Aion 2 · Guides
Aion 2 Arcana guide: cards, sets and which ones to equip
NCSOFT / AION 2 game art
TL;DR
- Arcana are five extra equipment slots: Chalice, Parchment, Compass, Bell and Mirror. Each card gives one Empyrean Lord stat and up to four skill lines, and adds to your item level.
- Every card comes in a Vigor and a Magic version with different stats. Vigor cards build the Primal Vigor set, Magic cards the Magic Armor set.
- The usual PvE pick: Time Chalice, Life Parchment, Destruction Bell and Wisdom Mirror. The Compass is Death or Freedom, whichever you need.
- Arcana are the main way to push key skills to level 20. Compass and Parchment roll actives, Bell and Mirror roll passives, and the Chalice rolls anything.
- Early on, equip the highest grade you have and ignore set bonuses.
What Arcana are
The game's help text calls Arcana holy relics. You get them by clearing Transcendence, and equipping them raises your item level. In the data the Arcana come from the two Transcendence dungeons:
Cards come in four grades. The grade sets the card's item level, its main stat and how many times you can enhance it. TheWhelps names the Transcendence stage he gets each grade from, and counts each enhancement level as 1 gear score.
| Grade | Item level | Empyrean Lord stat | Enhancement levels | Stage (TheWhelps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common | 20 | 8 | 2 | First |
| Rare | 40 | 12 | 3 | Second |
| Epic | 60 | 16 | 4 | Not stated |
| Unique | 80 | 20 | 5 | Fourth |
The five cards and their stats
Each card type comes in two versions, and the version decides the Empyrean Lord stat:
| Card | Vigor version | Magic version |
|---|---|---|
| Chalice | Time: Combat Speed | Space: Move Speed |
| Parchment | Life: HP | Destiny: MP |
| Compass | Freedom: Accuracy | Death: Critical Hit |
| Bell | Justice: Defense | Destruction: Attack |
| Mirror | Illusion: Cooldown reduction | Wisdom: Double Chance |
Each Empyrean Lord stat has a second effect too. Kanon's Handbook lists both effects for all ten.
The two sets
| Set | 2 cards | 4 cards |
|---|---|---|
| Primal Vigor (Vigor cards) | +60 PvE Attack when HP is 70% or more | +150 PvE Attack when HP is 70% or more |
| Magic Armor (Magic cards) | Restores 1,500 MP when MP is 20% or less, 30s cooldown | +1,000 PvE Defense when MP is 50% or more |
With five slots you can complete one 4-card set, or two 2-card sets.
Which cards to equip
Creators agree on four of the five slots for PvE. The Compass is the free choice, depending on which cap you are short of. Madsin's Season 1 setup differs in two slots:
| Slot | Creator consensus | Madsin, Season 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Chalice | Time (Vigor), Combat Speed | Time (Vigor) |
| Parchment | Life (Vigor), HP | Life (Vigor) |
| Compass | Death (Magic) for Critical Hit or Freedom (Vigor) for Accuracy | Freedom (Vigor) |
| Bell | Destruction (Magic), Attack | Destruction (Magic) |
| Mirror | Wisdom (Magic), Double Chance | Illusion (Vigor) early, then Wisdom |
Creator tip
For the Grail, you want the vigor. This gives time, which is combat speed. Parchment is going to be vigor as well. This gives life, which is HP, but also activates our two set, which increases plus 60 PvE attack when HP 70% or more.
That gives two Vigor cards and three Magic cards, so both 2-card bonuses are active. Kanon's Handbook recommends the same five cards and says the Empyrean Lord stat matters more than the set bonus for now.
Madsin runs four Vigor cards for the 4-card Primal Vigor bonus, with only the Bell staying Magic. He recommends the Illusion Mirror early anyway, because the cooldown reduction helps reach your class's cooldown threshold, and switches to Wisdom once other sources cover the cooldown.
Creator tip
Early into the game's progression, most classes will lean more towards the Illusion Mirror in order to help reach those thresholds as it will provide a large helping of CDR.
Assassins are Madsin's exception: they keep the Illusion Mirror, because their damage depends on the uptime of Illusive Clone.
The common PvE setup, Unique grade
Chalice of VigorTime. Rolls any skill or passiveItem level 80
Parchment of VigorLife. Rolls half of your active skillsItem level 80
Compass of MagicDeath for Critical Hit. Rolls the other half of your activesItem level 80
Compass of VigorFreedom for Accuracy, the alternative CompassItem level 80
Bell of MagicDestruction. Rolls passivesItem level 80
Mirror of MagicWisdom. Rolls passivesItem level 80
Mirror of VigorIllusion. Madsin's early Mirror, and the Assassin pickItem level 80
Skill lines
This is the part of Arcana that shapes your build. A skill's third specialty slot opens at level 20, and the base skill tree only goes to level 10. The levels in between come from Daevanion boards, ring Soul Binding lines and Arcana.
Each Unique card can carry up to four skill lines, and each line can reach +4. Which skills a card can roll depends on its type:
| Card | Skill pool |
|---|---|
| Compass | Six of your class's active skills |
| Parchment | A different six active skills |
| Bell | Five passives |
| Mirror | A different five passives |
| Chalice | Any of your active skills or passives |
Ranger example: where each skill rolls
Your class's build page says which skills need level 20.
Madsin settles the Chalice first, because its random pool is the hardest to control, then uses the Compass and Parchment to fill specific skills. Rings fill whatever is still missing.
Enhancing cards
You enhance a card by feeding it duplicate or unused cards for experience. TheWhelps explains that each level raises the card's Empyrean Lord stat and one random skill line by 1. That randomness is why a perfect card is rare.
Creator tip
But yeah, don't stress too much. You know, if Dead Shot is three, you just need to roll with Dead Shot. Just make it four combined and you're good.
Cards with bad rolls are still useful as enhancement material for the ones you keep.
Crafting cards
Transmutation crafts a Unique card where you choose some of the lines. In the data, you can pick one main effect and up to two skill lines, and the other lines stay random. The base cost of a Unique card is 2,000,000 Kina plus Mysterious Crystal, and each chosen skill line adds to it. TheWhelps picks only the one or two skills he needs most on each card, since extra picks cost more.
Early game
Before Unique cards, do not plan sets. TheWhelps equips the highest grade card he has in every slot for item level.
Creator tip
You might have some blues. Just chuck it on. Don't worry about the set bonus. Don't worry about the stats and skills. Just put the highest tier on.
Next steps
- Combat stats explained: what Combat Speed, Double Chance and the Empyrean Lord stats do.
- Kanon's Handbook: Arcana: Kanon's five-card setup.
- Ranger PvE build: one class's level 20 targets.
Explore the encyclopedia
Sources
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