Albion Online Island Guide: Cost, Upgrades, What to Build and Profit
A personal island is a private zone of your own beside one of the cities. Nobody can attack you there. You grow crops and herbs, raise animals and mounts, house laborers and place your own crafting stations. Since the Rogue Frontier update you can also open the city's bank from your island and keep island chests.
This guide covers what an island costs, what each upgrade unlocks, what to build first, and how to check which plots make silver before you spend.
How to buy an island
Personal islands are sold by the Island Merchant in the Royal Cities, Caerleon and Brecilien. The island belongs to the city where you buy it, and you reach it from that city.
- You need Premium to buy a personal island. Once it is bought, the island and everything on it stay yours when Premium ends.
- You can look before you buy. The Island Merchant can send you to the Showroom Island, a fully built sample island added in the Abyssal Depths update.
- The city matters for farming. Every island gives a +10% yield bonus to a few crops and animals, and the bonus depends on the city (see "Which city to pick" below).
Premium also decides how much an island produces:
| With Premium | Without Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Crops, herbs, milk and eggs | Twice the yield | Normal yield |
| Animal growth time | Halved (a T4 goat grows in 22 hours) | Normal (44 hours for a T4 goat) |
| Focus for watering and nurturing | 10,000 per day | None |
| Destiny Board fame from farming | +50% | Normal |
The values come from the game's data files. Farming without Premium works, but it earns much less.
Upgrade costs and plots
A new island is level 1 with a single building plot. You upgrade it at the Island Merchant, up to level 6:
| Level | Cost (silver) | Building plots | Small building plots | Farming plots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (purchase) | 18,750 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 56,250 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 187,500 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 562,500 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 1,875,000 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | 3,750,000 | 11 | 2 | 5 |
Plot counts are the totals at each level. A fully upgraded island costs 6,450,000 silver and has 11 building plots, 2 small building plots and 5 farming plots. Farming starts at level 2, the first level with a farming plot.
The plots are fixed places on the island. Farming plots only take farming buildings, and building plots take everything else: houses, crafting and refining stations, and other buildings.
What to build on each plot
Farming plots
| Building | Grows | Holds | Cost to build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm | Crops: carrots to pumpkins | 9 | 15 Rough Logs, 15 Rough Stone |
| Herb Garden | Herbs for potions: agaric to yarrow | 9 | 25 Rough Logs, 25 Rough Stone, 25 Birch Planks, 25 Limestone Blocks |
| Pasture | Farm animals and riding mounts | 9 | 30 Rough Logs, 30 Rough Stone, 30 Chestnut Planks, 30 Sandstone Blocks |
| Kennel | Rare mounts such as direwolves, swamp dragons and the Firewing Drake | 4 | 50 Bloodoak Logs, 50 Slate, 10 Runite Steel Bars |
Building costs are from the game's data files. Crops and herbs are ready 22 hours after planting. Animals need food, take longer to grow, and give milk, eggs or offspring along the way. The farming guide covers seeds, watering, feeding and breeding in detail.
Houses and laborers
A house holds laborers. Give a laborer a full journal and it brings back materials or items on its next return; a happier laborer brings back more. Furniture in the house raises happiness, and the house's tier limits how much furniture and how many laborers it holds:
| House | Laborers | Furniture | Materials to build |
|---|---|---|---|
| T2 Novice's | 1 | 5 | 30 Rough Logs, 3 Rough Stone, 180 Limestone Blocks |
| T3 Journeyman's | 2 | 7 | 60 Rough Logs, 6 Rough Stone, 180 Sandstone Blocks |
| T4 Adept's | 2 | 10 | 120 Rough Logs, 12 Rough Stone, 180 Travertine Blocks |
| T5 Expert's | 3 | 14 | 240 Rough Logs, 24 Rough Stone, 180 Granite Blocks |
| T6 Master's | 3 | 14 | 480 Rough Logs, 48 Rough Stone, 180 Slate Blocks |
| T7 Grandmaster's | 3 | 14 | 960 Rough Logs, 96 Rough Stone, 180 Basalt Blocks |
| T8 Elder's | 3 | 14 | 1,920 Rough Logs, 192 Rough Stone, 180 Marble Blocks |
Higher-tier houses unlock on the Destiny Board's Adventurer path: Journeyman Adventurer for a T3 house, up to Elder Adventurer for T8. Since the Dragonfire update, furniture can be placed directly next to other furniture.
Whether laborers pay depends on the journal. The Journals Calculator prices every journal type and tier with live market data and your laborers' happiness, so you can see which ones are worth filling before you build houses for them.
Crafting and refining stations
You can build your own stations on building plots. Your island has no base production bonus: a city's stations give 18%, your island 0%. The city's specialty bonus still applies on its islands, so refining fiber on a Lymhurst island gets Lymhurst's 40% fiber bonus, but not the extra 18%:
| Refining fiber | Production bonus | Resource return |
|---|---|---|
| Lymhurst island, no Focus | 40% | 28.6% |
| Lymhurst city, no Focus | 58% | 36.7% |
| Lymhurst island, with Focus | 99% | 49.7% |
| Lymhurst city, with Focus | 117% | 53.9% |
For the return rate alone, the city's stations win. Island stations are about convenience and running your own station. Turn on Show Island Rates in the Resource Return Rate Calculator to compare your island with the city for any item.
What to build first
- Upgrade to level 2 and build a Farm or Herb Garden. It is the cheapest start: the Farm costs only rough logs and rough stone, and it pays every 22 hours.
- Fill the farming plots as you upgrade. Pick crops and animals by profit per day, not by tier. Higher tiers are not always better.
- Add houses when your journals pay. Check the Journals Calculator first; a T2 house holds one laborer, a T5 house and above holds three.
- Add stations last, if you craft often enough to want them on your island.
Which city to pick
Each city's islands get a +10% yield bonus on these crops, herbs and animal products:
| City | +10% on |
|---|---|
| Bridgewatch | Beans, Goat's Milk, Dragon Teasel, Bundle of Corn |
| Caerleon | Brightleaf Comfrey, Dragon Teasel, Firetouched Mullein |
| Fort Sterling | Hen Eggs, Turnips, Sheep's Milk, Ghoul Yarrow |
| Lymhurst | Carrots, Crenellated Burdock, Goose Eggs, Pumpkin |
| Martlock | Sheaf of Wheat, Potatoes, Elusive Foxglove, Cow's Milk |
| Thetford | Arcane Agaric, Cabbage, Firetouched Mullein |
| Brecilien | Every Farm crop: Carrots, Beans, Sheaf of Wheat, Turnips, Cabbage, Potatoes, Bundle of Corn and Pumpkin |
These are the island values in the game's farming data. If you also craft or refine on the island, the city's crafting and refining specialties apply there too.
Is an island worth it?
That depends on what you put on it. The Farming and Breeding Calculator compares every crop, herb and animal on a full plot by initial investment, profit per day, profit per Focus and days to pay back, from current market prices, with your city and Premium status. Plan your plots there to see the daily income before you buy the upgrades.
Once your island runs, the Farming Tracker keeps your to-do list. With the AFM Data Client running while you visit your plots, it records what needs feeding, what is ready to harvest and which plots can still be watered or nurtured, so you know when to come back. Both tools are part of the Masterpiece subscription.
Guild islands
Guilds can also buy a guild island at the Island Merchant. It is upgraded separately, costs more and holds the guild hall. The rest of this guide is about personal islands.
Farming and Breeding Calculator · Farming Tracker · Journals Calculator · Resource Return Rate Calculator