The fastest route to AION 2's level cap, 45 on the Global servers in Season 1, is the yellow Episode quest chain: Elyos go from Poeta to Verteron, Asmodians from Ishalgen to Altgard, and the story keeps each faction in that one region all the way to 45. Players who follow it and stop only where the story asks report three to five hours of play; the stops are three Ascensions, around levels 22, 32 and 45, whose gauge you fill with side quests and sealed dungeons.
NC has published no leveling guide. The regions below come from NC's own descriptions and notices; tips and timings come from the guides and players we cross-checked, named each time, and what only one of them claims is left out. The one exception, flagged where it applies, is the zone levels that Metabot reads from the game's client.
The route, level by level
Both factions follow the same pattern: a starting map until about level 10, then one large region until 45.
| Levels |
Elyos |
Asmodians |
On the way |
| 1–9 |
Poeta |
Ishalgen |
You become a Daeva and get your wings around level 5 |
| 10–21 |
Verteron: Cantas Valley, Ellun River Marsh, Verteron Fortress Ruins |
Altgard: Dredgion Crash Site, Calderon Canyon, Sanctum Outpost, Moslan Forest |
Krao Cave opens at 20 |
| 22–31 |
Tolbas Forest, Aullaeu Village |
Uruthumheim, Purifying Forest, Dranactus |
Ascension and Stigma at 22, Urugugu Canyon at 28 |
| 32–38 |
Altamia Canyon, Altamia Highland |
Basfelt Ruins, Fafnite Deposit |
Ascension at 32, Fire Temple at 35 |
| 39–45 |
Kraka Footpath, the Drana fields, Garden of the Illusion God |
Gribade Highland, Black Claw Village, Impetusium Square |
Ascension, Draupnir and the Abyss at 45 |
- Places: NC's descriptions, gathered with its pictures in our Atlas of Atreia, and NC's notices, which name the main-story regions: Tolbas Forest and Altamia Highland for the Elyos; Purifying Forest, Basfelt Ruins, Fafnite Deposit and Impetusium Square for the Asmodians.
- Levels: the level of the monsters the game places in each zone, as Metabot reads it from the client; no other source lists them zone by zone. The recommended level in your quest log is the one that counts.
- Stuck in the starting map? Since the October 5 maintenance, NC says the Quest Tracker offers a button that teleports you to Verteron or Altgard when a Poeta or Ishalgen quest fails to send you on.
Follow the yellow Episode quests
- Yellow is the main story. Episode quests carry a yellow marker on the map; NC's notices call them Hero Quests. They move you from zone to zone, open your wings, Stigma and dungeons, and pay most of your experience: by Metabot's count of the game's own figures, 97% of what an Elyos needs for 45 and 99% for an Asmodian. KeenGamer calls them "your main leveling method".
- Green is optional. The green quests are Regional quests, each zone's side stories. They pay little experience before 45, but they give Daevanion and skill points and, for some, an accessory, which helps later: the level 45 dungeons check your item level (Corpus, Skycoach). Take the ones on your path and those that reward an accessory, and leave the rest for 45.
- Don't grind monsters while an Episode quest is open: none of the guides we read finds it faster.
Why the story stops at 22, 32 and 45
Around levels 22, 32 and 45, the Episode chain waits for an Ascension. Its gauge has to reach 100%, and it fills with Episode and Regional quests, sealed dungeons and strongholds (Skycoach, the AION 2 Field Guide). Skycoach and Corpus both report that a player who rushed the story usually arrives at about 85%, a handful of activities short.
- Take the nearest green quests, those that reward an accessory first.
- Clear the sealed dungeons and strongholds nearby, the question marks on your map. A sealed dungeon on your own faction's map gives 2 Daevanion points and 2 skill points (Metabot, Corpus).
- Go back to the Episode quest as soon as the gauge is full.
The Ascension at 22 is also when Stigma opens: NC's class data makes all 13 Stigma skills of every class available at level 22. Our class guide shows each class's skills by the level that teaches them, from NC's data: 12 active skills between levels 1 and 16, 10 passive ones up to level 25.
Dungeons on the way
Expeditions are AION 2's group dungeons. The story sends you into four of them in their easier difficulty, Exploration; the harder one, Conquest, is for level 45.
| Expedition |
Opens at |
Good to know |
| Krao Cave |
Level 20 |
Your Odyle Energy starts refilling once you reach your first Expedition |
| Urugugu Canyon |
Level 28 |
On the Episode route |
| Fire Temple |
Level 35 |
Its weapon is soon replaced by the one the story gives at 45 |
| Draupnir |
Level 45 |
Needs item level 700 |
The levels are those of the dungeon screen NC showed in its September 4 livestream, as Playnews reports it, and GamesTN gives the same; Draupnir's item level comes from Corpus and Aion 2 Maps.
- Alone or in a group? The Exploration difficulty can be cleared alone, and a group of up to five clears it faster (Corpus, Metabot). The rest of the story is made for playing alone too: AION 2 "can be played solo or with friends", says NC's launch FAQ.
- Clear it, leave the cube closed. The reward cube at the end costs Odyle Energy to open, and that energy buys far more at level 45, in Conquest. The quest moves on without it (Corpus, Skycoach).
- Sealed dungeons and strongholds are small instances spread over each region. You need not clear them all before 45; the ones on your path fill the Ascension gauge and give Daevanion and skill points.
What to save, and what to spend
Keep for level 45:
- Odyle Energy. It refills by 15 every three hours, 120 a day, up to 560, or 840 with the membership (Corpus, Skycoach). At that pace an empty bar is full in under five days, and a full bar stops refilling: if your climb takes longer, open a cube rather than lose the refill (Aion 2 Maps).
- Enhancement materials and Kinah. The story replaces your gear every few levels, and the guides we read agree you shouldn't invest in it (Corpus, KeenGamer, Skycoach).
- Shugo Festival keys, whose rewards grow with your level (Corpus, Aion 2 Maps).
- Feathers, which you hand in at a Monolith at 45: pick up only those on your way (Corpus, Skycoach).
Spend as you go:
- Daevanion and skill points. In your bag they do nothing, and each Daevanion point you spend also adds one item level, which the level 45 dungeons check (Corpus, AION 2 Meta).
- Stigma slots, filled as soon as they open.
- NC's launch gift in your in-game mail, with 50 Return Scrolls and 50 Speed Scrolls among other things. The code on our coupon codes page adds four Odyle Energy items until October 14 at 06:00 UTC: keep those for 45 too.
How long it takes
Players who follow only the story report three to five hours to 45: Corpus quotes Anders at three to four hours and FRESHY at "5 hours or less" for a normal player, and Skycoach gives three to four. A first character that reads the quests and clears side content takes much longer. Nobody advises rushing, though: the sealed dungeons, strongholds and green quests you skip wait for you at 45, Corpus notes.
At level 45
The leveling ends; the story does not. Its last quests give a Unique weapon, then send you through Draupnir, which needs item level 700, and on to the Abyss, which needs 1,000. The Ascension at 45 waits until then (Corpus, Aion 2 Maps). In order:
- Raise your item level with what you skipped: Regional quests, sealed dungeons and strongholds, then the Daevanion points they give.
- Cross into the other faction's region through a Spacetime Rift and clear its sealed dungeons and quests. A rift opens every three hours, and you get an hour on the other side (Corpus, Skycoach). Our AION 2 timers count down to the next rift and the daily reset in your time zone, and the map of Atreia shows both regions.
- Start your Duties, which NC opens at 45. Until NC's fix, opening the Duty tab earlier keeps them shut until the next day: our error codes guide lists NC's known issues.
- Run Conquest at the highest tier your item level allows; tiers open at 700, 1,400 and 2,100 (AION 2 Meta, GamesTN). The item database shows what each piece gives and where it comes from.
Everything you clear also fills your Daeva Pass: NC's table pays 150 Pass EXP for a Regional quest, 200 for a sealed dungeon or a stronghold and 500 for an Expedition, and our Daeva Pass guide lists what its levels give. The 10-player raid, Sanctuary Raid: Ludra, isn't there yet: NC removed it at launch to rework it and will give its return date by October 16. Our maintenance and patch notes page follows NC's notices.
Global is not Korea or Taiwan
- The cap: 45 on Global in Season 1, the figure NC's hosts gave in its September 4 livestream (Playnews). Korea and Taiwan went to 50 with their Chapter 1 update on July 1, 2026 (NCSOFT). The level 37 limit you may have read about was only the September Launch Scale Test's (NC).
- Routes past 45: Korean and Taiwanese guides level from 45 to 50 in Eltnen and Morheim. On Global the cap stops you at 45, and NC's Global site presents only Verteron and Altgard.
- Classes: the Brawler isn't on Global either. Our overview of the eight classes covers the ones that are, and our tier list comparison says which ones level most comfortably alone.
- Friends on another server? NC opens free transfers within your faction in mid-October: our servers and transfers guide has the date and NC's rules.
