Albion Online News

Into the Fray Patch 4, AKA The Arcane and Frost Patch, is here! This patch brings the long-awaited reworks to the final two Magic Staff lines, as well as unveiling a new season winner statue, introducing changes to Black Zone looting, and much more. Read on for details…

[h3]Magic Staff Overhaul: Arcane and Frost Staffs[/h3]
This patch completes the overhaul of the Magic Staffs weapon line that was kicked off with the Into the Fray update. With entirely revamped visuals and animations, along with new and reworked abilities, Arcane and Frost players will enjoy a fully refreshed and revitalized combat experience. For full details of the spell changes, see the patchnotes.



[h3]Season 15 Winner Statue Unveiled[/h3]
With the statues safely back home in Conquerors’ Hall following the Living Legacy event, a new face has joined them! So congratulations to Season 15 winners Elevate, whose statue now sits at the entrance to the Hall, along with the banners for second and third-place guilds Team Pilas and RAQ.



[h3]Black Zone Looting Changes[/h3]
To give active PvP participants a better chance at gaining and keeping the spoils of their battles, changes have been made to loot restrictions in the Black Zone. For the first 90 seconds after a black-zone kill, the dead player can only be looted by their own allies, the player who dealt the killing blow and their allies, or the player who dealt most damage and their allies. After 90 seconds anyone can collect the loot again.



[h3]Other Changes and Improvements[/h3]

• Updated Building Nutrition and Trade UIs
• Might from Castle and Outpost Chests now distributed in a wider radius
• Buffer zones added around open-world furniture
• … and more

For a full list of changes, read the official patchnotes.

As summer draws to a close in Albion, human and animal alike are coming out to harvest nature’s bounty. But dangers lurk, and some creatures seek out one prize above all else: unsuspecting adventurers.

You can do a little harvesting of your own with this beastly new mount skin, arriving next week to the in-game store! Look out for more details coming soon…

[video]http://assets.albiononline.com/uploads/media/default/media/f5282867198696dfa9532af7d95c6f4c2b5883d4.mp4[/video]

As the late-summer days grow shorter, the shadows grow longer, providing cover for fearsome foes. A new referral season is upon us, and from now until October 1 you can claim the Recruiter's Jaguar mount skin when you refer a friend!

This skin transforms your Swiftclaw base mount into a sleek, spotted hunger. From humid swamps to frigid mountain peaks, this sly feline will help you stalk your foes from the shadows. And as always, once you’ve unlocked this skin it can be used by all characters on your account.

You can also earn huge amounts of Fame for your third and fifth referrals: three referrals scores you a T7 Pile of Tomes worth 100,000 Fame, and five referrals gets you a T8 Pile of Tomes granting a colossal 200,000 Fame. And as always, your first-ever referral grants an additional T8 Pile of Tomes along with the mount skin.



The current referral season lasts until maintenance on October 1, so refer a friend now and claim your rewards!
[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 at least 30 days of Premium, they will trigger a reward for you.
• 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.

PLEASE NOTE: Your personal referral link (available on the referral page, requires login) has been updated. The old links will not work after October 1, so please use your updated link when referring friends. Make sure to update any links you've posted online as well!

Summer is in full swing, and the Divine Challenge is back! For the entire month of August, earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Divine Owl.
[h3]Simply Divine[/h3]
DIVINE OWL: This month's Challenge brings back this ghostly white flying mount with a brisk base move speed. This mount has a special ability, Foresight, which creates a shield that gives a temporary speed boost when broken. (Note: like all mounts, the Divine Owl can only move in navigable ground areas and cannot fly over obstacles.)
 

AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Divine Challenge Avatar Ring, which will frame your chosen avatar in a heavenly golden aura. 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 Divine Challenge chests. In addition to valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver, you'll also have a chance to unlock mystical furniture items like the Mage Statue, Magic Rune Circle, and Glass Sphere.
 
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!
[video]http://assets.albiononline.com/uploads/media/default/media/ad3ba0885bf4a90651b13503bf132a36eb8fb110.mp4[/video]

Into the Fray Patch 3 is live! This patch brings changes and improvements to the Arena and Crystal Arena, Training Dummies, the Journey Back ability, and more. Read on for details…
[h3]Arena & Crystal Arena Changes[/h3]
This patch brings some refinements to the Crystal Arena, with Rank Point calculations adjusted to better place players in an appropriate rank bracket, and Crystal Arena matchmaking now matching players of a similar ranking. Additionally, Arena losses now give fewer Adventurer’s Challenge points, to ensure players cannot reach their daily bonus with one Arena defeat. And Arena rewards are now displayed at the end of a match.


[h3]Training Dummy UI[/h3]
Training Dummies now display a small UI when being attacked or healed which displays useful information, as follows:

• Total Damage / Total Healing
• Damage Per Second / Healing Per Second
• Last Hit Damage / Last Heal Healing

[h3]Journey Back Ability Changes[/h3]
Some important changes have been made to the Journey Back cost calculation in this patch:

• It now uses the average zone modifier for the zones you would have traveled through, rather than only the zone you are currently in
• It uses what would be the cheapest route, rather than the shortest

To balance these cost reductions, zone type and item value now have a greater impact, while distance has less effect on the cost.


[h3]Other Changes and Improvements[/h3]

• Access rights after undeclaring a Headquarters Hideout are now restricted for 7 days, rather than 14
• Rare Castle and Castle Outpost chests will no longer reroll their rarity, and simply be Rare
• Various mobile optimizations and fixes
• …and more

For a full rundown of all the changes in this patch, check the official patchnotes.