Seems like NCSoft finally buckled to player demands to ease up the level grind in Aion by raising the XP gains in its new 1.9 Update and hosting another double XP weekend.
Players dusted off their alts when Aion 1.9 went live last week as the improved XP gains allowed them to level up faster than ever. The 1.9 patch also introduced solo zone quests designed to fast-track progression particularly at the level 30-50 range. There’s also a new Mist system which rents out low-cost, limited-time weapons suited for quick leveling without a hefty Kinah investment.
According to NCSoft, most of these features came from fan feedback that clamored for less grind but more rewards:
Aion 1.9 delivers the biggest player-requested features and content for Aion. Want more solo zone quests? You get them! New class skills, daily quests, crafting recipes, a way to remove stuns, and a more configurable UI? They’re yours! Increased experience points rates, better quest rewards, and more generous instance drop rates? Here you go!
A brand new looking-for-group user interface lets you quickly find others to join or fill out groups so that you can easily finish quests, instances, and other in-game challenges. Story-driven quests lead you through a wondrous and expansive world, and new additional quests incorporated into Aion 1.9 further flesh out the world in the higher-level game zones. With the huge Aion 1.9 update, you’ll be leveling at top speed.
Add to this the upcoming double XP weekend, and the next few days should be a great time to reach max level in Aion and have a several Daevas ready to conquer Aion 2.0. next fall. Developers have said that Aion 2.0 will be geared towards high-level toons given the raised level cap to 55 and the addition of end-game fortress sieges.
The temporary XP boost will begin Friday, June 11 at 8pm server time and ends at Monday June 14, 2010 at 8am server time.
Photo from Aion Korea Powerwiki