The Rogue Frontier update is live, and players are diving into Smuggler’s Dens, trading their wares on the Smuggler’s Network, and planting Kill Trophies in the open world. And things are about to step up another gear in Albion, as Season 26 kicks off this Saturday, February 8!

This season is the first to use the new, shorter Guild Season format. The length of a season has been reduced to 59 days, and there will be three Invasion Days – at the beginning, middle, and end of the season. This promises to make seasons even more intense and action-packed, with opportunities for guilds of all sizes to rise up the rankings.



The Might requirements for the various Guild Challenges have been reduced in accordance with the shortened season, and the Season Points for PvE, Gathering, and Corrupted Dungeons have been increased significantly. For a full rundown of these changes, see the ‘Season Changes’ section in the Rogue Frontier patchnotes.

As always, we’ll be bringing you the action from the opening weekend of the season live on AlbionTV (http://twitch.tv/AlbionOnline). Tune in at the following times to watch the action on all three servers:

• Albion Asia: February 8, 14:00 UTC
• Albion Europe: February 8, 18:00 UTC
• Albion Americas: February 9, 01:00 UTC

We’re excited to see Albion’s guilds rushing forth to claim territories and work their way up the season rankings in this new format, so see you then!

For the full season schedule, check this forum post.

Season 25 has come to an end, and what a season it was! Records were broken, and the Outlands saw some of the bloodiest warfare in Albion Online's history. In the end, three guilds emerged triumphant: PIVAS on Albion Americas, Upper Class on Albion Asia, and Take Care on Albion Europe. So congratulations to those guilds, and without further ado, let's take a look at how events unfolded...

Season 25 started as many of the previous seasons on the Americas server left off and that's with the coalition war between IFures and HOGs.

The Lonely Men, of the HOGs coalition, began the season with the news that the FAX guild, who had partnered them for many seasons, had closed, leaving the coalition 300 players down and putting them at the mercy of the IFures coalition.

Within weeks of the season kicking off, and with battles raging at 18:00 and 20:00 UTC, it was clear that the HOGs coalition couldn't withstand the massive numbers of the IFures coalition every day and the downfall of HOGs began.

Within a month, Slayahata, the leader of The Lonely Men, called a public guild meeting in which he announced that they would be pulling out of the season race and stop focusing on inner-ring territories. While they tried to keep their Headquarters in Darkbough Snag alive as long as possible, it wasn't to be and IFures massed to deny them Power Cores day after day until the energy level dropped and the Headquarters became vulnerable. Five days later it was gone, and IFures took full control of Darkbough Snag with The Lonely Men relocating to a safer area to restabilize and take a break from the chaos.

But every cloud has a silver lining, and with the announcement that the HOGs coalition was over, Daliuess, the leader of the IFures coalition, announced that they'd also be folding. This meant that PIVAS and Make Albion Great Again were now the only alliances going forward, and this is where things got spicy.

PIVAS, led by Africanow, announced that they'd be going for top spot in the rankings and would attempt to break the all time Season Points record. This was held at the time by One Gin on Albion Asia, but was also being contested by Upper Class on Albion Asia at the same time.

This turned into a massive effort by both guilds across both servers, but PIVAS was not so lucky, and with the coalition over, Make Albion Great Again turned their attention to PIVAS and raiding and territory battles began.

With Make Albion Great Albion attacking daily, they was a major thorn in the side for PIVAS in their push to break the season points record, while over on the Albion Asia, Upper Class faced a much smoother ride, allowing them to pull further and further ahead.

As the season came to an end, with PIVAS and Make Albion Great Again still clashing daily, the final Invasion Day looked very different from previous seasons. There weren’t a handful of territories piled high with Season Points, but instead there were about 20 territories containing between 10,000 and 30,000 points, which led to some great action and battles lasting 30 to 45 minutes for some of these territories, and even saw IFures denying PIVAS some of their key territories.

As the dust settled, and with territories secured, a picture emerged of the the final placements:

1. PIVAS (1,256,040 points)
2. Make Albion Great Again (679,860 points)
3. The Lonely Men (453,298 points)

Although PIVAS was not able to beat Upper Class to the all-time record, they were able to take the Season Point record Albion Americas, toppling the previous holders Paura (1,231,398 points).

So congratulations to PIVAS, and with the once-huge IFures coalition now broken apart, the Season 26 could be very juicy indeed.

Season 25 started off quietly, a little too quietly some might say, as for Upper Class, who’d helped One Gin push out the PLAC coalition at the start of Season 24 and secure their season victory, this season was their turn to claim their reward.

Upper Class hit the ground running, and within the first 30 days surpassed 500,000 Season Points from every possible source. Such a push has never been seen before in Albion Online, and goes to prove their dedication to achieving a season victory.

As the season unfolded, however, there was an ever growing force emerging on the outskirts of the Outlands, as Peony Flower slowly built up their numbers once again. For those that may not know, Peony Flower were part of the PLAC coalition that once controlled nearly all of the Outlands.

But as time progressed, players began to wonder when 'Fuckcall', the former leader of the PLAC coalition (now known as the HOT coalition) was going to make his move.

It wasn't until the remaining month of the season, after the penultimate Invasion Day, that we saw him strike. As the HOT and Jin alliances banded together into a single coalition, they made their move and took control of the regions from Razorrock Ravine all the way across to Razorrock Verge and up to Mudergulch Divide.

This massive land grab by HOT spelled the end of the period of peace within the Outlands. With all eyes now on HOT’s next move, the ICE alliance (One Gin, TukTuk, and Pioneer) were forced from their homes and had to relocate to Arthur's Rest. That didn't stop them fighting, though, and territory battles began to unfold. With all eyes on Highstone Loch, between JIN and ICE, it was a very bloody end to the season as these two alliances battled it out up to the final day in what can only be described as an absolute bloodbath for both sides.

But it wasn't just ICE who were pushed out of their homes. On the north side of the inner-ring, in and around Drownfield Sink, Malicious Crew also faced the force of the HOT alliance themselves. With JiuGe looking to snatch second place away from Malicious Crew, it was game on.

JiuGe leaped ahead in the final week of the season, gaining control of nearly every single Quality Level 5 and 6 region, allowing them to earn huge amounts of Season Points each day and in turn denying Malicious Crew second place.

But as the season came to an end, Upper Class were able to achieve their goal of taking first place while also breaking the all-time Season Point record for Albion Online. They finished the season with an eye watering 1,437,793 points to their name, cementing their place in the history books. A massive congratulations to them indeed!

The final standings for Albion Asia looked like this:

1. Upper Class (1,437,793 points)
2. JiuGe (871,926 points)
3. Malicious Crew (754,948 points)

With the HOT coalition back in power, what does Season 26 have in store for Albion Asia? We'll soon find out as the season kicks off on February 8!

With coalitions waging war over the inner-ring and alliances battling for control of the outer-ring, Season 25 was one of the bloodiest seasons in a very long time.

Coming off the back end of Season 24, the YUH coalition was waging war against the GIRTH coalition for control of the inner-ring, and with Take Care declaring their push for a season victory, all signs pointed towards a coalition war the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time.

Take Care was immediately massing huge numbers, with nearly 300 players including their alt-guild Takes All, and the first Invasion Day was a signal that they were here to win. Taking control of their home region and helping their fellow coalition members, like BOBER and Black Order, secure theirs as well, the battle lines were drawn in the inner-ring.

It wasn't long, though, before the GIRTH coalition started to push back. After multiple strikes at 16 UTC onto Skylake Hintlerlands, the home region of Contingent, it was clear that the size of the YUH coalition was too much Contingent alone to handle. At this point the SENT alliance and other members of the GIRTH alliance, such as Heralds of Valhalla, entered the scene. Forces came in to back up Contingent, and the pushback began.

The coalition war began to spread across multiple timers. During this time Black Order declared that they wanted at least third place in the Season Rankings. This drew the attention of GIRTH, as Take Care was already way out in front, so their eyes turned away from Take Care and onto the other members of the YUH coalition.

This is when the major war for Drownfield Sink, Black Order’s home region, began. Forces from the GIRTH coalition started to test the waters, and after a couple of attempts  it was declared that the push was possible. And so forces began to amass daily.

Territory battles raged over this territory day in, day out, for weeks, with both sides losing thousands of sets in the process. It wasn't until SENT were able to place their own Hideouts in Drownfield Sink that the tables turned in GIRTH’s favor.

The territory was drained of its energy to deny Season Points to Black Order, while Hideouts went up. At the same time, the removal of shields from Black Order’s hideouts began. It wasn't all smooth sailing for GIRTH, though, as the YUH coalition counterattacked, destroying Hideouts and attacking territories as well. Again, this period saw thousands upon thousands of players dying every single day.

But, after a week or two of constant battles, Drownfield Sink at 12:00 UTC was secured by Heralds of Valhalla. Hideouts were set, giving them a forward operating base from which to regear, and all eyes turned to the region next door – Deadpine Forest at 14:00 UTC.

This region played host to both a Black Order and a Take Care Hideout, so it became another target for GIRTH to clear, removing YUH’s regearing locations. This was another bloody battle that raged on for over a week, with the two sides trading victories.

Within the second week, at 14:00 UTC the cracks began to show, territories fell GIRTH’s hands and Hideouts started to fall. Deadpine Forest fell into the hands of Heralds of Valhalla, giving them another Level 6 territory for Season Points.

As 12:00 and 14:00 UTC fell into the hands of GIRTH, the season leaderboard suggested that it was possible for Heralds of Valhalla to deny Black Order second and third-place, as Contingent wasn't far off either.

And so the push began, and GIRTH turned its attention to 16:00 and 18:00 UTC regions. These were held by BOBER, also part of the YUH coalition. These were Quality Level 5 and 6 with a lot of Raw Energy stored, which was needed to deny Black Order their top 3 spot.

So the third stage of the war began. The push began with a focus on Runnelvein Sink, but as before, the YUH coalition put up an epic defence. The cost of this push for the GIRTH coalition was huge, with bodies piling up day after day, but it turned out to be worth their efforts as, just before the final month of the season, a breakthrough was achieved and Runnelvein Sink and its surrounding regions fell into the hands of GIRTH. As 16:00 UTC was secured, a plan for 18:00 UTC was being drawn up, expected to be one of the toughest pushes of the whole war yet as it was BOBER’s main timezone, and their home region since the launch of Albion Europe. In fact, there were times when the GIRTH coalition doubted whether success here would even be possible.

But just before the push began, out of nowhere POLSKA GUROM of BOBER announced that they were disbanding with immediate effect, sending shockwaves across both coalitions. Taking advantage of the situation, Contingent instantly took control of Darkbough Snag, Thunderrock Ascent, and Thunderrock Draw, along with Rivercopse Fount, all of which are Quality Level 5 and 6 regions, allowing them to start earning a massive amount of Season Points in the final month, and pushing themselves towards Black Order, who at this time still held onto second place in the rankings.

As the dust settled in the final couple of weeks, raids began to hit the YUH coalition, as Heralds of Valhalla looked to maximize their Season Points and deny Black Order as much as possible.

This worked well, taking us up to the final Invasion Day of the season, where all eyes were on Black Order and the YUH coalition. Would YUH gift Black Order territories to help them hang onto their rank? Would GIRTH attempt to deny YUH everything?

With 24 hours until Invasion Day, word went out that Black Order was trying to buy any Season Points they could across the Outlands. Sadly for them, however, they couldn't find any sellers, and with that news they announced that they would close and not contest the final Invasion Day.

As that news spread, both Heralds of Valhalla and Contingent attempted to buy enough points from other guilds to push Black Order out of the Top 3, and as the final rankings show, they were successful:

1. Take Care (930,037 points)
2. Heralds of Valhalla (576,005 points)
3. Contingent (542,976 points)
4. Black Order (500,471 points)

Congratulations to Take Care for managing to hold onto first place while also engaging in one of the bloodiest seasons we've seen on Albion Online. Take Care have now announced their closure, but it isn't all over for them as they have merged into Takes All for Season 26, which is shaping up to be another incredible season.

After all that, things are set up very nicely for the beginning of Season 26 this Saturday, February 8! Check out the season schedule in this forum post, and be sure to tune in to AlbionTV (http://twitch.tv/AlbionOnline) at the following times to watch the action:

• Albion Asia: February 8, 14:00 UTC
• Albion Europe: February 8, 18:00 UTC
• Albion Americas: February 9, 01:00 UTC

See you then!

The Rogue Frontier is open! Albion’s shady new update introduces the Smugglers, a new Outlands-based faction with much to offer daring adventurers, along with Kill Trophies, new Crystal Weapons, a Bank Overview, and more.

Get a taste of what’s available in our brand-new trailer:


This update introduces Smuggler’s Dens to the Outlands – underground lairs which solo and small-scale players can make their bases of operations. Within these you’ll be able to access the Smuggler’s Network, a new market system for the Outlands which opens up intriguing trade opportunities. The Smugglers bring new activities with them as well, as you can help them transport their contraband wares or free apprehended rogues to earn their approval. Get on their good side, and you’ll be able to purchase brand-new themed items, like the Smuggler Cape and exclusive vanity skins.



Kill Trophies are new furniture items that act as a souvenir of your most legendary PvP victories. These mementos come in three different designs, depending on where the kill took place, and allow you to show off your combat prowess to enemies and friends alike. New Crystal Weapons are now available, too, bringing awesome new abilities to Albion’s battlefields. And a new Albion Journal Category – Creatures – challenges you to kill all of Albion’s myriad mobs, with intimidating rewards like the Emerald Basilisk available to the most determined hunters.



The Bank Overview is here, allowing you to view where all of your items are stored, from wherever you are in Albion. New varieties of Dynamic Resource Hotspots have been added, providing even more lucrative opportunities to intrepid gatherers. And there’s a broad array of combat balance changes and further quality-of-life improvements too, keeping things fresh and fun for all players.



To celebrate the release of Rogue Frontier, we’re offering double Twitch Drops until February 16 at 9:30 UTC on AlbionTV and all other streams in the Albion Online category! Here’s how you can get them:

• Make sure you are logged into the Albion Online account where you want your drops delivered
• Connect your Twitch account with your Albion Online account here
• Watch any streams in the Albion Online category on Twitch

For more on what lies on the Rogue Frontier, check out our latest Dev Talks here and here, read the full patchnotes here, and check out the official update page here:
 

LEARN MORE

This update expands the Outlands with the introduction of Smuggler’s Dens, the Smuggler’s Network, and the Smuggler Faction, providing new tools and activities for solo and small group players. It also adds a Bank Overview, new Crystal Weapons, Kill Trophies, and brings adjustments to Guild Seasons and the economy.

Smuggler’s Dens are new safe zones within the Outlands, offering certain city amenities and allowing solo and small-scale players to base themselves in the Outlands.

• There are 35 Smuggler’s Dens in total
• These contain a Repair Station, Artifact Foundry, Travel Planner, Bank, the new Smuggler Faction trader, and a Smuggler’s Marketplace (see ‘Smuggler’s Network’ below)
• Outlands Banks have been removed
  • Instead, Banks in the Outlands can be found within Smuggler’s Dens
  • Items stored within Outlands Banks have been moved to a Smuggler’s Den nearby, with bank tabs opened for these items
• Each Smuggler’s Den has two entrances, both located within the same Outlands region
  • These entrances are displayed on the minimap
  • Outlaws and players in combat cannot enter a Smuggler’s Den
  • Players can enter and exit while mounted, and can mount up within
  • Entering a Smuggler’s Den resets active S.A.F.E. Portal and Journey Back bindings
• Smuggler’s Dens can be set as a player’s home
  • Travel to a Smuggler’s Den is possible if set as home, and only without luggage
  • When a Smuggler’s Den is set as home, players receive a 2.5% buff to Combat and Gathering Fame in the Outlands
  • Having a Smuggler’s Den set as home significantly intensifies the effect of Disarray to disincentivize guilds from using them as a base for large-scale battles (see ‘Additional Changes and Improvements’ below for details)

The Smuggler’s Network is a new, Outlands-based Marketplace network, which operates independently of the Royal Continent Marketplaces. The Marketplaces in this network are connected, allowing players to buy from distant points in the Smuggler’s Network, albeit with distance fees applied. It gives players the ability to offload loot, and the choice to regear within the Outlands for a fee or do so from the Royal Continent at lower fees.

• Smuggler’s Markets can be found within Smuggler’s Dens and Outlands Rests
  • Unlike Marketplaces on the Royal Continent, these are all connected, essentially functioning as a single Marketplace with multiple access points
  • Active Buy and Sell Orders and unclaimed items on Outlands Rests Marketplaces will be moved to the new Smuggler’s Network
  • Buy and Sell Orders can be canceled from any location within the network, but editing orders or claiming items can only be done where the order was created
• Distance Fees are applied when completing orders remotely
  • These fees are determined by:
    • The distance between where in the Outlands an item was sold and where it was purchased
    • The item price
  • The greater the distance, the higher the fee
  • The fee is always paid by the player completing the transaction
  • Not subject to a Premium discount
  • The distance is displayed in a new column in the Marketplace UI
  • A ‘Max Distance’ filter can be applied
• Displayed prices include fees by default
  • This can be toggled to display prices without fees, to make it possible to compare original listing prices and view their locations    
• Items must meet a minimum price threshold to be listed on this Marketplace

This update introduces a new, Outlands-based faction: the Smugglers. There are three new activities which players can perform in the Outlands to earn Standing with this faction, along with Might and Favor.

Smuggler Crates

• Smuggler Crates spawn in the open world
  • They can be found within a broken Smuggler Wagon
  • Multiple Crates can spawn at one of these Wagons
  • Depending on the amount of crates in a Wagon, their broadcast range varies
    • 1 crate:
      • Visible in close proximity
      • Unlocked immediately
    • 5 crates:
      • Visible on the Region Map
      • Locked for 1 minute
    • 10 crates:
      • Visible on the Region Map
      • Locked for 3 minutes
  • Crates have four rarity levels, indicated by a colored glow
    • Green: Common
    • Blue: Uncommon
    • Purple: Rare
    • Golden: Legendary
• Dismounted players can pick up and carry these Crates
  • A player can only carry one Crate at a time
  • The highest rarity level is automatically the first to be picked up
  • Players carrying Smuggler Crates are not displayed on the Region Map
• Once picked up, multiple drop-off locations, called Smuggler Stashes, appear on the Region Map
• Successfully transporting a Crate to one of these Stashes rewards the player with Might, Favor, and Smuggler Standing
• Crates can be dropped, though they cannot be returned to the Wagon
• Dropped Crates disappear after 30 minutes

Captured Smugglers

• Captured Smugglers can be found in the open world, surrounded by Royal Guards
• Players can free a Captured Smuggler after defeating the guards
  • After a short channel, the Smuggler is freed and the player rewarded with Smuggler Standing, Might and Favor

Smuggler’s Coins

• Smuggler’s Coins can be found as additional loot in Camp Caches, Coffers, and Hidden Treasures in the Outlands
• These can be delivered to Maggy Slade in Smuggler’s Dens (see ‘Smuggler’s Rewards’ below) to increase your Smuggler Standing and earn a small amount of Favor

Smuggler’s Dens play host to a shadowy new NPC: Maggy Slade. Brand new Smuggler items can be purchased from her with Favor.

Smuggler Cape

• A craftable Cape with a unique passive spell – Hidden Vial
  • This spell activates upon using a potion, reducing the potion slot cooldown by 90 seconds
  • After activation, the spell enters a long cooldown
• Crafting a Smuggler Cape requires:
  • A Smuggler Crest (purchasable from Maggy Slade)
  • A Caerleon Heart
  • A base cape of Tier 4 to Tier 8

Smuggler Vanity Items

• New, non-tradable vanity items can be purchased from Maggy Slade:
  • Full Smuggler wardrobe set
    • Smuggler’s Hat
    • Smuggler’s Coat
    • Smuggler’s Boots
    • Smuggler’s Cloak
  • Smuggler Avatar
  • Smuggler Avatar Frame

This is a much-requested new UI which allows players to see an overview of items they have stored in all banks across the game, including the new banks in Smuggler’s Dens. Players with the ‘Manage Guild Chests’ guild right can also view items stored in their guild’s shared bank tabs from the Bank Overview.

• The Bank Overview can be opened from:
  • The Player Menu (clicking or tapping your character avatar in the top-left of the screen)
  • The hotkey ‘K’
• There is now also a ‘Search in Bank Overview’ option in the Item Details UI
  • This allows you to see where you currently have items of that type stored
• Upon opening, players can see an overview of the number of items they have in each bank and their estimated market value
  • Clicking an item shows its details
• The contents of the selected bank tab are displayed in the right-hand side of the UI
• Shared Bank contents are not updated in real time
  • The time since the information was last updated is displayed in the top right
• A dropdown menu allows players to switch between bank tabs
  • Recovered items from a destroyed Hideout have their own entry in this menu
• From this UI, items can be searched and filtered across all banks simultaneously
  • Items cannot be moved, stacked, or sorted – this is a view-only UI
• This feature also allows players to view and recover items from Guild Islands to which they have lost access
  • Recovered items are moved to a new tab in the nearest city or Smuggler’s Den bank from where they have been recovered
  • As long as a Recovered Items tab exists in a bank, more of these tabs cannot be created at the same bank until it is cleared

Kill Trophies are new, themed furniture items that serve as mementos of PvP combat victories. They allow you to admire a monument to your own triumph, and brag to your friends and foes about your combat prowess.

• There is a chance for one of these to drop whenever you kill a player in full-loot PvP combat
  • They come in three different sizes
  • The more valuable the victim, the greater the chance that a trophy will drop, and that it will be a larger trophy
• Knockdowns and self-kills do not grant Kill Trophies
• There are three variants of Kill Trophies, called Mementos, depending on where the kill occurred
  • Open World Mementos drop in the Outlands and the Roads of Avalon
  • Hell Mementos drop in Corrupted Dungeons and Hellgates
  • Mists Mementos drop in the Mists and Knightfall Abbey
• Mementos can be placed in the open world or on islands
• They display the kill details, including the victim’s name
• They are tradable, but cannot be sold at the Marketplace

This update builds on the introduction of Dynamic Resource Hotspots in the Horizons update with three new variations, giving dedicated gatherers lucrative new objectives to pursue.

Medium Resource Hotspots

• These are larger Resource Hotspots than the ones that currently exist
• They can appear in open-world regions from Tier 5 to Tier 8, and are active for an entire day
• They contain one resource type, and can also contain Resource Guardians (eg. Old White)
  • Resource Guardians can spawn in any region where their matching resource can be found, regardless of the Hotspot's resource type
• In the open world, Resource Guardians now spawn exclusively in these areas

Resource Mists

• Resource Mists can be accessed by finding a Verdant Will o’ Wisp in a Dynamic Resource Hotspot
• A Verdant Will o’  Wisp can be pursued until it opens a portal
  • These portals lead to smaller, resource-rich Mists
  • The primary resource found within a Resource Mist is the same as that of the Resource Hotspot from which it was accessed
• These can range from Tier 6 to Tier 8, and exist in different rarities
• There are Small Resource Mists for individual players, and Medium Resource Mists where you can encounter other players
• Resource Mists close after a short time, with Medium Resource Mists lasting longer than Small ones

Small Resource Mob Hotspots

• Small Resource Mob Hotspots spawn Resource Mobs of their biome’s primary type

This update introduces the eighth Albion Journal category: Creatures.

• This challenges players to hunt every type of creature that can be found in the world of Albion
• New, unique rewards, based around the theme of a beast hunter, are available as you progress through the category

In addition, a new subcategory – Smugglers – has been added to the Exploration category.


With this update, three new Crystal Weapons are available to successful guilds, each with its own unique spell:

• Rotcaller Staff (Cursed Staff): Plaguebringer summons a cursed spectre that spews a deadly mist
• Skystrider Bow (Bow): Sky’s Fury allows you to jump into the air and fire powerful bolts down onto your opponents
• Forcepulse Bracers (War Gloves): Unstoppable Rush infuses your attacks with magical damage as you dash towards your enemies

With this update, we are introducing a self-regulating economic system to the game that will help stabilize the price of Gold and Premium when purchased with Silver. This system automatically makes minor adjustments on each server as needed, to gradually stabilize prices without the need for large-scale economic intervention.

As a result, players may notice changes in the amount of Silver received for some activities – such as killing mobs –, and in the Silver cost for certain actions. These changes will be quite subtle, however, and will slow down over the long term, thus avoiding any economic shocks.


Beginning with Season 26, Guild Seasons will be shortened to 59 days, in order to create a more dynamic and engaging experience:

• Territories will reset three times during a season:
  • Opening Day
  • Mid-Season Invasion Day
  • Final Weekend
• Double point scoring will begin on the mid-season Invasion Day, and cover half the season
• Off-season length will alternate between the standard 12 days and a shorter 5-day break

Several balance adjustments accompany the shorter season:

• Territories now generate 50% more Fortification Points each day
• Conqueror's Challenge Chest values have been adjusted in proportion to the season length
• The 90-day Fame buff reward (Knight's Vow) has been replaced with a shorter 60-day Fame buff
• A new Guild Challenge has been added for Smuggler Activities
• Basic Guild Challenge
  • Requirements reduced by 50%
• Crystal Creatures
  • Might, Favor, and Loot rewards have been doubled
  • Crystal Creature respawn rate reduced by 50%
• Territory Energy Crystals
  • Requirements reduced by 44%
  • Season Points reduced by 20% to balance the impact of double scoring now applying to a larger portion of the season
• Hideout Power Cores
  • Requirements reduced by 30%
• Treasure Chests
  • Requirements reduced by 35%
• Castles
  • Requirements reduced by 33%
• PvE
  • Requirements reduced by 33%
  • Season Points increased by 100%
• Gathering
  • Requirements reduced by 30%
  • Season Points increased by 300%
• Corrupted Dungeons
  • Requirements reduced by 25%
  • Season Points increased by 25%
• 2v2 Hellgates
  • Requirements reduced by 30%
• 5v5 Hellgates
  • Requirements reduced by 33%
• 10v10 Hellgates
  • Requirements reduced by 33%
• Arena
  • Promotion values have been adjusted to enable faster rank progression:
    • Rank Iron 1: 250 → 150
    • Rank Iron 2: 500 → 300
    • Rank Iron 3: 750 → 450
    • Rank Iron 4: 1000 → 600
    • Rank Bronze 1: 1250 → 750
    • Rank Bronze 2: 1500 → 900
    • Rank Bronze 3: 1750 → 1050
    • Rank Bronze 4: 2000 → 1200
    • Rank Silver 1: 2250 → 1350
    • Rank Silver 2: 2500 → 1500
    • Rank Silver 3: 2750 → 1650
    • Rank Silver 4: 3000 → 1800
    • Rank Gold 1: 3250 → 1950
    • Rank Gold 2: 3500 → 2100
    • Rank Gold 3: 3750 → 2250
    • Rank Gold 4: 4000 → 2400
  • Demotion values have been adjusted to 50 points below the promotion threshold for the previous rank (previously 100 points)
    • For example, you will drop from Bronze 1 to Iron 4 (promotion threshold: 600 points) if your points fall below 550
• Headquarters Hideout requirements have not changed for Season 26 due to the overall Season Point output remaining largely unchanged

Home and Disarray Changes

• Players entering the Outlands from a Portal Town no longer lose their home if it is set to a location there (Outlands Hideout, Rests, or Smuggler’s Den)
• Instead, they now receive a new debuff, ‘Homesick’
• When in groups of 21 or more players, Homesick significantly increases the effect of Disarray:
  • Normal Disarray Level 1 reduces Damage & CC by 1%
  • Increased Disarray Level 1 reduces Damage & CC by 21%
  • Normal Disarray Level 2 reduces Damage & CC by 2%
  • Increased Disarray Level 2 reduces Damage & CC by 22%, etc.
• This debuff also applies when players have set home in a Smuggler’s Den

Dynamic Encampment Changes

• Since the Mob Fame Penalty was removed from Dynamic Encampments with Horizons Patch 1, the total amount of Fame from Group Dynamic Encampments has overperformed relative to other features
• To bring Group Dynamic Encampments more in line with other features, the amount of non-tradable Tome Fame found in the Green (Common) Caches of open-world Encampments has been reduced
• While open-world Solo Dynamic Encampments are also affected by this Fame reduction to a lesser extent, they were also found to be underperforming from a loot perspective, so they have received an increase of 10% to their loot
• Both types of Encampments can now also drop Smuggler's Coins from their Green (Common) Cache variants
• Neither of these changes affect the Mists, and mobs still yield their full Fame value

Mists Changes

• Unstable Roads found within the Mists now have an increased chance to spawn:
  • Unenchanted Mists: 10% → 25%
  • Enchanted Mists: 50% → 100%
• Unstable Roads found within Nonlethal Mists are now more likely to connect to the Royal Continent, while Unstable Roads within Lethal Mists are more likely to connect to the Outlands
• Wisps now ignore mounted players

UI Improvements

• Knockdowns and Arena deaths are now included in the Player Stats UI (in the Deaths and Kills tabs)
  • You can filter for knockdowns or kills via a dropdown menu
• UI windows now scale according to the aspect ratio of the display
• Added an ‘S’ to the bottom of the minimap to indicate South
• Marketplace UI now keeps filter settings separated per tab, except for Loadouts
• Attacker’s equipment information is now included in the Death Recap
• Death Recap entry in the Player Menu is now always visible, appearing in a disabled state when unavailable
• The login screen now scales with the Window Scaling setting in the Interface menu
  • [DESKTOP] As the default scaling is set to 80%, the login screen will appear smaller after the update but can be adjusted by increasing Window Scaling
• [DESKTOP] Added a server selection UI to match the existing mobile version
• [MOBILE] Icons for the buttons opening the game menu and party UIs in the combined tracker have been updated

HUD Editor Changes

• A click-through option is now available for some HUD elements: minimap (desktop only), spell buttons, and player frames
  • Click-through means that items remain visible but are no longer interactable, allowing you to click behind them
  • Hidden and click-through elements are now marked for easier identification, and a warning message appears when applying or importing click-through elements
• [CONTROLLER] Controller support added to the Manage Layouts UI
• [MOBILE] Minimap opacity now affects only the background texture, leaving labels and icons unchanged
  • Separate opacity settings are now available for minimap labels and icons

Other Changes

• The amount of Boss Lair chests has been changed back down to 1 (from 3), but their loot multiplier has been increased back up to 3 (from 1)
  • This should not affect the total value of Boss Lairs, but player feedback overwhelmingly preferred the older, one-chest version of Boss Lairs to the three-chest version
• Hideout bonus buffs now apply from Power Level 1, and the bonus Fame levels are as follows:
  • Level 1: +2.5% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 2: +3% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 3: +4% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 4: +5% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 5: +6% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 6: +7% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 7: +8% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 8: +9% PvE and Gathering Fame
  • Level 9: +10% PvE and Gathering Fame
• The trash rate of equipable items has been increased slightly, while the trash rate of non-equipment items has been reduced slightly
• City Banks can now be accessed from Personal Islands connected to that city
• Kill messages in chat are now highlighted to show the killer and victim’s relation to you
• Crystal Arena Avatar Ring items are now salvageable, allowing players to repurpose duplicate items:
  • Avatar Ring: Crystal Arena Silver Rank – Salvageable for 20 Arena Sigils
  • Avatar Ring: Crystal Arena Gold Rank – Salvageable for 40 Arena Sigils
  • Avatar Ring: Crystal Arena Crystal Rank – Salvageable for 60 Arena Sigils
• Tier 4, 6, and 8 versions of Resource Mobs have been added to their respective biomes
  • Just like their Tier 3, 5, and 7 brethren, they spawn fully charged with resources

Arcane Staffs

Chain Missile’s bounce damage has received a boost to help solo Arcane Staff players clear packs of enemies in PvE.

• Chain Missile (all Arcane Staffs)
  • Bounce damage: 25 → 40

Axes

Bear Paws have been very successful as a ganking weapon, especially in catching opponents, but their fighting abilities have been somewhat lacking. To make them less one-dimensional, their fighting strength has been improved, but their catch potential toned down.

• Razor Cut (Bear Paws)
  • Added 10% life steal buff for 4s on cast start
  • Removed Damage over Time effect
  • Base Cooldown: 30s → 20s
  • Cooldown Reduction on hit: 40% → 25%
  • Damage: 140 → 180
  • Decreased hitbox size
  • Jump can no longer be interrupted
  • Jump Range: 10m → 8m
  • Jump Speed: 22 → 18

Rending Strike’s damage has fallen behind Rending Rage, even on single targets. For this reason, Rending Strike’s damage has been increased.

• Rending Strike (all Axes)
  • Damage: 54 → 59

Cursed Staffs

• Cursed Tar (all Cursed Staffs)
  • Improved area hit detection on initial tick
  • Maximum area duration: 4s → 4.2s

Inner Shadow’s effect on Leather Armor offered too much sustain in PvE situations. Therefore, its sustain has been reduced against mobs, and increased against players. Its total area damage in PvP has been increased, while its duration has been reduced.

• Shadowcaller (Inner Shadow, Leather)
  • Maximum duration: 3.2s → 2s
  • Maximum ticks: 5 → 4
  • Damage per tick (vs players): 24 → 33
  • Damage per tick (vs mobs): 24 → 16.5

Daggers

Due to Deathgivers consuming Q Stacks before dealing damage, having two stacks dealt more damage than having max stacks. To fix this, it now consumes stacks after dealing damage. Since this increases the damage output of an already very strong item, its base damage has been reduced to compensate.

• Ghost Strike (Deathgivers)
  • Now deals damage before Sunder Armor’s pierce is removed
  • Damage: 167.5 → 159

Due to its long range and cone angle, Throwing Blades could often hit unintended targets. For this reason, its range has been reduced and damage increased. In addition, its buff no longer requires a unique target, making it more reliable.

• Throwing Blades (all Daggers)
  • Reduced Range: 18m → 12m
  • Damage: 45 → 60
  • Damage type: Magical → Physical
  • Blade radius: 1m → 1.2m
  • Standtime: 0.4 → 0.2

Hammers

The one-handed Hammer is the introductory Hammer for players who prefer tank playstyles, so Earth Shatter now has a taunt against mobs to help new tanks and their allies in group PvE.

• Earth Shatter (Hammers)
  • Now makes you the highest priority target for all mobs hit

Powerful Swing’s bonus damage against crowd-controlled targets was too unreliable, so it has been simplified and this conditional strength added to its baseline damage instead.

• Powerful Swing (Hammers)
  • Damage: 113 → 169
  • Removed: 56 bonus damage to CC’d targets

Holy Staffs

Fallen Staff has been underused recently. To make it more attractive and to give it a more unique role, it now removes damage-over-time effects.

• Salvation (Fallen Staff)
  • Now cleanses damage-over-time effects

Maces

Defensive Slam has received a significant cooldown reduction. While its damage has also been reduced, these changes give it greater damage-over-time potential, making it a more viable option.

• Defensive Slam (all Maces)
  • Damage: 77.81 → 60
  • Cooldown: 3s → 2s

Threatening Smash’s cooldown has been significantly reduced to make it more viable in a brawling playstyle. This slightly reduces Caerleon Cape’s burst damage.

• Threatening Smash (all Maces)
  • Cooldown: 6s → 4s
  • Damage: 146 → 135

Nature Staffs

Thorn Growth is one of the strongest Q-slot damage abilities against multiple enemies in PvE, on a weapon line that also offers very high sustain. Its area damage has therefore been reduced against mobs, while its damage output and usability has been increased in PvP.

• Thorn Growth (all Nature Staffs)
  • Damage vs mobs: 30 → 24
  • Damage vs players: 25 → 30

Quarterstaffs

Forceful Swing had been able to shut down builds that rely on auto-attacks, but otherwise unreliable. Its duration has therefore been reduced, but the power of its debuff increased significantly to allow Quarterstaff tank players to better protect their allies.

• Forceful Swing (all Quarterstaffs)
  • Damage reduction: 20% → 50%
  • Duration 8s → 5s

Mystic Rocks no longer removes healing-over-time effects as a separate mechanic. Instead, it now properly negates all healing received by the caster, which includes healing-over-time.

• Mystic Rocks (Staff of Balance)
  • No longer removes healing-over-time effects on the caster
  • Instead, healing-over-time effects will simply not heal the caster while the effect is active

Shapeshifter Staffs

Adapting Matter’s energy cost has been reduced to make it more similar to the other Shapeshifter Q abilities.

• Adapting Matter (all Shapeshifter Staffs)
  • Energy cost: 16 → 10

Tether Shift’s shield duration has been extended to give its users a longer protection window.

• Tether Shift (all Shapeshifter Staffs)
  • Shield Duration: 1.5s → 2s

Swords

Blade Cyclone’s Heroic Stack removal creates a significant cost, so its damage output has been increased to justify this.

• Blade Cyclone (all Swords)
  • 1 stack damage: 60 → 70

Swords have high mobility, and Limitbreaker adds another unconditional move speed buff that can be used to engage and disengage. This made its overall mobility somewhat too effective in the Mists, so that buff has been reduced.

• Limitbreaker (Infinity Blade)
  • Move speed buff while channeling: 40% → 30%

Heroic Cleave has had its hit delay reduced to improve its feel and hit more reliably.

• Heroic Cleave (all Swords)
  • Hit delay: 0.3s → 0.2s

Potions

To ensure Poison Potions are not too powerful as ganking tools in combination with the new Smuggler Cape, their damage against mounted players has been halved.

• Poison Potions
  • Damage against mounted players reduced by 50%

Mounts

• Spectral Bat, Spectral Direboar, Divine Owl, and Saddled Terrorbird spells no longer interrupt their gallops

Diminishing Return Changes

Increased Diminishing Returns have helped solo players against multiple enemies, but in large-scale battles where cleanses are widely available, this change nerfed crowd control-focused tank builds more than intended. To make these tanks more viable in large-scale fights, cleanses now significantly reduce Diminishing Returns, resulting in longer crowd control durations, especially in fights with multiple cleanses available.

• Cleansing Crowd Control now partially resets the Diminishing Returns value of the removed CC effect, setting it to 0.3

Spell Fixes

• Requite (Armor of Valor): Channel effects can no longer be purged
• Intoxicating Breath (Venom Basilisk): Fixed issue where defense debuff was not removed by debuff cleanses
• Fear Aura (Fiend Robe): Affected targets now display an icon to show their immunity to further Fear Aura
• Enigma Blade (Arcane Staff): Fixed issue where its effect did not match the size of its indicator
• Crescent Slash (Clarent Blade): Fixed issue where its effect did not match the size of its indicator

UI Fixes

• Fixed issue where the Completed Transactions tab would reset to default when a buy order was fulfilled during a search
• Fixed issue where freshly spawned treasures and resources would not display on an already opened Travel Mode map
• Fixed issue where the Upgrade UI would not reopen if closed by clicking the X icon while stationary
• Fixed issue where HUD elements were not clickable with the Albion Journal open
• Fixed issue where the Kill Details UI displayed incorrect item salvage values
• Fixed issue where the Rankings UI would display incorrect values
• Fixed issues where duplicate entries appeared in some Albion Journal mission checklists
• Fixed a regression where the default sorting for resources (and some other item types) would handle enchantment levels incorrectly

For the complete list of changes, see our website: https://albiononline.com/changelog

The Carnival Challenge has arrived, and amidst the joyful chaos, the swift and cunning Terrorbird streaks through the festivities. Built for the chase, this relentless predator thrives on the thrill of pursuit, its invisibility and speed making it a master of ambush and retreat. Venture into the open world, earn Challenge Points, and bring this untamed hunter to your side before the curtain falls!


SADDLED TERRORBIRD: This month’s Challenge brings back the charming, lightning-fast Saddled Terrorbird, a speedy mount that will carry you quickly across the lands of Albion. With an above-average base move speed and an additional invincibility/speed burst spell, it’s the perfect ride for those who need to cover some ground quickly and safely.


AVATAR RING: Along with the Saddled Terrorbird, you’ll unlock the Carnival Challenge Avatar Ring when you reach this month’s Challenge Point goal. Give your avatar a colorful, festive look all year round! 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: Unlock weekly Carnival Challenge chests to get valuable rewards like Adventurer’s Tomes, resources, and silver bags, along with a chance at carnival-themed Wardrobe Skins. You can also get three furniture items: the Carnival Firework, Carnival Arch, and Carnival Costume Cart.


The Adventurer’s Challenge is a monthly event where you can earn exclusive rewards such as mounts, Tomes of Insight, bags of Silver, and more. By gathering, fishing, farming, and defeating monsters, you’ll earn Challenge Points that fill daily, weekly, and monthly progress bars. To track your progress, open the Adventurer’s Challenge UI by clicking on the Activities menu.



While only Premium players can unlock the Monthly Rewards (Avatar Ring, Mount) and Weekly Rewards (Challenge Chests), anyone can claim the Daily Rewards, which include 10 Learning Points and a Tier 4 Tome of Insight. Non-Premium players also make progress on all reward tracks, so when you’re ready to unlock Premium, your earned rewards will be waiting for you!

A new Referral Season is here, and a maniacal laugh echoes alongside the clanging of iron forges. Once a wild predator, the Ironjaw Hyena has been reinforced with brutal metalwork – its jaw built to crush the toughest bones. With its menacing grin and relentless drive, it’s ready to charge into battle at your side, mocking your enemies with its laughter.



You can transform your Direwolf mount into this ferocious companion by referring a friend. Once unlocked, the Ironjaw Hyena skin can be used by all your characters on that server.

Now’s the perfect moment to summon your pack – invite more friends and you can earn additional rewards of Gold and Fame:

• Refer 1 Friend: Ironjaw Hyena mount skin
• Refer 3 Friends: A T7 Pile of Tomes worth 100,000 Fame
• Refer 5 Friends: A T8 Pile of Tomes worth 200,000 Fame
• Bonus for your first-ever referral: A T8 Pile of Tomes worth 200,000 Fame
• Additionally, for each friend you refer, you'll receive 500 Gold!

Getting your friends in on the action is as simple as following these steps:

• Step 1: Share your referral link with a friend, which you can find here when logged into the website with your game account
• Step 2: Your friend signs up to Albion Online
• Step 3: Your friend purchases at least 30 days of Premium status, unlocking your rewards

This Referral Season ends on February 28 at 23:59 UTC! Assemble your pack and let the Ironjaw Hyena’s ferocity be your weapon of war.

Rogue Frontier, Albion Online’s next major update, arrives February 3. Having looked at many of its features in our previous Dev Talk, today we explore Kill Trophies, new Crystal Weapons, a new Albion Journal category, new Dynamic Resource Hotspots, and a new economic stabilization mechanism. Game Director Robin Henkys and Head of Production Moritz Bokelmann took a moment to bring you the details.

Kill Trophies are new furniture items that immortalize your PvP victories.

• When you kill another player, a Kill Trophy may drop
• They display stats about about the encounter, such as:
  • Who you killed
  • Their equipment
  • When and where the kill occurred
• Each Trophy’s look is determined by where the kill happened
  • Open world: a triumphant standard
  • Hellgates and Corrupted Dungeons: a demonic monument
  • The Mists: a knightly statue
• Kill Trophies are tradable

Three brand-new Crystal Weapons become available when Rogue Frontier launches.

• Rotcaller Staff (Cursed Staff): Summon a cursed spectre which spews deadly a mist
• Skystrider Bow (Bow): Jump into the air and fire up to three shots onto your enemies below
• Forcepulse Bracers (War Gloves): Dash towards a target, infusing your auto-attacks and Q and W abilities with additional magical damage

Rogue Frontier introduces a new Albion Journal category: Creatures.

• A bestiary containing most of Albion’s enemies
• Shows their appearance and describes where to find them
• Offers unique rewards, such as
  • Hunting-themed wardrobe skins
  • The Emerald Basilisk Swamp Dragon mount skin

Three new types of Dynamic Resource Hotspot are coming.

• Medium Resource Hotspots
  • Larger gathering zones with a single resource type
  • Found in Tier 5 to Tier 8 regions
  • Open-world Resource Guardians are now exclusively found in these
• Resource Mists
  • Accessed via a new type of Wisp
  • Temporary regions rich in one resource type
  • Coming in two variants
    • Small Resource Mists are for solo players
    • Medium Resource Mists allow multiplayer encounters

Additionally, small Dynamic Resource Templates can now spawn Resource Mobs.
Changes are coming to the Guild Season structure from Season 26.

• Guild Seasons will now last roughly two months, rather than three
• A content update will be released every other season
  • This extends the production cycle, for more impactful updates
• Seasonal challenge requirements and rewards have been updated for this new schedule

For more on the Season 26 changes, click here.


A new self-balancing economic mechanism will soon be introduced to help stabilize the prices of Gold and Premium when purchased with Silver, ensuring a healthy economy over the long run.

• This makes daily adjustments to the prices of certain ingame services, and the amount of Silver generated ingame
• The rate of change will be slow, and decrease further over time
• Prices will gradually stabilize at a reasonable level for each server
• Slow, gradual adjustments prevent economic shocks and overreaction to temporary trends

We can’t wait to see all of Rogue Frontier’s new features in action when the update launches on February 3, and we hope to see you ingame then!

It’s time for another AlbionTV interview! Environment Artist Johannes Geier joined Shozen to talk about Albion Online’s artistic style, environmental storytelling, and recent new approaches to environment design in the game.

(Note: This video is only available in English.)


In case you missed our other interviews, check them out in our Videos section, and be sure to follow AlbionTV on YouTube (http://youtube.com/@albiontv) and Twitch (http://twitch.tv/albiononline) for more content!

A new 20v20 tournament with high-octane action and big prizes begins today – the Smallscale Cup!

This massive, er, smallscale tournament starts today, and runs until the finals on February 15 and 16. There are more than 20 teams signed up, and more than 500 million Silver in prize money on offer. In addition, the winners will each receive a full vanity set of their choice, while the runners-up each get a mount skin. With all of this up for grabs, this tournament promises high-stakes, high-intensity fun!

The matches will be streamed live by members of the Albion Online Creators Program – for details on channels and times, join the official Smallscale Cup Discord here: https://discord.gg/5rGgHVGM2x. And for regular highlights and clips, subscribe to the dedicated Smallscale Cup YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/@SmallscaleCup).

Here’s the tournament schedule:

• Jan 28 - Feb 1: Pool phase
• Feb 3 - Feb 6: 1st knockout round
• Feb 7 - Feb 10: 2nd knockout round
• Feb 11 - Feb 14: 3rd knockout round
• Feb 15 - Feb 16: Finals

Be sure to tune in to see these dramatic fights play out, and good luck to all the teams!

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with us and welcome good fortune and prosperity into your adventures! Until February 10 at 10 UTC, you can get the brand-new Jade Guardian Swiftclaw skin in our Lunar New Year Bundle.

This exclusive bundle includes:

• Jade Guardian Mount Skin: Transform your Swiftclaw into a majestic guardian lion
• 3,888 Gold: A fortuitous amount symbolizing prosperity and wealth

This offer is available on all platforms, but you can get the best price when you get it from the Albion Online Web Shop or native client.



The Jade Guardian is more than just a mount skin – it’s a symbol of protection and prosperity. Its design, inspired by the revered guardian lions, embodies the Lunar New Year’s spirit of renewal, luck, and fortune. And with 3,888 Gold, you’re starting the year with a lucky number and enough riches to unlock Premium, trade for Silver, or to buy more skins for your collection.

Don’t let this chance pass – this unique skin is only available until February 10.

May your year be filled with the brilliance of jade and the wealth of gold!