| Introduced: | Shedding Skin |
Related topics: Aetheria Teaser, Aetheria Quest
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.
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For complete details on how to first open your slots, see the Aetheria Quest.
The icons can be filled with Aetheria trinkets. They may be activated by the Aetheria Mana Stone and placed in the empty corresponding color slot. That is, you can only wield one blue, one yellow, and one red aetheria at the same time.
- Use Aetheria Mana Stone on Coalesced Aetheria (Yellow) to create Aetheria (Yellow).
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- A sigil rises to the surface as you bathe the aetheria in mana.
The trinkets require 1,000,000,000 points added to them to activate them. Xp must come from killing monsters (only monsters you kill, not fellowship XP), not from quests. Some are pre-loaded with xp (up tp 750,000,000). They are dropped by monsters and also found in MFK chests.
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Characters can also empower an Aetheria Desiccant which can destroy any Aetheria they do not wish to keep and extract from those destroyed remains pure Aetheria Powder, you can obtain this from Janier al-Evv in Xara.
- Use Aetheria Desiccant on Aetheria (Yellow) to create Aetheria Powder.
You use the desiccant on the aetheria to create an aetheria powder.
The Arcanum can use this powder to further their research. The Arcanum is already preparing mages to accept this Aetheria Powder in trade for other rewards. Rewards include a Mana Forge Key per 10 Aetheria dust. Visit Cypher in Xarabydun for your reward.
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Aetheria Sets:
- Sigil of Growth Set
- Sigil of Defense Set
- Sigil of Fury Set
- Sigil of Destruction Set
- Sigil of Vigor Set
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Aetheria Surges:
Surge of Destruction : Your Damage Rating is increased by 20 for 10 seconds.
Surge of Protection : Your Damage Reduction Rating is increased by 20 for 10 seconds.
Surge of Regeneration : You begin to regenerate at an increased rate. For the next 50 seconds you will gain 16 health every 5 seconds.
Surge of Affliction : The target loses 90 points of health over 19 seconds.
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.
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Combinations and misc details:
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; it's highly likely that level 4-capable Aetheria may only drop in Tier 7 loot profiles, but confirmation is needed.
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 4 (unconfirmed yet that all three colors of Aetheria may drop as level 4s, but Red definitely can), bringing the theoretical total number of unique Aetheria to 300 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.
Based on currently observed drop rates server-wide, it should only take at most a few days (of playing a few hours a day) to get any particular level 3 Aetheria you're trying for, so don't be fooled into spending lots of money buying up those that others have found. Thus far, level 4 Aetheria are looking to be only about as rare as, for just one example, a +15% melee D/+10% mana C no-wield/no-req caster. After a week or two, it is likely that only Affliction/Regeneration Surge* Aetheria with level 4 maximums and desirable Sets will be worth paying anything for.
- (If indeed these surges prove to be less common than others; more data is still needed).
