Albion Online News

The launch of the Queen update brought a whole new Outlands continent, shaped by the immense magic of the Avalonians. With the old Outlands now just a memory, we asked for tributes to this lost land from the Albion community. The results were truly impressive, and while choosing from among such strong entries was hard, we are happy to announce the winners...
[h3]Winner: WipeHype[/h3]
Congrats to our hands-down winner WipeHype, who channeled his inner bard to create this toe-tapping tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zms-XlsuwfQ
The first runner-up is Shaedeezy who made us dream about tales around the campfire and portals to another world:

I gaze through portal bright,
We sit around a flickering fire drying our mud-caked boots
Sharing our spoils and watching the stars move across still waters
I see it all in that regal purple light: the crackling fire, the glint of gold, the brilliant stars
The land has changed- will I find them there again? In that dry spot among the mangrove roots?
I step through portal bright.

The second runner-up is Vadisint who forced us to face the ghosts of our past and shed a tear for what we have lost:

Where are the wide fields of Anglia and Glouvia?
Where are the winter peaks of Cumbria and Siluria?
Where are the elder woods of Mercia?
Only wisps of their memory now remain.
The world is changed, the gate is gone,
And a scar mars the face of our fair Caerleon.

Finally, we have our Honorable Mentions who entertained us through and through. Congrats to:

GuideNPC
PiggyMcBacon200
AncientCWS
SHARKY
Morteos
Neef
Zorke
moking
Kromar12
SecretTim
SchloppySeconds
Cortenand

To see the complete thread, where you can read the runners-up along with all contest entries, click here.

Thanks to all the participants!

The third weekly patch since the launch of the Queen update is now live, bringing a much-requested update to Outlands respawn behavior along with various bug fixes. Most importantly, Outland towns are no longer classified as visited cities when choosing "Last City" as a respawn option. This allows players to respawn from Outlands to a Royal city, whereas previously players could find themselves "stuck" in an Outland town, as the only way to get out was by walking to a portal several zones away.

Players based in the Outlands can now also travel more freely to the Royals. Here's how it works:

• Players who base themselves in one of the Outland towns or a Hideout can now essentially "fast-travel" back to the Royals to visit their islands, do farming, etc.
• This is done by dying in the Outlands (either in a fight or via /suicide) and respawning in "Last City" in the Royals, which no longer removes the "Home" respawn setting
• The "Home" respawn setting is removed when a player chooses to re-enter the Outlands via a Realmgate

Thus, while this new system gives players options to base themselves in the Outlands and continue using the Royals at the same time, it does not allow them to move forces back and forth between two Outlands access points. To illustrate this, under this new system you could not do the following:

• Be in a Hideout
• Die and respawn in a Royal city
• Go through the city's Realmgate
• Attack a territory near the Outland portal
• Die and respawn back at your Hideout to execute another attack

These changes are intended to give Outlands players easier and more streamlined access to the Royals, without giving them unfair advantages in power projection, logistics, and transport.

For more background on these changes, as well as an idea of our future plans for streamlining and updating this system, please see this forum post.

For precise details of this change, as well as a complete list of bug fixes, please see the official patch notes.

Costumed revelers fill the streets, casting off winter's chill and celebrating a new month in the world of Albion. It can only mean one thing: the Carnival Challenge is back! For the whole month of February, earn Challenge Points, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Saddled Terrorbird.



[h3]Let the Masquerade Begin![/h3]
SADDLED TERRORBIRD: This month's Challenge brings back the charming, lightning-fast Saddled Terrorbird, a speedy mount that will carry you across the lands of Albion lightning-fast. With an above-average base move speed and additional invincibility/speed burst spell, it's the perfect ride for those who need to cover some ground.

AVATAR RING: Along with the Saddled Terrorbird, you'll unlock the Carnival Challenge Avatar Ring when you reach this month's Challenge Point goal. Give your avatar a colorful, festive look all year round! 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: Unlock weekly Carnival Challenge chests to get valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes, resources, and silver bags, along with a chance at carnival-themed Wardrobe Skins.

Log in now and start gathering, fishing, farming, and killing monsters to earn Challenge Points and unlock your rewards!

Starting February 1, our special referral offer continues: for just one referral, you can get your very own mount skin! The Steelplate Cougar skin gives your Swiftclaw base mount a powerful, intimidating look - and once you've unlocked it, it can be used by all characters on your account forever!

On top of that, as with the last season you can earn huge amounts of Fame for your third and fifth referrals: three referrals scores you a T7 Pile of Tomes, worth a whopping 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 Steelplate Cougar skin!

The current referral season lasts until maintenance on April 1, so you've got until then to refer your friends and claim your rewards.


How to Earn Seasonal Referral Rewards

• 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.

The Avalonians have returned, and the Outlands have been shattered and remade. This new continent is ripe for the taking - does your guild have what it takes to claim a piece of Albion?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvPH-cYFsLs
Season 8 offers a fresh start for Albion's guilds, with territories in the new Outlands becoming claimable starting at 18:00 UTC. You can view the season schedule with all important dates and times in this forum post.

To help newer players (as well as those returning to the game), we've put together this guide to show the ways you can earn points during guild seasons.
[h3]How to Earn Season Points[/h3]


1. Territories

In the new Outlands introduced with the Queen update, regions at the outer edge of the continent are lower-tier and have a lower "quality level". This means that they not only have lower tiers of resources like wood, hide, and fish, but also that their territories give fewer season points. As you move inward toward the center of the continent, zone tier and quality increases.

Territories score 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 or 240 season points every day at the zone's prime time, depending on the territory's position in the Outlands. The closer to the center the territory is, the more season points it scores.

Daily territory earnings can be further increased by leveling up your Tower via Crystal League Matches:

• Level 1 Tower: base Season Points
• Level 2 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 10%
• Level 3 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 20%
• Level 4 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 30%
• Level 5 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 40%
• Level 6 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 60%
• Level 7 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 80%
• Level 8 Tower: Territory Season Point earnings increased by 100%

When a guild owns a territory, that territory's siphoning mages will constantly gather energy and season points. These are accumulated until the territory's prime time, when they are delivered to the owning guild. Mages can be killed (and their energy and points stolen) by enemy guilds - see "mage raiding" below.

For a breakdown of Season Point earnings by cluster, see this post.



2. Castles and Castle Outposts

Castles and castle outposts score every day at the zone's prime time, giving points to the currently owning guild.

• Claiming a castle involves killing all the guards and a final boss. Castles give 120, 240, 360, 480, 600 or 720 season points every day at the zone's prime time, depending on the castle's position in the Outlands.
• Castle outposts are smaller and have easier guards, but give one-fourth the season points relative to castles in similar zones. Like castles, they give season points once per day at the zone's prime time.

3. Crystal League

The new Crystal League introduced with the Queen update gives several ways to earn season points. In addition to raising your territory tower level by winning Crystal League matches entered through the territory (see above), you can earn season points as a direct per-player award for all Crystal League matches level 2 or above:

• Level 2: 1 point/player
• Level 3: 5 points/player
• Level 4: 25 points/player
• Level 5: 100 points/player
• Level 6: 500 points/player
• Level 7: 1000 points/player
• Level 8: 3000 points/player
• Level 9: 10000 points/player

4. Mage Raiding

Siphoning mages collect siphoned energy and season points continuously and "pay" them to the owning guild at the territory prime time. When a mage is defeated by an enemy guild, they drop a set amount of energy and season points. This amount scales with the cluster quality - to see a full list of cluster values, please see this post.



5. Guild Challenge

Similar to Adventurer's Challenges, which give rewards for open-world activities like farming, fishing, gathering, and killing creatures, Guild Challenges give Guild Challenge Points for the same activities. Earn Challenge Points to unlock the next level - each new level gives 300 season points and 300 siphoned energy to your guild.



6. Alliance Point Sharing

To make an alliance's choice of guilds more meaningful, Alliance Point Sharing was introduced with the Avalonian Invasion. Under this system, all points generated by a guild are now shared among all guilds in the alliance. This benefits small guilds the most, while ensuring that large guilds are careful about bringing too many guilds into their alliances.

For full details of Alliance Point Sharing, see this post.