Albion's eighth Guild Season starts on Saturday, February 1. As always, guilds that reach a high enough rank can claim an avatar, avatar ring, and an incredible mount: the massive Behemoth!



As this mount is still a work in progress, its exact stats, abilities, and appearance are not final. We can tell you it will have various delayed long-range attacks that are especially helpful when fighting over a specific spot, plus utility abilities to support foot soldiers. This mount will be awarded to guilds who reach Silver Rank or higher during Season 8, with increasingly higher stats (and increasingly epic appearances) with each successive tier.

The winning guild will receive a statue among the past Guild Season winners in Conquerors' Hall, which can now be accessed via all major cities. As always, the second- and third-place winners' guild banners will be on display as well. Stop by and pay your respects to all the past winners on your way to the Outlands!



Numerous changes are coming with Season 8, including open-world territory control, the new Crystal League, Smart Cluster Queues and Zerg Debuffs. We will soon be releasing a comprehensive guide to the new territory control system, so stay tuned - and be sure to tune in to AlbionTV on Saturday, February 1 when all the Invasion Day action goes down!

If you've been following my reports from the last few months, you know it's been quite a go for us Outlands folk. First there were rumors something was awakening, followed by the appearance of a mysterious and powerful enemy force. These foes were tricky to take down, but it was possible, and sometimes they even dropped strange glowing energy – lucrative loot for those with the will to get it.

Soon, though, things took a darker turn. New enemies appeared, with some of the bolder ones even entering our Territories. Whispered rumors claimed this growing force was some sort of ancient army, whose home was none other than the mythical Avalon. But that was surely just a rumor, right?

Well, soon enough we were given new reason to worry: immense creatures powered by some arcane magic appeared, disturbingly close to the portals we used to travel between the Outlands and Royal Continent. Whatever they were planning, it did not bode well for us.

Each day, their attacks became bolder, and the rumblings and quakings in the Outlands grew stronger. Word began to spread through the pubs and back alleys of Caerleon that the Baron, AKA the Don – the underworld boss who founded and ran Caerleon's Black Market with an iron fist – was planning a large-scale defense of the city. But even with our numbers, could we stand against a seemingly unstoppable force?
That morning, the air in Caerleon felt strange; almost electric. It's hard to say exactly what it was, but something in my bones told me it would be a day like no other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t184VajpRKY
(video by Equart - check out his channel here and be sure to subscribe!)

I set out toward the Marketplace, and was just about to duck underground to check on my wares when, all of a sudden, a crowd goes running past toward the Realmgate. Cries rose from all sides, and among the cacophony the message came through loud and clear: we are under attack.

I grabbed Handsome Jim and ran with the crowd toward the Realmgate. We stepped through the shimmering red portal, and there it was: one of those beastly Constructs, stomping right toward us! We raised our weapons and ran at it, and though many fell, we were able to take it down. No sooner had it fallen, though, than we got word there were others at the other Caerleon portals, all angling to make their way through.

I can't say how long we fought them that day, steel crashing against the metal of the machines, but finally one made its way right up to the portal, and began to step through. Caerleon would fall! With all our strength, we fought and fought, and finally felled the foul thing. With a final burst of energy, it unleashed a mighty explosion that people on both sides of the Realmgate flying.

When I came to, I couldn't believe my eyes: the Realmgate was shattered, its magic gone. Caerleon was connected to the Outlands no more.
Who would have thought, just mere months ago, that not only our way of life but our very existence too would be under threat? I'd never trusted that shady old Baron, perched up on his fancy throne as if he were the king himself. Sure, I've sold my share of loot to him and his brutes, and made some good silver doing it – but I always had the feeling that, in a pinch, he would just as soon watch Caerleon burn as save it. Criminals thrive on chaos, and the past few months have seen their fair share.

I have to give him credit, though: he saw this coming, and he was ready. Chaos is one thing, but the complete destruction of Caerleon - well, that could be a blow to his business from which he might never recover. The gear he provided to our ragtag army helped save the city, and that I'll never forget. On the other hand, though, there are also rumors he may have been the one who blew up the Realmgate – the ruins show cracks and blast marks beyond what should have been made by that automaton's explosion. Why? We'll never know for sure, but if he saw this coming, perhaps he sees something else in the future known only to him...

A makeshift sort of memorial sprung up to the Realmgate, and to all who fought and fell. Word has been spreading that Varl the Stonemason, one of our most skilled sculptors, will be creating a sculpture soon which will be a proper tribute to the guilds who contributed the most to subduing the Avalonian scourge.



Despite all that's changed, Caerleon remains at the center of everything. Apart from the Black Market, and it's still a big transport hub, with fast connections to all five other Royal cities. And some of my associates in the local crafting and refining scene have reported they've been able to create more product for the same amount of material – perhaps some residual magic from those strange Avalonians.

The Outlands been remade in the image of old Avalon. The Royal Continent, too, has changed: Caerleon is no longer a bridge between lands, but with the survival of the Black Market and its newfound crafting and refining prowess, perhaps it will keep its place as the hub of the wheel.

And the Outlands? The Avalonians have torn them apart with their strange, terrible magic, and remade them in the image of old Avalon. They have gone back underground to their ancient vaults, though some entrances to these can be found throughout the wilds. Perhaps if we gather up a large enough group, we can take the battle to them, and claim some sort of revenge for the havoc they have brought to our lands... and perhaps we will even claim not only their energy, but pieces of their armor and magic for ourselves.

One thing is certain: change has come to Caerleon and the Outlands. We can either fail to adapt and become relics of the past, or we can embrace it and claim the future for ourselves. I choose the latter.

That's all you'll hear from me for now – perhaps we'll meet again in the Outlands.

Queen, Albion Online's biggest and most ambitious content update, is now live! A big update needs a big trailer, so here it is. Hear firsthand from our development team as they discuss how Queen brings Albion Online one step closer to being the ultimate sandbox MMO.

As part of the transition into this new era for the game, we're also introducing several new offers for loyal players and making some adjustments to Premium status - you can find all the details below.

Watch the new trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW_oM4J0HO8
For more details of the major features Queen brings to the game, check the official update page.

You can find detailed descriptions of each feature, along with changes and fixes, in the official patch notes.

For those of you who have not yet made a real-money purchase in our shop, we are happy to now offer the Premium Promo Pack with fantastic bonus items. This pack costs only USD $9.95 (USD $11.95 after January 29), and includes the following:

• 30 Days of Premium
• 1,000 Gold
• Keeper Horse Mount Skin

This special offer is only available through the ingame store, so log in now and pick up a great deal! This pack is available until February 17, 2020 at 10:00 UTC so act now.

On Wednesday, January 29, the following new prices will apply to Premium.

You can find background information on the price change here.

All existing recurring subscriptions, as well as those purchased before January 29 at 10:00 UTC, will continue to auto-renew at the old price. You can still benefit from this right now if you buy a new subscription before that date. 

PLEASE NOTE: recurring subscriptions currently do not work when buying directly through Steam. However, there is an easy way for Steam users also get the lower prices. See our guide here.

With the Queen update, the world of Albion has forever changed. Play now to experience it for yourself!

The Queen update arrives on January 20, bringing a huge number of new features. One of the biggest and most anticipated of these is Hideouts. In our newest Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys covers what Hideouts are, how they work, and the range of new opportunities they open up for Albion's guilds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTWYIXPgtLI
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Read on for more info. For specifics of placement, upgrading, and attacking Hideouts, see this forum post.

Hideouts are structures that guilds can place in the Outlands. Members of the guild (and those they grant access to) can enter it and use its facilities. Hideouts offer guilds a home away from the crowds of the big cities and allow them to live in the wilds of Albion.

Placing a Hideout requires a Hideout Construction Kit. These are crafted at the Toolmaker and cost 10 million Silver, plus significant stone and wood and siphoned energy. They are quite heavy, so transporting them requires a sturdy mount.

The construction kit must then be transported to wherever you want to place it. There are various rules about placement: for example, Hideouts cannot be placed too close to other Hideouts or to entrances of major dungeons. Think about your guild's needs: if you do a lot of crafting, you'll want to consider the new regional crafting bonuses based on biome and proximity to the center of the Outlands. Alternately, it may be more important for you to be in a particular spot for strategic reasons. Finally, keep in mind that Hideouts can only be placed during the cluster's battle time displayed on the cluster map.

If all these criteria are met, you can simply place the Hideout, which only takes a moment. After 24 hours, your Hideout will become fully operational.

From there you can upgrade for additional silver and resources if you desire additional building space or features like a guild marketplace. Whatever your Hideout level, remember to regularly supply it with food so it remains operational.

Building a Hideout is fairly straightforward. However, everything in Albion comes with a risk - in this case, other players. Successfully building and maintaining a Hideout requires defending it from attacks.

Hideouts are only susceptible to attack at certain times. During construction, it will be vulnerable twice: once immediately after placement for 20 minutes and a second time during the last 20 minutes of construction. Make sure your guild is ready to protect the Hideout at these times, as any attacker determined enough will be able to attack the structure with siege hammers.

Once construction is finished, it will be even more secure. A completed Hideout can only be attacked during the first 20 minutes of the cluster's battle time, and only by the owner of the territory within the same cluster after paying the required attack cost.

During this period, the Hideout can be attacked with siege hammers but slowly regains durability. Should its durability be reduced to zero, all is not lost: Hideouts have a number of defense points, and as long as any remain, the Hideout will not be destroyed. A maximum of 1 defense point can be lost per battle, and if the defenders manage to prevent their Hideout from losing a defense point in any given battle, all defense points are restored and any would-be attacker will have to start over the next day.

Though Hideouts are hard to take down, you may still face an aggressor you'd prefer not to fight. In that case, you can try convincing them to tolerate your Hideout by paying a tribute. The tribute system allows you to set a silver sum that will be transferred daily to the guild controlling the local watchtower. Territory owners will think hard about whether to go through the arduous process of destroying Hideouts versus simply collecting taxes.

Should diplomacy fail and all your defense points be lost, your Hideout will be destroyed. All contents of the Hideout are lost, except items in players' personal banks, which are transferred to the closest public bank. It takes 4 weeks for these items to become claimable and claiming them requires paying a fee, but this is much better than losing a prized collectible permanently!

Hideouts allow your guild to build a permanent home in the Outlands, which can be upgraded from a small base to a massive underground operation. Your crafters can benefit from regional crafting bonuses, and your fighters can use it to store gear and respawn. You can build a flourishing guild economy with your own guild marketplace, and use your Hideout to access Crystal Realm Battles and Expeditions. You can even open your Hideout to other players and establish your own trading post!

Whether you use your Hideout for conquest or to build up an economic powerhouse, we're really excited to see what you do with this feature.

That's all for today - stay tuned for more Dev Talks, and we'll see you ingame when Queen goes live on January 20!

Over the past several months, the Avalonian Invasion has grown more and more deadly: new enemies (including strange statues and machines) are stalking the Outlands, threatening to tear the land itself apart. And now they have their sights focused on the crown jewel of the Royal Continent: Caerleon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfzjWe1AGBE
Only one man stands in their way: the mysterious Baron of Caerleon, also known as "The Don", the underworld boss who runs the Black Market. His economic fortunes are intertwined with those of Caerleon, and he won't let the city fall without a fight.

But the Avalonians are no ordinary enemy - and their near-limitless power may allow them to rupture the magical fabric of the Caerleon Realmgate and invade the city itself.



On Sunday, January 19, the Battle for Caerleon will take place.

Starting at 21:00 UTC, the first wave of invaders will attempt to breach one of the Caerleon Outland Portals. Attacks on other Caerleon Portals, escalating in intensity, will follow (keep an eye on in-game chat announcements for details). The Baron of Caerleon will supply players with limited free gear sets in order to defend the city.

At 10:00 UTC on Monday, January 20, the game will go down for its final maintenance before the Queen update. When Queen goes live, Caerleon - and the Outlands - will be forever changed.

Join the fight to defend Caerleon and be a part of this historic battle!

(For important information about player and item migration once Queen goes live, as well as amnesty for players with low reputations, please see this article.)

It's been a wild few months: new enemies all over the Outlands, stomping and strutting all over folks' territories and causing all sorts of mayhem. We Outlands types are nothing if not adaptable, and we've made do, even if we do have to gear a bit differently or run for it when we're overwhelmed – or even, in my case, start traveling with Handsome Jim's much-less-handsome (and decidedly worse-smelling) brother, Smuggler Pete. Pete knows his way around a warbow for sure, and also knows how to loot and gather the good stuff and get it back to Caerleon without anyone lifting it off him.

Me, Jim and Pete were heading back from a particularly good Morgana lair, heavy with loot and artifacts and some sparkly enchanted hides we'd gathered along the way, when one of those flying spheres comes barrelling at us. We dodge out of the way handily and land a few blows, and the thing flies into pieces. No trouble there. So we round the hill, and there's another, flying right into Jim and knocking the wind out of him. This one gives us a bit more trouble, but we dispatch it and head on our way.

Then another, and another... and another! Soon we saw the source: a big hulking statue, made of some sort of white metal, spitting the things out one after another. We braced for a fight, swigged our potions, and laid into it.



With a flood of the little round guys to deal with on top of this tough-as-nails statue thing, we settled in for a longer fight. We had to manage our energy, hit the thing when we could, and protect ourselves from the swarm. Finally, after an intense few minutes, the thing collapsed into pieces, and we raided its remains for that sweet glowing energy.
Spoils of war in hand, we made our way through the wilds of Mercia and back toward the portal. Beneath the clip-clop of my horse's hooves, I thought I could hear some sort of deeper sound – like a steady booming – but I dismissed it as the result of one too many knocks to the head in our fight with the statue.

Soon it got louder, to the point that even Pete, who's deaf in one ear and half-deaf in the other, could hear it. We hopped off our mounts, and we could feel it in our bones – boom, boom, boom. This was something new. We drew our weapons and peered from the trees into the clearing, and once again, had no words for what we were seeing.



It was some sort of machine, powered by magic, huge and lumbering, stomping around like it owned the place. Say what you will about those creepy mages, at least they stick to guarding their energy crystals. But this thing... it was just wandering, looking for a fight. Almost as if it were scouting.

We kept our distance and managed to give the big, stomping lunk the slip by taking a wide route around it, and soon enough we were back at the Caerleon portal. But as I stepped through the shimmering ring and onto the hard stone of the Caerleon streets, the sense of safety and well-being I usually felt was gone. In its place was a new unease. No, stronger: a tremendous sense of foreboding, as if Caerleon itself were under threat.

Since then, we've heard reports of these things all over the Outlands. Folks say the ones in Mercia are especially aggressive – almost as if they're on the lookout for weaknesses. I fear this will come to a head soon. How can we hold back a force of such mindless might, such unceasing energy?

***

Stay tuned for the final Outlands Report in the coming weeks.

Queen is coming! This update brings a complete rework of the Outlands continent along with fully revamped open-world territory control. Hideouts let guilds place their own bases in the open world, and the new Crystal League allows players of all levels to participate in 5v5 battles. This update also introduces a new elite faction to the game: the Avalonians. Found in the new Elite Randomized Dungeons, the Avalonians offer incredible rewards to those who can best them, including week-long PvE Fame buffs and new Artifact Armors. And on top of all this, Queen also brings a huge number of quality-of-life improvements to streamline and strengthen numerous aspects of the game.


Queen brings a complete rework of the Outlands, allowing guilds of different strengths to compete at their own levels and fulfilling the next major milestone in Albion Online's journey to become the ultimate sandbox MMO. Hideouts allow guilds to build their own underground bases in the open world, and open-world battles bring new opportunities for large-scale combat.

Together, these massive new systems allow every guild member to contribute to their guild's strength and progress. And the new Crystal League system allows players of all levels to engage in 5v5 combat, with elite players able to unlock tremendous rewards for their guilds.


Queen brings a completely new faction, the ancient and powerful Avalonians, to the world of Albion. These elite enemies can be challenged in Elite Randomized Dungeons that appear throughout the Outlands, providing a high-level challenge to groups of 15-20 players, and offering incredible rewards like week-long PvE Fame buffs and shards that can be crafted into the most powerful Artifact Armor in the game.


Along with a huge new Wardrobe Skin system, Queen brings numerous additional features and improvements to the game, such as:

• Enchanted stone with improved refining efficiency
• New cursors for improved visibility
• Keyboard shortcut to inspect players
• Simplified and streamlined Item Power progression
• Updated World Boss icons
• ...and much, much more

For a complete rundown of everything coming with this massive content update, please visit the official update page.

Saturday marks the third Territory Reset Day of the Avalonian Invasion Standalone Season, with Season Points earned by guilds doubled. The next Territory Reset Day follows just one week later, and will be the final day of traditional GvGs in Albion.

In addition to the Avalonian Mage world bosses, which will continue to give Season Points, a new type of Avalonian world boss will appear in the Outlands. These fearsome and mysterious creations will appear at random throughout the Outlands, spawn approximately every 5 hours, are suited for groups of 10-20, and give Season Points as follows:

• Anglia and Glouvia: 80 Season Points
• Cumbria and Siluria: 112 Season Points
• Mercia: 144 Season Points

Here's a list of all the remaining dates for the season:

Saturday marks the beginning of the end of the Outlands as we know them. Get ready for a new challenge, and be sure to watch all the action live on AlbionTV!

Happy New Year, Adventurers! Start the year off right with the return of the Frost Challenge – earn Challenge Points, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Frost Ram.


FROST RAM: This month's Challenge brings back the popular Frost Ram, a sturdy mount with an impressive leap spell. With its relatively fast move speed and ability to carry plenty of weight, it's the perfect companion for gathering missions.

AVATAR RING: Along with the Frost Ram, you can unlock the Frost Challenge Avatar Ring to give your avatar an ice-cold aura all year long. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or it can be traded for one Adventurer's Token at the Vanity Merchant.

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month, unlock Frost Challenge chests to get valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver bags, along with two unique ice sculptures and the classic Rich Noble's costume set.
 
Log in now and start gathering, fishing, farming, and killing monsters to earn Challenge Points and unlock your rewards!

As the year and decade draw to a close, we take a look back on what happened in the world of Albion in 2019. From Randomized Dungeons to ingame events and special seasons, it was a big year for the game - and with the biggest update since launch coming in January, there's lots more to look forward to. Here's a rundown of the major happenings of the past 12 months:
With the Oberon update in March 2019, a major new feature arrived in Albion: Randomized Dungeons. This massive new system gave a massive boost to small-group PvE all across Albion, with entrances appearing throughout the open world, leading to randomly-generated faction dungeons with different layouts, bosses, and loot with every run.



The Percival update advanced this feature further, bringing Solo Randomized Dungeons to fill a long-requested need for engaging solo PvE. With both solo and group versions of the feature in place, and the ability to spawn different types of entrances at random throughout the open world, the groundwork was laid for new dungeon types and limited-time events, which first appeared during October's Allhallows event (see below).

In addition to the massive Randomized Dungeons co-feature split across these two updates, they also brought numerous changes and improvements:

• Oberon: rebalanced gear unlocks, improved tutorial, improved crafting and creature resource gathering times, numerous UI improvements
• Percival: massive quality-of-life improvements including expandable bank tabs, new spells and abilities, improved chat channels, character customizations, and mount skins

On April 10, 2019, Albion Online became entirely free to download and play. Tens of thousands of new players flooded into the game, necessitating a queue system, an expansion of the Outlands, and an ongoing series of optimizations to server performance.



As new players made it past the early-tier bottleneck, the gameworld became more lively and action-filled than ever, with full cities, constant Hellgate, Arena, and Dungeon parties, and an explosion of new guilds and alliances. The veteran Albion Online community stepped up, offering a hand up to new players via ingame chat, the forums, Discord, and numerous video tutorials.
On July 17, Albion turned two years old. In this article, we looked back on some of the major events of the game's second year, from the introduction of Guild Season Rewards and the Adventurer's Challenge to the new Crystal Realm to customization options, and took a look forward to the game's third year. Additionally, in conjunction with the anniversary celebrations, the Albion Online Soundtrack was officially released.



Following the anniversary celebration, the Allhallows event brought a Halloween-themed dungeon with a unique boss, a white-knuckle death race with fabulous prizes for those who survived, along with spooky decorations, forum contests, and more. And the currently-running Yuletide event brings Uncle Frost himself to rare dungeons, along with a week-long Fame Boost and festive rewards.
Last fall, a previously unknown force was first introduced via a mysterious trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSsJFUaklhc
Then, on November 13, the Avalonian Invasion began. Consisting of a Standalone Event Guild Season between Guild Seasons 7 and 8, this one-of-a-kind event shook up the regular season schedule formula, lasting just over 2 months but containing 10 territory resets. The story of the Avalonians was gradually revealed through a series of videos, with the origins and intentions of this ancient order gradually taking shape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J4Xyk_FPt4
Along with this surprising schedule, the Avalonians themselves began to appear in the Outlands, first as mere scouts (Acolytes and Archers), then as increasingly hostile Drones, Pikemen, and Winged Guardians. Avalonian World Bosses also appeared, offering season points that increased with the Outlands level to guilds who could take them down. And with the territory reset on December 7, Phase 2 began, with Avalonians replacing territory guards and making guilds further adjust their open-world strategies.

The Avalonian invasion continues right up until the launch of Queen in January. What further developments might threaten the safety of Albion's adventurers, and the stability of the Outlands themselves?


January brings Albion's biggest content update since the launch of the game in 2017: Queen. This update is nothing less than a total revisioning of Albion's endgame experience, centered around a complete rework of the Outlands, along with massive new systems including Guild Hideouts, Elite Avalonian Dungeons, open-world battles for territory control, the Crystal League, and much more. The entire team has spent the last few months entirely focused on the launch of the Queen update, and we can't wait to share it with our community in January.

Here's looking forward to an exciting new year 2020 for Albion Online and our wonderful community!

- Your Albion Online Team