Albion Online has players explore an open game world and stake their claim on it by sieging, claiming and defending territories. The game offers an extensive player-driven economy, challenging guild-versus-guild activities, the ability to develop and customize real estate, a unique classless customization system, and much, much more - all in a fully connected, truly cross-platform persistent game world.

On March 17, 2021, the Call to Arms update goes live. The centerpiece of this massive content update is a complete rework of Faction Warfare, which has been expanded, improved, and streamlined. The new system allows Factions to take not just Outposts but entire regions as well, and rewards loyalty to a chosen Faction via updated Faction ranks and month-long Faction Campaigns with valuable rewards.

Caerleon joins the fight as a fully playable sixth Faction with a unique "lawless" playstyle, as well as its own trade missions, a new City Heart and crest, and a powerful new mount: the Caerleon Greywolf. Alongside the six regular Faction Mounts, each city now has its own Elite Faction Mount that offers powerful combat skills as well as a unique Faction ability that can only be used while flagged. To allow more space for Albion's growing population, the Royal Continent has been greatly expanded with numerous new regions. And to top it all off, a recurring Bandit Invasion event in the red zones offers thrilling large-scale combat for members of all Factions.

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

Call to Arms also brings major quality-of life improvements. Loadouts allow players to create pre-selected builds to quick-equip from storage. Loadouts can be easily shared with friends and guildmates, and used by guilds to easily recruit for specific combat roles. Ability tooltips have been improved with optimized descriptions and color-coded text for easy readability. Animated vegetation brings new visual life to Albion's biomes. And finally, numerous additional improvements, fixes, balance changes, and optimizations have been implemented to make the world of Albion better than ever.

Revamped Faction Warfare System

Call to Arms brings nothing less than a complete re-envisioning of Faction Warfare in Albion. In addition to claiming Outposts, Factions can now control entire regions and expand their city's reach across the continent by taking over rival territories bordering their own. Faction Ranks have been added, with 9 unique "Prestige Ranks" that are different for each Faction, and month-long Faction Campaigns offer valuable rewards. Enlisting and flagging with a Faction are now two different steps, allowing players to remain enlisted without being flagged for combat. Overall, the new Faction Warfare system rewards loyalty and commitment to a Faction while still giving players complete freedom to choose which city they side with and which activities they participate in.

For more details of this massive rework, check out this Dev Talk introducing the major changes.

All-New Caerleon Faction

After the destruction of its Realmgate and the resulting blow to its fortunes, Caerleon has joined the fray as a sixth playable Faction. True to the city's identity as a den of thieves and rogues, Caerleon offers a unique "lawless" playstyle, where in addition to engaging other Factions, Caerleon-flagged players can also engage each other. True to this independent style, Caerleon's Faction Ranks are completely unique from those of other cities. And while Caerleon players don't receive direct bonuses for taking zones, the promise of constant high-stakes fights – and the loot they bring – more than makes up for it.

Like the other cities, Caerleon also has its own trade missions, as well as Faction Hearts that can be used to craft a Caerleon cape and two brand-new mounts.

Click here to watch a Dev Talk on the Caerleon Faction and its unique risks and opportunities.

Elite Faction Mounts

In addition to regular Faction Mounts, Call to Arms brings six new Elite Faction Mounts. Each Elite Mount has two unique abilities, including a specialized Faction Ability, only usable when flagged, that dismounts the rider and activates instantly. From the Elite Terrorbird (Bridgewatch) to the Elite Swamp Salamander (Thetford) to the Elite Greywolf (Caerleon), these powerful mounts open up countless gameplay options for Faction Warfare and beyond. Additionally, all regular and elite Faction Mounts can now be used in conjunction with mount skins of the same category, opening up new base mounts for Albion's growing collection of vanity skins.

For more on Elite Mounts, including footage of them in action and detailed descriptions of their spells, check out this Dev Talk.

Expanded Royal Continent & Bandit Assault

The city of Caerleon has been expanded and received a major visual upgrade, including the "Stabbed Mug Tavern" where the Mercenary Captain recruits new members. Beyond the city walls, dozens of new regions have been added to the Royal Continent, and existing zones have been reworked to keep each biome balanced. And a new Faction Warfare view has been added to the world map, showing the current status of the continent-wide struggle for control.

On top of all this, the new Faction Warfare system also brings a new Bandit Assault event, where Outposts in the red zones are reclaimed by bandits throughout the day. The Faction that reclaims the most territory will score a massive payout, but beware: others may be lying in wait to claim the spoils for themselves.

Hellgates Re-envisioned

Rather than appearing in static locations, Hellgates are now spawned in the open world via Hellgate Maps. Ten all-new layouts offer a wide variety of environments, terrains, and mobs to keep players on their toes. New enemies based on those in Corrupted Dungeons provide challenging and rewarding PvE, and once an enemy team invades, a new "rising lava" mechanic ensures a showdown every time. Defeating demons and other players increases your overall rewards via a new Hellgate Infamy system – and after a hard-won victory, your party now has the option to "chain" Hellgates to keep the momentum going.

10v10 Hellgates

To provide thrilling, high-stakes, always-available PvP for medium group sizes, 10v10 Hellgates have been added as part of the overall Hellgate system rework. These Hellgates feature mobs balanced for larger groups and have their own Infamy progression, but otherwise follow the same rules as other Hellgate sizes. Alongside the other major changes and improvements coming to Albion's Hellgates, this new ten-person option brings new opportunities for thrilling, dynamic mid-sized PvP to new players and veterans alike.

Loadouts

Loadouts allow players to save premade equipment sets based on various user-defined settings. These sets can include all equipment types, and once made can be equipped in one click from your personal storage. Loadouts can also be shared via chat and among guild members, encouraging recruitment of specific combat roles. Finally, an upcoming patch will allow players to quick-buy Loadouts from player Marketplaces.

Updated Ability Tooltips

Ability descriptions have been streamlined and reworked for clarity and readability, and now include color-coding corresponding to categories such as healing, damage, and movement. These reworked descriptions allow for quick visual cues when choosing gear and inspecting opponents, and improve readability across a wide range of settings and devices.

Animated Vegetation

Animated vegetation has been added as a visual option to bring Albion's natural world to life. Grass, bushes, and trees throughout the world have been animated based on the conditions of their specific biomes, and can be easily activated or deactivated via the Settings menu.

Additional Improvements And Features

• Adjustments to the Smart Cluster Queue
• Rare Mount drops updated and rebalanced
• Numerous Combat Balance Changes
• ...and much more

Albion Online will be released as a cross-platform title on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.