The sandbox MMORPG Albion Online gives players a first look at the upcoming Queen Update. This focuses particularly on changes to the Outlands and guilds.
Update January 7: The article was originally published on September 23, 2019. We have updated it and added the release date for the Queen Update on January 20.
What does the Queen Update bring? The upcoming patch is mainly supposed to make changes to the endgame of the game. The biggest innovations are:
- A revision of the Outlands (endgame areas)
- The introduction of guild hideouts
- A revision of area control
- Improved 5v5 battles
- Zerg debuffs to weaken large guilds
While the Percival Update in July focused on solo players, now group content and PvP are at the center of the update.
When will the Queen Update be released? The eighth major content update is scheduled to be released on January 20, 2020. According to the developers, it will be the largest game expansion since release in 2017.
New endgame areas and hideouts for guilds
What changes in the Outlands? The Outlands are the endgame areas with black zones where players can be automatically marked for PvP and can be killed and looted without punishment.
With the Queen Update, the most valuable areas will be pulled from the northern edge to the center of the island. This is intended to intensify the battles for valuable resources because they can be attacked from all sides.
What are guild hideouts? Another new feature for the Outlands will be guild hideouts that can be established on the maps:
- A hideout is a separate base for the guild that can be expanded over time.
- In it, you will find merchants, crafting stations, a respawn point, and a marketplace.
- The guilds can set who is allowed to enter the hideout. In theory, it can be made public and thus become a new town within an area.
Can guild hideouts be attacked? Guilds must also take care of their home in Albion Online. There is an event when establishing that requires the hideout to be defended. In theory, it can also be attacked and destroyed at any time.
On reddit the developers shared that only the guild that controls the respective area can attack the hideout. This could also lead to a peaceful coexistence between players, where one guild accepts the other in the area.
Revisions of area battles and new 5v5
What changes in area battles? Along with the revision of the Outlands, the battles for areas will also be adjusted. From now on, these will no longer be held in 5v5, but all players of a guild can participate.
A battle will then proceed as follows:
- A guild enters the area, kills the guards, and challenges control of the area.
- The next day, a battle for the area tower takes place at prime time.
- It is also possible that multiple parties fight simultaneously for the tower.
- The winner gets the area.
Players who previously only had an interest in 5v5 and not in area control will get new opportunities for PvP.
What’s new in PvP? In the new “expanded battles on the crystal level”, fights can still occur in 5v5 over certain tokens:
- The PvP can be entered via an NPC in a city or through your own area tower.
- You need five players who have a token of the same level.
- The winning faction receives good rewards and the token is upgraded, while the losers must give up their token and earn it back anew.
- The system is also intended to allow players without a strong guild behind them to participate in 5v5.
- If you enter PvP through your own tower, winning guilds also receive a buff for their area.
What is Albion doing against zergs? Large guilds with a multitude of players can easily dominate in Albion Online. The Queen Update aims to prevent a zerg from blocking an entire area with an intelligent cluster queue.
In addition, there will be an inefficiency factor that ensures that effectiveness in battle is reduced when more than 25 allied players are present in an area.
On the right track since Free2Play
How is Albion Online doing currently? In April 2019 the sandbox MMORPG switched to Free2Play. In the months prior, according to Steamcharts an average of 230 to 330 players played Albion daily.
In May, however, an average of up to 7,000 players visited the MMO daily. The number has since dropped again, but it is still nearly ten times higher in December with 2,590 players compared to January and February 2019.
This places Albion Online among the top 10 most popular MMORPGs on Steam:
