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Strongholds and Sealed Dungeons
October 2, 2026 at 04:11 AM
Corrected wikilink existence flags; removed duplicate in-body wikilinks
Strongholds and Sealed Dungeons are the two kinds of small, repeatable instance spread across each AION 2 territory. Strongholds are enemy camps: Balaur outposts and patrol bases, bandit dens and renegade hideouts. Sealed Dungeons are hidden caves, ruins, libraries and lairs. Both are part of the field layer of Verteron, Altgard, Eltnen and Morheim, alongside the Monoliths and Empyrean Traces and the Field Bosses.
NCsoft's English press release for Chapter 1. Lands of Sand and Snow describes Sealed Dungeons, Strongholds and Monoliths as the places where players earn the rewards needed for progression, and its June 17, 2026 announcement listed 20 new Sealed Dungeons and six new Strongholds across Eltnen and Morheim.
The Korean service changed how these instances pay on December 3, 2025: monster drops inside them were removed, and every clear of a Sealed Dungeon or Stronghold pays 15,000 Kina instead. From December 17, 2025 the Silentium they drop is bound to the character. From December 24, 2025 the item drop limit that applies once a player reaches the daily Kina allowance was extended to cover them as well.
Sealed Dungeons hold collectible lore volumes. Collecting all three volumes of a set completes an achievement:
Collection | Faction | Where |
|---|---|---|
Book of the Bulwark, Vol. 1 to 3 | Both | Sealed Dungeons |
Exploring the Ancient City of Ru, Vol. 1 to 3 | Both | Sealed Dungeons, with a second set in the opposing faction's territory |
Kaisinel's Shadow, Vol. 1 to 3 | Elyos | Sealed Dungeons |
Zikel of Destruction, Vol. 1 to 3 | Asmodian | Sealed Dungeons |
Clear achievements exist for both territories on each side: an Elyos character has achievements for clearing Sealed Dungeons and Strongholds in Altgard as well as Verteron, and the reverse holds for Asmodians.
With Chapter 1 the Korean build added Daeva Express tickets for Strongholds and Sealed Dungeons. Using one clears every Stronghold or Sealed Dungeon the character has not yet cleared in the chosen territory and grants the rewards. The paid Exciting First Step package announced alongside Chapter 1 does the same for Strongholds, Sealed Dungeons and Empyrean Traces at once. The Transparent Map overlay added on July 22, 2026 works inside Sealed Dungeons too.
Verteron has 15 Strongholds. The Korean build's Spacetime Rift: Domination mode launched on September 2, 2026 with them split into three groups of five, one group opening at random each time the event runs. The September 9, 2026 update cut each group to four, and the three Strongholds marked as removed below left the rotation. The names come from the game's English client data as of September 18, 2026 and are provisional until NCsoft uses them in an announcement.
Group | Stronghold | What holds it |
|---|---|---|
A | Ugaros Thieves Campsite | Thieves led by Ugaros who raid camps of refugees heading for the Dawn Legion Base. |
A | Miros Post | Thieves trading in suspicious herbs, funded by looting nearby farms. |
A (removed from Domination on September 9, 2026) | Poacher's Base | A poaching pack in Tolbas Forest whose Biruta hunting is upsetting the forest's balance. |
A | Cohta Outpost | A low-level Balaur watchtower over the Ellun River Midstream and the Verteron Fortress Ruins. |
A | Deserter Encampment | Daeva who deserted after the Illusion Cavaliers were wiped out. |
B (removed from Domination on September 9, 2026) | Mantasch Patrol Base | A Nahid Brigade patrol base on the Kraka Footpath that gathers Drana for the brigade's main force. |
B | Sehna Outpost | A Balaur pursuit unit that hunts down escaped or rampaging experiments. |
B | Sabga Balaur Campsite | A Balaur prison compound on the Kraka Footpath, now used as a temporary Dratona hatching ground. |
B | Maktashan Outpost | A former battlefield the Balaur took over, now an observation post watching the Ellun River Marsh. |
B | Romlon's Hideout | A beaten resistance legion that turned to abducting villagers with illusion magic. |
C | Gargos Thieves Campsite | Bandits on the Pilgrim's Ridge who rob, kidnap and blackmail pilgrims bound for Zumion Village. |
C | Canyon Thieves Den | Bandits at the bottom of the canyon who arrived once the enchantment over Zumion Village was lifted. |
C (removed from Domination on September 9, 2026) | Forest Shade Execution Site | The hideout of Selmar's Daeva, who believe only they are true Daeva and attack all others. |
C | Renegade Hideout | Daeva who betrayed the Notos Legion and now rob pilgrims on the road. |
C | Plateau Hill Base | Legionnaire outlaws who failed to take Zumion Village and now raid supply lines and Notos Legion bases. |
Altgard's 15 Strongholds are grouped the same way, with the same cut to four per group on September 9, 2026.
Group | Stronghold | What holds it |
|---|---|---|
A | Graverobber Den | Grave-robbing Daeva camped near a cemetery, obsessed with a buried relic. |
A | Sanctum Outskirts Watch | A Balaur outpost outside the Sanctum Outpost that is really a test site for modified Draconutes. |
A | Corrupted Forester Ruins | A former home of the Nornir forest wardens, haunted after the Blades took their souls. |
A | Blades Temporary Outpost | A Blades outpost in Moslan Forest set up to hunt surviving Nornir. |
A (removed from Domination on September 9, 2026) | Logger's Rest Ruins | A loggers' rest stop taken over by thieves after Moslan Forest burned. |
B | Rubek Thieves' Occupied Territory | The main base of a bandit group occupying Calderon Canyon, armed with illegal explosives. |
B | Forest Marauder Campsite | Marauders hidden in the Purifying Forest who loot Nornir and Karas alike. |
B (removed from Domination on September 9, 2026) | Legion Base Ruins | Where a small resistance legion was wiped out; the Balaur want to bind the wandering specters into an immortal brigade. |
B | Flauke Legion Outpost | Once protectors of the Purifying Forest, now led by Commander Flauke under the influence of Fafnite. |
B | Latrima Outpost | An elite Balaur outpost over Dranactus that guards Drana cultivation and can reinforce by teleport. |
C | Barahta Extermination Unit Outpost | A Lagta Brigade garrison that hunts down local resistance. |
C | Andsha Forward Base | A Lagta Brigade base researching how to destroy the Blood Barrier near Impetusium Square. |
C | Amurahta Surveillance Base | A Balaur base watching Black Claw Village and extorting the local Mau. |
C | Detlef Thieves Camp | Thieves in western Gribade Highland who now hand suspicious travellers to the Blades. |
C (removed from Domination on September 9, 2026) | Granach's Hideout | Former Steel Hammer Merchants smugglers who prey on merchants in eastern Gribade Highland. |
Clearing every Stronghold in both Verteron and Altgard is one of the entry requirements for Spacetime Rift: Domination on the Korean build, where attackers have to destroy the three Monoliths at a Stronghold to take it. See Verteron and PvP and the Abyss for the mode itself.
