Aion’s new Dread Blade class is now live in North America

Aion players in North America can now roll a new class. NCsoft has added the Dread Blade to the region’s version of the MMO as part of its latest update, bringing in a sword-and-magic hybrid built around a new soul sword weapon type.

According to the announcement, the Dread Blade charges up by absorbing soul power from enemies it hits, then spends that power on stronger attacks. NCsoft describes it as Aion’s first “true hybrid” class. In practice, it looks built for a mix of crowd control and burst damage, with skills for wide-area swings, single-target pressure, debuffs, self-buffs, and a teleport finisher aimed at low-health enemies.

The patch isn’t just about the new class. It also adds leader monsters in Balaurea along with special loot tied to them, opens the Tiamat’s Sanctuary dungeon, and introduces gear rewards for hitting level milestones. There are also several equipment enchantment changes in the same update.

If you want the full breakdown, NCsoft has the complete patch notes on the official site.