What are stigmas?
A stigma is a special class skill, separate from your regular skills. Every class has 13 of them (MetaBot, Grobs), but your bar only holds as many as you have slots. They are usually 10-second buffs, big hits, or skills that change how other skills work. Example: from stigma level 5, Cleric's Earth Punishment makes Condemnation always crit on that target.
You equip stigmas in the skill window, on the stigma tab. You can put shards into any stigma, but only the slotted ones go on your bar.
How many slots, and when do they open?
| Character level | Slots |
|---|---|
| 22 | 1 |
| 27 | 2 |
| 32 | 3 |
| 37 | 4 (global maximum) |
Sources: MetaBot (client data) and couga54. A level-22 Ascension quest opens the stigma system.
Korea and Taiwan have 6 slots and a level 25 cap. Guides from there (including 2025 videos) show more stigmas at once. Global season 1 has 4 slots and a level 20 cap (Grobs, ExpCarry, couga54, aLuckyRO). Level 25 is visible in the client, but going past 20 needs Superior Stigma Shards. According to MetaBot, at launch you only get one for each stigma you take to 20, so in practice the cap is 20.
How much does a stigma level cost?
| Levels | Shards per level | Band total | Total from 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| 6–10 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
| 11–15 | 4 | 20 | 35 |
| 16–20 | 8 | 40 | 75 |
MetaBot (global client) and Lipej (test client) give the same numbers. One stigma at 20 is 75 shards. Four stigmas at 20 is 300, which nobody has in the first weeks.
What do levels 5, 10, 15 and 20 do?
At each breakpoint the stigma gains a new property (specialization): more damage, longer duration, an extra hit, a debuff on the enemy. Properties switch on automatically. You do not pick them like you do for regular skills (MetaBot, ExpCarry; DankRNG and berdugz for Sorcerer).
So the levels between breakpoints do very little. A stigma at 9 is barely better than at 5. That is why you should:
- Push one stigma to a breakpoint (5, then 10, then 15) instead of giving one level to several.
- Often 1 point is enough early on just to have a stigma on your bar. The rest of your shards go into the important one.
Where do Stigma Shards come from?
| Source | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| character levels from 23 + the Ascension reward | 1 per level, 2 per level at 40–45 | MetaBot: 30 in total by level 45 (aLuckyRO counts 24–25). Enough for four stigmas at 5 and one at 10 |
| Ascension quests | a few | KaidWOW, Game8 |
| Abyss shop for Abyss Points (AP) | the main source | Grobs: unlimited. MetaBot: the first 50 cost 10k AP each, the next ones 15k, 20k and 25k (50 per character at each price). Sources disagree |
| Nightmare shop | up to 35 per character | MetaBot: 1,500 Phantasmal Fragments each; Grobs also says 35 |
| Shugo Festival shop | up to 35 per character | MetaBot: 300 festival tokens each; Grobs: 35 |
The one thing everyone agrees on: spend your first AP on Stigma Shards, then Daevanion crystals, not potions or wings (Game8, couga54). The Abyss is a PvP zone, so farm AP with your legion or at least a partner. Details: What to do after 45.
Resetting stigmas
You can reset stigma points and spend them again. The reset costs Kinah (the in-game currency).
- On Korean servers it cost 10,000 Kinah per point from 28 Jan 2026, and Korea later dropped the fee entirely (aion2hub, ExpCarry).
- Nobody has posted the global price from the client yet. ExpCarry says to read it on the confirmation screen before you click.
A reset refunds the shards you spent (MetaBot). It pays off after 45, when you want to pull shards out of several stigmas and put them all into one, straight to 20. Rangers do this with Vaizel's Authority (couga54, Moxsy).
Which stigmas for your class?
Short version, in slot order 22 → 27 → 32 → 37. Solo and group variants, leveling order and where sources disagree are in the Stigmas & passives tab of each class guide.
| Class | Slots (PvE) | Level up first |
|---|---|---|
| Templar | Doom Shield, Battlefield Banner, Taunt (groups), Empyrean Lord's Punishment | 1 point in all four, then Empyrean Lord's Punishment and Banner to 5 |
| Gladiator | Lunge Stance, Rage Burst, Zikel's Blessing, Focused Block | Rage Burst and Focused Block are fine at 5, then Lunge Stance to 20 |
| Assassin | Illusive Clone, Swift Contract, Triniel's Dagger, Savage Fang | Illusive Clone (eats the most shards) |
| Ranger | Vaizel's Authority, Bow of Blessing, Supporting Fire, Griffon or Explosive Arrow | all to 5 evenly, after 45 Vaizel's Authority to 20 |
| Sorcerer | Element Enhancement, Fire Wall, Cold Storm, Steel Barrier or Delayed Explosion | Element Enhancement to 15–20 |
| Elementalist | Summon: Ancient Spirit, Spirit's Benediction, Jointstrike: Corrode, Flame Blessing | all to 10, then Ancient Spirit to 15 |
| Cleric | Earth Punishment, Noble Aura, Prayer of Amplification, Light of Protection | Earth Punishment to 5 right away |
| Chanter | Undefeated Mantra, Power of the Storm, Sprint Mantra, Marchutan's Wrath | Undefeated Mantra to 20 before anything else |
Sources for the picks: couga54, Grobs, aLuckyRO, Game8, Fextralife, ExpCarry and others, listed on each class page.
Stigmas and your macro
Most stigmas are short buffs. Press them yourself before a boss or a big pull, and keep them out of the macro (Grobs). The exception is a stigma that is a normal rotation hit, like Cleric's Earth Punishment in the line before Condemnation. How to set up lines and the macro: Aion 2 macro guide.
Common mistakes
- Spreading shards one level at a time across all 13 stigmas. Only the 4 slotted ones and the 5/10/15 breakpoints matter.
- Buying potions with AP before shards.
- Copying a Korean stigma plan (6 slots, level 25).
- Toggle buffs and mantras in the macro. The second press turns them off.