Albion Online News

Albion's ninth Guild Season starts on Saturday, May 16. As with past seasons, guilds that reach a high enough rank can claim fantastic rewards including an avatar, avatar ring, Fame Boost, furniture items, and an incredible new mount: the fearsome Ancient Ent!



The Ancient Ent will be a heal and support mount with area-based healing spells for allies and attacks that make use of the raw forces of nature. This mount will be awarded to guilds who reach Silver Rank or higher during Season 9, with increasingly higher stats (and increasingly epic appearances) with each successive tier.

The winning guild will receive a statue among the past Guild Season winners in Conquerors' Hall, which since the Queen update can be accessed via all major cities. Qualifying guilds will also receive a Fame Bonus and furniture items, as listed in the tables below:




[h3]Season 9 Schedule and Changes[/h3]
This new season brings major changes and updates to guild warfare in Albion, including Territory Point/Energy Storage, Season Points from Elite Enemies, and optimizations to the Crystal League. Season 9 follows a similar schedule to past seasons, with an Invasion Day kickoff and two midseason resets:

• May 16: Invasion Day, start of season
• June 13: Invasion Day #2, all territories reset
• July 11: Invasion Day #3, all territories reset, scores doubled
• August 10: Season ends

In addition to these key dates, the season also includes point/energy payouts based on the new Point and Energy Storage Feature.

For the full schedule and a detailed list of what's new, check out this forum post.

The Queen Update, released January 20, 2020, was by far the most successful Albion Online content update since launch, confirmed by consistent population growth since January and a record-high of over 500,000 monthly users for the month of April. Nearly six months in the making, Queen was nothing less than a complete revisioning of Albion's high-level endgame, although the new features and systems it introduced affected players of all levels and playstyles.

On a more bittersweet note, player numbers have also been affected by the lockdown and quarantine measures worldwide. We know many in the Albion Online community have been touched by the current pandemic, and are facing numerous present and future challenges. Games in general have seen a tremendous surge in popularity over the past months, and Albion Online is no exception – and as unfortunate as the reason behind it may be, we're grateful for those in our community who have stepped up to support each other, help out new players, raise funds for charity, and make the Albion community even stronger during these uncertain times.

For us, as the developers of the game, increased player numbers mean increased responsibility to all our players to ensure the game's performance remains optimal, and that gameplay remains fun, accessible, and fresh. To make sure we keep up with the increased resource demands of a growing population, we're designating dedicated performance developers to make sure the game runs as smoothly as possible, and implementing game design changes, balancing, and improvements with a larger player base in mind (such as the recent increase in Solo Randomized Dungeon spawns with Patch 11).



Another positive effect of this uptrend (which started even before the Queen launch) is that it allows us to further expand our development team. Those looking to join the Sandbox Interactive team, or who know others who might be interested, can check out a list of available positions on our jobs page.

Thanks for your loyalty to, and support of, Albion Online over the past year. We're happy to welcome new players to the world of Albion, and very excited to bring some major new features to the ever-growing world of Albion.

Queen Patch 11, AKA the Season 9 Patch, is here! This patch brings a host of updates and quality-of-life improvements to numerous game systems. Here's a partial list of what's new:
[h3]Wide-Ranging Mobile Improvements[/h3]
Patch 11 brings the first version of an all new way to play Albion on mobile devices. These new mobile features apply to both iOS and Android, and include the following:

• A virtual joystick for movement that snaps to the initial press position
• Auto-targeting of attacks and spells
• Context-based interactions with the world
• Updated HUD layout
• Default in-game zoom level increased

[h3][/h3][h3]Outlands, Elite/World Boss, and Guild Season Changes[/h3]

• Outlands Banks
• Season Points from Veteran and World Bosses
• Increased Fame and Silver from high-level enemies
• Increased access to Crystal League matches

Remember, Guild Season 9 starts on Saturday, May 16 - click here for the complete season schedule.
[h3][/h3][h3]UI Quality-of-Life Improvements[/h3]

• Visual updates to world map and local maps
• Updated Building interface
• Improved Mail system
• Clearer Carry Capacity display
• New spell icons

[h3][/h3][h3]Additional Improvements and Changes[/h3]

• Faster potion crafting and clearer Focus/resource cost progression
• Increased spawn rate of Solo Dungeons
• Improvements to farming and territory tower UIs
• Terrain improvements to increase visibility
• Scaled durability loss for group PvP kills
• Bug fixes for graphical/terrain issues and spell behavior
• ...and much more

You can read the complete list of improvements, changes, and fixes in the official patchnotes.

The Staff of Hermes fundraiser has come to an end, and thanks to your generous support, we're thrilled to announce we've raised €42,644.94! 100% of the proceeds from sales of the Staff of Hermes Pack will go to the COVID Solidarity Fund, which goes to ensuring patient care, buying and shipping essential supplies, and accelerating efforts to develop vaccines, tests and treatments during the current pandemic.

We're very proud of the Albion community for such a tremendous outpouring of support. Special thanks to everyone who posted screenshots of the Staff of Hermes in action - here are a few of our favorites:

LordSilva:


DiegoDiaz:


Guerreira:


Shadrick:


iRawr:


Thanks again to everyone who bought a pack and helped spread the word about this initiative - it was a real group effort and we truly appreciate it.

It's time for a Fame Boost in Albion Online! Get 25% additional Fame for a whole week for all ingame activities.

Here are the details:

• At the end of maintenance on Monday, May 4 the Mists of Albion buff will be automatically enabled for all players
• Automatically grants an additional 25% Fame for all activities
• Excludes Fame earned via PvP kills and Tomes of Insight
• Ends at maintenance on Monday, May 11

Now is the perfect time to explore the new Outlands, face off against the Avalonians in an Elite Dungeon, go out gathering and fishing, or level up that new weapon or armor line you've been curious about. Log in today and start earning extra Fame!