It's been three years since Albion Online's official launch... and while it's certainly a good time to take a look back at everything that's happened since then, it's an even better time to celebrate! Log in now and enjoy a week-long Fame Boost, free fireworks, and a classic Keeper Dungeon from Albion's beta.
What better way to celebrate another year in the world of Albion than a Fame Boost? Between now and maintenance on July 24, get 25% additional Fame for all ingame activities.

Here are the details:

• At the end of maintenance on Friday, July 17, the Mists of Albion buff will be automatically enabled for all players
• This buff automatically grants an additional 25% Fame for all activities
• The buff does not apply to Fame earned via PvP kills and Tomes of Insight, and does not boost the rate at which Challenge Points are earned
• The Fame boost ends at 10:00 UTC on Friday, July 24

With the Rise of Avalon update coming in August, now is the perfect time to level up your combat, crafting, and gathering!


From now until July 31, you'll have a chance to revisit the Defenders of the Past dungeon, a classic Keeper dungeon from Albion's beta. This dungeon has retained its classic terrain and enemy layout, and has been updated with current shrines, loot, and rewards. In addition, those who complete this dungeon will have a chance to score the brand-new Red Anniversary Banner.

Here are all the details:

• Defenders of the Past will spawn randomly in T4-8 zones in both the Royal Continent and the Outlands
• The dungeon will spawn in both solo (green) and group (blue) versions, with enemies and loot balanced accordingly
• The dungeon entrance will appear as a portal flanked by Anniversary Banners
• The final boss chest will give a chance to receive the Red Anniversary Banner along with other loot

This limited-time dungeon will only be playable until July 31 at 10:00 UTC, so head out into the open world and revisit a unique piece of Albion's past!


Albion's cities have been decked out with special anniversary decorations – and to help celebrate, we've sent red, blue, and yellow Anniversary Fireworks to all players. Just log in between now and July 31 at 10:00 UTC to receive an in-game mail with your rewards. (Note: the mail will only be sent to characters created before July 17.)

And last but not least, we're running a "Strike a Pose" contest over on the forum. Get decked out in your best armor and costumes, find your favorite ingame spot, and get creative, and you could win fabulous prizes! Prizes will be given for the best solo, group, and guild entries.

Remember, the Fame Boost and forum contest end on July 24 and the classic dungeon and free fireworks end on July 31, so log in today and join the celebration!

In our last Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys introduced the Roads of Avalon, a massive new system coming with the next update. In this video, he discusses what you'll find when you leave the Roads and head into the Wilderness. (To watch Part 1, click here.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKoORR1oyJE
No time to watch, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
A zone map of Avalon shows that the Roads form a very distinct rune / symbol shape. This makes it easier to recognize areas you've already visited and helps you find your way through the ever-shifting network. There are also paths outside of the Roads, which are called the Wilderness of Avalon.

The Wilderness hosts a variety of different locations:

• Forest paths
• Resource sites
• Avalonian camps
• Randomized Dungeon entrances

Forest Paths
These simple paths wind through the forests and ruins of Avalon. You can use them as shortcuts, or to avoid the main roads if you're concerned about encountering other explorers.
Resource Sites
These locations have a high concentration of resources as well as elemental spirits guarding them. Unlike in the open world, elemental spirits in Avalon also appear in Veteran and Elite versions that are harder to defeat but give much more raw material. You may even encounter new Tier 7-8 Aspects and Guardians, which yield extremely valuable resources and may be enchanted all the way to level 3.

Resource sites are marked on the map, but it is up to you to discover their Tier and the strength of the spirits protecting them.

Avalonian Camps
In certain locations, Avalonians and their constructs are collecting artifacts and treasure from the deserted ruins. Players can attempt to take these treasures, but the chests will only open once all enemies at the site have been defeated. These camps appear from Tier 4-8 in the following difficulties:

• Regular (solo players)
• Veteran (small groups)
• Elite (groups of about ten players)

Avalonian Camps are also marked on the map, but again, you will have to explore them to discover their Tier and what sort of treasure they hold.

Randomized Dungeon Entrances
These entrances lead to the same Randomized Solo, Group, and Elite dungeons as you'll find in the open world, but with a significant buff to Fame and loot. They are also significantly rarer than those that spawn in the open world.


There’s a lot of valuable treasure and Fame to be found in the Wilderness of Avalon. Some can be claimed on your own, but some is so valuable and difficult to acquire that you may want to tell your friends or guild about it. As the path you found to get there will probably disappear within a few hours, you'll have to be quick to tell others, and if you claim valuable treasure or resources you'll still have to safely bring them home or to the Marketplace.
That's all for today – in our next Dev Talk we’ll discuss how you can build your own Hideout in Avalon and what it takes to live in a constantly-shifting labyrinth of ancient gateways and paths. Thanks for watching!

The Rise of Avalon update arrives in August, bringing a host of new features to the world of Albion. In our newest Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys introduces the Roads of Avalon, a new system that will massively expand the gameworld and bring new opportunities for travel, exploration, and even settlement.

Note: Due to the complexity of this feature, today's Dev Talk is the first of three talks on this feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt1stGAcR7o
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...
The Roads of Avalon are a network of ever-changing paths through the ancient kingdom of Avalon. They allow players to do three things:

• travel across vast distances in Albion
• explore a new environment full of resources and treasures
• live within a new environment away from the Outlands

They are ideally suited to small group gameplay, since they have unique mechanics that limit the number of players that can enter at one time.

This video covers the first topic, travel, and is split into two parts: how to find and enter a Road, and how to use it to get around the world of Albion.
To enter the Roads, you will have to find a gateway to Avalon. They have a limited capacity for how many travellers can pass through them in each direction, and must recharge before additional players can enter or leave. The smallest will only let two players pass before its capacity is depleted, while the larger ones will allow small to medium size groups to pass.

The gateways also have a limited lifetime, so be sure to check how much time a gateway has left if you plan to return to where you started.

Once you enter a gateway, you’ll find yourself in the ancient kingdom of Avalon, specifically its road network. These ancient roads were built aeons ago by the Avalonians, who are now reactivating the mechanisms that power the gateways and the paths that connect them.
The Roads themselves connect different possible gateway positions, and are kept free of enemy creatures by Avalonian magic. You can also use the power imbued in the roads to speed you along as you move between gateways.

Each gateway connects to one of three places:

• an Outlands zone
• a Royal Continent zone
• a different section of the Roads of Avalon

Exploring will uncover shortcuts through the world of Albion, which you can use for numerous purposes, including:

• transport
• trade
• outmaneuvering enemies
• accessing resources and dungeons far from your starting position

You will have to keep track of the remaining lifetime of each gateway you pass through, as the Roads of Avalon are constantly shifting and any given gateway may soon disappear forever, only to re-open to a different location in Albion.
This concludes our introduction to the Roads of Avalon. Join us for the next Dev Talk, where we’ll discuss what happens when you leave the Roads and venture into the wilderness beyond. Thanks for watching!

This weekend brings the final reset day of the season, with all Season Points doubled... 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.

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.

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.

This week we launched the fifteenth patch of the Queen update, with a particular focus on mount balancing. Here's what's new:

• Players who are force-dismounted are cleansed and temporarily immune to crowd control to prevent perma-stun
• Base mount top speeds slightly increased, and time until gallop slightly decreased
• Speed mount top speeds slightly decreased, and time until gallop slightly increased

Here are a few of the other changes and fixes implemented with this patch:

• Players who re-queue for a zone after being removed via the Smart Cluster Queue are now immobilized to prevent the queue from "dropping" them
• Chests updated in T8 Undead World Boss zones (Unhallowed Cloister, Black Monastery, Deathreach Priory, Camlann)
• Most AoE spells cast by mobs in Hellgates no longer trigger damage reflection

As always, for a complete list of changes, you can check the official patchnotes.

The Rise of Avalon update arrives in August, bringing major new gameplay features to the world of Albion. One such feature is Corrupted Dungeons, a new type of single-player dungeon that will bring new dimensions to solo play in Albion Online. In this Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys discusses what these dungeons are and how they work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V0yKOzmitE
No time to watch the video, or prefer a written summary? Then read on...

The all-new Corrupted Dungeons arriving with the next update are a response to those players who have been asking for more solo PvE and PvP content for Albion Online. But what are they exactly, and how do they work?
To find a Corrupted Dungeon, you’ll need to explore the open world and find a Corrupted Dungeon Entrance. These spawn like regular Solo Randomized Dungeons, but they look a good deal more sinister.

When entering a Corrupted Dungeon, you can choose your difficulty level:

• Hunter: lower rewards, knockdown PvP rules, relatively low Item Power softcap. A good difficulty for anyone learning the basics of 1v1 PvP in Albion.
• Stalker: full-loot PvP rules with significantly higher rewards, but still a low Item Power Softcap. A good level for veteran PvP players.
• Slayer: even greater rewards, full-loot PvP, a bigger PvE challenge, and a much higher Item Power softcap. This is the elite level aimed at advanced players.

After choosing your difficulty level and entering the dungeon, you’ll find yourself in a place infested with demons and corrupted creatures. To complete the dungeon, you'll have to cleanse these creatures. Each creature slain will award Infamy points. Different enemies will yield different amounts of infamy based on their difficulty.

When you’ve collected enough Infamy points, the final boss in the dungeon appears. By defeating it, you can lay claim to the loot rewards of the dungeon. In addition, the Infamy gained will remain with you, showing your place in the Infamy rankings as well as permanently boosting your rewards in Corrupted Dungeons.

Finally, at the end of a dungeon run, a portal to another Corrupted Dungeon appears and allows you to start another dungeon right away - or you can leave and take your loot back to the city.
In every corrupted dungeon is a demonic shrine which players can use to sign themselves up to invade other players. Once a player has signed up, the game will regularly check for a potential invasion target. If such a target is found, the invading player will be pulled from their dungeon into another player’s dungeon.

The defending player now has two options:

• they can rally and fight the invader, or
• they can try to destroy the demonic shards which appeared in their dungeon along with the invader.

If they succeed in destroying enough of these shards, the Invader is banished and the defender can continue playing their own dungeon.

If either player kills the other, the victim loses some of their infamy, and the killer gains some of it. This allows players to gain very high infamy numbers and rise in the ranks for their own  prominence - and for significant boosts to future dungeon rewards.
To add tactics and depth to these encounters, there are a number of special features players can use to try to outsmart their opponents:

• NPC positions are marked on the minimap, allowing you to guess your opponent's position based on the creatures they’ve already slain
• Watcher demons will mark any player they encounter on the minimap for their opponent to see
• And last but not least, there are a large number of traps and hazards which you will need to avoid, or actively use to outsmart and defeat your opponent

As you can see, there's a lot to this feature, and we hope you’re looking forward to exploring and fighting in the Corrupted Dungeons when the Rise of Avalon update launches.

That's all for today - you can also look forward to our next Dev Talk, in which we’ll go in-depth with the Roads of Avalon and their impact on the world of Albion Online.

The dead just won't stay buried! For the entire month of July, take the Undead Challenge to unlock fantastic rewards. Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Spectral Direboar.
SPECTRAL DIREBOAR: This month's Challenge brings back the popular Spectral Direboar, a ghostly mount with a unique spell, Glimpse of the Other Side, which renders you temporarily invisible. Use it to evade your enemies... or to launch a sneak attack!

AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Undead Challenge avatar ring, featuring a spooky skull-themed design that will strike fear into the hearts of your foes. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or can be traded to the Vanity Merchant for one Vanity Token.

SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly goals to unlock Undead Challenge chests. In addition to valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes and Silver, you'll also have a chance to unlock spooky furniture items like the Candelabra, Lantern, and Memorial of the Fallen, as well as rare and valuable Undead Vanity Skins.
 
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 / avatar ring reward. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim these rewards while you can!

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.