Aion 2 · Guides
Aion 2 beginner mistakes: what veterans say to avoid
NCSOFT / AION 2 game art
TL;DR
- Do not pick your class from a tier list. Balance changes often, so pick the class you enjoy.
- Equip your skill specialties. Unlocking them does nothing on its own.
- Do not pour Kina into gear you will replace. The cost of each enhancement jumps after +10, and dismantling returns your Enhance Stones but never the Kina.
- Do not spend Odyle Energy on Exploration rewards while leveling, but start spending it the day you reach 45.
- Do not lock Genus lines early. Every lock raises the cost of the next roll.
- Do not let capped entries go to waste: Duties, Nightmare, the Ascension Trial and Shugo Festival tickets all stop refilling at their cap.
The creators below played Aion 2 on Korean and Taiwanese servers for months before the global launch. aLuckyRO and Society Of Gaming each report more than 1,000 hours. Where their numbers came from those servers, we checked them against the global game data and say so.
Choosing your class from a tier list
Both aLuckyRO and Society Of Gaming put this mistake first. They describe frequent class balance patches on the Korean and Taiwanese servers, so a class at the top of today's list may not be there in a few weeks. aLuckyRO adds that each class has its own strong situations: in his view Sorcerer shines when a boss dies fast, and Assassin in longer fights.
Creator tip
Don't base your decision on these tier lists because balance between classes is changing. You need to base your decision regarding what class you want to play, which class are you enjoying to play the most.
Decide on a role first: tank, healer, ranged or melee damage. Our class guide compares all eight.
Unlocking specialties but never equipping them
Raising a skill unlocks specialty options at levels 8, 12 and 20. Society Of Gaming says many players stop there, as he did on the Korean launch. The specialty only works once you place it in a slot.
Creator tip
It's not enough that you unlock effect. This doesn't mean anything.
SywoGG makes the same point: the perks have to be placed manually and do not activate on their own.
Investing in gear you will replace
Every creator here warns about this one. SywoGG and Society Of Gaming say not to enhance leveling gear at all. FRESHY extends the rule to the early endgame: you will replace your gear several times, so improve it only enough to reach the next content.
Creator tip
One of the easiest mistake for a new player to make is trying to perfect gear that you're going to replace.
The game data shows why it matters. Dismantling an item returns the Enhance Stones spent to reach its enhancement level, but the Kina fee is gone. For a piece of the item level 86 Nuakum or Enraged Kromede gear:
| Enhancement | Kina in fees |
|---|---|
| +0 to +10 | 775,100 |
| +10 to +15 | Another 4,180,000 |
aLuckyRO stops dungeon gear at +10 and saves the rest for crafted gear. The crafting screen states that when you craft an upgrade from an item, its enhancement, Amplify and Soul Binding levels carry over to the new item. Work on a crafted piece follows you up the crafting line; work on a dungeon piece does not.
Creator tip
Invest your enchant and Kina for the crafted item and never invest for the dungeon item. Just make it plus 10 so you will have some amount of the power and don't touch more than 10.
Manastones on temporary gear
SywoGG and aLuckyRO both say to keep Superior Manastones for gear you will keep. aLuckyRO's rule: fill the slots on good gear once and do not reroll for perfect lines, especially on accessories. SywoGG uses lower-grade Manastones on early Unique gear instead.
Materials to save for gear you keep
Wasting Odyle Energy
Odyle Energy opens the reward cube after an Expedition, Transcendence or Sanctuary clear, and it refills slowly. aLuckyRO, Kanon and Aragon all skip the cube in the Exploration dungeons the story sends you through while leveling. The game data shows why, using Krao Cave:
| Krao Cave mode | Kina per boss |
|---|---|
| Exploration (cube costs 20 energy) | 25,000 Kina (Bound) |
| Conquest | 65,000 to 70,000 tradeable Kina |
aLuckyRO makes one exception. Draupnir's Exploration mode has a guaranteed reward after a few cube openings, and he farms it for Bakarma gear before moving on to the Conquest version. The data records a ceiling of three openings there.
The opposite mistake is hoarding. Society Of Gaming sees players at 45 waiting instead of playing. In the data, energy refills 15 every three hours and stops at 560, or 840 with a subscription, so anything past the cap is lost.
Creator tip
Start to spend your energy as soon as you reach level 45 because this energy is replenishing, recharging periodically.
Locking Genus lines too early
Pet Genus boards roll random stat lines, paid with Soul Crystals and Kina. You can lock a line you like, but aLuckyRO and Society Of Gaming both warn that each lock makes every later roll more expensive. The game data confirms the curve:
| Locked line | Lock cost in the data |
|---|---|
| First | 8 Soul Crystals, 2,000 Kina |
| Eighth | 396 Soul Crystals, 99,000 Kina |
The rarest lines only appear at high Insight levels. In the data, the highest grade first appears at Insight 9 with a 1% chance and reaches 5% at Insight 10. aLuckyRO keeps rolling without locking anything until the board is at its maximum level.
Creator tip
So, never lock anything. Forget this stats until you max out.
Society Of Gaming adds that the first line worth locking is Smite. Global calls this stat Double Chance, and in the data it rolls on the Special board. Kanon's line targets for each board are in the Pet Genus chapter of his handbook.
Letting entries hit their cap
Several entries refill on a timer and stop at a cap. These are the global limits in the data:
| Content | Refill | Cap | Mistake creators warn about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duties | 5 a day, shared by the server | 5 a day | Picking Duties without checking the first reward |
| Nightmare | 2 a day | 14 | Stopping when you get stuck on a boss |
| Ascension Trial | 3 a week, on Wednesday | 3 | Running it before you have gained power that week |
| Shugo Festival | 3 a day, shared by the server | 12, or 21 with a subscription | Spending tickets while leveling |
Only the first reward on a Duty is guaranteed; the others are chances. Society Of Gaming, aLuckyRO and Kanon all choose by that first slot, and refresh the list for Kina when nothing fits. The creators' fixes:
| Content | Creator fix |
|---|---|
| Duties | Society Of Gaming and Kanon chase Soul Crystals for Genus; aLuckyRO prioritises Hidden Cube keys |
| Nightmare | aLuckyRO spends entries on earlier bosses, which still pay a repeat reward, instead of letting them pile up at 14 |
| Ascension Trial | aLuckyRO and SywoGG run their three entries late in the week, after a few more days of upgrades |
| Shugo Festival | aLuckyRO saves tickets until 45, when rewards are much better, and Society Of Gaming also plays from 45. Kanon: keep the count below the cap so new tickets are not lost |
Skipping the small systems
Society Of Gaming lists two systems new players ignore:
| System | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Supply Requests | You hand in items for rewards, and the game says those include Abyss Points. PvE players need them too, because the game sells Stigma Shards in the Abyss Shop |
| The Closet | Collecting skins raises stats. In the data, each skin you collect in a weapon category adds damage for that weapon type |
aLuckyRO also says to hit any field boss you pass, even once. He reports that a single hit earns a participation chest.
Copying a Korean endgame build
FRESHY warns that Korean stat targets come from a version with more systems and more stats. Global players should use those builds as a reference, not a checklist.
Creator tip
That means you shouldn't blindly copy a maxed out Korean character and assume those exact numbers are what you need on day one.
Next steps
- Beginner guide: the route from level 1 to 45 and what to do at the cap.
- Should you level alts?: which limits are per character and which are shared.
- Elyos or Asmodian?: the faction choice.
- Kanon's Handbook: how gear upgrades work in depth.
Explore the encyclopedia
Sources
- aLuckyRO: 15 most common beginner mistakes in AION 2 global
- Society Of Gaming: AION 2 global launch, 10 top mistakes that will ruin your start
- SywoGG: AION 2, everything I wish I knew when I started
- FRESHY: AION 2 ultimate beginners guide, everything you should know before playing
- Kanon: Here's your Aion 2 starter launch guide in 8 minutes
- Aragon: Aion 2, 10 essential beginner tips
- Corpus: Aion 2 items
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