Atlan Weapons

Difficulty:  Dependant on weapon skill, 250+ buffed weapon skill to create.  20+ to survive Atlan stones (45+ for Blackfire), 30+ to solo
Level Restriction:  None
Timer:  None on weapon, 13 days on stones
Can be Solo'd?  Yes
Rewards:  Atlan Weapons, see below

The Atlan Weapon is a very useful multi-purpose weapon forged from the Empyrean magical alloy Pyreal that can have a base damage higher than that of the finest no-wield loot generated weapons.  Some Atlans also have narrower variances than their loot generated counterparts as well.  In addition, each Atlan can be imbued with an elemental sourcestone to enhance its power.  These stones can be swapped out using a special Stone Tool.

Atlan Creation

To make an Atlan Weapon, you need to get together 16 pyreal motes, which are found on Golems.  The drop rate varies depending on the species of Golem, with some correlation to level.  Excellent places for mote hunting are Halls of Metos, Crater Caves, and the Crystal Minds, Shattered Souls dungeons, depending on your level.  If you can get there, Golem Sanctum is a lot of fun too, but it’s very out of the way.

2 pyreal motes combined = 1 sliver of pyreal
2 pyreal slivers = 1 nugget of pyreal
2 nuggets = 1 pyreal bar
2 bars => alchemy skill => 1 ingot (either quality or not so quality)

After you gather your motes, you need to visit your local alchemist.  While anyone can combine motes into everything up to pyreal bars, you will need an alchemist to combine your two bars into an ingot.  This last step has a skill check, so you will want to find an alchemist with a skill of about 250 to be reasonably certain of success.  If you are successful in this step, you will receive a Quality Ingot.  If not, give it to an Agent of the Arcanum for a Writ.  

Next, you'll need to find a creature mage, someone with a portal to Crater, and 9500 pyreals.  When you arrive in Crater, seek out Silencia the Mage atop a small tower in the south end of the caldera.  She sells glyphs of each melee weapon, which you will need to buy.  You need to combine this glyph with your ingot and give the resulting infused ingot to Silencia's Magma Golem, who is standing next to her.  Combining the glyph and the ingot also has a skill check.  You'll want to buff your weapon skill up to 250 for a good chance of success (around 95%, supposedly).  It is also rumored that equipping a weapon with an attack bonus helps your chance of success, so have someone cast heartseeker on your best attack bonus weapon.  When you are ready to go, combine the glyph and the ingot, and turn it in.

There are 3 possible outcomes - Peerless, Superior, and Fine, of which Peerless is the best and Fine should be donated to the nearest town crier.  You cannot get a Peerless weapon without beginning with a quality ingot, although it is possible to get a fine weapon from a quality ingot.  It is very hard to get a fine weapon unless your skills are nowhere near high enough to be attempting this quest.  

Atlan Enhancement

While your base Atlan weapon is a quality weapon, it is much more useful because you can use different Atlan Stones on them to enhance its stats.  There are a total of 10 stones in existance - 4 minor stones that do not add elemental status and have very weak spells, 4 major stones that do add elemental status and have more potent spells, the Blackfire Atlan stone, which is a reward from the Aerlinthe quest, and the Shadow Stone, which is no longer available.  In addition, there is also a Stone Tool that is used to remove stones when you wish to change them.

The Minor Stones are found outdoors in small buildings throughout Osteth.  They do not add elemental status to your weapon, but do add 2 beneficial spells and to negative spells of lv II and III.  If you have the skill to make an Atlan, you will find these stones utterly useless.  The minor stones are located at:

The Major Stones are far more useful, but are much harder to get.  Each stone adds elemental status to your Atlan, as well as 4 lv IV spells.  While the elemental status of the weapon is quite useful, the spells are not.  Each stone casts the corresponding IV protect on you, but also adds the opposite IV vuln.  For this reason, I never give my elemental Atlans any mana.  Most likely, you will be using frost on a fire enemy and you won't want to be fire vulned.  Each stone is located in a vault filled with many enemies relating to the stone's element.  A recent patch added a second copy of each vault in a much safer location.

The Major Smoldering Stone is located near Crater and West of Khayyaban in Jahannan Vault and is filled with Zefirs and Fire Elementals, including 2 Infernos.  
The Major Shivering Stone is found east of Qalabar in the Linvak mountains and Northwest of High Mountain Valley.  This dungeon is populated with undead, from Lich Lords up to Dark Revs.
The Major Sparking Stone is found on the northwest Obsidian Rim and northwest of Glendon Wood and is filled with Electrical Elementals.  
The Major Stinging Stone is found in the east Dires swamps and north of Sawato and is filled with hordes of Olthoi Soldiers.

The Blackfire Atlan Stone is a reward from killing the Behemoth of Tenkarrdun, a giant Magma Golem encountered during the Aerlinthe quest.  It adds no elemental status, but adds a substantial amount to the base damage and casts BD VI, SK IV, Cold Protect IV, Weapon Mastery IV, and the Curse of Black Fire, which lowers your magic defense.  It also adds bonuses to both your attack and defense.  This is a great self buffing weapon, since it is 0 speed (except for axes), BD VI'd, and has bonuses.  The curse is annoying, but probably not really an issue.

The last stone, the Shadow Stone, was only offered to a very small group of people a long time ago.  High level monarchs were summoned to what is now Singularity Caul and were made to run the gauntlet to the center of the island, where they were rewarded with the Shadow Stone.  This stone added BD VI, SK II, HS and Defender IV, Fealty VI, and Feeblemindedness VI.  The requirements were also notably lower to use than the normal Major Stones.  This stone is no longer available.

Modern Uses

The Atlan Stone vaults are a lot of fun, but what's the point of going there in the days of 400 wield melee weapons?  The short answer - writs.  You can give your Atlan stones to an Agent of the Arcanum for 1 writ for major stones and two minor stones for one writ.  That's six writs every 2 weeks per person.