Albion Online News

The Albion Europe Open Beta is now here, for anyone who wants to join! Until April 23, players can earn the new Duelist vanity set, play on a condensed version of Albion with massively buffed progress, and experience the new server before it officially launches - and it’s completely free to play. Read on for more details…

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[h3]The Beta Challenge[/h3]
In the Beta Challenge, you can unlock a brand-new, exclusive vanity set: the Duelist. This razor-sharp fighter is not available in any store, and once unlocked can be used on any server.



Performing open-world activities will grant players challenge points, which you can use to unlock each of the vanity items. The milestones for each item are as follows:

• 25,000 points: Duelist’s Boots
• 50,000 points: Duelist’s Cape
• 75,000 points: Duelist’s Hat
• 100,000 points: Duelist’s Armor
• 100,000 points and Founder Status: Duelist’s Lynx

At the same time, the Albion Europe Beta Season is running, giving guilds the opportunity to earn more unique rewards like custom guild logos and a custom season statue.

[h3]A Unique Experience[/h3]
Players in the Albion Europe Beta receive a number of additional benefits to help them progress quickly through the stages of the game. These are:

• Premium status for the whole beta
• 2000 Learning Points
• +100% Fame from gathering, farming, and PvE
• +200% Resources from gathering and fishing
• +200% Silver from mobs
• Resource weight reduced by 66%

The game world has a reduced scale, giving a unique, condensed version of Albion - the Royal Continent includes only the Highland and Steppe biomes, along with the city of Caerleon, while the Outlands is also considerably smaller than usual.

Please also note that the ingame store and Gold Market will be unavailable in the Beta.



The Albion Europe Open Beta runs until 10 UTC on April 23, so take this opportunity to experience a fresh rush on the new server, and earn your Duelist vanity set!

The first Guild Season of 2024 has come to an end, and players are receiving the first Crystal Weapon artifacts from their Conqueror’s Chests! This means that across Albion those who earned these items through their season prowess can begin crafting, and fighting with, the first weapons in this new and prestigious series.

With that in mind, we thought we’d take a look at these three new weapons, to see what you can bring to the battlefields of Albion.

Infinity Blade

Infinity Blade is a Crystal Weapon in the Sword line, with the devastating Limitbreaker spell.

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Limitbreaker lets your character rush at whirlwind speed towards your enemies, until you unleash two lethal swipes of the weapon. The first silences and damages your victim, while the second deals an additional dose of damage for good measure.

Rift Glaive

Rift Glaive is a Spear weapon which can decimate crowds with the Razor’s Edge spell.

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Casting this spell drives your character forward into your enemies, knocking them back and dealing some serious damage. This damage increases the more Spirit Spear charges your character has, giving you the potential to unleash some serious devastation.

Astral Staff

For those who embrace the arcane arts, Astral Staff is an Arcane Staff Crystal Weapon, and its unique spell is the awe-inspiring Starfall.

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Starfall calls down a shower of shooting stars around you, periodically inflicting magical damage on your adversaries. This celestial storm cannot be interrupted, and also increases your character’s Resilience Penetration as it imbues you with the power of the heavens.

The Foundations update on April 15 will introduce the next three Crystal Weapons: Arctic Staff (Frost Staff), Phantom Twinblade (Quarterstaff), and Crystal Reaper (Axe). Players can begin to earn the artifacts for those in Season 23, which also sees some huge developments arriving in the form of Fortifications, Siege Banners, and Territory Activity Chests. For some of the other changes coming to Guild Seasons, click here, and for a full season schedule, see this forum post.

The current Guild Season is reaching its climax, and it’s time to start preparing for the next. With the launch of the Albion Europe server on April 29, some significant changes are coming to the way seasons operate. Read on for an overview of these changes, so you can get ready to assemble your forces and fight your way to glory.

Season Names

Starting with the upcoming Guild Season, we’re simplifying the naming conventions for seasons across the three servers. For this reason, next season will be called Season 23 on all servers, avoiding a confusing situation where the season has a different name on each server.



Prime Times

With the launch of Albion Europe, we’re taking the opportunity to rework Prime Times across all three servers in order to better suit activity periods on each. Each server will now have six Prime Time slots (rather than seven), and the windows on Albion Americas are now more condensed, encouraging constant action from start to finish. Albion Europe’s Prime Times fit this pattern, covering ten hours in total.

Here is an overview of Prime Times across the servers (click to expand):



As you can see, Castle and Castle Outpost chests unlock one hour before each server’s Prime Time window, one hour after, and on every hour between Prime Times. With this in mind, the lock duration of Castle chests has been reduced from 120 to 60 minutes.

Additionally, it should be noted that World Bosses on Albion Asia will now spawn every even-numbered hour (UTC), to avoid colliding with the maintenance window.

Season Winner Statues

With three servers from Season 23 onwards, Season Winner Statues will be the same across all servers, and will no longer be designed by the guilds themselves but rather by the Sandbox Interactive art team.



With Fortifications, Siege Banners, and all the other changes coming to territory warfare with the Foundations update, Season 23 promises to be truly action-packed. For the season schedule and rewards, check out this forum post. See you on the battlefield!

An exciting Guild Season is about to reach its conclusion, with the final Invasion Day is this weekend. And you can watch the denouement on AlbionTV as guilds struggle for their spot in the final rankings!

At 13:50 UTC on Saturday 6 April, hosts Robinhoodrs, Shozen, and Bogul will bring you coverage of the final round of invasions on Albion Asia. Then, at 17:50 UTC, Lewpac, Shozen, and Bogul will usher in the first round of invasions on Albion Americas. Finally, at 00:50 on Sunday 7 April, Robinhoodrs, Shozen, and Tazzik will be your hosts as the action ramps up with the second round of invasions on Albion Americas.

With the window to earn this season’s Crystal Weapon artifacts running out, and energy payouts coming up soon after Invasion Day, there’s a lot at stake out there. So tune in this weekend to watch the climax to this thrilling season!

The Foundations update launches April 15, and promises to reshape warfare in Albion Online. At the heart of this update are three major new features coming to territories: Fortifications, Siege Banners, and Territory Activity Chests. In this Dev Talk ahead of their release, Game Director Robin Henkys sits down to give more information on these features, and what they’ll mean for the game going forward.

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[h3]Fortification Upgrades[/h3]
At the beginning of the next Guild Season, all territories will receive an updated layout:

• There are five possible layouts
• These offer different natural obstacles and possibilities for Fortification upgrades

Territories generate Fortification Points:

• This starts at the beginning of each season
• They reset at the end of each season
• The amount generated in a territory depends on its Energy Level

Players with the “Manage Fortifications” guild right can use these to upgrade a territory’s Fortifications. There are three elements which can be upgraded: Guards, Walls, and Gates.



Guards

Clicking a guard opens the Upgrade UI for that group of guards:

• This displays the cost and effects of upgrading
• Once agreed to, the Silver is immediately taken from the guild account
• The guard group then upgrades immediately
• A guard group can only be upgraded once a day

Walls and Gates

Clicking a wall or gate will also display their upgrade group and UI:

• This displays the cost and effects of upgrading
• However, upgrades take effect after the following Prime Time
  • This ensures that walls and gates can’t be upgraded in response to a declared attack

During Prime Time, walls and gates prevent enemies from entering your territory:

• Enemies need to break through these defenses with a Siege Hammer
• Defenders can also use Siege Hammers to repair walls and gates
• Upgraded walls and gates have more hit points, buying the defenders more time to repair them

[h3]Fortification Gates[/h3]
Each gate has a crystal embedded in it, which allows defenders to teleport through the gate for a quick retreat:

• Destroying the crystal removes this ability for the rest of the battle
• Once the crystal is destroyed, the gate can take damage
• Gates can be repaired, but crystals cannot

Gates can be opened:

• By defenders with the “Open/Close Fortification Gates” permission
• By attackers who are inside the gates

Defenders will therefore need to be careful when opening gates, as attackers can try to rush inside.


[h3]Siege Banners[/h3]
Territories are shielded from attack by the Territory Crystal for most of the day. During Prime Time, however, this shielding can be weakened with new Siege Banners.

A banner can be raised by a player with a Siege Banner in their inventory, and the “Raise Siege Banner” permission.

• If they do not have a previously declared attack, they will raise a Raid Banner, alerting the defending guild
• If they do have a previously declared attack, they will raise a Conquest Banner
  • This must be raised in the first fifteen minutes of Prime Time
  • This significantly strengthens the territory’s guards
• Either of these raised banners will degrade the territory’s Force Shield, allowing its walls and gates to take damage
• There is a limit to how many players can attack a certain wall at any one time

Banners significantly change territory battles:

• A raid or attack only ends when
  • The banner bearer reaches the territory tower and successfully channels
  • The defender kills the banner bearer, and controls the banner until it despawns
• If the banner bearer leaves the proximity of the territory, the banner is dropped
• If the attackers have not succeeded by the end of Prime Time, the defenders are declared victorious

Siege Banners ensure that territory battles actually happen during Prime Time. They also allow defenders to end an attack early, if they control the banner for long enough. And in the case of raids, there is a clear starting point, allowing defenders to rush to the territory.

After a battle, broken walls and gates, and killed guards, respawn. However, if a territory is conquered:

• Its upgrades are destroyed
• The spent Fortification Points are transferred to the new owners
  • This allows them to immediately begin upgrading

Fortification upgrades also reset on reset days, and at the end of each season. This facilitates a constant demand for stone in the economy, and means the system can be adjusted between seasons. The cost of upgrades is affected by the region’s quality level.
[h3]Territory Activity Chests[/h3]
New Territory Activity Chests are also coming:

• These are located next to the territory tower
• They are filled each day at the beginning of Prime Time
• PvE activity in the local and connected regions determines what they are filled with
  • Killing mobs, gathering, and fishing generate a chance of adding loot to the chest

The owning guild can claim this loot at the end of Prime Time. However, it can be looted by raiders who reach the tower beforehand, offering a further incentive to build strong Fortifications.

Fortifications, then, represent a significant change to territory warfare in Albion:

• Guilds can strategize how to upgrade Fortifications
• Attackers can formulate new tactics and builds to break through
• Territory Activity Chests affect the attractiveness of territories, and how guilds respond to activity in their regions

This update is just the beginning of Fortifications, and opens the door to further development and expansion in the future. We can’t wait to see them begin to rise up at the start of the next season, along with all the other features coming with Foundations on April 15. See you then!