Albion Online’s Into the Fray update arrives on June 8th

Albion Online will receive its next major update on June 8th. Into The Fray will revamp magic staves, improve castles and castle outposts, add new crystal league and arena modes, and add portal cities with daily events. The aim of the update is to both make improvements and make the game more accessible for different types of players to explore and compete against.

The wand revamp is a feature the developers have been talking about before, but overall it covers everything from graphics, animation, gameplay to overhauled and even new spells. During this update, four types – Fire, Holy, Nature, and Cursed – will receive the first reworks. Arcane and Frost will follow later.

Castles and castle outposts are getting overhauled layouts and graphics to make them more immersive. For guilds, this means new challenges, but also less predictability. This should maintain competitiveness.

The Outlands will now feature Portal Towns, providing bank and marketplace access without having to be in a town. Coupled with this new way of accessing items is the introduction of daily events, which open up opportunities to earn various bonuses for activities. Designed to cover a variety of activity types, they are designed not only to offer rewards, but to add layers to the economy and get players trying different things.

In another related change, resources get a graphical overhaul that makes them easier to distinguish in their environment, with better distinction between tiers. More resources and better resources might be within reach.

Combat and competition get some additions with the new Crystal Arena, a ranking system with better rewards as you progress. There’s also the Non-Lethal Crystal League, where you can learn the basics of PvP (and serve those who prefer lower-stakes PvP) by being able to participate at a lower cost.

The update also includes some quality of life changes, including additions like training dummies for practice (perhaps for your new staff spells), an activity UI for ongoing events, Lost Equipment loadouts for post-death gear, and a Journey Back feature to reduce travel times. The update will also introduce Twitch Drops.

For more information, see Albion Online.