AION 2 Elyos vs Asmodian: Which Faction to Choose

AION 2 Elyos vs Asmodian is the first real decision the game asks of you, and it is the one you live with longest. The lobby sums the two sides up in a line each: the Elyos are "Daeva of Elysea living in South of Atreia, an elegant and sacred faction", and the Asmodians are "Daeva of Asmodae living in North of Atreia, a rough, wild, and ambitious faction." That is flavor. What actually changes with the choice is your server, your maps, your friends list and the side you fight for in the Abyss.

We went through the global client files to compare the two sides line by line: zones, quests, gathering nodes, collectibles, Abyss bases and the social rules the game enforces between factions. The short version is that the content is mirrored almost exactly. The long version has a few details that should shape your pick, especially if you play with friends.

Elyos vs Asmodian: what is actually different?

Start with what is not different. The client's class table has no faction field at all, so the Gladiator, Templar, Assassin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Spiritmaster, Cleric and Chanter are available on both sides with the same skills, the same Stigmas and the same five Daevanion boards. Your class choice and your faction choice are completely independent, so read our class tier list without worrying about which side you are on.

Items follow the same pattern. Out of 9,245 items in the client, 1,355 are tagged Elyos and 1,354 Asmodian, and the rest are shared. Faction-tagged gear comes in twins with the same grade, item level and stats under a different name or look. Wings split 28 and 28, titles 366 and 366 (plus 12 shared), and crafting recipes 256 and 256. None of that is exclusive content in any meaningful sense; it is the same reward drawn twice.

Two rows stand out. The Elyos side has more Hidden Cube groups, 121 against 85, almost entirely because Verteron carries 95 groups to Altgard's 59. The Asmodian main map is busier with monsters: our map data counts 12,444 monster spawn points in Altgard against 10,423 in Verteron, while Eltnen has 4,822 to Morheim's 3,228. Gathering is close, 2,733 mapped nodes in Verteron to 2,692 in Altgard. None of these gaps decides anything long term, but if you love collecting cubes, the Elyos map gives you more to find.

Starting zones: Poeta, Verteron and Eltnen vs Ishalgen, Altgard and Morheim

Each faction levels on its own three maps, and you never set foot on the other side's maps during normal questing. The structure is the same: a small starter map for the opening levels, a large main map for the bulk of the climb, and a second region that opens later in the story.

The Elyos path

Elyos start in Poeta, a compact map whose zones run from level 3 to 9. The Ascension story there ends with Fledgling Wings, recommended at level 5, where you wake from the trial of the Clione Lake Cave and get your wings. From there the story moves to Verteron, the biggest map on the Elyos side with 132 zones, 61 Kibelisks and 24 named elite spawns, and later to Eltnen. At level 45 the Elyos story points you at the Abyss through the Draupnir quest.

The Asmodian path

Asmodians start in Ishalgen, slightly larger at 19 zones and with three Kibelisks to Poeta's one. Their wings come from Spread Your Wings, recommended at level 6, after the trial beneath Tunapre Lake. The main map is Altgard (126 zones, the same 61 Kibelisks and 24 named elites), followed by Morheim. Our leveling guide walks both routes zone by zone.

Even the story instances are mirrored. Elyos players fight through Zikel's Collapsed Barracks and Zikel's Distorted Dream, aimed at the Asmodian Empyrean Lord; Asmodians get Kaisinel's Collapsed Sanctum and Kaisinel's Distorted Dream in return. The five-step Ascension chain, from The One Who Perceives at level 5 to The One Who Swears the Oath at 49, has the same names and recommended levels on both sides (the Asmodian copy is here).

Faction servers: why your friends decide this for you

This is the part most faction guides skip, and it matters more than wing color. The character-creation screen says it plainly: "The Elyos/Asmodians servers are separated. They cannot meet under normal circumstances." In the map table, every home map (Poeta to Morheim) runs on a game server tagged with a single faction, while the three Abyss maps run on a separate, matched server type. In practice that means:

• You can only befriend characters of your own faction. The client rejects the request with "Can only befriend characters of the same faction."
• You cannot trade with the other faction, and you cannot form a party or a Force with them in the open world.
• Duels are same-faction only, and you cannot use the other side's Kibelisks.
• Party dungeon rooms are the exception. A room has a Faction setting of "Same Faction" or "All", and the client's own message says other factions "can only be invited in dungeons." Server groups still apply: you cannot invite or whisper someone in a different server group.
• Faction chat is a membership perk: the tooltip says it needs a Special Quai Membership or Wind Breeze Membership.

So a mixed group of friends can still run dungeons together if they are in the same server group, but they cannot quest together, trade or fly in the Abyss on the same side. If even one person in your group cares about open-world play, everyone should roll the same faction.

Can you change faction in AION 2?

Nothing in the global client offers a faction change. We searched the full English string table for any faction or race change service and found none. What does exist is a server transfer system with a long rule list: character data, achievements, pets and closet move with you, while storage, mailbox and market listings do not, and transfers are blocked while you are in the Abyss or a dungeon. Because servers are split by faction, a transfer moves you between servers, not between sides.

NCSOFT could add a faction change later, but nothing in the launch data promises one. Plan as if your first character's faction is permanent. If you are torn, the cheapest hedge is to level a second character on the other side once you know which community you like, not to wait for a service that may never arrive.

Shared content: where Elyos and Asmodians meet

Most endgame instances are shared: party dungeons and raids have no faction version. The places where the two sides actually fight each other are the Abyss and Spacetime Rifts. The Abyss is where faction identity matters most, because it is open-world PvP between the two sides. The game's own description reads: "The Abyss is a lawless land formed by the collapse of AION, where Elyos, Asmodians, and Balaur clash. In the Abyss, you can attack players of the opposing faction."

Each base has its own Kibelisk, merchants and storage, and the Lower and Middle bases each hold an Ereshkigal's Monolith. Both sides fight over the same Artifacts, the same named elites and the same Abyss Points, and the reward tables are identical. The Abyss unlocks at level 45 for everyone, and the Lower Reshanta bases list "Reach Item Level 1,000 to enter" in their descriptions. Our Abyss PvP guide covers the maps, the Artifact Siege and how to earn Abyss Points.

Even the rank names differ only in label. The client's shop categories file the Abyss ranks as Guardian Decanus and Guardian Centurion for the Elyos, and Archon Decanus and Archon Centurion for the Asmodians. Season rank titles, such as Abyss [Season 1] Supreme Commander, exist in an Elyos copy and an Asmodian copy with the same grade.

Spacetime Rifts: invading the other side

Spacetime Rifts are the other meeting point. The in-game navigator describes them as "unstable portals that randomly open at certain intervals" that "allow you to enter the enemy faction's territory", with a server-wide notice when one opens. The spawn table opens rift portals every three hours on each faction's main and second maps, with five possible positions per portal. Once through, the Rift usage timer holds one hour, and enemy town guards and players can attack you.

Both sides get a seven-quest Regional chain built around the rifts, each step paying 2,000 Abyss Points. Elyos follow the merchant Mino starting with Spacetime Rift, which leads into Altgard; Asmodians follow Uru of the Quai Merchants, starting with the Asmodian Spacetime Rift quest, into Verteron. The PvP rules on the home maps are opt-in: you switch combat status only inside your own territory, with a 70-minute cooldown, though attacking enemy citizens or Kisks forces PvP mode on for about 10 minutes.

Elyos or Asmodian: head-to-head

About population: it is the factor veterans of the original Aion care about most, because an outnumbered side has a harder time in the Abyss. AION 2 has a few built-in counterweights. The Artifact Siege rules spawn a separate Abyss Corridor at a faction's base when that faction has lost every Artifact on a layer, and only the "disadvantaged faction" can enter it. Abyss maps are also matched across servers rather than tied to one server's population. Neither fully solves imbalance, but they soften it.

How to decide: a 4-step check

1. 1
   Ask your group first

   If anyone you will play with has already picked a side, join them. Friends lists, trading and open-world parties are all same-faction only.

2. 2
   Pick a server together

   Servers are faction-specific and can close character creation. Agree on one server and a backup, and confirm everyone is in the same server group so cross-faction dungeon rooms and whispers still work.

3. 3
   If solo, pick the world you want to look at

   You will spend about 45 levels on one side's maps. Watch footage of Verteron and Altgard and pick the one you would rather explore.

4. 4
   Pick your class separately

   All 8 classes exist on both sides. Use the classes hub and our class builds guide to pick the class, then make it on the faction you chose.

Does faction affect PvP strength?

No. PvP power comes from your gear, Daevanion build, Stigmas and Abyss rank, and every one of those is identical across factions. The Season 1 PvP achievements are mirrored too: Elyos players get "Pride of Elysea", which asks for 5 kills of Asmodian players in Altgard, while Asmodians have the same task pointed at Verteron. The rank reward buff, the Abyss Point shop and the Potential upgrades all read from shared tables.

What can differ is your server's culture: how organized the legions are, how active the Abyss is at your play times, and how often rifts get used. That is a community question, which is one more reason to choose with the people you plan to play with. Before launch, read our beginner's guide for the rest of the day-one decisions.