NC revealed the new Aion 2 class 'Fistmaster' and details for the Chapter 1 update during a showcase on Sunday, June 14. Held at the Mayfield Hotel in Seoul, the event invited 150 players selected via lottery and featured a live opening performance by composer Yang Bang-ean, as well as a special performance by fromis_9, who will be featured in an upcoming collaboration event.

The showcase introduced the Chapter 1 'Land of Sand and Frost' update, scheduled for Wednesday, July 1. In addition to the stylish new 'Fistmaster' class, the update adds new regions and quests. Other reveals included new sports-oriented PVP content like Occupation Battles and Battle Royale, PvE competitive modes that increase difficulty through debuffs for high-score chasing, and horizontal content such as sailing, fishing, and housing.

- Updates now released in larger 'Chapter' units rather than seasons

- Future updates planned as 'First Story' and 'Second Story' of each chapter

- New Elyos territory 'Eltnen' and Asmodian territory 'Morheim' added

- New stories and quests added; existing story backgrounds expanded with behind-the-scenes lore

- Pre-registration open until Tuesday, June 30

- Melee class that fights using fists and feet

- Builds up rage to enter a 'Berserk' state, which changes the skill set

- Specializes in dashing and frontal attacks

- Combat style involves pushing/pulling enemies, dashing in to fight, and returning to the original position

- Party size expanded from 4 to 5

- Character level cap expanded from 45 to 50

- Stigma Skill level cap expanded from 20 to 25

- 6 Stigma Skills can be equipped; new specializations unlocked at level 25

- Devaion Board expanded

- New slots: Pendant, Seal, Stats Arcana

- Amulet and Belt upgraded to Epic grade

- Attack power cap removed

- Allows setting 4 debuffs for existing expedition dungeons: time limits, resurrection limits, boss buffs, and dungeon debuffs

- Scores earned based on the total difficulty of debuffs; rewards based on weekly score rankings

- Challenge content for score records; no cube rewards upon dungeon completion

- Occupation Battle: All participants have their combat power, stats, and skills adjusted to the same level

- Victory goes to the team that captures 3 points and reaches the target score within 10 minutes

- Outland: 100-player Battle Royale content

- Start with basic equipment, farm items, and earn rewards based on survival rank

- Sailing: Content for hunting, fishing, and defeating monsters with friends or Legion members

- Fishing: Obtain underwater gatherables and ancient relics

- Housing: Claim land on floating islands, build houses, raise pets, and interact with them

- Consolidated three existing membership tiers (19,700, 29,700, and ₩45k) into one

- New membership price is ₩25k

- Duration: 28 days base + 2 days of rewards from the membership-exclusive pass = 30 days total

- Remaining days from previous memberships transferred based on the new price

- Stronger than Season 3 support; provides equipment and internal growth

- Includes Tier 4 equipment, wings, pet race affinity level 10, 5 Stigma skills at level 15, and teleportation to existing territory quests

- Express benefits: Bulk acquisition of dungeon and garrison clears, and Traces of the Lord

- Express benefits can be purchased with Quna for alt characters

- Dungeon reward limits and boss kill limits removed

- Added limit on uncollected rewards: deducted if you leave a dungeon without claiming rewards

- Sprout' badge system for new/returning users

- Existing users earn a portion of the Od Energy used by 'Sprout' users when running dungeons together

- New Sanctuary planned for mid-to-late Chapter 1

- New equipment slot 'Seal' obtainable in the new Sanctuary

- Sanctuary rewards rotate between bracelets, brooches, and seals to ensure longevity of accessories

- Sanctuary difficulty consists of Normal/Hard; Hard difficulty offers double pity rewards

- Season 1 & 2 Sanctuary improvements: Unlimited challenges, all rewards obtainable after defeating the final boss

- New Abyss 'Chaos Ereshuranta Surface' added for players with 400k combat power or less; focused on Abyss Point farming

- Garrison capture/defense missions added to Rifts; rewards based on victory/defeat and contribution

- Abyss matching interval changed to 2 weeks

- Artifact Resonance Battle reward criteria changed to class-specific individual rankings

- All users kicked from the base just before the start of Artifact Resonance Battle to resolve AFK issues

- Tradable unbound medals added; PVP content to obtain additional medals

- Resolving combat power discrepancies between classes due to weapon stats or passive differences

- Stigma reset cost made free

- Same-race server transfer feature introduced on Wednesday, July 15

- Inheritance limit removed; general inheritance success rate set to 100%

- All Nightmare boss difficulties unlocked at once; clearing Nightmare also clears lower difficulties

- Pet auto-loot added: available for free pets, activated with Kinah

- Paid costumes/pets now shared within the server

- Pets can be mounted inside dungeons

- Transparent map added; map pins expanded to 30

- Account-wide chat block; prohibited word rules updated

- Member customization and costumes

- 2 pets, 1 pair of wings, weapon skins

- LIKE YOU BETTER' choreography emote

- Stage feature: follow the choreography of nearby characters

- Coupon code: AION2CHAPTERONE (5 Od Energy, 1k Books of Souls, etc.)

- Valid until maintenance on Wednesday, September 30

- Commemorative showcase pet '2' gifted to all users

Regarding Fistmaster and class balance

- Weekly class balance patches planned until Wednesday, July 1

- Head Attack introduced with Fistmaster; will also be added to Gladiator/Templar

- Fistmaster will not be intentionally released as OP; will be balanced against other classes

- Fistmaster also has 'long-reach' weapons

- Considering re-introduction of Cleric's 'Self-Pride

- Cleric damage buffed because they are excluded from many content types; will also consider strengthening support capabilities

- No plans to review Templar field hunting other than buffing 'Capture' damage

- Considering strengthening party synergy effects

- No plans to fix Sorcerer's 'Flame Explosion' or Assassin's 'Glyph Explosion' damage issues due to concerns over favoring specific classes

- Gladiator's identity is 'Damage-Tank'. Past comments about them being a tank were a mistake

Regarding mouse macros

- PD Kim Namjoon: We intend to fix the 'click-macro meta', but it is a time-consuming task

- Director So In-seop: Players run 30 expeditions and 20 transcendence runs as homework; manual play causes too much fatigue

Regarding Abyss and PVP

- Looking for ways to ensure players don't lose out when using PVP gear in artifact battles or boss fights; measures planned before Fistmaster release

- Status effect immunity to be introduced for Abyss bosses

- PVP Fortress Siege in preparation

- Will consider increasing Abyss Point limits

Regarding growth

- Surveyed on-site reaction to Erosion Bracelet pity system → Mostly positive

- Considering reducing Sanctuary runs to 1 while doubling rewards

- Pet farming to be eased; sources to be expanded

- Pet crystal drop rate doubled when PVP is enabled in Rifts

- Considering adding Arcana Crystal Season 3 'Integrity' → Season 2 'Mystic' material conversion

- No plans to introduce server-wide wing enhancement sharing (on-site reaction was very negative)

- Will consider retaining 'Sage's Stone' when inheriting Dragon → Shining Dragon

- Considering removing PvE damage resistance cap

Other

- Elysium and Pandemonium are not just maps, but settings for key events

- MVP system to be adjusted so it doesn't focus solely on damage dealers

- Costume re-release sales planned for mid-July; will be sold as lineups rather than individual items

- Legion donations not planned due to potential for abuse; will consider if guild housing is introduced later

- Server transfer tickets required per character

- Will consider consolidating Shugo Festa achievements

- Added Spiritmaster spirit summon cancel key

- Rear marker visibility to be enhanced

- Developing multi-select feature for Unique → Tuning Stone conversion

- Speed hacks are impossible. All reported cases have been investigated. They may appear fast, but they have no actual impact