Albion Online teases its upcoming randomized PvE dungeons throughout the game world

The next update for Albion Online is offering new paths to treasure just spawning in the world, although you’re going to have to fight through some enemies to get that treasure. Yes, there are new randomized dungeons coming to the game with the Oberon update, starting with the hidden entrances scattered throughout the game world. These entrances are random, but a full group should reliably be able to find one to enter, which generates a random dungeon and starts the clock before that entrance and dungeon fades away.

The result is that players will have a countdown to contend with as they fight through the dungeon, taking on new configurations of enemies to plunder everything within its depths. For the moment, the dungeons are only for five-person groups and using familiar enemy groups, but both of these things are intended for expansion in the future. Check out the full preview for more details (or down below) on the new feature arriving as part of the Oberon update.

What are Hidden Entrances and Randomized Dungeons?

Hidden Entrances are gateways that spawn at random throughout the open world, in all zones and at all times. Their frequency is such that a party of five should be able to find an entrance readily enough. Though their location is not revealed on the minimap, they are accessible to all players for as long as they remain open, meaning multiple parties can enter at one time.

Within these discoverable portals are Randomized Dungeons. These dungeons are created procedurally based on numerous parameters, influencing everything from mob type to room and corridor layout to bosses and loot.

Each dungeon will only last for a limited time, and will begin to lose stability before closing. The transitive nature of these dungeons provides an incentive to find them quickly - not only to claim the loot within, but also to avoid being transported back to the overworld along with any hostile players within.

What are the goals of these features?

These features bring an entirely new source of open-world PvE to the world of Albion. The unpredictable nature of both Hidden Entrances and the Randomized Dungeons they conceal makes them a much more varied experience than anything previously seen in the game, falling somewhere between the safe fame-farming of Expeditions and the high-risk PvP of static dungeons. The dungeons introduced with the Oberon update will be for a five-person group, but soloable dungeons and other types of content will be introduced with later updates.

While Randomized Dungeons, at launch, will mostly feature known factions and mobs, these will be reworked and optimized, and some new enemies will be introduced to the game as well. In the long run, the combination of Hidden Entrances and Randomized Dungeons will give us a platform for introducing entirely new types of PvE content into the game, including entirely new mobs, dungeons, and experiences.

Here's a quick rundown on the current state of Hidden Entrances and Randomized Dungeons:

• Both features are already working code-wise (randomized generation of dungeon layouts and placement of Hidden Entrances in the world)
• Game design is currently balancing mobs and loot levels to provide a rewarding player experience
• Level design and art are creating the necessary connectors and highlights for each dungeon type
• Heretic and Morgana dungeons are finished, and Keeper dungeons are underway
• Game design and QA are performing regular internal playtests to iterate on dungeon progress

We'll have much more info on these features in our forthcoming series of Dev Talks, so stay tuned!