Aetheria

Introduced:

Related topics: Aetheria Teaser, Aetheria Quest

Lore & Background

By researching the ancient writings of Empyrean magic, the Archmages of the Arcanum have unlocked the secrets of a new kind of magic that the Empyreans called Aetheria. In ancient times, powerful Empyrean mages learned to infuse Aetheria in Dereth with pure mana to empower it. By infusing this Aetheria with pure mana stored in enchanted gemstones, they could coerce Aetheria to crystallize into patterns that the ancient mages called sigils. These sigils could be manipulated to increase personal power. The Empyreans found that it was the nature of Aetheria to grow in power as it was used. The more you used these Aetheria sigils, the more powerful they became.

Long ago the ability to recognize and manipulate Aetheria was lost. Although this magical energy wells freely from the menhir mana fields into Dereth, these potent magical energies have in recent times remained undetected as they flowed throughout the lands. That is about to change.

With the help of explorers, adventurers and mercenaries the Arcanum has drawn this Aetheric magic from the Menhir mana fields into specially prepared mana stones enchanted to hold Aetheric power. The Arcanum have traveled from the corners of Dereth to perform a complicated ritual. Calling forth ancient magics, the circle of mages were surrounded by hundreds of glowing gemstones infused with the Aetheric power of the menhir mana fields. The mages have enacted a ritual to reveal the Aetheria that flows out of the mana fields and rains down upon Dereth.

Once hidden from untrained eyes, the power of the Arcanum has caused this Aetheric magic to be revealed. The Aetheria appears as three distinct colors, as it once appeared to the mystic sight of ancient Empyreans. Now that the Aetheria that flows from the mana fields has color and has coalesced into form, it can be found on all manner of creatures that inhabit Dereth. More importantly, the Arcanum has agreed to teach those it deems worthy to empower this Coalesced Aetheria so it once again forms into the ancient sigils of power and can be wielded by those who have learned its secrets.

Tutorial Videos

<youtube>dTqDAFNPixM</youtube>

Overview

Aetheria are equippable items that provide a primary set bonus, enhancing a variety of things, and secondary "surge" ability, that at random times, dramatically improves the wielder or penalizes the opponent for a short duration. Unlike other magical items in the game, Aetheria's power is based upon a "level" system where the Aetheria starts at level 0 and levels up to a maximum level indicated by the icon. The higher the level, the more powerful the enhancement.

Aetheria is found on monsters and in chests as Coalesced Aetheria, which must be "revealed" first before being equipped by using an Aetheria Mana Stone from the Aetheria Quest.

Additionally, when a character is created, he or she cannot wield any Aetheria. See the Aetheria Quest for details for opening the slots.

Revealing and Equipping Aetheria

Note: You must first complete the Aetheria Quest in order to wield or reveal sigils.

Initially, Aetheria is found as Coalesced Aetheria in one of three colors: Blue, Yellow, or Red. Before it can be wielded, the sigils must be revealed using the Aetheria Mana Stone. Once revealed, it may be equipped into the corresponding slot, i.e. blue Aetheria into the blue slot; thus in order to wield three, you must have one of each color.

Use Aetheria Mana Stone on Coalesced Aetheria (Red) to create Aetheria (Red).
- + =

A sigil rises to the surface as you bathe the aetheria in mana.

Leveling Aetheria

When first revealed, Aetheria is level 0, offering no benefit to the wielder. In order to for to be useful, it must reach at least level 1, where it provides a set bonus and surge capabilities. Aetheria are leveled by wielding it and earning experience through quest rewards or hunting, but receive no XP from vassal passup, fellowship XP, nor additional XP from trinkets imbued with Augmented Understanding. It is unknown whether the Quick Learner (+5% XP hunting XP) Augmentation provides any benefit. Each Aetheria has an inherent maximum level beyond which it cannot be leveled further; this is indicated by the small number in the upper-right corner of the icon image. Additionally, when assessed, the level and XP of the Aetheria can be found. The current and maximum level are found on the line reading "Item Level: X/Y". The first number (X) is the current level of the Aetheria, and the second number (Y) is the maximum level. The total and next level XP of the Aetheria are found on the line reading "Item XP: X/Y". The first number (X) indicates the total XP the Aetheria has so far, and the second number (Y) represents the XP required for the next level, i.e. not the total amount to fully level it from 0 to its maximum level.

The XP earned by Aetheria is in addition to whatever is earned normally and not divided among Aetheria. For example, if you earned one million XP from a quest, then you would receive one million XP to distribute (as normal), and every equipped Aetheria would additionally earn one million XP each.

Level	Level XP	Total XP
1	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
2	2,000,000,000	3,000,000,000
3	4,000,000,000	7,000,000,000
4	8,000,000,000	15,000,000,000
5	16,000,000,000	31,000,000,000

In general, an Aetheria of level N requires 2^N-1 billion XP to fully level it (750 million XP less if it is blue since it starts with that.)

When an Aetheria levels, you will see a rainbow burst of bubbles, indicating leveling up (but in a different color,) and receive a green text message with the new level of your Aetheria :
Your Aetheria has increased in power to level 1!
Your Aetheria has increased in power to level 2!
Your Aetheria has increased in power to level 3!
Your Aetheria has increased in power to level 4!
Your Aetheria has increased in power to level 5!

Aetheria Powder

Characters can also utilize an Aetheria Desiccant to destroy any Aetheria they do not wish to keep and turn it into Aetheria Powder, which may be redeemed for a reward. The blue and yellow Aetheria turn into Aetheria Powder (Yellow), while the red Aetheria turn into Aetheria Powder (Red). The maximum level of the Aetheria has no effect on the result. The Aetheria Powders stack, while the Coalesced Aetheria do not, making this useful to carry many powders with limited pack space. The Aetheria Desiccant itself may be purchased from Janier al-Evv in Xarabydun. Due to its low cost (1,250 pyreals), zero burden, and high stack size (1000), it is optimal to carry many at a time rather than buying a few and making frequent trips to Xarabydun purchase more.

Use Aetheria Desiccant on Aetheria (Yellow) to create Aetheria Powder.
- + = File:Aetheria Powder Icon.png

You use the desiccant on the aetheria to create an aetheria powder.

Aetheria Sets

Every Aetheria is one of five sets:

Like other sets, wielding many of the same set gives an increased set bonus, but in the case of Aetheria, there are diminishing returns. The set bonus depends on the sum of current level(s) of the equipped Aetheria in the same set. Up to level 8 has been achieved, but higher may be possible.

Level 8 Sigils

Aetheria Surges

Any Aetheria that is level 1 or greater grants your character a cast on strike property called a "Surge". These Surges activate based on your single offensive attack, meaning multi-target spells and the cleaving property of two-handed weapons does not equate to an increased chance of Surging (nor will you surge on multiple targets). The act of being hit or attacked would also seem to increase the chances of a Surge going off. An active Surge shows by a symbol circling your character (green symbols) or your opponent (red symbols), see Images under the image section.

Surge of Destruction : Your Damage Rating is increased by 20% for 10 seconds, similar to a Spirit Thirst bonus. Multiple Destruction Surges do not stack. This is a % increase in damage, NOT a +dmg effect like Blood Drinker.

Surge of Protection : Your Damage Reduction Rating is increased by 20 for 10 seconds. This has been hard to verify if it actually works. If a % number, the effect will only be 1-2 pts at best.

Surge of Regeneration : You begin to regenerate at an increased rate. You gain 30 points of health a tick for 5 ticks (150 health maximum total). It's noteworthy that if you get multiple Surges of healing, they surpass (extend duration), they do not stack (heal +30 per Surge per tick). These Surges are not considered healing effects per the Sigil of Growth.

Surge of Affliction : The target loses 90 points of health over 19 seconds. This is considered a drain attack and attack spell debuff (for purposes of some monsters who then start vulning you in return).

Surge of Festering : Your opponent is cursed so all healing effects are reduced by a Healing Reduction Rating of 20. For the next 20 seconds any healing effect from spell, potion, food, or kit is reduced. This is probably the weakest of the effects. It is also considered an attack debuff.

Surges are considered short-term low-power magical buffs, and can be dispelled by monsters (Killagurg got lucky and dispelled a Surge of Destruction on me, along with Blackmoor's Favor).

Gameplay and Advice

Combinations

General Advice: Having all your Aetheria use the same Surge is generally better then having mixed Surges. This will allow you to factor the Surging into your combat plans more easily. Randomness can be entertaining, but generally it is better to be predictable.

Offense: The Offense mindset is simple...you kill the enemy as fast as possible. You don't need to heal until after the fight, because the enemy dies faster.

The combination of Surge of Destruction and Sigil of Destruction is ideal. This nets you up to +7% dmg constantly, and a further +20% damage when the Surge is active. As a secondary Sigil, you should probably use Fury, which increases dmg on crits. Note that Surges of Destruction do not stack.

Use of the Surge of Affliction is a possible alternative, but the fixed 90 dmg is not that impressive, and is actually done to the enemy, not cast on you...so, for instance, if you switch targets, and/or the Afflicted dies, the Surge is wasted.

Defense: The Defense mindset is that by not needing to heal, you don't interrupt damage infliction and you stay in the fight. It's about action conservation.

There are two schools of thought here...damage prevention, and damage restoration/healing. Primary one, secondary the other. (Defense/Prot x2, Growth/Prot x 1, or Healing/Regeneration x2, Defense/Regeneration x1).

Damage prevention naturally entails the Sigil of Defense and Surges of Protection. +7% to your Damage Reduction, kicking with +20%, should prevent an additional 1-2 pts of damage per blow, and potentially a great deal with the Surge, which should reduce your healing needs, and let you stay in a fight longer. Protection is hard to tell if it actually works because the numbers are so small, but if it does, it certainly can prevent potentially hundreds of points of damage depending on how often you are being hit!

Healing is all about taking care of the damage that does get thru so you don't have to spend actions to heal. By boosting the Surge rate/fequency, multiple Surges wipe away your damage and allow you to keep fighting. This technique can be very effective if multiple Surges come out, because the healing effect continues longer. 90 points is about the average of a level 6 healing spell, so it's quite a nice boost.

A Defense set is more appropriate for war magic users, because they do extreme damage with spells already, and the additional damage is not as significant as it is for weapon users. Too, every action not spent healing, or delaying healing, helps the mage inflict more and more dmg, and every Surge of Regeneration is one less Heal Self 7 the mage has to cast, while damage soaked by improved DR delays self healing even longer.

Utility: Or, more accurately, general usage. The Sigil of Vigor is designed to fill this slot. It grants more hit points, stamina, and mana (+1/5/5 per Level). It's geared for mages mostly, who use all three stats actively. By having more mana and stamina, mages have more tools to stay in a fight longer without having to regain such (even 1 or 2 spells can be key for a mage).

Surges for the Utility/General mindset are going to be either Offense or Defense based, i.e. Destruction or Regen/Protection.

General Commentary

Sigil of Fury: Right now, this Sigil is less useful than Destruction. It adds damage like Destruction, but only to Critical Hits, and adds the same amount as Destruction. This Sigil is being fixed next month... current musing from Django is that it will provide an Endurance boost. This Sigil naturally works best if you like to use weapons with the critical hit effects (Biting Strike/Crippling Strike, Critical Strike, Crushing Blow). The damage is also % based, making it do more as you go up in level and gain higher base dmg attacks. The Sigil of Fury does NOT affect chance of critting (600 attacks w Sigil/Fury VI resulted in 59 Crits, should have been closer to 80).

Surge Frequency: The trigger method involves more then launching a single attack. 600 attacks at a Target Druge yielded only 4 Surges. I posit that it checks to see if you are being attacked to increase the chance of a Surge. Certainly mages don't seem to have that many fewer Surges then fast attacking melees. (RE: doesn't seem so. Tested surge rates using the same Aetheria set with a mage under non-stop attack by at least 6 mobs whenever casting for 10 hours; results were identical as surge rate when casting without mobs in melee range, or < 1%). It's also worth investigating if increases in crit chances (such as the Biting Strike/Critical Strike affect the frequency of Surges (worth investigating, given base crit chance is extremely close to surge chance).

Surge of Festering: The only use I can see for this is against creatures with a monstrous Heal/Drain rate, such as Virindi or Tentacles...Nahhhhhh. This is also considered an attack spell effect, which certain creatures will 'activate' and start casting hostile spells back at you (Crystal Lords, Plat Golem Mtn kings, etc)

Sigil of Growth: Tests don't seem to show any change to Natural Regeneration or the Surge of Regeneration. The healing boost is +1 point per Level, to things like potions, spells, and probably the healing skill (i.e. a 50 pt healing potion heals 52 with a level II Sigil). This is not absolute from tests, but seems pretty clear. (ie : dissolve it, it's worthless !)

Combinations and misc details

Please post individual findings and observations below. The information here will be structured and integrated into the main article as we become more confident in our findings and conclusions. So the information below may not be 100% accurate, but should be useful as we flesh out the details together.

Aetheria with a maximum level of 1 are most common; level 2 are less common, and level 3 are even more rare. Very, very rare are Aetheria which can grow up to level 4 or 5 (unverified 6). Level 4 have been confirmed to drop on non Tier 7 creatures (for example in Egg Orchard).

Blue Aetheria, regardless of maximum level, always drop with 750,000,000 "bonus" xp already invested towards their first level. Yellow and red Aetheria always drop with 0 xp to start, and must be leveled from scratch.

Aetheria may drop with any combination of Set + Surge, for a total of 25 possible combinations thus far. In addition to these variables, Aetheria's maximum possible level also ranges from 1 to 5, bringing the theoretical total number of unique Aetheria to 600 after factoring in color variations.

Initial observations suggest that all Sets have an approximately equal chance of occurring, while certain Surges--particularly Affliction and Regeneration--may be significantly less common than the rest.

With five sigils and five surges, there are 25 possible variations. This means that if you are looking for a specific combination, say Growth/Protection, there is only a 4% chance of getting it each time you create a new Aetheria.

3:33:28 You cast Surge of Destruction on yourself 3:33:28 Critical hit! You impale Olthoi Ripper for 1102 points of piercing damage! 3:33:31 Critical hit! You impale Olthoi Ripper for 1320 points of piercing damage! The first hit is normal damage the second is after a surge. Using paradox touched atlatl with deadly barbed darts(23.1-33 base damage) and a level one surge. NOTE: This represents a 20% damage increase, in line with other tests.

It is not necessary for a spell to land in order for a surge to occur. It happens on the release of the war spell, not the impact. I would guess a similar thing would happen with melees.

Solo Sigil Effects

Combined Level	Set Bonus Level
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	6
8	?
9	7
10	?
11	8
12	?
13	?
14	?
15	?

Level	Blue (Level 75+) - Yellow (Level 150+) - Red (Level 225+)
Level	Growth	Defense	Fury	Destruction	Vigor
1	Healing Rating +1	Damage Reduction +1	Critical Rating +1	Damage Rating +1	+1 Health +5 Stamina +5 Mana
2	Healing Rating +2	Damage Reduction +2	Critical Rating +2	Damage Rating +2	+2 Health +10 Stamina +10 Mana
3	Healing Rating +3	Damage Reduction +3	Critical Rating +3	Damage Rating +3	+3 Health +15 Stamina +15 Mana
4	Healing Rating +4	Damage Reduction +4	Critical Rating +4	Damage Rating +4	+4 Health +20 Stamina +20 Mana
5	Healing Rating +5	Damage Reduction +5	Critical Rating +5	Damage Rating +5	+5 Health +25 Stamina +25 Mana
6	Healing Rating +6	Damage Reduction +6	Critical Rating +6	Damage Rating +6	+6 Health +30 Stamina +30 Mana
7	Healing Rating +7	Damage Reduction +7	Critical Rating +7	Damage Rating +7	+7 Health +35 Stamina +35 Mana
8	Healing Rating +?	Damage Reduction +?	Critical Rating +?	Damage Rating +?	+? Health +? Stamina +? Mana

Critical damage rating increases your damage done when critically striking. IT does not affect chance of crit (600 strikes = 59 crits with Sigil VI up), and the damage is a % of the base crit (14 went to 15).

Surge and Sigils of Destruction are also % based damage, not fixed (i.e. not like Blood Drinker). This is probably because Spirit Thirst mechanics work on melee attacks, but BD isn't scaled to work with wands.

3 level 3 Sigils effects stack only to level VII (7). Having 3 Sigils at Rank3 does NOT get you to 9. As Turbine said, there's a benefit for having some versatility in Sigils. The ideal combo is thus 6 of one Sigil and 4 of another.

Surge rates of occurrence: (please verify, before beginning your tests, that non-hits such as evades and resists either can or cannot cause a Surge). Note: Pure attacks are only one Surge trigger. 600 fast UA attacks generated only 4 Surges, but the Surge rate can be MUCH higher in melee.

Blue Aetheria

Level 1: X over (# of tests)
Level 2: X over (# of tests)
Level 3: X over (# of tests)
Level 4: X over (# of tests)

Yellow Aetheria

Level 1: X over (# of tests)
Level 2: X over (# of tests)
Level 3: X over (# of tests)
Level 4: X over (# of tests)

Red Aetheria

Level 1: X over (# of tests)
Level 2: X over (# of tests)
Level 3: X over (# of tests)
Level 4: X over (# of tests)

Confirmed Drops

Lists of creatures and chests that are confirmed to drop specific aetheria colors/levels. Currently it is believed all colors can drop on everything, with more data this may turn out to not be the case. Click icons for individual lists - in progress - if you find aetheria on nonlisted creatures, please add it to the trophy section for that creature/chest):

Level	Blue	Yellow	Red
1			File:Coalesced Aetheria (Red 1) Icon.png
2			File:Coalesced Aetheria (Red 2) Icon.png
3			File:Coalesced Aetheria (Red 3) Icon.png
4			File:Coalesced Aetheria (Red 4) Icon.png
5

List of creatures that have been extensively hunted for hours and have not dropped a single Aetheria (if you find one on a listed creature, remove the creature from this list, please note Tubine stated only level 95+ monsters are likely to drop Aetheria in their teaser):
- White Phyntos Wasp
- Drudge Skulker