Meta tier list: source matrix and editorial verdict

We read 15 AION 2 tier lists from 13 sites in 7 languages (English, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Russian). Instead of adding one more opinion, we show how each source rated each class, where they agree, and where they don’t. The interactive version is on the PvE, PvP and overall tier list pages.

How do we build the consensus?

1. Collect. Public tier lists from media, guide sites and community boards. Lists from currency (RMT) sellers are excluded.
2. Filter. A list must rate at least 6 of the 8 Global classes to enter the consensus. Partial “top picks” lists are shown separately.
3. Normalize. Letters stay as they are. Three-step scales (T0/T1/T2) become S/A/B; four-step (T0–T3) become S/A/B/C. Custom scales are explained in the notes.
4. Consensus. The median rating. With an even number of ratings we take the better of the two middle values.
5. Agreement. How many sources gave exactly the consensus tier, for example “S in 6 of 7”.
6. Editorial verdict. Our own call, with reasons. It gives more weight to lists that use Global data.
7. Player vote. Collected separately on the tier list pages and never mixed into the consensus.

Service labels. [KR], [TW] and [KR/TW] mark lists built on the Korean or Taiwanese service. Those services are ahead of Global (level cap 50, Brawler, different balance), so their rankings may not match Global.

PvE: source matrix

Class	AION2 Tier List (EN, Oct 12)	Mein-MMO (DE, Oct 13)¹	Gameblog (FR, ~Oct 9)	AllThings.how [KR/TW] (Aug 30)	LagoFast [KR/TW] (zh-TW, Sep 23)	Consensus	Agreement
Gladiator	A	A	S	S	S	S	3 of 5
Templar	A	S	B	A	S	A	2 of 5
Assassin	A	A	A	B	A	A	4 of 5
Ranger	A	A	S	S	A	A	3 of 5
Sorcerer	A	A	S	C	B	A	2 of 5
Spiritmaster	S	A	S	D	A	A	2 of 5
Cleric	A	S	B	A	S	A	2 of 5
Chanter	S	A	A	A	S	A	3 of 5

¹ Mein-MMO ranks PvE by role. We use each class’s best role tier: Templar S as tank, Cleric S as healer, Chanter A as healer; damage tiers for the rest. Its damage data comes from the Asian version.

Top picks only (not in the consensus): Game8 (JA, Oct 12) recommends Gladiator, Ranger, Sorcerer and Spiritmaster for PvE. GamesFuze (EN, Oct 6) names Chanter (S), Spiritmaster, Templar and Cleric.

PvP: source matrix

Class	AION2 Tier List (EN)	Mein-MMO (DE)	Gameblog (FR)	LagoFast [KR/TW]	Inven #15818 [KR]	Inven #15431 [KR]²	Bahamut [TW/KR]³	Consensus	Agreement
Gladiator	S	S	S	S	S	A	S	S	6 of 7
Templar	A	B	A	S	A	A	C	A	4 of 7
Assassin	S	S	S	S	B	A	S	S	5 of 7
Ranger	A	A	S	A	D	B	A	A	4 of 7
Sorcerer	A	A	B	A	S	A	B	A	4 of 7
Spiritmaster	B	A	B	A	C	S	A	A	3 of 7
Cleric	A	B	A	A	B	S	C	A	3 of 7
Chanter	B	B	A	B	A	A	S	A	3 of 7

² Ordinal ranking 1–9. The author marks a big gap after rank 3 and calls ranks 4–8 similar; we map ranks 1–3 to S, 4–8 to A, 9 to B. Brawler (KR/TW only) was rank 1 and is left out. ³ Forum reply based on 1v1 arena presence (T0–T3), written before the KR balance patch of Aug 26, 2026.

Inven #15818 uses a custom scale (SSS/SS → S, S → A, 1/2/3 → B/C/D). Both Inven entries are single-user opinion posts; we include them because Korean players read them, but they carry low weight in our verdict.

Top picks only: Game8 recommends Gladiator, Assassin and Ranger for PvP. GamesFuze names Gladiator and Assassin as S.

Overall lists

Class	AION2 Tier List (EN)	KeenGamer (EN, Oct 2)	OSLink (JA, Oct 9)	Rutab (RU, Oct 8)	AllThings.how [KR/TW] (Aug 5)	LagoFast [KR/TW]	MuMuPlayer [TW] (Nov 2025)	Consensus
Gladiator	A	S	S	A	S	A	A	A (4 of 7)
Templar	A	A	S	A	C	A	S	A (4 of 7)
Assassin	S	A	A	B	S	S	A	S (4 of 7)
Ranger	A	S	A	A	B	S	B	A (4 of 7)
Sorcerer	A	A	B	S	B	—	A	A (3 of 6)
Spiritmaster	A	B	A	A	C	A	B	A (4 of 7)
Cleric	A	A	S	S	A	A	S	A (4 of 7)
Chanter	A	A	S	B	B	A	S	A (3 of 7)

LagoFast lists Sorcerer twice with different tiers in its overall list, so we leave that cell empty. MuMuPlayer’s list dates from the KR/TW launch day and is the oldest in the set.

Editorial verdict: PvE

Class	Verdict	Why
Gladiator	A	Consensus S comes mostly from KR/TW lists; both Global meter-based lists say A.
Templar	A	Every group needs a tank; Mein-MMO rates it S as a tank. Weaker as damage.
Assassin	A	Most stable rating (A in 4 of 5). Strong burst, weaker in long fights.
Ranger	A	Safe, steady ranged damage; S on two lists only.
Sorcerer	A	Widest spread (S to C). Strong on Global dungeon meters per one source, but gear-hungry.
Spiritmaster	A	Most disputed (S to D). Global meter data looks good, sample still small.
Cleric	A	The main healer is essential for hard content.
Chanter	A	One Global source rates it S on meters; not enough to raise it yet.

Editorial verdict: PvP

Class	Verdict	Why
Gladiator	S	S in 6 of 7 lists, including every Global-based list.
Assassin	S	S in every Global-based list; only KR user posts rate it lower.
Templar	A	Strong in organized group fights, low kill pressure alone.
Ranger	A	Good in large RvR and kiting; the low KR ratings are single-user posts.
Sorcerer	A	High burst and control, fragile when focused.
Spiritmaster	B	Consensus A, but 2 of 3 Global-based lists say B; tends to lose duels.
Cleric	A	Strong sustain in group fights and 2v2, weak alone.
Chanter	B	Consensus A, but 2 of 3 Global-based lists say B.

Known problems in the sources

• Several lists do not say which service they rate. We label them by their evidence (for example Brawler mentions, Asian DPS data).
• Mein-MMO uses unofficial class names (Wizard, Summoner, Cantor). The official names are Sorcerer, Spiritmaster and Chanter.
• GamesFuze says AION 2 has 9 classes but names 6. Global has 8; the 9th (Brawler) is KR/TW only.
• Gameblog’s text praises Templar and Cleric in PvE but rates both B.
• LagoFast, OSLink and MuMuPlayer are vendor blogs (game accelerators and an emulator).

Sources we could not use

• Mobalytics, Destructoid, Sportskeeda, ExitLag: the pages blocked automated access (Cloudflare), so we could not verify their tiers. We do not count search snippets.
• Fextralife, FandomWire: their robots.txt disallows AI tools, so we did not read them.
• Wotpack (RU), one Inven post: tiers only in images, unreadable or contradictory.
• MMOEXP, ExpCarry: currency or boosting sellers — excluded on principle.

What changes next?

We re-run this matrix after each Global balance patch. Moves between tiers will appear in the history block on the tier list pages. Class details: start with Which class should I play.