In early 2017, I became aware of the game Albion Online. It hadn’t been released yet, but I pre-ordered the small package. When the game was finally released, my time with it was short-lived. But that wasn’t the game’s fault; it was mine. I was completely absorbed in Eve Online and Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 isn’t available on Linux, and I’ve since lost interest in Eve Online. That’s when Albion Online came back to mind. Just like Eve Online, it’s a sandbox MMO with no endgame. You write your own story in an open and dynamic world where even the loot and the economy depend on the players. A practical bonus: The game requires very few resources, so it runs not only on weaker computers but also on smartphones and tablets. It’s now also on the Steam Deck. All I’m missing is a version for the Nintendo Switch so I can play the game on all my platforms.
Unlike Eve Online, Albion Online is set in a medieval fantasy environment. The player is one of many adventurers who come from the old world to the island of Albion to build a new life. All sorts of dangers await the player; besides natives, there are various hostile factions, undead, and animals that want to kill the player with weapons and magic. And, of course, other players outside the safe zones.
That’s right: safe zones. The game world is divided into different zones. The blue zones are intended for beginners, which is why they have easier enemies and lower-tier resources. In return, you can’t be attacked by other players in the blue zones. In the yellow zones, there are stronger NPCs and PvP, but without gear loss. Starting from the red zone, you lose your equipment upon death, so dying has consequences. However, killing unflagged players also results in a reputation loss. In the black zones, as well as the Roads of Avalon and the Mists, there is no reputation loss. In exchange, the difficulty and the rewards are highest there, corresponding to the danger.
But the player is not defenseless against these enemies. On the contrary, Albion Online allows the player to assemble their gear from a wide selection of weapons, armor, and accessories according to their personal preferences. There are 16 different weapon types and three off-hand types to choose from, offering almost everything from simple swords and bows to quarterstaffs and magical weapons. The only thing I’m missing is firearms. For each weapon type, there are in turn seven weapons that differ in appearance, focus, and skills. While the Iron-clad Staff lets you whirl through enemies, the Soulscythe sends a tornado toward your foes. However, each weapon type always has a basic focus, such as damage, crowd control, or healing. Some of the seven weapons are one-handed, allowing the use of an item in the other hand, such as a shield.
The selection of armor is not quite as diverse. There are three armor types: plate, leather, and cloth. These armor types are each divided into three slots: a headpiece, a chestpiece, and shoes. Within these slots, there is the armor piece itself, with nine pieces per slot. The armor pieces can be combined freely, so it’s not uncommon to see a player with plate boots and helmet and a leather chestpiece. The focus is quite logical: plate for tanking, cloth for damage, and leather in between with a focus on mobility.
112 weapons, 21 off-hand items, and 81 armor pieces aren’t enough for you? Good, because every item exists in tiers 4 to 8 (tiers 1-3 are for beginners and become irrelevant after an hour), each tier is divided into four enchantment levels, and each enchantment also has a quality level. The item’s power level is calculated from these three things. An Expert’s Soldier Boots is a Tier 5 plate boot. If it is enchanted to level 2 and has Excellent quality, it’s abbreviated as T5.2 Excellent. This gives the boot an item power of 800 (T5) plus 200 (enchantment 2) plus 60 (quality Excellent), for a total of 1060. This makes the boot better than a Tier 7 Soldier Boot without any enhancements, which has an item power of 1000. But since it’s still a Tier 5 boot, it might be cheaper. It’s worth keeping a close eye on the market here. That is, if you can even wear Tier 7 yet.
That’s right, you have to be able to wear the items first. You level them up through use. Each skill, apart from the basic ones, has 100 levels (plus 20 specialization levels). This not only allows you to use higher-level items but also provides a bonus to your item power. A specific bow at level 100 gets another 240 power, making it stronger. With full skills, you are stronger with a Tier 5 item than a newcomer with the same item at Tier 7.
But don’t worry, it all sounds more complicated than it is. At least the basics are understood fairly quickly; the finer details would go beyond the scope of this post. Just one more thing: crafting and gathering also require skills, which are divided into 100 levels. So you don’t start out as a master blacksmith either; you have to level your way up.
The graphics of Albion Online are unusual, which is due to its availability on different platforms. You control your character with the mouse from an isometric perspective, like in Diablo and similar games. The art style is rather cartoonish to me, not realistic. It’s also a far cry from Diablo, but more colorful. It certainly doesn’t compare to New World or World of Warcraft, but the gameplay probably wouldn’t work in those engines anyway. This brings us to another unique feature of Albion Online: there are only two servers worldwide. One (newly opened) for Asia and Australia, and one for the Americas and Europe. This means you can run into any player at any time; the player base is not separated.
This is especially visible in cities, where several hundred players crowd the marketplace or the bank. The world of Albion is divided into individual zones, which distribute the load across different physical servers. You travel from zone to zone through exits, allowing you to journey through the world. In addition to the Royal Continent, there is another continent to the north for the black zones, which can be claimed by guilds. This is where the larger guild wars take place. And let’s not forget the Roads of Avalon and the Mists. These are areas outside the normal map that have random connections to each other. The Roads of Avalon are intended for groups, while the Mists are for one or two players.
Besides fighting NPCs in the open world, the game also offers various dungeons for solo players, groups, and even for PvPvE players—a combination of a PvE dungeon where you can also encounter other players. Additionally, there are faction wars, and much more. I’m just realizing the game is too complex to describe comprehensively in one post.
But I still have to touch on the economy. Here, too, the responsibility is placed in the hands of the players. Most items are produced by players. Upon every death starting from the red zone, 50% of the items are lost, and the other 50% can be looted by the winner. But it’s not just there; the rewards from NPCs don’t come from thin air either. There is a Black Market that offers players silver for items. This both regulates prices and puts items into the loot pool. So, everything is connected.
You’re probably confused enough by now, so it’s time for my conclusion. Albion Online shows strong similarities to Eve Online, yet it is distinctly different. It’s important to mention, however, that the game doesn’t hold your hand. There is no story to guide you. There is virtually no support after the short tutorial. This makes it all the more important to motivate yourself, stay informed, and connect with other players. But once you get the hang of it, a wide world of possibilities opens up. A large and sometimes cruel world, where your own actions have consequences for yourself and others.