Albion Online News

The Rise of Avalon update arrives in August, bringing a host of new features to the world of Albion. In our newest Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys introduces the Roads of Avalon, a new system that will massively expand the gameworld and bring new opportunities for travel, exploration, and even settlement.

Note: Due to the complexity of this feature, today's Dev Talk is the first of three talks on this feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt1stGAcR7o
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
[h3]What are Roads of Avalon?[/h3]
The Roads of Avalon are a network of ever-changing paths through the ancient kingdom of Avalon. They allow players to do three things:

• travel across vast distances in Albion
• explore a new environment full of resources and treasures
• live within a new environment away from the Outlands

They are ideally suited to small group gameplay, since they have unique mechanics that limit the number of players that can enter at one time.

This video covers the first topic, travel, and is split into two parts: how to find and enter a Road, and how to use it to get around the world of Albion.
[h3]Finding and Entering Roads[/h3]
To enter the Roads, you will have to find a gateway to Avalon. They have a limited capacity for how many travellers can pass through them in each direction, and must recharge before additional players can enter or leave. The smallest will only let two players pass before its capacity is depleted, while the larger ones will allow small to medium size groups to pass.

The gateways also have a limited lifetime, so be sure to check how much time a gateway has left if you plan to return to where you started.

Once you enter a gateway, you’ll find yourself in the ancient kingdom of Avalon, specifically its road network. These ancient roads were built aeons ago by the Avalonians, who are now reactivating the mechanisms that power the gateways and the paths that connect them.
[h3][/h3][h3]Traveling via Roads of Avalon[/h3]
The Roads themselves connect different possible gateway positions, and are kept free of enemy creatures by Avalonian magic. You can also use the power imbued in the roads to speed you along as you move between gateways.

Each gateway connects to one of three places:

• an Outlands zone
• a Royal Continent zone
• a different section of the Roads of Avalon

Exploring will uncover shortcuts through the world of Albion, which you can use for numerous purposes, including:

• transport
• trade
• outmaneuvering enemies
• accessing resources and dungeons far from your starting position

You will have to keep track of the remaining lifetime of each gateway you pass through, as the Roads of Avalon are constantly shifting and any given gateway may soon disappear forever, only to re-open to a different location in Albion.
[h3]Next Up: The Wilds of Avalon[/h3]
This concludes our introduction to the Roads of Avalon. Join us for the next Dev Talk, where we’ll discuss what happens when you leave the Roads and venture into the wilderness beyond. Thanks for watching!

This weekend brings the final reset day of the season, with all Season Points doubled... and we'll be covering it live on the AlbionTV Twitch channel starting Saturday at 17:30 UTC! Join our hosts Lewpac, Bogul, and Shozenwon as they cover the Invasion Day madness live.

Starting at 18:00 UTC, guilds will have new opportunities to claim territories and launch attacks. Those in the North and South American time zones can also tune in for the second round of territory resets on Sunday at 00:30 UTC with hosts Bogul, Shozenwon, and Robinhoodrs.

Between the two reset broadcasts, we'll also be broadcasting Level 5-7 Crystal League fights with no delay at 20:30, 21:00, and 21:30 UTC.

For the complete Guild Season schedule, check out this forum post.

This week we launched the fifteenth patch of the Queen update, with a particular focus on mount balancing. Here's what's new:
[h3]Mount Changes[/h3]

• Players who are force-dismounted are cleansed and temporarily immune to crowd control to prevent perma-stun
• Base mount top speeds slightly increased, and time until gallop slightly decreased
• Speed mount top speeds slightly decreased, and time until gallop slightly increased

Here are a few of the other changes and fixes implemented with this patch:

• Players who re-queue for a zone after being removed via the Smart Cluster Queue are now immobilized to prevent the queue from "dropping" them
• Chests updated in T8 Undead World Boss zones (Unhallowed Cloister, Black Monastery, Deathreach Priory, Camlann)
• Most AoE spells cast by mobs in Hellgates no longer trigger damage reflection

As always, for a complete list of changes, you can check the official patchnotes.

The Rise of Avalon update arrives in August, bringing major new gameplay features to the world of Albion. One such feature is Corrupted Dungeons, a new type of single-player dungeon that will bring new dimensions to solo play in Albion Online. In this Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys discusses what these dungeons are and how they work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V0yKOzmitE
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...

The all-new Corrupted Dungeons arriving with the next update are a response to those players who have been asking for more solo PvE and PvP content for Albion Online. But what are they exactly, and how do they work?
[h3]The Basics[/h3]
To find a Corrupted Dungeon, you’ll need to explore the open world and find a Corrupted Dungeon Entrance. These spawn like regular Solo Randomized Dungeons, but they look a good deal more sinister.

When entering a Corrupted Dungeon, you can choose your difficulty level:

• Hunter: lower rewards, knockdown PvP rules, relatively low Item Power softcap. A good difficulty for anyone learning the basics of 1v1 PvP in Albion.
• Stalker: full-loot PvP rules with significantly higher rewards, but still a low Item Power Softcap. A good level for veteran PvP players.
• Slayer: even greater rewards, full-loot PvP, a bigger PvE challenge, and a much higher Item Power softcap. This is the elite level aimed at advanced players.

[h3][/h3][h3]What's Inside?[/h3]
After choosing your difficulty level and entering the dungeon, you’ll find yourself in a place infested with demons and corrupted creatures. To complete the dungeon, you'll have to cleanse these creatures. Each creature slain will award Infamy points. Different enemies will yield different amounts of infamy based on their difficulty.

When you’ve collected enough Infamy points, the final boss in the dungeon appears. By defeating it, you can lay claim to the loot rewards of the dungeon. In addition, the Infamy gained will remain with you, showing your place in the Infamy rankings as well as permanently boosting your rewards in Corrupted Dungeons.

Finally, at the end of a dungeon run, a portal to another Corrupted Dungeon appears and allows you to start another dungeon right away - or you can leave and take your loot back to the city.
[h3][/h3][h3]How Does PvP Work?[/h3]
In every corrupted dungeon is a demonic shrine which players can use to sign themselves up to invade other players. Once a player has signed up, the game will regularly check for a potential invasion target. If such a target is found, the invading player will be pulled from their dungeon into another player’s dungeon.

The defending player now has two options:

• they can rally and fight the invader, or
• they can try to destroy the demonic shards which appeared in their dungeon along with the invader.

If they succeed in destroying enough of these shards, the Invader is banished and the defender can continue playing their own dungeon.

If either player kills the other, the victim loses some of their infamy, and the killer gains some of it. This allows players to gain very high infamy numbers and rise in the ranks for their own  prominence - and for significant boosts to future dungeon rewards.
[h3][/h3][h3]Special Features of Corrupted Dungeons[/h3]
To add tactics and depth to these encounters, there are a number of special features players can use to try to outsmart their opponents:

• NPC positions are marked on the minimap, allowing you to guess your opponent's position based on the creatures they’ve already slain
• Watcher demons will mark any player they encounter on the minimap for their opponent to see
• And last but not least, there are a large number of traps and hazards which you will need to avoid, or actively use to outsmart and defeat your opponent

[h3]In Conclusion[/h3]
As you can see, there's a lot to this feature, and we hope you’re looking forward to exploring and fighting in the Corrupted Dungeons when the Rise of Avalon update launches.

That's all for today - you can also look forward to our next Dev Talk, in which we’ll go in-depth with the Roads of Avalon and their impact on the world of Albion Online.

The dead just won't stay buried! For the entire month of July, take the Undead Challenge to unlock fantastic rewards. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Spectral Direboar.
[h3]The Afterlife Goes On[/h3]
SPECTRAL DIREBOAR: This month's Challenge brings back the popular Spectral Direboar, a ghostly mount with a unique spell, Glimpse of the Other Side, which renders you temporarily invisible. Use it to evade your enemies... or to launch a sneak attack!

AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Undead Challenge avatar ring, featuring a spooky skull-themed design that will strike fear into the hearts of your foes. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or can be traded to the Vanity Merchant for one Vanity Token.

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly goals to unlock Undead Challenge chests. In addition to valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver, you'll also have a chance to unlock spooky furniture items like the Candelabra, Lantern, and Memorial of the Fallen, as well as rare and valuable Undead Vanity Skins.
 
As always, you can earn Challenge Points by gathering, fishing, farming, and killing monsters. Points count simultaneously toward a daily bonus, a weekly unlockable chest, and the monthly mount / avatar ring reward. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim these rewards while you can!