Posted by PrintsKaspian (Source)

Our newest Dev Talk is here, featuring Game Director Robin Henkys broadcasting from the brand-new Albion Online video studio! This new home for Albion's video content will streamline our filming process, allowing us to bring you Dev Talks more frequently. It's been awhile since our last Roadmap Update, and now we can reveal further details of two major upcoming features: War Gloves and HQ Hideouts.

Note that the above video includes subtitles for all nine of our supported languages – and as always, if you prefer a written summary, read on!

New Weapon Line: War Gloves

War Gloves are an entirely new weapon line, featuring:

• Three new base weapons
• Four Artifact weapons
• Fifteen new abilities
• Melee-focused brawler gameplay style (damage, mobility, control) plus limited ranged abilities
• Dedicated Combat and Crafting Masteries (Warrior line / Warrior's Forge)

These weapons excel at engaging an enemy and then keeping them engaged, dealing damage at the same time.

War Glove Artifacts

• Although War Gloves will only become craftable once the next major update is released, the Artifacts for this weapon line will already be added to loot tables before the start of the next season
• This ensures their availability once the update releases, and gives PvE and market players a valuable new loot type to play with
• Drop rates will start low and be adjusted to the same level as other artifacts once the update is released

HQ Hideouts

Headquarters Hideouts, AKA HQ Hideouts, are still early in development, but we’re very excited about the changes they will bring. We believe Albion to be best and most exciting when many small groups are competing for power in the Outlands, but the current Hideout system is controlled by large powerful groups, forcing players to consolidate or pay tribute.

Features of HQ Hideouts:

• Allows guilds to place and protect a Hideout based only on their own achievements
• Guilds will earn the ability to make one Hideout an HQ Hideout as a season reward
• HQ Hideouts are invulnerable to all attacks, even during battle times

Hideout Power Cores

Once created, the Headquarters status will need to be maintained. The upcoming open-world Vortex Power System has been extended to include Hideout Power Cores, which are required to make sure an HQ Hideout stays invulnerable. The required level of power depends on the quality of the region, with Hideouts deeper in the Outlands requiring significantly more power. Attackers can take advantage of this by preventing Power Cores from reaching the HQ, causing it to lose invulnerability eventually.

Other features of HQ Hideouts and general Hideout changes:

• To assist in their creation, guilds can earn the right to make a Hideout construction site invulnerable once per season
• Access to HQ Hideouts is limited to guild members
• General Hideout upkeep for non-HQ Hideouts will increase based on the number of Hideouts already in a region, to strengthen smaller guilds in the Outlands

When will these features arrive?

HQ Hideouts require guilds to collect enough Season Points by the end of a Guild Season. Thus, the current season will be followed by a shortened season before the launch of the next update:

• Name: “Energy Surge”
• Increased Season Point and Siphoned Energy reward rates
• Duration: 6 weeks (ends early November): https://forum.albiononline.com/index.php/Thread/154573

This gives us sufficient time to finish these new features while giving guilds the opportunity to earn their right to an HQ Hideout.

Stay tuned for more Dev Talks coming soon – thanks for watching!