AION 2 Templar Ultimate Guide (PvP & PvE)

The complete Templar guide from ~4 weeks maining Templar on the Taiwan server - gear philosophy, best-in-slot stats, arcana cards, David board pathing, stigmas, skills, macros, and full PvP/PvE rotations. I'm hitting 100K+ PvE DPS on the in-game meter. The exact gear won't carry to global (levels/gear/skills get squished for Season 1), but the ideology and rotations translate - that's what makes you a strong Templar at launch.

🎯 Best-in-Slot Stats

Prioritize damage everywhere. The stats that matter most on Templar:

• Might and Precision - your two most important stats. If you can't hit, you do no damage; if you can't crit, you do far less; base attack scales everything.
• Attack, Crit, Accuracy - the repeating core trio across gear. (Precision > Accuracy, but you can only roll Accuracy on non-weapon pieces.)
• Perfect Chance - enormous for damage. The only thing better than Perfect Chance is Smite.
• Critical Damage Boost on your shoulder is critical.
• Watch accuracy thresholds for PvE bosses; in PvP, accuracy has diminishing returns but you still stack it because so many players stack evasion.

Chase your main DPS skills as accessory rolls where possible - Punishment, Judgment, Pummel (top three). Keep block/evasion rolls (either is fine - stacking accuracy raises evasion simultaneously, so your stats synergize). Crit hit resist and block penetration are huge in PvP (block pen lets you kill Templars/clerics/supports).

🃏 Arcana Cards & David Board

• Path toward your main DPS skills first on the David board - Punishment, Judgment, Pummel - grabbing nearby golden/attack nodes on the way. Economy matters: go for what's near if resources are tight, but always aim at damage.
• Cards carry your key skills: Judgment on parchment, Pummel/Punishment on chalice, Pummel on compass.
• Getting Judgment to level 20 and Pummel to level 20 is essential.
• Frenzy for PvE attack + boss damage boost (PvE > PvP for gearing, even as a PvPer). Flash Rampage falls off past mid-game - don't over-invest.
• Best card stat targets: Fury (best-in-slot passive), Judgment, Annihilate, Pummel. Aim for 4/5 best-in-slot stats to start leveling; min-max later.

⚔️ Stigmas (PvX Layout)

No block/taunt in this setup - stopping to block loses DPS; keep passive shields (Nezekan Shield, Second Skin) up instead. Priority order:

Poach

Empyrean Lord

Executing Blade

Warding Strike

Battlefield Banner

Nezekan Shield

Second Skin

1. Poach - reset cooldown (top PvX priority; infinite pulls/resets). For 1v1 arena, swap to 20% status effect resist.
2. Empyrean Lord - third milestone (PvP + PvE damage boost). 200% damage vs incapacitated-immune targets, ranged stun - one of the best skills in the game.
3. Executing Blade - 2nd milestone important, 4th very important. Puts enemy skills on cooldown and inflicts Exposed (lowers block/evasion).
4. Debilitating Smash - anti-heal (−16% incoming healing), ignores block/evasion. Key vs self-sustain classes.
5. Then Warding Strike (shield, block, triggers Judgment), Battlefield Banner, Nezekan Shield, Second Skin (last).

🗡️ Key Skill Specs

Judgment

Punishment

Pummel

Annihilate

Doom Shield

Warding Strike

Shield Smite

Vicious Strike

• Judgment - all damage, all the time: extra damage, crit, remove cooldown. Never changes at 20. Your main DPS.
• Punishment - DoT, +30% skill speed, ignore block/evasion. ~100K per fully-charged hit + 56K DoT. Always prioritize when off cooldown despite its ~30s cooldown.
• Pummel - needs level 20 for the 12% damage increase + extra Punishing Strike (~13K, basically a free Judgment proc). Slot HP absorb.
• Annihilate - spam on right click; big damage on stunned/knocked-down targets (~24K base), 50% chance to inflict knockdown in PvP.
• Doom Shield - resets on defeating an enemy and resets Annihilate on hit → infinite knockdown spam. Put it on right click for PvX rift/open-world; keep it on a separate key for precise 1v1s.

⌨️ Macros

• Right click (in-game macro): Doom Shield - the macro fires everything in that slot, so it becomes Annihilate → Pummel spam when they're off cooldown, weaving Vicious Strike into Pummel.
• Thumb button (Razer HyperSpeed → R key, Turbo ~10 presses/sec): the Judgment macro. It prioritizes Judgment, using Warding Strike before it; Judgment procs from Warding Strike, Shield Smite, and Doom Shield.
• Goal: keep Judgment spam aligned with your rotation, animation-canceling Judgment into Pummel. This transfers to global.

🔁 Rotations

PvP (soft initiate)

Poach → Shield Smite → strafe to their backside → Judgment + Pummel (animation weave) → big Punishment → Empyrean Lord if they flee → Executing Blade when they're low. Learn to strafe behind opponents - more damage, less damage taken, better battlefield visibility.

PvE

Fully buff → Poach in → Punishment → Judgment macro spam → Doom Shield to extend Judgment window → Shield Smite comes back up → back into Judgment spam. Add Executing Blade + Empyrean Lord at the end. Always re-prioritize Punishment the moment it's off cooldown. ~300K+ DPS on the combo.

🖥️ Settings That Matter

• Mass combat quality → Low; post-processing & global illumination → Normal (reduces screen clutter - this game has heavy effects).
• Camera: lower vertical look speed to ~half your horizontal - you scan left/right far more than up/down; reduces screen shake and keeps you on target.
• Turn off world-map transition (buggy, can lag you in combat). Consider turning off combat floaters/damage numbers to cut clutter.
• Hotkeys: C = Quick Slot 2; side mouse buttons for Quick Slot 1 / quick-use; Shift + middle mouse for fly up/down; the R macro key and the right-click in-game macro drive your DPS.

🌍 Global-Ready Advice

1. Find a legion. Solo, you get run over in the abyss. (Join the Discord - veteran MMO/AION players.)
2. Have a gearing game plan before launch - going in blind gets you cooked.
3. Gear path (Templar): start Vertron map / Dawn Legion base → main story → clear all sealed/hidden dungeons (question-mark markers) → prioritize green side quests near you → run expeditions only when the story requires, spending minimal energy → hit the combat power / item level to teleport into the abyss, where you progress your real gear.