Splendent Ruby is the single item standing between you and a higher gathering cap in AION 2. Once your Essence Extraction hits Novice Level 50, a specialty quest asks you to produce one of these gems, and it drops as a random reward from ordinary Ruby nodes. There is no guaranteed source and no vendor to buy it from during the quest, so the fix is to keep mining Ruby veins until one appears.
Quick answer: Reach Novice Level 50 in Essence Extraction, then mine Ruby nodes in Verteron (Elyos) or Calderon Canyon (Asmodian) until a Splendent Ruby (Bound) drops, and hand it to Korius or Alzirr to unlock Professional.
What you need before the gem will drop
Splendent Ruby will not appear in your bag until the upgrade quest is active. The gem only begins rolling as a possible drop after you unlock the [Upgrade] Essence Extraction Specialty Skill quest, so you cannot stockpile one ahead of time by farming early.
- Essence Extraction at Novice Level 50, which is the current cap for the Novice tier.
- Character level 10, the point at which you can extract from any node you find.
- The specialty upgrade quest, which starts on its own once you are eligible.
In the Essence Extraction skill menu you can unlock the option to mark gems on the minimap. Turn that on first — Ruby nodes are far easier to spot when they show up as pins.
Where to farm Ruby nodes by faction
Ruby spawns are tied to faction territory. Verteron holds 196 Ruby spots and Altgard holds 190, which gives Elyos players plenty of cliffs to work through. Asmodian players farm their own regions to the south. The gem can come from any regular Ruby deposit in these zones.
| Faction | Best hunting grounds |
|---|---|
| Elyos | Your strongest search areas are Verteron Fortress Ruins, Destroyed Abyss Gate, Garden of the Illusion God, and Southern Altamia Highland. |
| Asmodian | Calderon Canyon, Basfelt Ruins, cliffs north of Quai Campsite |
Flying speeds this up considerably. Gliding over the ruins lets you scan rocky edges from above and drop onto each node, rather than climbing the terrain on foot.
Five Ruby deposits around Verteron Fortress Ruins
Elyos players get the tightest cluster of nodes around Verteron Fortress Ruins, west of Zumion Village. These five spots sit along cliff edges and plateaus, and any of them can produce the gem. Teleport to Verteron Fortress Valley and work the ridges nearby.
Pilgrim’s Ridge edge: On the high ridge between Pilgrim’s Ridge and the fortress ruins, run the cliff line and interact with the Ruby cluster there. This is where the Splendent Ruby most reliably turns up on a clean extraction.
Kraka Footpath cliffside: North-northeast of the Destroyed Abyss Gate, a Ruby node sits on the rocky ledges overlooking the canyon in Kraka Footpath. Pin it on the map before you set off so you can trace the ledge route down to it.
Abyss Gate ledge: Directly northeast and above the Destroyed Abyss Gate ravine, a glowing red node clings to a ledge over the mist. Drop down the rock faces to reach it.
Fortress lower terraces: Along the elevated cliffs that overlook Verteron Fortress Ruins, west of the central path, a node sits on a rocky outcrop. Leap down the mountain shelves to gather it.
Verteron Citadel plateau: A grassy summit overlooking the monoliths holds the final node on a high cliff terrace within Verteron Fortress Ruins, north of Verteron Citadel. Cross the mountain top to reach it.
How extraction works and why nodes run dry
Ruby sources look like large orange-red crystals jutting straight out of the ground along cliffs. Walk up to one and press the interact button to start extracting — no special tool is needed once you are level 10.
During extraction, a pair of meters tracks your success and failure chances, with your current Novice Level displayed above. Each successful pull increases that level and may yield materials such as Fine Ruby Gemstone, Empyrean Trace: Verteron, or Ruby Gemstone. You can gather from a node up to three times before it depletes.
Nodes are shared across all players, so a spot may be empty if someone reached it first. It respawns in the same place after a while, so move to another marked node or wait and return.
If you fail an extraction, the node vanishes. When that happens you have to find a different Ruby vein and try again, so keep several spots in mind rather than relying on one.
Turning in the Splendent Ruby and unlocking Professional
With a Splendent Ruby (Bound) in your bag, return to your faction base. Elyos players speak to Korius at the Dawn Legion Base in Verteron; Asmodian players speak to Alzirr at the Safe Haven Base. Both complete the [Upgrade] Essence Extraction Specialty Skill quest.
Korius frames it as a test of skill — he wants the essence pulled from a Ruby without damaging it. Hand over the gem and he upgrades your rank:
You’re back. Hmm… What a wonderful Ruby. You are an Essence Extraction Professional now. I wish you the best in living up to that title.
Completing it grants an Essence Extraction Upgrade: Professional and an Artwork: Artisan Essence Extractor (Bound). You will know it worked when your gathering title changes from Novice to Professional, which lifts the level cap and lets you add more extraction levels to pull rarer resources.
From there, the Ruby Gemstones you collected along the way feed into handicrafting and alchemy recipes, so the time spent chasing the gem keeps paying off well after the quest closes.
Ruby Gemstone Grades and What They Craft
Ordinary Ruby nodes give four gemstone grades, and each one is gathered from a Gem node at Novice grade with gathering mastery 1. Every pull yields 1 gemstone and can add Poko’s Skin Bundle (Bound) as a bonus material.
| Gemstone | Amount per gather | Mastery needed | Bonus material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby Gemstone | 1 | 1 | Poko’s Skin Bundle (Bound) |
| Fine Ruby Gemstone | 1 | 1 | Poko’s Skin Bundle (Bound) |
| Pure Ruby Gemstone | 1 | 1 | Poko’s Skin Bundle (Bound) |
| Radiant Ruby Gemstone | 1 | 1 | Poko’s Skin Bundle (Bound) |
Radiant Ruby Gemstone is the grade used in the necklace recipes below. All three recipes start from an Artisan’s Splendent Ruby Necklace (Jewelcrafting mastery 40, base success 79.6%, level 34, Defense 161).
| Necklace | Jewelcrafting mastery | Radiant Ruby Gemstone | Other materials | Attack / Defense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| True Dragon Lord Necklace | 60 | 6 | Artisan’s Splendent Ruby Necklace x1, Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone x3, Enhanced Thick Balaur Scale x14, Wrathful Mind x6, Radiant Odyle x2 | 95 / 228 |
| White Dragon Lord Necklace | 0 | 8 | Artisan’s Splendent Ruby Necklace x1, Artisan’s Ultimate Refining Stone x3, Enhanced Hard Balaur Scale x19, Wrathful Mind x2, Wrathful Will x9, Radiant Odyle x5 | 120 / 288 |
The True Dragon Lord Necklace has a base success rate of 67.5% and requires level 45. The White Dragon Lord Necklace also requires level 45 and is bound when obtained. Both have a 25% combo chance and 4 manastone slots.
