What is the Abyss?

The Abyss is a region of Atreia located between Elysea and Asmodae. This is the nucleus of Aion Online where the PvPvE content takes place. The Abyss is strictly for players over level 25, it’s an unpredictable area as it is the homeland of the Balaur, the NPC faction of the game. The creatures here provide excellent XP and loot, and there are many other challenges and opportunities here than in other zones of the game. In other words, the “juice” of Aion Online lies within the Abyss.

How To Get To The Abyss?

In order to enter the Abyss, a player must complete the Abyss Entry Quest, available at level 25. After finishing the with the quest chain, you will be able to open the Abyss Gates found in Eltnen or Verteron for Elyos, and in Morheim or Altgard for Amodians.

The Abyss Structure

The Abyss is divided in 3 main zones: The Lower Abyss, The Upper Abyss and the Abyss Core. The first Abyss zone is the Lower Abyss. The mobs here are 25-30 levels, exception making the fortress guards which are level 40. In the Upper Abyss, the second zone, the average level of the mobs is about 38, and the fortress guards are 50, as for the Abyss Core, there are only level 50+ mobs.

The Fortresses

The PvPvE battle within the Abyss is fought for the 9 fortresses scattered throughout the 3 major zones. Here are the fortresses for each zone:

Lower Abyss:

Sulfur Fortress -  Sulfur Archipelago
Siel’s Western Fortess – Wings of Siel Archipelago
Siel’s Eastern Fortress – Wings of Siel Archipelago

Upper Abyss:

Krotan Fortress – Krotan Island
Roah Fortress – Ruins of Roah
Miren Fortress – Miren Island
Kysis Fortress – Kysis Isle
Asteria Fortress – Lake Asteria

Abyss Core:

Divine Fortress – Eye of Reshanta

Each fortress has an Aetheric field powered by an Aetheric field generator inside. To conquer any of the fortresses your group needs to destroy its gate with the use of various siege weapons and devices, then neutralize its Aetheric field generator to allow access from above and for last, find an kill the Guardian Deity of that particular keep.

During each battle, both factions must keep their eyes peeled and stay sharp, as a Balaur ship (Dreadgion), might drop in at anytime to balance or take control of the battle. They are unpredictable, you never know which faction they will attack, or how would they influence the course of the battle.
The Artifacts

Each citadel in the Abyss has a powerful artifact inside. They are the reasons the fortresses were built around them (doh!). Once a fortress is conquered, the faction which gains control will benefit from that artifact’s blessing. All the fortress artifacts have world wide beneficial influence.

There is also a number of 31 artifacts (at least at the moment) outside the fortresses. However the range of these artifacts is limited to the area around the fortress they are near. Some of the benefits of these artifacts have an influence to the faction that controls them, and some are used to disable or damage the soldiers of the opposing faction.
Abyss Points And The Ranking System

In order to get Abyss points, a player must kill opposite faction players, defeat Balaur NPCs, defeat opposite faction NPCs, or to complete quests in the Abyss. When defeated in combat by an opposite faction player or NPC, you lose Abyss points, so dying here really sucks. Based on the earned number of points, a player receives a rank.

The points can be spent for the purchase of equipment, but as the number of your points will diminish, you will lose your rank. There are 18 ranks in total. The lowest is Grade 9 Rank Soldier, the highest is Supreme Commander. High ranked players get access to skills and abilities, but if they spend or lose their points, they will lose their rank, an implicitly lose access to the rank based abilities.