Dev Talk: Faction Ranks and Elite Mounts
Call to Arms, the next major update for Albion Online, will bring a complete revamp of the Faction Warfare system. In our last Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys introduced the major components of this rework. This week, he gives a first look at Faction Campaigns, Faction Ranks, and rewards including new Elite Faction Mounts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eC73qrEFYw
Prefer a written summary? Then read on...
[h3]The Faction Screen[/h3]
The Faction Screen is accessed via the Activities button. It shows the current overall Faction rankings, as well as which Factions offer the best rewards for joining. Most importantly, it shows your personal Faction Campaign progress and your current Faction Rank.
After enlisting with a Faction, you become eligible to fight in their Campaign and climb the ranks. Campaigns are month-long seasons that count all points you earn on behalf of your Faction, and award chests with valuable loot as you reach certain milestones.
Faction Ranks measure your loyalty alongside your contribution. Lower ranks are the same for all Factions, but higher ranks are unique to each city and are extremely hard to unlock and maintain. We’re also working on showing which players currently rank highest within your Faction. Your rank affects the rate at which you earn points.
[h3]Faction Store + Elite Mounts[/h3]
Once you've earned points, you can still spend them on City Faction Hearts, crests for Faction Capes and Faction Mounts. We've significantly boosted Faction Mount stats, and we’ve added an Elite version of each Faction mount. These offer new T8 rare mounts for animal breeders to grow, and come with two unique abilities each.
Note: Faction abilities are unlocked when the player is flagged for the appropriate Faction and only affect players in the same Faction:
- Lymhurst Elite Boar
- Regular ability: dash forward, damaging unmounted enemies and knocking them backwards
- Faction ability – Boar Vitality: dismount and give allies a large healing area of effect
- Bridgewatch Elite Terrorbird
- Regular ability: “Zig” to a targeted direction, then “Zag” to dash again and avoid attacks
- Faction ability – Desert Breeze: dismount and grant all allies a move speed bonus
- Martlock Elite Ram
- Regular ability: reduce damage taken while channeling, then gain move speed based on the number of hits taken
- Faction ability – Mountain Resilience: dismount and grant a Max Health bonus to allies in range
- Thetford Elite Swamp Salamander
- Regular ability: sheds its skin to cleanse any negative effects
- Faction ability – Reptile Agility: grants attack speed and damage bonuses to nearby allies
- Fort Sterling Elite Direbear
- Regular ability: passive that stacks with each attack, followed up with "Winter Call" ability that boosts move speed and slows enemies based on the stacks
- Faction ability – Frozen Defense: dismount and grant a defense bonus to allies in range
NOTE: These abilities are still in testing at the time of this recording and their functionality may change.
[h3]Maximizing Faction Points[/h3]
In addition to earning points by fighting for your Faction, you can also see which Factions offer the most points. Factions that aren't doing as well offer much higher rates of Faction Point gains, and will even allow you to retain part of your rank if you enlist with them. Successful Factions, however, have less reason to pay high rates of points and won’t be so welcoming to new recruits, so you’ll have to give up your rank to join them. These mechanisms ensure Faction Warfare stays balanced and players have strong incentives to join cities in need, while leaving the choice of Faction ultimately up to you.
We covered a lot in this talk, but there’s still more to come. In the next video, we’ll unmask the new Faction, talk about their unique gameplay and rewards, and discuss the recurring red zone event.
Thanks for watching!
