Albion Surviving Solo Gathering Guide - Part 2

Let me start by saying I'm no pro. I only started playing this game at beta launch so I've been forced to learn on the fly but I have yet to be killed while solo gathering in any red/black zone despite being found/attacked many times by groups of hostile players. This is the part two of Albion Surviving Solo Gathering Guide.

#5: Listen up:

Just like how enemies can hear your ox, you too can hear them. Make sure to always keep an ear open for sounds like players using speed buffs, players in combat (pve or pvp), horses galloping or oxes trotting.

Tip: If you hear an ox it's PROBABLY another gatherer and won't be much of a threat but it's still best to avoid them as they may inform guildmates of your presence.

If and when you hear the sounds of other players. Stop moving. Demount to get your skills ready to use (if not overloaded). Turn off any music you may have and listen to identify what is going on.

Is it 1 horse? (low threat)

Are there many horses? (high threat)

Which direction is it coming from?

Which direction is it headed?

These are all audio ques that will tell you how fucked you might be in a moment. At this time you should be preparing to escape but more on that in Tip#10

Note: If you're on a road and you hear something then forget the "Stop Moving" part. Get off that road QUIETLY which brings me to my next tip.

 

#6: Stay off the Road!

The #1 most likely way to get killed while solo'ing a red/black zone is to mindlessly follow the road. Even if hostile players don't know you are there there is a high chance they will just run across you and kill you because you crossed paths.

Go through the trees, make sure if/when possible that you cannot even see a road meaning anyone traversing by road won't see you.

If possible, also avoid the trails but based on map/zone geography that is not always possible. Same with avoiding roads, sometimes you just have to take the road.

So when you can. Be a ninja sneaking through the trees (be mindful of mobs in high density forest areas as they are sometimes hard to see before they have aggro'd you.)

 

#7 Watch your map:

Wouldn't it be nice if the game told you there were 10 hostiles headed your way? oh wait! it does!

Now I'm not exactly sure how this mechanic works but I do know that sometimes flagged players will appear as red dots on your map, not always but sometimes. So keeping an eye on the map might help stop you from walking into THE MOST OBVIOUS CROSSROAD CAMP OF ALL TIME! Also if a player is killed in an area a skull will appear on the map where they died and your combat log (or system log) chat screen should notify anyone in that zone who died and what they died to. So if you see "player 1 was killed by player 2" Then you know there is at least 1 hostile player in the area (unless player 1 was the hostile and player 2 killed him, in which case, good job player 2!).

 

#8 Check the material resources around you

This is pretty basic and I'm sure you already do this but on your way to your destination or when you arrive. Check the gathering materials to see if they have already been harvested. If they are depleted or low yield chances are someone has been there recently and may still be around.

If you have the ability you should check gathering materials that are not your focus. Example if you are trying to gather ore, hit a few T4 pine trees with your axe to see if they are 3/15 or like 8/15. The higher yield the less likely anyone has been there recently.

This also applies to corpses found along the way (mob or player).