AION 2 Is Cutting PvP Damage by About 30% and Delaying Class Change Tickets

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NCSoft used an October 13 AION 2 livestream to outline a batch of combat and progression changes, led by a planned PvP damage reduction of roughly 30%. Some adjustments are set to arrive on October 14, with others coming later in sequence.

The main goal is to slow down PvP kills, especially in content like the Abyss, where NCSoft says gear gaps have made the barrier to entry too steep for newer players. The studio also said it’s working on ways to narrow the gap between established players and people just starting to engage with PvP.

  • PvP damage is being reduced by around 30% to increase time-to-kill.
  • Melee classes should get more staying power in large fights. Assault will boost defense and elemental resistance for 5 seconds based on how many targets are hit, while Block will reduce cooldown by 0.3 seconds after a successful defense.
  • Sorcerer, Spiritmaster, and Cleric will get elemental damage added to selected skills, similar to the Ranger’s earlier wind damage change.
  • Inheritance Stone Shards and Inheritance Stones are being folded into one material, Flames of Succession. Existing materials can be converted through Morphing, with costs varying by gear slot.
  • The Sanctuary Snowfield of Grief spike mechanic is being adjusted on October 14 so support classes like Chanter and Cleric can destroy spikes more easily.

One thing not coming soon is the Class Change Ticket. NCSoft said it’s holding off after player polls leaned against the feature. The studio excluded responses from characters below 350K combat power to avoid skewed results, and opposition still led, including among players at 900K and above. A follow-up poll during the stream landed at 52.4% against and 47.5% in favor.

NCSoft also touched on housing and rankings. Housing is still in development after the team expanded customization options, including wall and floor patterns and furniture resizing, and it’s now in final testing. Ranking changes are also planned so competition doesn’t revolve almost entirely around the final stretch of a season.

The studio added that it wants to bring over global service improvements that received positive feedback, but said combat control and optimization changes are harder to apply all at once because of high attack speed and cooldown reduction values on the domestic servers.