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Aion 2 Assassin Guide: complete PvE build (skills, stigmas, gear)

Aion 2 Assassin PvE guide: specializations for every skill, passives, stigmas, stats, late game gear, Arcanas, Genus Insight, Daevanion and macro.

by Iruminati

Introduction: the Assassin playstyle

Want to play Assassin in Aion 2 and be the best player in your group?

This Aion 2 Assassin guide gathers the whole build, step by step: playstyle, specialization of every skill, passives, stigmas, target stats, gear, Arcanas, Genus Insight, Daevanion and macro.

The Assassin is a very dynamic melee class. It chains dashes and lives to the rhythm of its burst phases.

Things to know before you start:

• Melee has a cost. Many bosses have mechanics that let ranged classes keep hitting, but not the Assassin. Its many dashes partly make up for it.
• Some thresholds are mandatory. Several skills and stigmas only become truly effective at a specific level. Details are in each card below.

Understanding specializations

Each skill has 5 specialization lines, identified by a color: green, blue, yellow, orange and red. They unlock with the skill level.

• Level 8: lines 1 to 3, 1 specialization
• Level 12: 4th line, 2 specializations
• Level 16: 5th line unlocked
• Level 20: 3 specializations

How do you get a main skill to level 20? You add up 4 sources:

Remember this rule: 4 points from Daevanion, 4 points from Arcanas, 2 points from gear. It applies to the 3 main skills: Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion and Quick Slice.

You can also play with a 4th skill at level 20: Savage Roar. It is not a main skill, but a worthwhile secondary skill to level.

Active skills

For each skill, here are the specializations to activate depending on its level. The colored dot shows the matching line in game.

Heart GoreMain skill

The Assassin’s main skill. It triggers on critical hit. Level it to 20 first.

Lv. 12

Multi-Hit+1 Insignia

Lv. 16

Reset on critMulti-Hit

Lv. 20

Reset on critMulti-Hit+1 Insignia

Tip Missing a lot of Critical Hit? Replace Multi-Hit or Insignia with the yellow line: up to +20% Critical Hit when there are few targets.

Insignia ExplosionMain skill

As important as Heart Gore: level it to the same level. It detonates your Insignias for big damage.

Lv. 12

+50% Multi-HitKeeps 2 Insignias

Lv. 16

+50% Multi-Hit-3 s CD

Lv. 20

-3 s CD+50% Multi-HitKeeps 2 Insignias

Quick SliceMain skill

The basic attack of the rotation. Each hit reduces the cooldown of Insignia Explosion.

Lv. 12

+50% Multi-Hit-1 s CD Insignia Explosion

Lv. 16

Ignores block, guaranteed crit-1 s CD Insignia Explosion

Lv. 20

Ignores block, guaranteed crit-1 s CD Insignia Explosion+50% Multi-Hit

Tip Leveling too hard? Take the blue line (absorbs 0.7% HP) instead of one specialization to gain survivability.

Savage Roar

A filler skill. Useful early on, less so later.

Lv. 12

+20% Skill Speed-1 s CD Shadowstrike

Lv. 20

+20% Skill Speed-1 s CD Shadowstrike+12% damage

Level this skill to 20 only if you plan to play with it.

Shadowstrike

No need to level it high: level 12 is enough. Only the blue line matters, the second one is your choice.

Lv. 12

+20% Crit Damage (10 s)?Your choice

Ambush

Worthwhile at level 16.

Lv. 16

+2 charges+2 Insignias from behind

Storm Rampage

Level it to 16 minimum.

Lv. 12

Usable while movingMulti-Hit

Lv. 16

-1 s CD on all skillsMulti-Hit

Whirlwind Slice

Level 12 is more than enough.

Lv. 12

+50% Multi-Hit+16 m range

Flash Slice

Level 12 minimum, no need to go higher. An excellent repositioning skill.

Lv. 12

+6 m range+1 charge

Infiltrate

Level 12 minimum.

Lv. 12

+300 stamina+10 m range

Shadow Fall

A healing skill, not a damage one. Useful in easy content to recover HP. You can leave it at level 0 if you are short on points.

Lv. 12

10% lifesteal+3 Insignias

Defiance

Level 12 minimum. Tenacity makes you immune to crowd control.

Lv. 12

+2 s Tenacity+20% HP on activation

Passives

Some passives are essential, others much less so. Here is the ranking.

Tier	Passive	What it gives
0	Rear Smite	Back Attack Boost and PvE Damage Boost. The #1 passive.
1	Assault Stance	Critical Damage Boost based on level
1	Impact Hit	Greatly increases double hit chance
2	Exploit Weakness	Critical Hit, Attack bonus and clones on critical hit
5	Determination	Extra damage on a target at 50% HP or less
5	Heightened Sixth Sense	More max HP, so more survivability

• The first 4 (Rear Smite, Assault Stance, Impact Hit, Exploit Weakness) should be leveled as high as possible.
• The rest (Ambush Stance, Defense Break, Revitalization Contract): spread your remaining points. Apply Poison is the least useful outside PvP.

Stigmas

Stigmas are special skills that boost your character. At launch, you will only have 4 slots. Each stigma gains a line every 5 levels (5, 10, 15 and 20).

Illusive Clone and Swift Contract are the two most important stigmas. Level them as high and as fast as possible. Their level 5 lines are worthless.

Recommended leveling order:

1. Swift Contract level 10
2. Illusive Clone level 10
3. Swift Contract level 15
4. Savage Fang level 15
5. Illusive Clone level 15
6. Illusive Clone level 20
7. Swift Contract level 20

Target stats

As with almost every class, Attack dominates. Look for plenty of Might: this stat increases your Attack as a percentage (Attack Increase).

Then, 4 divine stats make the difference:

• Destruction [Zikel]: increases Attack.
• Wisdom [Lumiel]: increases Double Chance.
• Time [Siel]: increases Combat Speed.
• Illusion [Kaisinel]: reduces cooldowns, so your buffs come back more often.

Where to find them? On the Pantheon artworks and on abyssal bracelets.

Late game gear

The target gear is the crafted Splendent Ebony Dragon Lord set, the most expensive in the game. Every piece is at max enhancement (+20) with max potential.

The golden rule of Soul Binding

Each piece has random stats: the Soul Binding. On armor and jewelry, 3 passive lines always come back:

• Tier 1: Rear Smite, always first.
• Tier 2: Assault Stance and Impact Hit.
• Philosopher’s Stone (bonus line): Exploit Weakness or Attack.

Soul Binding by gear piece

• Rings: the 4th skill is your choice. Savage Roar if you play the Savage Roar build, Ambush otherwise, or simply Attack.
• Amulet and belt: not very important.

See every possible Soul Binding stat by gear piece (image)

Manastones

On Superior Manastones, aim for the Ultimate tier:

• Damage Boost +100
• Weapon Damage Boost +100
• Critical Damage Boost +100
• Back Attack Damage Boost +100

No Ultimate line? The best alternative is Attack +10.

Theostones

The differences between Theostones are small. The best option: any Theostone with a 1% chance to deal big damage.

You hit very often, so that 1% triggers regularly. Example: Traufnir’s Courage, 1% chance to deal 10,000 fire damage.

Arcanas

Arcanas grant a divine stat and skill or passive levels. The goal: +4 on each main skill and as much as possible on the key passives. All cards are +5.

Optimization example

What matters is the final result. You can spread your points however you like across the cards.

• Result: +4 on Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion, Quick Slice and Savage Roar. +7 on Rear Smite, +6 on Assault Stance.
• Mirror: Wisdom or Illusion. Wisdom is recommended.

Wings

Two choices, depending on your goal:

Genus Insight

Genus Insight is filled family by family (Cogni, Fera, Natura, Varian and Special). Each family has 9 slots, with the same pattern:

Pantheon

For artworks, always aim for the same 4 stats: Wisdom, Destruction, Time and Illusion. Life and the other stats are not a priority.

For statues, use what you have. The Kromede and Zikel statues are the priority for the stats they give.

Daevanion

Daevanion tops up skill levels. Take every golden node: these are the +4 on main skills (Quick Slice, Savage Roar, Insignia Explosion, Heart Gore) and on key passives (Rear Smite, Assault Stance, Impact Hit, Exploit Weakness).

No headache: once all your Daevanions are complete, you will have taken almost every interesting node.

With the remaining points, fill in as needed: Attack Bonus, Ambush, Defense Break, Flash Slice, Shadowstrike, Infiltrate or HP.

Rotation and macro

The rotation

1. Cast your two buffs: Illusive Clone and Swift Contract.
2. Cast Shadowstrike for its Critical Damage Boost bonus.
3. Hold right click and left click: auto-attack runs in perfect « weaving » (skills slotted in with no time lost), and the macro casts your skills as soon as they are ready.
4. Reposition if needed:
   • Flash Slice: teleport to the other side of the boss, symmetrically (usable twice).
   • Shift + Infiltrate: dash behind the boss.

The skill chain

Put these skills in this order in the macro:

0. Insignia Explosion
1. Ambush, only if it is worthwhile in the current meta
2. Heart Gore
3. Savage Roar, only if you play the Savage Roar build

The in-game macro

The in-game macro contains Insignia Explosion then Triniel’s Dagger.

Bonus option: the mouse macro

Do you have a Logitech mouse, or any mouse with macro software? Create a macro in your software. Example here with G Hub:

• Macro type: repeat while held.
• Keys: the in-game macro key, then the auto-attack key.
• Save, then assign the macro to the empty button of your choice.

More details on macros in the Aion 2 Bible.

Conclusion

The Assassin demands optimization, but it pays off: mobility, burst and big damage from behind.

Key points to remember:

• Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion and Quick Slice to level 20 first.
• Rear Smite above all on gear and passives.
• Illusive Clone and Swift Contract leveled as fast as possible.
• Might, Destruction, Wisdom, Time and Illusion as target stats.