Overview
A burst-window melee DPS: stack Illusive Clone and Swift Contract, then land Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion from behind the boss. It suits players with low ping who enjoy constant positioning and will learn boss timings; it is not a forgiving first character.
Summed up from 43 videos by 27 creators, Dec 21, 2025 to Oct 9, 2026.
The Assassin uses stealth to hide from enemies before striking from behind. Armed with daggers in both hands, they boast rapid attack speed and employ various combo attacks utilizing poison or stun skills.
What makes the Assassin tick
At rank 16 Heart Gore resets its cooldown on a critical hit, and Illusive Clone removes its cooldown while active. Creators rush it to 16 before anything else.
Fight from behind the boss at all times. Turn on the Boss Orientation Indicator under Settings > Info Display > Combat.
- Illusive Clone and Swift Contract
- Shadowstrike behind the boss
- Triniel's Dagger
- Macro key and left click held
Which buff goes first?
Swift Contract first: its speed shortens Illusive Clone's cast
Illusive Clone first, then Swift Contract
Skills
Open in the skill windowActive
12Passive
10Stigma
13
Heart Gore
Triggers on landing a Critical Hit, dealing variable damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m and restores 100 MP. 5 Stagger Gauge Damage
- Base cooldown
- 5 s
- Base range
- 4 m
- First learned
- Level 4
- 10Skill Points
- +4Boards
- +2Rings
- +4Arcana
One node on each of Nezekan, Zikel, Vaizel and Triniel. Rings, weapon and Guard can roll it in Soul Binding. Arcana: Parchment or Chalice.
- Rank 8
- Absorbs [value unavailable]% HP
- Rank 8
- Engraves 1 Insignia for [value unavailable] on hit
- Rank 8
- Up to +20% Critical Hit when less targets hit
- Rank 12
- Multi-Hit on hit
- Rank 16
- Resets [Heart Gore] cooldown on landing a Critical Hit
Some values in this skill's text are not resolved yet.
Take Absorb HP while leveling, then the rank 16 reset on critical hit with Multi-hit.
Stigma
Three buffs every PvE build shares, plus one slot that changes with the content.
Illusive Clone11 of 11 creatorsGets the most Stigma points; push it to 20 first.
Swift Contract11 of 11 creators
Triniel's Dagger10 of 11 creatorsRank 10 early; cast it right after the buffs.
Savage Fang
Evasion Stance
Throw Shadowblade
Savage Fang for five Insignias in the opener, Evasion Stance for hard bosses, Throw Shadowblade at rank 10 for farming since it resets on a kill.
Savage Fang or Evasion Stance in the fourth slot?
Savage Fang: opener Insignias, and PvE Damage Boost at rank 15
Evasion Stance: for hard content, or while you keep dying
Slots open at levels 22, 27, 32 and 37. Rank Triniel's Dagger to 10, then Illusive Clone to 20 before Swift Contract.
Journey
After level 45 your Item Level, which players also call gear score, decides what you can enter. Pick where you are.
Item Level 1400 to 1900
What opens
- 1500Ascension Trial NormalChamber of the DeadDepository of FatesForgotten RepositoryNightmare AltarSanctum of LoathingTyrant's Hideout
- 1600Transcendence 1Deus Research Base, Stage 1Shattered Arkanis, Stage 1
- 1900Transcendence 2Deus Research Base, Stage 2Shattered Arkanis, Stage 2
Assassin priorities
On Parchment chase Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion and Quick Slice. They share the card, so plan on two at rank 20 this season.
Bell: Assault Stance only. Mirror: Rear Smite, Impact Hit or Exploit Weakness.
Rank 20 is 10 from points, 4 from boards, 2 from rings and 4 from Arcana. Put Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion on rings first.
Value Smite, Attack, Critical Hit, Combat Speed, Weapon Damage Boost, Damage Boost and back-attack damage.
Every class
Farm Vakron Sky Island before Urugugu Canyon: every Vakron armor drop is an upgrade, while Urugugu also drops other classes' weapons.
Hold pity selectors and Exploration chests until you know your last missing piece.
Fill all five Arcana slots as soon as Transcendence opens. For now, card grade matters more than which skills a card carries.
Party finders ask for Combat Power well above the minimum, so form your own group with a tank and a healer.
- Item levelsof what you wear
- +1per enhancement level
- +5per Amplify level
- +1per Daevanion point
- 1 to 4per Manastone line
- +3per Rare Theostone
The Amplify, Manastone and Theostone amounts are measured on players' characters.
Daevanion
Plan Assassin boardsStat nodes sit in the same places for every class. Each Active skill has one node on each of the first four boards; each Passive has two on Nezekan or Zikel and one each on Vaizel and Triniel. Azphel has stat nodes only.
Path to the blue active nodes of your four core skills first.
On every board, go Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion, Quick Slice, then Savage Roar.
Stat lines: Combat Speed on Nezekan, Damage Boost on Zikel, Critical Damage Boost on Vaizel.
Every board point also raises your Item Level.
Guides and builds
Guides
- Aion 2 Assassin guide: playstyle, build and boardsShould you play Assassin in Aion 2? How the dagger class deals its burst, the skills and stigmas creators build around, and where to go next for the full build.
- Aion 2 Assassin PvE build: skills, stigmas and macroAn Aion 2 Assassin PvE build from Grobs and aLuckyRO: which skills to rank first, the specialties to pick, four stigmas, passive order, and the macro and rotation.
Builds
No published Assassin builds yet. Builds people publish from the planner show up here, with skills, Stigmas, boards and gear.