Spring is back, and the Keepers of Albion are beginning to awaken... and for the entire month of March, you can take the Keeper Challenge to collect fantastic rewards! Earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Grizzly Bear mount.


GRIZZLY BEAR: This month's Challenge brings back the popular Grizzly Bear, a huge, intimidating mount with an arsenal of powerful spells. In addition to its Intimidating Aura toggle spell, it also gains a temporary speed boost when attacked, giving its rider an edge when enemies are in pursuit.
 

AVATAR RING: Reach your goals to unlock the Keeper Challenge avatar ring, which gives your chosen avatar the stone-and-leather look of Albion's true guardians. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or can be traded for one Adventurer's Token at the Vanity Merchant.


SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month, reach weekly goals to unlock Keeper Challenge chests. In addition to valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes, Silver bags, and rare resources, this month's chests contain various Keeper-themed furniture and capes.

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!

The Season 11 Crystal League Championship takes place March 6-7, with Albion's top Crystal League players facing off for tremendous prizes including the ultra-rare new Saber Tiger Rex Swiftclaw Skin. The tournament is open to teams who won one Level 9 match or two or more Level 8 matches with the same 5 characters during Season 11.

Additional rules:

• Teams must sign up by Tuesday, March 2 at 10:00 UTC
• Participants must use the same team and characters that qualified during the season
• Each team can allocate one substitute
• Each team must assign a Captain as the main contact point
• For full rules, signup info, and the final schedule, see this forum post.

Like always, you can watch the action all weekend long on AlbionTV, the official Albion Online Twitch Channel. Join hosts Shozen, Lewpac, and Tazzik as they bring you live coverage and commentary on these high-action fights. The reigning champions will be crowned and receive their prizes at a ceremony after the final match on Sunday.

Get ready for the first high-stakes tournament of 2021, and keep an eye on our forum for updates!

Albion Online's twelfth Guild Season starts on Saturday, March 13. Guilds that reach a high enough rank during the season can claim fantastic rewards including an avatar, avatar ring, and the powerful new Juggernaut mount!



The Juggernaut is a powerful engage tank for large-scale battles. While it has little impact on smaller player groups, its full potential is unleashed when facing large enemy armies, where it can summon a whirling tornado of rocks. This mount will be awarded to guilds who reach Silver Rank or higher during Season 12, with increasingly higher stats (and increasingly epic appearance) with each successive tier.

The winning guild will receive a statue among the past Guild Season winners in Conquerors' Hall and members of the top three guilds will receive their own placeable Winner Statue. Qualifying guilds will also receive other goodies like an avatar and avatar ring, a Fame Bonus, and more:




Season Points from Territories, Castles, and Castle Outposts have been updated and rebalanced for Season 12. The PvE Fame Buff in open-world boss locations has been reworked, and Lesser Outlands Treasure Chests now spawn more often. A new level has been added to the 20v20 Crystal League and Guild Challenge rewards have been rebalanced. And updates to the Smart Cluster Queue and Hideout defense will follow in a patch after the season begins.



For the full list of changes, see this forum post. Click here for the complete season schedule.

It's official: on March 17, 2021, the Call to Arms update goes live! Call to Arms is Albion's tenth major content update since launch, and brings a host of major new features. The centerpiece of the update is a complete re-envisioning of Albion's Faction Warfare system, which gives a sense of truly belonging to a City Faction, as well as a major expansion of the Royal Continent. A fully reworked and expanded Hellgate system brings new life to one of Albion's most thrilling and intense PvP settings, and numerous additional upgrades, fixes, and quality-of-life improvements make the world of Albion better than ever before.


The new system allows Factions to take not just Outposts but entire regions as well, and rewards loyalty to a chosen Faction via updated Faction ranks and month-long Faction Campaigns with valuable rewards. Caerleon joins the fight as a fully playable sixth Faction with a unique "lawless" playstyle. Alongside the six regular Faction Mounts, each city now has its own Elite Faction Mount with powerful abilities.

To accommodate Albion's growing population and provide more space for Faction Warfare to play out, the Royal Continent has been greatly expanded with numerous new regions, and a recurring Bandit Invasion event in the red zones offers thrilling large-scale combat for members of all Factions.

Call to Arms brings major upgrades to Hellgates, introducing ten all-new Hellgate layouts and new demonic foes for varied and engaging PvE. Hellgate PvP takes on new dimensions as well, with the ability to chain Hellgates after a win and a rising lava mechanic that ensures a final showdown. And last but not least, new 10v10 Hellgates offer thrilling, high-stakes group PvP for new and veteran players alike.

Call to Arms brings major quality-of-life improvements like Loadouts, which allow players to create and equip pre-selected builds, and updated ability tooltips. Animated vegetation brings new visual life to Albion's biomes, and numerous additional improvements, fixes, balance changes, and optimizations have been implemented to make the world of Albion better than ever.

For more details, check out the official Update Page:

In his third and final Dev Talk on the upcoming Faction Warfare rework, Game Director Robin Henkys gives a first look at the mysterious new Faction joining the fight. If you haven't yet watched the first two videos, you can check them out here:

• Part 1: Faction Warfare Revamped
• Part 2: Faction Ranks and Elite Mounts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBLdULJ-elA
Prefer a written summary? Then read on...
Since the fall of the Caerleon portal and the city’s resulting decline, Caerleon has become a nest of bandits, smugglers, rogues and mercenaries. Now the Council of Caerleon has decided to join the war between the cities and profit from the situation.

To represent this development, we’ve reworked the layout and massively improved the graphics of the city. We've added the “Stabbed Mug” Tavern, where Mercenary Captain Henry Cutter recruits unscrupulous souls to fight the other cities.
The Caerleon Faction offers a different style of Faction gameplay:

• As with all Factions, fighting for Caerleon lets you engage other Factions without reputation loss
• However, you will also be able to engage (and be engaged by) other players in the Caerleon Faction
• You can capture other Factions' Outposts and regions as usual, but instead of generating value over time, these turn into bandit camps which generate no defensive value
• Instead, Caerleon players can make huge profits plundering Outposts and regions, as captured points are not shared with the Faction as a whole
• Finally, Caerleon players need to beware of betrayal: should one bandit group become too dominant, the others will have to put a stop to it if they want any of the profits for themselves

With this playstyle, Caerleon offers unique gameplay for veteran players looking for dynamic full-loot PvP with plenty of enemies.
In addition to the appeal of living free under your own banner, Caerleon offers unique Faction rewards of its own:

• Faction Points can buy Caerleon Greywolf Pups or Caerleon Elite Greywolf Pups
• These can be grown into a T5 Caerleon Greywolf or a T8 Caerleon Elite Greywolf respectively
• Like other Elite Faction Mounts, the Elite Greywolf has two unique abilities:
  • Hunter’s Mark: marks an enemy who then leaves behind a trail; collecting this trail boosts movement speed, with wounded targets offering a greater boost
  • Faction ability - Spite: dismounts the rider and grants a damage reflection aura to nearby allies (can only be used while flagged for Caerleon, only affects Caerleon players in your party)
• Caerleon players can also purchase crests to craft Caerleon Faction capes with a powerful passive that resets your Q-ability for double casting
• Finally, Trade missions are available which are more profitable than those of other Factions

Additionally, the Caerleon Faction NPCs are responsible for the recurring “Bandit Assault” event in Albion's red zones:

• Irregularly throughout the day, Factions will lose control of all Outposts and regions in the red zones, which will be taken over by Bandits
• Recapturing them is a top priority, as there will be a massive reward paid out to players in the Faction which has claimed the most regions during the event
• Although Caerleon players cannot participate in this event as a Faction, they can use the rush of Faction players into the red zones to set ambushes and find plenty of full-loot PvP

This concludes our look at the all-new Faction Warfare system coming with the Call to Arms update. Will you join the Caerleon Faction and lead a life of villainy? Or will you proudly fly the banner of another city? We can’t wait to see which Faction will produce the mightiest heroes, and we're really looking forward to joining the battle ourselves.

Call to Arms will be released in mid-March – until then, stay tuned for more Dev Talks on new features!

Call to Arms, the next major update for Albion Online, will bring a complete revamp of the Faction Warfare system. In our last Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys introduced the major components of this rework. This week, he gives a first look at Faction Campaigns, Faction Ranks, and rewards including new Elite Faction Mounts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eC73qrEFYw
Prefer a written summary? Then read on...
The Faction Screen is accessed via the Activities button. It shows the current overall Faction rankings, as well as which Factions offer the best rewards for joining. Most importantly, it shows your personal Faction Campaign progress and your current Faction Rank.

After enlisting with a Faction, you become eligible to fight in their Campaign and climb the ranks. Campaigns are month-long seasons that count all points you earn on behalf of your Faction, and award chests with valuable loot as you reach certain milestones.



Faction Ranks measure your loyalty alongside your contribution. Lower ranks are the same for all Factions, but higher ranks are unique to each city and are extremely hard to unlock and maintain. We’re also working on showing which players currently rank highest within your Faction. Your rank affects the rate at which you earn points.
Once you've earned points, you can still spend them on City Faction Hearts, crests for Faction Capes and Faction Mounts. We've significantly boosted Faction Mount stats, and we’ve added an Elite version of each Faction mount. These offer new T8 rare mounts for animal breeders to grow, and come with two unique abilities each.



Note: Faction abilities are unlocked when the player is flagged for the appropriate Faction and only affect players in the same Faction:

• Lymhurst Elite Boar
  • Regular ability: dash forward, damaging unmounted enemies and knocking them backwards
  • Faction ability – Boar Vitality: dismount and give allies a large healing area of effect
• Bridgewatch Elite Terrorbird
  • Regular ability: “Zig” to a targeted direction, then “Zag” to dash again and avoid attacks
  • Faction ability – Desert Breeze: dismount and grant all allies a move speed bonus
• Martlock Elite Ram
  • Regular ability: reduce damage taken while channeling, then gain move speed based on the number of hits taken
  • Faction ability – Mountain Resilience: dismount and grant a Max Health bonus to allies in range
• Thetford Elite Swamp Salamander
  • Regular ability: sheds its skin to cleanse any negative effects
  • Faction ability – Reptile Agility: grants attack speed and damage bonuses to nearby allies
• Fort Sterling Elite Direbear
  • Regular ability: passive that stacks with each attack, followed up with "Winter Call" ability that boosts move speed and slows enemies based on the stacks
  • Faction ability – Frozen Defense: dismount and grant a defense bonus to allies in range

NOTE: These abilities are still in testing at the time of this recording and their functionality may change.


In addition to earning points by fighting for your Faction, you can also see which Factions offer the most points. Factions that aren't doing as well offer much higher rates of Faction Point gains, and will even allow you to retain part of your rank if you enlist with them. Successful Factions, however, have less reason to pay high rates of points and won’t be so welcoming to new recruits, so you’ll have to give up your rank to join them. These mechanisms ensure Faction Warfare stays balanced and players have strong incentives to join cities in need, while leaving the choice of Faction ultimately up to you.

We covered a lot in this talk, but there’s still more to come. In the next video, we’ll unmask the new Faction, talk about their unique gameplay and rewards, and discuss the recurring red zone event.

Thanks for watching!

Today's patch brings the brand-new Barbarian Bundle to the ingame store. This premiere vanity set gives your character an epic high-fantasy look, and includes a costume item for each armor and cape slot. The bundle also includes the fearsome new War Beast mount skin, which gives your Direwolf base mount an equally fearsome appearance.

The set also includes a matching avatar and avatar ring to add to your collection, which can be freely used independently of the other costume items, and mixed and matched with other costumes, avatars, and rings.

In total, the bundle includes seven vanity unlocks, which can be used on all current and future characters on your account (both male and female) with a single purchase.



This complete bundle is available in the ingame store, and includes the following items:

• Barbarian's Helmet
• Barbarian's Harness
• Barbarian's Boots
• Barbarian's Cape
• War Beast Direwolf Skin (requires Direwolf base mount)
• Barbarian Avatar
• Barbarian Avatar Ring

NOTE: While the costume and mount skin items will immediately unlock for all other characters on your account via the Appearance menu, the avatar and avatar ring will need to be claimed via the shop for each character.

Pick up this most barbaric of bundles today and send your foes scattering in fear!

In our newest Dev Talk, Albion's Game Director, Robin Henkys, introduces the major changes coming to Faction Warfare with the Call to Arms update. (Note: since this is a huge feature with lots to discuss, we'll have multiple videos covering this topic.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwTs_R95u_Q
Prefer a written summary? Then read on...

As many of you know, Faction Warfare has been in the game for quite a while now. In this system players can sign up for one City Faction and go fight on behalf of their city against enemy Faction NPC and players. They can capture Outposts and earn Faction Points to spend on Faction rewards.

Key goals of the rework:

• Accessible and inclusive for all players on the Royal Continent
• Meaningful incentives for loyalty to a city
• Exciting large-scale battles that are easy to join and reward participation
• Supporting existing Faction Warfare players and ensuring their current full-loot system is continued and improved

So how will these goals be met?

1. Accessible and inclusive:

• Faction Warfare in yellow and blue regions is now non-lethal, so new players can engage with this feature without losing their gear
• Faction Warfare in the red zones remains lethal
• Increased number of red zones in the world
• Red zones have higher value Faction Point targets for advanced players

2. Faction loyalty:

• Enlistment and flagging up is now a two-step process:
  • Step 1: enlist with a Faction to become a permanent member
  • Step 2: actively flag up to actually fight on their behalf
• If you choose to un-flag, you will still remain enlisted
• As long as you remain enlisted, you will keep your rank and other advantages, encouraging loyalty to a chosen Faction

3. Large-scale battles:

• Lets new players gain their first experience in open-world warfare, while veteran players can participate during periods of low guild activity
• Focuses on bringing opposing Factions into conflict via a “front line”, where large battles occur frequently and players can easily join
• To achieve this, we made regions of the world map conquerable
• To conquer a region, a Faction needs to control and hold the majority of Outposts within it
• Controlling a region allows you to push the front line further towards the enemy while protecting your own regions
• In yellow and blue regions, players knocked out can rejoin the battle from a nearby friendly Outpost, so retaining control of Outposts is critical
• Should a region get separated from the rest of your regions, you will no longer be able to respawn there, cutting you off from reinforcements
• Players can use this to their advantage by capturing regions strategically and breaking an enemy’s supply line

4. Faction rewards:

• Players will still be rewarded in Faction Points, which they can spend at their Faction stores
• Earn points by capturing Outposts and whole zones
• The value of capturable objectives increases over time, offering an incentive to push behind enemy lines
• Players are also rewarded for defense, as regions generate more points the longer they are held
• In addition to immediate rewards, a weekly report sums up your performance and rewards additional points based on personal and overall Faction success

Notes on red zone play:

• Red zones give the same rewards, but in much greater amounts
• With no respawning at Outposts, red-zone players will have to maneuver carefully and strategically
• In addition to generating much higher rewards, the red zones will have a new enemy to be announced soon

The Faction Warfare rework is so large we’ve split it into multiple videos – join us next time where we’ll discuss Faction Rewards, ranks, balancing, and the all new Faction Seasons.

Thanks for watching!

Patch 13, AKA the Rise of Avalon Balance Patch, is now live! This patch brings numerous changes to Avalonian mobs, big meta changes to combat balancing, a long-awaited quality of life improvement, and more. Here's what's new:
Patch 13 improves the overall experience of Elite Dungeons, offering a more streamlined combat experience while fighting Avalonians while retaining the challenge of these high-level enemies. Most high-damage Avalonian spells can no longer be reflected, the Construct's "blind spot" has been removed, and the skills of the High Priestess, Crystal Basilisk, and Sir Bedivere have been updated to keep you on your toes.


This patch contains numerous changes to combat abilities across a wide range of weapons, armor, and equipment, with the primary goal of addressing the meta in small-scale PvP and Corrupted Dungeons. A new Mace ability, Guard Rune, has been added, the Guardian Helmet's Emergency Heal has been reworked as Emergency Shield, and several Battle Mounts have reduced cooldowns to keep them competitive in open-world combat.
Free yourself from the tyranny of endless clicking, and use all your Silver Bags and Tomes with a single button click. Patch 13 introduces the Use All Button, perhaps Albion's most-requested feature of all time. If you missed the teaser trailer, you can watch it in all its glory here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5h8XjI9O0c

• Political View is once again available on the World Map
• Updates to setting a Hideout as Home - details here
• Fixes to the Estimated Market Value display
• Improvements and optimizations to the mobile version
• ...and much more

As always, you can read the full list of changes in the official patchnotes.

A new referral season is here! From now until April 1, refer your friends and claim your very own Lynx mount skin. This skin transforms your Swiftclaw base mount into a sleek, charming Lynx – and once you've unlocked it, it can be used by all characters on your account forever.

You can also 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 mount skin.

The current referral season lasts until maintenance on April 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.