AION 2's first raid finally has a date. On 23 October 2026, NC announced that Sanctuary Raid: Ludra comes back to the global servers on 4 November, about a month after it was pulled from the launch build. It comes with two item-level gates, a race for the first 20 hard-mode clears in every region, a 14-day check-in, Twitch Drops, and two bonus Odyle Energy items a day from 28 October so players have time to gear up.
The reaction on r/Aion2 has mostly been about one number: 2,800. Plenty of players in the announcement thread say they're still sitting around 1,400 to 2,100 item level, and they want to know if they can close that gap in 11 days.
This guide covers the release date and times, the Normal and Hard requirements, every reward NC has listed, what happens to Early Access Ludra gear, and the fastest verified route to 2,800. It applies to the AION 2 global PC build as of NC's 23 October 2026 announcement. Facts NC has confirmed are cited to its notices. Anything that comes from the Korean version or from players is labeled that way.
Quick answer: AION 2's Ludra raid returns on 4 November 2026 with new mechanics. Normal mode needs 2,800 item level and Hard mode needs 3,000, and both open right away. The Ludra Hunt runs from the 4 November maintenance to the 24 November (PST) / 25 November (CET) maintenance: the first hard-mode party in each region gets Conqueror of Ludra, parties 2 to 5 get Champion, parties 6 to 20 get Challenger, and everyone else who clears gets Ludra Hunter. Log in daily from 28 October for two bonus Odyle Energy items a day to gear up, and from 4 November for a 7-reward check-in that includes 1.5 million Bound Kina and 30,000 Abyss Points.
When does the Ludra raid come out in AION 2?
Ludra returns on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. NC's announcement, "Ludra Awakens on November 4th", says:
"Ludra will return to Atreia on November 4th with new mechanics for players to enjoy! Normal mode and hard mode will be immediately available for players who have reached 2,800 (normal mode) and 3,000 (hard mode) item level."
NC didn't give a clock time for the raid itself. The Ludra Hunt starts "after maintenance" on 4 November. The check-in, Twitch Drops and community events start at a fixed time: 06:00 PST / 15:00 CET on 4 November. That's 14:00 UTC. US and European clocks have both gone back by then, so these really are PST and CET, not PDT and CEST.
| Event | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Odyle Energy Boost | 28 Oct, after maintenance | 10 Nov (PST) / 11 Nov (CET), before maintenance |
| Ludra raid (Normal + Hard) | 4 Nov, after maintenance | No end date announced |
| Ludra Hunt (titles) | 4 Nov, after maintenance | 24 Nov (PST) / 25 Nov (CET), before maintenance |
| Ludra Conquest Check-In | 4 Nov, 06:00 PST / 15:00 CET | 17 Nov 23:59 PST / 18 Nov 08:59 CET |
| Twitch Drops | 4 Nov, 06:00 PST / 15:00 CET | 17 Nov 23:59 PST / 18 Nov 08:59 CET |
| Daeva Bootcamp + Outfit Contest | 4 Nov, 06:00 PST / 15:00 CET | 17 Nov 23:59 PST / 18 Nov 08:59 CET |
The date came a week later than expected. NC's 5 October notice promised: "We will share Ludra's new release date by October 16, along with more information about its return and the upcoming First Clear event." That was the deadline for announcing a date, not the date itself, and NC missed it by a week. Some guides still list 16 October as the day Ludra returned. It didn't.
Why was Ludra removed from AION 2 at launch?
Ludra was playable during Early Access (30 September to 4 October) and was taken out of the full launch build on 5 October. According to NC's "Update on Sanctuary Raid" notice, Early Access groups beat it at a lower level of overall progression than NC had planned for. Rather than relaunch a fight that was already solved, NC decided to rework it so global players would get their own race for the first clear.
What NC said would change:
- New and adjusted mechanics and attack patterns that only exist in the global version. The raid's core identity stays familiar.
- A new First Clear event. That turned out to be the Ludra Hunt below.
- A reset Hall of Fame, so Early Access clears don't hold the top spots.
Nothing in the notice says the raid was bugged. The problem was how quickly it went down.
What item level do you need for Ludra in AION 2?
| Mode | Item level to enter | Counts for Ludra Hunt titles |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 2,800 | Ludra Hunter only |
| Hard | 3,000 | All four titles (ranks depend on clear order) |
For comparison, here are the other item-level gates in the global game right now, all confirmed in NC's patch notes or our earlier guides:
| Content | Item level gate |
|---|---|
| Lower Abyss | 1,000 |
| Transcendence stages 1 to 4 | 1,600 / 1,900 / 2,200 / 2,500 |
| Expedition Hard mode (Krao Cave, Draupnir) | 2,600 |
| Ludra Normal | 2,800 |
| Middle Abyss | 3,000 |
| Ludra Hard | 3,000 |
So Normal Ludra sits one step above Expedition Hard mode, and Hard Ludra matches the Middle Abyss. If you can already run Krao Cave or Draupnir on Hard, you're 200 item level away from Normal Ludra.
NC hasn't published a weekly entry limit, a time limit or a loot table for the global version yet. Check the Sanctuary entry screen on 4 November before you plan your week.
What are the Ludra Hunt rewards?
The Ludra Hunt is the First Clear event NC promised in October. NC calls Ludra "the first major challenge players will face in AION 2, and the parties who take it down first deserve to be remembered for it." Clears are ranked separately in five regions: Europe, NA East, NA West, South America and Asia.
| Rank | Who qualifies (per region) | Players | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1st party to clear Hard | 10 | Conqueror of Ludra |
| 2 | 2nd to 5th parties to clear Hard | 40 | Champion of Ludra |
| 3 | 6th to 20th parties to clear Hard | 150 | Challenger of Ludra |
| Universal | Everyone else who clears Normal or Hard | Unlimited | Ludra Hunter |
A few details from NC's notes matter:
- Ranks 1 to 3 get a purple decorative effect on the title.
- Titles only count during the event window. Clear Ludra after the 24 November (PST) / 25 November (CET) maintenance and you get nothing from the Hunt.
- Titles are mailed by 2 December, 23:59 PST. They won't show up the moment you clear.
- The player counts work out to 10 players per party: rank 1 is one party of 10, and rank 2 is four parties totaling 40. Plan your group around that.
The Hall of Fame entry is separate from the title. NC hasn't said exactly what it records on global.
What do you get from the Ludra Conquest Check-In?
Log in once a day between 4 and 17 November (PST). There are 7 rewards spread over 14 days, so you can miss up to 7 days and still finish.
| Check-in | Reward | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Bound Kina | 500,000 |
| Day 2 | Centuryroot Token (Shugo Coin) | 2,000 |
| Day 3 | Phantasmal Fragment (Nightmare Coin) | 3,000 |
| Day 4 | Abyss Points | 30,000 |
| Day 5 | Soul Crystal | 3,000 |
| Day 6 | Bound Kina | 1,000,000 |
| Day 7 | Lush Leaf Tiara (Helm) | 1 |
That's 1.5 million Bound Kina in total, enough to cover several mid-level enhancement attempts. The 30,000 Abyss Points go into the Abyss Trade Shop. Stigma shards there are priced per shard, starting at a reported 10,000 AP each in the first tier, so day 4 buys about three shards. Our Abyss Points guide covers where the rest of your AP should come from.
How does the Odyle Energy Boost work?
This is the part to act on now. From 28 October (after maintenance) to 10 November (PST) / 11 November (CET), every character that logs in gets two bonus Odyle Energy items in the in-game mail each day. NC says the boost is there so you can "run more Expeditions, clear more Transcendence Dungeons, and gear up so you're ready" for Ludra.
Two rules from NC's notice:
- One delivery per character, per day, and you have to log in that day to get it. NC's steps are: log in once per day, check your mail, claim the Odyle Energy. Alts get their own delivery.
- The mail expires 7 days after it arrives. Claim each delivery within a week or it disappears.
Odyle Energy is what you spend to open dungeon reward cubes, so more of it means more gear rolls from the same runs. Our Transcendence guide covers how it's spent: a Transcendence reward cube costs 40 Odyle, and natural Odyle regenerates at 15 every 3 hours, capped at 560 (840 with Membership).
How do you get to 2,800 item level before 4 November?
Reaching 2,800 is mostly about using every weekly reward, not grinding one dungeon. This route uses only content that is live on the global build, with community-reported numbers labeled.
- Clear every Transcendence stage you qualify for, every week. Stages 3 and 4 (2,200 and 2,500 item level) are where Unique Arcana start dropping. You can claim up to 14 rewards, earning one every 12 hours.
- Move into Expedition Hard mode at 2,600. NC's 21 October patch added Hard to Krao Cave and Draupnir, with more Kina, all Unique crafting materials, and Philosopher's Stone: Revelation as a guaranteed pick. Players on r/Aion2 report that a party around 140,000 to 160,000 combat power clears it comfortably. That figure comes from players, not NC.
- Enhance Unique pieces past +10. On the global client, every Unique-gear attempt up to +10 succeeds. From +11 to +15 the reported success rates are 65, 50, 35, 25 and 20 percent, with pity adding 5 percentage points after each fail. A failed attempt never breaks or downgrades the item. These rates come from client data reported by community sites, not from an NC rate table. Our enhancement guide has the full cost table.
- Don't trust combat power alone. Ludra checks item level, not CP. Our combat power guide explains why the two numbers can disagree.
- Once Ludra is live, count the Daeva Bootcamp milestones. This one starts on 4 November, not before. Every Conquest (Normal and Hard: Krao Cave, Draupnir, Urugugu Canyon, Vakron Sky Island) and Transcendence clear counts toward global milestones. At 500,000, 1.25 million, 3 million, 5 million and 7 million clears, every global player gets Instant Clear Tickets, Intermediate Training Arcana and Resurrection Stones by mail.
Be realistic. One r/Aion2 commenter who said they have years of experience in another raid-focused MMO put it this way: "2800 in this game is easy to reach compared to 1370 back then." Other players disagree, and several say they're still well short of 2,800 with 11 days to go. If you're at 2,100 or below, Normal Ludra before the Hunt ends on 24 November is a more realistic target than day one. The Ludra Hunter title counts any clear inside that window, so you don't need to rush.
What happens to my Early Access Ludra gear?
If you cleared Ludra between 30 September and 4 October, NC's 5 October notice says:
| What you did in Early Access | What happens |
|---|---|
| Got Ludra-specific gear | Removed for now, given back when Ludra returns |
| Spent materials upgrading that gear | Refunded |
| Cleared Ludra in the Europe region | A unique title |
| Cleared Ludra in another region | The notice doesn't mention a title |
NC's 23 October announcement doesn't say how or when the gear comes back. Since NC tied it to Ludra's return, expect it around 4 November, and check your mail after maintenance. If it isn't there, file a ticket at NC's AION 2 help center.
What are the Ludra Twitch Drops?
From 4 to 17 November (PST), watching AION 2 on Twitch unlocks one reward per hour, up to 14 hours:
| Watch time | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 hr | Resurrection Spiritstone (Bound) x15 |
| 2 hr | Skin Chest (10 Times) (Bound) x3 |
| 3 hr | Mysterious Pet Chest (Bound) x3 |
| 4 hr | Battle Enhance Scroll (Bound) x10 |
| 5 hr | Customization Voucher (Bound) x3 |
| 6 hr | Artisan's Roasted Fogus (Bound) x20 |
| 7 hr | Appearance Change Voucher (Bound) x1 |
| 8 hr | Soul Codex (Bound) x15 |
| 9 hr | Odyle Energy (Bound) x6 |
| 10 hr | Content Usage Ticket Selection Chest (Bound) x1 |
| 11 hr | Soul Codex: Reset (Bound) x6 |
| 12 hr | Dotted Glasses |
| 13 hr | Rare Theostone Chest (Bound) x2 |
| 14 hr | Black Conical Hat (Helm) |
The 15 Resurrection Spiritstones at hour 1 and the 6 Odyle Energy at hour 9 are the useful ones for the raid. If your drops didn't show up last time, our Twitch Drops fix guide walks through linking your NC account.
There's also a Ludra Outfit Contest on NC's official Discord: one unedited in-game screenshot per player. Prizes are 6,000, 3,000 and 1,000 Quna for first to third place, 3,000 Quna for Community's Choice, and 2 Dye Tokens for everyone who enters.
How did Ludra work in the Korean version?
AION 2 launched in Korea in November 2025, and Ludra was its first Sanctuary. There it's called 심연의 재련: 루드라, which English sites translate as "Abyssal Forge: Ludra" or spell "Rudra." According to Korean patch notes summarized by community guides, the fight had two mid-bosses, Rahu and Ketu, before the final boss, and its difficulty, time limit and weekly attempts were changed several times after launch.
Treat all of that as background, not a strategy guide. NC has said the global version gets "new and adjusted mechanics and attack patterns." Anyone posting a "global Ludra guide" before 4 November is guessing. The one thing that does carry over is that it's 10-player group content that needs coordinated parties, not a solo or 5-player dungeon.
Gearing up for Ludra? These AION 2 guides cover the item level, Kina and dungeon side.
- AION 2 Expedition requirements: every 1, 2 and 3-star dungeon gate
- AION 2 Kina farming guide: how to farm Kina fast
- AION 2 Transcendence guide: item level gates and Arcana drops
- More AION 2 guides on the timesaver.gg blog
FAQ
When does Ludra come out in AION 2? On 4 November 2026, after that day's maintenance. NC announced the date on 23 October. The related check-in, Twitch Drops and community events start at 06:00 PST / 15:00 CET (14:00 UTC) the same day.
What item level do you need for Ludra? 2,800 for Normal mode and 3,000 for Hard mode. Both modes are available as soon as Ludra returns. Only Hard-mode clears count toward the top three Ludra Hunt titles.
Why was Ludra removed from AION 2? Early Access groups cleared it at a lower level of progression than NC intended. NC pulled it from the 5 October launch build to add new mechanics and give global players a fresh race for the first clear.
Is Ludra a server in AION 2? Yes, that's a separate thing. Ludra is also an Asmodian server in Europe, paired with the Elyos server Tahavatha in NC's matchmaking notice. This guide is about the Sanctuary raid.
How many players are in a Ludra party? NC hasn't published a separate group-size rule for global, but its Ludra Hunt table gives 10 players to the first party and 40 to parties 2 through 5. That works out to 10 players per party.
Do I get my Early Access Ludra gear back? Yes. NC says Ludra gear removed after Early Access goes back to the players who earned it when the raid returns, and the materials spent upgrading it are refunded. Europe-region Early Access clearers also get a unique title.
The bottom line
Ludra is back on 4 November with a 2,800 item level gate for Normal and 3,000 for Hard, a 20-party title race in each region, and almost three weeks to earn the Ludra Hunter title just by clearing it. The thing to do today is plan around 28 October, when the bonus Odyle Energy mail starts. Push Transcendence and Expedition Hard every day of that event, and you'll go into 4 November as close to 2,800 as your luck with enhancement allows. We'll update this guide with the global mechanics, entry limits and loot once the raid is live.
