AION 2 Skill Leveling Guide: How to Get Skills to Level 16 and 20

How do skill levels work in AION 2?

Four systems stack on each skill: skill points, the Daevanion boards, Arcana cards and soul-bound gear. Skill points take a skill to level 10; everything above that comes from the other three. Stigma skills are separate and level with Stigma Shard points instead (below).

Only the first four boards, Nezekan, Zikel, Vaizel and Triniel, have Skill Level Up nodes; Ariel and Azphel add no skill levels. Levels from every source stack, so a skill at 10 from points with all four board nodes is at 14 before any gear or Arcana.

How many skill points do you get?

203 by level 45, plus 1 for each Wisdom Stone. MetaBot reads the 203 from the client’s level table. Wisdom Stones, each worth 1 skill point, come from 24 quests, including the Spacetime Rift quests in the enemy faction’s map; our AION 2 rift timer shows when the next rift opens. Actives and passives use the same price curve, according to MetaBot, and Dark Crush’s data matches it:

So one skill from level 1 to 10 costs 21 points, and 203 points cover about nine skills. Each level also needs a character level: the Chanter’s Dark Crush reaches 8 at character level 22 and 10 at 28, and MetaBot notes that the Gladiator’s Ruinous Blow needs character level 38 for skill level 10. That is why most builds put points into two or three core skills first. We have not found a confirmed rule for resetting skill points on Global, so check the Skills window before you spend.

What do skill levels 8, 12, 16 and 20 unlock?

Specializations. Every active skill has five specialization options and three slots to put them in, according to MetaBot and the game data: three options open at skill level 8, one at 12 and the last at 16, and the slots open at 8, 12 and 20. The Chanter’s Dark Crush, for example:

So level 16 does not add a slot, but it unlocks the option many builds want most, and level 20 lets you keep it alongside two others.

How do you get a skill to level 16?

Points to 10, the four board nodes to 14, then two skill lines from gear or Arcana. The first 14 levels come with normal progress; the last two take some luck:

1. Skill points: level the skill to 10 as your character level allows.
2. Daevanion: take the Skill Level Up node for that skill on Nezekan, Zikel, Vaizel and Triniel. Our class Daevanion guides mark the nodes, starting with the Gladiator Daevanion guide, and the Daevanion calculator plans the route.
3. Gear: soul binding on Unique gear rolls random lines, and some of them are skill levels; our AION 2 soul binding guide shows how to reroll them. LuKKyLT got Overhead Slam +1 on a Vakron guard and Rending Blow +1 on a ring at about 1,800 to 1,900 gear score, and calls both lucky. FLIXAU also points to the necklace and guard.
4. Arcana: each card rolls skill lines for your class. LuKKyLT finds that Parchments and Compasses roll active skills and Bells and Mirrors passive ones. Cards drop in Transcendence from item level 1,600; a Rare card has 2 lines and a Legend 3, so stage 2 at 1,900 makes level 16 much easier. Our Arcana guide has the drop chances.

Wakayashi’s advice for new level 45 players is not to chase this early: the Arcana and soul binding systems open with gear score, and the levels come with time.

LuKKyLT’s video shows the whole route on a Gladiator, with the DPS test:

LuKKyLT — AION 2 Level 16 Gladiator Skills | Skills, Arcana, and Progression — YouTube

LuKKyLT — AION 2 Level 16 Gladiator Skills | Skills, Arcana, and Progression

What does level 16 change for each class?

Usually the main damage skill loses its cooldown or gets its strongest option. LuKKyLT measured the difference on a Gladiator: with Overhead Slam and Rending Blow at 16, a one-minute training dummy test went from about 22,000 to 27,500 DPS. These are the level 16 goals in our class guides, which credit the creators behind each pick:

Each class’s PvE guide covers the specializations in detail, from the Gladiator PvE build to the Chanter PvE build; every class is listed in the builds directory. The macro guides change at 16 too: aLuckyRO’s level 16 Chanter macro, for example, takes Critical Hit on hit and the cooldown removal on Dark Crush. Our AION 2 macro guide has every class.

How far past 16 can skills go?

There is no published cap; creators aim for 20 next. Level 20 opens the third specialization slot, so you can keep the level 16 option alongside two others. FLIXAU sets 20 as the goal for Overhead Slam, and the Ranger guides push Deadshot and Gale Arrow toward 20. The levels above 16 come from the same two sources, now at a higher grade:

• Arcana: a gold Unique card carries 4 skill lines, so a full set of five has 20 before enhancement, according to MetaBot, and each enhancement raises one of the lines again.
• Gear: crafted Dragon Lord weapons have 5 soul binding lines, against 3 or 4 on dungeon weapons, and a line on any weapon, armor piece or accessory can be a skill level; our class gear guides, such as the Spiritmaster gear guide, list the line count for each weapon.

questlog.gg’s client data lists skill values up to level 40, which suggests the levels keep stacking past 20.

How do stigma skills level?

Separately, with Stigma Shard points, from level 1 to 20. Every stigma uses the same price curve, according to MetaBot: 1 point per level up to 5, then 2, 4 and 8 per level in each band of five, 75 points from 1 to 20. Leveling gives 29 points by level 45, and the rest come from shops: the Trade Shop sells 200 more for Abyss Points, as our AION 2 Abyss Points guide shows, and the Nightmare and Festival shops 35 each. Stigma specializations unlock on their own at stigma levels 5, 10, 15 and 20; everything else about stigmas is in our AION 2 stigma guide.

Where does this skill information come from?

• questlog.gg: the game client data in its database, read on 2026-10-25: Dark Crush’s level costs, character level gates, specializations and values up to level 40, and the Skill Level Up nodes on the Daevanion boards (+1 level for 3 points each).
• MetaBot.GG: AION 2 Class Build Guide (skill point costs, specialization options and slots), EXP Table (203 skill points by level 45), Wisdom Stone (1 skill point, 24 quests), Arcana Guide (skill levels per card) and Stigma Guide (stigma levels and shards).
• LuKKyLT: AION 2 Level 16 Gladiator Skills | Skills, Arcana, and Progression (2026-10-19).
• FLIXAU: AION 2: How to Unlock Level 16 Skills FAST! (2026-10-08).
• Wakayashi: AION 2: Skills to Level 20? Gear Score or Combat Power? 11 Questions Answered! (2026-10-04).
• aLuckyRO: AION 2 Chanter PvE Macro Setup | Level 16 Dark Crush (2026-10-12).
• Class picks: our eight class PvE guides, which credit the creators behind each level 16 goal.