Aincrad - Sword Art Online
Aincrad, and New Aincrad, is the setting for the VRMMORPGs Sword Art Online (SAO) and ALfheim Online (ALO). Its name comes from a concept called Aincrad and is an abbreviation of that concept.
Construction
Aincrad is a conical-shaped floating castle made of iron and stone. It consists of 100 floors, each floor slightly smaller than the one below. There are towns and villages, forests and lakes, castles, arenas, plains, and palaces scattered throughout Aincrad.
These 100 floors were originally regions of the world that housed elves, dark elves, humans, and dwarves, until they were carved from the earth and stacked on top of each other during the formation of Aincrad. During this time, the nine human kingdoms were lost.
There is only one staircase in Aincrad, and all 100 floors are connected by it. The only way to reach each floor's staircase is to defeat that floor's boss, as each staircase is located beyond each floor's boss room. You can also teleport between floors using the teleport gates in the cities, once they have been unlocked.
It is also possible to climb outside of Aincrad, but there is a barrier surrounding each floor until it is unlocked by defeating the boss of the floor below.
Aim
Each floor of Aincrad houses monsters and bosses designed to test the player's skills. Defeated monsters respawn after a certain amount of time. Bosses, once defeated, do not respawn. Once a boss has been defeated, progression to the next floor is unlocked. The difficulty of monsters and bosses also increases on each floor.
Many guilds are formed so players can unite and develop strategies to use their skills and abilities together to eliminate formidable enemies. Defeated monsters drop Cor, Aincrad's main currency, and loot for players. Defeating monsters is therefore the main way to earn money and increase your strength and abilities.
Remarkable places in Aincrad
| Ground | Locations |
|---|---|
| 1 | City of Beginnings, Black Iron Palace, Hidden Dungeon, Swordsmen Monument, Monument of Life, Resurrection Chamber, Tolbana, Horunka Village, Medai Village |
| 2 | Urbus, village of Marome, village of Taran |
| 3 | Forest of Undulating Mists, Zumfut, Dessel |
| 4 | Rovia, Bear Forest, Yofel Castle, Usco Village, Caldera Lake |
| 5 | Karluin, Mananarena, Shiyaya |
| 6 | Stachion, Suribus, Ararro, Galey Castle, Talpha Lake |
| 7 | Monster Arena |
| 8 | The village of Frieven |
| 9 | Castle of the Dark Elf Queen |
| 10 | The Castle of a Thousand Snakes |
| 11 | Taft |
| 19 | Ralberg, Hill of the Cross, Tomb of Griselda |
| 20 | Sunny forest |
| 22 | Coral Village, K4 Forest House, Lake outside Coral Village |
| 24 | Panarèze |
| 25 | Giltstein, former headquarters of the Knights of the Blood |
| 27 | Ronbaru Town |
| 28 | Plains of Wolves |
| 35 | Forest of Wandering, Mishe |
| 39 | Nolfret, former headquarters of the Knights of the Blood |
| 40 | Jailum |
| 46 | Anthill |
| 47 | Floria, Hill of Memories, Forest of Giant Flowers |
| 48 | Lindarth |
| 49 | Myujen |
| 50 | Algae |
| 55 | Granzam, Blood Knights Headquarters, West Mountain |
| 56 | Pani, headquarters of the Divine Dragon Alliance |
| 57 | Marten |
| 59 | Danac |
| 61 | Selmburg |
| 65 | Old Castle Labyrinth |
| 66 | Old Castle Labyrinth |
| 72 | Özmalt, village of Agarla |
| 74 | Kamdet |
| 75 | Collinie |
| 100 | Ruby Palace |
New Aincrad
At the conclusion of the Dance of the Faeries Arc 1/2 , the world of ALfheim Online was acquired by Ymir , a new company made up of MMO veterans. Ymir discovered a complete copy of Aincrad on the ALfheim Online servers, which they implemented into ALO.
New Aincrad features some differences from the original, including much stronger enemies due to the removal of permanent player death. New Aincrad also uses a mixed combat system, utilizing the sword skill system from Sword Art Online while implementing the magic and flight systems from ALfheim Online. To accommodate player escape, any uncleared ground is protected by a barrier around its perimeter.
SAO's Monument of Life has also been changed, as it no longer displays surviving players. It is now known as the Swordsman Monument, and displays players who have defeated each floor's boss.
