AION Classic

Presentation

AION Classic is a distinct version of the MMORPG AION, originally designed to recreate an experience close to the game's early years while adding balance adjustments and quality-of-life improvements.

The player chooses between the Elyos and the Asmodians, two peoples separated since the cataclysm that shattered Atreia. After Ascension, the character becomes a Daeva and gains wings that allow flight in certain regions.

Flight remains an important part of exploration and certain battles. It can be used to reach elevated areas, travel through the Abyss and fight directly in the air.

Combat uses a real-time MMORPG system focused on skills, positioning and managing ability chains. Each class has a clearly defined role, complemented by equipment and Stigmas.

AION Classic also places greater emphasis on more traditional progression, where quests, open areas, dungeons and gradual character improvement accompany the leveling process.

PvE includes numerous instances, bosses and activities designed for solo players or groups. Several historic AION dungeons play an important role in this version.

The Abyss combines exploration, resources, Balaur and battles between players. It particularly represents the game's PvPvE dimension.

The Elyos and Asmodians can also take part in large-scale fortress sieges, where major groups fight for control of strategic objectives.

Players can join Legions to organize dungeons, PvP, sieges and group progression.

AION Classic is no longer simply a frozen recreation of an older version, however. Since launch, this branch has received its own updates, regions, classes and instances, allowing it to evolve separately from AION Live.

Key points

• A distinct branch of AION inspired by its early years.
• Two factions: Elyos and Asmodians.
• The Balaur as a third major force.
• The player becomes a winged Daeva.
• Flight remains important for exploration and combat.
• Progression closer to the historical AION experience.
• Combat built around classes, skills and positioning.
• Stigmas allow abilities to be customized.
• Quests, bosses and numerous PvE dungeons.
• The Abyss combines exploration, PvE and PvP.
• A strong PvPvE component.
• Large-scale fortress sieges.
• Legions structure group activities.
• AION Classic now follows its own development path.
• New classes and regions have been added through updates.

Conclusion

AION Classic began as a return to an earlier period of AION, with progression, classes and balance closer to the MMORPG's historical experience.

Its core elements remain Daevas, flight, the Abyss, dungeons, the conflict between Elyos and Asmodians and fortress sieges.

Over time, however, the Classic branch has developed its own identity: it no longer aims only to reproduce the past and now receives original content that allows it to evolve alongside the Live version.

Good to know

AION Classic is based on the MMORPG originally developed by NCsoft. In Europe, this version is operated by Gameforge.

The permanent European AION Classic server opened on April 25, 2023 for PC.

At its European launch, the game used a version very close to AION 1.9, accompanied by balance adjustments and quality-of-life improvements.

The original regions of Elysea and Asmodae, the Lower and Upper Abyss, as well as numerous historic instances were available from this first phase.

AION Classic has since evolved independently. Update 4.0: Light of Atreia, released in October 2025, notably raised the level cap to 70 and added the Lumine class.

Update 4.5: Ignite, released in February 2026, then raised the maximum level to 75 and introduced new content and another new class.

Since August 26, 2026, the European version has been running update 5.0, which notably introduces the Reaper, four new instances and a new learning instance for new characters.

AION Classic therefore now includes classes and content that did not belong to AION's earliest years, despite its original positioning as a Classic version.

This branch remains separate from AION Live: progression, updates, characters and economy are not shared between the two versions.

This entry focuses on the overall identity of AION Classic, its factions, Daevas, flight, the Abyss, dungeons and independent evolution, without detailing every update, class or instance.