Albion Online News

Saturday marks the beginning of Albion's eleventh Guild Season, which brings the new 20v20 Crystal League, as well as Point Balancing and Daily Limits for Crystal League matches, major updates to World Boss Zones and Castle Scoring, and an incredible new battle mount, the Roving Bastion, as a season reward for ranking guilds.

Guilds that reach a high enough rank can claim fantastic rewards including an avatar, avatar ring, and the mighty Roving Bastion mount. While the final stats are subject to change, it will be a support battle mount with a powerful push ability that knocks back enemy forces away, allowing armies to break through enemy lines. It will also have a shield aura ability that offers protection against damage and displacement effects to allies. This mount will be awarded to guilds who reach Silver Rank or higher during Season 11, with increasingly higher stats and epic appearance with each successive tier.

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




[h3]Big Changes for Season 11[/h3]
This Season introduces the 20v20 Crystal League, allowing all players to join fair and exciting 20v20 battles. Match rules are similar to the 5v5 League, but with an entirely new map similar to the old city fight map. As in the 5v5 League, Level 1 matches are knockdown only and offer perfect training for newcomers; risks and rewards increase greatly with each subsequent level, culminating in a final Level 6 match at the end of the season.



Alongside the new 20v20 league, Crystal League Season Points have been rebalanced, and a new Daily Point Limit for the Crystal League has been implemented.

Season 11 also brings other far-reaching changes and improvements to open-world guild warfare in Albion:

• World Boss Zone Improvements to make these zones into valuable Fame Farming hotspots and lead to more midsize open-world fights
• Castle Scoring Changes and Minimum Distance Increase to split large forces and reduce overcrowded clusters
• Ability to Skip Overcrowded Clusters and jump directly to an adjoining cluster to join the fight

Last but not least, this season will also include numerous combat balance changes launched with Patch 10. For more details on these changes, click here.
[h3]Watch the Season Kickoff Live[/h3]
The action kicks off on AlbionTV this Saturday, December 5 at 17:30 UTC, when hosts Shozenwon, Lewpac and Bogul bring you full coverage of Invasion Day.



At 18:00 UTC, guilds can claim territories and launch attacks. Those in the North and South American time zones can also tune in for the second round of territory resets on Sunday, December 6 at 00:30 UTC with hosts Shozenwon, Robinhoodrs and Bogul covering the next round of claimable territories starting at 01:00 UTC. All open-world fights are broadcast live with a 15-minute delay.

For the complete Season 11 schedule, check out this forum post.

Rise of Avalon Patch 10, AKA the Season 11 Patch, is now live. This patch brings major changes and improvements to guild warfare in Albion, starting with the Season 11 kickoff on Saturday, December 5.

Here's an overview of what's new:
[h3]20v20 Crystal League Battles[/h3]
20v20 Crystal League battles allow players of all levels to participate in thrilling 20v20 battles. Level 1 battles are knockdown only, providing the perfect training ground for newer players, while higher-level fights are full loot, with correspondingly higher rewards. The 20v20 league has 6 levels, with the final Level 6 match taking place at the end of the season.


[h3]Crystal League Point Adjustments[/h3]
Season Points for midlevel Crystal League matches have been rebalanced, and there is now a daily limit for Season Points earned from the Crystal League. This limit makes it less desirable to accumulate elite Crystal League teams in one guild and instead creates an incentive for top teams to spread across various guilds.
[h3]Smart Cluster Queue Changes[/h3]
When a cluster is overcrowded and the Smart Cluster Queue activates, players can now either join the queue or skip the overcrowded cluster entirely. Additionally, the distance players can move from the entrance before being kicked from the queue has been greatly increased.


[h3]Castle Scoring and Minimum Distance Changes[/h3]
Castle scoring now starts at 00:00 UTC regardless of a zone's prime time, and Castles and Castle Outposts give points every 6 and 3 hours respectively. Additionally, Castles are now at least 4 zones apart, making it harder for larger guilds to defend numerous objectives simultaneously.
[h3]World Boss and Raid Zone Changes[/h3]
Fame for all Elite mobs in World Boss Raid Zones, including World Bosses themselves, has been massively increased. World Bosses now spawn once per hour instead of once per day, and killing them gives a 20% Fame buff within the same cluster. Elite mobs in these zones also respawn much faster, and their distribution within the zones has been updated.


[h3]Combat Balance Changes and More[/h3]

• Axes get a new Q-slot ability, Rending Rage, to improve mobility and crowd control
• Various buffs for Axes, Spears, and Arcane Staffs
• Cooldown reductions for Royal Robe and Royal Armor
• Timers for point scoring and treasures in Castles and Castle Outposts now display as both countdowns and fixed UTC time
• Numerous bug fixes

For the full list of changes, check out the official patchnotes.

A new referral season is here! From now until February 1, refer your friends and claim your very own Unicorn mount skin. This skin transforms your Riding Horse base mount into a mighty, mythical Unicorn – and once you've unlocked it, it can be used by all characters on your account forever.

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 February 1, so you've got until then to refer your friends 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 whopping 200,000 Fame.

Winter has returned to Albion, and the Yuletide Challenge is back! For the entire month of December, earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests, and earn rewards like an avatar ring, new and classic furniture items, and the beloved Snow Husky mount.
[h3]Yuletide Greetings[/h3]
SNOW HUSKY: You've got another chance to claim the charming Snow Husky, a handsome canine companion that will carry you through Albion's harshest terrain. Along with its strong base move speed, its Hunting Instinct spell gives a short but powerful speed burst.

AVATAR RING: Along with the Snow Husky, adventurers who reach this month's total point goal will unlock the Yuletide Challenge Ring, which gives your avatar a cheery holiday look any time of year. And remember: unclaimed Adventurer's Challenge Rings can always be traded in for Adventurer's Tokens at the Vanity Merchant!

SEASONAL SPECIALS: Unlock Yuletide Challenge chests to get a mix of holiday-themed prizes, along with goodies like Silver, Tomes of Insight, treasures and resources. Each chest has a chance to give classic Yuletide decorations like Presents and Decorated Trees as well as four brand-new items: the Yuletide Candle, Wreath, Lantern, and Candy Boot!

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!

Albion Online's 11th Guild Season starts on Saturday, December 5. This season will bring major new features along with changes to existing systems. In our newest Dev Talk, Combat Designer Michael Schwahn discusses these changes and how they will affect guild warfare in Albion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Do-WTEBSQw
No time to watch or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
[h3]20v20 Crystal League[/h3]
This Season introduces the 20v20 Crystal League, allowing all players to join fair and exciting 20v20 battles.

• Tokens can be bought at the Energy Manipulator and used for one of 3 slots each day
• Match rules are similar to the 5v5 League, where both teams need to control and hold more orbs than the enemy
• 20v20 matches will use an entirely new map with a layout similar to the old city fight map
• As in the 5v5 League, Level 1 matches are knockdown only and offer perfect training for newcomers
• High-stakes, full-loot matches are also available, increasing toward the end of the season

[h3]Crystal League Point Limit[/h3]
To make sure the Crystal League doesn't dominate the entire season at the expense of other activities, we're rebalancing its Season Point rewards and introducing a daily limit for Season Points gained via Crystal League. The limits are separate for 5v5 and 20v20 matches, and vary based on the amount of points available on a given day. This keeps high-level matches rewarding while ensuring seasons can’t be won solely via elite Crystal League squads.


[h3]World Boss Raid Zones[/h3]
To add high-value open world objectives, we have overhauled World Boss Raid Zones:

• World Bosses now spawn every hour
• Defeating a World Boss gives every team member a PvE Fame buff while remaining in the zone, as an additional incentive for groups to stand their ground when they meet an enemy group
• To further make these areas into Fame Farming hotspots, their Elite mobs are now much stronger, but also way more rewarding, and they respawn much faster
• These spots are limited, which should lead to more small and midsized open-world fights

[h3]Castles[/h3]
With Season 11, Castle and Castle Outpost timers will be the same for all clusters in the game. This means treasure spawning and scoring now occur independently of the cluster prime time.

• Castles score every 6 hours
• Castle Outposts score every 3 hours
• Castle Chests appear on Saturdays at 12:00 and 18:00 UTC and Sundays at 00:00 UTC
• Castle Outpost Chests appear every 6 hours

We've also increased distances between Castles by removing tunnels and cluster connections to ensure they are always at least four zones apart.

These changes will put pressure on bigger power blocks to split their forces if they want to contest more than one objective. This will hopefully lead to fewer overcrowded cluster battles.
[h3]Skip Overcrowded Clusters[/h3]
The Cluster Queue was originally designed as a tool to handle edge cases with too many players, but queued battles have become more and more frequent and many battles now revolve around this system. This is especially frustrating for players who might not get a chance to participate in the fight at all.

To improve this, players can now skip overcrowded clusters. You can now select any connected entrance to jump to, and find new battles instead of waiting outside as a potential backup. This essentially allows two battles at once: one in the overcrowded cluster, and another between queued players.

The queue entrance range will also increase, letting players travel further without leaving the queue. And if two clusters in a row are overcrowded, you can skip through both.


[h3]Combat Balancing[/h3]
Finally, for Season 11 we will also roll out a combat balance update. This includes the new Axe ability Rending Rage, a combo where you swing your blade and then leap forward and root the enemy. This gives Axes a Q-slot option for mobility and crowd control. This patch also contains buffs for Axes, Spears and Arcane Staffs along with various adjustments to other abilities.

There are quite a lot of changes in Season 11, and we are excited to see how players interact with them. Hopefully we'll see some fierce competition for the top spots this season.

Thanks for watching!