Combat Power vs item level at a glance
Your character window has two numbers. Clicking the number switches the view between item level and Combat Power (Society of Gaming, playnews). NCSOFT's official character profile lists them separately too (MetaBot).
| Item level (gear score) | Combat Power (CP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Size at level 45 | hundreds to thousands (~800 when you hit 45, 2,800 for the raid) | tens of thousands (~46k at 1,000 item level) |
| Where it comes from | gear and enhancement, Manastones, the Daevanion board, Arcana cards | all your character's stats: everything on the left plus Stigmas, pets, titles, wings, the Pantheon |
| What it is for | entry requirements for dungeons and the Abyss | a rating of your character's strength; groups ask for it |
| Does the game require it | yes, the dungeon entry window shows the requirement | no, entry requirements are in item level |
In short: item level gets you through the door, CP tells you whether you will cope inside.
Why two numbers? At the Korean launch there was only item level. You could pump it up artificially with Manastones and Arcana cards while the character stayed weak. So the developers later added Combat Power, calculated from stats (Society of Gaming, BoredAF, playnews).
Item level: the number that opens dungeons
Where item level comes from
- Gear: every piece has its own item level, and every enhancement level adds +1 (Game8, Marcus).
- Manastones: every Manastone line raises item level, even from the cheapest stone (Marcus, Society of Gaming).
- The Daevanion board: every crystal you spend is +1 (Game8, Marcus).
- Arcana cards (from 45): +20 for a grey card, +40 for a green one (MetaBot, Aragon). The full list of sources is in What to do after 45.
- Amulet and belt after Substance Morph: the gold ones are item level 65 (EPIC PLK, space4games).
Item level requirements after 45
These are hard game requirements. The dungeon entry window always shows the threshold, so when sources disagree, that is where you check.
| Item level | What it unlocks | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 700 | Conquest Tier 1: Krao Cave and Draupnir Cave | MetaBot, ExpCarry |
| 1,000 | the Forgotten Commander quest and the Abyss (PvP zone), Ascension Trial | Game8, MetaBot |
| 1,400 | Conquest Tier 2: Vakron Sky Island and Urugugu Canyon | MetaBot, ExpCarry, couga54 |
| 1,600 | Transcendence ★1 | Game8, MetaBot |
| 1,900 | Transcendence ★2 | MetaBot, couga54 |
| 2,100 | Conquest Tier 3: Ferocious Horn Den and Fire Temple | MetaBot, ExpCarry |
| 2,200 / 2,500 | Transcendence ★3 / ★4 | MetaBot |
| 2,800 | Conquest Tier 4 and the Sanctuary raid | MetaBot, Game8, couga54 |
Notes: some sources give 1,600 for Vakron and 1,500 for Ascension Trial (Grobs). The Ludra raid has been disabled since 5 Oct (news). Before 45, Exploration mode lets you in from 200 (Krao), 300 (Urugugu) and 500 (Fire Temple). Full table with energy and rewards: dungeon list.
The answer to "what gear score do I need for Conquest": 700, 1,400 or 2,100, depending on the dungeon. The threshold is a minimum. Right at the threshold you get in, but groups will still look at your CP.
Combat Power: your whole character's strength
What goes into CP
CP is calculated from your character's stats: attack, critical hits, accuracy, defense, HP (Society of Gaming, BoredAF). NCSOFT has not published the exact formula, and it is not in the client files (MetaBot). So any "CP calculator" is only an estimate.
Everything that raises item level goes into CP, plus:
- Stigmas: unequipping a Stigma drops your CP right away (Spid, SolAshur, mein-mmo);
- pets and Genus Insight (Spid, SolAshur, FRESHY);
- titles: the ones you own and the ones you equip (MR4KTV, Spid, MetaBot, mein-mmo);
- wings (Spid, BoredAF, MetaBot, mein-mmo);
- the Pantheon: statues and artwork (SolAshur, BoredAF, FRESHY, mein-mmo);
- soul binding on gold gear (FRESHY, BoredAF).
High CP does not replace Accuracy. If you have too little for a dungeon, your hits get blocked or miss, and every other stat loses its point (FRESHY, BoredAF, Th3Ruthless).
What is a good CP (as of 8 Oct 2026)
Entry requirements in the game are in item level, so "good CP" depends on who is building the group. These numbers grow week by week. Treat them as a dated estimate, not a requirement.
The simplest yardstick: about 45 CP per point of item level. MetaBot worked this out from 13,076 characters (44.7–46.8 depending on class). Examples from videos match: 1,000 item level is over 46k CP (mein-mmo), 1.9k item level is 92k CP (SolAshur).
| Item level | Typical CP | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| ~1,000 | ~45–48k | mein-mmo, MetaBot ratio |
| ~1,400 | ~63–67k | MetaBot ratio |
| ~1,900 | ~85–92k | SolAshur, MetaBot ratio |
What players say: SolAshur expects about 90k CP at 1,900 item level and calls a character with 80k neglected. Spid warns that for harder content groups will ask for 90–100k CP.
How to read it: if your CP is clearly below 45 × your item level, you have gaps outside your gear. See the systems section below.
How to raise item level fast
The order follows What to do after 45:
- Free stuff: finish the main story (gold weapon), regional quests, every "?" on the map and the Strongholds. Details in Step 1.
- Spend Daevanion crystals right away. Each one is +1. How to spend them: Daevanion board guide.
- Enhance to +10. Up to +10 it always succeeds, and every level is +1 item level. First the gold weapon, shield, bracelets, amulet and belt, then the gold armor from Draupnir and Vakron. Blue pieces +5 at most (couga54).
- Amulet and belt: +10, unequip, Substance Morph to the next color. Twice, until they are gold. How-to: Gear progression.
- Cheap Manastones in every slot. Keep the good ones for pieces you will keep.
- Arcana from 45: fill every slot, even with grey cards (couga54). Transcendence opens at 1,600.
- Conquest for the next pieces: Draupnir up to 1,400, Vakron up to ~1,900, Ferocious Horn Den from 2,100.
How to raise Combat Power beyond gear
These systems raise CP, and some of them do not touch item level at all. Work on them alongside your gear farm.
| System | What you do | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Stigmas | spend Abyss Points on Stigma Shards first and level up your Stigmas | Spid, SolAshur, Game8, couga54 |
| Pets | kill monsters of a species until the pet reaches level 3 (the global cap); then Genus Insight | Spid, SolAshur, FRESHY |
| Titles | every title you own gives a permanent bonus; kill every field boss at least once | Spid, MR4KTV |
| Wings | every pair of wings gives an owned bonus and a second one when equipped | Spid, MR4KTV |
| Pantheon | statues and artwork from bosses (Nightmare, field bosses) | SolAshur, BoredAF, Spid |
| Soul binding | only on gold pieces you will keep | FRESHY, BoredAF, Grobs |
| Amplified Enhancement (above +15) | dead last | MetaBot |
More on Stigmas: Stigmas in Aion 2. Soul binding and enhancing above +15: Gear progression.
Check your own numbers
Our free tool Check your character pulls data from NCSOFT's official character profile: level, Combat Power, item level, gear slot by slot, Daevanion boards and Stigmas. From that it builds "What to do now", the next item level step from What to do after 45, plus things you are not doing (for example empty Stigma slots or no wings).
The tool does not calculate CP itself. It shows what NCSOFT reports and the time the data was fetched.
Most common mistakes
- Pumping item level just to hit a threshold. You get into the dungeon, but without Stigmas, pets and titles you will be weak (Society of Gaming, SolAshur).
- Swapping a piece just because it has higher item level. An old piece with good soul binding can give more (FRESHY).
- Too little Accuracy. Attack and crit do nothing if your hits do not land (FRESHY, BoredAF, Th3Ruthless).
- Enhancing pieces above +10 that you are about to replace. Above +10 the 100% success rate ends (couga54).
- Numbers from Korea and Taiwan. Item level and CP there are much higher (for example 3,330 item level and 210k CP for Society of Gaming), because items there have higher item level. See Global vs Korea.
