As you no doubt already know if you've been at least following Aion a little bit, the MMORPG uses a more traditional class system as opposed to a more dynamic method of determining your role. When you start, you can pick between four basic, archetypical classes: the Scout, the Warrior, the Mage, and the Priest. Upon reaching level nine and completing a mandatory quest that will be automatically given to you, each of those classes will have the option to go one of two paths. The class of interest today is the Chanter, a Priest who'd rather get in the thick of things as opposed to watching the combat from afar. The Chanter is perhaps Aion's most hybridized class. It is not a pure hybrid, however, as it lacks significant range attacks, crowd control, pets, and all those other goodies some classes get in many MMOs. Even still, the Chanter is quite versatile and able to fill multiple roles. It is not a Jack of All Trades, Master of None, but rather a Jack of Some Trades, Master of Mantras.

Unable to resist the allure of staff combat, I went with the latter and haven't looked back yet. In fact, my second weapon slot's shield is still only a level 12 white! When you take off into Altgard or Verteron, you'll at first play mostly like you did in your Priestly days as Smite still inflicts significant damage and you only have three melee attacks. You'll also notice that you bloom very early, with your new chain armor and your ability to heal and buff yourself; you'll be able to deal with opposition quite easily. In fact, Chanters can go and solo enemies several levels higher than themselves without too much trouble almost right out of the gate! Though your melee attacks use mana like your spells, it won't be until later that it'll become an issue, so you'll have almost no downtime. Later, you'll get a Mantra that restores mana to ease off the burden and resting for a one tick of mana regeneration seems to be enough to keep you going virtually non-stop. And then there's always buying/crafting food and potions to help out, but that's a whole different topic.