The second in a series of new devtalks and previews of features in the works for Albion Online, the team has announced that Tracking will be a new open-world activity option.
Game Director Robin Henkys is back again to talk about the new feature. If you enjoy having new ways to explore and take advantage of the environment in the open world, you should pay attention to the announcement of this new feature. The team has focused a lot to make open world activities more fun, more plentiful, and more open to solo players and groups and players of different levels.
The goals of tracking will be to have more players search the open world to find targets. In adding this, the team is looking for more people to be roaming around the open world and exploring. For those who want challenges and PVP, engaging in tracking will also encourage chance encounters, but in introducing this feature, they do note that “the focus is less on direct PVP combat” and more on having more players out there.
To get started, you'll have to craft a Tracking Kit, and this will let you interact with tracks that are around in the open world. Each step of the tracking process is timed, and you'll learn to read a track and by doing so it will reveal where to search for more tracks. That next region might be nearby or a little further out. Since they want more players to roam around the open world, don't expect everything to be neatly tied up in one area.
When you get to that other area, you'll find one of three things, more tracks, the final Target you're looking for, or random encounters. If you find your target, congratulations, you're likely up for a fight. Be careful, because if your group is too big, you might scare the target off and lengthen the chase. The team is also making sure that you are the only one who knows the location of the target so larger groups can't just wait around to pounce on them.
If and when you find and defeat your target, you'll be able to get a number of items that will come in very handy. Tying directly into the previously announced new feature–Shapeshifter Weapons–are some of the possible targets and drops. Sandbox Interactive plans to add add more trackable creatures later, but at first expect creatures that match the Shapeshifter Weapon forms, artifact items that you can use to craft Shapeshifter Weapons, and new alchemical ingredients.
