Gear Progression: From 700 to 3,000 Item Level
The AION 2 gear ladder sequenced: baseline gear at 45, the Conquest tier gates at 700 / 1,400 / 2,100 / 2,800 / 3,000, and where enhancement, amplification and bind fit.
Quick Answer: How Do I Gear Up After Level 45?
Climb the Conquest ladder: 700 aggregate item level opens Tier 1, and 1,400 / 2,100 / 2,800 / 3,000 open Tiers 2 through 5. The loop that moves the number: weekly Sanctuary gear, daily dungeon rewards, enhancement past the +10 safety line on Unique pieces, and — at the top of the ladder — Amplify Stones extending gear past +15. One aggregate number, five gates, one sequence.
The Ladder, Sequenced
| Stage | Aggregate iLvl | What Gets You There | The New System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | ~700 | Fresh-45 quest/dungeon kit + first enhancement | Conquest Tier 1 |
| The wall | 1,400 | Mostly-Unique kit, weapons past +10 | Conquest Tier 2 — the longest single grind |
| Amplify era | 2,100 | Capped Unique gear + Amplify Stones past +15 | Conquest Tier 3 |
| Discipline era | 2,800 | Full amplification choices, Bind steps, Potential started | Conquest Tier 4 — raid-tier gates |
| The summit | 3,000 | Every slot at cap, min-max revisited | Conquest Tier 5 — Season-ranking eligibility |
Where Each System Fits
Enhancement is the first tool: Unique gear is safe to +10 and rolls 65% → 50% → 35% → 25% → 20% after, with a +5% failure bonus. Amplification is the mid-ladder tool: high-item-level Uniques take extra steps past +15 at 600,000 Kina plus 6 Amplify Stones per first step. Bind (10 steps, 2.13M Kina, 408 Soul Codex total) and the Potential PvP track (Potential Stones + Abyss Points) are the endgame polish that the 2,800+ gates quietly assume.
The Budget Rules
Rule one: never enhance gear you plan to replace — grade caps mean a Rare at +5 is finished the moment a Unique drops. Rule two: expected value, not best case — the +14 → +15 step averages over 22 attempts on tracked gear, and 90th-percentile luck costs multiples of that. Rule three: weekly lockouts before impulse spending — Sanctuary and Conquest rewards are the income that makes every other rule affordable. The full cost tables live on the gear enhancement page.
Published October 5, 2026 · Last updated October 5, 2026