Aion 2 · Guides
Aion 2 Manastones and Soulstones: which stones to use and when to stop rolling
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TL;DR
- Manastones go on weapons and armor, Soulstones go on accessories. Each use rerolls all four lines on the piece at once, and you cannot lock a line.
- Only Superior Manastone and Superior Soulstone can roll the Unique-grade lines and the damage boost lines. Lesser and Intermediate stones are for cheap gear score early on.
- Keep your Superior stones for gear you will not replace. A transfer destroys Manastones.
- Roll until one line is a Unique-grade offensive line, then stop. TheWhelps, Madsin and FRESHY all warn against chasing perfect pieces.
How they work
A Unique weapon, armor piece or accessory has 4 stone slots in the data, and Soul Binding to 100% unlocks one more. Each slot shows one random line.
Using a stone rolls every line on the piece again. Grobs points out that there is no lock.
Creator tip
The mana stones are always four additional stats that you will have on your item. Every time you use one, it will randomly roll all four stats. And no, there is no way how you can lock single stats.
The stone type depends on the slot. The item text says Manastones fit all weapons and armor, and Soulstones fit all accessories. The two Superior stones roll the same lines and values. Most creators say "mana stones" for both.
What each stone can roll
Each line comes in a grade, and the stone decides which grades are possible. Creators call the grades by colour.
| Stone | Grades it can roll | Best Attack line | Damage boost lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lesser Manastone | Common, Rare | 3 | None |
| Intermediate Manastone | Common, Rare, Epic | 8 | None |
| Superior Manastone | Rare, Epic, Unique | 10 | Up to 1% |
All three roll Attack, Defense, Accuracy Bonus, Evasion Bonus, Critical Hit, Critical Hit Resist, Block, HP and MP. Only the Superior stone adds Damage Boost, Weapon Damage Boost, Critical Damage Boost, Front Attack Damage Boost and Back Attack Damage Boost.
| Line grade | Colour | Damage boost value | Gear score (TheWhelps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Gray | None | 1 |
| Rare | Green | 0.1% | 2 |
| Epic | Blue | 0.3% | 3 |
| Unique | Yellow | 1% | 4 |
The Abyssal versions, such as Superior Abyssal Manastone, roll the same lines plus PvP lines like PvP Attack and PvP Damage Boost. For PvE they only dilute the pool.
Stones by tier
Lesser ManastoneCommon and Rare lines. Cheap early gear score
Intermediate ManastoneUp to Epic lines. TheWhelps's pick for gear score before endgame
Superior ManastoneUp to Unique lines and the damage boosts. Save for final gear
Superior SoulstoneThe accessory version of the Superior Manastone
Superior Abyssal ManastoneAdds PvP lines. For PvP sets
Early game: stones for gear score
Stone lines also raise gear score, as the grade table shows. Before your final gear, TheWhelps rolls Intermediate stones for green and blue lines, and keeps the Superior ones.
Creator tip
It will also transfer all the soul binds, but it will not transfer the mana stones. That's why you don't want to invest the high tier mana stone into the low level ones.
FRESHY does the same on his way to 2,200 gear score: a few rolls per piece for one or two green lines, without spending much. Grobs gives the same warning, since you cycle through gear several times early on and lose the stones each time.
Endgame: which line to roll for
Once a piece is final, use Superior stones. The creators rank the lines in nearly the same order:
| Creator | Order |
|---|---|
| TheWhelps | Front or Back Attack Damage Boost, Attack, Weapon Damage Boost, Damage Boost, Critical Damage Boost |
| Madsin | Weapon Damage Boost and your class's positional boost, Damage Boost, Attack, then Accuracy and Critical Hit |
| Kanon | Front or Back Attack Damage Boost, Weapon Damage Boost, Critical Damage Boost, Damage Boost, Attack |
Front and Back Attack Damage Boost only work from that direction. TheWhelps says to commit to one direction across your whole set if you go this way, and calls it the Korean whale meta. He does not recommend chasing it in Season 1, but would keep a Back Attack roll if one appears. Assassins live behind the boss, so Back fits them best.
Accuracy and Critical Hit lines are worth keeping while you are short of what your content needs. See combat stats explained.
When to stop
This is where most resources are wasted. All four lines rarely come out right, so set a stopping point before you start.
Creator tip
But as an average player, I wouldn't worry about all these values. Just roll until you get at least one of these, like one yellow attack giving 10. Like I would just stop there.
| Creator | Stop when the piece has |
|---|---|
| TheWhelps | At least one yellow Attack line, worth 10 |
| Madsin | One Unique Damage Boost line, or more than 15 Attack in total, which he treats as about equal |
| Kanon | Two yellow Attack lines count as about one yellow Damage Boost line |
Where to get them
| Source | Notes |
|---|---|
| Crafting | The Intermediate Manastone recipe can also give a Superior one as a combo result |
| Growth Manastone Chest (Bound) | Contains Superior Manastones |
| Seasonal event traders | Sell them |
TheWhelps advises against handing Superior stones in for supply requests, because they are worth more on your gear.
Next steps
- Soul Binding guide: the other random lines, and the extra stone slot at 100% Binding Rate.
- Theostones guide: the weapon slot that is not a Manastone.
- Kanon's Handbook: upgrading gear: Kanon's stone priority.
Explore the encyclopedia
Sources
- TheWhelps: How gear progression works in Aion 2
- TheWhelps: Complete Ranger PvE guide, skills, gear, board, Arcana, Genus
- Grobs: AION 2 gear progression guide, how upgrading actually works
- TheWhelps: How to increase gear score from 0 to 2400
- FRESHY: The fastest way to reach 2200 gear score in AION 2
- Madsin: Complete PvE character building overview
- Corpus: Superior Manastone
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