Albion Online News

Dev Talk: The Sixth Faction

In his third and final Dev Talk on the upcoming Faction Warfare rework, Game Director Robin Henkys gives a first look at the mysterious new Faction joining the fight. If you haven't yet watched the first two videos, you can check them out here:

Part 1: Faction Warfare Revamped
Part 2: Faction Ranks and Elite Mounts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBLdULJ-elA
Prefer a written summary? Then read on...
[h3]Caerleon Joins the Fight[/h3]
Since the fall of the Caerleon portal and the city’s resulting decline, Caerleon has become a nest of bandits, smugglers, rogues and mercenaries. Now the Council of Caerleon has decided to join the war between the cities and profit from the situation.

To represent this development, we’ve reworked the layout and massively improved the graphics of the city. We've added the “Stabbed Mug” Tavern, where Mercenary Captain Henry Cutter recruits unscrupulous souls to fight the other cities.
[h3]A Different Kind of Faction[/h3]
The Caerleon Faction offers a different style of Faction gameplay:

As with all Factions, fighting for Caerleon lets you engage other Factions without reputation loss
However, you will also be able to engage (and be engaged by) other players in the Caerleon Faction
You can capture other Factions' Outposts and regions as usual, but instead of generating value over time, these turn into bandit camps which generate no defensive value
Instead, Caerleon players can make huge profits plundering Outposts and regions, as captured points are not shared with the Faction as a whole
Finally, Caerleon players need to beware of betrayal: should one bandit group become too dominant, the others will have to put a stop to it if they want any of the profits for themselves

With this playstyle, Caerleon offers unique gameplay for veteran players looking for dynamic full-loot PvP with plenty of enemies.
[h3]What makes Caerleon worthwhile?[/h3]
In addition to the appeal of living free under your own banner, Caerleon offers unique Faction rewards of its own:

Faction Points can buy Caerleon Greywolf Pups or Caerleon Elite Greywolf Pups
These can be grown into a T5 Caerleon Greywolf or a T8 Caerleon Elite Greywolf respectively
Like other Elite Faction Mounts, the Elite Greywolf has two unique abilities:
- Hunter’s Mark: marks an enemy who then leaves behind a trail; collecting this trail boosts movement speed, with wounded targets offering a greater boost
- Faction ability - Spite: dismounts the rider and grants a damage reflection aura to nearby allies (can only be used while flagged for Caerleon, only affects Caerleon players in your party)
Caerleon players can also purchase crests to craft Caerleon Faction capes with a powerful passive that resets your Q-ability for double casting
Finally, Trade missions are available which are more profitable than those of other Factions

[h3]New Daily Event: Bandit Assault[/h3]
Additionally, the Caerleon Faction NPCs are responsible for the recurring “Bandit Assault” event in Albion's red zones:

Irregularly throughout the day, Factions will lose control of all Outposts and regions in the red zones, which will be taken over by Bandits
Recapturing them is a top priority, as there will be a massive reward paid out to players in the Faction which has claimed the most regions during the event
Although Caerleon players cannot participate in this event as a Faction, they can use the rush of Faction players into the red zones to set ambushes and find plenty of full-loot PvP

[h3]In Conclusion[/h3]
This concludes our look at the all-new Faction Warfare system coming with the Call to Arms update. Will you join the Caerleon Faction and lead a life of villainy? Or will you proudly fly the banner of another city? We can’t wait to see which Faction will produce the mightiest heroes, and we're really looking forward to joining the battle ourselves.

Call to Arms will be released in mid-March – until then, stay tuned for more Dev Talks on new features!

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!

The Barbarian Skin Bundle is Here

Today's patch brings the brand-new Barbarian Bundle to the ingame store. This premiere vanity set gives your character an epic high-fantasy look, and includes a costume item for each armor and cape slot. The bundle also includes the fearsome new War Beast mount skin, which gives your Direwolf base mount an equally fearsome appearance.

The set also includes a matching avatar and avatar ring to add to your collection, which can be freely used independently of the other costume items, and mixed and matched with other costumes, avatars, and rings.

In total, the bundle includes seven vanity unlocks, which can be used on all current and future characters on your account (both male and female) with a single purchase.

[video]//assets.albiononline.com/uploads/media/default/media/ce67751a6024625046064046b67cd6b97dbf32c3.mp4[/video]

[h3]How to Get the Barbarian Bundle[/h3]
This complete bundle is available in the ingame store, and includes the following items:

Barbarian's Helmet
Barbarian's Harness
Barbarian's Boots
Barbarian's Cape
War Beast Direwolf Skin (requires Direwolf base mount)
Barbarian Avatar
Barbarian Avatar Ring

NOTE: While the costume and mount skin items will immediately unlock for all other characters on your account via the Appearance menu, the avatar and avatar ring will need to be claimed via the shop for each character.

Pick up this most barbaric of bundles today and send your foes scattering in fear!

Dev Talk: Faction Warfare Revamped

In our newest Dev Talk, Albion's Game Director, Robin Henkys, introduces the major changes coming to Faction Warfare with the Call to Arms update. (Note: since this is a huge feature with lots to discuss, we'll have multiple videos covering this topic.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwTs_R95u_Q
Prefer a written summary? Then read on...

As many of you know, Faction Warfare has been in the game for quite a while now. In this system players can sign up for one City Faction and go fight on behalf of their city against enemy Faction NPC and players. They can capture Outposts and earn Faction Points to spend on Faction rewards.

Key goals of the rework:

Accessible and inclusive for all players on the Royal Continent
Meaningful incentives for loyalty to a city
Exciting large-scale battles that are easy to join and reward participation
Supporting existing Faction Warfare players and ensuring their current full-loot system is continued and improved

So how will these goals be met?

1. Accessible and inclusive:

Faction Warfare in yellow and blue regions is now non-lethal, so new players can engage with this feature without losing their gear
Faction Warfare in the red zones remains lethal
Increased number of red zones in the world
Red zones have higher value Faction Point targets for advanced players

2. Faction loyalty:

Enlistment and flagging up is now a two-step process:
- Step 1: enlist with a Faction to become a permanent member
- Step 2: actively flag up to actually fight on their behalf
If you choose to un-flag, you will still remain enlisted
As long as you remain enlisted, you will keep your rank and other advantages, encouraging loyalty to a chosen Faction

3. Large-scale battles:

Lets new players gain their first experience in open-world warfare, while veteran players can participate during periods of low guild activity
Focuses on bringing opposing Factions into conflict via a “front line”, where large battles occur frequently and players can easily join
To achieve this, we made regions of the world map conquerable
To conquer a region, a Faction needs to control and hold the majority of Outposts within it
Controlling a region allows you to push the front line further towards the enemy while protecting your own regions
In yellow and blue regions, players knocked out can rejoin the battle from a nearby friendly Outpost, so retaining control of Outposts is critical
Should a region get separated from the rest of your regions, you will no longer be able to respawn there, cutting you off from reinforcements
Players can use this to their advantage by capturing regions strategically and breaking an enemy’s supply line

4. Faction rewards:

Players will still be rewarded in Faction Points, which they can spend at their Faction stores
Earn points by capturing Outposts and whole zones
The value of capturable objectives increases over time, offering an incentive to push behind enemy lines
Players are also rewarded for defense, as regions generate more points the longer they are held
In addition to immediate rewards, a weekly report sums up your performance and rewards additional points based on personal and overall Faction success

Notes on red zone play:

Red zones give the same rewards, but in much greater amounts
With no respawning at Outposts, red-zone players will have to maneuver carefully and strategically
In addition to generating much higher rewards, the red zones will have a new enemy to be announced soon

The Faction Warfare rework is so large we’ve split it into multiple videos – join us next time where we’ll discuss Faction Rewards, ranks, balancing, and the all new Faction Seasons.

Thanks for watching!

Albion Online's next major update is a Call to Arms with Faction Warfare 2.0

Albion Online is the sandbox classless MMO that has Linux support and it's going strong, with another major update announcement that will bring Faction Warfare 2.0.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/02/albion-onlines-next-major-update-is-a-call-to-arms-with-faction-warfare