The next major content update for Albion Online, Rise of Avalon, will arrive in August (watch the new teaser trailer for the update here). In our newest Dev Talk, Combat Designer Michael Schwahn discusses the all-new Avalonian Weapon lines that are coming to the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBkTCxPu5sg
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Read on...

• Albion Online's first major weapon expansion since the release of Level 3 artifacts
• The weapon lines were first conceived when we began designing the Avalonian faction
• Includes 15 artifact weapons (one for each weapon family) and 3 offhands
• Each item will be available from T4 to T8, for a total of 90 new weapon models
• Will completely shift the meta

But how exactly will they change the meta, and who are they for? First off, unlike Level 3 Artifacts, Avalonian Weapons are useful for a wide variety of applications and situations, from solo play to small-group PvP to large battles. The weapons will come with a wide variety of exciting new mechanics that will keep combat in Albion fresh and unpredictable.



Let's take a look at some examples:

1. Lucent Hawk (Bow)

Upon activation, you can shoot up to four high-impact, long-range skillshots in a row. You only have a short time window between each shot to fire the next arrow. This ability temporarily turns you into a deadly sniper, but you'll have to be very careful to not get interrupted, or you'll lose the remaining shots.

2. Majestic Smash (Two-Handed Sword)
Next we have the two handed sword, the Kingmaker. Its ability lets you swing your blade and knock all enemies around you into the air, then follow with a heavy vertical attack which deals massive damage along a line. If you're correctly positioned when using this ability, you'll be rewarded by hitting multiple targets with it, dealing tons of extra damage on top of the CC effects.

3. Inner Shadow (Cursed Staff)
This ability can be cast on any player (ally or enemy). It draws a shadow ghost out of the player, which inflicts an AoE attack. The type of shadow depends on the armor of the target:

• Cloth Armor: summons a mage shadow which creates a lightning area that deals damage
• Leather Armor: shadow creates a life steal aura which heals the caster
• Plate Armor: summons a tank that slows enemies and shreds their armor after a short delay

Since the summoned shadow depends on the armor of the target and not the caster, it allows for a lot of versatility and interesting decision-making during combat.

4. Line Breaker (Spear)
The Avalonian Spear is a one-handed lance. After a short cast time, you charge at your enemies, during which you are unstoppable and immune to any kind of CC. When you hit an enemy, you purge all their buffs and deal a large amount of damage.

As this is a one-handed weapon, you can combine it with all sorts of offhands for different effects. In fact, many of the new weapons are one-handed to allow for more interesting offhand combinations on higher artifact gear.

5. Soul Link (Nature Staff)

This ability temporarily links two targets together. The effect of the link depends on the targets' alignments relative to the caster:

• 2 Allies: damage taken is now evenly shared between the two targets, and their healing received is also shared and amplified
• Ally / Enemy: some of the enemy’s Healing Received is stolen and transferred to the ally
• 2 Enemies: damage taken is evenly shared, and also amplified

As you can see, these unique new abilities bring exciting new opportunities to combat in Albion. Keep in mind these abilities are still in production, and the final behavior may still change during testing.


So how can you obtain these new weapons? The weapons can be crafted with the use of new Artifacts. In addition to being obtained directly, these artifacts can also be forged from Avalonian Shards.

Essentially, the crafting works just like with the Avalonian Armors. However, with the next update we will also increase the availability of Avalonian Shards, and you will be able to find Shards when exploring the upcoming Roads of Avalon.
With the Rise of Avalon update, we are splitting the Destiny Board artifact specialization nodes into one node per artifact. This applies to both combat and crafting. The Fame requirements will be adjusted so that each artifact specialization node levels at the same pace as a regular node.

All the existing Fame that players already have in their artifact specialization nodes will be evenly distributed into the specialization nodes for the individual items in that node. This means if you have the Artifact Sword Combat Specialist at level 70, the Fame of that node will then be split evenly into the three new specialization nodes for the individual items: Clarent Blade, Carving Sword, and Galatine Pair. The new node for the Avalonian Sword would start at zero.


In addition to these exciting new weapon lines coming with the next update, we are also adjusting the 1v1 combat balance for the new Corrupted Dungeons, which feature 1v1 PvP. We'll discuss these dungeons much more in-depth in an upcoming video.

That's all for today - thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more Dev Talks in the coming weeks!

It's official: the next major update for Albion Online, Rise of Avalon, will launch in August! Watch the teaser trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJh0W3_sIis
Here's short synopsis of some of the major features:
New weapons that use the long-dormant technologies of the mighty Avalonians will bring tremendous shifts to combat in Albion Online. From the fearsome Avalonian Cannon with its continually movable beam to the Avalonian Cursed Staff that summons an enemy's cursed inner spirit, these weapons will shake up Albion's combat meta and keep battles fresh, fun, and unpredictable.
Roads of Avalon are paths that have been hidden in the mists of Albion for millennia. This mystical new realm will soon be yours to explore, offering new wonders... and new dangers. In addition to creating unique and ever-changing connections throughout the world, they will be a source for valuable loot and resources for those willing to delve deep into the unknown. And for those looking to live outside the political sphere of the Outlands, the Roads of Avalon will even have spots where Hideouts can be constructed.
The sanctified Roads of Avalon will have their dark counterpart in the new Corrupted Dungeons, realms of darkness and fire brought forth by demonic forces. These new dungeons close once entered, offering a new type of single-player PvE experience. But beware: they can also be invaded by other players seeking to hunt down those facing the demons, leading to 1v1 PvP fights among demonic foes and hazards.

A whole series of Dev Talks on these new features are in the works, which we'll be releasing over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

As our Game Director discussed in our latest video, while we've been hard at work preparing new features, we've also been supporting and enriching the current Queen Update. Today' patch brings further adjustments and refinements to the Smart Cluster Queue system introduced with Queen, closing a loophole that allowed large armies to lock out smaller ones, alongside other fixes and improvements.

• Queue Removal Protection status: players removed from a zone now receive a protected status that allows them to wait for one queue cycle
• Early Retreat Debuff: players who enter via the queue and immediately leave now cannot re-queue for 10 minutes
• Queue Cycle Time: increased from 90 to 120 seconds

These changes are designed to better balance armies of different sizes, and to more effectively implement the goals of this system. For a more in-depth discussion of these changes, please see this forum post.


Patch 14 brings further improvements and fixes for mobile, including the ability to drag-paste items into chat and fixes for drag-context menus and spell tooltips. The game now has more mobile players than ever, and over the coming months we will continue to improve the overall mobile experience in Albion Online. If you have feedback about the mobile version, or just want to keep up on news and announcements, check out the Mobile Forum.

As always, for a full list of changes and fixes, check out the official patchnotes.

In our newest video, Albion's Game Director Robin Henkys checks in from his home office with an update on the game's development progress. After catching up with everything that's happened over the past months, he looks forward to Albion's next major content update and covers some of the major features it will contain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rok0ZCFRz3k
No time to watch, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
January saw the launch of the massive and highly successful Queen update, which brought an entire new Outlands continent and numerous new high-level gameplay options to the world of Albion. Since then, we've been working nonstop to support this update, and to date we've release thirteen patches with numerous fixes and improvements:

• Fixing critical technical issues, especially for Windows 7 users
• Improving loot and rewards
• Adjusting ingame systems to make them more fun and rewarding
• Conducting a massive Alliance test with penalties for holding more territories
• Updating the way portals work
• Introducing a completely reworked mobile UI and working on the stability of the mobile version

We're of course continuing to support this update in various ways, including fixing exploits within the Smart Cluster Queue system and making adjustments and improvements to mount stats.
Of course, everyone's here to find out what's happening with the next update. We've made a ton of progress toward the next update, far too much to cover in a single video, and soon we'll be releasing a whole series of Dev Talks with in-depth information about each topic.

Today we'll take a brief look at each of the major features that are coming. These features are in the final stages of development, and are about four weeks from being finished. With such massive features, though, we want to really take our time to make sure their implementation is as flawless as possible, so we want to make sure we test them properly. This means the next update will likely happen after the end of Season 9, and will be in place for the start of Season 10.

So what are some of the major features coming?


One of the most anticipated features of the new update is the new Avalonian Weapons. There will be fifteen new weapons with entirely new spells, and even more excitingly, with all-new mechanics. Examples:

• Avalonian Cannon: allows retargeting while the weapon is still firing
• Mimic: allows you to steal an enemy's ability and use it against them

The new Avalonian Weapons will shake up the meta quite a bit, and unlike the current Artifact Weapons, they will be useful for all levels of play, from small-scale to large-scale combat.

These new weapons will be covered in much more detail in an upcoming Dev Talk.


Another major feature coming with the next update is Corrupted Dungeons. For those who missed the last Dev Talk, Corrupted Dungeons are like regular dungeons that have been infected, reshaped, and taken over by demons. When a player enters, the entrance closes behind them, meaning no one can directly follow them in. However, there is a way to invade these dungeons by making a pact with the demons, allowing you to hunt down players who are trying to cleanse these dungeons.

Corrupted Dungeons offer an entirely new dimension of 1v1 PvP in Albion, as well as an entirely new one-player PvE experience with completely new dungeon layouts, hazards, and mobs. These dungeons will also be covered at length in an upcoming Dev Talk.


The Roads of Avalon are a massive new game feature that opens up three entirely new ways of playing:

• They create connections, allowing you to find shortcuts through the world for travel, trade, and relocating.
• They allow exploration, and will contain lots of exciting new creatures to fight and resource spots to exploit.
• And most excitingly, players will have the opportunity to live within the Roads via Hideouts, shielded somewhat from the politics of the Outlands and developing their own unique style of play.

We'll have a whole mini-series of Dev Talks explaining these different features of the Roads of Avalon soon.

Thanks for joining for this special from-home talk – hopefully our upcoming videos will be from the office once again. Stay tuned for more Dev Talks coming soon!

Territories will be reset this weekend - and we'll be covering it live on the AlbionTV Twitch channel starting Saturday at 17:30 UTC. Join our hosts Lewpac, Bogul, and Shozenwon as they cover the Invasion Day madness live! All fights are broadcast live with a 15-minute time delay.

Starting at 18:00 UTC, guilds will have new opportunities to 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 at 00:30 UTC with hosts Bogul, Shozenwon, and Robinhoodrs, with territories becoming claimable at 01:00 UTC.

Between the two reset broadcasts, we'll also be broadcasting Level 5-7 Crystal League fights with no delay at 20:30, 21:00, and 21:30 UTC.

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

The thirteenth patch of the Queen update is now live, bringing optimizations to the Arena system and more chances to find Solo Randomized Dungeons in blue and yellow zones. Here's what's new:
The overall Fame earned from an Arena win has been doubled, from 20,000 Fame to 40,000 Fame per player on the winning team. And to make the Arena more lucrative for healers, winning players in a healing role will now receive an additional Adept's Tome of Insight worth 10,000 Fame on top of the regular rewards.

Additionally, the Arena signup and notification UIs have been improved and streamlined, and clearly show the available daily rewards for each role. If you haven't played an Arena match in a while, or have yet to visit the Arena, now is the perfect time!


In order to give beginner and intermediate-level players greater access to Solo Randomized Dungeons, the entrances of these dungeons in blue and yellow zones will now disappear a short time after the last player enters. Once a given entry portal is removed, a new entry portal is free to spawn elsewhere in the world. This will increase the overall number of "fresh" dungeons in these zones, giving newer players greater access to the full dungeon experience while still allowing players to run solo dungeons together and follow others into a dungeon within a reasonable time window.
Players waiting in a Smart Cluster Queue now contribute to the total Disarray headcount in the cluster for which they are queueing, while the overall curve for the Disarray debuff now accelerates more slowly.

Quality-of-life improvements now include a Destiny Board view prompt when a certain building type is not yet unlocked, plus improved descriptions for spells with scaled effects due to stacks.

As always, for the full details, you can check out the official patchnotes.

Who says chivalry is dead? For the entire month of June, take the Knight Challenge to collect fantastic rewards. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim the powerful and imposing Giant Horse mount.

GIANT HORSE: This month's Challenge brings back the powerful Giant Horse, a noble mount with a combination speed boost / immunity spell that leaves foes in the dust. Ride fearlessly into the wilds of Albion on the back of this mighty steed!


AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Knight Challenge Avatar Ring, a bold, plate-armor-themed ring that will give your avatar an aura of nobility. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar ring for one character.
 

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly goals to unlock Knight Challenge chests. These chests contain valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver bags, plus knight-themed furniture like the Stone Throne, Round Table, Knight Statue, and Regal Carpet.

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. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim your rewards!

A new referral season is here - starting June 1, refer your friends and claim your very own mount skin! The White Direboar skin gives your Direboar base mount a striking ghostly-white appearance - and like all mount skins, once you've unlocked it, it can be used by all characters on your account forever.

On top of that, you can 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 White Direboar skin.

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

With the Queen update, territory control shifted to open-world battles while the Crystal League filled the void left by GvGs. Season 9 improves the overall Crystal League experience with new timeslots, easier access for starting players, and a streamlined rewards progression. And to continue growing the Crystal League, we're excited to announce the Off-Season Crystal Tournament, taking place between Seasons 9 and 10.

The grand prize? None other than the incredibly rare and valuable Sabertooth Rex Swiftclaw skin!

We're announcing the tournament now because participation will be based on activity during Season 9. Here are the confirmed details so far:

• The tournament will take place between Seasons 9 and 10, sometime after August 10 (exact date and time TBA)
• The tournament will be open to teams that win a Level 9 Crystal League match during Season 9
• While the exact structure is still a work in progress, and will be based on the number of teams participating, the following rules will apply to the finals:
  • Battles will be full loot and players will have to bring their own gear
  • Same IP cap as Level 9 (1700)
  • Matches will run on 30-minute timers
  • Each round won delivers Level 3 off-season rewards

The following prizes apply for the first through third place winners.

• First Place: Each player on the winning team will receive the extremely rare Sabertooth Rex Swiftclaw skin unlock item and 10,000 Gold.
• Second Place: Each player will receive the White Tiger skin unlock item along with 5,000 Gold.
• Third Place: Each player will receive 5,000 Gold.

(Note: we may add in additional rewards later depending on how many eligible teams are participating in the tournament.)

Up for a challenge? Then gear up, climb the ranks, and leave your mark on the Crystal League!

Albion streamer FlaccidBaron is no stranger to creative gameplay, often trying out new builds and playstyles in his videos. (You can read our Streamer Spotlight on him here). Recently, he launched a new project: to make a billion silver in Albion Online using a wide variety of tactics, and to document the process for his viewers.

What gave you the idea for this series?

A lot of other similar games have story-driven content. I feel like Albion videos are mostly PvP montages, so I wanted to bring more of a story-based series to the game – the story of how I built my way up to being a very rich Albionian.

What has the community reaction been like?

Very positive. I get private messages ingame and on Discord all the time asking "when is the next episode". So I know I’m doing something right.

Has this series given you experience with new features you hadn't tried yet? I know Faction Transport Missions were fairly new to you.

Yes many. There are so many diverse ways to make money in the game. When people ask "what's the best way to make money?" I can’t really answer that. I can give them suggestions on what to try, but in the end there are so many good methods it's hard to pick just one.



Any unconventional money-making ideas you've discovered along the way?

My audience is always pitching new ideas to me. Some are a bit weird but surprisingly work. One method I never thought would work was buying runes in bulk and enchanting gear, then selling it for a huge profit. I guess some people pay for the convenience of not having to enchant items themselves.

What are your current favorite builds?

The thing I love most about Albion is the variety of builds and the ease of switching between them. So this answer changes almost every week. Currently, however, I'm really in love with the Bloodletter. It has so much damage potential while also being able to make a quick getaway if you need to.

Any ideas for future streaming series along the lines of this one?

As soon as I finish this series and finally become a billionaire, I feel like the obvious next step is to see how quickly I can get back to zero. Full T8.3 solo ganking maybe?

Check out FlaccidBaron's "Road to a Billion" series below, and be sure to subscribe to his channels!

• Youtube
• Twitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E5XvghEopE&feature=emb_logo
https://youtu.be/SoZETn6OoWA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LocEsERIEwg&feature=emb_logo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63qUdS43uTE&feature=emb_logo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUtme0sie00&feature=emb_logo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyftxGF2hwE&feature=emb_logo
Stay tuned for more spotlights in the coming weeks.