Albion Online News

Lands Awakened arrives November 24, bringing major open-world features, Guild Season changes, and more. In our newest Dev Talk, Robin Henkys discusses Hideout Power Cores and Headquarters Hideouts, two related features that will shake up guild warfare and open-world PvP.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Prefer a written summary? Read on...
[h3]Hideout Power Cores[/h3]

• New capturable open-world objective
• Spawn anywhere in the Outlands in shielded state
• While shielded, marked on local map but cannot be interacted with
• After a short period, the shielding ends, allowing players on foot to pick up and carry the Power Core
• If player is killed or drops the core, it remains for several minutes before dissipating
• Capturing Power Cores:
  • Can be captured at a Hideout owned by the capturing player's guild
  • Increases the Hideout’s power level, which increases its crafting bonuses

Additionally, entering owned Hideouts set as "Home" grants temporary Fame buff (based on Hideout power level) in the Outlands
[h3]Further Details[/h3]

• Beyond Hideout rewards, players in parties capturing Power Cores receive significant Might and Favor
• Cores spawn in varying strengths:
  • Weaker: unlock sooner, less Power
  • Stronger: visible further, longer shielding times, significant power boosts
• Overall, Power Cores appear more frequently and with less warning than Energy Vortices, allowing smaller groups to claim them easier

[h3]Headquarters Hideouts[/h3]

• Qualifying guilds can declare a Hideout "Headquarters" (HQ)
• Invulnerable to attack if properly powered
• Two downsides:
  • Only accessible by owning guild
  • Must be maintained

[h3]Establishing HQ Hideouts[/h3]

• Must earn sufficient Season Points in previous season to qualify
• Higher points earned unlocks better region Tier / Quality (e.g. 40,000 Energy Surge Season Points unlocks up to Tier 7 / Quality 3)
• (Full qualification requirements: https://forum.albiononline.com/index.php/Thread/156756)
• Once per season, a Hideout construction site can be protected:
  • Site placement follows usual restrictions
  • After 20 minutes (NOTE: the video states 15 minutes, which is incorrect), it can be made invulnerable for the remainder of construction, turning it into an HQ
  • Boost also provides some starting Power

[h3]Maintenance[/h3]

• If HQ's Power falls below required amount at start of battle time, it becomes vulnerable
• Preventable if owning guild captures Power Cores
• Power required depends on zone Quality
• High Power drains quicker, making it harder to maintain HQs in high-Quality regions
• To assist maintenance, Power from cores is increased by 50% in HQs
• Hideouts lose HQ status if the owners don't meet region requirements at season's end
• Damaged HQs are vulnerable until fully restored

[h3]Conclusion[/h3]
Earning and maintaining HQ Hideouts is no easy task, but being protected from attack allows guilds to make their own choices and forge their own destiny in Albion. (Note: HQs will be added to the Roads of Avalon in a later update; until then, Power Cores cannot be taken through the Roads.)

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The wait is almost over: the Crystal League Championship is this weekend! Starting Saturday at 17:00 UTC, tune in to AlbionTV to watch all the action live. Winners will receive huge Gold rewards and rare mounts, with the first-place team walking away with the ultra-rare Saber Tiger Rex Swiftclaw Skin.

Join hosts Shozen, Lewpac, and Tazzik as they bring you live coverage and commentary on these high-action fights. Here's the weekend's schedule:

• Saturday, November 13: 17:00 - 20:45 UTC
• Sunday, November 14: 17:00 - 21:45 UTC

Check out detailed brackets below (click to expand):



(Note: the above end times are approximate, depending on how long matches run.)

For team breakdowns, full rules, and the final schedule, keep an eye on this forum post.

Today we’re excited to announce the launch of the Albion Online Creators Program! With this we want to bring together all the talented video creators and streamers of our community, helping your work reach a wider audience and growing Albion Online as a content creator game.

Along with helping you to grow your channel, we’re looking at offering a whole range of benefits to those who are accepted. These may include having your streams and videos featured on our official channels, free giveaways for your viewers, direct support from the Albion Online team, a new vanity skin that will be released with the Lands Awakened update, and more.

Starting today you can apply to join the program and be a part of this exciting journey with us. Full details on how to sign up can be found in this Forum post, so get involved!

The Lands Awakened update goes live on November 24, bringing revamped open-world visuals and gameplay, the new War Gloves weapon line, Elite Levels for weapon mastery, numerous quality-of-life improvements, and more. Alongside these changes, the update also ushers in a new era of guild warfare, with a completely new Guild Season structure that offers countless ways for resourceful players of all types to make seasonal progress and earn rewards, even those not affiliated with a guild. Traditional guild activities such as territory control and ZvZs will still provide a path to success, but individual players – and their guilds in turn – will also benefit from playing other smaller-scale activities.

• For the complete Season 14 Schedule, click here.
• For a detailed breakdown of the changes listed in this article, and the reasoning behind them, see this forum post.

[h3]Introducing the Conqueror's Challenge[/h3]
To make Guild Seasons more about player activity and less about territory control and passive income, this season introduces the Conquerors' Challenge. This dynamic, season-long system for tracking progress opens Albion's higher-level activities to guild members and non-guild-affiliated players alike, and introduces two new reward systems, Might and Favor (details below).

The Conqueror's Challenge offers players the freedom to earn Season Rewards in countless different ways, with a wide range of activities contributing to progress. Ultimately, any player willing to put in the work during a season will have a chance to unlock some of the most valuable and powerful rewards in the game.


[h3]Might, Favor, and Might Levels[/h3]
As part of the revamped Guild Seasons, this season brings two new concepts to the game: Might and Favor, which measure the success of individuals and guilds during the season and unlock fantastic rewards.

• Might is earned by participating in activities which carry the risk of PvP, and allows players to progress towards personal season goals and unlock valuable rewards like battle mounts and unique avatars.
• Favor is a new currency which is also earned in most cases where Might is earned, and can be used to purchase Siphoned Energy and additional reward chests.

Alongside personal Might, guild-affiliated players’ activities will contribute towards their Guild Might Level, which rewards guilds with Season Points, and their members with further Might and Might Boosts.

Additionally, a new Season Overview UI will show a guild’s current rank, how its Season Points were earned, and which members contributed the most Might.


[h3]Headquarters Hideouts, Power Cores and Energy Crystals[/h3]
To further encourage exciting power struggles in the Outlands and keep things competitive for smaller guilds, Headquarters Hideouts have been introduced. Earning enough Season Points in the preceding season allows a guild to designate one of its Outlands Hideouts as an HQ, making it invulnerable. This status must be maintained, however, through capturing new Power Cores as they appear across the landscape. Alongside Energy Crystals, which can be used to boost Territories, this will bring a whole new dynamic and competitive edge to Guild Seasons. For more information on these new features, see this Dev Talk.


[h3]Additional Season 14 Changes[/h3]

• Killing Siphoning Mages, Crystal Spiders, etc. no longer directly gives Season Points, as these are now earned through the corresponding Might Levels
• Territory levels rebalanced
• Castles, Castle Outposts, and Guild Challenge no longer grant Siphoned Energy
• Crystal League rewards rebalanced, Season Rewards now based on Conqueror's Challenge

The Lands Awakened update arrives November 24, bringing massive open-world changes, a new weapon line, an updated soundtrack, and more. In today's Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys discusses the huge changes coming to Guild Seasons with this update.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
No time to watch the video? Read on for a summary...
[h3]Primary Goals[/h3]

• Allow players to earn Season Points for their guild via small-scale activities
• Grant personal as well as guild rewards for making progress
• Shift the focus of Guild Seasons from passive territory control to player activity

[h3]Conqueror's Challenge[/h3]

• The Conqueror's Challenge replaces the existing Guild Season reward system
• Runs for the duration of a Guild Season
• Available to all Premium players, whether in a guild or not
• Uses a new type of points called “Might”
• Earning Might unlocks powerful and unique rewards, including new Seasonal Avatars for multiple levels, Battle Mounts, and Fame Boosts

[h3]Might[/h3]
Might is earned by participating in activities with a risk of PvP:

• Killing mobs / gathering in the Outlands or Roads of Avalon
• Opening Treasure chests
• Killing Siphoning Mages / Crystal Spiders
• Playing Hellgates / Crystal League
• Winning Corrupted Dungeon matches
• Capturing Territory Energy Crystals (see below)

[h3]Favor[/h3]

• When a player earns Might, in most cases they will also earn Favor
• Favor is a currency which can be used to purchase Siphoned Energy and additional reward chests
• Favor thus offers a direct economic benefit to earning Might

[h3]Guild Might Levels[/h3]
As players earn Might and Favor for themselves, they contribute to another new feature, Guild Might Levels:

• Guilds earn Season Points for each Might Level they complete
• All members contribute to these together
• Each activity has its own Might progress, allowing players numerous ways to contribute while earning Might and Favor for themselves

Guild Might Levels in turn benefit guild members:

• With each new bracket unlocked, members are rewarded with a significant amount of personal Might
• Members also get a bonus to Might generated for the rest of the season
• A new Season Overview allows players to see their guild’s current ranking, where its Season points came from, and which players contributed the most Might

[h3]Energy Vortices[/h3]

• Like Open World Treasures, these spawn unpredictably in the Outlands
• Marked on the world and local map for everyone within a few regions
• After a time dependent on its strength, the storm dissipates, dropping a Territory Energy Crystal
• Crystals can be picked up and carried on foot to an owned territory
• Crystals transported successfully can be "captured" at the Tower

[h3]Territory Energy Levels[/h3]
Captured Crystals boost the Territory's energy, which:

• Increases its Tower level
• Improves the rate at which Siphoned Energy and Season Points are generated
• Boosts guard strength
• Boosts enchanted resource spawn rate / gathering yield in the zone

Over time, Territory energy diminishes, so guilds must remain active to get maximum Territory benefits. Crystal League Matches played from Territory towers continue to supplement energy as well.


[h3]Territory Rebalancing[/h3]
To encourage active Outlands play, Territories now generate far fewer Season Points if they are low on energy, but have a much higher maximum potential if they stay at maximum level. Season success is thus less dependent on passive income, instead requiring guilds to remain active around their Territories. Of course, players participating in this are also rewarded with significant Might and Favor themselves.
[h3]In Summary[/h3]
The Conqueror’s Challenge, Might Levels and Energy Vortices allow players to push their guild towards victory with smaller-scale activities, while earning rewards for themselves and enjoying new open-world PvP objectives.

Stay tuned for the next Dev Talks, where we'll discuss Headquarters Hideouts, Power Cores, War Gloves and more!