In our last Dev Talk, Game Director Robin Henkys presented the Mists, a massive new feature release coming with the Beyond the Veil update on November 21. In our newest video, Environment Artists Johannes Geier and Maria Perakis take a closer look at Brecilien, the mystical "City in the Mists":
A New City
Brecilien takes its name from the forest surrounding it
Serves as a safe haven for those lost in the Mists or who willingly choose to make it their home
Built on the ruins of an abandoned Avalonian settlement
Fusion of wilderness and magic creates a symbiotic relationship between the forest, the wisps, and the ancient Avalonian architecture
Position is constantly changing
Reaching it for the first time is its own challenge
Further Explorations
Once inside, the city has a new mystical environment resembling the Mists
Includes new music as well (as do the Mists themselves)
Many of the same amenities as other cities in Albion
Own crafting specialties, shops, and city plots
Includes all-new Player Islands:
New aesthetic, but identical in price and function to traditional Player Islands
Same purchasing requirements, but can be owned alongside Royal Continent islands
For this reason, upgrade levels between Brecilien/Royal islands aren’t shared, and abandoning a Royal island does not give a head start in Brecilien
A New Travel Hub
Allows direct access to the Roads of Avalon and the Mists
Roads of Avalon:
Chooses a random Roads zone
When a party member goes through it binds itself to the destination, allowing up to four other party members to join
Only bound for a limited time
Members who join the group after the binding is in place cannot use it
The Mists:
Allows access to any available Mists mode (solo nonlethal, solo lethal, duo lethal)
Entrance can be used at any time, but has a cooldown to discourage "rerolling" location
Gives access to common Mists regions; higher-value regions require Wisps in the open world or the Mists
Surrounding Areas
Four permanent regions just outside the city
Minimal resources can be found
Primarily there so players can access Randomized/Corrupted Dungeons and Hellgates
These regions aren’t protected by the city and players can be attacked, though protections exist:
Invisibility shrines as in Portal Towns
Several ways to re-enter: same exit previously used, OR additional portals
Two other exits linked to other regions around the city
Total of six ways to avoid attacks
Finally, attacking unflagged players results in reputation loss
Wisps of Brecilien
Brecilien's Wisps are skeptical of outsiders, but players may be able to earn their respect
Value of this respect is currently unknown
However, the locals speak of a leader who left the city and may return, shedding more light on this mystery
Beyond the Veil launches November 21; stay tuned for one more Dev Talk on Fey Armor and Pristine Resources.
November 21 brings Albion’s latest content update: Beyond the Veil. This huge update expands the realms of Albion, introducing a new region called the Mists, a new city, new mobs, and new Artifact Armor. Additionally, the Roads of Avalon are significantly reworked, making them more competitive for smaller guilds while still offering large-group content. And a new resource enchantment – Pristine – brings extremely rare and valuable treasures for high-level players. With all this and more, Beyond the Veil expands Albion’s possibilities for every player type.
Lift the Veil
A strange and magical realm known as the Mists is dedicated exclusively to solo and duo players, offering a range of PvP and PvE in unpredictable zones. The Mists also contain a new City – Brecilien – with no fixed location, offering access to the Mists and the Roads of Avalon along with its own crafting bonuses. The Mists are also home to fantastical creatures, which drop never-before-seen artifacts that can be crafted into Fey Armor, with nine items featuring all-new spells.
Roads Revisited
The Roads of Avalon have received a significant rework, becoming more accessible for smaller and independent guilds. Such groups will find it easier to make their home in the Roads, while larger guilds will have to work harder to dominate regions. Certain areas of the Roads offer greater riches than ever before, ensuring they remain attractive to those groups. Back in Albion’s open world, a new enchantment level of resource is spawning in the Outlands: Pristine. Extremely rare and valuable, and shielded at first, these resources offer a high-level goal for powerful groups to contest. They can also be created through transmutation, offering high-level crafting possibilities and bringing new dimensions to combat.
Quality-of-Life Improvements
Albion’s guilds will find their UIs significantly improved, with an updated Guild Crest Creator, a new Guild Description UI making it easier to reach potential recruits, and Guild Loadouts easily equippable from the Marketplace and chests. The character selection screen has been revamped, mobile players have improved spell targeting and casting, and the Destiny Board better explains Auto-learn and Auto-respec.
Lock in the Best Price on Premium
With the price of Premium set to increase in November, now is the best time to lock in the current price. Check out this forum post for more information about the increase.
Go Beyond
Beyond the Veil expands and enriches Albion’s possibilities for players of all types and groups of all sizes. For full details, check out the official update page:
Allhallows is in full swing, and the Grim Challenge is back! For the entire month of November, earn points for open-world activities, unlock chests to get valuable loot, and claim your very own Pest Lizard.
Pestilential Prizes For Intrepid Adventurers
PEST LIZARD: This month's Challenge offers another chance to claim the popular Pest Lizard. This sleek, slithery mount comes with a Toxic Cloud ability that causes enemies who touch it to become temporarily disoriented, and can be used to disrupt enemy players in numerous situations.
AVATAR RING: Adventurers who rack up enough total Challenge Points will also earn the Grim Challenge Avatar Ring, featuring a spooky skull-topped iron frame. This non-tradable item permanently unlocks this avatar border for one character, or can be traded to the Vanity Merchant for one Adventurer's Token.
SEASONAL SPECIALS: All month long, reach weekly point totals to unlock Grim Challenge Chests. Along with valuable rewards like Adventurer's Tomes, Silver, resources, and other loot, you'll also have a chance to unlock four furniture items: the Empty Coffin, Grim Gravestone, Grim Lantern, and Weeping Woman Statue.
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 and avatar ring reward. So log in, head out into the open world, gather points, and claim these rewards while they last!
Well well well... if it isn’t our old pumpkin-headed adversary. Yep, Bob has returned to Albion, and the Allhallows event is back!
From 10:00 UTC on October 27 through to 10:00 UTC on November 10 you can find him in the limited-time Hallowed Ground dungeon, accessible through special, pumpkin-strewn portals that appear randomly in T4-T8 zones across the open world. Here you can battle your way past creepy mobs, through tunnels filled with grotesque decorations, until you finally come face-to-face with Bob himself.
But that’s not all. Defeat Bob and you can find special Allhallows Treats within the final chest, which grant a temporary boost to all non-PvP Fame. But be sure to eat them all before Allhallows is over, or they might go bad!
And last but not least, the Hallowed Ground chests once again have a very rare chance of dropping the seasonal Jack o’ Donkey and Horse Macabre mount skins. So go find the dungeon, confront Bob, and see what he’s been guarding!
Our last Dev Talk announced the forthcoming Beyond the Veil update, and introduced the Roads of Avalon rework that will be coming with it. In the second Dev Talk taking a closer look at this update, Game Director Robin Henkys introduces a massive and much-awaited feature: the Mists.
Wisps and Portals
When Beyond the Veil goes live, ghostly Will o’ Wisps will be found drifting through the open world and the Roads of Avalon:
These will retreat when approached, and open a portal to their home - the Mists
These portals are open for a short time, and chasing a Wisp through one will bring a player to this new realm
Most portals allow only one player through before closing, but some will allow a second player to enter
These two portal types are separate, meaning solo players will never encounter duos in the Mists.
Mobs, Treasures, and Resources
The Mists are a magical realm full of dangers and treasures:
Heretic, Morgana, and Undead mobs roam the Mists
Treasures and resources can also be found, as in the open world
Unique creatures can be killed for Hides, and three special types of creature exist: the Griffin, the Mistcrawler, and the Fey Dragon
Similar to solo dungeons, some Mist regions are enchanted, with more powerful but more valuable enemies
PvP in the Mists
Exploring the Mists comes with the possibility of encountering other players, and engaging in combat:
The Mists have both lethal and non-lethal areas
Entrances to lethal Mists areas can only be found in other lethal areas of Albion
Combat within the Mists does not affect reputation on the Royal Continent
Players have access to their mounts
Rising Mists
The tides of the Mists are constantly rising and falling:
Any region will be consumed by the growing Mists at some point
Players can follow Wisps through a new portal to a different Mists region
Those who do not will become ‘lost’, and returned to the place where they first entered the Mists
This ensures players cannot band together for long within the Mists, as their groups will always be separated
In addition to all this, players in the Mists can encounter Wisps who have been endangered by the influx of new adventurers and are in need of aid. Helping them will earn their gratitude, which may have some benefits…
The Mists offer a whole range of PvE and PvP possibilities similar to the open world, but dedicated exclusively to solo or duo players. We can’t wait to launch this feature and let you explore this magical realm and its mysteries, whatever it is you seek there. See you soon!
Allhallows is just around the corner, with Albion’s adventurers preparing their scariest outfits and getting ready to cause a fright. And just in time, the horrifying Demonic Warrior Vanity Bundle is now on sale until October 31 at 10:00 UTC!
This premiere bundle contains a full costume set, along with the infernal Saddled Hellhound Mount Skin for your Direwolf base mount. As you approach encased in dark, jagged armor upon the back of this snarling beast, you’re sure to strike terror into the hearts of your foes.
The Demonic Warrior Bundle includes the following skins, which work on male and female characters alike:
Demonic Warrior's Helmet
Demonic Warrior's Armor
Demonic Warrior's Boots
Demonic Warrior's Cape
Saddled Hellhound mount skin for your Direwolf base mount
(As with past bundles, you can use all costume, weapon, and mount skins with all characters on an account, and they are never lost or destroyed. All items will be unlocked in the ingame "Appearance" menu after purchase.)
This offer is available to all players through the new Albion Online Shop, the native client, Steam client, or Google Play. Check out the store now and take advantage of this deal while it lasts!
Albion’s next major content update is just around the corner, and we can announce it will be called Beyond the Veil. Today, in the first of several in-depth looks at some of the new features and changes coming with this update, Game Director Robin Henkys introduces some significant improvements to the Roads of Avalon.
Changes to Hideouts in the Roads
A number of new features will help players to make their homes in the Roads:
Hideouts in the Roads will be able to be declared Headquarters
Hideouts will require power to be maintained
There will be an initial three-day grace period before this applies
Power Cores can be found in the Roads, but cannot be carried to or from the open world
Guilds seeking to control entire Hideout regions within the Roads will have to be considerably more active to do so
Hideout construction can be accelerated
Logout Changes
Logging out in the Roads will return you to the place you first entered the Roads
This causes durability damage to equipment, and the loss of some stacked items
Players who are disconnected will have an extended window to reconnect before being removed from the Roads
This will prevent players staying in high-value locations to scout them constantly, making the Roads more competitive and rewarding exploration
New Objectives
The types of objectives found in the Roads have been expanded:
Open-world treasures will randomly appear
Mobs will upgrade over time if untouched, as they do in the open world
Crystal Spiders will also be found
Large Group Content
The reworked Roads will provide challenging and rewarding content for groups:
Mobs have been strengthened overall
The areas between Hideout regions will contain high-value content for large groups
Large portals are now exclusive to these ‘raid regions’, while small portals have been removed entirely
These changes should reinvigorate the Roads of Avalon as an area for small group play and independent guilds, providing a variety of PvE and PvP options and rewarding exploration. We hope to encourage new guilds to enjoy this content, and can’t wait to see who makes their home in the Roads.
Stay tuned for our next Dev Talk, where we’ll delve into some more mysterious content coming with Beyond the Veil.
Albion is a land of fierce battles and hidden dangers, so make sure you bring along only the bravest of companions on your journey. Lucky for you, starting today, the brand-new Armored Pony skin is available in the web shop and in-game store! This premiere mount skin transforms your Armored Horse base mount into a plucky pony in shining armor, with a jaunty feather in its helmet and perfectly-fit armor that shows off your guild's colors for all to see.
Characterized by their pairing of maneuverability and defense, Armored Horses are consistently one of Albion's most-used mounts in medium and large-scale fights. The Armored Pony adds another option for those looking to upgrade their appearance while also showing off their guild.
Like all mount skins, once the Armored Pony is unlocked it can be used by all characters on your account. With the lands overflowing with battles, ride out on this trusty steed and claim glory for yourself and your guild!
A new Guild Season is in full swing, and Albion's open world is more alive than ever. The competition is fierce, so for those looking to claim glory, a brave companion by your side is worth its weight in gold. And while huge mounts may dominate the field of battle, a small mount with a big heart can turn the tide…
Get ready to ride out into the fight with a new premiere mount skin, available next week in the web shop and in-game store! Stay tuned for more details…
Albion can be a harsh land, where the winner takes all while the loser limps back to town. Each victory is an accomplishment, so when you do get a hard-earned PvP kill, Victory Emotes are the perfect way to leave your mark on the battlefield! These celebratory flourishes were first introduced with the Into the Fray update, and with today's patch, there are now six new emotes to choose from: Platform Banners (one each for mobile, PC, and Controller), Sword, Hammer, and Hellgate.
Victory Emotes can be equipped in the in-game Appearance menu, and offer a wide variety of audiovisual effects that play automatically upon killing another player. Each time the effect is triggered, one charge is consumed. Each Emote can be recharged in a variety of ways.
How to get Emotes and Charges
Charges for all Victory Emotes are purchasable with Gold in the Appearance menu, and come in different bundle sizes and prices depending on the Emote’s rarity. In addition, you can also get charges through Twitch Drops – for more info on those, click here.
For more details about Victory Emotes and how they work, see this forum post.
Pick up some Victory Emotes and charges today and get ready to show off your skills!