Your character is born into the world of Atreia knowing how to gather materials. For your first ten levels, using the gathering profession in Aion is relatively straight-forward. Simply approach a node, whether herb, ore, fish, or wood, and right-click. Most nodes allow three attempts. Occasionally a slightly better quality item may be gathered, for instance, you may receive Fresh Angelica instead of the usual Angelica herb. Any interruption during your gathering attempt will cause you to fail and will use one of the possible attempts, making it especially important to clear hostile mobs in the immediate area. The more you gather, the higher your gathering skill will level. The items gathered are then used in one or more of the crafting professions. Upon reaching the max level of your gathering skill, visit a trainer to learn the next range and boost your maximum higher. Even if you don't believe that you'll eventually train a crafting profession, you should be sure to keep your gathering skill current, as you never know when a quest giver might ask you for 10 pieces of Angelica, or 6 freshly-picked Zucchinis.

After completing the Ascension quest and gaining your wings and Daeva status, you will note an interesting message if you attempt to gather in the start zone. Don't worry - you simply perform a different type of gathering now and will have to wait until you've progressed onto the first quest hub accessible from your faction's city. Now that you are a Daeva and no longer need the same things as humans, you will be 'extracting vitality' from nodes, rather than gathering. Oddly, these items will not look any different when viewed in your inventory. However, you will now also be able to gather aether from nodes in the sky. Your new-found ability to fly in certain areas will help you out with this greatly. The 'Extract Vitality' skill is on a different scale from 'Extract Aether,' so spend a little time in your first Fortress (Altgard for Asmodians, Verteron for Elyos) getting used to the flight mechanic and sucking up some sweet, sweet aether. Aether is used in many crafting professions.