Revision - assassin skills - AION 2 Wiki

This page lists every Assassin skill in AION 2: twelve Mastery actives, thirteen Stigma skills and ten passives, with Korean names, unlock levels, cooldowns, MP costs, specialty options and a dated balance history. NCsoft's official guidebook describes the Assassin as a class that closes in from stealth and overwhelms a target with fast chained attacks, fighting with a dagger in each hand and using poison, stun and other status effects to finish fights quickly.

English skill names come from the global client. Descriptions follow the official Korean guidebook (skill page updated August 26, 2026) and the global client tooltips. Unlock levels, cooldowns and MP costs are level 1 values from the global client snapshot dated September 18, 2026. The balance history comes from the Korean service's official update notes.

How Assassin Skills Fit Together

Insignia (문양): the Savage Roar chain engraves one Insignia per hit, Savage Fang engraves five, and Exploit Weakness clones add more. Insignia slows the target's Combat Speed and cannot be cleansed (Korean service, August 26, 2026). Insignia Explosion spends the stacks for more damage and stun chance, and Aerial Bind always launches a target with five stacks.
Critical hits: Heart Gore only becomes usable after a critical hit, and Illusive Clone removes its cooldown for 10 s.
Positioning: Ambush and Triniel's Dagger hit harder from behind; Shadowstrike and Infiltrate move the Assassin behind the target, and Rear Smite raises back attack damage.
Evasion triggers: Whirlwind Slice activates after a successful evasion, Heightened Sixth Sense heals on evasion, and Evasion Stance guarantees evasion briefly.
Stealth: Shadow Walk out of combat and Shadowstep after a strike.
NPC rules: stun, blind and airborne chances that can fail against players always land on NPCs.

Active Skills

Dodge (긴급 회피) is available to every class from level 1 with a 0.5 s cooldown and is not listed below.

Skill	Korean	Unlock Level	Cooldown	MP Cost	What It Does
Quick Slice	빠른 베기	1	None	None (restores 100 MP)	Basic three-step chain: Quick Slice, Breaking Slice (절혼 베기) and Swift Slice (쾌속 베기). Each step hits up to four enemies within 4 m and restores MP. Non-target and usable while moving.
Savage Roar	맹수의 포효	1	None	120	Three-step chain: Savage Roar, Savage Back Kick (맹수의 뒷발차기) and Savage Smash (맹수의 후려치기). Each step hits up to four enemies within 4 m and engraves one Insignia for 10 s; spends MP. Non-target and usable while moving.
Shadowstrike	암습	1	20 s	150	Moves behind a target up to 20 m away, strikes it, spins it around and stuns it for 3 s.
Ambush	기습	3	10 s	100	Strikes a target within 4 m; 30% more damage when it lands as a back attack. On the Korean service its front PvE damage was raised 15% on April 22, 2026, with back attacks still dealing 30% more than front attacks.
Heart Gore	심장 찌르기	4	5 s	None	Becomes available after a critical hit: hits up to four enemies within 4 m and restores MP. Usable while moving. Illusive Clone removes its cooldown for the clone's duration.
Storm Rampage	폭풍 난무	5	None	None	Can only be used on a target in the Stagger (Groggy) state. No cooldown.
Whirlwind Slice	회오리 베기	7	10 s	None	Activates after a successful evasion: strikes a target within 4 m with a 40% chance to spin and stun it for 3 s (always on NPCs).
Flash Slice	섬광 베기	8	10 s	50	Moves to the far side of a target within 4 m and hits up to four enemies with a 40% chance to blind them for 3 s (always on NPCs). Non-target.
Infiltrate	침투	10	20 s	None	Usable after Dodge or while flying: moves behind a target up to 10 m away with a 50% blind chance for 3 s (always on NPCs). Spec 4 adds Dark Strike (암격), which knocks the target back 10 m.
Shadow Fall	그림자 낙하	12	20 s	100	Moves to a stunned target up to 10 m away, strikes it and knocks it down for 3 s. Has a 5% chance to become available against incapacitation-immune targets; spec 5 also allows it on blinded targets.
Insignia Explosion	문양 폭발	14	10 s	200	Selects a target up to 20 m away and hits up to four enemies around it with a stun; damage and stun chance rise with each Insignia stack on the target (10% stun chance per stack, doubled on NPCs). Usable while moving.
Defiance	충격 해제	16	60 s	None	Shared escape skill. Removes Stun, Knockdown, Airborne, Grab, Frost and Fear and grants Tenacity (status immunity) for 5 s. Not affected by cooldown reduction. Spec 1 adds Storm Slice (폭풍 베기), an area stun.

Stigma Skills

Every Assassin Stigma skill unlocks at character level 22 and is leveled with Stigma Shards; see Stigma System.

Skill	Korean	Cooldown	MP Cost	What It Does
Throw Shadowblade	암검 투척	30 s	None	Throws a dagger at a target up to 20 m away and slows it by 40% for 5 s. Usable while moving; no MP cost since July 8, 2026 on the Korean service. Spec 1 adds Shadowblade Pursuit (암검 추적), which closes the distance.
Evasion Stance	회피 자세	20 s	None	Held stance that evades all damage for a short time; restores 110 MP and stamina once on an evasion.
Shadowstep	암영보	45 s	100	Added March 25, 2026 on the Korean service. Strikes a target within 4 m, then the Assassin leaps backward (20 m on the Korean service since April 29, 2026) and gains stealth for 3 s.
Shadow Walk	그림자 보행	120 s	None	Stealth for 20 s. Cannot be used in combat (a specialty lifts this), and entering combat ends it.
Aerial Bind	공중 포박	120 s	150	Strikes a target within 4 m with a 50% chance to launch it (Airborne, 3 s); targets carrying five Insignia stacks and NPCs are always launched. Spec 2 adds Aerial Slaughter (공중 살법), which slams the target down.
Smoke Bomb	연막탄	30 s	100	Throws a smoke bomb at a target up to 10 m away, blinding it for 5 s. Usable while moving.
Savage Fang	맹수의 송곳니	60 s	200	Hits up to four enemies within 4 m, engraves five Insignia stacks at once and deals heavy stagger damage.
Spiral Slice	나선 베기	90 s	200	Rushes a target up to 20 m away and strips one buff (more with specialties), dealing extra damage for each buff removed.
Triniel's Dagger	트리니엘의 비수	45 s	200	Strikes a target within 4 m and adds 5% of each of the target's skill cooldowns; 30% more damage from behind.
Illusive Clone	환영 분신	90 s	200	For 10 s removes Heart Gore's cooldown and adds 20% of the damage dealt as extra damage. Cooldown 90 s since September 4, 2026 (Korean service). Usable while moving.
Evasion Contract	회피의 계약	90 s	None	Removes Slow and Root, grants immunity to both and raises Evasion by 200 for 10 s. Not affected by cooldown increases. Usable while moving.
Swift Contract	신속의 계약	60 s	None	Raises Combat Speed by 20% for 10 s. Usable while moving.
Assault Ambush	강습 습격	120 s	None	Selects a target up to 20 m away and hits up to four enemies around it with a 30% blind chance for 5 s (always on NPCs); Defense rises by up to 20% with the number of targets hit.

Passive Skills

Skill	Korean	Unlock Level	What It Does
Heightened Sixth Sense	육감 극대화	1	Raises Evasion, HP and maximum HP, and restores HP on a successful evasion.
Exploit Weakness	빈틈 노리기	6	Raises Critical Hit. Critical hits have a 7% chance to summon clones that strike and engrave Insignia, and a 25% chance to raise Attack for 10 s.
Apply Poison	독 바르기	9	15% chance on hit to poison the target for 10 s (damage every second) and cut its healing received.
Rear Smite	배후 강타	11	Raises back attack damage boost and PvE and PvP damage boost.
Assault Stance	강습 자세	13	Raises critical damage boost.
Impact Hit	충격 적중	15	Raises impact-type status chance and Double Chance.
Ambush Stance	기습 자세	17	Rush and movement skills grant Ambush Stance for 10 s, giving hits a 50% chance to deal extra damage.
Defense Break	방어 균열	21	Hits on a target under an impact-type status lower its Defense and status resistance for 10 s (20 s internal cooldown).
Revitalization Contract	회생의 계약	23	Raises status resistance, adds +10% per hit taken while stunned, knocked down, airborne, frozen or feared (up to 10 stacks), and instantly heals 35% of maximum HP when HP falls to 10% or less (60 s cooldown).
Determination	각오	25	Extra damage on each hit against a target at 30% HP or less.

Specialties

Mastery skill specialties unlock at skill levels 8 (three options), 12 and 16 and are assigned to the skill's specialty slots; Stigma specialties apply automatically at Stigma levels 5, 10, 15 and 20. Options are from the global client snapshot, in Spec 1 to Spec 5 order.

How specialty slots, skill levels and presets work for every class is covered on Skills and Specialties.

Mastery Skill Specialties

Skill	Spec 1 (Lv 8)	Spec 2 (Lv 8)	Spec 3 (Lv 8)	Spec 4 (Lv 12)	Spec 5 (Lv 16)
Quick Slice	+20% MP restored	Absorbs 0.7% HP	+50% Multi-Hit on hit	-1s Insignia Explosion cooldown on hit	Ignores Block and Evasion and lands as a Critical Hit
Savage Roar	-20% MP consumed	+20% Skill Speed	Deals up to 12% more damage when less targets are hit	-1s Shadowstrike cooldown on hit	Pulls nearby targets on using Savage Smash
Shadowstrike	+1s Stun duration	+20% caster Critical Damage Boost for 5s on hit	50% chance to inflict Seal for 5s on hit	50% chance to inflict Root for 5s on hit	Changes to AoE Skill
Ambush	Engraves 2 Insignias for 10s on landing as a Back attack	Absorbs 3% HP	Breaks Protective Shields on hit	50% chance to trigger Whirlwind Slice on hit	+2 consecutive uses
Heart Gore	Absorbs 0.7% HP	Engraves 1 Insignia for 10s on hit	Up to +20% Critical Hit when less targets hit	Multi-Hit on hit	Resets Heart Gore cooldown on landing a Critical Hit
Storm Rampage	Absorbs 5% HP	Restores 120 MP on hit	Changes to mobile skill	Multi-Hit on hit	-1s all skill cooldowns on hit
Whirlwind Slice	+50% Multi-Hit on hit	Changes to AoE damage	+16m range	+20% Stun Chance	25% chance to reset Whirlwind Slice cooldown on Evasion
Flash Slice	+2s Blind duration	+6m Range	Up to +20% damage when more targets hit	+1 consecutive use	50% chance to rotate and inflict Stun for 3s on hitting a target afflicted with Blind
Infiltrate	Restores 300 Stamina on landing Infiltrate	+10m Infiltrate range	Breaks Protective Shields on landing Infiltrate	Adds Dark Strike Chain Skill	+20% Infiltrate Blind Chance
Shadow Fall	Absorbs 10% HP	Engraves 3 Insignias for 10s on hit	-5s cooldown	+1s Knockdown duration	Can be used on targets afflicted with Blind
Insignia Explosion	Adds rotate effect	+50% Multi-Hit on hit	Keep 2 stacks of Insignias after Insignia Explosion	+1s Stun duration	-3s cooldown
Defiance	Adds Storm Slice Chain Skill	Restores 1000 Stamina on using Defiance	Restores 20% HP on using Defiance	+2s Tenacity duration	+50% PvE Damage Tolerance and +25% PvP Damage Tolerance for Tenacity duration

Stigma Skill Specialties

Skill	Spec 1 (Lv 5)	Spec 2 (Lv 10)	Spec 3 (Lv 15)	Spec 4 (Lv 20)
Throw Shadowblade	Adds Shadowblade Pursuit Chain Skill	Resets cooldown on defeating an enemy	Critical Hit on hit	Changes to AoE Skill
Evasion Stance	+1 consecutive use	Changes to mobile skill	+20% Move Speed for 3s on Evasion	Restore 10% HP once after successfully evading
Shadowstep	40% chance to rotate and inflict Stun for 3s on hit	Engraves 5 Insignias for 10s on hit	+200 Evasion for 10s on use	-15s cooldown
Shadow Walk	Critical Hit on attack during Stealth	+20% Move Speed for the duration	Available in combat	Resets cooldown on player kill assists
Aerial Bind	+16m Aerial Bind range	Adds Aerial Slaughter Chain Skill	x1.5 Ambush Stance effect for 10s on first strike of Aerial Bind	-30s cooldown
Smoke Bomb	+10m range	Changes to AoE Skill	Inflicts Slow for 5s on hit	+1 consecutive use
Savage Fang	Up to +20% damage when more targets hit	+50 Stagger Gauge Damage	+10% PvE damage boost and +5% PvP damage boost for 10s on hit	Critical Hit on hit
Spiral Slice	Removes up to 2 buffs	Rotates and inflicts Stun for 3s when removing 2 or more buffs	Removes up to 3 buffs	-30s cooldown
Triniel's Dagger	Changes to mobile skill	-10% all skill cooldowns on hit	Resets cooldown on defeating an enemy with Triniel's Dagger	+3% all skill cooldowns
Illusive Clone	+10% Status Effect Chance for the duration	+20% Critical Damage Boost for the duration	x1.5 Exploit Weakness effect for the duration	50% chance to deal extra damage on Critical Hit for the duration
Evasion Contract	25% chance of Projectile Immunity for the duration	+30% Move Speed for the duration	50% chance to reduce all skill cooldowns by 1s on Evasion for the duration	+100 Evasion increase
Swift Contract	-20% MP Cost for the duration	x1.5 Rear Smite effect for the duration	x1.5 Assault Stance effect for the duration	+10% additional Combat Speed
Assault Ambush	+20% Attack for 5s on hit	500 MP damage on hit	+10m range	+20% Blind Chance

Balance History

Changes from the Korean service's official update notes and maintenance notices, November 2025 to October 7, 2026. The global service, live since October 5, 2026, has not published Assassin balance changes.

Date	Change (Korean and Taiwanese service)
December 3, 2025	Fixed Whirlwind Slice failing above a certain Combat Speed and Shadow Walk's cooldown not resetting on kills after a death.
December 10 to December 24, 2025	Storm Rampage spec 5 set to a 1 s cooldown cut; tooltip fixes for Swift Contract, Savage Smash and Whirlwind Slice; Shadow Fall and Shadow Walk now scale with Combat Speed.
January 7, 2026	Shadow Fall spec 3 became a 5 s cooldown cut; Evasion Stance now evades grabs from behind.
January 14, 2026	Savage Roar line usable while moving and extended by range-extending weapons; Throw Shadowblade reworked (spec 1 Shadowblade Pursuit, spec 2 reset on kill, spec 3 guaranteed critical, spec 4 area damage); Flash Slice triggers instantly; Heart Gore usable while moving; Smoke Bomb cooldown 60 s (minus 1 s per level) and radius 5 to 7 m.
January 28, 2026	Spiral Slice reworked into a single-target strike that strips two buffs and deals extra damage per buff removed (it used to have a 50% stun); Evasion Contract specialties reworked; Smoke Bomb now placed at the Assassin's position; Triniel's Dagger became a targeted skill; Shadow Fall spec 5 now allows blinded targets; Ambush spec 3 became shield breaking; Apply Poison's healing cut now grows with level.
February 4, 2026	Defense Break lasts 10 s and also lowers status resistance; buff removal no longer strips scroll buffs.
February 11 and February 25, 2026	Quick Slice and Savage Roar lines +15% damage; Apply Poison chance 7% to 15%, then duration 5 to 10 s.
March 4, 2026	Spiral Slice extra damage per removed buff +20%.
March 25, 2026	New Stigma skill Shadowstep. Smoke Bomb reworked into a 10 m blinding throw (5 s). Evasion Contract gained base slow and root immunity. Aerial Bind faster and +30% damage; Insignia Explosion +15%; Ambush Stance and Determination +10%; Ambush MP cost 200 to 100; Shadow Walk spec 3 now resets on character kills.
April 8, 2026	Illusive Clone 30% faster and now removes Heart Gore's cooldown as a base effect; Swift Contract and Evasion Contract 30% faster; Savage Fang spec 2 became +50 stagger damage and spec 4 a guaranteed critical; Determination now works below 30% HP instead of 10%; Shadow Walk resets on kill participation.
April 22, 2026	Life drain overhaul. PvP: Evasion Contract specialties cut, Insignia Explosion, Ambush (from behind) and Triniel's Dagger minus 5% PvP. PvE: Quick Slice line +10%, Savage Roar line, Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion +20%; Ambush and Triniel's Dagger front damage +15%. Exploit Weakness clone chance fixed at 7%, with a new 25% chance of an Attack buff on critical hits; Insignia now lowers Combat Speed by 2%; Rear Smite became PvE, PvP and back attack damage boost; Ambush Stance now triggers after movement skills. The Assassin section of this note had no party synergy changes.
April 29, 2026	Heart Gore spec 1 drain no longer needs a critical hit; Shadowstep's backward leap 10 to 20 m.
May 27, 2026	Shadow Walk specialties reordered: spec 2 move speed, spec 3 usable in combat, spec 4 reset on player kill participation.
June 17, 2026	Illusive Clone bonus effects no longer feed on the clone itself; Shadowstrike spec 2 critical damage 40% to 20%; Defense Break no longer triggers on staggered targets and its Defense cut starts at 12% (plus 2% per level).
July 1, 2026 (Chapter 1)	Insignia Explosion and Shadowstrike +20% PvE, Exploit Weakness +10%, Determination +20% PvE; Quick Slice line spec 2 drain 1.5% to 0.7%; Savage Fang needs a target in range.
July 8, 2026	Throw Shadowblade no longer costs MP; Illusive Clone spec 5 now shortens its own cooldown on rear critical hits; Shadow Walk duration and reset fixes. All classes lost 30% PvP damage.
August 26, 2026	Every skill gained a minimum cancel time. Quick Slice line +20%, Savage Roar line +10% PvE, Insignia Explosion +10% PvE and PvP; Heart Gore spec 1 drain 1.5% to 0.7%; Spiral Slice strips one buff at base (up to two with spec 1, up to three with spec 3, and spec 2 now stuns after two buffs instead of three); Insignia can no longer be cleansed.
September 4, 2026 (Class Care)	Illusive Clone cooldown 120 to 90 s, extra damage during the clone with better hit feedback, and spec 4 became a 50% chance of extra damage on critical hits; Ambush Stance fixed while invincible.
September 9, 2026	Illusive Clone spec 4 extra damage shows a hit effect.
September 16, 2026	Longer cancel delays on Savage Roar, Savage Smash and Heart Gore to discourage mouse macros; Quick Slice line and Insignia Explosion +10% PvE; Shadowstrike spec 2 lasts 10 s instead of 5.
October 7, 2026	All classes: fixed attacks made while in the air sometimes failing to land on a target even when in range.

Global Client Differences

Skill	Global client snapshot (September 18, 2026)	Korean service (current)
Shadowstrike spec 2	Critical damage boost lasts 5 s	Lasts 10 s (September 16, 2026)
Defense Break	Triggers on targets that are staggered or under an impact-type status	Impact-type status only (June 17, 2026; guidebook)

Illusive Clone's 90 s cooldown, Spiral Slice's one-buff base strip and the 0.7% drain on Quick Slice spec 2 match on both services.

Assassin for the class overview.
Classes for the full roster.
Stigma System for Stigma slots and Stigma Shards.
Status Effects for stun, blind and airborne.
Ranger Skills for the other evasion-based kit.

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