Aion 2 Dungeons, Expeditions & Raids Glossary

Aion 2 is the sequel to NCSOFT's 2008 MMORPG Aion. It opened in Korea and Taiwan on 19 November 2025 and went live worldwide on PC, through Steam and NC's PURPLE launcher, on 5 October 2026. Once a character reaches the level cap, most of the week is spent in instanced PvE: five-player Expeditions, four-stage Transcendence runs, solo challenges, and a ten-player raid. Each mode has its own entry rules, its own reward cube and its own weekly counter, and the names overlap enough to confuse new players.

This glossary explains those words for the global (North America, Europe, South America and Asia) servers as of November 2026, during the first season, where the level cap is 45. Where the Korean version already has more content, we say so, because many guides and videos are recorded there. It is written for players planning their first week at 45 and for anyone reading a party finder message or a shop option and wanting to know what it refers to.

Term	In short	Where you meet it
Expedition	Five-player dungeon with three bosses	Dungeon menu, party finder
Exploration and Conquest	The two Expedition difficulties	Entry window of each Expedition
Transcendence	Level 45 dungeons with four stages	Dungeon menu, Arcana farming
Odyle Energy	Energy spent to open reward cubes	Top of the dungeon UI
Ascension Trial	Solo score run, three entries a week	Level 45 content list
Nightmare	Solo boss challenges with ten levels	Level 45 content list
Daily Dungeons	Three solo score dungeons from level 30	Dungeon menu
Sealed Dungeons	Short one-time solo instances on the map	Exploration tab
Strongholds	One-time open-world commander fights	Exploration tab
Spacetime Rift	Timed portal to the enemy continent	World map at level 45
Sanctuary	The game's name for raids	Patch notes, raid finder
Abyssal Forge: Ludra	The first ten-player raid	Sanctuary list, from 4 November 2026
Weekly reset	Wednesday refill of entry counters	Every limited mode

Expedition

An Expedition is Aion 2's classic group dungeon: a fixed route through trash packs and three bosses, with the loot paid out from a reward cube after the last one. It is built for five players, and several Expeditions also let you enter alone or with a small group.

The global version lists six Expeditions, each with its own level and item level gate on the easy difficulty: Krao Cave (level 20), Urugugu Canyon (level 28), Fire Temple (level 35), and Draupnir, Vakron's Floating Island (called Vakron Sky Island in some translations) and Ferocious Horn Den (all level 45). Community guides group the Conquest versions into rungs by item level: around 700 for Krao Cave and Draupnir on the harder difficulty, around 1,400 for Urugugu Canyon and Vakron's Floating Island, and around 2,100 for Fire Temple and Ferocious Horn Den. The Korean version has more Expeditions that have not reached global yet, so a list from a Korean video can name dungeons you cannot find in your menu.

In practice: a party finder post reading "Draupnir conquest, 700+, need healer" means a level 45 Draupnir run on the harder difficulty for players who meet that item level.

Exploration and Conquest

Every Expedition has two difficulties. Exploration is the easier one with lower requirements, meant for levelling and first clears. Conquest is the harder version with stronger bosses and better rewards, and it is where level 45 players spend most of their Expedition time. Krao Cave, for example, opens at level 20 on Exploration but asks for level 45 and roughly 700 item level on Conquest. The global patch of 28 October 2026 added a third, Hard step for Urugugu Canyon and Vakron's Floating Island, reported at 2,700 item level with a four-minute boss timer and three revives per player.

The difficulty also changes what kind of money you earn. According to community guides, Exploration pays bound Kina, which cannot be spent on the Market, while Conquest pays unbound Kina that can. Conquest and Transcendence also share a weekly limit: guides report 10 runs per server per week in which you do not open the cube, after which entry is blocked until the reset.

A guide that says "Conquest only" means the harder difficulty, the one that pays unbound Kina and better gear.

Transcendence

Transcendence dungeons are the main level 45 group content after Expeditions. Each one has four stages that work like difficulty steps: the same map and three bosses, with tougher monsters and better cubes each stage. On the global servers there are two: Deus Research Base and Shattered Arcanis (also spelled Arkanis in some translations).

Community data puts the stage gates at about 1,600 item level for Stage 1, 1,900 for Stage 2, 2,200 for Stage 3 and 2,500 for Stage 4. Inside, you fill a progress bar before the final boss: 110 points are needed, mini-bosses give 45 each and regular enemies 2. The main reason to run Transcendence is Arcana, the card-like items that add stats and skill levels, and the cube costs 40 Odyle Energy at every stage.

A typical goal: a player at 2,000 item level farms Stage 2 for Arcana until gear upgrades let them move to Stage 3.

Odyle Energy

Odyle Energy is the resource that limits how many rewards you can take from group PvE. It is easy to misunderstand: you do not spend it to enter a dungeon. You spend it at the end, to open the Odyle Energy Reward Cube that appears after an Expedition, Transcendence or Sanctuary clear. If you are out of energy, you can still finish the run with your party, but the cube stays closed for you.

Energy refills slowly over time and stops when the bar is full, so players try not to sit at the cap. Each character has its own pool. Community guides list cube costs of 30 for the Exploration runs of Krao Cave and Urugugu Canyon and 40 for Draupnir, Vakron's Floating Island and every Transcendence stage. Extra energy comes from consumables found in the season pass, events, attendance rewards and crafting. Solo modes such as Nightmare and the Ascension Trial do not use it.

In chat: "no odyle left, I'll come for the clear" means the player will help the group but will not get a cube.

Ascension Trial

The Ascension Trial is a solo, score-based dungeon that opens at level 45. You fight through several rooms and a final boss, and your reward depends on the score at the end, not only on finishing. In the global first season the active trial is called Nightmare Altar.

It has four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard and Extreme, with item level requirements reported at 1,000, 1,500, 2,000 and 2,500. You get three attempts per week by default, and each entry uses one even if you fail, so a wasted try on a difficulty that is too high hurts. The top reward bracket starts at about 7,000 points and pays Enhancement Stones, pet growth chests, amplification stone fragments and binding chests in one go.

Example: a player who scores well on Normal but keeps failing on Hard will often spend all three weekly attempts on Normal to bank the full reward.

Nightmare

Nightmare is a solo boss mode at level 45. Instead of a full dungeon, you pick one boss and fight it alone on a Challenge Level from 1 to 10. Clears pay Phantasmal Fragments, a currency for the Nightmare Trade Shop, which sells Wisdom Stones, Daevanion Crystals and other progression items.

Community guides list the starting bosses as Gatekeeper Pinopi, Furious Feruk, Fafnir's Poison Blood and Wraith Giselle, with Fortress Guardian Notun and Mutated Gerod unlocked later and Zikel's Apparition as the last boss. You gain 2 attempts each day and can store up to 14, and an attempt is only used when you clear the boss, so a player who skips a few days does not lose much.

Players often say "doing my nightmares" for spending the day's attempts before the counter fills up.

Daily Dungeons

Daily Dungeons are short solo score runs that unlock at level 30. Despite the name, their limit is weekly: guides report 14 attempts per week shared by all three, refreshed at the weekly reset. Each dungeon pays one kind of reward, and the higher your score, the larger the payout.

The three are the Daeva Bio-Research Base, which pays Enhancement Stones; the Odylium Repository, which pays pet growth chests (up to 80 at the top tier); and Crobakhi's Secret Depository, which pays bound Kina, up to 300,000 at a score of 10,000. Because the attempts are shared, players pick each week the reward they need most.

In a daily checklist you will see "dailies: 14/14 left", meaning none of the week's Daily Dungeon attempts have been used yet.

Sealed Dungeons

Sealed Dungeons are small solo instances scattered over the open world. You find them as question mark markers on the map, walk into a glowing portal, clear a few monster packs and sometimes a named boss, and collect a one-time reward. Your progress is tracked on the Sealed Dungeon page of the Exploration tab.

Each home region has its own set. A community walkthrough of the Asmodian region Altgard counts 60 Sealed Dungeons recommended for levels 10 to 40, 22 of them with a named boss, and guides give the same number for the Elyos region Verteron. Every clear in Altgard pays the same bundle: 15,000 Kina, 2 Daevanion Crystals, 2 Wisdom Stones, 1,250 Enhancement Stones and a unique title, which adds up to 120 Daevanion Points and 120 Skill Points for the whole region. The enemy faction's region has its own Sealed Dungeons, reached through a Spacetime Rift.

A common level 45 plan is "finish all Sealed Dungeons first", because the points they give are permanent.

Strongholds

Strongholds are open-world camps guarded by a named commander. Unlike Sealed Dungeons they are not instances: you fight in the world, defeat the commander and claim the chest. Each one is a one-time clear, listed on its own page of the Exploration tab.

The Altgard walkthrough counts 13 Strongholds on that map, each paying 2 Noble Belt enhancement scrolls and 15,000 Kina, with some also giving a title. That makes Strongholds the main early source of belt upgrades. The enemy continent has its own set, which can only be done during a Spacetime Rift window, so players separate "allied" Strongholds (your own faction's map) from "enemy" ones. Counts differ between regions and builds, so trust the in-game Exploration tab.

In practice: "strongholds done on our side, need a rift for the rest" means all the allied ones are cleared and the enemy ones wait for the next portal.

Spacetime Rift

A Spacetime Rift is a temporary portal from your faction's territory into the other faction's region. It unlocks at level 45. Rifts follow a three-hour cycle and can only be entered while active, and once you are through, you have one hour before the game sends you back home.

Players use rifts for content that exists only on the enemy side: the opposing faction's Sealed Dungeons and Strongholds, regional quests and collectibles. Going through does not automatically flag you for PvP. Open faction combat is controlled by War Mode, which you can only switch in your own territory and which has a 70-minute cooldown before you can switch it back, so check your setting before you step in.

A typical message: "rift opens in 20, grouping for enemy sealed dungeons" means a group is forming to clear the enemy region's instances during the next window.

Sanctuary

Sanctuary is what Aion 2 calls its raids: the hardest group PvE, with its own Sanctuary list. A Sanctuary run is for ten players, organised as two parties of five, which is why raid groups recruit by party roles rather than one long list.

On the global servers the first season has one Sanctuary, Abyssal Forge: Ludra. Korea has released several more since launch, including the Grail of Muspel and the Snowfield of Sorrow, which NC added on 9 September 2026 as its hardest content so far. None of those are on global yet. Sanctuary cubes are also opened with Odyle Energy, so raiders save energy before raid night.

When someone writes "sanc tonight, need 2 healers for party B", they are filling the second party of a ten-player raid.

Abyssal Forge: Ludra

Abyssal Forge: Ludra is the first ten-player Sanctuary on the global servers. Community data lists an environmental objective, the Central Abyss Fusion Reactor, and three bosses: Isolation Specialist Rahu, Abyssal Wings Ketu and the final boss Eternal Ludra. Entry needs level 45 and 2,800 item level on Normal, with Hard reported at 3,000. Runs have a 120-minute time limit and two revives.

The raid has an unusual history. It was playable during the Founder's Pack early access that began on 30 September 2026, but some guilds cleared it almost at once using knowledge from the Korean version, so NC removed it from the launch build on 5 October, together with the Ludra gear players had looted, to rework the fight. NC has announced its return with new mechanics on 4 November 2026, with Normal and Hard both available, and a regional first-clear race on Hard.

So as of 1 November 2026, "Ludra" in a global chat means the upcoming relaunch rather than a raid you can enter today.

Weekly reset

The weekly reset is the moment when weekly counters refill: Ascension Trial attempts, Daily Dungeon attempts and the Conquest and Transcendence limits. On the global servers it happens on Wednesday, together with that day's daily reset. Anything you did not use before then is gone, because counters fill back to their cap instead of stacking.

The exact hour is reported differently by different sites, so the in-game timer is the best guide. For planning, use up the solo attempts before Wednesday. The Ludra relaunch on 4 November 2026 also falls on a Wednesday, after that day's maintenance.

In guild chat, "before reset" means before Wednesday's refill.

FAQ

What order should I do Aion 2 dungeons in at level 45?

Most players clear Sealed Dungeons and Strongholds on their own map first for permanent points, then move to Conquest Expeditions from about 700 item level, Transcendence from about 1,600, and keep the Ascension Trial, Nightmare and Daily Dungeons running alongside. Ludra on the global servers needs 2,800 item level.

Does Odyle Energy limit how many dungeons I can enter?

No. It limits rewards, not entries. You spend it to open the cube at the end of an Expedition, Transcendence or Sanctuary run. Conquest and Transcendence do have their own weekly limit on runs without opening the cube.

Is Ludra available on the global servers?

Not on 1 November 2026. NC removed Abyssal Forge: Ludra at launch to rework it and has announced its return on 4 November 2026 with Normal and Hard modes.

Why do guides list dungeons I cannot find?

Many guides are made on the Korean version, which launched in November 2025 and has a level cap of 50 and extra Expeditions, Transcendence dungeons and Sanctuaries. The global version runs its own first season at level 45.

Related terms

• Aion 2 Progression, Classes & Abyss Glossary: item level, Arcana, Empyrean Traces
• General gaming terms: instance loot · grinding · party wipe
• Onlyfarms services: Aion 2 Expeditions Boost · Aion 2 Transcendence Boost · Aion 2 Sealed Dungeons Boost
• Guides: Aion 2 dungeons guide · daily and weekly checklist