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Aion 2 crafting guide: resources, Transfer Crafting and Ebony costs

Aion 2 crafting guide for the global version: where to find resources, how Transfer Crafting works, full cost of an Ebony weapon, probabilities, Manastones and professions.

by Iruminati

Introduction

Crafting is the royal road to the best PvE gear in Aion 2. This Aion 2 crafting guide covers the global version of the game, the one releasing in Europe.

And here is the big news: the system has changed compared to the Taiwanese version. It is safer, but it costs more resources.

What you will find here:

• where to find resources;
• how crafting works (combo, probabilities);
• Transfer Crafting and the full cost of an Ebony weapon;
• what to craft first;
• other useful crafts: Manastones, Soulstones, Arcanas;
• professions and Essence Extraction.

Why craft your PvE gear?

Because crafted gear is the best PvE gear in the game. Sooner or later, every player ends up in full crafted gear.

Crafting resources

Three families of resources drive crafting:

Where to find them: summary

Gathering

Gathering yields little. Gold and blue resources are rare, and it is mostly farmed by bots.

Two things to know:

• The Abyss: you only gather Odyle there, but in quantity.
• The end of every dungeon: 3 Odyle on the ground per player (about 15 for a group of 5). They can come in higher quality, up to Radiant Odyle.

Resource bundles

Hidden Cubes and resource bundles exist in the game.

In the Taiwanese version, the Lucky Gathering Materials Bundle gives a 5% chance of a gold resource on each opening, including Radiant Odyle at 0.83%.

Shugo

Shugo opening rewards contain two key resources:

• Radiant Odyle: 2.5% chance;
• Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone: 0.75% chance.

Dungeons and raids

Expeditions like Fire Temple or Ferocious Horn Den, and the Ludra raid, give all three resource families:

• Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone and Artisan’s Refining Stone in boss rewards;
• Wrathful Mind, Wrathful Will and Wrathful Ego from bosses;
• Odyle on the ground at the end of dungeons, sometimes as Radiant Odyle.

Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den are the last Season 1 content: along with Ludra, they are the best Wrathful sources.

Achievements

Achievements are a gold mine. Check Achievements > Resource > Crafting:

• Each profession at level 50 (Novice): Artisan’s Refining Stone.
• Mass crafting (500 weapons, 500 armors): 2 Radiant Odyle each time.
• Cooking at level 50 (Professional): 2 Radiant Odyle.

On the Gathering side, gathering 500 Odyle also gives Artisan’s Refining Stone. At 3 Odyle per dungeon, that is 150 dungeons, around 2 to 3 weeks for an active player.

Season Shop

In the Materials tab of the Season Shop:

• Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone;
• Radiant Odyle;
• 10 Wrathful Mind, 10 Wrathful Will and 10 Wrathful Ego.

The limit is shown per server. We don’t know yet if it will be per server or per character at release.

Market

Every resource can be bought on the Market, sold by players: Radiant Odyle, Radiant Orichalcum Ore, Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone, Wrathful Mind, Wrathful Will, Wrathful Ego…

Substance Morph

Good to know: in Substance Morph > Gatherable Material, one Radiant Odyle turns into any Radiant resource (Radiant Diamond Gemstone, Radiant Asvata Log, Radiant Orichalcum Ore…).

• Cost: 0 Kinah.
• Success: 100%.

It all depends on Market prices. If the Radiant resource you need costs more than a Radiant Odyle, converting an Odyle beats buying it.

Substance Morph can also split a resource into several lower-rarity resources:

• 1 gold resource = 3 blue resources;
• 1 blue resource = 2 green resources;
• 1 green resource = 2 white resources.

In general, it is not profitable.

How crafting works

The quality chain

A crafted item climbs rarity step by step. Each tier requires the Splendent version of the previous item, which only comes from a combo.

Example with a bow:

Each tier uses 1 Splendent item from the previous tier. You start from a white item to reach a gold one, then Star Dragon.

The combo: 25% chance

Every successful craft has a 25% chance to trigger a combo. The combo then tries to craft the Splendent version directly, one rarity higher.

• No combo: you get the normal item. A white bow without combo is useless.
• Successful combo: you get the Splendent version, used to craft the next tier.

Success and failure: the gauges

The game explains it in the Crafting Chance window (« i » icon next to the combo):

• Crafting uses two gauges: one for success, one for failure.
• On each « turn », one of them fills up.
• The first full gauge decides the result.
• If you get hit while crafting, it fails and the materials are still consumed.
• The more your profession level exceeds the recipe’s, the better your chances.

Why « level 97 »? The game counts levels continuously: Novice 1 to 50 = levels 1 to 50, Professional 1 to 50 = levels 51 to 100. A Professional 50 (100) crafting a Novice 3 (3) recipe has a 97-level gap.

The Expected Probability tab shows the success rate based on that gap. It caps quickly:

The button next to « Basic » switches to the combo chances.

How many white crafts for one gold item?

Going from a white item to a gold one takes three successful combos in a row: white to green, then green to blue, then blue to gold.

At each tier, the chance of getting the Splendent version is:

q = p × 25% × p’

• p: chance to succeed the normal craft;
• 25%: chance to trigger the combo;
• p’: chance to succeed the combo.

The average number of white crafts for one gold item is then:

N = 1 ÷ (q white × q green × q blue)

With the in-game rates (about 93 to 94% each time):

• q ≈ 0.93 × 0.25 × 0.93 ≈ 0.22 per tier;
• N ≈ 1 ÷ (0.217 × 0.224 × 0.221) ≈ 93 white crafts.

Expect about 20 Expert crafts and 4 to 5 Artisan crafts on average along the way.

Transfer Crafting: the big change

What changes from the Taiwanese version

In the Taiwanese version, you crafted a Dark Dragon or Ebony weapon directly. With a failure risk, meaning you could lose everything.

In the global version, that is over. Only the first tier, Star Dragon, is crafted directly. The next tiers go through Transfer Crafting: you upgrade the weapon you already own.

The three rules of Transfer Crafting

• Guaranteed success: the game shows it in green, « This crafting is guaranteed to succeed ».
• Nothing is lost: enchantment, amplification and Soul Binding of the old weapon carry over to the new one.
• The combo still exists: 25% chance to skip a step. Example: a Splendent Dark Dragon you upgrade to Ebony can combo straight into Splendent Ebony. Only upgrades to the next tier have a combo: turning a weapon into the Splendent version of the same tier (Ebony to Splendent Ebony) has none.

One exception: the Star Dragon craft stays a regular craft. It can fail (about 6% at max level). Statistically, some players will fail it.

Full cost of an Ebony weapon

Here are all the resources for one weapon, from Star Dragon to Splendent Ebony, taken from the global playtest.

Resource	Star Dragon	Splendent	Dark Dragon	Splendent	Ebony	Splendent	Total
Artisan’s Splendent weapon	1		1		1		3
Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone	4		5		6	2	17
Wrathful Mind	10	4	3		3		20
Wrathful Will			15	5	3		23
Wrathful Ego					20	7	27
Radiant Orichalcum Ore	9		12	1	15	2	39
Radiant Odyle	5		7	2	9	3	26
Fine Thick Balaur Horn	22	11					33
Fine Hard Balaur Horn			29	15			44
Fine Durable Balaur Horn					41	21	62

Each tier also requires the weapon from the previous tier. Radiant resources depend on the item type (Radiant Orichalcum Ore for a sword, Radiant Asvata Log for a bow…).

More expensive than the Taiwanese version

Transfer Crafting never fails, but it costs more resources. Total comparison, following the exact same progression:

Resource	Global	Taiwanese	Increase
Wrathful Mind	20	10	+100%
Wrathful Will	23	14	+64%
Wrathful Ego	27	21	+29%
Radiant Orichalcum Ore	39	36	+8%
Radiant Odyle	26	21	+24%
Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone	17	15	+13%

Against a direct Ebony + Splendent craft in the Taiwanese version, the gap is even bigger: +233% Wrathful Mind (20 vs 6) and +109% Wrathful Will (23 vs 11).

Sorry to the haters on YouTube: this update benefits pay-to-win players.

What to craft first

Start with:

1. the weapon;
2. the Guard;
3. the accessories.

Why? Once raised in prestige, these items gain two very strong lines: Attack and Attack increase (in %), in orange on the tooltip.

Gear transfer

This is not crafting, but it is essential to craft well. In Enhancement > Transfer, you move onto a new item:

• its enchantment (+15 for example);
• its prestige points;
• its Soul Bindings.

Perfect to move from fully upgraded dungeon gear to your crafted PvE gear without losing anything.

You need a Transfer Stone (weapon, armor or accessory). It is made in Substance Morph from Transfer Stone Fragments, obtained by destroying gold items.

Other useful crafts

Manastones and Soulstones (Alchemy)

Alchemy makes Manastones and Soulstones. It is essential.

• You craft Intermediate Manastones, in batches of 10 if you want.
• Each craft has a 20% combo chance: it then gives a Superior Manastone.
• Same principle for Intermediate Soulstones, which can become Superior Soulstones.

There is also a direct craft for Superior Manastones or Superior Soulstones, with very good success chances. It uses Exceptional Ink, sold for 10,000 Kinah each by the Alchemy merchant. A real budget.

Gold Arcanas

Few players know it: you can also « craft » Arcanas.

• In Arcana > Extract, destroy cards to get Mysterious Crystals.
• In Arcana > Transmute, 5 Mysterious Crystals give a **gold Arcana**.

Mysterious Crystals should also be available in season missions (Transcendence in particular) and maybe in the Season Shop. To be confirmed at release.

Professions and Essence Extraction

Leveling a profession

Every profession follows the same path:

1. Novice 1 to 50.
2. A simple promotion quest: craft a basic item for an NPC. Guaranteed success, negligible cost.
3. Professional 1 to 50.

Recipes unlock with your level.

Every profession can be maxed on the same character. Professions are not shared between characters: you can level them again on your alts and claim the profession achievement rewards again.

Essence Extraction

Essence Extraction is the level shared by all gathering. Its points are split in two parts.

Common skills:

• Proficient Handling (max 10): the success gauge fills faster on each successful turn.
• Delicate Touch (max 10): reduces the failure gauge.
• Lady Luck: chance to boost the success gauge when failure goes above 50%. Too random, not a priority.

Specialty skills, one line per resource (ore, gem, wood, herb, ingredient, Odyle):

• Plentiful Harvest: more resources gathered.
• Appraiser: chance of higher quality (30% reroll for Odyle).

Practical tips

• Start big crafting batches when you go AFK: meals, breaks, overnight. Your character works while you are away.
• Crafting levels up the season pass: each successful craft gives points (20 or 30 depending on the mission).
• Watch the names: Star Dragon, Dark Dragon and Ebony are the Asmodian names. On the Elyos side, items have other names.

Conclusion

Crafting in the global version is safer but more expensive than in the Taiwanese version. Transfer Crafting removes the failure risk beyond Star Dragon, in exchange for more resources, especially Wrathful Mind and Wrathful Will.