Beginner guide — your first hours

AION 2 opens in the West on 30 September 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.

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.

The mistake that costs the most is treating this as a game you can leave running. It is not: NCSOFT states there is no auto-combat, and that is a design statement, not an omission. The second mistake is planning your first week from Korean guides. The Korean service has run since November 2025 and received seventeen official updates; the Western launch content has not been announced, and this site marks every Korean-only page with a warning for exactly that reason. What you can rely on for 30 September 2026: PC only, free to play, four server regions, ten in-game languages, and Founders five days early.