Albion Online News

Season 14 Brings Big Changes

The Lands Awakened update goes live on November 24, bringing revamped open-world visuals and gameplay, the new War Gloves weapon line, Elite Levels for weapon mastery, numerous quality-of-life improvements, and more. Alongside these changes, the update also ushers in a new era of guild warfare, with a completely new Guild Season structure that offers countless ways for resourceful players of all types to make seasonal progress and earn rewards, even those not affiliated with a guild. Traditional guild activities such as territory control and ZvZs will still provide a path to success, but individual players – and their guilds in turn – will also benefit from playing other smaller-scale activities.

For the complete Season 14 Schedule, click here.
For a detailed breakdown of the changes listed in this article, and the reasoning behind them, see this forum post.

[h3]Introducing the Conqueror's Challenge[/h3]
To make Guild Seasons more about player activity and less about territory control and passive income, this season introduces the Conquerors' Challenge. This dynamic, season-long system for tracking progress opens Albion's higher-level activities to guild members and non-guild-affiliated players alike, and introduces two new reward systems, Might and Favor (details below).

The Conqueror's Challenge offers players the freedom to earn Season Rewards in countless different ways, with a wide range of activities contributing to progress. Ultimately, any player willing to put in the work during a season will have a chance to unlock some of the most valuable and powerful rewards in the game.

[h3]Might, Favor, and Might Levels[/h3]
As part of the revamped Guild Seasons, this season brings two new concepts to the game: Might and Favor, which measure the success of individuals and guilds during the season and unlock fantastic rewards.

Might is earned by participating in activities which carry the risk of PvP, and allows players to progress towards personal season goals and unlock valuable rewards like battle mounts and unique avatars.
Favor is a new currency which is also earned in most cases where Might is earned, and can be used to purchase Siphoned Energy and additional reward chests.

Alongside personal Might, guild-affiliated players’ activities will contribute towards their Guild Might Level, which rewards guilds with Season Points, and their members with further Might and Might Boosts.

Additionally, a new Season Overview UI will show a guild’s current rank, how its Season Points were earned, and which members contributed the most Might.

[h3]Headquarters Hideouts, Power Cores and Energy Crystals[/h3]
To further encourage exciting power struggles in the Outlands and keep things competitive for smaller guilds, Headquarters Hideouts have been introduced. Earning enough Season Points in the preceding season allows a guild to designate one of its Outlands Hideouts as an HQ, making it invulnerable. This status must be maintained, however, through capturing new Power Cores as they appear across the landscape. Alongside Energy Crystals, which can be used to boost Territories, this will bring a whole new dynamic and competitive edge to Guild Seasons. For more information on these new features, see this Dev Talk.

[h3]Additional Season 14 Changes[/h3]

Killing Siphoning Mages, Crystal Spiders, etc. no longer directly gives Season Points, as these are now earned through the corresponding Might Levels
Territory levels rebalanced
Castles, Castle Outposts, and Guild Challenge no longer grant Siphoned Energy
Crystal League rewards rebalanced, Season Rewards now based on Conqueror's Challenge

Dev Talk: Guild Season Changes

The Lands Awakened update arrives November 24, bringing massive open-world changes, a new weapon line, an updated soundtrack, and more. In today's Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys discusses the huge changes coming to Guild Seasons with this update.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
No time to watch the video? Read on for a summary...
[h3]Primary Goals[/h3]

Allow players to earn Season Points for their guild via small-scale activities
Grant personal as well as guild rewards for making progress
Shift the focus of Guild Seasons from passive territory control to player activity

[h3]Conqueror's Challenge[/h3]

The Conqueror's Challenge replaces the existing Guild Season reward system
Runs for the duration of a Guild Season
Available to all Premium players, whether in a guild or not
Uses a new type of points called “Might”
Earning Might unlocks powerful and unique rewards, including new Seasonal Avatars for multiple levels, Battle Mounts, and Fame Boosts

[h3]Might[/h3]
Might is earned by participating in activities with a risk of PvP:

Killing mobs / gathering in the Outlands or Roads of Avalon
Opening Treasure chests
Killing Siphoning Mages / Crystal Spiders
Playing Hellgates / Crystal League
Winning Corrupted Dungeon matches
Capturing Territory Energy Crystals (see below)

[h3]Favor[/h3]

When a player earns Might, in most cases they will also earn Favor
Favor is a currency which can be used to purchase Siphoned Energy and additional reward chests
Favor thus offers a direct economic benefit to earning Might

[h3]Guild Might Levels[/h3]
As players earn Might and Favor for themselves, they contribute to another new feature, Guild Might Levels:

Guilds earn Season Points for each Might Level they complete
All members contribute to these together
Each activity has its own Might progress, allowing players numerous ways to contribute while earning Might and Favor for themselves

Guild Might Levels in turn benefit guild members:

With each new bracket unlocked, members are rewarded with a significant amount of personal Might
Members also get a bonus to Might generated for the rest of the season
A new Season Overview allows players to see their guild’s current ranking, where its Season points came from, and which players contributed the most Might

[h3]Energy Vortices[/h3]

Like Open World Treasures, these spawn unpredictably in the Outlands
Marked on the world and local map for everyone within a few regions
After a time dependent on its strength, the storm dissipates, dropping a Territory Energy Crystal
Crystals can be picked up and carried on foot to an owned territory
Crystals transported successfully can be "captured" at the Tower

[h3]Territory Energy Levels[/h3]
Captured Crystals boost the Territory's energy, which:

Increases its Tower level
Improves the rate at which Siphoned Energy and Season Points are generated
Boosts guard strength
Boosts enchanted resource spawn rate / gathering yield in the zone

Over time, Territory energy diminishes, so guilds must remain active to get maximum Territory benefits. Crystal League Matches played from Territory towers continue to supplement energy as well.

[h3]Territory Rebalancing[/h3]
To encourage active Outlands play, Territories now generate far fewer Season Points if they are low on energy, but have a much higher maximum potential if they stay at maximum level. Season success is thus less dependent on passive income, instead requiring guilds to remain active around their Territories. Of course, players participating in this are also rewarded with significant Might and Favor themselves.
[h3]In Summary[/h3]
The Conqueror’s Challenge, Might Levels and Energy Vortices allow players to push their guild towards victory with smaller-scale activities, while earning rewards for themselves and enjoying new open-world PvP objectives.

Stay tuned for the next Dev Talks, where we'll discuss Headquarters Hideouts, Power Cores, War Gloves and more!

Albion Online major upgrade 'Lands Awakened' arrives November 24

Sandbox Interactive has announced that the Lands Awakened upgrade for Albion Online is set for release on November 24. It sounds like it's going to be pretty big too.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/11/albion-online-major-upgrade-lands-awakened-arrives-november-24

Lands Awakened Arrives November 24

On November 24, the Lands Awakened update goes live. This update brings a new era of open-world gameplay to Albion with reworked dungeons, mobs and treasure sites, new open-world PvP objectives for groups of all sizes, massively improved visuals and layouts for all five biomes, the new War Gloves weapon line, fully reworked Guild Seasons, numerous quality-of-life improvements, and much more.

Check out the teaser trailer here:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Albion Awakens[/h3]
From reworked static dungeons with limited-time events and multi-zone exits, to mobs that increase in power and value over time, Lands Awakened brings a completely overhauled open-world experience. All five biomes have massively improved visuals and layouts, dynamically spawning treasure sites offer intrepid players a chance at lucrative rewards, and an expanded soundtrack brings new emotional depth to the world. On the combat side, War Gloves, Albion's first completely new weapon line since launch, offer brawler-style combat options, while Elite Levels offer advanced mastery options and the overall speed of Fame progress has been boosted significantly.

[h3]Guild Warfare Re-Envisioned[/h3]
Power Cores and Energy Crystals encourage strategic capture-the-flag gameplay with huge rewards, while Headquarters Hideouts offer protected bases for dedicated guilds. Guild Seasons have been completely reworked, with the Conqueror's Challenge giving individual guild members the ability to contribute to seasonal progress while earning their own rewards. And the new Might and Favor systems give guilds of all sizes, as well as their individual members, countless new ways to earn Season Points and unlock rewards.

[h3]Quality-of-Life Improvements[/h3]
Player-created Loadouts can now be purchased directly from the Marketplace, while Farming optimizations let players tend crops and animals with fewer clicks. Rerolling items is newly streamlined, crafting and refining fees are clearer, and new party commands offer faster and easier party management. Alongside these changes, a host of additional improvements, fixes, balance changes, and optimizations make the world of Albion better than ever.

For more of what's coming, check out the official update page:

[h3]LEARN MORE[/h3]

The Grim Challenge is Back

Allhallows is in full swing, and the Grim Challenge is back! For the entire month of November, earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Pest Lizard.
[h3]Pestilential Prizes For Intrepid Adventurers[/h3]

PEST LIZARD: This month's Challenge offers another chance to claim the popular Pest Lizard. This sleek, slithery mount comes with a Toxic Cloud ability that causes enemies who touch it to become temporarily disoriented.

AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Grim Challenge avatar ring, featuring a spooky skull-topped iron frame. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or can be traded to the Vanity Merchant for one Adventurer's Token.

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly point totals to unlock Grim Challenge Chests. Along with valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes, Silver, resources, and other loot, you'll also have a chance to unlock four furniture items: the Empty Coffin, Grim Gravestone, Grim Lantern, and Weeping Woman Statue.

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 and avatar ring reward. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim these rewards while they last!