AION 2 Assassin Class Guide

AION 2 Assassin Guide Quick Overview:

• Assassin is a melee DPS that prefers dealing critical hits while staying behind the target’s back to maximize damage.
• Your four main damage skills are Quick Slice, Savage Roar, Heart Gore, and Insignia Explosion.
• Level Heart Gore to 16 as soon as possible for its Critical Hit cooldown reset.
• Illusive Clone and Swift Contract are your two most important burst buffs.
• Your main PvE macro uses Insignia Explosion → Heart Gore → Savage Roar.

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AION 2 Assassin Class Overview

If you’ve heard that Assassin has the highest DPS among classes in AION 2, you heard right. Check out my AION 2 Class Tier List if you haven’t heard about it yet. Anyway, Assassin is all about sick moves, fast attacks, Crit Hits, and dealing burst damage. So, it’s not like you need to activate 8 skills in a row to get lots of damage. It’s more like you stack up something and then you press a button for a huge explosion. Assassin is a pretty squishy class too, so that’s something to keep in mind too.

I wouldn't say Assassin is the easiest class in the game, but I also don't think it's as complicated as other players make it sound. Worry not, for this guide will explain everything!

You just need to understand two things: always keep your damage buffs for the right moments and attack enemies from behind. Everything else comes with practice. That’s all there’s to it.

As an Assassin, you have access to a few moves that let you get behind your target pretty quickly. You still need to use your Dodge button to dodge boss mechanics though. While tanks like Templar or Gladiator, you don’t get a bonus for dealing front damage, but you do get lots of bonuses for dealing back damage. You backstabbing son of a gun!

Which is why you might want to turn on the setting that shows the boss’ cone of vision. It’s a useful setting to have on for all classes, but for Assassin it's a must-have. If you’d like to find more useful settings that improve targeting and make the game produce less clutter during gameplay, check out our AION 2 Settings guide.

How Insignias Work

Before we get into the build, you need to understand Insignias because they're one of Assassin's main mechanics.

Certain skills engrave Insignias on enemies, and you can have up to five stacks on a target. Insignia Explosion consumes these stacks to deal additional damage. The more stacks you have, the more damage you’ll deal.

Here's how the mechanic works:

1. Use Savage Roar or other skills that engrave Insignias.
2. Build up to five stacks on your target.
3. Activate Insignia Explosion to consume the stacks and deal damage.
4. Continue attacking and building stacks for your next explosion.

At higher skill levels, Insignia Explosion doesn’t consume all stacks, leaving two on the target. This makes it easier to get more stacks for the next time you use it. That speeds up the combat pretty significantly. The Exploit Weakness passive can also spawn clones that engrave Insignias, meaning you'll eventually generate plenty of stacks just by attacking normally.

Best Assassin Build in AION 2

For this guide, I'm focusing on a PvE DPS build built around Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion, and the two main offensive Stigmas, Illusive Clone and Swift Contract. The whole idea is to trigger as many Critical Hits as possible, repeatedly activate Heart Gore, and reduce your important cooldowns.

You can also check my AION 2 Best Builds for Each Class guide for a shorter version of this build alongside recommendations for the other seven classes. Here, I'm going into much more detail about individual skills and how to play Assassin properly.

Build component	Recommendation
Main DMG source	Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion, Quick Slice, Savage Roar
Movement skills	Shadowstrike, Infiltrate, Flash Slice
Stigmas	Illusive Clone, Swift Contract, Triniel's Dagger, Savage Fang
Main passives	Exploit Weakness, Rear Smite, Assault Stance, Impact Hit
Main mechanic	Critical Hit chains and Insignia detonations
Build priority	Heart Gore Lv. 16, followed by Quick Slice and Insignia Explosion upgrades

This is your PvE build, it’ll work for bosses in Expeditions, Daily dungeons, your horizontals (sealed dungeons, strongholds), and everything else that doesn’t involve fighting other players. For PvP, we'll need to make a few adjustments because your main goal changes from maintaining damage against a boss to catching and eliminating another player. And that’s a whole different beast to tackle.

Assassin Leveling Build

Leveling is pretty fast and simple most of the time, and so is your rotation. All you use in a basic sense is Quick Slice, which restores MP, and Savage Roar, which spends it while also applying Insignias. This basic mechanic is the same for all classes.

Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion are used for dealing even more damage as you upgrade them, but their cooldowns are pretty long initially.

My advice is to focus on getting your important active skills to level 12 first, then start working toward the level 16 breakpoints. Skill levels 8, 12, 16, and 20 are particularly important because they unlock Specialty options or additional Specialty slots.

Don't try to bring all of your skills to the same level every time you get skill points to invest. Some abilities only need level 8 or 12, while others completely change how Assassin plays at level 16.

Best Assassin Skills and Specialties

Your main damage comes from these four skills: Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion, Quick Slice, and Savage Roar. You should prioritize these before spending too many resources on secondary attacks. The most important milestone is Heart Gore level 16. Once you unlock its cooldown-reset Specialty, your DPS can increase considerably because you're no longer waiting for the normal cooldown after every activation.

You won’t get to level 16 even with Daevation boards. You’re going to need to use Soulstones

Assassin Skill Leveling Priority

Icon	Skill	Target Level	Specialty Descriptions
	Heart Gore	16 first, 20 later	Absorbs HP on hit; Max +20% Critical Hit when there are fewer targets hit; Resets [Heart Gore] Cooldown on landing a Critical Hit
	Quick Slice	16	Absorbs HP; -1s [Insignia Explosion] cooldown on hit; Ignores Block and Evasion and lands as a Critical Hit
	Insignia Explosion	16	+50% Multi-Hit on hit; Maintain 2 stacks of Insignias after [Insignia Explosion]; -3s Cooldown
	Savage Roar	12	-20% MP consumed; +20% Skill Speed
	Shadowstrike	8	+20% Own Critical Damage Boost for 10s on hit
	Infiltrate	8	+10m [Infiltrate] range
	Flash Slice	12	+6m Range; additional consecutive use
	Defiance	8	Restores 20% HP on using [Defiance]
	Storm Rampage	16 later	Absorbs 5% HP; -1s all skill cooldowns on hit

Keep in mind that reaching level 16 doesn't mean you can equip every available Specialty simultaneously. You'll have two Specialty slots at that point. The third slot unlocks at level 20, so you'll sometimes need to replace an earlier Specialty with a more useful one.

Heart Gore

Heart Gore is your most important damage skill. It becomes available after you land a Critical Hit, and once activated, it deals damage and restores MP. Normally, the skill has a five-second cooldown.

This is where level 16 changes everything.

The level 16 Specialty resets Heart Gore's cooldown whenever the skill lands a Critical Hit. As long as you keep landing crits, you can repeatedly activate Heart Gore without waiting for its normal cooldown.

I would level Heart Gore in this order:

1. Level 8: Use Absorb HP while leveling for additional healing.
2. Level 12: Take Multi-Hit on hit for more damage.
3. Level 16: Prioritize the Critical Hit cooldown-reset Specialty.
4. Level 20: Work toward the additional Specialty slot and other useful damage effects.

Once Heart Gore reaches level 16, I'd replace Absorb HP with the cooldown reset and keep Multi-Hit if that's what your current Specialty slots allow. Later, you can choose a more offensive combination when survivability becomes less of a problem.

One thing worth mentioning is that Heart Gore still isn't quite as fast as it is during Illusive Clone. The cooldown reset needs to register after the attack lands, whereas Illusive Clone removes the cooldown entirely.

Quick Slice

Quick Slice is your basic attack, but don't underestimate how important it is. It restores MP, deals damage through a three-part combo, and works alongside your other abilities through animation canceling. You'll be using Quick Slice throughout the entire game, even at endgame. Early on, I recommend taking Absorb HP to make leveling easier. Later, you should choose the Specialty that guarantees a Critical Hit and the one that reduces Insignia Explosion's cooldown by one second on hit. The cooldown reduction is particularly important because you're constantly attacking with Quick Slice. Every successful reduction helps bring Insignia Explosion back sooner. At level 16, you have to choose between your available Specialties. I'd prioritize the guaranteed Critical Hit and cooldown reduction for PvE damage, then work toward level 20 for another slot.

You get one specialty slot at skill level 8, then another at level 12. But don’t forget to actually slot them. Just because they’re unlocked, doesn’t mean they’re active. You have to manually equip them into available slots.

Insignia Explosion

Insignia Explosion is your second major damage skill. It consumes Insignia stacks on your target, deals damage to nearby enemies, and can inflict Stun.

The damage increases based on the number of Insignias consumed, so you normally want to use it with five stacks.

My recommended Specialties are:

• +50% Multi-Hit on hit: Increases the skill's damage potential.
• Keep 2 Insignia stacks: Makes subsequent explosions easier to prepare.
• -3 seconds cooldown: Lets you use the skill more frequently.

I would prioritize Multi-Hit and cooldown reduction for regular boss damage once Quick Slice is helping you cycle the ability. Keeping two Insignias is also useful, particularly before your passive and Stigma interactions generate stacks consistently.

Eventually, you want all three.

Savage Roar

Savage Roar is your repeatable MP-consuming attack. It's another three-part chain, but unlike Quick Slice, it engraves Insignias on your target.

You'll use it frequently while leveling because Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion won't be available nearly as often.

The two Specialties I recommend early are:

• -20% MP consumption
• +20% Skill Speed

The first helps with your mana consumption during longer fights, while the second makes the entire attack chain faster.

Once you get enough MP regen and the other damage skills become easier to use, Savage Roar becomes more of a filler ability. And yes, it’s the same for all classes. I'd leave it around level 8–12 initially rather than investing in it before Heart Gore.

Assassin Mobility Skills

Assassin has three movement skills that are particularly useful in boss fights.

Icon	Skill	What it does	Why I recommend it
	Shadowstrike	Moves behind a target within 20m and deals 52 (+100% Attack) damage, rotates, and inflicts Stun for 3s. 10 Stagger Gauge Damage	Provides a Critical Damage Boost buff and helps maintain rear positioning
	Infiltrate	Moves behind a target within 10m and deals 239 (+105% Attack) damage with a 50% chance to inflict Blind for 3s after using Dodge or while flying. 100% chance to inflict Blind on NPC targets. 10 Stagger Gauge Damage	Its Specialty increases range to 20m
	Flash Slice	Moves to the opposite side of a target within 4m and deals 181 (+107% Attack) damage to up to 4 enemies, with a 40% chance to inflict Blind for 3s. 100% chance to inflict Blind on NPC targets. 7 Stagger Gauge Damage	Useful for repositioning when the other two skills are unavailable

I would get Shadowstrike and Infiltrate to level 8 fairly early. That gives you access to its important Specialties, and both skills can then cover a 20-meter distance.

Flash Slice is a little different because it moves you to the opposite side of the enemy rather than always directly behind them. It's still useful, though. At level 12, you can gain an additional use, which helps considerably when fighting bosses that move around.

Don't spend all your mobility skills just to deal a little extra damage. I prefer keeping at least one available if I know the boss is about to move or turn around.

Other Useful Assassin Skills

There are several secondary abilities worth mentioning, even though they won't always be part of your main DPS rotation.

• Ambush deals additional damage when attacking from behind. It can be useful for extra healing with its Absorb HP Specialty, but I wouldn't prioritize it over the four main damage skills for sustained PvE DPS.
• Whirlwind Slice becomes available after evading an attack or landing Ambush. You can use it during leveling, but it isn't necessarily worth adding to your endgame rotation if it interrupts higher-value attacks.
• Storm Rampage is available against staggered enemies. At level 16, it can reduce all skill cooldowns by one second on hit, including Stigma cooldowns. This is particularly useful if Illusive Clone and Swift Contract are unavailable. If your buffs are already active, I'd generally stick to the usual damage rotation instead.
• Defiance removes certain crowd-control effects and grants temporary protection against further control. Get it to level 8 for the Specialty that restores 20% HP. That additional healing can save you during boss fights or PvP.

 

 

Best Assassin Stigmas

Stigmas are where Assassin gets some of its most important abilities. For PvE, I recommend four: Illusive Clone, Swift Contract, Triniel's Dagger, and Savage Fang. For the love of god, don’t unlock every stigma in the game, just because you “might” use it later. If you did, you should reset and spend those Stigma points on leveling important stigmas. Every class usually unlocks only 4 of them, and Assassin is no exception.

The main idea is simple. Illusive Clone starts your burst damage combo, Swift Contract lets you attack faster, Triniel's Dagger helps reduce cooldowns, and Savage Fang immediately gives you five Insignias.

Icon	Stigma	Investment Priority	Effect
	Triniel's Dagger	Lv. 10 first	Deals 1374 (+256% Attack) damage to a target within 4m and increases all of the target's skill cooldowns by 5% of their duration. Increases damage by 30% if attacking from behind the target. 20 Stagger Gauge Damage.
	Illusive Clone	Lv. 20 main goal	Removes [Heart Gore] cooldown and deals 20% of damage dealt as extra damage for 10s.
	Swift Contract	After Illusive Clone	Increases the caster's Combat Speed by 20% for 10s.
	Savage Fang	After main buffs	Deals 1074 damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m and engraves 5 Insignias for 10s. 50 Stagger Gauge Damage.

Illusive Clone

If there's one Stigma that defines Assassin's burst, it's Illusive Clone. By default, it lasts 10 seconds and has a 90-second cooldown. During that time, Heart Gore loses its cooldown, allowing you to repeatedly attack as long as you trigger the skill through Critical Hits.

It also provides additional damage, and later Stigma upgrades make the buff even better. At level 20, its duration reaches 20 seconds. That's twice as much time to deal damage while Heart Gore can be repeatedly activated. This is why I'd prioritize Illusive Clone after getting Triniel's Dagger to level 10. The difference between having 10 seconds and 20 seconds of this buff is substantial, especially in longer boss fights.

Swift Contract

Swift Contract increases Combat Speed by 20% for 10 seconds. Combat Speed reduces attack animation time, letting you perform more attacks during the same period. I recommend activating it alongside Illusive Clone whenever possible. When both buffs are active, your goal is to attack from behind and trigger Heart Gore as many times as you can. You don't want to waste these 10 seconds chasing a boss around or running away from mechanics. It's better to delay the buffs briefly if you know the boss is about to become untargetable or move to another position.

Triniel's Dagger

Triniel's Dagger deals damage, benefits from Back Attacks, and gains a very important effect at level 10: reducing your current skill cooldowns by 10% on hit. This is one of the reasons I'd upgrade it before spending everything on Illusive Clone. You should activate Illusive Clone and Swift Contract first, then use Triniel's Dagger. That way, its cooldown reduction applies after your main buffs have already started their cooldowns. It's a small detail, but over a longer encounter it helps you use your burst buffs more often.

Savage Fang

Savage Fang deals damage and immediately engraves five Insignias on your target. This means you can start a fight with a fully powered Insignia Explosion without having to build stacks through Savage Roar first. I like using Savage Fang right before Insignia Explosion during the opening rotation.

At level 15, Savage Fang also gains a PvE damage buff, making it a good later investment. However, I'd still prioritize Illusive Clone and the level 10 Triniel's Dagger breakpoint before putting many resources here.

Best Assassin Passive Skills

Assassin has several useful passive skills, but four stand out for PvE damage. These are Exploit Weakness, Rear Smite, Assault Stance, and Impact Hit.

I would focus most of my early investment on Exploit Weakness and Rear Smite, then work on the other two as I get more resources.

Icon	Passive	Priority	Why it matters
	Exploit Weakness	Highest	Increases caster's Critical Hit by 100. Has a 25% chance to increase Attack by 5.5% for 10s, and a 7% chance to summon up to 5 clones on landing a Critical Hit. Each clone deals 13.75% ATK + 17 damage and inflicts Insignia for 10s (up to 5 stacks). Clone cooldown: 1s. Attack increase cooldown: 1s.
	Rear Smite	Highest	Increases the caster's Back Attack Damage Boost by 3%, PvE Damage Boost by 3%, and PvP Damage Boost by 1.5%.
	Assault Stance	High	Increases the caster's Critical Damage Boost by 6%.
	Impact Hit	High	Increases the caster's Impact-type Chance by 11.2% and Double Chance by 0.3%.

Exploit Weakness

Exploit Weakness is probably the most important passive for Assassin's overall gameplay. It provides additional Critical Hit, has a chance to increase Attack, and can summon clones whenever you land a Critical Hit. Those clones deal damage and engrave Insignias on the target. You can see how everything starts working together here.

More Critical Hits mean more Heart Gore activations, more chances to summon clones, and more Insignias for Insignia Explosion. That's why this passive is useful for practically every part of your damage rotation.

Rear Smite

Rear Smite increases your Back Attack Damage Boost and also provides PvE and PvP damage bonuses. This passive is one of the main reasons you should always try to attack enemies from behind. Even if your regular attacks deal damage from the front, you're missing an important part of Assassin's damage potential.

In boss fights, I would prioritize positioning almost as much as the rotation itself.

Assault Stance and Impact Hit

Assault Stance increases Critical Damage Boost, while Impact Hit provides Impact-type Chance and Double Chance. Both are good offensive passives, but I'd invest in them after establishing Exploit Weakness and Rear Smite. You can still develop other passives as more points become available. Just don't spend your limited early resources on secondary bonuses while your main damage passives are underleveled.

AION 2 Assassin PvE Rotation

Assassin's PvE rotation becomes much easier once you know that its all about big damage buttons and not much else. I hate it when they call it a “burst window”, but it is what it is.

Your goal is to activate both offensive Stigmas, position yourself behind the enemy, use Triniel's Dagger to reduce cooldowns, and then keep triggering Heart Gore and Insignia Explosion.

Assassin Opening Rotation

For bosses, I'd use this sequence:

1. Illusive Clone: Start your main combo.
2. Swift Contract: Gain 20% Combat Speed.
3. Shadowstrike: Move behind the boss and activate the Critical Damage Boost.
4. Triniel's Dagger: Deal damage and reduce your active cooldowns.
5. Savage Fang: Apply five Insignias.
6. Insignia Explosion: Detonate the stacks for immediate damage.
7. Heart Gore and Quick Slice: Continue your main attacks while Illusive Clone is active.

After that, maintain your rotation using Quick Slice, Heart Gore, Insignia Explosion, and Savage Roar whenever your higher-priority attacks aren't available. The exact opening can change depending on whether the boss is already in melee range or about to move. I wouldn't blindly activate both buffs before an encounter starts if I'm going to waste half their duration closing the distance.

Assassin Sustained DPS Rotation

Outside your main combo, the priorities are a little different. Heart Gore becomes dependent on Critical Hits and cooldown resets again. Insignia Explosion also has its regular cooldown, although Quick Slice helps reduce it. Your goal is to keep attacking while waiting for those abilities to become available.

I would prioritize:

1. Heart Gore whenever it's triggered and available.
2. Insignia Explosion when you have enough Insignia stacks.
3. Quick Slice to restore MP and reduce Insignia Explosion's cooldown.
4. Savage Roar when the other abilities aren't available.

You should also continue using movement abilities to stay behind the boss. Don't just stand in place and expect the macro to do everything.

How to Use Storm Rampage

Storm Rampage becomes particularly useful at level 16 because its cooldown-reduction Specialty affects your other skills. When a boss is staggered, you can repeatedly activate Storm Rampage. Each hit reduces your cooldowns by one second.

I recommend doing this when Illusive Clone and Swift Contract are both on cooldown. You're effectively sacrificing some immediate damage to bring your next combo loop back sooner. When your buffs are already active, you generally don't want to interrupt your Heart Gore damage just to use Storm Rampage.

Best Assassin Macros

Assassin has one of the simpler PvE macros in AION 2. You mainly need a single priority chain consisting of Insignia Explosion, Heart Gore, and Savage Roar.

If you're unfamiliar with how the in-game macro system works, I recommend reading my AION 2 Macros Guide first. It explains skill chains, quickslots, and how animation canceling works.

Priority	Skill
1	Insignia Explosion
2	Heart Gore
3	Savage Roar

At higher levels, you can place Savage Fang before Insignia Explosion, giving you this chain:

Savage Fang → Insignia Explosion → Heart Gore → Savage Roar

Keep Quick Slice on your left mouse button. During combat, hold Quick Slice and your macro key together so your attacks can cancel into one another.

The important thing is that the macro prioritizes skills based on their position in the chain. If Insignia Explosion isn't available, it tries Heart Gore. If Heart Gore isn't available either, it continues to Savage Roar.

I recommend keeping Illusive Clone, Swift Contract, Triniel's Dagger, and your movement skills outside the macro. You want to activate those manually because timing and positioning matter too much.

Assassin PvP Build and Combos

Assassin plays quite differently in PvP. You still rely on Critical Hits and burst damage, but staying behind a moving player is obviously harder than attacking a boss. You also have to consider crowd control, defensive abilities, and how quickly the enemy can escape.

Personally, I'd focus on catching an isolated target, applying crowd control, and dealing damage before the opponent can respond. Trying to fight multiple enemies head-on usually isn't a good idea.

Which is why Abyss might be a little difficult. In all honesty, PvP in the Abyss is a total shitshow, because chances are the opposing side will have the numbers and be able to send you back to spawn in the blink of an eye. And it doesn’t even matter that you’re a squishy Assassin; the same happens to Templars as well. So, what I’m trying to say is that you should first check out 1v1 arenas or structured PvP to get a feel for what you can do against other players. Which is a shame, because Abyss is an important location for your gearing progress. If you’d like to know more about how it works, check out our AION 2 Abyss guide.

The PvE damage build can serve as a starting point, but I wouldn't treat its four Stigmas as a universal PvP recommendation. Mobility, control, and survival can be worth more than sustained boss damage.

Assassin PvP Skill Priorities

Icon	Skill	PvP Use
	Shadowstrike	Engage from range and attack from behind
	Infiltrate	Reposition behind an enemy
	Flash Slice	Follow moving targets and change position
	Insignia Explosion	Burst damage and potential Stun
	Heart Gore	Main Critical Hit damage
	Defiance	Remove crowd control and recover HP
	Illusive Clone	Main burst buff
	Swift Contract	Faster attacks during the combo

Your first goal is to get into melee range without wasting all your movement abilities. Shadowstrike and Infiltrate are particularly useful for this because they move you behind the target. Once you're in range, use your available crowd control and damage abilities to pressure the enemy. Insignia Explosion can inflict Stun, with its chance affected by the number of Insignias on the target. I would also avoid activating Illusive Clone when the opponent still has an easy way to escape. If you spend the entire buff duration chasing someone, you lose most of its value. Against ranged classes, save at least one mobility ability to close the distance again. Against other melee classes, pay more attention to defensive cooldowns and when it's safe to commit to your burst.

Best Assassin Stats

As an Assassin, your first priority should be any stat that helps you deal more damage, which is kind of obvious. Critical Hit and Back Attack bonuses are especially important because they interact directly with your class mechanics. I'd prioritize getting enough Accuracy for the enemies you're leveling, then build around Critical Hits and the damage bonuses that make your attacks more effective. 

So, the morale of this story - don’t overlook Accuracy, it’s super useful to your class.

Stat	Priority	In-game Description
Accuracy	Essential	Prevents attack from missing. Offset by target's Evasion and Block.
Critical Hit	Very High	Increases the chance of landing a Critical Hit. Offset by the target's Critical Hit Resist.
Back Attack Damage Boost	Very High	Increases damage dealt when attacking from behind the target.
Critical Damage Boost	High	Increases Critical Hit damage. Offset by the target's Critical Damage Tolerance.
Weapon Damage Boost	High	Increases weapon damage. Offset by the target's Weapon Damage Tolerance.
Combat Speed	High	Increases attack speed and skill action speed.
Double Chance	High	Chance to deal greatly increased damage based on final damage. Offset by the target's Double Resist.
Attack	High	Higher Attack increases damage dealt.

One thing I wouldn't recommend is stacking Critical Hit without considering your other stats. Once you're consistently triggering Heart Gore and your other Critical Hit effects, additional damage bonuses become increasingly valuable.

For PvP, Accuracy and survivability deserve more attention because you're fighting players who may have considerable Evasion, crowd control, and burst damage of their own.

 

 

Best Assassin Gear and Manastones

For gear, I recommend focusing on offensive bonuses that support your main damage mechanics. Assassin benefits considerably from Critical Hit, Accuracy, Back Attack Damage Boost, Combat Speed, and other direct damage bonuses. While leveling, you don't need to spend all your resources rerolling equipment. You'll replace much of it as you progress through dungeons and unlock higher-level items.

Please don’t reroll for specific stats while you’re chasing a higher gear score like 1400, 1600, or 2100. While gearing up, you just need to roll for a higher grade of stats, like green or blue, which gives you more GS. Learn all about what to do and what not to do in my AION 2 GS farming guide.

I'd start paying more attention to individual gear bonuses once I'm farming equipment that I expect to keep for a while.

Assassin Gear Progression

My general progression priorities would be:

1. Replace outdated weapons with higher-level daggers that provide useful offensive bonuses.
2. Prioritize equipment with Accuracy and Critical Hit while establishing the build.
3. Look for Back Attack Damage Boost, Critical Damage Boost, and other relevant bonuses.
4. Invest in Soul Binding and expensive rerolls primarily on equipment you intend to keep.
5. Use Arcana and other progression systems to reach important skill level breakpoints.

I wouldn't automatically replace a useful item simply because another one has a higher Gear Score. Depending on the actual stat rolls, an older piece can still contribute more to your damage.

Best Assassin Manastones

For Manastones, I'd focus on whichever offensive stats your current equipment is missing. Accuracy and Critical Hit are good early priorities, especially before your character consistently triggers Heart Gore. Once those are covered, offensive bonuses that improve your damage become more attractive. You'll eventually want a more balanced distribution rather than putting every available resource into a single stat.

Best Assassin Daevanion Boards

Daevanion is particularly important for Assassin because it provides additional skill levels and access to important Specialties. You won't get every skill to level 16 or 20 immediately, so I recommend planning your Daevanion progression around the abilities that change your rotation the most. Your first priority should be Heart Gore, followed by Quick Slice and Insignia Explosion.

Assassin Daevanion Progression Priority

Order	Goal	Reason
1	Heart Gore Lv. 12	Unlock early Specialties
2	Quick Slice and Insignia Explosion Lv. 12	Improve core damage
3	Heart Gore Lv. 16	Unlock Critical Hit cooldown reset
4	Quick Slice Lv. 16	Improve Critical Hit and cooldown interactions
5	Insignia Explosion Lv. 16	Improve the frequency of Insignia detonations
6	Flash Slice Lv. 12	Gain additional mobility
7	Storm Rampage Lv. 16	Reduce skill and Stigma cooldowns during Stagger
8	Further offensive upgrades	Work toward Lv. 20 priorities

Keep in mind that Daevanion progression is also affected by the available nodes and the path required to reach them. You should consider useful intermediate stat bonuses rather than judging every node solely by its skill level. I would also prioritize the four main offensive passives as more points become available.

Best Assassin Arcana

Arcana cards become another important progression system once you start working toward higher skill levels. Basically, you’ll start receiving these cards as loot at GS 1600, which is when you can start doing Transcendence at Stage 1.

For Assassin, I recommend looking for bonuses to Heart Gore, Quick Slice, Insignia Explosion, and your main offensive passives. Additional skill levels can help you reach important Specialty breakpoints without relying entirely on Daevanion. The most useful bonuses are generally those that contribute toward an actual breakpoint rather than adding one level to an ability you barely use.

Priority	Bonuses to Look For
Highest	Heart Gore
Highest	Quick Slice
High	Insignia Explosion
High	Exploit Weakness
High	Rear Smite
High	Assault Stance
High	Impact Hit
Secondary	Savage Roar and utility skills

I wouldn't spend too many resources trying to obtain a perfect Arcana card immediately. Start with useful skills and passive bonuses, then work toward better combinations when you have more materials. The important thing is reaching the skill levels that matter to your build.

Best Assassin Pantheon and Pets

Pantheon and Pets provide additional stats that can contribute to Assassin's damage. They're worth developing alongside your other progression systems, but I wouldn't sacrifice important skill upgrades just to chase minor bonuses here. For Pantheon, I'd prioritize offensive stats that complement the rest of the build. Critical Hit, Accuracy, Combat Speed, and damage-related bonuses are particularly relevant.

The same applies to Pets and Genus Insight. As you collect more pets, you'll unlock additional bonuses that can improve your character without directly changing the skill rotation.

AION 2 Assassin Tips and Tricks

I think Assassin becomes much more enjoyable once you stop thinking about it as a class where you simply spam attacks. Most of your damage comes from understanding a few mechanics and using them consistently.

Here are the things I'd pay the most attention to:

• Enable the boss orientation indicator. Open Settings, find Info Display → Combat, and change the boss orientation indicator to Back. This makes it much easier to identify where you should position yourself.
• Don't waste Illusive Clone. Save it for situations where you can actually attack the boss throughout most of the buff duration.
• Use Shadowstrike before your main attacks. Its Critical Damage Boost Specialty is useful during your combo.
• Get Heart Gore to level 16 early. This is one of the biggest improvements you can make to your regular rotation.
• Remember your Insignias. Insignia Explosion deals more damage with additional stacks, so don't constantly detonate one-stack targets.
• Use Storm Rampage strategically. Its cooldown reduction becomes useful when your main Stigmas are unavailable.
• Practice animation canceling. The Quick Slice and macro combination is a major part of maintaining DPS.
• Don't ignore your defenses. Assassin deals excellent damage but can die quickly when you miss important mechanics.

One last tip: I wouldn't judge your Assassin's damage based only on a short training dummy test. Actual boss fights require movement, dodging, and repositioning. Learning how to keep attacking while dealing with those mechanics is what makes a good Assassin player.

F.A.Q.