories of the Past chain
Purple Ribbit (companion); Initial pet quest
Sawteeth Rotan (companion); KT repeatable
Silius Fortress Golden Stormwing (signal; buff; pack, 24-slot)
Looted
A few pets can be acquired just through normal gameplay as a drop, usually in an instance.
Sunset Drakie (pack, 18-slot); Empyrean Crucible
White Beard Manduri (buff); Esoterrace -- now also in cash shop
Special events
Some pets were given as special promotions or special events and could not be obtained through other means. Initially, a number of specific pets were available only if you bought the Assault on Balaurea expansion from specific retail outlets. However, at one point those once exclusive pets were also available for purchase in the cash shop.
Companion:
Altgard Kitter; 2.0 purchase
Annoying manduri; perk
Beluslan Kitter; 2.0 purchase
Border Daggie; 2.0 purchase
Fuzzy Elroco; 2.0 purchase
Grassy Drakie; 2.0 purchase
Green Diabol; MMOBomb exclusive
Golden Radama; MMOBomb exclusive
Heiron Kitter; 2.0 purchase
Helper Pixie; Nightmare Circus event
Palmist Acuran; a three-headed dragon
Pointytail Acuran; a three-headed dragon
Skullabra Krall; 2.0 purchase
Others:
Aqua Griffo (pack, 24-slot; signal; fortune); Veteran reward
Spurred Crestlich (fortune -- gives bundle of enchantment/manastones)
Black Cloud Marketplace:
Another way to get your hands/claws on a few pets is to buy them in Aion's cash shop. Some pets are of a limited duration, however, so understand when you buy these pack pets that the goods they store will "disappear" until you purchase another one (at which point the items will reappear in the new pet's inventory).
Companions:
Bottlenose Tion (Discontinued)
Mau Cubling (Discontinued)
Pointy Kitter
Fortune:
Azure Drakie Egg (gives bundle of Balaur mats)
Hungry Porgus (gives bundle of enchantment/manastones)
Pink Point Radama Egg (gives bundle of aether); 30 days
Pack:
Big Girl Shugo (30-slot); 15 days
Big Boy Shugo (30-slot); 15 days
Bluemane Trico (12-slot)
Crescent Inquin (12-slot)
Evolved Speckled Ailu (12-slot); regular from 2.0 purchase
Goldmane Trico (12-slot); previously Aion magazine subscription
Micro MuMu (18-slot)
Mini MuMu (18-slot)
Pink Griffo (12-slot)
Potbelly Inquin (12-slot)
Red Shell Potcrab (12-slot)
Shugo Lad (24 slot)
Shugo Lass (24-slot)
Traveling Kitter (26-slot)
Signal:
Crewcut Fungie
Evolved Kungfu Manduri
Evolved Teasing Jefi
Helpful Box Mimic
Pinkhair Steren
Princely Ailu Egg; 30 days
Watchful Ailu
Buff:
Red Diabol
Shugo Lad, Flag Bearer
Whitebeard Manduri
Loot:
Flame Bogel
Meon Bulldozer
Worg of the Dead (Discontinued)
Purebred:
Boxing King Kerub (signal; pack, 12-slot)
Infernal Diabol (buff; fortune -- gives AP boost); 30 days
Innocent Merek (buff; fortune -- gives XP boost); 30 days
Sidekick Yume (signal; buff)
Tahabata Egg (loot, buff); 30 days
The end is near
Now you can see why creating an all-inclusive list is quite the feat! It's a good thing that the pet inventory can hold 100 pets. So did you see all the pets you own -- or want to own -- on this list? Or do you have another pet that wasn't covered? If so, let us know in the comments below!
A final bit of news
Now that your mind is already reeling with the plethora of pets, I need to share another unrelated bit of news with you. Circumstances such as they are (perhaps I am off trying to acquire all the pets!), Wings Over Atreia is going on a bit of a hiatus; it will no longer be appearing every two weeks. But don't think you are getting off completely! I am not about to hang up my wings permanently, either here or in the game, so WOA will be back from time to time, sharing relevant Aion news, interviews, and other Atreian tidbits. Perhaps we can even slip in a new release of the ever-popular Solorius carols. Are you brave enough to join me in a sing-a-long?
Soaring through the Aionosphere, MJ Guthrie touches down biweekly to bring you Wings Over Atreia. Featuring tips, guides, and general snippets of life in Aion, the column is better than Tutty-on-a-stick, ackackackackackack! Have a suggestion to share? No need to bribe a Shugo -- just send mail to mj@massively.com.