Almost every gate in AION 2 is written in one of two numbers. Item level measures your equipment. Combat Power aggregates the whole character. Between them they decide which dungeons you can enter, which Abyss layers you belong in, and whether you qualify for large-scale PvP at all.
Item Level
Item level, also written as gear score, is the summed measure of what you are wearing. It is the number instanced content checks.
Content | Item level required on the live build |
|---|---|
Expedition Exploration and Conquest Normal, Citadel of the Fallen Daeva | 3,800 |
Expedition Conquest Hard, same dungeon | 4,500 |
Transcendence Abyssal Horn Den, stages one to four | 3,800, 4,100, 4,500 and 4,800 |
A ceiling rather than a floor: item level 4,300 or below, or Combat Power 400,000 or below | |
4,500 | |
Sanctuary , the September 2026 addition | 5,800, rising with difficulty |
Season 3 Expedition Hall of Illusion (April 8, 2026) | 3,000 |
Transcendence Mirror of Scarlet Desire (May 13, 2026) | 3,200 to 4,000 by tier |
Sanctuary Chalice of Muspel (May 27, 2026) | 4,500 |
Those are Korean and Taiwanese live-build values at the time of writing. NCsoft moves them with each content patch, and the global build starts well below this range.
Item Level of Equipment
Every piece of equipment has a base item level, shown in its tooltip and in the official item database, and NCsoft's probability page notes that enhancement adds further item level in game on top of the base. Base item levels follow the equipment family rather than the slot: all pieces of one family share the same base level across weapons, armor and accessories. Examples from the Korean service's item database (checked October 7, 2026):
Family | Grade | Base item level |
|---|---|---|
True and Star Dragon Lord (Draconic crafted) | Unique | 70 |
White and Dark Dragon Lord | Unique | 78 |
Wise and Ebony Dragon Lord | Unique | 86 |
Decanus, Centurion and Tribunus (Abyss) | Unique | 67, 77 and 87 |
Splendent Hyeonryong and Jeokryong Dragon Lord (provisional names) | Unique | 108 |
Ludra (Sanctuary) | Hero | 98 |
Eungryong and Giryong Dragon Lord, Legion Commander, Corroded Ruler | Hero | 108 |
Genesis and Nemesis Dragon Lord, Lava Heart, Praetorian Captain | Hero | 128 |
[진] Genesis and Nemesis Dragon Lord, Liberated White Night, [진] Praetorian Captain | Hero | 148 |
Brooches and Seals | Rare to Hero | 50 to 118 |
Equip level is separate from item level: most endgame gear needs character level 45, the Decanus Abyss gear level 40 and the Runes level 10. See Item Grades, Weapons, Armor and Abyss Equipment for full lists.
Combat Power
Combat Power is a single aggregate figure for the character, displayed since March 2026. It folds in gear, but also stats, passives and the rest of the progression layers, so two characters at the same item level can sit at very different Combat Power.
On the Korean and Taiwanese service, NCsoft added it on March 18, 2026 as a toggle on the existing item-level display. It is calculated from the stats the character holds, weighted by how much each stat matters in PvE, and it leaves out temporary buffs from consumables and skills.
Date | Change to the calculation |
|---|---|
March 25, 2026 | Weights raised for three offensive stats including Accuracy and Critical Hit, lowered for two others, and PvE evasion added |
April 1, 2026 | Fixed some Stigma skills that wrongly raised Combat Power; Sanctuary party windows started showing it |
April 22, 2026 | Stats grown by passive skills count at 50 percent; passive skill levels, active skill levels from 17 up and HP count for more |
June 24, 2026 | Weapon and passive-skill values normalized across classes |
The April 1, 2026 update also added a combat power meter that measures personal damage per second. The official guidebook says it opens from the Escape menu or with Ctrl+X, switches between a compact and a detailed mode that breaks damage down by skill, can measure only the selected target or all targets, and shows total combat time, DPS and total damage dealt; its window can be made transparent and dragged. Since July 1, 2026 its interface is simpler, and in automatic mode it starts measuring as soon as you attack a boss.
The June 24, 2026 patch overhauled how it is calculated, normalising weapon and passive-skill values so that the same investment reads the same across every class. That was explicitly a first step toward closing the gap between strong and weak classes rather than a display change.
Content | Combat Power gate |
|---|---|
Entry requires item level 4,300 or below, or Combat Power 400,000 or below. Since October 7, 2026, exceeding the entry limit after entering causes instant death; expulsion and a one-hour deduction from Abyss usage time still apply. | |
500,000 or higher |
Why Two Numbers
Item level answers "is your gear good enough for this fight". Combat Power answers "how strong are you overall", which is why it is the number used for the capped PvP fields: an item-level cap alone would not stop a heavily invested character from walking into a beginner bracket.
The practical consequence is that the capped Abyss layer is the one place in the game where progress can lock you out rather than in. If you push past the ceiling you lose access, by design.
Gates also apply outside dungeons. The Chapter 1 portals from Verteron and Altgard to Eltnen and Morheim open only when a character meets level, item level and Combat Power conditions.
Related Pages
Gear and Progression for how item level grows. Item Grades and Enhancement and Breakthrough for the item side. Expedition Dungeons and Sanctuary Raids for the content these gates guard. PvP and the Abyss for the capped fields.