Beginner’s Guide To MMORPG Albion Online

Albion Online’s new, Singapore-based server – known as Albion East – is now open to all, offering massively improved ping rates for players in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a completely fresh version of the gameworld to explore. The medieval-themed MMORPG, from Berlin-based developers Sandbox Interactive, offers players a vast, immersive experience, with an economy driven by player-crafted items, and a classless, ‘you are what you wear’ system where changing playstyles is as simple as acquiring different gear and leveling up.

With so much freedom at your fingertips, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Albion Online offers no set quest lines, meaning players literally choose their own adventures and write their own stories. But there are some useful things to know to get yourself off to a good start in this world, so we’ve put together this short guide to help you through these early stages and open up Albion’s huge array of content.

Before delving into the nitty gritty, here are the features that the Asia Pacific server will offer:

• Greatly improved connection speeds and ping for the whole Asia-Pacific region.
• A new and untouched version of the game, where all players start as equals and can clain their own piece of Albion.
• A game world that is fully separate and independent from the existing Albion West server.
• Timings of game and sever events (territory battles, Crystal League, Faction Warefare, maintenance, etc) that are optimised for the region.

---

First Steps

Once you’ve created your character, it’s a good idea to play the tutorial. This not only introduces you to some of the game’s core mechanics like crafting and combat, but you’ll come out of it with some gear, some Silver, and a mule, which really helps you breeze through the early stages. Once the tutorial is completed, you’ll choose a Starter Town to begin your journey.

Each Starter Town is located in one of Albion’s five biomes – Mountain, Forest, Steppe, Swamp, and Highland – each of which has a particular blend of core resources available. But don’t worry about which town to choose as none are inherently advantageous, and travel between the biomes is unrestricted.

What you should focus on in these early stages is gaining Fame, which is Albion’s equivalent of experience points and will allow you to unlock better and more varied gear, and by extension cooler abilities. Your progress in leveling up your abilities can be seen on the Destiny Board, Albion’s skill tree.

---

Fame and Fortune

Combat Fame, which lets you level up your weapons and armor, can be gained by fighting mobs in these early stages. These can be found in the open world or in dungeons, but a great way to get started is by playing Expeditions. Each Starter Town has an Expedition Master near its center – visible by its large, glowing, blue portal – and visiting them will allow you to play a quick Expedition where you fight your way through mobs.

These offer plenty of Fame and Silver early on, easing your progress in the world. Once you’ve played some Expeditions, try your hand at some solo dungeons in the open world. These are more challenging but offer considerably more Silver and Fame as you improve your combat skills.

As you gain Fame and Silver, and unlock higher tiers of weapons and armor, you’ll want to start upgrading your equipment. Head to the Marketplace, where you can search for new items and mounts, and spend some of your hard-won Silver. Items can be filtered by their type and tier, and if you try to purchase an item that you can’t yet equip the game will warn you.

---

Gathering and Crafting

Along with combat, Albion offers a whole player-driven, resource-based economy that you can get stuck into. Grab a bag and some tools from the marketplace, and venture out into the open world to start gathering. As mentioned above, each biome specialises in one of five basic resources: Mountains/Ore, Forest/Wood, Steppe/Hide, Swamp/Fiber, and Highlands/Stone.

These resources come in tiers of increasing value, and gathering higher-tier resources requires higher-tier tools. Like weapons and armor, these tools require progression on the Destiny Board in their specific branch before they can be unlocked – which you can achieve by gaining Fame through gathering. Resources can be refined into other materials at stations in the Cities and Towns, and in turn crafted into weapons and armor. Or you can sell them directly at the Marketplace for Silver and simply buy the items you desire this way.

Many players look to specialise in gathering and crafting, and a whole host of economic gameplay possibilities exist here, such as trading, supplying crafters, or even owning Crafting Stations to generate Silver as players use them.

---

PvP Combat

Albion is not all about fighting mobs and working with resources though. A central pillar of the game is player-versus-player combat. But don’t be afraid of this! PvP is not possible in all areas, so you don’t have to expose yourself to it as you find your way around the game. In short, Albion’s open world has four zone types, which can be seen underneath the minimap in the bottom-right corner of your screen:

• Blue Zones: PvP is not allowed.
• Yellow Zones: You can choose to be attackable by flagging as hostile; combat losses result only in knockdown, not death.
• Red and Black Zones: You can kill or be killed, and death results in the loss of items you’re carrying; on the other hand, victory lets you loot your enemy’s items.

Remember, that even in red and black zones, death will never result in the loss of Silver or Gold, only items.

When you decide to enter more dangerous regions in search of more valuable mobs and resources, there are a few simple rules that can help you survive and thrive:

• Keep an eye on the edges of your screen for nearby hostile players, and be prepared to flee
• When on foot, remain close to your mount so you can escape quickly
• Don’t carry too much weight – being overburdened slows you down
• Select abilities on your items that offer speed benefits
• The minimap can show hostile players, large groups, or recent kills – avoid these areas if you wish to avoid combat
• When attacked, fighting back will prevent you leaving the zone during combat – it may be best not to fight if you wish to make a quick getaway
• Last but not least, the golden rule: don’t go into PvP zones with gear you can’t afford to replace!

---

The World is Yours

Once you’ve familiarised yourself with these basic tenets of Albion, there’s a whole world of possibilities for you to continue your journey. Join a City Faction and carry out exciting smuggling missions; join a guild and compete for territories, wealth, and prestige; join the Arena or Crystal Arena for high-energy, low-risk PvP action; buy an island to relax and farm crops; fight in increasingly difficult dungeons and Hellgates, with big rewards on offer – the list goes on.

There’s so much to explore in Albion, and once you’re familiar with the game you can truly shape your experience however you like. The world awaits, so strap on your gear and get out there now before the Founder Packs for Albion East expires on 30 April 2023, and you lose access to exclusive items that will never be available again.

Play Albion Online for FREE on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS today.

---

This article is brought to you together with Sandbox Interactive.