Materials in AION 2 are the raw stock behind almost every upgrade you make. You feed them into two systems, Crafting and Substance Morph, to build gear, cook food, refine equipment, and convert low-value items into something stronger. Each material carries a rarity grade and a fixed set of sources, so knowing where a given item comes from is usually the fastest way to stock up.
Quick answer: Buy common materials from the Shop and Merchant NPCs, gather or farm drops in the world, and claim higher grades from Expeditions, Achievements, Transcendence, and boss rewards. Spend them through Crafting or Substance Morph, both unlocked at Level 10.
What materials do in AION 2
Every material exists to be spent. A few are finished ingredients you drop straight into a recipe, while many are intermediates you first process from a rawer form. The two systems that consume them both open at character Level 10.
Crafting
Crafting turns materials into items across Blacksmithing, Armorsmithing, Handicrafting, Alchemy, and cooking. High-tier recipes lean on refined versions of base materials, so you often craft an intermediate before you can craft the finished piece. For example, Orichalcum Ingot is made by processing ores and then used in Blacksmithing, and Magic Crystal is made from Spiritstones for use in further crafting.
Substance Morph
Substance Morph lets you exchange possessions and materials for progression resources, improved equipment, or an upgraded form of an item. To use it, open the menu and select the Substance Morph button. Certain materials are meant for this feature: Gear Change Vouchers turn into equipment chests, and crystal shards combine to form complete Arcana crystals.
Material rarity grades
Materials are sorted by rarity, and the grade is a reliable hint at where to look. Common items come mostly from vendors and basic crafting, while the top grades come from endgame content.
- Common — vendor goods, cooking ingredients, and processed crafting stock.
- Rare — gathered or dropped ingredients and mid-tier refining stones.
- Epic — Draconic gear components and higher refining stones.
- Unique — top-tier Balaur components, sealed wings, and Amplify Stone pieces.
- Heroic — Amplify Stone Fragment【Unique】and boss Gear Change Vouchers.
- Special — Arcana transmutation crystals and Proof of Hero rewards.
Vendor and gathered crafting materials
Most everyday ingredients are Common grade and come straight from the Shop or Merchant NPCs, which makes them easy to restock in bulk. Others are produced by processing a rawer item through Crafting.
| Material | Source | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Abex Butter | Shop, Merchant NPCs | Cooking |
| Catalyst | Shop, Merchant NPCs | Alchemy, Handicrafting |
| Salt | Shop, Merchant NPCs | Cooking seasoning |
| Soy Sauce | Shop, Merchant NPCs | Cooking seasoning |
| Sandpaper | Shop, Merchant NPCs | Handicrafting |
| Ulmus Oil | Shop, Merchant NPCs | Extracted from Ulmus |
| Asvata Wood | Crafting | Handicrafting (from logs) |
| Orichalcum Ingot | Crafting | Blacksmithing (from ores) |
| Magic Crystal | Crafting | Crafting (from Spiritstones) |
| Strong Leather | Crafting | Crafting (from Raw Leather) |
| Diamond Powder | Crafting | Alchemy |
Several cooking ingredients come from the world rather than a vendor. Fresh Fruit and Fresh Raw Meat drop from enemies and Reward Chests, Orichalcum Ore and Soft Balaur Meat are gathered (the latter also drops from enemies), and Sweet Balaur Berry is a gathered Rare ingredient. Spiritstone drops from enemies and Reward Chests, then processes into Spiritstone Powder.
Draconic gear materials (Balaur components)
Balaur horns, scales, and leather are the backbone of Draconic gear. The base Epic and Unique pieces feed into processed versions, which then go into the final recipes. Balaur’s Essence, an Epic material from Expeditions, is the condensed power used alongside them.
| Processed material | Grade | Made from |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Thick Balaur Scale | Epic | Thick Balaur Scale |
| Enhanced Durable Balaur Scale | Epic | Thick Balaur Scale |
| Enhanced Hard Balaur Scale | Epic | Thick Balaur Scale |
| Fine Thick Balaur Horn | Epic | Thick Balaur Horn |
| Fine Durable Balaur Horn | Epic | Durable Balaur Horn |
| Fine Hard Balaur Horn | Epic | Hard Balaur Horn |
| Tanned Thick Balaur Leather | Epic | Thick Balaur Leather |
The raw Balaur horns, scales, and leather span Epic and Unique grades (Robust variants being Unique), and the processed line continues through Enhanced, Fine, and Tanned prefixes. All of them point back into Draconic gear recipes.
Arcana transmutation crystals
Crystals are the Special-grade materials used to transmute Arcana. They come either from extracting Arcana directly or through Substance Morph, and each one has a Common “Shard” counterpart earned through Transcendence that morphs up into the full crystal.
| Crystal | How to obtain | Shard source |
|---|---|---|
| Mysterious Crystal | Extracting Arcana | Transcendence |
| Noble Crystal | Extracting Arcana | Transcendence |
| Harmonious Crystal | Substance Morph | Transcendence |
| Pure Crystal | Substance Morph | Transcendence |
| Splendent Noble Crystal | Substance Morph, Trade Shop | Transcendence |
Shard: Harmonious Crystal, Shard: Mysterious Crystal, Shard: Noble Crystal, Shard: Pure Crystal, and Shard: Splendent Noble Crystal each convert into their matching full crystal through Substance Morph, so Transcendence is a steady feeder for Arcana work.
Refining stones and Amplify Stone Fragments
Refining stones scale up in grade for gear refinement, drawn mainly from Achievements and enemy drops, with the higher tiers also tied to events.
| Stone | Grade | How to obtain |
|---|---|---|
| Refining Stone | Common | Achievements, Enemy Drops |
| Expert’s Refining Stone | Rare | Achievements, Enemy Drops |
| Artisan’s Refining Stone | Epic | Achievements, Enemy Drops |
| Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone | Unique | Achievements, Shugo Festival, Dimensional Invasion, Expeditions |
Amplify Stone Fragments awaken the unique power of gear. The Heroic-grade fragment (labelled【Unique】) comes from a wide spread of activities, including Achievements, Monoliths, the Daeva Pass Subscription, Transcendence, the Trade Shop, Expeditions, and Sanctuary. Through Substance Morph it converts into a Splendent Amplify Stone.
Substance Morph conversion items
Some materials are boss and Expedition rewards that only matter once you run them through Substance Morph. They transform into equipment chests, wings, or merit chests.
| Material | From | Morphs into |
|---|---|---|
| Gear Change Voucher: Bargott | Terminator Bargott | Heroic Gear Selection Chest |
| Gear Change Voucher: Kaldrix | Underground Scourge Kaldrix | Heroic Weapon Chest or Kaldrix Brooch |
| Gear Change Voucher: Cradle of Nihility | Afflicted Bakarma | Unique Gear Selection Chest |
| Proof of Hero 【Nahma】 | Guardian Lord Nahma | Nahma’s Merit Chest |
| Proof of Hero: Lower Reshanta | Artifact Siege boss | Dimensional Merit Chest |
| Silver Fragment of Merit | Enemy Drops, Reward Chest | Silver Medal of Merit |
Sealed wings follow the same pattern. Each one is a Unique material found in a specific Conquest Expedition and morphs into its unsealed cosmetic counterpart.
| Sealed material | Found in | Morphs into |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed Ancient Aullaeu Wings | Urugugu Canyon【Conquest】 | Ancient Aullaeu Wings |
| Sealed Black Fragment Wings | Krao Cave【Conquest】 | Black Fragment Wings |
| Sealed Blue Wave Wings | Draupnir【Conquest】 | Blue Wave Wings |
| Sealed Dark Veil Wings | Ferocious Horn Den【Conquest】 | Dark Veil Wings |
| Sealed Forest Spirit Wings | Vakron Island Sky【Conquest】 | Forest Spirit Wings |
| Sealed Kromede Wings | Fire Temple【Conquest】 | Kromede Wings |
Confirming you can spend materials
Both spending systems gate behind Level 10, so you will see the Crafting and Substance Morph options become usable once your character reaches that level. Open the menu and select Substance Morph to convert items, or use a Crafting station for Blacksmithing, Armorsmithing, Handicrafting, Alchemy, and cooking. When a material is listed as a morph ingredient, the morph preview shows the exact output, which is how you confirm a Gear Change Voucher or crystal shard will produce the chest or crystal you expect before you commit it.
