What to do at level 45 in Aion 2

Level 45 is the cap on the global servers, and from here the game measures you in item level instead. If you followed the main story without many detours, you arrive at around 650. The story carries on until it sends you to the Abyss, which needs 1,000.

This guide is the order to do things in your first days at the cap. It stops where the gear climb begins, which has its own series starting with how to reach item level 1,000. If you're not at 45 yet, start with your first week in Aion 2.

1. Finish the level 45 campaign

The campaign quests that open at 45 are the fastest way to a full set of level 45 gear, and they walk you through the systems that unlock at the cap. Do them before anything else.

The last Ascension quest, The One Who Witnesses the Nightmare, also opens Azphel, your fifth Daevanion board. Every Daevanion point adds one to your item level, so spend the points you've been saving, starting with the nodes that strengthen the two or three skills you use most. The Abyss Trade Shop sells Azphel's crystals for Abyss Points, which your duty quests pay. A sixth board, Ariel, opens at 45 too, but its points come only from Hard mode Expeditions at item level 2,600, so it's for much later.

2. Spend everything you've been saving

• Skill points. Unspent points are damage you don't have. Push your core skills to level 10 first.
• Stigmas. You have slots from levels 22, 27, 32 and 37. Fill every one and upgrade the stigmas you use with Stigma shards.
• Old gear. Extract everything that isn't yellow, unless a supply request asks for it.

3. Learn the number that matters now

Item level, also called gear score, is what every dungeon checks at the door: your gear with its enhancement and Manastones, plus every Daevanion point and, later, your Arcana cards. Combat power is the wider number groups ask for. Combat power and item level, explained covers both.

What opens as your item level rises:

700

The first Conquest pair, Krao Cave and Draupnir, and Draupnir's Exploration chest.

1,000

The Abyss, and the main story with it. Also the Easy difficulty of the Ascension Trial.

1,400

Urugugu Canyon and Vakron Sky Island, with item level 70 gear.

1,600

Transcendence stage 1 and its Arcana cards.

2,100

Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den, with item level 86 gear.

4. Get to 1,000 without dungeon gear

The 350 or so item levels between a fresh 45 and the Abyss come from four things you do alone in the open world, and all four stay with you when your gear changes:

1. Sealed dungeons for Daevanion points, 122 of them in Verteron or Altgard alone.
2. Empyrean Traces for your amulet, through your region's Monolith.
3. Strongholds for your belt, 15 one-time clears on your home map.
4. Two Clash Runes at +1, from region quests. Stop at +1, because a higher upgrade can destroy the rune.

After 45, rifts take you to the other faction's map, which has sealed dungeons and strongholds of its own. The item level 1,000 guide has the details of each step.

5. Start the Conquest dungeons

At 45 every Expedition gets a Conquest mode, in three tiers that open at item level 700, 1,400 and 2,100. The first pair is Krao Cave, for weapons and accessories, and Draupnir, for armor and a guard, both dropping item level 54 gear.

• Run Draupnir's Exploration mode three times once you're at 700. The chest after the third run holds a guaranteed Unique armor piece.
• Keep Odyle energy for the reward cubes. The main loot of a run stays in the cube. Energy refills by 15 every 3 hours and stores up to 560, so spend it before it caps.
• Enhance item level 54 gear to +10. Up to +10 can't fail. Go further only on Unique pieces: item level 70 gear replaces this gear soon after 1,400, and only a Unique piece can pass its levels on, through Enhancement Transfer.

For what each dungeon pays, see Aion 2 dungeon item levels and rewards.

6. Set up your daily routine

A short routine each day keeps your item level moving: your five duty quests, your Odyle energy before it caps, Shugo keys, Nightmare attempts and the daily dungeon. The daily dungeon is a choice: Daeva Bio-Research Base pays Enhance Stones and Odylium Repository pays Soul Crystals, and the two share 14 entries a week. While your gear is cheap to enhance, take the Enhance Stones.

The daily and weekly checklist has the full list with what resets when.

7. Find people to play with

Most of the content from here on needs a group. Urugugu Canyon and Vakron Sky Island need at least two players, Transcendence takes five, and the Ludra raid takes ten.

• Join a legion. A legion is Aion 2's guild. It unlocks through a story quest around level 16, Renewed Resolve for Elyos and Buried Atrocities for Asmodians, so if you skipped it, go back. Legions hold up to 128 members and level up to 20, and higher levels give every member stat bonuses and faster experience. Pick an active one on your server and faction and ask in its chat before you try anything new.
• Learn your role. A tank holds the boss, a healer keeps the group up, and everyone else does damage and stays out of the boss's attacks. Tanks and healers never wait long for a group.

PvP opens at 45 too: the Arena and the Battlefield, then the Abyss at item level 1,000.

8. Pick a profession and start gathering

Gathering opens at 45, with a limit of 1,000 gathers a day per server. The profession that pays off first is Handicrafting: its Artisan's accessories are the biggest step between 1,000 and 1,400, and they need only gathered and field materials. The item level 1,400 guide explains the crafts.

Should you buy the Membership now?

Not yet, unless you already have things to sell. The Membership costs about $15 for 30 days and applies to one server. Its main perks are the Market, the Quna exchange, personal trading, remote storage and the Wind Breeze Merchants shop, plus an Odyle energy cap of 840, more picks from Odyle energy cubes and 14 Abyss hours a week instead of 7. Those matter once you're crafting and farming Conquest gear. Everything in this guide is free.

What not to do in your first week at 45

• Good Manastones on gear you'll replace. The stones stay on the old piece.
• Buying Kina from third-party sellers. NC posts account restrictions every few days for real-money trading.

When you pass 1,000 and the Abyss opens, continue with how to reach item level 1,400.