Panesterra

Panesterra, also known as Pangea, is a cross-server PvP region added in 4.7. It was the first RvR (Realm vs Realm) or cross-server siege content in Aion, as players may meet up with members from the different servers as enemies; Elyos and Asmodians alike. In doing so, the game expands on the traditional 'Elyos vs Asmodians' model and gives players a chance to compete against enemy servers in sieges instead of Arenas or Dredgions only for the first time.

After 6.0, while the maps still exist, sieges for this fortresses were disabled, making the region inaccessible.

Backstory[]

Panesterra was originally part of the main continent in Balaurea, acting as home and shelter to several Danuar. However, a massive Ide explosion caused it to be blown off the mainland into another dimension. The survivors transformed the remaining islands into fortresses, where they lived until the Balaur arrived.

With the advancing teleportation technology, the Balaur found this lost dimension. Instinctively, they proceeded to claim this new land as theirs. Beritra took advantage of this discovery by using a separated island, which he called Transidium Annex, as a safe place to manually ascend his trusted commander <Ahserion> to the rank of the 5th Dragon Lord, which had remained vacant after Tiamat's death.

Shortly after this the Deavas uncovered their own access points into Panesterra and ventured into the new lands in order to stop this increasing threat. Still, the Balaur are not their only menace, as their usual yet new enemies have also found out about this land.

Lay of the land[]

Panesterra is made up of four main islands; Belus, Aspida, Atanatos, Disillon. Each of them contains a fortress, along with artifacts and four camps each with special vendors on the outer corners of the map. With the exception of the fortresses' interior, the whole area is a flyable zone. Each area follows its own theme, but the structure remains identical.

The four islands are connected to each other via portals that are found on the outer edge of all cardinal directions, although only two of them are functional.

Once a fortress is captured, an advance corridor will appear on its central room which players can use to access Transidium Annex, the fifth island, which is separated from the rest. This non-flight area is only open to access immediately after the siege for the four islands has been finished. Here the four conquering factions fight in order to reach the center of the zone, where <Ahserion> is slowly completing his Ascension.

Mechanics[]

Panesterra fortresses go vulnerable once per week for 1 hour, continuing for 1 hour more dedicated to Ahserion's Flight. The top 1000 players from each server's faction can apply (all 1-Star Officers and above), although only a 100 will be selected randomly and granted access. Among these 100 spots, few are reserved for the governor and other top-ranked officers. The entrance portal is only open for 10 minutes, and cannot be re-accessed if the player drops out of Panesterra. 4.9 allowed players of Rank 1 to apply to siege provided not all slots are taken.

If the faction conquers a fortress all other members of the faction may access Panesterra for the rest of the week, until the next siege. This may be done through special portals that appear in the capital cities: for Asmodians, these portals will be placed in front of the Legions Board; while for Elyos, it will be in front of the stairs in Galleria of Grandeur (Elyos Plaza).

Fortress Siege[]

Panesterra4 — Advance Corridor in Pandaemonium

Before vulnerability, 100 members of a faction, with Abyss rank higher than 1 Star Officer. Out of those spots, 1 is reserved for the Governor, 50 of them for 5 Star Officers and higher, and 49 of them for 1 Star Officer and above. Applicants may apply to enter in the Hall of Fame in Marchutan Priory/Kaisinel Academy. Portals remain active for 10 minutes; 5 of them are dedicated to ranked players, while the 5 minutes left allow players of any rank to apply.

During siege, one faction gets paired randomly with another (or more depending on the amount of servers) on the same map, which will be their opponents when conquering the fortress from the Balaur or their owners. Players may travel between the maps and thus aid or obstruct other factions/servers in their fights. Since kisks cannot be placed in Panesterra, participants must rely on Soul Anchors, similar to kisks. If destroyed by other players, and fighters get killed, they will only be able to teleport to their Obelisks outside Panesterra and therefore unable to re-enter.

Once the siege ends, all participants of the faction who successfully defended or captured the fortress will receive a Title Card ( <Panesterra Conqueror (3 days)>) via mail, enabling them to proceed to the following phase.

Ahserion's Flight[]

All remaining members of the conquering factions are transported to one of the four corners in Transidium Annex. They will count with several mobile turrets which will aid them when attempting to terminate <Ahserion>. Much as the previous phase, Soul Anchors are crucial: destroying them can lock an enemy faction out and reduce the competition for the area's commander.

During the fight, <Ahserion> will cast powerful AoE attacks, reflecting shields and summon several additional monsters. Daevas will have to not only have to be wary of these dangers, but also have to fence off incoming attacks from the other factions. Once killed, an NPC will spawn to which the winners may turn in their quests to receive a Title Card ( <Ahserion Conqueror (3 days)>) along with GP. Additionally, they will be able to loot the boss' corpse for a bundle containing its unique gear and various supplies. Looting is similar to Invasion Bosses, where multiple people may loot one same monster at the same time.

Benefits[]

Leaving aside the valuable loot acquired from battling and defeating the commander, and all the pride achieved from capturing a fortress, Panesterra offers other unique features which attract several users.

While when capturing a fortress NPCs in its main room offer the usual services, the difference lies in their ratio for exchanges. AP Relics offer a rate even greater than the Core Exchange rate offered by Shugos in Leibo Island and other fortresses, making it relevant to those farming AP.

Each camp also offers its own merchants. Players are able to purchase Mythic Supplements with AP, or turn in region specific fragments (dropped by general wildlife of the area) for Kinah or AP. Camps also offer daily quests rewarding <Blood Mark>s after having killed some Ahserion's legionaries or guards of the opposing factions. These mobs give very high amounts of DP, serving as a viable source to morph.

Each area has a chance of spawning two named monsters inhabiting the floating islands. They offer eternal gear pieces which, while lacklustre in terms of stats, yield some value. They are:

<Sharp Taipaum>

<Fierce Gustafi>

Trivia[]

"Pan-"means "involving everything", "Terra" means "earth". The whole name can be translated as "land of everything"; referring to how all factions from all servers meet in this area.