While leveling in AION 2, you’ll constantly replace your gear. Here’s what you can do with old equipment, how Item Extraction works, and when it starts making sense to save gear for Transfer.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- what to do with old gear
- how Item Extraction works and how much it costs
- why the game warns you when extracting enhanced gear
- what Transfer carries over and what it doesn’t
- what other ways there are to upgrade your gear
Note: This guide is current as of October 2, 2026. I use Item Extraction all the time myself, but I haven’t used Transfer yet. The information on Transfer comes from guides for the Korean and Taiwanese versions and has not yet been confirmed for the global version.
- You can find all our other guides, dates, and key information in our AION 2 guide hub with all tips and walkthroughs at a glance.
What Should You Do With Old Gear in AION 2?
Most of the time, I extract it. You can do this on the go while moving from quest to quest, and you’ll need the materials in large quantities. While leveling, simply equip the better gear and extract the old pieces. So far, gear in AION 2 feels fairly disposable. I haven’t come across a piece I absolutely wanted to keep yet.
That slowly starts to change around level 40. At that point, it makes sense to save pieces you may want to Transfer later and invest more seriously in upgrading them.
Option When It Makes Sense Extract while leveling, for anything you no longer use Transfer for upgraded gear whose enhancement progress you want to keep Keep from level 40 onward for pieces you want to upgrade or Transfer later
How Item Extraction Works in AION 2
You’ll find Item Extraction in the Cube. Select one or more items you want to break down. Before you confirm, the game shows you a preview of what you’ll receive, which skin will be unlocked, and how much Kina the extraction will cost. Extracting a single helmet cost me 1,000 Kina and gave me 17 Enhance Stones plus the helmet’s skin. If you select multiple items, “View Details” lets you see the result for each one individually.
Enhance Stones are the material used to enhance your equipment. Their tooltip says they are used “to awaken the hidden power of equipment.”
You don’t necessarily lose the appearance of extracted gear: For my helmet, the skin was permanently unlocked in the Closet, where you can apply it to other equipment later and probably recolor it too. For some items, the skin apparently only gets extracted with a certain chance, so keep an eye on the preview.
Don’t confuse the two: Essence Extraction is AION 2’s gathering profession and has nothing to do with breaking down equipment. Our linked guide explains gathering, skills, and how to advance to Professional.
Why Does AION 2 Warn You About Enhanced Gear?
If one of the selected items has already been enhanced, for example to +1, Item Extraction displays a red warning. You should take it seriously: Extracting the item apparently returns your Enhance Stones, but any Manastones and Theostones you invested are lost. I haven’t tested this myself yet. Before extracting it, check whether using Transfer on that piece would make more sense.
Transfer in AION 2: Carry Your Upgrades Over
You’ll find Transfer under “Enhancement,” alongside Growth, Manastone, Theostone, and Soul Binding. There, you select a Target Gear that will receive the stats and the Gear Transfer Material they come from. This means you don’t have to start upgrading a new weapon or armor piece completely from scratch.
NC has not yet published exactly what carries over in the global version. According to guides for the Korean and Taiwanese versions, enhancement levels and apparently some of the Soul Binding effects carry over. Manastones, Theostones, and the so-called Potential are lost. Sources also disagree on whether Breakthrough progress transfers.
I haven’t used Transfer myself yet because it hasn’t been worth it so far.
My advice: For now, only invest Manastones and Theostones in gear you plan to keep for a while. Based on the information currently available, they are lost through both Item Extraction and Transfer.
AION 2 Gear Upgrades at a Glance
| Upgrade | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Growth | raises equipment through + levels and consumes Enhance Stones and Kina; the game shows the success rate before every attempt, and going from +0 to +1 had a 100% success rate for me |
| Manastone | adds additional stats to your equipment |
| Theostone | adds an additional effect |
| Soul Binding | gradually increases the Soul Binding Rate; reaching 100% grants additional bonuses |
| Transfer | transfers progression to new equipment |
Growth also includes Potential. Not every item supports it: For my helmet, the game displayed the message “Potential Enhancement is not available for this equipment.”
You can increase the binding progress of already soul-bound gear with the Soul Codex. Soul Codex: Reset resets the binding and lets you bind the item again. You can find Soul Codices in Hidden Cubes, for example, and Soul Codex: Reset is one of the Monolith Resonance rewards. Be careful: Before you soul-bind an item, the game warns you that it can no longer be traded afterward.
Belts and amulets follow their own path: You enhance them with dedicated scrolls, and from +10 you raise them to the next quality tier through Substance Morph.
Good luck upgrading your gear, and don’t extract anything you still want to Transfer!
More Guides & Articles on AION 2
- AION 2 Launch-Guide: Beginner Tips, Classes, Settings, Release Info & More
- AION 2 Beginner Guide: 11 Tips You Should Know Before You Start
- AION 2 Classes Guide: All 8 Classes & Which Is Best for You
- AION 2 Best Settings: Graphics, FPS, Controls & Keybinds
- AION 2 Hands-On: Great Combat, but the World Feels Strangely Solitary
- AION 2 Amulet and Belt Guide: How to Enhance and Upgrade Them
- AION 2 Essence Extraction: How to Reach Professional
- AION 2 Hidden Cubes: Locations, Keys and Rewards
Update Log
- 10/10/2026: Extraction returns, skin extraction and the 100% Soul Binding bonus worded more carefully, Soul Codex sources updated, belt and amulet note aligned with the amulet guide, and in-game terms (Enhancement, Target Gear, Closet, View Details, Substance Morph) corrected.
- October 2, 2026: Guide published.
