Aion 2 Skill Level Up – Warding Shield: A Player’s Guide

[Rarane]

What is Warding Shield and Why Does It Matter?

Warding Shield is a critical defensive skill for Templars, reducing the damage taken by you and your party. Its core function revolves around increasing your survivability, especially in high-damage encounters. The higher your Warding Shield’s skill level, the better you can mitigate damage, making it an essential skill to level up as you progress through the game.

As you level up the skill, you'll unlock various effects that not only improve your personal survivability but can also benefit your entire group. This makes Warding Shield one of the must-have skills for any serious Templar player.

How Do I Level Up Warding Shield?

Leveling up skills in Aion 2 can be achieved through several methods. Each of these methods allows you to increase your skill level in different ways, and they all contribute to improving Warding Shield’s effectiveness. Let's go through these methods in detail.

1. Skill Points (Mastery)

As you level up your character, you’ll earn Skill Points (SP) that can be allocated to your skills. These points are the most basic way to level up any skill, including Warding Shield.

You can earn SP in two ways:

Character Leveling: As you progress through the game and level up your character, you’ll automatically receive Skill Points.

Empyrean Traces: These are special collectibles you can find during your journey. By exchanging them for Wisdom Stones, you can gain additional Skill Points. The more you explore and complete quests, the more Empyrean Traces you’ll collect.

2. Daevanion Board

Beyond the standard skill level cap of 10, the Daevanion Board allows you to level up skills further. This system uses Daevanion Crystals, which are earned through special activities or achievements. These crystals can be spent on unlocking nodes on the Daevanion Board, where each node offers enhancements to various aspects of your skills, including Warding Shield.

When you hit an orange core node on the board, you get a permanent stat boost like cooldown reduction, improving your Warding Shield’s effectiveness in combat. You can freely respec your skill choices here, so experiment with the Daevanion Board until you find the optimal build for your needs.

3. Soul Imprinting

Soul Imprinting is another method to level up your skills, particularly through your gear. By enchanting your gear with certain attributes, you gain random bonus levels to specific skills, including Warding Shield. This means that the more you invest in enhancing your gear, the more likely you’ll see improvements to your defensive skills.

While Soul Imprinting isn’t as predictable as other methods, it’s still an important tool for boosting your skill levels passively, especially if you're already focused on upgrading your gear.

4. Arcana System

If you’ve gathered a set of five Arcana cards, you’ll notice that they can provide passive boosts to your skills, including Warding Shield. These boosts apply as long as the Arcana set is equipped. The Arcana system is an interesting way to level up your skills without needing to put in much extra work beyond collecting and equipping the cards.

What Happens When Warding Shield Levels Up?

As you increase the level of Warding Shield, it becomes more effective, and you’ll unlock various specialized effects that can dramatically change how the skill functions. There are specific milestones at which you can expect to gain additional perks:

Level 8: At this milestone, you'll unlock the first effect specialization for Warding Shield. This might be a slight boost in its damage mitigation or a unique effect that changes the way the shield interacts with enemy attacks.

Level 12: The second effect specialization unlocks, further improving the shield’s overall performance. By now, you’ll notice a significant difference in how well you can tank damage or support your party.

Level 16: At this point, Warding Shield unlocks its most powerful effect: it boosts the damage tolerance of your entire party by 20%. This makes it one of the most valuable abilities in group-based content, particularly in raids or large-scale PvP battles.

What Are the Best Strategies for Leveling Warding Shield?

Now that you know how to level up Warding Shield and what it can do at different stages, here are some tips to help you maximize its effectiveness.

1. Experiment with Respecing

One of the great things about Aion 2 is that you can reset your skills for free at any time. This means you can experiment with different specializations to see which works best for you. If you’re unsure whether to focus on defensive boosts or other aspects of Warding Shield, give it a try and respec until you find the right balance.

2. Focus on Core Nodes on the Daevanion Board

The Daevanion Board offers permanent stat boosts once you unlock certain nodes. For Warding Shield, your priority should be to focus on the orange core nodes that offer cooldown reduction or damage mitigation bonuses. These can drastically improve your overall tanking capabilities in combat.

3. Look for Opportunities to Enchant Your Gear

Since Soul Imprinting can randomly level up your skills, you should regularly enchant your gear to gain additional bonuses to Warding Shield. While it’s not a guaranteed method, this passive form of skill leveling can be helpful over time, especially as you work on upgrading other gear stats.

4. Don’t Ignore the Arcana System

If you have access to the Arcana cards, don’t overlook the passive boosts they provide. Equipping a set of five Arcana cards can give your Warding Shield skill a significant boost, sometimes without you having to do much beyond the initial setup.

Should I Buy Kinah to Speed Up the Process?

As you progress, you might want to accelerate the process of leveling up your skills, or even buy rare items to enhance your character. If that’s the case, you might want to consider checking out an Aion 2 Kinah buy guide. Buying Kinah (the in-game currency) can help you acquire better gear, enchantments, or even rare items that will speed up your progression.

While Kinah isn’t a shortcut to skill leveling itself, it can help you acquire the materials and resources needed to improve your equipment and skills, including Warding Shield.

Leveling up Warding Shield in Aion 2 is a straightforward process, but understanding the different systems that contribute to its growth will help you make the most out of your Templar’s potential. Focus on gaining Skill Points, using Daevanion Crystals, enhancing your gear, and collecting Arcana cards. Each method plays a crucial role in making your Templar an even more formidable tank. Experiment with different builds, and remember, the most effective Templars are those who are willing to adapt their strategy and learn from their gameplay.

Enchantment Stone | TW Elyos & Ariel