Beginner guide — your first hours

AION 2 opens in the West on 5 October 2026, and your first hours will be shaped by four decisions the game makes you take early: your faction, which is also your server; your class, which the publisher describes in one line each; whether you play with PvP on; and how much of the character creator you use. This page covers what NCSOFT has actually published about each — and says plainly where the publisher has said nothing, which is more often than most guides admit.

The systems a new player meets were set out on 4 June 2025 and have not been contradicted since. Combat is manual: "A hit-confirm system with no auto-combat". Flight is unrestricted by region: "The game offers full aerial freedom in every region, along with underwater exploration". Character creation offers "over 200 adjustable features". And the factions are structural: "Separate servers for Elyos and Asmodians to improve faction balance". The Western service is PC only, free to play, with Founders entering five days before the free launch. The Steam pre-release FAQ, published on 17 September 2026, adds that AION 2 is already playable with a controller, while full controller support is still being evaluated for launch. It also says wishlist and official-newsletter reward details will be shared closer to the global launch, and that new players need no prior knowledge of AION’s world or story. Source: Steam Community Announcement, 17 September 2026 — https://steamstore-a.akamaihd.net/news/externalpost/steam_community_announcements/1844115010490265.

Three things worth knowing before you start, in order of how hard they are to undo. First, your faction is your server — Elyos and Asmodians are on separate servers, so this decides who you can play with, not just how you look. Second, the character creator’s 200-plus features are described as available "when creating their character"; NCSOFT has published nothing about changing appearance afterwards, so treat creation as a decision. Third, PvP has an on-off toggle, but on the Korean service it "can be toggled only within faction territories and includes a 70-minute cooldown" — a choice made in advance, not in the moment.

Steam published the notice “Twitch Drops Account Linking Guide” (https://steamcommunity.com/games/3393110/announcements/detail/712288224875119610) on 2 October 2026. It says to link Twitch to the same platform account used to play: Steam for Steam players, NC (Purple) for Purple players. A different account may prevent Drops from being awarded. If a reward is missing, do not separately link the account on the NC website: the notice warns this may unlink the existing connection and make the existing character inaccessible. It points affected players to FAQ 7240. No account was tested here; the notice does not establish a fix for an individual case or promise later reward delivery.