Your first week in Aion 2: a beginner guide

Aion 2 launched globally on October 5, 2026, free to play on Steam and NC's PURPLE launcher, and NC counted 400,000 active players on launch day. The level cap is 45. This guide walks through your first week in the order you'll meet things: choosing a faction, server and class, getting your wings, leveling to 45 through the main story, and the routine that keeps you progressing once you're there.

It covers the global version. The Korean version is further ahead, with a level cap of 50 and a ninth class, the Brawler, so numbers from Korean guides often don't apply.

Pick your faction, server and class

Faction. Elyos start in Poeta and do most of their leveling in Verteron. Asmodians start in Ishalgen and level in Altgard. Both sides have the same eight classes. The choice decides where you start and who you fight in PvP, so pick the side your friends or legion play on.

Server. Pick a server in your region, and the same one as the people you want to play with. NC opens server transfers only for limited periods. Each server has a cap on how many characters can move in and out, you need level 45, and a transfer can't change your region or faction. Don't count on moving later.

Class. Each class uses one weapon type, so changing class means starting a new character.

Your first hour: wings

Every character becomes a Daeva in the opening story, and you get your wings early: Elyos at around level 5 in the quest Fledgling Wings, Asmodians at around level 6 in Spread Your Wings. Press V to open or fold them. Flight runs on Flight Power, and every pair of wings you collect adds to it, so your flights get longer as your collection grows.

The Ascension story carries on at levels 22, 32 and 45, and each step opens new systems.

Levels 1 to 45: follow the main story

The yellow main story quests are the backbone of leveling. They unlock the game's systems as you go and hand out the gear you level in. For the route by level bracket and what to skip, see leveling 1 to 45.

These detours are worth your time on the way:

• Activate every Kibelisk you pass. Kibelisks are the teleport points. Return Scrolls take you to the nearest one you've activated, and the early story hands out 20 scrolls at a time.
• Clear the sealed dungeons. Verteron and Altgard each have 61 of them between levels 10 and 45. Each one is a short solo run, and every first clear gives Daevanion crystals, skill points, enhancement stones and 15,000 Kina. All 61 together add up to 122 Daevanion points and 122 skill points.
• Open hidden cubes when you find them. Verteron has 95 and Altgard 59, and they hold useful items for leveling.
• Pick up a crafting profession at level 10. The quests for Blacksmithing, Armorsmithing, Handicrafting, Alchemy and Cooking open there.
• Try Expeditions from level 20. Expeditions are dungeons for one to five players. Their easier Exploration mode opens while you level: Krao Cave at 20, Urugugu Canyon at 28 and Fire Temple at 35. A clear drops a reward cube that you open with Odyle energy, explained in the daily routine below.
• Spend skill points as soon as you get them. Skill points raise a skill up to level 10. Beyond that, skills grow through Daevanion boards, Arcana and soul binding. Push two or three core skills first instead of spreading points thinly.

What unlocks along the way

Daevanion boards are grids of stat and skill nodes, one board for each Empyrean Lord. You fill them with Daevanion points from sealed dungeons and quests, and a node costs 1 to 4 points depending on its rarity. Every point also adds one to your item level. Start with the nodes that strengthen your core skills.

Stigmas are a second set of skills that you choose and slot yourself, on top of your class skills. You upgrade them with Stigma shards.

Gear while leveling. You'll replace most of what you wear on the way to 45. Enhancing gear up to +10 can't fail, so a few cheap levels on your weapon and amulet are worth it. Past +10 the chance drops quickly, from 65% at +11 to 20% at +15, so save that for gear you'll keep.

At level 45: gear up for group content

The short version is below. What to do at level 45 walks through the first days at the cap step by step.

1. Finish the level 45 campaign. It's the fastest way to a full set of gear.
2. Learn the two numbers. Item level, also called gear score, decides which dungeons and difficulties you can enter. It adds up the gear you wear, with its enhancement and Manastones, plus every Daevanion point you've earned and, later, your Arcana cards. Combat power is wider: it also counts your skills, stigmas, titles and wings. You need both: combat power and item level, explained covers what each one counts, and the item level 1,000 guide covers the first climb.
3. Move up the Expedition tiers. At 45 every Expedition gets a harder Conquest mode in three tiers, and each tier opens as your item level rises.
4. Upgrade the gear you'll keep. Choose your long-term pieces and put your enhancement materials there, not into every drop.
5. Run Transcendence dungeons. These are group dungeons in four stages, each harder than the last. They're the main source of Arcana cards, which add stats and can strengthen specific skills.

Your daily and weekly routine

Once you're 45, a short routine each day keeps you on pace. The daily and weekly checklist has every limit and when it resets.

Every day:

• Do your five duty quests. They're in your Journal (J). They refresh with the daily reset, and unused ones don't carry over.
• Spend your Odyle energy. Odyle energy opens the reward cube at the end of an Expedition or Transcendence run. You can clear a dungeon without it, but its main loot stays in the cube. Energy refills by 15 every 3 hours, 120 a day, and stores up to 560, or 840 with the Membership. Anything past the cap is lost, so spend it before it fills up.
• Use your Shugo keys and Nightmare tickets. Both arrive with the daily reset. Nightmare is a solo boss you can run twice a day, and unused tickets bank up to 14.

Every week (resets on Wednesday):

• Use your weekly dungeon and raid entries before the reset. Most of them don't carry over.
• Buy Command Scrolls after the reset.

Mistakes that cost new players days

• Keeping every item. Extract everything that isn't yellow, unless you need it for a supply request.
• Skipping sealed dungeons. That leaves up to 122 Daevanion points and 122 skill points on the table.
• Leaving skill points unspent. You gain levels but not damage.
• Buying Kina from third-party sellers. NC posts account restrictions every few days for botting, gold farming, unauthorized programs and real-money trading.

Do you need to pay?

No. Leveling, dungeons and PvP are all free. The Membership costs about $15 for 30 days and applies to one server. It unlocks the Market, the Quna exchange (where players trade Kina for Quna, the premium currency), personal trading, remote storage and the Wind Breeze Merchants shop. It also raises your Odyle energy cap to 840 and lets you pick more rewards from Odyle energy cubes in Expeditions, Transcendence and Sanctuary. Wings, pets and outfits from the shop are cosmetic.