Aion 2 has officially launched on the Korean and Taiwanese servers, finally letting players get hands-on with the game outside of closed beta tests. After spending some time in the game and reaching level 10, one question stands out more than any other: how pay-to-win is Aion 2, and can free-to-play players realistically keep up?
Before even getting into the game, there are a few hurdles. To play, you need to register through the Purple launcher and verify your account with a real phone number. This works even if you’re outside Korea or Taiwan—I tested it from Ireland and received the SMS code without issues. Once that’s done, you can jump into character creation after a short tutorial that teaches you the basics.
Character Creation and Early Gameplay with Aion 2 Kinah
The character creator is surprisingly deep, with a lot of customization options. After that, you choose from eight classes: Assassin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Elementalist, Cleric, Chanter, Gladiator, and Templar. I went with Templar, mainly because I’m playing on distant servers and expected latency to make dodging harder.
In terms of feel, combat is decent and movement is smooth. Flying is, as always in Aion, a really cool feature. That said, you can clearly see some mobile-style design choices. There’s an auto-move system that can take you from quest to quest with minimal input, to the point where you can almost play with one button until you need to fight or open menus. Auto-move is disabled in dungeons, at least, which is a small relief.
Visually, the world and questing experience feel a bit underwhelming so far, especially compared to newer titles like Where Winds Meet. I also ran into some technical issues—like getting stuck on geometry and having to die just to reset—which may be server-related, but still hurt the first impression.
The Currencies: Kina, Kuna, and Mileage
Now let’s get to the real topic: monetization.
Aion 2 uses several currencies:
Kina: The standard in-game currency you earn through normal play. You can buy basic items with it.
Kuna: The premium currency, only obtainable with real money.
Mileage/Promotion Currency: A bonus currency you earn when you spend real money, which can then be used in a special shop for even more items.
The cash shop is packed, and a lot of items are locked behind subscriptions or premium currency. While Kina covers some basics, many useful items require either a subscription or Kuna.
Subscriptions: Not Just Convenience
You unlock the subscription options at level 10, and there are effectively two main subscriptions (plus a bundle that combines them).
The cheaper subscription costs around 430 Taiwanese dollars (roughly $14 / €12 for 28 days—not even a full month). It gives you:
Remote storage access
Personal trade (likely trading between your own characters)
Access to special merchants selling upgrade materials, potions, and buffs (including things like +10% HP, +10% move speed, shields, etc.)
Access to the market (auction house) to sell items
Access to the Kuna exchange with cheap Aion 2 Items
This is huge, because without it, you cannot sell items to other players. Free-to-play players can buy from the market, but they can’t sell anything themselves. That means participating in the player-driven economy is effectively paywalled.
