AION 2 Global vs Korea: What the Launch Scale Test Build Changed
The global AION 2 client in the September 17, 2026 Launch Scale Test runs a reworked Season 1. Compared with the live Taiwan client by creator Madsin, and checked against the game screens and our Korean extract, the test build has higher base Attack but much lower percentage stats (soul binding, Daevanion, Genus Insight, pets, titles) and no built-in PvE bonus on gear. Crafting above the first Dragon Lord tier (Star for Asmodians, True for Elyos) is transfer-only and bound, enhancement caps at +5 (green) and +10 (blue), Conquest entry needs less item level, the Ferocious Horn Den boss drops Unique gear at 7.5% instead of 10%, the Ariel board is missing, and hidden cubes give 1,000 Soul Crystals. NC hasn't announced any of it. This is the test build, not launch.
Last updated: September 18, 2026
What this is, and how much weight to put on it
The Launch Scale Test that opened on September 17 is the first time the public has been able to play the global AION 2 client, and it is not the game Korea and Taiwan launched with. NC said as much at gamescom — the global version starts on "a modified version" of Season 1 with a year of quality-of-life and balance changes folded in (see our gamescom Q&A coverage) — but it never said what the modifications are. The test client shows a good part of them.
The most complete comparison so far comes from Madsin, a YouTube creator who plays on the Taiwanese service. On Day 1 he levelled to 30, the level at which the test's last piece of content unlocks, then went through the global client one system at a time with the live Taiwan client open next to it. His 32-minute video, "My Global LST findings (and what they mean)", went up on September 17 at 5:11 PM PDT. This article is built from it.
What we added: we checked every figure below against the in-game screens shown in the video, and checked the Korea/Taiwan side against our own extract of the live Korean client (patch of September 9). Where a number is his word only, with no legible screen behind it, the text says "he reports". The last section lists what matched our data.
Elyos players: Madsin played an Asmodian character on both clients, so the crafted gear in the video carries Asmodian names. Elyos craft the same Dragon Lord gear under different names: Star is True, Dark is White, Ebony is Wise, Demonic is Celestial. In our extract each pair has the same item level, stats, soul-binding pool and recipe, so every figure here applies to both factions. We give both names below, and the crafting section has the full list.
Three caveats before any of it. First, this is the test build. NC's own notices make Steam players uninstall the separate Playtest app and install AION 2 for Advance Access, so the build that launches on September 30 is a different download. Second, the test disables the shop, market, trading and everything above level 37, so a missing system can be a test-only omission rather than a design decision. Third, NC has published no patch notes for any of this. Treat it as a strong preview, not a spec sheet.
Gear: bigger base stats, no built-in PvE bonus, and "Potential" on everything
Base stats on equipment go up in the test build. The Splendent Ebony Dragon Lord Longsword (Splendent Wise for Elyos) is Item Level 102 with 485–606 Attack; the same sword on Taiwan is Item Level 92 with 372–465. It is not only the item level: Madsin points out that Taiwan's Splendent Demonic Dragon Lord Longsword (Splendent Celestial), at Item Level 100, only reaches 505. The first crafted tier moves the other way: he reads the base Star Dragon Lord pieces (True Dragon Lord for Elyos) at Item Level 62, down from 70, while every tier after it goes up.
The percentages go down. On Korea and Taiwan, crafted gear comes with PvE stats built in: Dragon Lord weapons carry a flat 5% PvE Damage Boost, and armor and accessories carry PvE stats too. In the test build that line is gone from crafted and dungeon gear alike.
In its place, every tooltip shows the icon for Potential, the system that raises an item's PvE stats with Potential Stones. On Korea and Taiwan that icon is greyed out on crafted gear, because crafted gear already has the bonus and Potential exists to bring dungeon gear up to it. In the test build it is live on both. The catch: the Substance Morph recipes that turn gear into Potential Stones are missing, for dungeon gear too. That is either a test-build gap or a sign the stones will come from somewhere else. Madsin expects crafted gear to stay ahead of dungeon gear once both are fully upgraded. The test gives no way to check that.
| Korea / Taiwan now | Launch Scale Test | |
|---|---|---|
| Item Level 92, Attack 372–465 | Item Level 102, Attack 485–606 | |
| Item Level 70 | Item Level 62 | |
| PvE % stats on crafted gear | Weapons PvE Damage Boost 5%, breastplate PvE Damage Tolerance 2.5%, accessories PvE Damage Boost 2.5% | None — on crafted or dungeon gear |
| Soul binding, Item Level 70: | Damage Boost 8.2–9.5%, Regeneration 2.9–3.4% | Damage Boost 4.7–5.5%, Regeneration 2.1–2.5% |
| Accessory soul binding | No Might, Precision, Combat Speed or Move Speed | Might and Precision on all; Combat Speed (necklace), Move Speed (earrings) |
| Enhancement cap | Green (Rare) +10, blue +15 | Green +5, blue +10 |
| Splendent upgrade (transfer craft) | Base item + Kina (1,000,000 for the Star or True Dragon Lord Longsword) | Base item + draconic ingredient (4 Wrathful Mind) |
Crafting: only the first Dragon Lord tier is a direct craft
Crafting changes the most. In the test build the only Dragon Lord gear you can craft directly is the first tier: Star Dragon Lord for Asmodians, True Dragon Lord for Elyos. Every tier above it is transfer crafting only: you feed in your current piece and upgrade it one tier at a time. The transfer screen states that enhancement, amplification and soul binding carry over, and that the result is soul-bound to the character who made it. You can't craft a high tier straight away, and you can't sell one on the market. On Korea and Taiwan you can still craft Ebony and Wise Dragon Lord gear directly; both recipes are in our extract.
The tiers, with their names on each side:
| Tier | Asmodian | Elyos | Item Level (KR/TW) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70 / 76 | ||
| 2 | 78 / 84 | ||
| 3 | 86 / 92 | ||
| 4 | 94 / 100 |
Longswords linked; every weapon, armor and accessory slot uses the same prefixes. Item Level is base / Splendent.
Madsin also reports that the guaranteed-success crafts bought with season-shop currency are gone, leaving only the recipes that can fail. The Splendent upgrade — the transfer that turns a regular craft into its Splendent version when the Combo roll doesn't proc — now costs draconic ingredients of the same tier instead of Kina. For the Star Dragon Lord Longsword that is 4 Wrathful Mind, where Taiwan asks for 1,000,000 Kina. Korea charges the same 1,000,000 for the Elyos Splendent True Dragon Lord Longsword.
Recipe costs barely move, and the Asmodian and Elyos recipes are identical in our extract. The base Star or True Dragon Lord Longsword, per craft:
| Korea / Taiwan now | Launch Scale Test | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | |
| 22 | 22 | |
| 5 | 4 | |
| 12 | 9 | |
| 7 | 5 |
The Combo chance stays at 25%. Madsin reports the transfer steps cost a little more.
Soul binding: lower rolls, reshuffled pools, and real stats on accessories
Every soul-binding sub-stat he compared rolls lower than the same stat at the same item level on Taiwan. The clearest case is the Item Level 70 Star Dragon Lord Breastplate (True Dragon Lord Breastplate for Elyos): Damage Boost tops out at 5.5% instead of 9.5%, and Regeneration at 2.5% instead of 3.4%. Madsin notes these aren't later-season Taiwan numbers — Taiwan's values have been the same since its launch. Crafted gear still has five soul-binding slots.
The pools themselves are reshuffled. Changes he found across the gear slots:
- Every accessory can now roll Might and Precision (confirmed on the property list of the Splendent Star Dragon Lord Necklace, the Asmodian twin of the Elyos Splendent True Dragon Lord Necklace).
- Necklaces add Combat Speed; earrings add Move Speed.
- Pauldrons gain Smite, where they previously had little beyond Critical Damage Boost and passive skills.
- The breastplate and helm gain tolerance stats on the PvP side.
- Regeneration and Endurance no longer share a piece: each slot offers one of the two, so you can't stack both.
Accessories are the practical change. On Korea and Taiwan they are mostly rolled for skill levels. With Might, Precision and speed stats now available, and those stats trimmed from other slots, Madsin expects most builds to roll them even on classes with more than five passives to fill.
Enhancement caps: +5 on green, +10 on blue
The test build caps enhancement by grade. A green (Rare) weapon stops at +5 with "Reached Max Enhance Level", and a blue breastplate stops at +10. On Taiwan the same green item keeps going past +6. The green cap mostly keeps new players from sinking materials into gear they'll soon replace. The blue cap matters more: on Taiwan some blue pieces are worth taking to +15 because you keep them until raid gear replaces them.
Per-level stat gains look unchanged, and Amplification is still in the game. Tooltips mention it, Amplification Stones are in Substance Morph, and Amplification Stone fragments appear in several reward tables.
Dungeons: lower entry, a lower Unique chance, and pity everywhere
Conquest dungeons need a lot less item level. NC's Japanese livestreams showed a reduction earlier, and the requirements have dropped again since. Odyle Energy costs and the Kina reward are unchanged.
| Korea / Taiwan now | Launch Scale Test | |
|---|---|---|
| Krao Cave, Draupnir | Item Level 1,000 | Item Level 700 |
| Urugugu Canyon | Item Level 1,600 | Item Level 1,400 |
| Fire Temple, Ferocious Horn Den | Item Level 2,200 | Item Level 2,100 |
| Ferocious Horn Den final boss, Unique gear pool | 10% | 7.5% |
Unique (gold) gear drops less often. On the Ferocious Horn Den final boss, the Unique gear pool is 7.5% in the test build and 10% on Taiwan. Madsin puts it as 10% having always been the rate on Korea and Taiwan. Our extract shows the rate varies by boss: 15% on the Krao Cave and Draupnir final bosses, plus smaller pools on mid-bosses. So a dungeon-by-dungeon comparison with global is still to be made. The rest of the loot table changes too:
- The wing feathers and Artwork Scraps that dungeons drop on Korea and Taiwan are gone, replaced by the finished item as a direct drop. That clears up inventory space, but feathers could also be turned into Soul Crystals for Genus Insight, and the finished items can't: they can only be broken down for Enhance Stones.
- Draconic ingredients (the Wrathful Mind family) drop unbound and tradeable at every tier. Taiwan today drops the dungeon's own tier unbound and lower tiers bound. Since the high Dragon Lord tiers are now bound transfer crafts, the ingredients should end up with players crafting for themselves, not with players buying and flipping gear.
- Every Conquest dungeon now offers a Gear Change Voucher as its guaranteed reward, including those that lacked one. Converting a weapon costs one voucher instead of two, and dungeons that drop guards let you craft one from two vouchers. That fixes an old Taiwan problem, where a decent guard came down to a low-chance drop.
- There is no soul-binding material in the loot tables.
Odyle Energy works as it does on Korea and Taiwan: most of the weekly bonus goes to your main, with a little for alts, and the test build resets it on Wednesday. The Conquest menu also shows the "Odyle energy can be purchased from the shop" prompt that leads to the Membership shop on Taiwan. One difference: Madsin says the base recharge rate without Membership already matches what Membership gives on Korea and Taiwan. The test has no Membership to compare against.
Sanctuary and the Abyss
In Abyssal Forge: Ludra, the Sanctuary, the orange (Legendary) gear Korea and Taiwan get is Unique (gold) in the test build. The bracelet is gold, with the same stats and soul-binding count as Taiwan's and a slightly higher item level. Madsin reports it can be crafted from day one for 3 Gear Change Vouchers and 5 million Kina. On Taiwan the orange bracelet craft came late in Season 2 and costs 2 vouchers and 20 million Kina. The Ludra weapons are gold too. He reports a higher Attack than Taiwan's orange versions (697 against 569 at the top of the range he compared), but only three soul-binding slots where our extract has four, and the guard is gold with four where Korea's has five.
On the PvP side, Nahma's Merit Chest in the test build gives Silver Medals of Merit and Abyss Points. Silver is the only medal tier on offer, which points to Centurion gear as the Season 1 PvP set. The same reward list includes Potential Stones for PvP gear, from the chests and from monsters in the Lower Abyss. They are shown as bound, so you farm them yourself rather than buy them, as Taiwan now allows. Madsin also notes that medals aren't listed as quest rewards.
Substance Morph adds a green PvP amulet, so the Battle Amulet goes green → blue → gold (the Fierce Battle Amulet is morphed from a +10 Battle Amulet), like the PvE amulet. On Taiwan you get the blue one as soon as the Abyss unlocks.
Daevanion, Genus Insight, pets and titles: smaller numbers everywhere
| Korea / Taiwan now | Launch Scale Test | |
|---|---|---|
| Daevanion major nodes | Combat Speed 2.5%, Cooldown Reduction 2.5%, Damage Boost 5% | 1.5%, 1.5%, 2.5% |
| Daevanion minor nodes | Attack +5, Critical Hit +10 | Attack +3, Critical Hit +5 |
| Ariel board (PvE) | Present | Missing |
| Genus Insight Smite | Up to 4.8% per genus (2.4% in each of two slots) | Up to 3%, special genus only |
| Pet level cap | Level 5 | Level 3 |
| Hidden cube Soul Crystals | 100 | 1,000, every time |
Daevanion. Madsin reports every node is roughly halved or worse, orange nodes included. He also reports the Ariel board, the PvE board, is missing entirely. It's a large source of PvE Damage Tolerance and damage stats on Korea and Taiwan, and early on it was bought outright through tradeable boards. The Azphel (PvP) board is present, but the Substance Morph recipe that turns Azphel scraps into tradeable boards is gone. He expects Azphel boards to come from PvP shops and the Abyss Monolith instead.
Genus Insight. The slot tables are rebuilt. Smite, which could roll up to 4.8% per genus on Korea and Taiwan, now only rolls up to 3%, and only on the special genus. Other damage-boost lines are higher. New lines appear: status effect chance and resist, and an HP percentage. Defensive slots now hold only defensive stats, so Accuracy, Critical Hit, Boss Attack, Block and Evasion are much scarcer overall. Madsin expects accuracy caps to be harder to reach and later bosses to need their Smite resistance lowered.
Pets. The cap is level 3 instead of 5. NC announced this on its August 7 livestream, and the test build matches. The stats are changed as well as capped: the Superior Wind Spirit at its level-3 cap gives Stamina, Critical Hit Resist and Precision, where on Taiwan it gives MP, Critical Hit Resist, Precision, Willpower and Natura Damage Boost at level 5. MP becomes Stamina, and similar swaps appear on most pets.
Titles. Most title stats are lower, and no title carries Smite anymore.
Where skill points, Soul Crystals and Enhance Stones come from now
- Monoliths no longer give skill points or skins. Madsin reports the skill points moved to Sealed Dungeons, so you can't collect them all by walking to the Monoliths. The rogue chests inside Sealed Dungeons now give Power Shards instead of Enhance Stones.
- Hidden cubes give 1,000 Soul Crystals every time. On Taiwan the cube he opened on camera gave 100. That makes cubes a major early source for Genus Insight. Otherwise their contents are the Season 1 set: no Theostones, fewer scroll types, and no later-season skins or bundles. He found only red cubes, no gold ones, possibly by chance.
- The Shugo Festival shop still sells Daevanion Crystals and Soul Crystals, but its skill points are gone. It adds Radiant Odyle (3 per month) and Stigma Shards (35 in total). Its Pantheon Decor tab sells finished Artworks for 2,000 tokens each instead of crafting materials. Madsin reports the tile minigame is still easy to farm, so a player could buy every Artwork that way over time.
- Unstable Stigma Shards are gone from Substance Morph, cubes and dungeons. Stigma Shards come straight from shops, including the Abyss shop and, per the item's source list, Nightmare.
- Wings: crafting a usable pair from sealed wings still costs 10 Radiant Odyle, and the result can't be traded. Only the sealed version can be traded or sold. Madsin reports neither version dismantles into Enhance Stones directly; the sealed version morphs into 10,000. He compares that with 90,000 from dismantling bought wings on Taiwan. We couldn't find that recipe in our Korean extract, where the only wing-related morph turns a Featherdown into 500 Enhance Stones.
- Seasonal Abyss Supply Requests no longer give Soul Crystals, as they did before Korea and Taiwan added them.
- The Daily Dungeon list shows only the Enhance Stone dungeon (Daeva Bio-Research Base in the test client). That may be test-only, since the Daily Dungeon unlocks at level 30. Instant Clear Tickets are back.
- World-boss Artworks built from boss-box scraps are in the game, and Madsin reports the scrap cost is unchanged: 20,000 scraps for the Gartua Artwork. That is
Artwork: Eternal Gartua for Elyos and
Artwork: Immortal Gartua for Asmodians, each made from its own faction's Artwork Scrap: Field Boss I.
Also in the build: a trust system, Pending Quna, a 500k AP cap
Madsin reports a trust system that was visible when Day 1 opened and was hidden mid-day. As he describes it, trust rises with normal play (enhancing gear, running dungeons, talking to people), and trading and the market stay locked until it's high enough. That is a common anti-bot gate, and on Korea and Taiwan the obvious targets are gathering bots. NC hasn't documented it, and we didn't capture its name.
The currency panel shows a currency Korea and Taiwan don't have: Pending Quna. Its tooltip says it "changes to Paid Quna after designated wait time (72 hours)" and can be spent with the Shugo Merchants. Where it comes from isn't stated. It fits the Quna model in NC's July 8 monetization notice, but the notice doesn't mention it.
Madsin reports two more settings on the test servers. The Abyss Point cap is 500,000 and rises by 500,000 a week. Class balance matches Korea and Taiwan as of the week before the test, without the balance pass that went live there two days earlier. That points to global release following the Korean balance patches, but he says both may be test-server settings.
How we checked, and what it means for our tools
Figures from the test build were checked against the game screens in the video. Figures that are Madsin's word only are marked "he reports" in the text. For the Korea/Taiwan column we checked his side of each comparison against our own extract of the live Korean client (September 9 patch). These matched our data:
- Gear: Splendent Ebony/Wise and Splendent Demonic/Celestial Dragon Lord Longsword item levels and Attack ranges; Star/True Dragon Lord at Item Level 70; the 5% and 2.5% PvE stats on crafted gear; the Item Level 70 breastplate's soul-binding ranges; no Might, Precision, Combat Speed or Move Speed on accessories today.
- Crafting: the Star and True Dragon Lord Longsword recipes, identical, including the 25% Combo chance; Ebony and Wise gear craftable directly; the 1,000,000 Kina Splendent upgrade on both sides.
- Factions: every one of the 215 Asmodian-named Unique Dragon Lord items in our extract has an Elyos twin. The pairs used here match on item level, stats, soul-binding pool and slot count.
- Progression: enhancement caps of +10 (green) and +15 (blue); Conquest item-level requirements; pet cap and Superior Wind Spirit stats; Daevanion node values; Ariel as the PvE board; Genus Insight Smite at 2.4% in each of two slots.
- Rewards: the 20,000-scrap cost of the Gartua Artworks; the Ludra's Bracelet morph at 2 Gear Change Vouchers and 20,000,000 Kina.
Two claims didn't match. The 10% Unique chance holds for the Ferocious Horn Den final boss he showed, but not for every Conquest boss. And we found no recipe that dismantles wings into 90,000 Enhance Stones.
Our Build Planner, item database and Crafting Calculator run on the live Korean client, so their numbers match the Korea/Taiwan column above, not the test build. Everything here can still change before September 30, and the test's Day 2 is still to come.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is global AION 2 weaker than the Korean version?
On the Launch Scale Test build, the percentage stats are lower almost everywhere: soul-binding rolls, Daevanion nodes, Genus Insight, titles and pets. Built-in PvE percentages are gone from gear. Base Attack and Defense on gear are higher. The overall effect is slower power growth than Korea and Taiwan had at launch. This is the test build; NC has not published final numbers.
Can you craft high-tier Dragon Lord gear directly in global AION 2?
Not in the Launch Scale Test build. Only the first tier is a direct craft: Star Dragon Lord for Asmodians, True Dragon Lord for Elyos. Higher tiers (Dark/White, Ebony/Wise, Demonic/Celestial) come only from transfer crafting, one tier at a time. Enhancement, amplification and soul binding carry over, and the result is bound to your character, so high-tier crafted gear can't be bought on the market.
What are the enhancement caps in global AION 2?
In the Launch Scale Test build, green (Rare) gear caps at +5 and blue gear at +10. On Korea and Taiwan they go to +10 and +15. Per-level stat gains are unchanged, and Amplification is still in the game.
Does global AION 2 have the Ariel Daevanion board?
Not in the Launch Scale Test build, according to creator Madsin's comparison. The PvE Ariel board is missing. The PvP Azphel board is present, but its Substance Morph recipe from scraps is gone. NC has not said whether Ariel will arrive later.
What is Pending Quna in AION 2?
A currency in the global Launch Scale Test client that Korea and Taiwan don't have. Its tooltip says it changes to Paid Quna after a 72-hour wait and can be spent with the Shugo Merchants. NC hasn't said how it is earned.