Check out the latest patch notes for Albion Online version 1.0.296.

Live Server / Revision #55631 7 years ago

For the initial release of Final Beta, we are noting only major changes, as there have been too many smaller fixes and improvements to count!

New World

We rebuilt the entire world of Albion and all individual areas from scratch, doubled it in size and overhauled layout and distribution for more variety and interesting gameplay. Here are the most important changes:

  • There are now three continents: Kings Isle, Queens Isle and the Outlands.
  • Kings and Queens (also referred to as the Royal Continents) are where the King still has power and where people that kill too many other players will have to face consequences - while people that hunt down player killers and kill mobs can build up a trusted reputation.
  • The Outlands are a huge free for all area, where Guilds will find territories to conquer and the most precious resources.

Royal Continents and the Outlands are each as big as the entire old Albion world.

Biomes

The new world consists of different biomes that all come with their own visuals, mobs and resources.

Final Beta launches with mountain, swamp and steppe biomes; during the test we will add highlands and forests.

Since not all resources are available in all areas, trading and transport will be crucial!

  • The Swamp Biome: soaky grounds, lakes, giant toads and vicious lizards. This is the home of the Undead, where you can find lots of fiber but also some wood and hide.
  • The Steppe Biome: wide, dusty plains and sharp cliffs. Plenty of animals - most of them never seen before in Albion - dominate this biome and provide hide to the hunters. Ore and fiber are the other two resources that can be found here. Morgana herself has sent out expeditions to claim this biome for her evil forces.
  • The Mountain Biome: Massive mountains, so high that they are always covered in snow only interrupted by deep, deadly canyons. This is where you'll find the castles of Morgana and where gatherers can collect lots of ore and rock.
Item system overhaul

We have simplified and expanded the item system, so you now have more choices that are easier to understand.

  • Everything is available starting from Tier 4, and the item progression and Destiny Board have been reworked to ensure that the biggest question you have to ask is "what item best fits my playstyle?"
  • A ton of new abilities have been added all over the item range.
  • The most powerful agents of the Keepers, Morganas and Undead are now in possession of ancient Artifacts that can be forged into powerful weapons and armor... if you can get your hands on them! Pieces of Artifact equipment have their own look, more power and unique abilities.
  • Artifact fragments can also be found throughout the world, and if you can find enough of them, you can meld them into usable Artifacts.
  • Both, normal items and Artifact items, can be crafted using rare enchanted resources gathered from the world, to boost their power even further.
  • During this test we will add more unique Artifacts for hell gates and raid dungeons.
Reputation system

The new reputation system brings another way of creating an identity for yourself within the world of Albion. A very peaceful player will rise to the higher titles and may end up with the title of Glorious at some point. However a very aggressive and hostile player will find themselves reaching the depths of their reputation and may become Dreaded by others.

GvG rework

GvG has had a major facelift with improvements both visually and mechanically. Here are some of the key changes to the new GvG system:

  • Watch Towers are a new type of territory which have no physical boundary keeping players out of them. Watch Towers do however have NPC guards which are aligned to the owning Guild, and will fight off any intruders (and alert their Guild!) Some Watch Towers also oversee arable land that can be used for farming.
  • The GvG Timing System is now regionalized, to ensure that players are playing with and against players with the same typical playing hours as they have.
  • The actual GvG Battle has had massive facelifts, improved UI, visuals and audio.
  • Counter Attack System ensures that you really want to commit to a fight.
  • Defender Bonus has now been reworked to allow Guilds on the brink of losing their territory to have the highest chance of defending it. This will encourage Guilds to fight right to the bitter end.
  • GvG fights are now scheduled on the worldmap, and the scheduling process has had a lot of quality-of-life polish to improve the experience.

Read more on our news post about the GvG rework

Economy rebalance
The economy has had a complete overhaul, adjusting drop rates, silver rewards, repair cost, resource availability and more - all with the goal of better rewarding you for being faster, stronger and smarter than your competitors.
Combat rebalance
Substantial work has been done on items and abilities - see below!

Still to Come

Further content will be rolling out over the course of Final Beta.

  • More powerful/valuable Artifacts are still to come, including a full range of Hell Artifacts. This will triple the number of available Artifacts.
  • Highland and Forest biomes will be added; existing world map areas will be converted from mountain/swamp to highland/forest.
  • Each biome will gain its own city layout and graphics.
  • Audio and music will be substantially overhauled, including an all-new musical score.
  • A substantial UI overhaul is in the works, changing both functionality and visuals.

Known Issues

  • The minimap of the region "King's Highland Muster" is broken.
  • Minimaps for islands are not displaying ground correctly.
  • Alliance chat color is incorrect and needs to be adjusted to be distinguishable from whisper.
  • Android Client still needs significant stability and usability improvements.

Item Changes

New Base Weapons
  • Dual Swords in Sword line
  • Light Crossbow (one handed) in Crossbow line
New Artifact Weapons and Equipment
  • Bloodletter in Dagger line
  • Carrioncaller in Axe line
  • Clarent Blade in Sword line
  • Black Monk Stave in Quarter Staff line
  • Tombhammer in Hammer line
  • Whispering Bow in Bow line
  • Weeping Repeater in Crossbow line
  • Lifecurse Staff in Cursed Staff line
  • Witchwork Staff in Arcane Staff line
  • Lifetouch Staff in Holy Staff line
  • Eye of Secrets offhand in Tome line
  • Sarcophagus offhand in Shield line
  • Graveguard Helmet in Plate Helmet line
  • Graveguard Armor in Plate Armor line
  • Graveguard Boots in Plate Boots line
  • Stalker Hood in Leather Hood line
  • Stalker Jacket in Leather Jacket line
  • Stalker Shoes in Leather Shoes line

Combat Balance Changes

Overview

With Final Beta every player starts with a fresh character and gear. We took this opportunity to revisit all the abilities and items in the game. Various items and abilities have been moved, values changed and mechanics adjusted to create an overall more interesting and compelling PvP dynamic and PvE experience.

Weapon passives have been reworked completely. They don't offer any passive stats any more, but are instead tied to actions. These passives are now triggered every x-th auto attack or after x ability activations. This way the passive can be used more actively and reliable in combat, adding another layer of strategy and build optimization. Because of their increased importance, passives are now available on one handed and two handed weapons. Therefore the offhands don't have any selectable passives anymore.

Since mobility is such an important factor in open world PvP the mobility differences in weapons and armors has been reduced. This doesn't mean that all weapons and gear provide the same amount of mobility, but the gaps are generally toned down.

Every weapon now has always one ability in the "E" slot. In case a weapon offered multiple E abilities before, one of them stayed on the weapon and most of the other options are available on the Artifact weapons or are either moved to the W ability slot or removed from the game.

Normal attack interval has been increased for all staff weapons. Damage per normal attack has been lowered, to keep the DPS the same. This change helps to activate passives over auto attacks.

On top of this, there have also been many visual improvements, bug fixes and balance tweaks to fit the new meta.

Arcane Staffs

All shield abilities are now also increased by Heal Power, so they become stronger with Cloth Armor or any other heal power increases. This gives Arcane Staff wielders stronger shielding abilities if they decide to not go full tank, while the tanky Arcane Staff can still be played the same way as before.

Black Hole
The ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Axes

The Halberd was moved to the axe line, because the weapon's theme fits better into this line. Because of this change, the Scythe has become an Artifact weapon, making the weapon harder to obtain but also more valueable and fearsome.

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Axe - Ability: Vampiric Strike
Weapon #2: Great Axe - Ability: Whirlwind
Weapon #3: Halberd - Ability: Rending Swing
Scythe will be available later as an Artifact weapon.
Crossbows

A new one-handed crossbow type entered this weapon line, introducing new possibilites to combine a crossbow with various offhands.

Because the cast time of Knockback Shot was really hard to utilize, the ability is now an instant cast. When played together with the new knockback passive, the crossbow can offer a lot of disruption, at the expense of the extra damage or slow from the other ability choices of the W ability slot.

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Crossbow - Ability: Snipeshot
Weapon #2: Heavy Crossbow - Ability: Sweeping Bolt
Weapon #3: Light Crossbow - Ability: Exploding Shot
Knockback Shot
Has been changed to an instant ability with lower cast range.
Daggers

The Dagger's E ability was limited to five hits only, which made it straightforward but also didn't leave much room for optimizing the ability's appliance. To make the ability more interesting, it is now only limited by an uptime, which makes it possible to stack attack speed buffs to get more damage out of the ability. This adds a layer of possible build improvements, and brings this item more in line with the burst damage theme of this weapon tree.

New Ability on W Slot: Throwing Blades

Poison Coating
The ability is now active for 5s and only limited by that uptime, rather than the number of attacks.
Fire Staffs

The Great Fire Staff offered two mighty AoE abilities: the Meteor and the Magma Sphere. With their focus on big groups, both of these abilities fit much better on Artifact weapons. As a result, the Great Fire Staff got a new E ability: the Flame Pillar. This provides good constant AoE damage, but less burst potential against big zergs.

New Ability on Q Slot: Fire Bomb

New E Ability on Great Fire Staff: Flame Pillar

Meteor and Magma Sphere
Both abilities have been moved to Artifact versions of the fire staff.
Frost Staffs

All the E abilities of this line have been reviewed and adjusted, to reinforce a distinct role for each weapon in this category. The Freezing Wind will now root enemies; the root breaks on damage, which can be very strong in coordinated small scale PvP or for solo kiting. Hail's focus is on damage, and without the cast time it is much more reliable in hitting the first wave. Blizzard's area control is still strong - the uptime was reduced, but to balance this out the storm now moves faster.

Freezing Wind
The ability now freezes and roots enemies on hit. The root breaks on damage.
Hail
Cast time has been removed and the damage has been increased.
Blizzard
The blizzard now moves faster, but the uptime has been reduced from 15s to 10s.
Hammers
Stalling Slam
The ability has been removed.
Tackle
Increased stun duration and damage.
Giant Steps
The ability has been moved to an Artifact hammer.
Holy Staffs

Holy Staffs got a new ability buffing cast speed for the W slot. This allows for more burst and mobility, to increase this weapon tree's potential in PvP scenarios such as GvG Battles.

The Divine Staff's Resurrection ability was too situational as an E ability; for this reason, the ability has been moved to the W slot and is available on all Holy Staffs. From Tier 7 on, all Holy Staffs can now switch to Resurrection for specific situations like big group fights.

New Ability on W Slot: Enlightenment

New E Ability on Divine Staff: Divine Protection

Resurrection
Is now a W ability on all Holy Staffs, available from Tier 7 onwards.
Maces

New Ability on W Slot: Stalling Slam: It stops the enemy's energy regeneration.

Battle Howl
Radius slightly increased, and it also generates Threat.
Root Prison
Now generates Threat each tick.
Powerful Strikes
This ability has been removed.
Quarterstaffs

The Quarterstaff line was great for disrupting enemies with all its knockback abilities. However the Iron-Clad Staff was generally the best weapon for this job, leaving the other two staff types a bit underused. Therefore the E abilities of these two have been adjusted. The Quarterstaff now also reduces enemy attack speed, lowering the enemy's damage output and countering builds that rely strongly on normal attacks. The Double Bladed Staff now slows all enemies around the impact area instead of the knockback - a strong weapon to deny enemies an escape.

The ability Taunt is now available on the W slot

Forceful Swing
It now also applies an attack speed debuff to enemies, and the radius has been increased.
Overpower
Moves faster and applies an AoE slow instead of the knockback.
Tornado
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Spears

Spear line was by far the most mobile weapon tree in the game, and could too easily enforce an engage or disengage. For this reason, the ability Forceful Charge was removed, and the speed boost from the Spirit Spear has been reduced. Spears still have a lot of versatitlity, but they can't completely control the engage and disengage against any other weapon type anymore.

Additionally, the Halberd was replaced with the Glaive, which fits the weapon line's theme much better. The Glaive still has the Fling ability, which can now be used in combination with Spirit Spear. The Rooting Smash from the old Halberd is now found on the Pike, and the Harpoon is on an Artifact spear.

Added Ability on W Slot: Charged Blade

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Spear - Ability: Reckless Charge
Weapon #2: Pike - Ability: Rooting Smash
Weapon #3: Glaive - Ability: Fling
Spirit Spear
Range and speed bonus have been reduced.
Harpoon
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Low Stab
This ability has been removed.
Forceful Charge
This ability has been removed.
Swords

Dual Swords are replacing the Glaive, which can now be found in the spear line. The Dual Swords bring a strong AoE skill which also deals a percentage of the enemy's max health as direct damage.

Iron Will is now a W ability, which in combination with the Heroic Charges can make you very sticky to a target. The Interrupt and the Mighty Blow got a self-buffing component, adding more strategic possibilities.

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Broadsword - Ability: Mighty Blow
Weapon #2: Claymore - Ability: Charge
Weapon #3: Dual Swords - Ability: Spinning Blades
Mighty Swing
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Fearless Strike
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Iron Will
This ability has been moved to the W slot.
Interrupt
Now also increases normal attack damage, based on number of Heroic Charges (without consuming the stacks).
Mighty Blow
Now also increases AR/MR.
Charged Blade
This ability has been removed from the sword line.
Sword Wall
This ability has been removed.
Offhands

Since one-handed and two-handed weapons both now have passives on them, the passive choice from the offhand has been removed. But, with all the new Artifact Offhands coming into the game and all boosting a different stat (or stats), a lot of choices and combinations will be possible.

Offhands no longer offer passives.
Offhand Stats:
Shield - Increases Bonus Defense and Threat Generation
Book - Increases Cast Speed
Torch - Increases Normal Attack Speed
Energy Regen has been moved to an Artifact offhand
Cooldown Reduction has been moved to an Artifact offhand
Armor Ability

All armor chest lines offer now at least one ability that increases movement speed. For the cloth line it is the Speed Caster, for Leather it's Haste and for Plate it is the new ability Wind Shield. This change was made to decrease the mobility differences in armor types, because mobility is so crucial in open world PvP and solo roaming.

Also, various underused helmet and shoe abilities got some buffs and added effects. For instance, the Energy Shield on Soldier Boots got a stronger shield value, and the Howl ability now also decreases enemy attack speed. Energy Regain is now an ability choice on every helmet, similiar to the Mend Wounds on armors. Some strong group-oriented abilities like Smoke Bomb and Electric Field are now on artifact items.

Cloth Robe
Speed Caster
Now also provides a move speed bonus.
Leather Jacket

Added ability on all Leather Armors: Inferno Shield

Haste
Movespeed buff toned down.
Electric Field
This ability has been moved to an Artifact leather armor.
Plate Armor

New ability on all Plate Armors: Wind Shield

Inferno Shiled
This ability has been moved to the leather armor line.
Haste
Movespeed buff toned down.
Electric Field
This ability has been moved to an Artifact leather armor.
Leather Hood
Available ability choices:
All Leather Hoods - Energy Regain
All Leather Hoods - Howl
Mercenary Hood - Cleanse
Hunter Hood - Bear Trap
Assassin Hood - Meditation
Howl
Now also reduces the enemy's attack speed.
Smokebomb
This ability has been moved to an Artifact leather hood.
Plate Helmet
Available Ability choices:
All Plate Helmets - Energy Regain
All Plate Helmets - Emergency Heal
Soldier Helmet - Energy Shield
Knight Helmet - Block
Guardian Helmet - Stone Skin
Energy Shield
Now also increases AR/MR while the shield is up.
Block
Now also gives a move speed bonus.
Sacrifice
This ability has been moved to an Artifact plate helmet.
Leather Shoes
Invisibility
Now reveals only invisible enemies and makes no sound. Channel duration has also been increased.
Plate Boots
Sprint Shield
The shield strength got increased; it now absorbs more damage than the Shield Charge.
Shield Charge
Radius has been reduced, and max targets is 5.
Giant
Now also gives a 25% movespeed bonus.

Live Server / Revision #55633 7 years ago

For the initial release of Final Beta, we are noting only major changes, as there have been too many smaller fixes and improvements to count!

New World

We rebuilt the entire world of Albion and all individual areas from scratch, doubled it in size and overhauled layout and distribution for more variety and interesting gameplay. Here are the most important changes:

  • There are now three continents: Kings Isle, Queens Isle and the Outlands.
  • Kings and Queens (also referred to as the Royal Continents) are where the King still has power and where people that kill too many other players will have to face consequences - while people that hunt down player killers and kill mobs can build up a trusted reputation.
  • The Outlands are a huge free for all area, where Guilds will find territories to conquer and the most precious resources.

Royal Continents and the Outlands are each as big as the entire old Albion world.

Biomes

The new world consists of different biomes that all come with their own visuals, mobs and resources.

Final Beta launches with mountain, swamp and steppe biomes; during the test we will add highlands and forests.

Since not all resources are available in all areas, trading and transport will be crucial!

  • The Swamp Biome: soaky grounds, lakes, giant toads and vicious lizards. This is the home of the Undead, where you can find lots of fiber but also some wood and hide.
  • The Steppe Biome: wide, dusty plains and sharp cliffs. Plenty of animals - most of them never seen before in Albion - dominate this biome and provide hide to the hunters. Ore and fiber are the other two resources that can be found here. Morgana herself has sent out expeditions to claim this biome for her evil forces.
  • The Mountain Biome: Massive mountains, so high that they are always covered in snow only interrupted by deep, deadly canyons. This is where you'll find the castles of Morgana and where gatherers can collect lots of ore and rock.
Item system overhaul

We have simplified and expanded the item system, so you now have more choices that are easier to understand.

  • Everything is available starting from Tier 4, and the item progression and Destiny Board have been reworked to ensure that the biggest question you have to ask is "what item best fits my playstyle?"
  • A ton of new abilities have been added all over the item range.
  • The most powerful agents of the Keepers, Morganas and Undead are now in possession of ancient Artifacts that can be forged into powerful weapons and armor... if you can get your hands on them! Pieces of Artifact equipment have their own look, more power and unique abilities.
  • Artifact fragments can also be found throughout the world, and if you can find enough of them, you can meld them into usable Artifacts.
  • Both, normal items and Artifact items, can be crafted using rare enchanted resources gathered from the world, to boost their power even further.
Reputation system

The new reputation system brings another way of creating an identity for yourself within the world of Albion. A very peaceful player will rise to the higher titles and may end up with the title of Glorious at some point. However a very aggressive and hostile player will find themselves reaching the depths of their reputation and may become Dreaded by others.

GvG rework

GvG has had a major facelift with improvements both visually and mechanically. Here are some of the key changes to the new GvG system:

  • Watch Towers are a new type of territory which have no physical boundary keeping players out of them. Watch Towers do however have NPC guards which are aligned to the owning Guild, and will fight off any intruders (and alert their Guild!) Some Watch Towers also oversee arable land that can be used for farming.
  • The GvG Timing System is now regionalized, to ensure that players are playing with and against players with the same typical playing hours as they have.
  • The actual GvG Battle has had massive facelifts, improved UI, visuals and audio.
  • Counter Attack System ensures that you really want to commit to a fight.
  • Defender Bonus has now been reworked to allow Guilds on the brink of losing their territory to have the highest chance of defending it. This will encourage Guilds to fight right to the bitter end.
  • GvG fights are now scheduled on the worldmap, and the scheduling process has had a lot of quality-of-life polish to improve the experience.

Read more on our news post about the GvG rework

Economy rebalance
The economy has had a complete overhaul, adjusting drop rates, silver rewards, repair cost, resource availability and more - all with the goal of better rewarding you for being faster, stronger and smarter than your competitors.
Combat rebalance
Substantial work has been done on items and abilities - see below!

Still to Come

Further content will be rolling out over the course of Final Beta.

  • More powerful/valuable Artifacts are still to come, including a full range of Hell Artifacts. This will triple the number of available Artifacts.
  • Highland and Forest biomes will be added; existing world map areas will be converted from mountain/swamp to highland/forest.
  • Each biome will gain its own city layout and graphics.
  • Audio and music will be substantially overhauled, including an all-new musical score.
  • A substantial UI overhaul is in the works, changing both functionality and visuals.

Known Issues

  • The minimap of the region "King's Highland Muster" is broken.
  • Minimaps for islands are not displaying ground correctly.
  • Alliance chat color is incorrect and needs to be adjusted to be distinguishable from whisper.
  • Android Client still needs significant stability and usability improvements.

Item Changes

New Base Weapons
  • Dual Swords in Sword line
  • Light Crossbow (one handed) in Crossbow line
New Artifact Weapons and Equipment
  • Bloodletter in Dagger line
  • Carrioncaller in Axe line
  • Clarent Blade in Sword line
  • Black Monk Stave in Quarter Staff line
  • Tombhammer in Hammer line
  • Whispering Bow in Bow line
  • Weeping Repeater in Crossbow line
  • Lifecurse Staff in Cursed Staff line
  • Witchwork Staff in Arcane Staff line
  • Lifetouch Staff in Holy Staff line
  • Eye of Secrets offhand in Tome line
  • Sarcophagus offhand in Shield line
  • Graveguard Helmet in Plate Helmet line
  • Graveguard Armor in Plate Armor line
  • Graveguard Boots in Plate Boots line
  • Stalker Hood in Leather Hood line
  • Stalker Jacket in Leather Jacket line
  • Stalker Shoes in Leather Shoes line

Combat Balance Changes

Overview

With Final Beta every player starts with a fresh character and gear. We took this opportunity to revisit all the abilities and items in the game. Various items and abilities have been moved, values changed and mechanics adjusted to create an overall more interesting and compelling PvP dynamic and PvE experience.

Weapon passives have been reworked completely. They don't offer any passive stats any more, but are instead tied to actions. These passives are now triggered every x-th auto attack or after x ability activations. This way the passive can be used more actively and reliable in combat, adding another layer of strategy and build optimization. Because of their increased importance, passives are now available on one handed and two handed weapons. Therefore the offhands don't have any selectable passives anymore.

Since mobility is such an important factor in open world PvP the mobility differences in weapons and armors has been reduced. This doesn't mean that all weapons and gear provide the same amount of mobility, but the gaps are generally toned down.

Every weapon now has always one ability in the "E" slot. In case a weapon offered multiple E abilities before, one of them stayed on the weapon and most of the other options are available on the Artifact weapons or are either moved to the W ability slot or removed from the game.

Normal attack interval has been increased for all staff weapons. Damage per normal attack has been lowered, to keep the DPS the same. This change helps to activate passives over auto attacks.

On top of this, there have also been many visual improvements, bug fixes and balance tweaks to fit the new meta.

Arcane Staffs

All shield abilities are now also increased by Heal Power, so they become stronger with Cloth Armor or any other heal power increases. This gives Arcane Staff wielders stronger shielding abilities if they decide to not go full tank, while the tanky Arcane Staff can still be played the same way as before.

Black Hole
The ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Axes

The Halberd was moved to the axe line, because the weapon's theme fits better into this line. Because of this change, the Scythe has become an Artifact weapon, making the weapon harder to obtain but also more valueable and fearsome.

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Axe - Ability: Vampiric Strike
Weapon #2: Great Axe - Ability: Whirlwind
Weapon #3: Halberd - Ability: Rending Swing
Scythe will be available later as an Artifact weapon.
Crossbows

A new one-handed crossbow type entered this weapon line, introducing new possibilites to combine a crossbow with various offhands.

Because the cast time of Knockback Shot was really hard to utilize, the ability is now an instant cast. When played together with the new knockback passive, the crossbow can offer a lot of disruption, at the expense of the extra damage or slow from the other ability choices of the W ability slot.

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Crossbow - Ability: Snipeshot
Weapon #2: Heavy Crossbow - Ability: Sweeping Bolt
Weapon #3: Light Crossbow - Ability: Exploding Shot
Knockback Shot
Has been changed to an instant ability with lower cast range.
Daggers

The Dagger's E ability was limited to five hits only, which made it straightforward but also didn't leave much room for optimizing the ability's appliance. To make the ability more interesting, it is now only limited by an uptime, which makes it possible to stack attack speed buffs to get more damage out of the ability. This adds a layer of possible build improvements, and brings this item more in line with the burst damage theme of this weapon tree.

New Ability on W Slot: Throwing Blades

Poison Coating
The ability is now active for 5s and only limited by that uptime, rather than the number of attacks.
Fire Staffs

The Great Fire Staff offered two mighty AoE abilities: the Meteor and the Magma Sphere. With their focus on big groups, both of these abilities fit much better on Artifact weapons. As a result, the Great Fire Staff got a new E ability: the Flame Pillar. This provides good constant AoE damage, but less burst potential against big zergs.

New Ability on Q Slot: Fire Bomb

New E Ability on Great Fire Staff: Flame Pillar

Meteor and Magma Sphere
Both abilities have been moved to Artifact versions of the fire staff.
Frost Staffs

All the E abilities of this line have been reviewed and adjusted, to reinforce a distinct role for each weapon in this category. The Freezing Wind will now root enemies; the root breaks on damage, which can be very strong in coordinated small scale PvP or for solo kiting. Hail's focus is on damage, and without the cast time it is much more reliable in hitting the first wave. Blizzard's area control is still strong - the uptime was reduced, but to balance this out the storm now moves faster.

Freezing Wind
The ability now freezes and roots enemies on hit. The root breaks on damage.
Hail
Cast time has been removed and the damage has been increased.
Blizzard
The blizzard now moves faster, but the uptime has been reduced from 15s to 10s.
Hammers
Stalling Slam
The ability has been removed.
Tackle
Increased stun duration and damage.
Giant Steps
The ability has been moved to an Artifact hammer.
Holy Staffs

Holy Staffs got a new ability buffing cast speed for the W slot. This allows for more burst and mobility, to increase this weapon tree's potential in PvP scenarios such as GvG Battles.

The Divine Staff's Resurrection ability was too situational as an E ability; for this reason, the ability has been moved to the W slot and is available on all Holy Staffs. From Tier 7 on, all Holy Staffs can now switch to Resurrection for specific situations like big group fights.

New Ability on W Slot: Enlightenment

New E Ability on Divine Staff: Divine Protection

Resurrection
Is now a W ability on all Holy Staffs, available from Tier 7 onwards.
Maces

New Ability on W Slot: Stalling Slam: It stops the enemy's energy regeneration.

Battle Howl
Radius slightly increased, and it also generates Threat.
Root Prison
Now generates Threat each tick.
Powerful Strikes
This ability has been removed.
Quarterstaffs

The Quarterstaff line was great for disrupting enemies with all its knockback abilities. However the Iron-Clad Staff was generally the best weapon for this job, leaving the other two staff types a bit underused. Therefore the E abilities of these two have been adjusted. The Quarterstaff now also reduces enemy attack speed, lowering the enemy's damage output and countering builds that rely strongly on normal attacks. The Double Bladed Staff now slows all enemies around the impact area instead of the knockback - a strong weapon to deny enemies an escape.

The ability Taunt is now available on the W slot

Forceful Swing
It now also applies an attack speed debuff to enemies, and the radius has been increased.
Overpower
Moves faster and applies an AoE slow instead of the knockback.
Tornado
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Spears

Spear line was by far the most mobile weapon tree in the game, and could too easily enforce an engage or disengage. For this reason, the ability Forceful Charge was removed, and the speed boost from the Spirit Spear has been reduced. Spears still have a lot of versatitlity, but they can't completely control the engage and disengage against any other weapon type anymore.

Additionally, the Halberd was replaced with the Glaive, which fits the weapon line's theme much better. The Glaive still has the Fling ability, which can now be used in combination with Spirit Spear. The Rooting Smash from the old Halberd is now found on the Pike, and the Harpoon is on an Artifact spear.

Added Ability on W Slot: Charged Blade

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Spear - Ability: Reckless Charge
Weapon #2: Pike - Ability: Rooting Smash
Weapon #3: Glaive - Ability: Fling
Spirit Spear
Range and speed bonus have been reduced.
Harpoon
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Low Stab
This ability has been removed.
Forceful Charge
This ability has been removed.
Swords

Dual Swords are replacing the Glaive, which can now be found in the spear line. The Dual Swords bring a strong AoE skill which also deals a percentage of the enemy's max health as direct damage.

Iron Will is now a W ability, which in combination with the Heroic Charges can make you very sticky to a target. The Interrupt and the Mighty Blow got a self-buffing component, adding more strategic possibilities.

Weapon Tree Changes
Weapon #1: Broadsword - Ability: Mighty Blow
Weapon #2: Claymore - Ability: Charge
Weapon #3: Dual Swords - Ability: Spinning Blades
Mighty Swing
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Fearless Strike
This ability has been moved to an Artifact weapon.
Iron Will
This ability has been moved to the W slot.
Interrupt
Now also increases normal attack damage, based on number of Heroic Charges (without consuming the stacks).
Mighty Blow
Now also increases AR/MR.
Charged Blade
This ability has been removed from the sword line.
Sword Wall
This ability has been removed.
Offhands

Since one-handed and two-handed weapons both now have passives on them, the passive choice from the offhand has been removed. But, with all the new Artifact Offhands coming into the game and all boosting a different stat (or stats), a lot of choices and combinations will be possible.

Offhands no longer offer passives.
Offhand Stats:
Shield - Increases Bonus Defense and Threat Generation
Book - Increases Cast Speed
Torch - Increases Normal Attack Speed
Energy Regen has been moved to an Artifact offhand
Cooldown Reduction has been moved to an Artifact offhand
Armor Ability

All armor chest lines offer now at least one ability that increases movement speed. For the cloth line it is the Speed Caster, for Leather it's Haste and for Plate it is the new ability Wind Shield. This change was made to decrease the mobility differences in armor types, because mobility is so crucial in open world PvP and solo roaming.

Also, various underused helmet and shoe abilities got some buffs and added effects. For instance, the Energy Shield on Soldier Boots got a stronger shield value, and the Howl ability now also decreases enemy attack speed. Energy Regain is now an ability choice on every helmet, similiar to the Mend Wounds on armors. Some strong group-oriented abilities like Smoke Bomb and Electric Field are now on artifact items.

Cloth Robe
Speed Caster
Now also provides a move speed bonus.
Leather Jacket

Added ability on all Leather Armors: Inferno Shield

Haste
Movespeed buff toned down.
Electric Field
This ability has been moved to an Artifact leather armor.
Plate Armor

New ability on all Plate Armors: Wind Shield

Inferno Shiled
This ability has been moved to the leather armor line.
Haste
Movespeed buff toned down.
Electric Field
This ability has been moved to an Artifact leather armor.
Leather Hood
Available ability choices:
All Leather Hoods - Energy Regain
All Leather Hoods - Howl
Mercenary Hood - Cleanse
Hunter Hood - Bear Trap
Assassin Hood - Meditation
Howl
Now also reduces the enemy's attack speed.
Smokebomb
This ability has been moved to an Artifact leather hood.
Plate Helmet
Available Ability choices:
All Plate Helmets - Energy Regain
All Plate Helmets - Emergency Heal
Soldier Helmet - Energy Shield
Knight Helmet - Block
Guardian Helmet - Stone Skin
Energy Shield
Now also increases AR/MR while the shield is up.
Block
Now also gives a move speed bonus.
Sacrifice
This ability has been moved to an Artifact plate helmet.
Leather Shoes
Invisibility
Now reveals only invisible enemies and makes no sound. Channel duration has also been increased.
Plate Boots
Sprint Shield
The shield strength got increased; it now absorbs more damage than the Shield Charge.
Shield Charge
Radius has been reduced, and max targets is 5.
Giant
Now also gives a 25% movespeed bonus.

Live Server / Revision #55856 7 years ago

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where T3 Ore was respawning 10x too slowly.
  • Doubled spawn rates of rabbits in starting zones.
  • Increased respawn rates of T3 resources around starting areas by 3x.
  • Fixed some issues with group dungeons that blocked progression.
  • Fixed some minimap issues in group dungeons.

Live Server / Revision #55958 7 years ago

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where you could gain reputation from PvP kills.
  • Fixed a couple of issues that were causing excessive drop rates of certain items.

Live Server / Revision #56470 7 years ago

Director's Notes

In this first patch we're fixing a large number of smaller issues which slipped through the release of final beta last week. Most importantly we've revisited our setup for the reputation system and have adjusted it to the intended values.

Expect to see weekly patches for the next few weeks as the game designers, programmers and artists will continue bugfixing and tweaking the game. At the same time, the content team is busy preparing the next larger Beta Update for a mid-September release.

Changes

  • Changed reputation balancing to make a "criminal" playstyle more viable:
    • "Glorious" reputation level now requires 20000 reputation (was 10000)
    • "Noble" reputation level now requires 5000 reputation (was 2500)
    • Daily reputation recovery while "Suspicious" increased to 300 (was 25)
    • Daily reputation recovery while "Infamous" increased to 300 (was 50)
    • Daily reputation recovery while "Villainous" increased to 600 (was 100)
    • Daily reputation recovery while "Nefarious increased to 900 (was 250)
    • Daily reputation recovery while "Dreaded" increased to 1200 (was 500)
    • Flagging for PvP will reduce your reputation to -1 (Suspicious)
    • You can no longer unflag for PvP while Suspicious
    • Fixed an issue where negative reputation was making you unable to enter yellow/red/black clusters; you should now be able to freely traverse these areas at all times
    • Renamed "region access" to "city access" in the UI
    • Reputation Info UI adjusted to be a little clearer about what the thresholds are
  • Changed Crossbow, Bow and Quarterstaff base nodes on the Destiny Board to require the same amount of LP as other similar nodes.
  • Increased Hellgate silver drops by 50% from previous intended levels (see fix below also).
  • Changed T1 resource gathering so that all charges are now gathered in a single gather attempt.

Balance Changes

Frost Staffs

The Frost Staff line offers strong CC and area control, but are energy-hungry weapons. However at least for the Q slot abilities, they were a bit too tedious to play. Therefore, energy costs have been reduced. With this change, the damage of the Frostbolt has been reduced, increasing the ability's focus on the CC. Hoarfrost has now been defined stronger as the damage choice on this slot.

Hoarfrost
Cast Time: 1s -> 1.5s
Cooldown: 1s -> 0s
Damage: increased by 22%
Frostbolt
Base Energy Cost: 6 -> 4
Damage: reduced by 9%
Leather Armors

The Inferno Shield was recently moved from plate to leather armors. However since the base resistances of Leather Armors is lower than Plate Armors, the ability's effective resistance gain has become much stronger. To adjust the ability's effective gain to the new armor line, the armor increase values have been reduced.

Inferno Shield
Resistance Buff: reduced by 20%
Soldier Boots

This ability's power was out of line with its short cooldown. The cooldown has been adjusted, to bring it in line with other sprint spells. The shield value has also been decreased to reflect the recent changes with the way shields can be scaled up.

Sprint Shield
Cooldown: 20s -> 30s
Shield Strength: reduced by 11%
Duration: 10s -> 6s

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where selling to a buy order did not complete correctly.
  • Fixed an issue where the GvG network on the black zone "island" was not correctly connected to its mainland; connections now follow sea travel paths.
  • Fixed an issue where defender point updates were not being saved correctly on server shutdown.
  • Fixed an issue where Hellgate mobs were not dropping silver.
  • Fixed many instances of incorrect-tier mobs in the world.
  • Fixed many region and dungeon layout issues.
  • Fixed an issue which caused players at "Infamous" and "Villainous" reputation level to be unable to enter pvp cities on the royal continents
  • Fixed an issue where city territories could have a negative defender bonus.
  • Fixed an issue where the Rapid Fire ability incorrectly had a cast delay.
  • Fixed an issue where the Taunt ability could not be used against hostile players.
  • Fixed an issue where the Dreadladen Fighting passive ability was increasing damage vs mobs.
  • Fixed an issue where the Morgana Raven ability tooltip listed its range incorrectly.
  • Fixed an issue where the debuff applied by the Infiltration ability lasted longer than the rest of the ability.
  • Fixed an issue with abilities that caused Bears to be stronger than Direwolves.
  • Fixed an issue where crafting capacity was not scaling correctly with tier; this does not fix "out of capacity" bugs, which are still being investigated.
  • Fixed an issue where player knocked down inside an exit volume would automatically be moved to the neighbouring area.
  • Fixed an issue where One-Handed Crossbow crafting required too many materials.
  • Fixed an issue with Tell-a-Friend mount tooltip text.
  • Fixed an issue where negative reputation thresholds were off by one.
  • Fixed an issue where two particular cities were allowing fast travel between them with luggage.
  • Fixed an issue with Android auto-updater not correctly deleting downloaded file.
  • Fixed an issue where certain missions against Undead would not be available, causing some mission-givers to have no missions.
  • Fixed some particle issues on Demon Prince portal.
  • Fixed map icons for Transmutator and Artifact Foundry.
  • Fixed Gatherer nodes on the Destiny Board having wrong titles.
  • Fixed the Forcefield ability's missing sound effect.
  • Fixed an issue where some territory connection lines on the worldmap were not connecting properly.
  • Fixed an issue where banner furniture was allowed to be placed inside.
  • Fixed an issue where the player marker in the worldmap was incorrectly positioned while in dungeons.
  • Fixed an issue where Lost Crossbow Mechanism artifacts (for Weeping Repeater) were incorrectly assigned to Nature rather than Valor.
  • Fixed an issue where Hardened Debole artifacts (for Bloodletter) were incorrectly assigned to Valor rather than Nature.
  • Fixed an issue where Journeyman's Spear incorrectly had access to the Forceful Charge ability.
  • Fixed an issue where T8 Undead mission-givers in Steppe and Mountain areas had no missions to give.
  • Fixed many issues of enchantment glow effects being incorrectly set up.
  • Fixed an issue where, after losing a territory, the client incorrectly showed a message congratulating the player for successfully defending.
  • Fixed an issue where the Demon Prince's minions refused to come to his assistance. They have now been cowed into obedience, and should join the battle through portals once more.
  • Fixed an issue where the Ban Duchara territory was not connected to its watchtower.
  • Fixed various text and localization issues.

Live Server / Revision #56? 7 years ago

Fixes

  • Changed name/guild/health bar color of other players who are flagged friendly in a forced PvP area (including black zones) from yellow to orange.
  • Made your own name/guild/health bar always be yellow.
  • Shortened maximum GvG battle duration from 30 minutes to 25 minutes, so they work better with counterattacks.
  • Fixed an issue where learning points required on the Destiny Board went up by one at the point where the red section of the bar was filled.
  • Fixed an issue where you would sometimes get reputation penalties in forced PvP areas.
  • Fixed an issue with vanity items not being purchaseable correctly.

Live Server / Revision #56656 7 years ago

Fixes

  • Changed name/guild/health bar color of other players who are flagged friendly in a forced PvP area (including black zones) from yellow to orange.
  • Made your own name/guild/health bar always be yellow.
  • Shortened maximum GvG battle duration from 30 minutes to 25 minutes, so they work better with counterattacks.
  • Fixed an issue where learning points required on the Destiny Board went up by one at the point where the red section of the bar was filled.
  • Fixed an issue where you would sometimes get reputation penalties in forced PvP areas.
  • Fixed an issue with vanity items not being purchaseable correctly.

Live Server / Revision #56991 7 years ago

Director's Notes

This patch contains additional fixes and a change to the reputation system which we wanted to get to you as soon as possible - we won't be patching next week while Albion is being demoed to international press at Gamescom in Cologne. The next planned patch, outside of an emergency, is expected for August 23rd.

Changes

  • Reputation System changes
    • You can now switch between friendly and hostile stances while your reputation level is "Suspicious" or "Infamous".
    • You can now gain reputation from resource harvesting and mob killing while being flagged blue while your reputation level is "Suspicious" or "Infamous".
    • After flagging hostile, there is now a 15 minute delay before being able to flag friendly again.
    • The time you cannot flag friendly after attacking another player has been increased from 10 to 15 minutes.
  • "Friends" in buildings are now consistently called "Associates" to avoid confusion with the friends list.
  • Added an option to disable auto-switching to an attacker if you had no previously selected target.
  • Changed chat channel colours to avoid colour overlap between channels, and to make them more consistent with previous colour schemes and current nametag colours.

Balance Changes

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where attacking neutral players could gain you reputation instead of losing it.
  • Fixed an incorrect setting which caused reputation gain to be too slow while player's reputation level was "Noble" or "Glorious".
  • Fixed a problem which caused your target to switch automatically to a new attacker although you already had a selected target.
  • Fixed many issues of mission givers not having missions available; many are still using incorrect text in missions though.
  • Fixed Exceptional Fine Cloth having an incorrect item value, causing it to give too low Fame and costing too few nutrition points while crafting.
  • Fixed an incorrectly rotated road piece in Dappled Meadow.
  • Fixed missing background elements in Festering Pit (Heretic Tier 2 Dungeon).
  • Fixed a number of invisible wall problems in Hill of Hollow Earth (Morgana Raid Region). Blizzard of Souls was unfortunately missed and will be fixed in a later patch.
  • Fixed player's location marker appearing extremely small on cluster map.
  • Fixed player character's animation after mounting in combat.
  • Fixed Morgana and Undead Artifact armour artifacts not appearing when melding fragments.
  • Fixed players appearing shrunken after using an exit while mounted on the Recruiter's Donkey mount.
  • Fixed players on mounts appearing giant to other players after using an exit while mounted.
  • Fixed players not suffering reputation loss after killing someone who they had previously attacked an unrestricted PvP area in the same region
  • Fixed a problem which caused the attack cursor to get stuck after switching zones while in targeting mode of a spell.
  • Fixed being able to unselect the carry weight bonus of bags.
  • Slightly reduced memory footprint of the game client and improved stability.
  • Fixed an issue where declining trade requests would cancel your invincibility buff.

Live Server / Revision #57801 7 years ago

Director's Notes

This patch mostly deals with several critical technical and balancing issues. There are several changes to the game which should allow beginning players to play together more easily, and others deals with the most obvious issues of beginning players.

After this patch, the team is working on a small feature patch which will bring improvements to travelling speed, better rewards for open world PvP objectives and a solution for exiting dungeons when mobs have spawned behind you and your group.

Changes

  • Added banks and marketplaces to harbours leading to the outlands to shorten supply routes to the outlands.
  • Fast Travel:
    • Fast travel routes between safe zone cities on the royal continents now allow travel with luggage to allow safe zone players to easily make arrangements for playing with friends in other cities.
    • Cost of travelling with luggage is now based on weight instead of item value to guarantee a transport value per for transporters.
    • Red zone cities on royal continents no longer have any fast travel connections to clearly define the coaches as connecting the safe zone player cities.
    • Fast travel using boats between starting cities now no longer requires a base fee. This allows beginning players to travel to their beginning friends immediately.
    • Known Issue: Coaches are still placed in red zone cities, these will be removed in a future update.
    • Known Issue: One of the fast travel routes between starting towns incorrectly requires baggage.
  • New players start with a "Help" chat tab by default, and help channel messages are no longer enabled in the general tab by default.

Balance Changes

  • Journeyman artifact fragment drops have been removed from the game as they were confusing and were not being transmutated in significant numbers as was intended.
  • Lowered mount weight significantly to reduce the cost for fast travelling with them.
  • Allowed Tier 2 and 3 resources to count towards the gathering progression main line to ensure gatherers are rewarded for gathering low end ingredients for refining.
  • Set weapon unlock base nodes to all have the same requirements in terms of amount of fame / LP to unlock.
  • Decreased the reputation penalty for attacking (but not for knocking out and/or killing) other players.
  • Significantly increased reputation gain while on positive reputation to ensure beginning players turn into a less attractive target more quickly.
  • Journeyman and Adept transmutators can no longer be constructed, in order to avoid confusing beginning players. Existing buildings are unaffacted; this just changes the placeable building from Journeyman to Expert.

Combat Balance

Claymores

The Claymore had too many advantages and too few disadvantages.

Iron Will
Movement Speed Increase: 44% -> 40%
Charge
Range: 11m -> 9m
Cooldown: 15s -> 20s
Energy Cost: 18 -> 16
This ability no longer roots the target, unless the target is affected by at least one Heroic Charge.

Fixes

  • Fixed the Giant ability on plate shoes not actually increasing your hitpoints by 100% as stated in the tooltip.
  • Fixed an issue where players would not receive their gold from buy orders while playing until server shutdown with a different character than the one who set up the gold buy-order.
  • Removed the unintended Low Stab ability option for Journeyman Spears
  • Fixed an issue where you were able to respawn in a home although reputation did not allow you to enter the town.
  • Fixed some issues with server shutdown procedures on the live servers, which caused daily maintenance to be at irregular times.
  • Fixed an issue which caused players to be unable to attack party members with auto-attacks in a duel if they were using the "two-click to attack" setting.
  • Fixed mastery level 1 descriptions for offhand nodes on Destiny Board.
  • Fixed incorrect display of defender bonus and improved description of defender bonus in territory screen / worldmap.
  • Fixed an issue that caused no Grandmaster or Elder fiber to spawn in Tier 7 / 8 mountain clusters.
  • Added missing world map names for starting and red cities.
  • Fixed cleanse potion Destiny Board mission requirements.
  • Added missing visual FX to torch offhands.
  • Fixed the Journeyman's Mill not unlocking at Journeyman Adventurer level.
  • Fixed characters who had the same name as a Guild being unable to travel to their private island.
  • Fixed a number of invisible wall problems in Blizzard of Souls (Morgana Raid Region).
  • Fixed the selection of characters becoming inaccurate at certain resolutions.
  • Fixed various invisible wall problems in mountain regions.
  • Fixed several incorrect mob camp tiers in swamp regions.
  • Added missing exit between Pen Lithrig and Sunslopes regions.

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