"Does maxing out pets give a lot of CP?" That was asked on r/Aion2 this weekend by a player who had just earned the Unbound by Genus title and was saving Kina to re-roll their stats. It's the right question. AION 2's pet system has two layers: a collection of 200 monster pets, and five Genus Insight stat boards that cost Soul Crystals and Kina to roll. One layer is cheap and slow. The other is where most of the power is, and where most of the resources go.
This guide applies to the AION 2 global PC build as of 27 October 2026. NC hasn't published a pet stat table in English, so the numbers below come from global client data and in-game checks published by Raid Relay (launcher version 27, updated 20 October), the Fextralife AION 2 wiki and Space4Games. Where those sources disagree, we say so. Player opinions are labeled as player opinions.
Quick answer: In AION 2, every pet is a mount, and you get pets by killing monsters for their souls: 5 souls unlock a pet, and 105 souls take it to the global cap of Pet Insight level 3. There are 200 monster pets in four genera (Cogni 41, Fera 65, Natura 48, Varian 46), plus Special pets (7 in Raid Relay's 10 October client count). Owning a monster pet gives small permanent stats even if you never ride it; Special pets give none. The real power is Genus Insight: five stat boards, each levelled 1 to 10, rolled with Soul Crystals and Kina (4 crystals and 1,000 Kina per slot per roll). Getting all five boards to 10 unlocks the Unbound by Genus title (PvE Damage Boost +4.5%, Attack +34, Critical Hit +68), which was worth about 1,000 Combat Power in Raid Relay's own test. Pets and Genus Insight are shared by every character on the same server.
How do pets work in AION 2?
AION 2 pets are not combat companions. They're your mounts. Press C to ride the pet you have equipped, and open the Pets window with Alt + X (per Space4Games). According to Raid Relay, the window unlocks through the level-10 story quest.
The Pets window has two tabs:
- Pets: your collection. Each pet shows its Pet Insight level (1 to 3), its Owned Effect, and a Source tab that lists the exact monsters that drop its soul, where they are, and which chests or shops sell it.
- Genus Insight: five stat boards, one per genus (Cogni, Fera, Natura, Varian and Special). This is where you spend Soul Crystals and Kina.
Two rules matter before you start farming:
- Owning is what counts. A monster pet's Owned Effect applies whether or not it's equipped. Fextralife calls the collection "a permanent bonus library rather than a single active slot."
- It's server-wide. Pets and Genus Insight boards are shared by every character on the same server. All three sources agree on this. Pet souls your alts farm level the same boards as your main.
How do you get pets in AION 2?
There's no taming or capture mechanic. You collect pets in four main ways.
1. Kill their monsters for souls
Almost every monster type has a matching pet. Killing it drops that pet's souls. Space4Games reports that "pretty much every kill drops a soul." The thresholds on the global build are:
| Step | Souls needed | Running total | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collect the pet | 5 | 5 | The pet, its mount, Pet Insight Lv. 1 |
| Pet Insight Lv. 2 | +25 | 30 | Bigger Owned Effect, the pet can glide |
| Pet Insight Lv. 3 | +75 | 105 | Max Owned Effect, Pet Transformation |
Level 3 is the cap on global. Korean coverage describes higher pet levels, but that hasn't been confirmed for global, so don't plan around it. Souls beyond level 3 are converted into that genus's Soul Crystals (Crystallize), so extra kills still count.
2. Cross a Spacetime Rift for enemy-faction pets
Each faction's home region holds only part of the roster. Raid Relay counts 39 (Elyos) / 44 (Asmodian) pets that spawn only in the enemy faction's region. You reach those through a Spacetime Rift, which opens every 3 hours (server time) for a few minutes. Inside, you have about an hour.
3. Buy pets from the Black Cloud Merchants
Open the Shop and click the Black Cloud Merchants sign at the top left. It's easy to miss. Raid Relay checked in game that a pet costs 100,000 Kina, often 10% to 30% off, and the stock changes every hour. It draws from all 200 monster pets, so it can save you a rift trip.
4. Chests, events and drops
Pet chests come from quests, the Daeva Pass shop, collection rewards and Twitch Drops. NC's official Ludra Twitch Drops (starting 4 November) include 3 Mysterious Pet Chests at 3 hours watched, per NC's "Ludra Awakens on November 4th" announcement. If a chest gives a pet you already own, you get its souls instead, so duplicates are never wasted.
Where is the best place to farm pets?
Farm where many pet monsters spawn close together. Raid Relay mapped the densest camps from client spawn data:
| Faction | Best camp | Monster level | Pet monsters within 50 m |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elyos | Eternal Isle, Verteron | 49 | 55 |
| Elyos | Crimson Isle (west), Verteron | 48 | 51 |
| Asmodian | Fafnite Deposit, Altgard | 35–36 | 57 |
| Asmodian | Western Gribade Highland, Altgard | 35 | 43 |
The farming order Raid Relay recommends is Cogni, then Natura, then Fera, then Varian. The reason is the level-3 bonus. Cogni pets add Might and Natura pets add Precision, the two main stats that raise your damage. Fera and Varian add movement and defensive stats.
Players on r/Aion2 describe the same order. One reply in the thread above: "Prioritize Cogni level 3 because each one gives +1 Might, then the order after is largely up to you."
Two time-savers:
- Use the Source tab. It names every monster and location for a pet, so you don't need a third-party map for most pets.
- Pet Auto-Loot. The Pet Auto-Loot Voucher (30 days) comes from the Wind Breeze Merchants. Space4Games says you need the Membership to reach that shop. Other guides say you don't. Check your own shop before you plan around it.
What stats do pets give in AION 2?
Every pet in a genus gives the same Owned Effect at each level. Special pets give none. These are the values on the Fextralife genus pages and Raid Relay's client tables:
| Genus | Pets | Lv. 1 | Lv. 2 | Lv. 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cogni | 41 | HP +10 | HP +20, Critical Hit +1 | HP +30, Critical Hit +2, Might +1 |
| Fera | 65 | Mount Ground Speed +1 | Speed +2, Accuracy +1 | Speed +3, Accuracy +2, Dexterity +1 |
| Natura | 48 | Stamina | Stamina, Crit Resist +1 | Stamina, Crit Resist +2, Precision +1 |
| Varian | 46 | Mount Sprint Cost −0.1% | −0.2%, Evasion +1 | −0.3%, Evasion +2, Constitution +1 |
| Special | 7 (10 Oct count) | none | none | none |
Sources disagree on the Natura Stamina value (Raid Relay's client table shows 300, 600 and 900; other guides list much smaller numbers), so we've left it out. According to Raid Relay, each point of a main stat raises a derived stat by 0.1%: Might raises Attack, Precision raises Accuracy and Critical Hit, Dexterity raises Evasion, Block and Crit Resist, and Constitution raises HP.
How much CP is that? Not much per pet. One r/Aion2 player who levelled three genera put it this way:
"It definitely raises CP but getting one or two to Lv 3 won't amount to much. If you do like 20-30, you will see a noticeable increase."
Another player estimated "about 100cp" per max-level pet. That's a player estimate, not a client number. The bigger and better-documented gain is Genus Insight.
How does Genus Insight work?
Genus Insight is a stat board for each of the five genera, levelled from 1 to 10. Levels 1 to 9 each open one more slot (9 slots in total), and each slot holds one randomly rolled stat line. Level 10 doesn't add a slot. It raises the odds of better grades.
Boards level with Genus EXP. You earn it two ways:
- Pets: collecting a pet gives its board 500 EXP, and Pet Insight levels 2 and 3 give 250 EXP each (Raid Relay).
- Analyze: every slot you roll gives 100 EXP, whatever it rolls.
Pets alone don't get you far. Every board needs 250,000 Genus EXP for Insight 10, and Raid Relay calculates that a genus's pets give it at most 65,000. The rest comes from rolling. The Special board can only be levelled by rolling, because Special pets give no Genus EXP.
What does Analyze cost?
Pressing Analyze re-rolls every open slot that isn't locked. Each slot rolled costs 4 Soul Crystals and 1,000 Kina. Raid Relay checked this in game: a Fera board at Insight 4 cost 16 crystals and 4,000 Kina for four slots, which is what the screenshot above shows. Space4Games measured a five-slot Fera roll at 20 crystals and 5,000 Kina.
Locking makes every roll more expensive. Space4Games' Fera roll with four slots locked cost 80 Soul Crystals and 20,000 Kina, four times the unlocked price. Auto Analysis keeps rolling until a slot hits the minimum grade you set, and it can be told to use only that genus's own crystals.
Grade odds by Insight level
Raid Relay's client table (share of rolls above Rare):
| Insight | Genus EXP to reach | Epic | Unique | Heroic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5,000 | 5% | — | — |
| 5 | 10,000 | 10% | — | — |
| 6 | 20,000 | 20% | — | — |
| 7 | 40,000 | 30% | 1% | — |
| 8 | 80,000 | 35% | 5% | — |
| 9 | 150,000 | 39% | 10% | 1% |
| 10 | 250,000 | 30% | 15% | 5% |
That table is why every guide gives the same advice: don't lock early. Heroic lines don't exist below Insight 9. Fextralife's rule is "do not lock weak stats too early," and Raid Relay's is "lock nothing on the way."
How do you get Soul Crystals?
Soul Crystals are the real limit on the pet system. Each genus has its own crystals, and there are plain ones that work on any board. The biggest sources on global, per Raid Relay's client data:
| Source | Soul Crystals | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden Cube opened with a key | 1,000 | Each cube |
| Global launch attendance | 5,000 | Once per server |
| Pet collection milestones | 100 | At 5 pets and every 10 after, except every 50th pet, which gives Empathy Candy instead (1,700 by 200 pets) |
| Wanted quests | about 93 on average | Some quests |
| Wind Breeze Merchants | up to 1,000 | Each week, with Membership |
| Souls past Pet Insight 3 | varies | Crystallized automatically |
Hidden Cubes are the biggest source by far. That's why players on r/Aion2 spent this weekend arguing about whether the cubes even exist. One reply in that thread: "I've found them while doing quests and hunting pets." Another: "you burn through your keys so fast if you do some light gathering."
The Halloween event is the other big one, and it's ending. NC's Special Halloween Chest costs 250 Pumpkin Coins and contains the Spooky Scary Skeleton breastplate skin and 10,000 Pet Soul Crystals, limited to one per server (NC's "Trick or Treat" notice). That's ten Hidden Cubes' worth. The event runs until the scheduled maintenance on 3 November (PST) / 4 November (CET). If you have Pumpkin Coins left, that chest is the best value in the event for pet progression. Our AION 2 Halloween event guide covers how to finish the coin missions.
What is Unbound by Genus and how much CP is it?
Unbound by Genus is the title for getting all five Genus Insight boards to level 10. According to Raid Relay's client tables it also gives 20,000 Kina, and the title gives:
- Equipped: PvE Damage Boost +4.5%, Attack Bonus +34, Critical Hit +68
- Owned (not equipped): PvE Damage Boost +1%
Raid Relay tested it in game. Equipping the title in place of a blue title took one character from 111.6K to 112.6K Combat Power, about +1,000 CP, not counting the owned 1%. The +4.5% PvE damage counts for more in boss fights than the CP number suggests.
What does maxing cost?
Raid Relay totals the cost of taking all five boards to Insight 10 from client tables:
- With every pet collected at level 3: about 42,000 Soul Crystals and 10.5 million Kina, plus 21,000 souls of farming.
- With no pets at all: about 50,000 Soul Crystals and 12.5 million Kina.
That's before re-rolling for the lines you actually want. The Kina part is manageable. The crystals are the slow part, which is why Hidden Cube keys and the Halloween chest matter so much.
What's the best pet order for a new level 45?
This order is put together from Raid Relay's and Fextralife's advice and the r/Aion2 threads above. It's a sensible path, not an official one.
- Collect everything you pass. 5 souls per new pet is the cheapest Genus EXP in the system (500 EXP for 5 souls). Every pet also counts toward collection milestones.
- Analyze Fera, Natura and Varian to Insight 5 without locking. Raid Relay puts this at 400 Soul Crystals and 100,000 Kina per board. Cogni usually gets there from its own pets.
- Farm Cogni and Natura pets to level 3, at the densest camp in your home region. Then do Fera and Varian.
- Use Spacetime Rifts and the Black Cloud Merchants to fill the gaps. Before each rift, pick which pets you still need.
- Open every Hidden Cube you find and spend your Pumpkin Coins on the Halloween chest before the 3 November (PST) / 4 November (CET) maintenance.
- Lock lines only at Insight 9–10, when Heroic lines can appear.
If you're also deciding where your Kina goes, compare this with wings and enhancement. Our Combat Power guide explains why gear score isn't the whole story, and our wings guide covers the other big owned-effect collection.
Can you transform into your pet?
Yes. Pet Transformation turns you into your equipped pet for 5 minutes. You need:
- The pet at Pet Insight 3
- An Empathy Candy, which costs 20 Centuryroot Tokens in the Shugo Festival shop and is also a pet collection reward (every 50th pet, per Raid Relay)
While transformed, you can still use your skills but can't mount. To switch pets, cancel the transformation first. The 7 Special pets can't be used. Space4Games found the transformation gives no stats, so it's purely for looks.
Are shop pets pay to win?
Not the pets themselves. The Black Dragon from the Ultimate Founder's Pack is a Special pet, and Special pets give no Owned Effect. The cash-shop pets NC added on 14 October look like the same kind of cosmetic mount, though we couldn't confirm their stats. NC describes Shop cosmetics as "purely aesthetic." The stat power is in monster pets and Genus Insight, and both can be farmed in game. Real money can speed up the Soul Crystal side, though. Raid Relay's client data lists three paid accelerators: up to 1,000 Soul Crystals a week from the Wind Breeze Merchants with Membership, Hidden Cube keys from the Quna shop (3 a day, 1,000 crystals per cube), and Soul Crystals on the premium Daeva Pass track. For the full breakdown, see our AION 2 Membership guide.
Planning your Kina budget for Ludra on 4 November? These AION 2 guides cover the rest of the climb.
- AION 2 Kina farming guide: how to farm Kina fast after launch
- AION 2 Combat Power explained: why gear score lies
- AION 2 Wings guide: how to get wings and what enhancement costs
- AION 2 Halloween event guide: Pumpkin Coin rewards and dates
FAQ
How do you get pets in AION 2? Kill the pet's monster to collect its souls. Five souls unlock the pet. You can also buy pets from the Black Cloud Merchants for about 100,000 Kina, get them from pet chests and Twitch Drops, or cross a Spacetime Rift for pets that only spawn in the enemy faction's region.
What is the max pet level in AION 2 global? Pet Insight level 3, which takes 105 souls in total (5, then 25, then 75). Level 2 lets the pet glide and level 3 unlocks Pet Transformation. Extra souls are turned into Soul Crystals.
Are pets shared between characters in AION 2? Yes. Pets and Genus Insight boards are shared by all your characters on the same server, so your alts' pet souls and Soul Crystals level the same boards as your main.
Does maxing pets give a lot of CP in AION 2? Each pet adds a little, so collecting many matters more than any single pet. Players report a noticeable increase only after 20 to 30 pets reach level 3. The Unbound by Genus title, for all five Genus Insight boards at 10, added about 1,000 CP in Raid Relay's test.
What is the fastest way to get Soul Crystals in AION 2? Hidden Cubes give 1,000 Soul Crystals each when opened with a key, and the Halloween Special Chest gives 10,000 until the 3 November (PST) / 4 November (CET) maintenance. Collection milestones, Wanted quests, the Arena and the Daeva Pass add smaller amounts.
Should I lock stats in Genus Insight early? No. Each lock raises the cost of every roll, and Heroic lines only appear at Insight 9 and 10. Most guides say to keep rolling without locks while a board levels and lock only at the top.
The bottom line
AION 2's pet system is two systems. Collecting and levelling pets is slow but almost free, gives small permanent stats, and opens your Genus boards. Genus Insight is where the real power is, and its limit is Soul Crystals, not Kina. Collect every pet you pass, farm Cogni and Natura first, don't lock early, open every Hidden Cube, and claim the 10,000-crystal Halloween chest before the 3 November (PST) / 4 November (CET) maintenance. It's a long grind to Unbound by Genus, and all of your characters on the server share the progress.
