Wings Over Atreia: Never put off until tomorrow a daily for today!

Chances are, if you have spent any time in Atreia since the release of Aion's 1.9 patch, you have been participating in daily quests. If, however, you have been living under the same rock as I have (it's plenty roomy here, really), then you either don't know what I am talking about, put it off, or just never put much thought into it, period. Personally, I kept thinking, "I'll get to it in a bit," but never actually got to it. After all, there is quite a bit to do already in Aion, and my days were pretty full. I admit that I didn't even really know why I should put my time into them. After some cajoling from a shocked legionmate who insisted I was sorely missing out, I finally cracked down and got started. Boy, have I been missing out!

The daily quest is a new(er) system that rewards players for completing a task with special tokens along with XP. These tokens are then exchanged for special items, including titles, gear, AP items, godstones, and even special pets. In many cases, these quests can be completed in just a few minutes each day. Sure, it takes some time to save up for the rewards, but it wasn't nearly as arduous as I had initially thought.

If you haven't started on daily quests, want a few hints on maximizing your token earning potential, or just want to laugh at me for taking so long to jump on the bandwagon, jump past the cut and see why daily quests are well worth the time and effort. Trust me, you want to get started today!

To be honest, I had a few misgivings when the quests were first introduced. Initially, the focus seemed to be on PvP-based quests. True, I'd hear mention of a gathering one here and there (especially when friends would beg me to go gather something and mail it to them), but by-and-large, all the chatter was about meeting a daily quota of enemy kills. That, and the rewards were best from the PvP quests (who wants to spend so much time on armor that disappears?). While I enjoy PvP, I am not someone who relishes spending all day stalking an enemy -- or five -- to slaughter; I also enjoy many other aspects of Aion. So I never really bothered to learn much about daily quests. The real story is that the quests are either PvE- or PvP-based, depending on the organization you join. Also, the release of Assault on Balaurea brought in yet another PvE-focused organization. If only I had delved in sooner and not procrastinated! Thankfully, it is never too late to start.

But where to start? To be honest, I actually tried to join one of the organizations on a few occasions, but when it didn't allow me, I just moved on to something else, thinking I would look into it later. It turns out that any Elyos who had leveled past the initial level to join each organization needed to speak to Polyidus, the Sanctum teleporter, first (or Doman, the teleporter in Pandaemonium for Asmodians). That big pink overhead quest arrow that I conveniently ignored for a long while indicated that he began the quest to introduce you each order: the Alabaster Order (level 30+); Radiant Ops (40+); and the Fortuneers (50+). If you are just hitting the level ranges, you will receive a survey directing you to each respective order, and the leaders will show that hot pink quest icon to grab your attention. The Asmodians have their corresponding organizations as well: the Field Wardens (30+); Blood Crusade (40+); and Charlirunerk's Daemons (50+).

Alabaster Order/Field Wardens

The first order Daevas can join is either the Alabaster Order (Elyos) or the Field Wardens (Asmodians) once you hit level 30. To learn about the order and join, speak to Typhon in New Heiron Gate or Deryk in Beluslan Fortress. Typhon is hard to miss as his whole contingent is in shiny white clothing and is spread out in front of a tent in the main area. And he should have a bright pink arrow over his head! These quests are focused on gathering and are not very difficult at all; in fact, they can be done in a very short period of time if you have any materials sitting in your bank or can bum some off of a friend! Otherwise, you need to be able to gather the material or buy it off of the broker. Either way, there is very little time investment to obtain your token reward. Other quests involve defeating a monster or speaking to an NPC. Again, not much in the way of time investment.

The rewards of this order are better than I had initially thought: Instead of acquiring only gold armor and weapons that expire in seven days, you can also get titles, manastones, or even a kitter pet. Of course, Aion wouldn't be Aion without some evil RNG thrown in there -- you buy a reward pouch containing a manastone, but what manastone you actually get is random! Well, at least you are guaranteed one, unlike the RNG on crafting a hot heart of magic; however, whether it is useful or worth anything is a whole other matter entirely!

Radiant Ops/Blood Crusade

Herein lies the slaughter of enemies! If you thirst for blood, this is the one for you: The Radiant Ops and Blood Crusade organizations issue the daily PvP quests for levels 40 and above. To join one of these organizations, travel to Reshanta and speak with Pompo at Teminon landing if Elyos or Viscum at Primum Landing if Asmodian. An exciting part of being a member of these is that as you level higher, you get more rewards for each daily quest; at level 50, you become eligible for a daily quest offering two, three, or four tokens, depending on whether it is in your home territory, Silentera canyon, or in enemy lands (the higher the risk, the higher the reward). However, which quest you get for the day is random, and the area in question may be locked to you. If this is the case, read further on how to still obtain a token for the day.

Rewards from this organization are highly prized -- you can obtain wings, titles, AP items, medals, a fox-like pet, or even godstones. Again, which AP item or godstone you get is random, but you will get one. Considering how vital godstones really are, this could be the best way for a Daeva to obtain one.

Fortuneers/Charlirunerk'sDaemons

If you are not up for PvP, at level 50 you can join the Fortuneers or Charlirunerk's Daemons. These quests involve retrieving an item or fighting a monster in your race's own land in Balaurea. While the reward is only one token, the quest is always available and with rare exception, soloable. Each quest usually takes only a few minutes to complete, making the reward vs. time investment very favorable.

Patrons of these two organizations can exchange their tokens for armor or weapons (that don't expire), enchantment stones, godstones, a pet porgus, or a title. Even if you don't want the armor for the stats, you can get it for the skin. However, in a world where RNG rules most everything, it is nice to know that you can be guaranteed a gold set of armor simply for some dedication and hard work!

But I wanna change!

If you are one who is apt to change his mind, don't fret -- membership in any of the organizations is not set in stone! In fact, although you can only belong to one organization at a time, you can change organizations on a daily basis -- or even multiple times in one day -- if you don't get a quest you like/can complete. For instance, to get the most reward for her time, a friend of mine always begins each day belonging to the Radiant Ops. If she is unable to get a group for or get her quota of enemy kills (either due to a time constraint or because the zone is off-limits), she switches to Fortuneers and completes that daily quest instead. This way, she is almost guaranteed a token each day. If you ever can't complete a quest one day, you can either save it for the next or simply abandon it and get a new one. New daily quests become available at 9:00 a.m. EST; at that time, a new survey will pop up offering the quest for that day.

But what if you are only collecting for a certain reward from a certain organization? As luck would have it, NCsoft anticipated this and implemented a system to exchange tokens from one organization for another's. Granted, the exchange rate is quite steep in many cases (from Progress tokens to Radiant Ops is 6, 7, or 8:1), although you can get an even exchange of 6:6 Fortuneers/Daemon for Radiant Ops/Blood Crusade tokens at either Icorunerk or Raffinerk in Silentera Canyon.

Weekly quests

The introduction of patch 2.1.0.5 (part two of 2.1) gave Daevas a new way of obtaining tokens -- weekly quests. Both of the two higher-tier organizations offer something weekly that gives two tokens as a reward. The Fortuneers/Daemons offer multiple weekly quests, increasing your token yield significantly! Even better news is that you can actually complete both sets of weekly quests regardless of which organization you currently work for. The catch is that these quests are in the enemy zone of Balaurea and the PvP quest is in Silentera Canyon. Fortunately, you have a week in which to complete these quests. During that time, you are sure to have some access into enemy territory! Now, whether or not you survive once you are there is another matter entirely. Once you have completed these tasks, you will have to wait until 9:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday after server maintenance to collect the quests again.

So there you have it, folks: a walk-through of daily (and weekly) quests. If, like yours truly, you didn't start immediately, don't worry -- just jump in now and start enjoying the benefits! But don't keep putting it off -- that's like throwing goodies right out of the window! I have my eye on those godstone boxes, and I have already snagged some AP items. What is the best -- or worst -- reward you have obtained from daily quests? Or do you have an exciting or amusing story about your daily quest exploits? Please share with us in the comments below.

Soaring through the Aionosphere, MJ Guthrie touches down weekly 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.