Fantasy Sandbox MMORPG Albion Online Goes Free-to-Play

Albion Online, the fantasy sandbox MMORPG developed by Sandbox Interactive, is now officially free-to-play. The game originally came out two years ago, and it’s one of the very few cross-platform MMORPGs available right now (you can also play it on iOS, though that’s still in beta, or Android mobile devices, with the client available here).

When we reviewed the game almost two years ago, Jorge praised it while cautioning more casual players due to the intrinsic grindy nature of the game.

Albion Online really lets you tell your own story almost entirely from the get-go. If you’re looking for a sandbox MMO that’ll remind of the early days of online gaming, there might truly be something here for you. Albion Online is a fun sandbox MMORPG with a clever progression mechanic and deep player-based economy. The mid to late game grind and hardcore nature might turn away anyone looking for a more casual experience.

The free-to-play launch also comes with a patch and we’ve added the changelog below.

As of April 10, Albion Online will be entirely free to download and play. Existing players can continue playing as normal, while new players can create an account and play the game without purchasing a pack. The Premium system continues unchanged, and Premium status can still be purchased with either real-world money or ingame currency. For more information about this change, please see this thread: https://forum.albiononline.com/index.php/Thread/104118-Free-to-Play-FAQ/

Improvements

• Moving between clusters within a city (main city, bank, marketplace, etc.) no longer requires a cooldown period
• Further performance improvements via optimization of nametags, mob health bars, veteran mob icons, and party target markers

Portal, Respawn, and Island Changes

Portal Changes

• Each of the Royal Cities (Fort Sterling, Thetford, Martlock, Bridgewatch, Lymhurst) gains an Outland portal of its own
• The existing portal exits in the Outlands are split between the cities in the following way:
  • Caerleon retains all 4 Portal exits in Mercia and the easternmost Portal exit in Cumbria (Alderwood)
  • Fort Sterling gets 2 Portal exits in Cumbria (Coombe Tor, Bootsuck Fen)
  • Lymhurst gets 2 Portal exits between Cumbria and Anglia (Hotshadows Plain, Thistlecopse)
  • Thetford gets 2 Portal exits in Eastern Anglia (Slickhag, Hanging Valley)
  • Bridgewatch gets 2 Portal exits between Western and Eastern Anglia (Midgebite Fen, Deepwater Fen)
  • Martlock gets 3 Portal exits in Western Anglia (Roostcliff, Browngrass Meadow, Blencathra)
• Using a portal will:
  • lock you to that city’s portal color indefinitely
  • also lock you to that specific portal for 20 minutes
• You will lose your current lock if you return to the Royal Continent using any other city portal
• You will gain a city’s portal lock if you return to the Royal Continent using that city’s portal or when respawning there after death in the Outlands

Respawn Changes

• The ability to respawn “in nearest city” is replaced with an ability to respawn “in last visited city”
• The ability to respawn “at nearest territory” is removed, but you can set any territory tower as a home
• You can still respawn at a home, however you will lose your home binding when you choose to respawn in “last visited city”

Special Island Move

• During a special transition period of one month, you will be able to move your personal and guild islands to a city of your choice
• Each island may only be moved a single time, and the move is wasted if not used during this transition period
• Islands created after the patch goes live CANNOT be moved – this only applies to islands created before the patch

Increased Resource Respawn Speed

To prepare for a potential influx of low-level players, the respawn rate of resources in safe and yellow zones has been increased (i.e. the refill time for these resource nodes has been reduced):

•    T2 respawns about 285% faster (now 21 seconds, was 60s)
•    T3 respawns about 400% faster (now 45 seconds, was 180s)
•    T4 respawns about 500% faster (now 100 seconds, was 500s)
•    T5 respawns about 170% faster (now 450 seconds, was 750s)

Guild Cost Changes

• Cost to found a guild: 25,000 Silver → 100,000 Silver
• Cost of a new guild island: 50,000 Silver → 75,000 Silver

Adventurer’s Challenge Changes

• Free users can now complete the Daily Bonus and earn Challenge Points. However, they can only claim the weekly and monthly rewards after buying at least 30 days of Premium status AND having Premium status active.
• The Daily Bonus now grants a Tome of Insight to all players.
• Additionally, free players now have the opportunity to earn 10 Learning Points by completing the Daily Bonus (instead of the 20 which Premium players continue to receive passively).

Additional Changes

• With the launch of free-to-play, the global Silver discount has been adjusted based on a Silver-to-Gold ratio of 2000:1, which allows for lower Silver prices for actions like repairing, buying islands and seeds, re-spec, etc.
• The “fade to red” effect when health approaches zero has been reduced, giving players a better chance of staying alive at low health
• All visual quality settings/presets now have “Show Effects” set to “All” by default
• Premium and Gold stats now appear on the Character Selection screen
• Changes to dungeon immunity:
  • You cannot get a new “bubble” (immunity to damage and other effects) in dungeons within 60 seconds of last receiving the buff
  • Dungeon immunity duration: 10s → 15s
• The Undead Knight’s spell indication should now be easier to read
• Reward for “Not a Small Fish” tutorial quest was reduced from 2 Adept’s Royal Sigils to 1 Adept’s Royal Sigil
• Tier 7 Earth Elementals found in Randomized Dungeons now only have up to two charges of T7 Stone

Combat Balance Changes

Bows

• Auto-attack (all Bows):
  • Attack Range: 11m → 13m
  • Auto-attacks per second: 1 → 1.3
  • Damage per Auto-attack: 29 → 23
• Piercing Arrows (Passive):
  • Damage Reduction per Stack: 1% → 2%
  • Attack Speed (Passive)
  • Buff Duration: 3s → 5s
• Frost Shot (all Bows):
  • Hit Delay: 0.2s → 0s
  • Standtime: 0.2s → 0s
• Enchanted Quiver (regular Bow):
  • Number of Arrows: 15 → 18
• Undead Arrows (Whispering Bow):
  • Damage per Hit: 39.31 → 50.00
  • Range Increase: 50% → 35%
  • Duration: 10s → 8s

Crossbows

• Removed the Passive “Aggressive Caster“
• Added the New Passive “Well-Prepared“
• Every 4 activated spells, your Q-slot spell cooldown is instantly reset
• Auto Fire (all Crossbows)
  • Shot interval: 0.5s → 0.3s
  • Damage per Tick: 28.01 → 37.00
  • Explosion Damage: 67.22 → 89.00
  • Range: 11m → 13m
• Explosive Bolt (all Crossbows):
  • Energy cost: 4 → 3.5
  • Hitdelay: 0.5s → 0.4
  • Standtime: 0.5s → 0.4
• Knockback Shot (all Crossbows):
  • Now also increases Attack and Cast Speed by 50% for 4s
  • Cooldown: 10s → 8s
  • Knockback Distance: 5.27 → 10.00
  • Damage: 41.13 → 62.00
  • Hit Delay: 0.2s → 0.1s
  • Standtime: 0.4s → 0.2s
• Snipeshot (regular Crossbow):
  • Damage: 380.25 → 418.00
  • Range: 15m → 16m
  • Standtime: 0.6s → 0.4s
• Sweeping Bolt (Heavy Crossbow):
  • Hit Delay: 0.4s → 0.3s
  • Standtime: 1s → 0.7s
  • Cooldown: 20s → 18s

Daggers

• Lunging Stabs (Bloodletter):
  • Cooldown: 20s → 30s
  • Hitting an enemy below 40% now also reduces all your cooldowns by 10s

Fire Staffs

• Contagious Fire (Infernal Staff):
  • Damage per tick: 34.68 → 32.00

Holy Staffs

• Holy Beam (all Holy Staffs):
  • Cooldown: 10s → 16s
• Celestial Sphere (Redemption Staff):
  • Heal per Tick: 80.00 → 90.00

Nature Staffs

• Reanimate (all Nature Staffs):
  • Is now a channel instead of a cast ability
  • Revitalizes an ally, restoring 60 health and 10 energy per second. The ability can be channeled up to 5 times. (15s Cooldown, each tick consumes 8 energy)
• Well of Life (Wild Staff):
  • Cooldown: 30s → 25s

Quarterstaffs

• Forceful Swing (all Quarterstaffs):
  • Cooldown: 15s → 18s
• Hurricane (Iron-Clad Staff):
  • Cooldown increased by 4s

Swords

• Mighty Blow (Broadsword):
  • Damage: 276 → 287
• Spinning Blades (Dual Swords):
  • Max Health Damage: 8% → 6%

Helmets

• Emergency Heal (Guardian Helmet):
  • Cooldown: 40s → 30s
• Displacement Immunity (Knight Helmet):
  • Buff Duration: 10s → 6s

Fixes

• Weight displayed under character button now updates when changing passives or mounting/dismounting, as intended
• Graphical settings will now persist when logging out and back in of Albion Online
• [WINDOWS] Fullscreen is now Exclusive Fullscreen, and works only with Albion Online Launcher 1.0.34.247 – switching between different fullscreen modes requires restart
• Players will now see their own name tag and health bar flash and change color when entering an unrestricted PvP area
• Respawning after dying during portal binding immunity in the Outlands now removes the binding as intended
• Fixed a bug that allowed looting of items from afar via teleport skills
• The Morgana Champion’s spike spell now matches its indicator more closely
• Added missing mob shield to chests in several Randomized Dungeon templates
• Adjusted Realmgate and Hidden Entrance sounds
• Adjusted volumes of Fire, Frost, and Cursed Staff spells and fixed missing sounds
• Numerous additional minor graphical, UI, localization, terrain, animation, and audio fixes

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