Albion Online News

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.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[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!

It’s a new Referral Season in Albion, and from now until April 30 you can get the Recruiter’s White Tiger with a single referral! This skin for your Swiftclaw base mount is both noble and fierce - a valuable companion who will protect you valiantly from your enemies - and its sleek, white coat makes for an arresting sight as it prowls through Albion’s lands.

[video]http://assets.albiononline.com/uploads/media/default/media/video_/media/65a156ba985e2_720.mp4[/video]

But that’s not all. You can also claim a massive 1,000 Gold if you refer a friend and their first ever purchase is an Albion Europe Founder Pack!

This is double the amount of Gold that you’d get from a referral purchasing Premium, and of course comes in addition to all the other Referral Season benefits. Albion Europe Founder Packs include a host of goodies, like exclusive vanity skins that can be enjoyed on any server, so spread the word! To see what’s included in these Founder Packs, click here.
[h3]How to Earn Seasonal Referral Rewards[/h3]

• Send your referral link, which you can find here, to a friend. (You must be logged into your account on the website to view this page.)
• Your friend registers an account and starts playing Albion Online (preferably along with you!).
• The first time your friend purchases either an Albion Europe Founder Pack or at least 30 days of Premium, they will trigger a reward for you: 1,000 Gold for a Founder Pack, 500 Gold for Premium.
• On top of that, for your very first referral ever, you'll receive a T8 Recruiter's Pile of Tomes, worth a massive 200,000 Fame.

This Referral Season lasts until 23:59 UTC on April 30, so invite your friends today and enjoy these rewards!

Let the hunt begin! For all of April, take the Hunter Challenge: earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Black Panther mount.
[h3]Hunt Down Fantastic Items[/h3]

BLACK PANTHER: This month's Challenge sees the return of the mighty Black Panther, a sleek feline mount with a fearsome appearance. It boasts a powerful speed boost spell that can propel its rider across large distances – helping both hunters and hunted alike.
 

AVATAR RING: Reach your goals to unlock the Hunter Challenge avatar ring to give your favorite avatar a hunting-themed border. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or can be traded for one Adventurer's Token at the Vanity Merchant.
 

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month, reach weekly goals to unlock Hunter Challenge chests. In addition to valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes, Silver bags, and rare resources, this month's chests contain various hunting-themed statues and furniture items.
 

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. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim your rewards!

[video]http://assets.albiononline.com/uploads/media/default/media/video_/media/63aec3ed41f40_720.mp4[/video]