Mirror of Scarlet Desire

0:00 Mirror of Scarlet Desire is a Transcendence dungeon in Aion 2, opened on the Korean and Taiwanese service on May 13, 2026. NC sets it within "a fantastical space born from love within the shattered fragments of Kromede", tying it to Kromede, the boss of the Fire Temple; Games On introduces it as another Kromede dungeon, this time a Transcendence one, with three bosses. Clearing it yields the crystal used to craft three new Arcana sets. Fan translations of the Korean patch notes call it Mirror of Crimson Affection. Everything here describes the Korean and Taiwanese version: NC expects the global version, launched on Oct 5, 2026, to run close to a year behind Korea in content (Hardcore Gamer).

Quick facts

The May 2026 update

NC released Mirror of Scarlet Desire as the centerpiece of its May 13, 2026 update, which also brought three new Arcana set effects, more Arcana Crystal extraction options, better dungeon rewards and a new daily dungeon, Crobahki's Secret Depository (Daily Dungeons and Shugo Festa). The same update doubled the weekly reward limit for Transcendence content from 7 to 14, raised the Expedition limit from 14 to 21, and added quality-of-life features: a longer dungeon invite list, a revamped Wind Breeze Merchants lineup, a boss rear indicator, seven new markers and HUD presets (NC). During the livestream the day before, the developers had previewed the next Sanctuary, which NC's release called Musphel's Goblet, for May 27 (Muspel's Chalice).

According to Aion2 Hub's fan translation of the Korean notes, the dungeon opened with stages 1 to 4, and its Odyle Energy Cubes could drop a Soul-bound material for Heroic-grade crafting recipes due on May 27. The same site's summary of the Jun 4, 2026 patch says Arcana acquisition and crafting in the dungeon were reworked that week (Aion2 Hub).

Arcana sets

Clearing the dungeon gives Noble Crystal (Bound), the material for the three sets added on May 13. Older cards can be recycled: extracting Season 1 and Season 2 Arcana gives Mysterious Crystal (Bound), while extracting Season 3 Arcana gives Noble Crystal (Bound) (NC).

Stages and item levels

3:27 Each stage raises the entry item level, and the higher stages add mechanics to every fight. Hits from a boss stack a debuff; Games On explains that from stage 3 the debuff summons an illusion of Kromede that deals damage in a straight line, and at stage 4 the illusion explodes around the player instead. His footage mostly shows stages 2 and 3, because his group lacked the damage to finish stage 4. BoredAF, comparing runs, notes that the green circles of the final boss appear only from stage 4.

First boss: Rotar

0:00 BoredAF finds the first two bosses light on mechanics. The first is a matching game: each player is given a shape at their feet and must move to the matching shape beside the boss to avoid damage, then, with the next shape, destroy the lantern that matches it. Purple lanterns should be destroyed as they spawn, and when two party members become linked they can ignore it and carry on.

1:28 Games On treats the shapes more seriously. In the second version every character is tethered to a colored shape at the edge of the platform, and must run to it, break the totem standing on it and stand on the shape before the boss finishes casting Troubled Heart. Each unbroken totem explodes across the whole platform for 60 to 70 per cent of a character's health, so two failures wipe the party. The third mechanic tethers two players to orbs that must both be broken within a few seconds of becoming vulnerable.

Second boss: Robstino

0:37 The way to the second boss runs through a garden of monsters and circle indicators. The boss itself is about flowers: its circles make the flowers explode, so if too many build up the blasts can wipe the party, and players clear them by stepping on them and moving out of the circle. It also fixes an eye on one player and draws a line across the arena that stays until the fight ends, so these lines are best placed near the edge.

4:11 Games On counts only two mechanics worth mentioning. The pink flowers explode when a player comes near, each blast taking 60 to 70 per cent of a character's health, and the boss summons enough of them to fill the map. A sword falling from the sky marks a player with a red circle whose blast also clears flowers, so that player should move away from teammates before it lands. The boss also cuts lines across the map, a mechanic Games On compares to the first boss of the Sanctuary Ludra.

The hall and the final boss: Kromede's Desolation

5:43 After the second boss a mirror leading to Kromede appears in the same room. Beyond it lies a short run through walls of fire, which BoredAF compares to the Fire Temple; a character survives one wall but not two, and on higher stages illusions of Kromede shoot arrows at runners as well.

1:16 At the final boss players dodge indicators until about 70 per cent, when the mirrors appear. Each mirror spins and stops on an image, and players look at it and perform the matching emote. The number above each mirror shows how many players must perform the emote while standing in its circle.

7:42 Games On explains the timing. A mirror shows one of three icons, a musical note or a ghost among them, and a mirror marked with a two needs two players pressing the right emote at roughly the same moment; a wrong answer means doing it again. The party has about 20 seconds to satisfy every mirror on the map, or it wipes.

1:56 Kromede also summons a circle of mirrors around herself, and the one empty mirror marks the safe spot from her cone attack. Next comes the Path of Love: players cross to the far side and stagger her before time runs out, passing only through the purple hearts (Games On calls them pink), rotating so that each heart goes to a different player, and waiting for a heart to fall off before taking another. The last phase is a soak, in which everyone stacks on the player marked with a small circle.

Games On adds two more. A red circle beneath one player means a strike that at least two players must share, or the lone target dies; and a small red marker is a shared-damage explosion that kills everyone outside it, so the party should stay close together.

11:05 Stage 4 adds a mechanic of its own. Green circles appear under every character, who spread into a square around the boss; four domes then appear, and the party runs to one, waits for her strike, and moves on to the next before the dome fades, four times over. Games On stresses that timing matters more than anything, because waiting for a dome to vanish leaves too little time to reach the next.

11:44 On the heart track, pink hearts are safe but leave a purple heart over the runner's head, and passing a second pink heart while carrying one kills; green hearts stun. Players therefore go through in quick succession, one after another, so that the first runner's heart has faded by the time the third or fourth has passed. The party has 20 seconds to reach Kromede at the end of the path and stagger her, which Games On's group managed with four seconds left.

Frequently asked questions

What item level do you need for Mirror of Scarlet Desire? 3,200 for the first stage. NC says higher tiers need more, and a fan translation of the notes lists 3,500, 3,800 and 4,000 for stages 2 to 4.

Which Arcana sets come from Mirror of Scarlet Desire? Punishing Overture, Protected Soul and Indomitable Dedication, crafted with the Noble Crystal (Bound) earned by clearing the dungeon.

How does the mirror mechanic work? Read the icon each mirror stops on and perform the matching emote while standing in its circle, with as many players as the number above the mirror shows. All mirrors must be done within about 20 seconds.

Is Mirror of Crimson Affection the same dungeon? Yes. Mirror of Crimson Affection is a fan translation of the Korean name; NC's English release uses Mirror of Scarlet Desire.

Is Mirror of Scarlet Desire in the global version? NC has not announced it for the global launch on Oct 5, 2026, and expects the global service to run close to a year behind Korea in content.

Sources

• Aion 2 Launches New Transcendence Dungeon 'Mirror of Scarlet Desire' and Announces June Showcase, NC, May 13, 2026
• Aion 2: NC Talks Content Rollout, Global Adjustments, and Player Feedback, Hardcore Gamer, Jun 16, 2026
• Aion 2 Patch Notes and Aion 2 Update, May 13, 2026, Aion2 Hub (unofficial fan translations), retrieved Sep 15, 2026
• Aion 2: Mirror Of Scarlet Desire Guide | Transcendence, BoredAF, May 14, 2026 (video)
• Transcendence dungeon: Mirror of Scarlet Desire (stages 1-4) in Aion 2, Games On, May 14, 2026 (video)