Aion 4.5 Coming to North America Next Week

Aion 4.5 is the much-anticipated follow up to the massive 4.x patches that saw launch in all of the game’s release regions in 2013. Along with it are new skills, instances, and the new tanky Aethertech class. The update, dubbed ‘Steel Cavalry’, is slated for release on January 29th.

The biggest feature in Aion 4.5 is the inclusion of the Aethertech class, which was believed to have been taken back to the drawing board when no news nor sign of it appeared in Korean promotional material around the time of the 4.0 patch launch in Korea. That proved not to be true as NCSoft began promoting the class prior to 4.5’s launch in the country.

Along with what may be Aion‘s most unique class to date comes two brand new instances for endgame, The Illuminary Obelisk and Iron Wall Warfront. Each class will also be receiving at least one new skill, and the Glory point system will be implemented to accompany Abyss points.

The new skills for each class are as follows:

• Gladiator (Level 65) – Mocking Blast I: Grants a sharp increase in enmity and deals damage.
• Templar (Level 65) – Grasping Winds I: Requires flight. Deals physical damage to an enemy and hooks them, dragging them towards you.
• Assassin (Level 63) – Chain Evasion II: Evade an attack to increase your chances of evading even more.
• Assassin (Level 65) – Sadistic Blade I: Requires flight. Inflicts physical damage on a target, dealing bonus damage if the target is stunned. (Level 2 chain skill from Throw Dagger)
• Ranger (Level 65) – Dizzying Arrow I: Fires a projectile that inflicts physical damage and lowers your target’s parry, evasion, and block.
• Sorcerer (Level 63) – Refracting Shard II: Inflicts magical water damage on a target and restores a certain percentage of the inflicted damage as MP
• Sorcerer (Level 65) – Conflagration I: Inflicts magical fire damage on a target. (Level 3 chain skill from Blaze)
• Spiritmaster (Level 63) – Backdraft II: Inflicts magical fire damage on a target and absorbs a certain percentage of inflicted damage as HP.
• Spiritmaster (Level 65) – Stone-Scour I: A charging skill that inflicts magical earth damage on a target.
• Chanter (Level 65) – Heaving Strike I: Inflicts physical damage to a target. (Level 4 chain skill from Division Pummel)
• Cleric (Level 65) – Traumatic Blow I: Increases the casting speed and physical damage taken by a target for a set period of time.
• Songweaver (level 65) – Song of Celerity I: Increases your attack speed by a set percentage for a certain period of time.
• Gunslinger (Level 19) – Bullet Resistance II: Create a shield that blocks attacks until a certain amount of damage is inflicted.
• Gunslinger (Level 65) – Cinder-Winds I: Requires flight. Blasts an enemy with wind damage and decreases their flight speed for a short duration.

Check out the official Steel Cavalry page for more information on the Aion 4.5 update coming to North America on January 29th.