Unlike most MMOs, Albion Online is set in a sandbox world where you chart your own path, and do whatever it is you’re interested in without having to grind to level cap. From the moment you spawn you’re provided incredible freedom, granted the opportunity to do whatever it is that captures your interest.
Although this more free-form style of MMO has the potential to be more satisfying than the theme parks of most other MMOs, it’s commonly overwhelming for new players. It isn’t easy to understand what you can and are supposed to do in Albion Online, for better or worse.
After playing Albion Online for a while, I’ve decided to put together a list of things I wish I knew before I started. See below.
1. The Map Is Your Best Friend
The map screen houses vital information that will serve you well whether you’re a beginner or a veteran.
First and foremost, the top-left of the map screen displays the region type of a particular map. When it says “Safe Region”, this means you are free to roam without worrying about other players killing you. However, many regions are PvP enabled, meaning players are free to kill one another in these areas. Made worse, players who are killed drop their loot, making death extremely costly.
Equally as important is the list of resources on the top-right of the map screen. This indicates what sorts of materials you can gather in the area, whether it be animals to skin, lumber to chop, or ore to mine. With a variety of resources scattered across the game world, this is helpful for guiding you to where you need to go, so you don’t have to Google where everything is located.
Lastly, the map indicates your surroundings. It’s easy to get lost when you first start playing Albion Online, so spending a few minutes learning how to read your location on the map, and what various colors mean, will help you on your road to success.
2. Start Your Farm ASAP
Food is one of the most important resources in Albion Online. Used for upkeep of various territories and buildings, food is highly sought after by veteran players, leading to it being sold for a surprisingly high cost on the Market.
Farms are built on player-owned areas that allow you to grow and harvest a variety of crops, in addition to raising livestock. They are the single best way for you to consistently build up an inventory of food, whether you’re interested in selling it as a good, or using it for personal gain.
Farm land can be purchased at a variety of locations, including:
- Breakwater
- Buccaneers Haven
- Fisher’s Hold
- Freeport
- Journey’s End
- Seamouth
- Smugglers Bay
Once you have a farm, all you’ll need are seeds to get started. These can be found on enemies, or purchased on the market from other players.
To plant seeds simply click on the item in your inventory while in a farming location and then press the “Place” button. After a certain period of time the seed will grow into a crop that you can harvest.
After a few days of work you’ll have everything in working order. At that point you’ll find yourself slowly but surely amassing a stockpile of valuable food.
3. Commit to a Build
During your early hours you’ll want to experiment a bit with combat and get a feel for what you’re most interested in. Are you more of a melee fighter type? Maybe you prefer archery? Better yet, you might just enjoy casting magic.
After learning more about which of the three main combat types you enjoy most, you’ll want to open the Destiny Tree and decide upon a primary route. There are very clear and distinct paths of progression in Albion Online, as outlined in the Destiny Tree.
Initially, progression is quick and painless. You’ll find yourself racing through unlocks, grabbing a variety of neat rewards along the way. It isn’t until later that the grind begins, and if you decide to do anything other than specialize on one path, you’ll find yourself constantly short of Learning Points.
For beginner players who aren’t confident in their skills, I recommend going with a melee build. These tend to have the lowest skillcap, allowing you to play effectively without frustration.
4. Go out of Your Way to Make Friends
Socializing in MMOs is always a good idea, but isn’t usually a necessity unless you’re interested in raiding. However, Albion Online is very different. As a sandbox game—like EVE Online—, the entire endgame is built around player-owned structures and the guilds that own them.
On that note, the world of Albion Online is a treacherous place, with thousand of players roaming PvP areas with the intention of taking advantage of unsuspecting players. After all, players who are killed drop their loot, so there’s huge incentive for players to kill one another.
With all this in-mind, making friends and grouping up with them isn’t only a great way to remain productive, but is your best defense against gankers.
It’s also worth considering that any players that you start trouble with will be able to retaliate. Making enemies is something you want to do very deliberately in Albion Online, or not at all.
5. Gold Is the Best Investment
Albion Online is an MMO. While you might be most interested in the short-term, chances are you’ll either be hooked for the months to come, or will come back to the game at a later point.
With this in mind, there is no better investment right now than Gold. It’s currently undervalued just like it was during the early days of Beta. It’s going to predictably rise in value in the coming months, especially once early founder’s packs cash-in on their bonus.
Knowing how Silver decreases in value in proportion to Gold in Albion Online‘s economy, it’s a good idea to stockpile as much Gold as possible during these early weeks. In a few months, you’ll be able to trade in your gold for an incredible amount of Silver, which can then be used to purchase valuable goods.
Let’s put it this way: either you can spend the next few dozen hours working until you sweat, or just invest in Gold and wait a few months. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
Quick Tips
Before you go, here are some smaller tips:
- Complete the beginner tutorial.
- Spend your Learning Points wisely.
- Log on once per day to complete Daily Expeditions. These are available in most towns.
- Sell items (other than Gold) sooner rather than later.
- You can fast travel between some locations by speaking to an NPC denoted by an anchor icon.
- Progress to Tier 4 before joining 5-man dungeons.
- If you don’t know what to do, these are the main things to do in the game: Craft, Farm, Gather, Refine, Kill.
- Consider making more than one character early on and spreading your progression across them.
Good luck in Albion Online!
