AION's Awakened Legacy Expansion Goes Live Later Today

Aion's latest expansion, Awakened Legacy, is almost here. In fact, it will be available to play later today -- following about 13 hours of maintenance.

I know. That seems like a pretty lengthy downtime, but NCSoft is doing more than dropping new content with this update, they're making serious changes to some of the game's primary features -- such as currency and crafting items.

When the expansion launches, players will have access to a completely new zone, Lakrum. This vast, wild land is home to ancient ruins and unknown creatures. It's also the location of a massive fortress filled with new adventures.

Lakrum also contains 9 artifact bases for players to capture, and several world bosses with important drops.

In addition to the new zone, the update also includes a character level increase to 80, and a drastically reduces leveling curve. Character stats have also been simplified.

A transformation system has been added. Players can now take on new appearances and reap the benefits of the stats that come with them.

Also of note are the changes to items. Kinah can now only be used through the Trade Broker -- meaning you can't mail money to friends. New item rarities have been added and a Gold Sand Traders shop has been added where players can purchase things using Kinah or Gold Ingots.

If you'd like to see the full list of changes -- and there are a lot -- check out the patch notes on the Aion site.