I hope to answer all the common questions regarding the Spiritmaster class of Aion with this minifaq. This along with the wiki and armory should help guide you to becoming a well rounded player with thorough knowledge about the class, enjoy! -Finnalie
Spiritmaster: What is Deeps?
Spiritmaster: What is it?
Spiritmaster: PvE
Spiritmaster: PvP
Spiritmaster: 1 on 1
Spiritmaster: Aerial Combat
Spiritmaster: Spirits
Spiritmaster: Manastones
Spiritmaster: Gear
Spiritmaster: Stigma Builds
Spiritmaster: Scaling
Spiritmaster: Other Sources
Spiritmaster: Contributors
Through this FAQ you'll see abbreviations which you may not be familiar with. This is a list of such with what they are referring to, so feel free to check back at this list if you are confused with any of them.
DPS = Damage Per Second - also refers to a class which is a main damage dealer (DD)
CC = Crowd Control - spells such as fear, slow, restraint, anything that immobilizes or hinders other players
DP = Divine Power - a third bar underneath your MP which fills as you kill monsters/players after level 10. It is used to cast special skills called 'DP Skills' which require 2k, 3k, or 4k DP.
AoE = Area of Effect - a skill which targets an area instead of a specific person, or hits a person and others within a range of that person.
PvE = Player Versus Environment - the basic of a game, a person fighting computerized enemies.
PvP = Player Versus Player - unlike PvE, this refers to when one person fights another person playing the game.
DoT = Damage over Time - damage is done over a period of time after casting is done, instead of all at once. Typically produces an icon under someones name indicating it is 'ticking' (doing damage every 3, 4, 6, etc sec).
The Spiritmaster class is a mesh of the control class and magical pet class for Aion. After reaching level 10 with a Mage you may choose the path of Sorcerer or Spiritmaster. By choosing Spiritmaster, you are asking to harness the elements in a way such that they form a companion who will obey all your orders, instead of summoning the element in a primal damaging form as a Sorcerer would. This does not mean that you are without spells yourself; you have your own arsenal as well.
The Spiritmaster is one of the most efficient grinders in Aion. By using the spirits to tank, you can chain mob after mob without taking damage besides what you use to heal your pet, which can easily be made up with Vitality Absorption, a potion, or Herbal Remedy. Or to avoid that, you can even kite the enemy through utilizing the several different CC spells (most commonly Chain of Earth) and not allow you or your pet to take damage.
During an instance the Command: Erosion becomes a favorite, given it raises a monsters drop rate by 20%. This increase is multiplicative though, not additive, so the smaller the drop rate, the less of an increase (Ex - 1% drop rate * 20% increase = 1.2% drop rate). This added with the cooldown makes it most useful for bosses only, so be sure to land it right before they die and if something drops, gloat that it was because of you!
In a PvE group setting the Spiritmaster fulfills the DPS role, given their lack of PvE environment CC. The Spiritmaster is interchangeable with a Ranger, Gladiator, and Assassin for a group setting. Due to the lack of scaling discussed later, the Spiritmaster finds it more difficult to pick up a PvE group since the DPS typically drags behind the other classes who are meant for it. In order to keep up you must both gear and socket for Magic Boost as well as stigma for the more damage oriented skills. Another important factor to consider while grouped up for both instances and Fortress raids is the fact there is currently a limit of 8 debuffs per target. This means other classes could effectively bump off your DoTs through their own effects. The Earth pet is capable of holding an add well enough until a tank can pick it up if required, but you should not be expected to tank an entire instance.
Spiritmasters enjoy dragging out their enemies' pain while throwing a myriad of spells their way. They specialize in killing over time, as opposed to bursting someone down. Through the use of the many DoTs the class gets, as well as the pet itself and the PvP-oriented CC the class attains, you will have plenty of fun keeping a person busy and watching their HP bar drop steadily.
The Spiritmaster is also the dispeller of the classes, with four different dispels. The first is a single target, single buff dispel. Then there are two single target, three buff dispels which also do damage (and one adds a DoT) and are stigmas, as well as one multi-target three buff dispel which costs 3k DP. This along with our DoTs and lesser debuffs make us a sort of anti-chanter class. It is crucial to dispel Stoneskin off of Mages, as well as all buffs off of other classes to give your group an edge. If you go up against another Spiritmaster be sure to clickyou’re your buffs – remember that you not only lose the buff when they dispel you but you also take damage!
In a group setting the Spiritmaster is a sort of safety net, capable of fearing a target off of their allies, or using Silence/Body Root to halt an attack. The Spiritmaster further helps gain control through the use of an AoE fear and AoE slow, along with dispels and the ability to DoT multiple targets. The stress placed on the opponent's healer is well worth the effort, and can cause even a formidable group to fumble. It is important to remain on the move and constantly be aware of what their group and yours are doing, so you can take full advantage of your cooldowns. While the class isn't required during PvP, as any class isn't, after grouping with one who utilizes all of their skills, you will gain a respect for the class and hope to see them on your side and not the other.
For more knowhow about the Spiritmaster in a PvP setting, visit: [Translation] Know-How: Spiritmaster PvP and SM's Role: Korean SM.
The Cleric is the main healer class of Aion, but does have its offensive abilities. The Spiritmaster class is one of few who can effectively shut down a Cleric and kill them, due to our long CC chain. You must perfect chaining fears and silence in order to kill a Cleric, or else they will throw up an instant heal and make your efforts mute. With all cooldowns up you should have no problem against a Cleric, but if you are fighting one without fear it will be a harder effort. Be sure to open with a dispel to get rid of their buffs!
The Chanter class uses a mix of damage between spells and melee, but mostly depend on melee. They have a 3sec stun, but their overall damage is weak at high level. They can't dispel slow like a cleric (unless they use a pot) which makes them easy to kite after they've used their stun. Chanter's heal is weaker than a Cleric as well. Be sure to always dispel their buffs, but you cannot dispel the mantras.
The Assassin class is burst as Sorcerer is. The Assassin class is the #1 DPS class, but that comes at a price. Assassins have no actual CC beyond stuns, and are melee which means they must be on their target to damage them. The most important aspect is the opening chain an Assassin will pull. As soon as you start the fear chain you should be able to stay in control and win, but if they catch you a second time you're pretty much a goner. Be sure to utilize Body Root and Chain of Earth. They also like to pop their wings for increased speed and to hover above your pets, so a water pet is of course optimal.
Both Ranger and Spiritmaster are ranged classes, but the Ranger is a physical source while Spiritmaster is magical. The Ranger utilizes traps, a slowing shot, as well as a silencing shot for CC, but overall the Spiritmaster is better for PvP CC. Rangers can be tricky since you can't really kite them, so you have to maintain control at all times. Their silencing shot is absolutely deadly so be sure to cleanse it with a potion ASAP. The Rangers as stated above are a physical source of damage and because of this are effected by Body Root, not Silence. If your cooldowns are gone, you're pretty much done for. Also if they get the jump on you they can burst you down before you realize, so always be on the lookout.
The Sorcerer is a burst class, and will be able to kill faster than a Spiritmaster in a short time frame. The other main difference is in CC. The Sorcerer focuses on PvE-oriented CC with spells such as Sleep and Curse: Tree, which stop the enemy in their track and break upon damage, as well as buff their elemental defenses greatly; meanwhile the Spiritmaster focuses on PvP-oriented CC with multiple slows and fears, which can receive damage without breaking. The main determinate is who gets their CC off first. The Sorcerers enjoy doing a chain of Curse: Tree, then Delayed Burst, followed by a large spell to hit for full damage right after Delayed Burst breaks the CC. If you get caught in the Aerial Shackle you’re a goner.
The Gladiator is an AoE DPS class, which wears plate and uses 2-handers. The Gladiators and Spiritmasters DPS are comparative over time, but the Gladiator maintains a larger burst than Spiritmaster. The Gladiator also has basically no CC skills. They can beat you if they manage to AoE down your pet as well as servants while attacking you, eliminating your damage mitigation shield as well as a large source of damage. The best route is to try to kite and maintain control via Body Root, Fear, and Chain of Earth. Luckily plate has weak elemental defenses, unless they socket for it. During a group watch out though, they can tear through your shield and cloth extremely fast.
Templars have large HP pools and defensive skills, as well as regen skills. This makes mana control necessary; with all of their cooldowns you will feel like you have to kill them three times. Templar damage is decently weak. They have a CC skill which pulls you toward the Templar, but most of the time it gets resisted. Stay away from them, and beat on them for awhile. It’s a long fight so try to stretch your cooldowns.
Everyone who hears that Spiritmasters pets can't fly immediately thinks, 'The class is broken!' While they do miss out on some skills while flying, they are not as weak as you may initially think. While flying the Spiritmaster still has access to all of their spells as well as Summon: Servants, but not to the spirits or commands themselves. Most importantly, the Spiritmasters still have access to all of their CC. This means an aerial battle will last longer with the lack of DPS from the missing pet, but is fully capable of being won given the availability of CC, especially the unique skill Wing Root, which drastically cuts into the opponent's flight time.
Your pets may not be able to fly, but spreading your wings does not desummon your pet. Instead your pet follows you along the ground, which can be both a positive and negative. The major downside to this is that if you fly too high up (~50m +) or go too fast, they will desummon. Also, as they run along the ground they can aggro aggressive monsters that they pass. The positive to this comes with the Water Spirit and Tempest Spirit though, as both have an ability attacked to their Command: Disturbance which causes a 'Crash' effect. Crash knocks the flying target out of the air, immediately dropping their wings and making them plummet to the ground. The skill has a range of 25m, which is also the range of most ranged DPS in order to attack you if you are on the ground. When used it can cause confusion, panic, and falling damage. The opponent can however open their wings back up if it is not on cooldown and they still have flight time, so using it right as they take off is optimal. This allows you to further control the battle, keeping them on the ground and under your power. You can even get tactical and keep them on the ground while you stay in the air, making melee panic, but they will almost certainly kill your pet.
There is also a video now displaying that NCSoft is working on making pets fly, as well as improving their pathing by allowing them to go over objects on the ground (basically jump) and go down ledges! Estimated delivery of this patch is "Fall of 2009," but will probably come in Winter since it is not yet on the test servers.
The Spiritmaster has two different summon sets, Summon: Spirits and Summon: Servants. Both have wind, water, earth, and fire, but the Spirits last until killed or desummoned, while the servants have a 10sec duration. You can have one Spirit and Servant spell out at any one time. The Summon: Servant spell is our biggest DPS spell, conjuring two elemental orbs to attack the target 3 times each, doing over 200 damage each attack at top level, doing more than 1,000 damage. The Summon: Servants are a DPS spell and have no actual controls, and act as another DoT with HP bars.
Your Spirit has several basic commands. Attack, which sends them to attack your current target; Stay, which makes them stand where you are; Follow, which makes them come to you; and Leave, which makes them desummon. All of these are found right by the pets HP bar, but can be moved to your action bars. You'll also notice a small round green button with two squares in it. This is the manual/automatic button. While in automatic, the pet will attack what ever attacks it or you. While in manual, the pet will only attack after you tell it to. Be sure to swap to manual during any group activity in elite/instance zones!
Each Spirit has different ranks. Currently there are four ranks of Fire and Wind Spirits, while there are only three of Earth and Water Spirits. As you level, the Spirit will level with you. As with every skill, the summon skill will gain one level until it reaches 9, and stops leveling. This carries over to your pet as well, meaning when you are level 10 and receive Rank 1 Fire Spirit, he will have a Skill level of 1 and pet level of 10. He will increase with you all the way to level 18, at which point he will be a Skill level of 9 and pet level of 18. When you then hit level 19, your skill will not increase, meaning your pet will not increase. This gap will occur with every pet until you get the next rank.
The Fire spirit is the middle pet, with average defense, attack, and HP. The Fire spirit is best used to grind until 28 given it has the best taunt. The Fire spirit is good for PvE groups given they debuff the targets physical defense, and lower fire resistance for other casters, all while providing good DPS and having the second best HP for surviving any AoEs. The Fire spirit can also be used during PvP for the Command: Substitution skill, which mitigates all damage towards the cast to the spirit, given their large HP pool and damage. The Fire spirit has the largest overall damage output due to the fact he is a higher tier than the others so far, but this may change when the level cap is increased. The Fire spirits commands are burst damage.
The Earth spirit has the highest defense and HP of all the spirits. They also have the second best taunt, and are the number one tanks at level 28 when they gain the Command: Disturbance and are capable of healing themselves for 50% of the damage the command does. Utilizing the Earth spirit you will be able to grind fast and efficiently, with less pet heals using your HP, and taking on stronger monsters. The Earth spirit is also capable of holding an elite monster with a healer until the tank can take over. The Earth spirits commands are a mix of burst and DoT.
The Wind spirit has the fastest attacks and is the best melee DPS pet. The Wind spirit is primarily used during PvP given its stun effect upon using Command: Disturbance, along with the high damage and fastest run speed. The Wind spirit has low HP though, making it a liability at times if your opponents choose to focus fire it down fast. Some also choose to level with the Wind spirit by keeping aggro, kiting the target and letting the Wind spirits superior DPS kill the target fast. The Wind Spirit training books are dropped by monsters using the same sprite as the tier you need. They are also around the same level of the skill. The Wind spirits commands are a mix of burst and DoT.
The Water spirit is the only spirit which attacks with magical damage, ranged attacks, and hits extremely hard. The Water spirit also has the lowest HP and can be taken out fast. Typically it is used during PvP against flying targets for its unique effect of 'Crash' during Command: Disturbance. It is also the only pet capable of attacking enemies in the air. Due to the ranged attacks, the Water spirit cannot be kited, which can give you a leg up against a Sorcerer who may try to root a melee pet of yours. There is currently no way of removing CC on your pet. The Water Spirit training books are dropped by monsters using the same sprite as the tier you need. The Water spirits commands are burst damage.
The Tempest spirit is an Elyos-only spirit. The Tempest spirit is a level 50 DP summon which has a short duration and long cooldown, along with its opposite Magma spirit for the Asmodians. This spirit is a mixture of the Water and Wind spirits, and the commands mix both as well. This means the Tempest spirits Command: Disturbance both stuns and crashes the opponent, as well as being a ranged attack, making the Tempest spirit trump the Magma spirit during a 1-on-1 with each other. The Tempest spirits stats are slightly lower than the Magma spirits, but still higher than all others, and hits hard as well. The lower stats can be expected due to the ranged nature of the spirit.
The Magma spirit is an Asmodian-only spirit. The Magma spirit is a level 50 DP summon which has a short duration and long cooldown, along with its opposite Tempest spirit for the Elyos. This particular spirit is a mixture of the Earth and Fire spirits, and the commands mix both as well. The Magma spirit is superior to the Tempest spirit for groups given the ability to debuff physical defense. The stats of the Magma spirit are all higher than the others, and hits extremely hard.
The Wind and Water Spirit manuals are dropped from monsters, therefor you must buy them off the broker or farm them yourself. The following is a list of known monsters that drop the skill books gathered with the help of Lumiasta:
Elyos
Wind I (13): Starving Worg, Wind Spirit
Water I (19): Whirlpool Spirit, Aqueous Spirit
Wind II (25): Hissing Frillneck (Other Spawns), Moss Spirit, Twister Spirit, Tornado Spirit
Water II (31): Springwater Spirit
Wind III (37): Flame Barghests
Water III (41): Contaminated Water Spirit, Divine Sea Spirit (Other Spawns), Defiant Water Spirit, Huge Moonflower (Other Spawns)
Wind IV (47): Foul Wind Spirit, Angry Wind Spirit, Howling Gust Spirit
Asmodian
Wind I (13): Needletail Karnif (Other Spawns), Angry Karnif, Blackpaw Karnif, Cyclone Spirit
Water I (19): Mist Spirit,
Wind II (25): Ruthless Worg (Other Spawns), Angry Worg, Bladestorm Spirit, Wind Spirits in Sky Temple (Can't find a link)
Water II (31): Briny Water Spirit, Corrupt Water Spirits of Sky Temple (Can't find a link)
Wind III (37): Cruel Worg
Water III (41): Lake Waterworm, Ice Lake Spirit, Ice Waterworm (Other Spawns)
Wind IV (47): Grove Moskie, Swamp Moskie
Gear has sockets which you can place manastones in to boost your stats. The Spiritmaster optimally has two sets of gear, one for PvE and one for PvP. This is due to the fact our pets do not scale with our gear. Since they don't scale, if you were to socket Magic Boost for PvP, your spells would grow but your pets (and thus commands as well as Summon: servants) would not. This means you are gaining only a partial growth from the sockets. While this is fine for PvE when you want any boost in damage you can get, during PvP you are best off socketing HP. This adds to your survivability without hurting your damage as much as it would a Sorcerer or Assassin given your pets will still do the same damage. You can further make a Magic Resistance set against Sorcerers and Evasion set against melee, but the HP set can be used against any class and is best if you don't know what you're going up against.
Some as if Spiritmasters require Magic Accuracy as a Sorcerer does. While they do benefit from such a stat, not all of their skills do. The pet commands, as well as Summon: Servants do not benefit from Magic Accuracy as they do not benefit from Magic Boost either, leaving their personal spells as the only ones to benefit. While this would still make you believe they would require some Magic Accuracy, they also get a passive skill called Enhance Weakening Magic, which lowers their targets resistance to their DoTs. This enables Spiritmasters to fight targets 2 levels above them with little effort and without attempting to gain more Magic Accuracy. Magic Accuracy however does come in handy when going for monsters 3+ levels above, as well as for the all important CC skills.
Since the Spiritmaster stems from the Mage class, they get to wear cloth armor. As you saw in the above section, "Spiritmaster: So many sockets!" we aim for HP for PvP and Magic Boost for PvE. This becomes troublesome when hunting gear on the Auction House. You'll soon notice most has +MP and +Magic Boost to it, and not the omnipotent +HP. But keep searching, there are cloth pieces with +HP, as well as with +Flight Time and +Casting Speed, the later of which is not really beneficial to us due to our already short casting times.
Do not fret if you can't find gear your level though. Since our pets and therefor Commands and Summon: Servants don't scale with our skills, we are the least gear dependent class. You may grind your way through the 20's in level 7 gear if you wish, and won't see too bad of a slow down. This is also due to the fact the Spiritmasters pets tank for them, meaning if your defensive stats are lower it won't mean a thing. This will save you money on armor upgrades, as well as time trying to craft or scoping out the Auction House. When it comes time to PvP though you will want to have upgraded gear specified for HP, as they will be gunning for you and not your pet.
As for weapons, the Spiritmaster has two choices. The first is an Orb, high in Magic Boost as well as melee damage, and lower in Magic Accuracy. The second choice is a Book, high in Magic Accuracy, ranged attacks, and lower in Magic Boost. Due to the above reasons, the Orb is the better choice of the two while grinding on monsters within 2 levels of you. But Spiritmasters should always have both on hand! A book stoned for Magic Accuracy is essential during PvP or PvE when trying to land your CC, due to the long cooldowns of our spells. Simply make a macro to swap out the weapons before you press it, or if you're worried the GCD it will trigger will take too long then go the safe route during PvP and carry a book.
The Stigma system allows you to further customize your character by selecting a max of 8 skills to 'socket.' It costs Stigma Shards to socket them, which are dropped by mobs in the Abyss, and they are not destroyed when removed (you can sell your old tier!). The following Stigma builds were either a general concensus from a thread or my own build, but are still subject to change and not necessarily the absolute best in every situation:
PvP Build - This build focuses on utility. It contains all possibly CC skills, dispels, as well as two extra dots that will help boost your personal DPS without the need of a pet. It works well both in groups and solo, and is the ultimate lockdown build.
My personal PvE Build - This build focuses on your pet and DPS. Best utilized for grinding and PvE instances. Blessing of Fire procs on melee attacks as well as the initial casts of spells, giving your entire group a nice damage boost. Ruinous Offensive was left out due to the long CD, and replaced with Ignite Aether V because every instance has mobs that self-buff, and being the only class that can dispel it will come in extremely useful to have alongside our regular Dispel Magic.
A common concern among the Spiritmaster community is that our pets do not scale with our gear. They do level up as any skill does, but their damage is not changed based on your stats and gear. This raises concern at end game when everyone is reaching higher gear and all of their skills increase in damage while only some of ours do. For now the scaling has not posed much of a problem given there isn't a lot of tiers of gears at end game, as well as the fact not many have the top gear. If they continue to release better gear without raising our pets damage or the level cap though the class will run into problems. Hopefully they will address this and find a way to make pets scale without having to nerf them badly to the point where they are now would require blue+ gear.
If you want more information on this class, there are a number of sources to go to. For a complete skill list go to the Aion Armory. For more general information, you can visit the Spiritmaster Wiki, which doesn't hold much info. To see the commands of the Tempest and Magma spirits you can visit this thread, which also contains a debate over the two and which is superior. If you have other questions, feel free to look through other threads or make your own!
If you find any incorrect information in the above, or think something should be added please comment! I will try to add and edit this as soon as I can. I hope it provided you with a better insight into the class and what we're capable of. I'm sure this will grow in the future, but I'll need your help to do it. Please rate if possible .
Whomybuddy - Spiritmaster v Chanter, Templar. Info on Water + Fire spirits.
Korean boards, which answered a lot of my own questions and gave me more opinions from people who played.
Lumiasta - Spirit book drops.
** Notice: All information above reflects the known data of Aion up until and including Patch 1.5.**
Lun 12 Oct - 13:49
