The days are getting shorter, sleigh bells are in the air... and with the new month comes a new Adventurer's Challenge! For all of December, take the Yuletide Challenge to collect exclusive rewards. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your own unique husky companion.
Open Challenge Chests and Claim Wintry Rewards
NEW MOUNT: This month's Challenge introduces the Snow Husky, a handsome canine companion that will carry you through Albion's coldest lands. Beyond its strong base move speed, the husky has a Hunting Instinct spell that gives a short but powerful speed burst.
NEW AVATAR BORDER: This month, reach your goals to win the Yuletide Challenge 2018 avatar border, a thematic decoration that will deck your avatar out with an exclusive wintry theme. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character.
SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month, unlock Yuletide Challenge chests to get valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver bags, plus yule-themed vanity items like the classic Uncle Frost costume and cheery decorations for your home.
Log in now and gather, fish, farm, and kill monsters to earn Challenge Points and unlock these exclusive rewards!
In the summer of 2017, we ran our first Player Spotlightfeature on Nausk, who was already making a name for himself as a fearsome solo PvPer. Since then, his ongoing Youtube series Black Zone Tales has gained a loyal following in the Albion community, presenting high-level PvP in a brisk and entertaining format. We caught up with Nausk to discuss how the game and his playstyle have changed since launch, and how the rising popularity of his channel has affected his approach to the game.
Over the past few years, Black Zone Tales has become one of the most popular Albion Online gameplay series out there. Do you have an approach to creating these videos, or do you just explore the black zones and see what happens?
Usually I dwell in the black zones and find situations that I want to share with the audience, but of course there’s a lot that the viewers don’t see, even though I would want them to. Sometimes I have ideas before I go to the black zones and intentionally seek out those specific things.
What are your thoughts about the evolution of Warbows since launch? How have you changed your playstyle to match these changes?
The evolution of the weapon itself has been a bit stale since launch in my opinion, with a few exceptions - like the change to the Ray of Light spell, which had been collecting dust ever since its introduction. Within the same time window, Speed Shot was reworked out of the open world to suit different battlefields better. This meant that there was only one option for me, as far as the “W” spell slot goes in the open world - Ray of Light. The amount of players playing with the weapon has increased over time in my opinion. I’ve been blamed for being one factor by, for example, guild leaders who then had to convert Warbow users into using a different build, but I’ve also gotten a lot of support from the community, as well as productive feedback. I want to also point out to the players that haven’t played before the launch of the game, that the identity of Warbow has been changed dramatically since before the launch and I would love to see an attempt to bring back a tidbit of the old characteristics of the weapon, while still keeping things balanced.
Prior to the game's launch, you listed the Halberd as your favorite weapon. How have your builds and playstyle changed since then?
As a matter of fact, I said that my favorite weapon was Halberd, just because it was the closest thing to the weapon that I started to use at the launch of the first beta stage of the game. The solo roaming Warbow build hasn’t changed much, besides the “W” spell slot and the choice of food, because of the introduction of new foods. On the other hand the builds that I used back then for group open-world content were way different, compared to the ones that I would use now. Hardcore Expeditions were like a fresh new breeze build-wise, and as far as Hellgates go, I’ve shaped the build a fair bit due to the balance changes and the introduction of the 2v2 Hellgates. Beyond the builds I've shown to my audience, I’ve also used various builds over the years and sometimes I get excited by a build, just because of a tiny balance change, as with the Claymore build that I pulled from the drawer.
You recently introduced Nauskina, a female Claymore-wielding character who likewise specializes in black-zone PvP. Has shifting from bows to swords been challenging? How are fights different?
Some might not know this, but Nauskina used to enjoy simple things, like raising animals, picking flowers and stacking learning points for a future project. Luckily Nauskina had been sitting on Premium Status ever since the launch of the game and pretty much never used them. I burned through thousands of learning points to test out the Claymore build and figure out if it was worth leveling up on my main character. The switch from Bows to Swords has been challenging timewise of course, since time is the resource that the game gathers. Fights sure are different when you change from a ranged weapon to a melee weapon, but also because Claymore offers things that Warbow doesn’t offer anymore, like a stun and proper movement speed buffs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4jP_7L0mDY Does being a relatively well-known Albion Online personality make you a target in the game? If so, does this make your encounters with other players more exciting and challenging?
If we are solely talking about being a known personality within the community and the impact that the recognizability has from my perspective - it has been extremely fruitful. As some might know, live streaming certain content of the game can sometimes lure in bored and unwanted guests, but that aspect has also potential, though it’s not always easy to put in use.
Do you have a favorite video, or a favorite moment from one of your videos?
From all of the videos that I’ve uploaded to this channel, I would pick the one where I found a way to ride my donkey on the river of Curlew Creek, which was the map where I got my first-ever item drop from a mob - a Tier 5 Battleaxe. If we are narrowing it down to only videos from the Black Zone Tales series, I would say that my favorite video is the first BZT video (see below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RsEJQk6CU4 Your videos focus almost exclusively on solo play. Do you ever get the chance to play in "dynamic duos" or small parties behind the scenes?
Yes, I do get chances to play with others. I usually kindly decline the offers, but not always. Open-world-wise, I rarely team up with others, because I strangely enough think that I’m wasting other people's time with my weird and old habits. I do sometimes take part in group fame farming, though I enjoy doing it as much in a group as solo. The picture that the videos paint isn’t complete, I have a fair share of footage from situations where I haven’t been playing alone, that are still collecting dust, but hopefully will see the light of day before my hard drive dies. For example, outnumbered fights with guildies like Eidoss, Grimnasty and others in the early days of the launch.
Anything else to add?
Thank you for the interview and happy upcoming Christmas time to the whole Sandbox Interactive team and the Albion Online community!
The Steam Fall Sale is here! Whether you've waited until now to join the world of Albion, or are looking to upgrade with an Epic or Legendary pack, we've got you covered: the base game and all DLC packs are now 34% off.
With the Nimue content update now live, there's never been a better time to join the world of Albion. This sale won't last forever, so be sure to take advantage of it while you can!
Nimue, the fifth major post-launch update for Albion Online, is now live! This update brings Crystal Realm Battles and a Party Finder to the world of Albion, along with numerous other features, improvements, and changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1_euuv5g-4
What's New?
For old and new players alike, Nimue brings features, improvements, and optimizations for everyone. Here's an overview of what's new:
Crystal Realm Battles
Enter the Crystal Realm, a new arena set in an alternate plane, and face off against other guilds in full-loot, 5v5 battles with valuable rewards. With a huge number of daily fights and loot that is proportionally divided based on performance, the Crystal Realm offers new and upcoming GvG teams a chance at the spoils of guild warfare.
Party Finder
The Party Finder is an all-new lobby system that allows Albion's solo players, small groups, and guilds to create and join parties and participate in a broad range of open-world activities.
Guild Logo Updates
You can now change guild logos after creation, as well as preview logos during creation on varied backgrounds like banners, horses, shields and capes.
New Monsters and Capes
Guardian Aspects are smaller versions of the current Raid Guardians, which spawn throughout the open world and offer valuable resources. And the five new Mob Faction capes (created with special crests dropped by elite mobs) complement diverse combat builds with unique passive spells.
Numerous Quality-of-Life Improvements
Nimue also brings numerous other quality-of-life improvements, including:
Ability to mark allies/enemies and see party roles in the open world
Streamlined crop and building placement
Increased chat history and lockable chat lines
Guild account logs for currency transactions
Want the full details of every single feature, improvement, and change coming with the Nimue update? You can view the complete changelog here.
In our newest Dev Talk, Robin Henkys, Game Director of Albion Online, takes a closer look at Crystal Realm Battles. This major new feature will go live with the Nimue Update on November 21, giving more teams than ever before a chance to participate in GvG fights.
From a narrative perspective, Crystal Realm Battles allow teams of players to harness the power of their watchtower territory crystals to enter the crystal realm and fight other teams for valuable rewards.
From a gameplay perspective, this means every watchtower territory becomes an access point to a GvG battle every day, without having to declare attacks and without having to share a border with your opponents.
Since a lot of these fights are happening at the same time, it means a lot of opportunities for new teams to participate in GvG.
Fights within the crystal realm are full-loot like regular GvG, but the number of fights happening (and the fact that gear power inside the Crystal Realm is slightly scaled down) means that participation does not necessarily require top-end gear
If you’ve been wanting to participate in guild vs. guild fights but haven’t had the chance yet, this may be your opportunity to get involved.
How it Works
Each watchtower territory you own, excluding farms and home territories, provides one daily battle opportunity
This opportunity occurs at a fixed time, either 2:00 UTC (a peak activity time in North America) or 19:00 UTC (the peak of activity in Europe)
Players can sign up for a battle as they would for any other GvG fight
To participate, all players signed up for a particular battle must be in the same region as the territory providing the opportunity at the time of the battle
All teams who meet these criteria are then entered into matchmaking, with two conditions:
You will never be matched against your own guild or an ally
If possible, you will be matched against an opponent with a similar tower level. Your tower level increases as you win fights and decreases if you fail to participate or lose.
Once matches have been formed, teams are transported into the Crystal Realm and engage in battle with regular GvG rules:
Full loot
Reduce the enemy points by capturing objectives
First team to decrease their opponent to zero points wins
If the timer runs out, the team with more points wins
At the end of the battle, each team receives a reward based on their performance. The winning team always receives the majority of the reward, which consists of the following:
Season points for your guild’s ranking in the season
A selection of items lootable by the players, including
Siphoned Energy
Non-tradable Fame tomes
Silver and Black Market items
These individual rewards ensure Crystal Realm GvGs are an attractive activity both for the guilds and the players participating, and although the winner always gets the majority of the reward, the losing team still gets a good amount if they put up a good fight. Of course, we’ve also made sure the winning team can still explore the battle map for a while to loot the corpses of their opponents and admire the view!
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We’re looking forward to seeing many more new players becoming active in guild vs. guild warfare, so if you want to learn even more about this feature, please see this forum post.
That's all for today – we'll see you online when Nimue releases on November 21!
The Nimue update arrives on November 21, bringing Crystal Realm Battles, a Party Finder, changes to the Arena and Faction Bosses, and much more. You can read brief descriptions of what's coming on the update page, but if you're looking for more details about these upcoming features, we've gathered a selection of relevant posts from the Albion Online forum for further reading.
Click the images below to read more:
You can also click here to watch a Dev Talk on the Party Finder and other quality-of-life improvements.
If you have further questions or comments on these upcoming features, please let us know in the relevant forum post. Stay tuned for further details on the Nimue update coming soon!
Nimue, the fifth major post-release content update for Albion Online, arrives on November 21. In out newest Dev Talk, Lino Claudius, User Interface Designer for the game, discusses some of the major quality-of-life changes coming with this update.
The goal of the Party Finder is to bring more players into social groups, thereby providing easier access to the open world. We want to emphasize that this is not an automatic matchmaking system, but rather a lobby-based system similar to "custom game" features in other games.
There are two ways to use the Party Finder:
The first is by forming a party and opening it to other players
The second is by joining a pre-existing party
When creating a party, the leader generates a searchable party by giving specific parameters (activity, minimum IP, maximum group size, party description, etc.). Other players can see the party (like an open lobby) and view its details, such as the gear other members have equipped. They can then either apply or join automatically depending on the party's settings. Players who join successfully can then select potential roles to fill.
Additionally, there is a special function within the Party Finder for guilds and alliances which allows party leaders to restrict applications only to members of their own guild or alliance. This functionality can be used to quickly assemble a party that allies can join automatically without having to invite them one by one, instead allowing for more time in the open world.
Parties in the Open World
Visible Party Roles: The list of roles used in Expeditions and the Arena are now available in the open world. When forming a party, roles are automatically assigned based on gear, and can be overwritten or turned off as desired. This improves the visibility of key players like tanks or healers in parties, allowing for more streamlined open-world combat.
This also opens up future development potential to improve party play even more: for example, in a future update we may add different-colored dots on the minimap based on these roles.
Target Markers: With the Nimue update, party leaders will be able to mark mobs, enemy players, or friendly players with one of six different icons. These icons can be used in any open-world setting, and will only be visible to party members, allowing better communication during open-world PvE and ZvZ fights.
Minimap Ping: Minimap ping is now visible for all members of a party. In addition, it has received a visual overhaul: it’s now quicker, more visible on different backgrounds, and focuses on the target point instead of radiating outwards. In addition, we have implemented a hotkey to create a ping at your current position.
Guild Account Logs and Other Features
Based on popular demand, Silver transactions can now be tracked in the guild UI. While this system does not yet include taxes, it will immediately allow for better control of currency flow, particularly within larger guilds.
Other features coming with Nimue include:
Improved crop and furniture placement
Stack and sort buttons in the inventory UI
Automatic Learning Point spending that can be toggled per node
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That's all for today - thanks for watching, and you can expect to see additional Dev Talks in the coming weeks.
Nimue is coming! The fifth major post-release content update for Albion Online arrives November 21, bringing several major new features, numerous quality-of-life improvements, and various updates to creatures, combat, and the open-world experience.
Crystal Realm Battles
Enter the Crystal Realm and face off against other guilds in full-loot, 5v5 battles over valuable rewards and energy. With a huge number of daily battles and all participants receiving a proportional share of the loot, this system gives new GvG teams a chance at the spoils of guild warfare. It all takes place in the Crystal Realm, a new arena featuring a gorgeous art style imbued with light and color.
Party Finder, Guild Logo Updates, and Quality-of-Life Improvements
The Party Finder is an all-new lobby system that allows solo players, small groups, and guilds to create and join parties and participate in a broad range of open-world activities. And in addition to the ability to preview guild logos in various contexts and change them after creation, Nimue also brings numerous other quality-of-life improvements, including:
Prearranged parties remain after Arena / Expedition end
Keyboard shortcut to move items without stacking
Gear locking in duels
Guild account logs for Silver and Gold transactions
New Creatures and Accessories
Guardian Aspects are smaller versions of the current Raid Guardians, which spawn randomly in the open world and offer an opportunity for smaller groups to earn valuable resources. And the five new Mob Faction capes (created with special crests dropped by elite mobs) complement diverse combat builds with unique passive spells such as:
Undead Cape: Invisibility (Escape / Utility)
Keeper Cape: Damage Increase (Bruiser / Tank)
Demon Cape: Lava Pool (DPS)
Other Additions and Changes
Reworked Farming and Furniture Placement - Farming and furniture placement have been streamlined, allowing you to place crops, herbs, animals, and furniture at the mouse cursor's position.
Improved NPCs and City Buildings - Numerous merchants and craftspeople have new character models, animation, and voiceovers, and city buildings have new lighting effects for improved nighttime visibility
Arena and Faction Outpost Improvements - These systems have been reworked to improve queuing and small-group experiences.
Additional Improvements - Nimue also brings Outlands resource rebalancing, numerous bug fixes and combat balancing updates, visual improvements throughout the open world, and much more.
For a detailed list of everything coming with Nimue, visit the update page.
With Halloween over, darkness has fallen over Albion... and with the new month comes a new Adventurer's Challenge! For all of November, take the Grim Challenge and claim a piece of the darkness for yourself. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your own unique plague-themed mount to sow fear and confusion among your foes.
Pestilential Prizes For Intrepid Adventurers
NEW MOUNT: November's Grim Challenge introduces the Pest Lizard, a fast-moving mount with two different poison-based attacks that confuse and disorient enemies. (Note: while they are not officially battle mounts, Pest Lizards cannot be used in GvGs due to their unique poison spells.)
NEW AVATAR BORDER: This month, reach your goals to win the Grim Challenge 2018 avatar border, a thematic decoration that will grimly frame your avatar for all eternity. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this exclusive avatar border for one character.
SEASONAL SPECIALS: Unlock Grim Challenge chests to get a mix of classic and new vanity items. We're bringing back a classic costume set that matches the pestilential theme, and introducing two new furniture items sure to bring menace and gloom to even the cheeriest setting.
Updated Points and Rewards - Farmers Rejoice!
Starting this month, Fame earned through farming now gives Challenge Points as well! Now you can earn points through PvE, gathering, fishing, and farming as you work toward weekly and monthly rewards. The formula for earning points has also been adjusted to bring high-end and low-end Fame values closer together, and the daily bonus has been increased to reward regular play. And as an added bonus, you'll now have a chance of getting City Heart resources with each chest you open.
And finally, with the start of this second challenge, the UI has been updated to show all past challenges. You can now view previous months' challenges via tabs in the Adventurer's Challenge UI, so if you've unlocked something in a past month but never claimed it, your rewards are safe.
Log in now to earn Challenge Points and unlock these exclusive rewards!
