Winter has descended on the land of Albion, Avalonians are stalking the Outlands – and the next Adventurer's Challenge is here! For all of December, the Yuletide Challenge lets you earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your own Snow Husky. And for this month only, weekly chests include Avalonian Energy, which lets you craft powerful new items at the Energy Manipulator.



SNOW HUSKY: This month, you'll have 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 will give your avatar a cheery holiday look any time of year. And remember: unclaimed Adventurer's Challenge Rings can also be traded in for Adventurer's Tokens (details below).

SEASONAL SPECIALS: Unlock Yuletide Challenge chests to get a mix of holiday-themed prizes, along with the regular goodies like Silver bags, Fame Tomes, and resources. Each chest has a chance to give the Yule Outfit costume set, Decorated Trees, and Present Box furniture items, along with...
 
AVALONIAN ENERGY: This month only, Yuletide Challenge chests will contain Avalonian Energy, the powerful and mysterious new resource that is the source of the Avalonian faction's power. Use it to upgrade your food and tools, and even create a new mount, at the Energy Manipulator!


As a reminder, you can now trade any unused Adventurer's Challenge Avatar Rings, whether or now you already own the ring, for Adventurer Tokens at the Vanity Merchant. These tokens can then be redeemed at the same merchant for the new Adventurer Avatar or Adventurer Avatar Ring, with more options coming soon.

The Avalonian Invasion is in full swing, guilds are battling it out in a unique standalone season... and Percival Patch 11 is here! Today's patch brings several important updates to combat in Albion, in particular:

• The zerg debuff values have been updated to more effectively reward smaller armies
• Zerg debuffs no longer apply during GvGs, regardless of how many allied players are in the territory
• Healing Sickness duration has been increased 
• Siege Ballista damage has been increased
• Numerous other melee, ranged, and magic skills have been updated 

Michael Schwahn, Combat Designer for Albion Online, describes the intent behind these changes: "We wanted to shake up the healer meta a bit, and to push the siege ballista as a viable counter to other battle mounts. We also felt it was time to reduce the utility of Parry Strike, in order to open up more of a variety with bruiser builds." These changes will play out over the remainder of the standalone season, which runs until January 20.


In a first for the world of Albion, Uncle Frost now appears as a boss in certain rare dungeons! Group and solo Keeper Randomized Dungeons in all zones have a chance to end in a special Yuletide Dungeon, where you'll face off against this mysterious foe. Beat him to unlock Christmas-themed loot, including a chance at holiday-themed mount skins.

Also with today's patch, a new Adventurer Avatar is available at the Vanity Merchant. This new item joins the Adventurer Avatar Ring in a growing list of vanity items – trade in unclaimed Adventurer's Challenge Avatar Rings for Adventurer Tokens to unlock these new items!

For a complete list of changes, please see the official changelog.

[/h1]I'm neither king nor commander, but I've seen my share of battles. I've faced everything from Hellgate demons to a pack of angry marmots, and traveled far and wide across the wilds of Albion. I thought I'd seen everything the Outlands could throw at me... but it looks like the untamed north still has a few surprises.

My crew were on our way back from a dungeon run, loaded up with a haul of loot that was sure to fetch a nice handful (or ten) of silver, when we stumbled upon something strange: a big hole in the ground, so deep we couldn't see the bottom of it and lit up with a strange glow. I knew the color: crystal energy, bright and blue as the sky! We approached carefully, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so we decided to get our haul back to town and return with a bigger crew.

The next day, we put on our best fighting gear and headed back through the portal, ready for anything. As we approached the site, we felt a strange rumbling: probably Keeper brutes guarding their territory, we thought, or perhaps Heretics mining the crystals for themselves - nothing we couldn't take care of.

Then we saw it.

Like something out of a dream it was: a human figure, massive, dressed all in white. Its feet floated above the ground, and its face was hidden behind an expressionless mask of gold. It was controlling a device beyond description: a great machine of spheres within spheres, which rotated of their own accord to draw the precious energy from the earth below.

We drew our weapons and set upon the being – and it unleashed attacks the likes of which we'd never seen. It wielded no weapon, but cast mighty beams of energy at us through its hands. We fought with all we had, and though several of our group fell, we finally managed to deliver the killing blow.

It died like no being I've ever seen, floating upward and disappearing into a blinding white light. Where it had stood, a strange glowing energy remained – not blue, but pure white. We took the strange substance and rode back to Caerleon to lick our wounds, repair our weapons, and see what we could make of the stuff.


We brought the glowing canister to the old alchemist, who immediately set out to learn more about it. He might be a crazy old loon, but he's thorough. He held the canister up and gave it a shake, and then, muttering something under his breath, wandered off to speak to the Energy Manipulator.

All night, strange flashes of light emanated from his hut, accompanied by alarming sounds ranging from explosions to beastly roars. When morning came, he emerged at last, and declared his experiments a success. What strange wonders had he created, we asked, from this otherworldly material?

First, he said, try a bite of these, and handed out various foods. I hadn't yet had breakfast, so I took a bowl of stew, and my mate grabbed his favorite, a beef sandwich. With each bite, we felt a strange power surge within us, and soon enough we were riding through the wilds, slaying Morgana, Undead, and Heretics alike.

When the effects wore off, we returned to the old alchemist, who was ready to show off his next achievement. Take these, he said, and see what they can do. He handed us tools, which glowed with the same unearthly light. We set out again, me heading for a patch of Skyflower, my mate laying into a herd of wild beasts and harvesting their pelts. We returned to town heavy with the spoils of our labor, and after visiting the Marketplace to hawk our haul, we went back to the old Alchemist.



Come, he said, smiling impishly, I have one more thing to show you. He led us to the Energy Manipulator, where we saw a veteran adventurer named Motown of the guild Dark-Force, holding a Swamp Dragon by its leather leash. Are you ready? she asked. We nodded, and the Energy Manipulator tipped a massive jar of the stuff into the beast's mouth.

It roared – not in pain, but as if with a great surge of power. And then, right before our eyes, it began to transform. It reared up, its eyes glowing, and great crystal spikes emerged from its body. The creature that stood before us was like nothing I'd ever set eyes on.

Behold, she said, a new lifeform, never before seen in Albion. As Motown rode off on his new creation, the Energy Manipulator regarded us and said: care to make one of your own?

***

Stay tuned for more Outlands Reports in the coming weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOYRjRICFEQ
A fearsome new presence has appeared in the Outlands: the Avalonians. This ancient order from Albion's past has returned to reclaim their land, using a mysterious energy drawn from deep in the earth. While their ultimate plan is unknown, it will have world-altering consequences for Albion.

The Avalonian forces stalking the Outlands are currently limited... but as the season proceeds, they are sure to increase not only in number, but also in variety. Prepare yourself for a battle that will alter the very foundations of the world of Albion.
The mysterious energy harvested by the Avalonians gives them near-divine powers. Defeat Avalonian mobs and world bosses to claim this energy for yourself, and then bring it to the Energy Manipulator in any of the Royal Cities to enhance various foods and tools or create an all-new mount. Avalonian foods combine meat-based stews and sandwiches with Avalonian Energy to add one additional stat that varies depending on the food. Avalonian tools give improved gathering yields for all resources, including fish. And finally, combine a Saddled Swamp Dragon with enough Avalonian Energy to produce the fearsome Avalonian Basilisk, a fast, strong mount with a powerful electric discharge spell that reduces enemies' attack and move speed.


This season, your guild will have a new way to earn season points: by taking down Avalonian Mage World Bosses. These mysterious members of the Avalonian order have harnessed energy into powerful beam attacks that deal massive damage. These bosses appear on the world map, and can be killed for Season Points starting with the beginning of the season on Saturday, November 16. (Recommended for groups of 10.)


A unique season deserves unique rewards. The higher your guild ranks, the better the rewards - check out what you can earn:

• Crystal Rank: Avalonian Avatar + all following rewards
• Gold Rank: Avalonian Avatar Ring + all following rewards
• Silver Rank: Small Caerleon Realmgate Furniture Object + all following rewards
• Bronze Rank: Outlands Map Carpet + all following rewards
• Iron Rank: Pile of Tomes

Additionally, guilds that finish in first, second or third place overall will be immortalized in a one-off memorial statue in Caerleon. This statue will not be part of Conquerors' Hall, and will instead appear in a unique location of significance. And as always, the first-place season winner will have a crystal ornament added to their guild logo.

Read the full Patch 10 changelog here: https://albiononline.com/en/changelog/PERCIVAL%20PATCH%2010

The new Outlands map coming with the Queen update will bring open-world territory fights to Guild Seasons. A major part of this new territory control system is zerg debuffs, which will cause allied groups larger than a designated size to be less powerful, with the debuff increasing the larger the group gets. We've been hard at work on this system, and we already plan on introducing it with the new season on November 13.

For the most up-to-date information on zerg debuffs from our development team, see the post on our forums.


Additionally, we are planning to deploy another new feature with this standalone season: alliance point sharing. Under this system, season points scored by a guild will be split between the guild and their alliance, with the alliance's share distributed between all guilds in the alliance. For more details and the most up-to-date information about alliance point sharing, please see this forum post.

We look forward to seeing how this affects the game in the upcoming standalone Season and we look forward to your feedback!

Allhallows is in full swing, and the mysterious new standalone event season starts November 13. That can only mean one thing: it's time for a Fame Boost!

Here's everything you need to know:

• Starting with maintenance on Monday, November 4, the Mists of Albion buff will be automatically enabled for all players
• Automatically grants an additional 25% Fame for all activities
• Excludes PvP Fame and Fame earned from Tomes
• Ends at maintenance on Monday, November 11

Don't miss out on this opportunity to prepare for the upcoming season, unlock new gathering and crafting tiers, and raise your combat specs sky-high!

Allhallows is already in full swing, and November has arrived - it's time for the next Adventurer's Challenge! For all of November, the Grim Challenge lets you earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your own Pest Lizard. We've also introduced Adventurer's Tokens, which let you trade in unclaimed Avatar Ring unlock items for a selection of new rings. Read on for all the details!






Since adventurers who took part in last year's Grim Challenge may have already unlocked this month's Avatar Ring, we've given all players the option to trade in Avatar Rings that have not yet been unlocked for Adventurer's Tokens at the Vanity Merchant. Here's how it works:

• Players can now trade in Adventurer's Challenge avatar border unlock items at the Vanity Merchant to receive an Adventurer's Token
• Each border gives one Adventurer's Token, which is bound to the same character
• The first item available for tokens will be a new Adventurer's Avatar Border, which will cost 2 tokens and also be bound to your character
• Additional new items purchasable for tokens will be introduced in the coming months

Log in, head out into the open world, and unlock these fabulous prizes - and don't forget about the week-long Fame Boost running November 4-11!

Laborers can now be converted into Laborer Contracts. This allows laborers to be moved between buildings and zones, as well as to be bought and sold via the Marketplace. NOTE: contracts will allow you to move, sell or trade the laborer at its current tier, but converting a laborer into a contract will cause it to lose its progress toward the next tier, as well as any journals in progress and unclaimed resources.

For more details about Laborer Contracts, please see this forum post.

Cursed Staffs

• Cataclysm (Damnation Staff):
  • Damage per Tick: 27 → 18
  • Tick Interval: 0.5s → 1s

• The Tier 3 Lumbermill will no longer wrongly offer an option to transmute Tier 3 wood
• Enchanted Quiver maximum stack debuff can now be cleansed as intended
• Fixed audio for Heretic Cart

It did not take Money Guild long to take care of business and put together an alliance capable of dominating season 7, and delivering a third gem to the crown of King Derrick. Lord of Mercia. Early pretenders to the throne Guerreros and Black Order were quickly dealt with and sent to fight with Money Guild's lessers, as one of the many guilds who would push and shove for position at the feet of the King of Mercia. Through the first half of the season OOPS dominated all aspects of season warfare, and Money guild reaped the rewards, easily securing its position as number one. Second place was the best any guild could hope for.

Then, like an alliance tag at the end of the season, things began to change. June, the 158th ranked guild at the end of Season 6, began to beat Money Guild in 5v5 GvGs on a daily basis. Often the two teams would trade matches back and forth throughout the day. While this had little effect on Money Guild's position in the Season Rankings, it did strengthen the will of June, who after leaving the faltering WIN alliance created their own alliance, Daddy, and vowed to invite only good guilds. This vow was recognized as a fact that went undisputed throughout the lands of Albion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=JGX2E8B8FU8
With only good guilds in under the Daddy banner, June began rising up the ranks, from the relative obscurity of just the guys who were once in U12, to being known as June, The Guild That Has Some Dudes from Grey, and runs Daddy, an alliance of only “Good Guilds”.  They were able to secure second place in the rankings shortly after the first invasion, passing Black Order, the Russian guild formed by former members of... Russian Guild. 

For a short time it looked as if Black Order would be a contender if not for first place, certainly for second. However, as the weeks passed, no other guilds (not even one led by a powerful alpha player like EmiyaShiro) could keep up with the frantic pace set by Money Guild and June.

The two guilds battled it out relentlessly day after day in GvGs, pushing each other to over fifteen 5v5 matches a day – over three times that of any other guild. However, no matter how many matches June won, it was unable to compete with the OOPS alliance consistently in ZvZ battles. In the closed arenas of 5v5 combat June had proven itself the equal of Money Guild, but as leaders of an alliance they faltered, and were soundly defeated by the combined efforts of OOPS, led primarily by the newest iteration of TC, Take Care.

TC was able to pull huge numbers of strong players to overworld battles and was able to easily control Mercia on invasion days, as well as capturing and holding castles with ease. All Money Guild had to do was GvG 1PG for territory, absorb an all-too-willing Scelti, and Derrick would control Mercia and receive a well-deserved third gem for his crown.

However, midway through the season there began to be rumors of an uprising. Word was spreading that many of the enemies of Money Guild, both past and present, intended to join forces with June and boost them in an effort to force an epic showdown with Money Guild at the end of the season. With Money Guild far out in front of June this seemed an impossibility, a challenge far greater than the men and women who chose to take it up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEWciwdik_A
With less than half the season left to push for points, the combined forces of SQUAD, LIFE, and whatever alliance Skuzkabel was leading at the time joined Daddy, allowing that some (for the first time) became known as good guilds. They also started fighting like hell to make up for Money Guild's enormous point lead. With a significant numbers advantage, determination, and an unreasonable amount of belief, Daddy went to work closing the gap.

Each day saw June inch closer and closer, and by the second Invasion Day it looked like June may be able to pull off the unthinkable by the end of the season. Then, during invasion day, Money Guild made a choice that may have cost them their third gem. Instead of defending Mercia and taking the towers located within their own empire, OOPS instead ventured into Siluria and stole June's high-level towers, leaving much of Mercia to fall uncontested. The belief being that Mages were too hard to defend, and that more points could be gained raiding Mercia mages and winning Crystal Realm Battles from high-ranked towers, than could be gained by once again holding Mercia.

This strategy failed in epic fashion as Daddy chose to defend its mages all hours of the day, refusing to let them fall uncontested. Within hours, huge amounts of season points began pouring into June, and without their empire Money Guild had no way to gain enough points to keep up. Within three days, June passed Money Guild and established a point pace that broke the will of their enemy.

Derrick, King of Mercia, Lord of the Red Banner, High Masters of The Retry, offered his concession in a well-written and humbly submitted post.  With the season victor decided and little of consequence to fight for in the world around them, both mighty alliances began to fight amongst themselves. June, no longer believing that Daddy consisted of only good guilds, disbanded the alliance and joined SQUAD in an effort to remain relevant beyond season end. OOPS began shedding guilds as well, with prominent members Scelti and Take Care splitting off to create their own alliance. There are rumors floating about that the legendary Money Guild may even disband OOPS and create a new alliance, or perhaps even join another.

June's rise to power and battle for first place this season was as meteoric as it was unexpected. They took on a mighty power and won a battle nobody thought was worth fighting. Through the use of diplomacy as well as skill on the battlefield, June bested a legend, securing their own place in the history of Albion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSsJFUaklhc
Strange rumblings can be felt in the Outlands, as if the land itself were preparing to give way. The upcoming season brings whispers of a new, rising threat... and unknown treasures to be claimed.

Wondering what it all means? Read on for more details...

On November 13, a unique event season begins, with all-new conflicts, incredible rewards, and an upheaval that will alter the very foundations of the world of Albion. More will be revealed as the season proceeds, but here's what we can tell you for now:

The remaining dates for the season will be announced on November 13. The season ends on January 20, 2020 and will be followed by the Queen update. Until then, get ready for a whole new Albion experience – and be sure not to miss out on the week-long Fame Boost happening November 4-11!

As this is a one-of-a-kind, standalone season, it comes with some unique rewards for ranking guilds, as well as the top three guilds overall:

• Crystal Rank: Unique Avatar (+ all following rewards)
• Gold Rank: Caerleon Gate Avatar Frame (+ all following rewards)
• Silver Rank: Small Caerleon Realmgate Furniture Object (+ all following rewards)
• Bronze Rank: Outlands Map Carpet (+ Iron Rank reward)
• Iron Rank: Pile of Tomes
• 1st - 3rd Place: Inclusion in a memorial statue in Caerleon

As you might guess from the teaser above, there will be many more surprises coming... but you'll have to wait until November 13 to learn their true nature. Get ready for a season event the likes of which has never been seen in the world of Albion!