Set up an AION 2 Assassin for PvE: which skills and specialties to level first, which stigmas to take and in what order, how to lay out the skill bar and macros, and the damage loop to run against a boss. The last two sections cover the Daevanion board, wings, arcana, Genus Insights and the Pantheon, which together raise PvE damage well beyond what skill points alone can.
Quick answer
| What | Answer |
|---|---|
| Core skills | Level the three main active skills to 20 first |
| Passive order | Rear Smite, Assault Stance, Exploit Weakness, Impact Hit |
| Stigma priority | Swift Contract to level 20 first, then Illusive Clone |
| In-game macro | Insignia Explosion with a 10 millisecond delay |
| Opening burst | Double buff, Shadow Strike, Savage Fang, then Triniel's Dagger |
| Best wing | Season shop wing with 4% cooldown reduction |
Level the three core skills first
Three active skills carry the class: Quick Slice, Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion. Each one gets a new specialty line at level 16, and at level 20 three specialties are active at the same time, so the goal is to push all three to 20 before anything else.
| Skill | Specialties before level 16 | At level 16 |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Slice | 2 and 4 | Swap 2 for 5, ending on 3, 4 and 5 at level 20 |
| Heart Gore | 1 and 4 | Swap 1 for the last specialty, which lets it be spammed after a critical hit |
| Insignia Explosion | 2 and 3 | Swap 2 for the last specialty |
- swap 2 for 5 at level 16 · 0:31
- swap 1 for the last one at level 16
- swap 2 for the last one at level 16 · 0:59
- passives give the most early damage
Max the four damage passives
Once the three core skills are maxed, every point goes into four passives, in this order 1:28. Early in the game they add more damage than any remaining active skill.
| Order | Passive | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rear Smite | Back attack damage and PvE damage |
| 2 | Assault Stance | 1% critical damage per level |
| 3 | Exploit Weakness | Attack |
| 4 | Impact Hit | Double chance |
After all four are done, go back and level the remaining active skills.
For survival, take Revitalization Contract. It restores 46% of your HP after a heavy boss hit 4:54, which makes it the best defensive passive for PvE content.
Pick specialties for the other active skills
None of these need many points. Most stop at level 8, and two of them are deliberately held below level 16 because their last specialty only stays unlocked there.
| Skill | Level | Specialties | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Strike | 8 is enough | Second, plus the fourth at level 12 for a shorter cooldown; always the 20% critical damage boost | Opening every burst |
| Ambush | Below 16 | Keep the last specialty so it can be cast three times | Only at low HP; it absorbs 3% HP |
| Storm Rampage | Below 16 | Keep the minus 1 second on all skill cooldowns | Once the boss is staggered |
| Whirlwind Slice | 8 | 60 meter range and plus 50% multi-hit | Rarely in PvE |
| Flash Slice | Any | Leave the second and fourth locked | Getting behind the boss for back attack damage |
| Infiltrate | 8 | — | Press Shift in combat, or freely while flying in the Abyss |
| Defiance | Any | Second specialty restores 1,000 stamina | Lets you press Shift more often |
The 20% critical damage boost on Shadow Strike is the only specialty there that matters much for PvE 2:59; the others can be left wherever they land.
Storm Rampage is worth timing. Cast it the moment the boss is staggered, and every other skill on your bar comes off cooldown a second sooner 3:25.
Infiltrate confuses a lot of players because it needs a trigger. In combat, press Shift to cast it. While flying in the Abyss it works with no prerequisite at all 4:25.
Choose stigma skills and level them in order
PvE needs only four stigma skills: Savage Fang, Swift Contract, Triniel's Dagger (it cuts your cooldowns) and Illusive Clone. Swift Contract and Illusive Clone are the two buffs that put the class's burst near the top of the damage chart, so they get the stigma shards.
Stigma shards come from Abyss points, so the last two rows take a while.
Set up your skill bar and macros
Skill bar layout
Skills stacked in one column share a key. Pressing it fires the first skill in the column; if that one is on cooldown it falls to the second, then the third and fourth. That keeps the bar small without losing any cooldown information.
- no extra slots, and both cooldowns stay visible · 6:27
- see the timing note at the end of the guide
The dash column exists to get you to the boss's back quickly, where back attack damage applies.
In-game and mouse macros
The in-game macro holds a single skill, Insignia Explosion, with a 10 millisecond delay 7:50. Nothing else goes in it, because the stacked column already handles the basic rotation. An external mouse macro then holds the in-game macro key and the Quick Slice key down together, repeating while held, so letting go stops it.
Held down, right click fires Insignia Explosion first and then Heart Gore, while Quick Slice fills every gap.
Create the ability macro before the automatic attack. Done the other way round, the game can switch your controls to the older Aion scheme, and the macro stops working.
Run the PvE damage rotation
Everything on the stacked columns runs itself, so the rotation is the handful of skills pressed by hand around them.
- 9:42
- 20% critical damage boost
If damage drops mid-fight, check your position first: drifting off the boss's back loses the back attack bonus from Rear Smite and several board nodes.
Upgrade the Daevanion board, wings and arcana
Daevanion board
Every board gets maxed eventually, so early choices are only about order. Head for the corner nodes first: they give combat speed and cooldown reduction, and on the Zikel board they give damage boost and damage tolerance 10:07.
On the way to each corner, pick the path that runs through nodes for the three core active skills and the four passives — Exploit Weakness, for example. Those levels raise early damage too.
Wings
Early on, the wing from the main story quest is the only mythic one available, and its stats are decent rather than good. The wing to aim for is in the season shop under Special, bought with season points, and gives 4% cooldown reduction 11:08. Save season points for it rather than spending them on anything else.
Arcana
Look for plus two on Quick Slice, Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion, which lets all three reach level 20 and run three specialties without compromise 11:50. After that, take the highest passive levels you can find, in the same order as before: Rear Smite, Assault Stance, Exploit Weakness, Impact Hit.
Roll Genus Insights and fill the Pantheon
Genus Insights
Genus Insights is the upgrade most players skip, and it is not a late-game system. Global hands out enough crystals to level these boards early 12:36.
Do not rush every board to level 10. Level 10 has a 5% chance of a heroic roll on the stat you want and level 9 only 1%, but a good roll at level 9 can be locked and kept while you finish leveling to 10 13:06.
Four lines matter on every board:
| Line | Take | Over | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max attack | Attack bonus | Keep a max attack bonus roll early on |
| 4 | PvE damage boost | Damage boost | Up to 4% |
| 5 | Max attack | Attack bonus | Same rule as line 1 |
| 7 | PvE damage tolerance | Damage tolerance | 4% maximum |
Do not lock a unique stat, even a maxed one. Heroic rolls are always higher: attack bonus tops out at 16 on a heroic roll and 12 on a unique one.
Pantheon
The Pantheon has one center statue, four side statues and 12 artworks around them.
| Slot | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Center statue | The nightmare trader shop sells the best one |
| Side statues | An achievement for beating the drainer 10 times, plus quests and the main story |
| Artworks | Fill as many as you can, then replace them with cheap pieces from the market |
When replacing artworks, look for two stats: illusion, which reduces cooldowns, and wisdom, which adds double chance 14:59. Bosses currently have no double chance resist, so wisdom keeps its full value. Pieces carrying both are often cheap on the market, so snipe those rather than paying for expensive ones missing illusion.
Also worth knowing
- Savage Roar on top of the damage column costs Storm Rampage time. Stacking them in one column means you lose 1 to 2 seconds of Storm Rampage each time the Savage Roar combo fires. Experienced players may prefer Savage Roar on its own key.
- The stigma order is disputed. Dummy testing, 5 runs of 3 minutes, gave higher damage with Illusive Clone at 20 and Swift Contract at 15 than the reverse recommended above. The result may flip at higher combat power, so test both on a dummy before spending shards past level 15.
- You do not need a mouse macro to get the damage increase. Binding the in-game macro to right click, with only the damage skills in that column, already delivers it. An external macro becomes useful later, when you want buffs folded into the same key.
- Time perfect dodges off the boss, not the effects. Watch the boss's own attack animation; the visual effects of its skills are an unreliable cue.
Whether the 1 second cooldown cut from Storm Rampage after a stagger also applies to stigma skills is not settled. Assume it may not, and do not plan stigma timing around it.
Frequently asked
Which Assassin skills should I level first in AION 2?
Take the three main active skills, Quick Slice, Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion, to level 20 first so all three of their specialties unlock together. After that, put points into the four passives before returning to the remaining active skills. The passives give the most damage early on.
Do I need a Logitech mouse macro for Assassin DPS in AION 2?
No. The in-game macro can be bound to right click, with the Insignia Explosion and Heart Gore sequence placed in its column, and that alone raises damage. An external mouse macro mainly helps later when you want to fold buffs into the same key. Turn on Skill Q in the combat and controls settings so the macro fires smoothly.
Why does my AION 2 macro not fire correctly?
Set up the ability macro first and the automatic attack afterwards. Doing it in the other order can make the game switch the controls to the older Aion scheme, which breaks the macro.
Which stats should I lock on Genus Insights boards?
Prioritise max attack over attack bonus on the first and fifth lines, PvE damage boost over general damage boost on the fourth line, and PvE damage tolerance on the seventh. Do not lock unique stats, because heroic rolls are always higher; attack bonus caps at 16 on a heroic roll against 12 on a unique one.
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