Dev Talk: Avalonian Weapons
The next major content update for Albion Online, Rise of Avalon, will arrive in August (watch the new teaser trailer for the update here). In our newest Dev Talk, Combat Designer Michael Schwahn discusses the all-new Avalonian Weapon lines that are coming to the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBkTCxPu5sg
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Read on...
[h3]Overview[/h3]
But how exactly will they change the meta, and who are they for? First off, unlike Level 3 Artifacts, Avalonian Weapons are useful for a wide variety of applications and situations, from solo play to small-group PvP to large battles. The weapons will come with a wide variety of exciting new mechanics that will keep combat in Albion fresh and unpredictable.
Let's take a look at some examples:
1. Lucent Hawk (Bow)
Upon activation, you can shoot up to four high-impact, long-range skillshots in a row. You only have a short time window between each shot to fire the next arrow. This ability temporarily turns you into a deadly sniper, but you'll have to be very careful to not get interrupted, or you'll lose the remaining shots.
2. Majestic Smash (Two-Handed Sword)
Next we have the two handed sword, the Kingmaker. Its ability lets you swing your blade and knock all enemies around you into the air, then follow with a heavy vertical attack which deals massive damage along a line. If you're correctly positioned when using this ability, you'll be rewarded by hitting multiple targets with it, dealing tons of extra damage on top of the CC effects.
3. Inner Shadow (Cursed Staff)
This ability can be cast on any player (ally or enemy). It draws a shadow ghost out of the player, which inflicts an AoE attack. The type of shadow depends on the armor of the target:
Since the summoned shadow depends on the armor of the target and not the caster, it allows for a lot of versatility and interesting decision-making during combat.
4. Line Breaker (Spear)
The Avalonian Spear is a one-handed lance. After a short cast time, you charge at your enemies, during which you are unstoppable and immune to any kind of CC. When you hit an enemy, you purge all their buffs and deal a large amount of damage.
As this is a one-handed weapon, you can combine it with all sorts of offhands for different effects. In fact, many of the new weapons are one-handed to allow for more interesting offhand combinations on higher artifact gear.
5. Soul Link (Nature Staff)
This ability temporarily links two targets together. The effect of the link depends on the targets' alignments relative to the caster:
As you can see, these unique new abilities bring exciting new opportunities to combat in Albion. Keep in mind these abilities are still in production, and the final behavior may still change during testing.
[h3]Crafting[/h3]
So how can you obtain these new weapons? The weapons can be crafted with the use of new Artifacts. In addition to being obtained directly, these artifacts can also be forged from Avalonian Shards.
Essentially, the crafting works just like with the Avalonian Armors. However, with the next update we will also increase the availability of Avalonian Shards, and you will be able to find Shards when exploring the upcoming Roads of Avalon.
[h3]Destiny Board[/h3]
With the Rise of Avalon update, we are splitting the Destiny Board artifact specialization nodes into one node per artifact. This applies to both combat and crafting. The Fame requirements will be adjusted so that each artifact specialization node levels at the same pace as a regular node.
All the existing Fame that players already have in their artifact specialization nodes will be evenly distributed into the specialization nodes for the individual items in that node. This means if you have the Artifact Sword Combat Specialist at level 70, the Fame of that node will then be split evenly into the three new specialization nodes for the individual items: Clarent Blade, Carving Sword, and Galatine Pair. The new node for the Avalonian Sword would start at zero.
[h3]Balancing[/h3]
In addition to these exciting new weapon lines coming with the next update, we are also adjusting the 1v1 combat balance for the new Corrupted Dungeons, which feature 1v1 PvP. We'll discuss these dungeons much more in-depth in an upcoming video.
That's all for today - thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more Dev Talks in the coming weeks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBkTCxPu5sg
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Read on...
[h3]Overview[/h3]
- Albion Online's first major weapon expansion since the release of Level 3 artifacts
- The weapon lines were first conceived when we began designing the Avalonian faction
- Includes 15 artifact weapons (one for each weapon family) and 3 offhands
- Each item will be available from T4 to T8, for a total of 90 new weapon models
- Will completely shift the meta
But how exactly will they change the meta, and who are they for? First off, unlike Level 3 Artifacts, Avalonian Weapons are useful for a wide variety of applications and situations, from solo play to small-group PvP to large battles. The weapons will come with a wide variety of exciting new mechanics that will keep combat in Albion fresh and unpredictable.
Let's take a look at some examples:
1. Lucent Hawk (Bow)
Upon activation, you can shoot up to four high-impact, long-range skillshots in a row. You only have a short time window between each shot to fire the next arrow. This ability temporarily turns you into a deadly sniper, but you'll have to be very careful to not get interrupted, or you'll lose the remaining shots.
2. Majestic Smash (Two-Handed Sword)
Next we have the two handed sword, the Kingmaker. Its ability lets you swing your blade and knock all enemies around you into the air, then follow with a heavy vertical attack which deals massive damage along a line. If you're correctly positioned when using this ability, you'll be rewarded by hitting multiple targets with it, dealing tons of extra damage on top of the CC effects.
3. Inner Shadow (Cursed Staff)
This ability can be cast on any player (ally or enemy). It draws a shadow ghost out of the player, which inflicts an AoE attack. The type of shadow depends on the armor of the target:
- Cloth Armor: summons a mage shadow which creates a lightning area that deals damage
- Leather Armor: shadow creates a life steal aura which heals the caster
- Plate Armor: summons a tank that slows enemies and shreds their armor after a short delay
Since the summoned shadow depends on the armor of the target and not the caster, it allows for a lot of versatility and interesting decision-making during combat.
4. Line Breaker (Spear)
The Avalonian Spear is a one-handed lance. After a short cast time, you charge at your enemies, during which you are unstoppable and immune to any kind of CC. When you hit an enemy, you purge all their buffs and deal a large amount of damage.
As this is a one-handed weapon, you can combine it with all sorts of offhands for different effects. In fact, many of the new weapons are one-handed to allow for more interesting offhand combinations on higher artifact gear.
5. Soul Link (Nature Staff)
This ability temporarily links two targets together. The effect of the link depends on the targets' alignments relative to the caster:
- 2 Allies: damage taken is now evenly shared between the two targets, and their healing received is also shared and amplified
- Ally / Enemy: some of the enemy’s Healing Received is stolen and transferred to the ally
- 2 Enemies: damage taken is evenly shared, and also amplified
As you can see, these unique new abilities bring exciting new opportunities to combat in Albion. Keep in mind these abilities are still in production, and the final behavior may still change during testing.
[h3]Crafting[/h3]
So how can you obtain these new weapons? The weapons can be crafted with the use of new Artifacts. In addition to being obtained directly, these artifacts can also be forged from Avalonian Shards.
Essentially, the crafting works just like with the Avalonian Armors. However, with the next update we will also increase the availability of Avalonian Shards, and you will be able to find Shards when exploring the upcoming Roads of Avalon.
[h3]Destiny Board[/h3]
With the Rise of Avalon update, we are splitting the Destiny Board artifact specialization nodes into one node per artifact. This applies to both combat and crafting. The Fame requirements will be adjusted so that each artifact specialization node levels at the same pace as a regular node.
All the existing Fame that players already have in their artifact specialization nodes will be evenly distributed into the specialization nodes for the individual items in that node. This means if you have the Artifact Sword Combat Specialist at level 70, the Fame of that node will then be split evenly into the three new specialization nodes for the individual items: Clarent Blade, Carving Sword, and Galatine Pair. The new node for the Avalonian Sword would start at zero.
[h3]Balancing[/h3]
In addition to these exciting new weapon lines coming with the next update, we are also adjusting the 1v1 combat balance for the new Corrupted Dungeons, which feature 1v1 PvP. We'll discuss these dungeons much more in-depth in an upcoming video.
That's all for today - thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more Dev Talks in the coming weeks!
