NC revealed the new 'Vandal' class and Chapter 1 update details during a showcase on Sunday, June 14. Held at the Mayfield Hotel in Seoul, the event hosted 150 randomly selected users and featured a live opening performance by composer Yang Bang-ean and a special appearance 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 'Vandal' class, the update adds new regions and quests. Other highlights include sports-oriented PVP content like Occupation Battles and Battle Royale, competitive PvE challenges that increase difficulty through debuffs, and horizontal content such as sailing, fishing, and housing.

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

- Future updates planned as 'Part 1' and 'Part 2' of each chapter

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

- New story and quests added, with supplementary background lore and behind-the-scenes stories

- Pre-registration open until Tuesday, June 30

- A melee class that fights using fists and feet

- Enters a 'Berserk' state after accumulating rage; skill sets change during this state

- Specializes in dashing and frontal attacks

- Combat style involves pushing/pulling enemies, dashing in to engage, 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 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 granted based on weekly rankings

- Challenge content focused on high scores; no cube rewards upon dungeon completion

- Occupation Battle: Combatants compete with equalized combat power, stats, and skills

- 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 gathering items and ancient relics

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

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

- New membership price: ₩25k

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

- Remaining days from previous memberships will be converted based on the new price

- Improved over Season 3 support; provides both equipment and internal character 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: Batch completion for Sealed Dungeons, Garrison Quests, and Lord's Traces

- Express benefits can be purchased with Quna for secondary characters

- Dungeon reward limits and boss kill limits removed

- Added a limit on 'unclaimed rewards': counts are 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 spent by 'Sprout' users when running dungeons together

- New Sanctuary scheduled 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 and Hard; Hard difficulty offers double the pity rewards

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

- New Abyss 'Surface of Chaotic Ereshkigal' 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 and contribution

- Abyss matching interval changed to 2 weeks

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

- To prevent AFK issues in Artifact Resonance Battles, all users will be kicked from the base just before the start

- Tradable, unbound medals added; obtainable through PVP content

- Addressing combat power discrepancies between classes caused by weapon stats or passive differences

- Stigma reset cost removed

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

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

- Nightmare boss difficulty levels unlocked simultaneously; clearing Nightmare also clears lower difficulties

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

- Paid costumes/pets now shared across the server

- Pets can now be mounted inside dungeons

- Transparent map added; map pins expanded to 30

- Account-wide chat blocking; prohibited word rules updated

- Member customization and costumes

- 2 pets, 1 set of wings, weapon skins

- LIKE YOU BETTER' choreography emotes

- Stage feature: characters nearby can dance along to the choreography

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

- Valid until maintenance on Wednesday, September 30

- Commemorative pet '2' gifted to all users

Regarding Vandal and class balance

- Weekly class balance patches planned until Wednesday, July 1

- Head Attack' introduced with Vandal; will also be added to Gladiator and Templar

- Vandal will not be intentionally released as 'OP' and will be balanced against other classes

- Vandal will have 'extendable' weapons

- Reintroduction of Cleric 'Self-Buff' under review

- Cleric damage buffed because they are often excluded from content when damage is low; will also consider strengthening support capabilities

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

- Reviewing plans to strengthen party synergy effects

- No plans to fix Sorcerer 'Flame Explosion' or Assassin 'Glyph Explosion' damage issues, as it may lead to specific class preferences

- Gladiator's identity is 'Damage-Tank'. Past comments about them being a 'tanker' 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: Doing 30 expeditions and 20 transcendence runs as a chore is too exhausting manually

Regarding Abyss and PVP

- Looking for ways to ensure PVP gear is not a disadvantage in artifact battles or boss fights; measures planned before Vandal release

- Abyss bosses to receive status effect immunity

- PVP Fortress Siege in preparation

- Will consider increasing Abyss Point limits

Regarding character 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 of acquisition to be expanded

- Pet crystal acquisition doubled when PVP is enabled in Rifts

- Considering adding Season 2 'Mystic Material Transformation' to Arcana crystals → Season 3 'Noble

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

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

- Considering removing the PvE damage resistance cap

Other

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

- MVP system will be adjusted to avoid focusing 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 are required per character

- Will consider consolidating Shugo Festa achievements

- Spiritmaster 'Dismiss Spirit' key to be added

- Rear marker visibility to be enhanced

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

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