Albion Armory: Buldozer’s “Catch Me If You Can”-Miner

Solo-gathering, compared to gathering in a group, has one main advantage: time management. As a solo-gatherer, you are free to start your gathering whenever you feel like it and you won’t need to wait for a whole group of gatherers and guards to be ready to head out. If you know what you are doing, the possible reward of sneaking into an area by yourself is more than worth the risk. Buldozer, one of the top gatherers of Albion, is willing to share his knowledge and his tricks, using his ore-mining build as an example for everybody that is interested in becoming an efficient solo-gatherer as well.

About the “Catch Me If You Can”-Miner

“Thanks to my build I am able to survive almost any ganks by up to five players while effectively solo-gathering,” Buldozer starts. “However, even while my gear and my masteries are an important asset for surviving, making the right decisions in the right moments with what my kit is offering me is what is really keeping me alive when I am out there alone.”

One of the most important aspects of using a build like Buldozer’s is the right mindset.  You are a gatherer and not a combatant, so your focus has to be on avoiding and outsmarting your opponents instead of taking them head on, and so it is no surprise that his build focuses on dodging any combat in the first place by stacking mobility and defense.

Equipment: Weapons

Weapon of Choice: Bloodletter

Sunder Armor

An attack dealing physical damage, and reducing the target’s armor and magic resist for a short amount of time. Stacks up to 3 times.

Dash

Dash towards the targeted area.

Lunging Stabs

Dashes to a ground target location, dealing physical damage to any enemy in the way. The amount of damage depends on the enemy’s remaining health.

Passive: Life Leech

Every normal attack, you restore health.

The Bloodletter offers two dash abilities that are great for quickly moving away from your aggressors in case you get de-mounted. When using one of them, always click outside of your area circle to ensure you cover the maximum distance. Even while you’re not supposed to fight against the people hunting you, should they ever close up on you, do not hesitate to auto-hit them while running, as each hit will heal you.

Offhand: Mistcaller

Reduces the cooldown times on your skills.

Thanks to the Mistcaller you will be able to use all of your abilities more frequently, which increases your overall mobility; On top of that, it also allows you to outrange your opponents much faster, giving you time to mount up or hide.

Equipment: Armor

Helmet: Miner Cap

Motivating Worker’s Song

Removes any movement-impairing effects, and makes you immune to movement-impairing effects, for 6 seconds. Doesn’t make you immune to forced movement effects, like knockbacks.

Passive: Mining Skills

Increases your gathering yield for Ore.

Especially if hunted by a group of enemies, crowd control is your worst enemy. Motivation Worker’s Song will not only allow you to remove their crowd control but will make you immune, allowing you to use your skills to get some distance between you and the people chasing you.

Chest: Miner Garb

Wind Shield

Your gathering speed is increased, and a wind shield surrounds you, for a short amount of time. Every time you receive damage, enemies around you will be knocked back. Additionally, your armor and magic resist are increased.

Passive: Mining Skills

Increases your gathering yield for Ore.

Wind Shield is one of your strongest counters against melee attackers. The best thing about it? It knocks away all enemies close to you, even if only one of them is attacking you. Wind Shield also triggers if you are hit by a ranged attack.

You can use Wind Shield before you jump on your mount. The knockback effect will stay, making escaping from your enemies easier.

Boots: Miner Workboots

FleeIncreases your movement speed by 120%, and your max load by 200%, for a short amount of time. After activation, you can’t cast spells or attack for 12 seconds.

Passive: Mining Skills

Increases your gathering yield for Ore.

Flee is an important skill and your life saver if you are caught off-guard. The huge boost to your weight capacity allows you to outrun your opponent, even while being overloaded. Keep in mind, that you cannot use any skills for 12 seconds after using Flee, always use your dashes before you use it, their cooldowns will recover in the meantime.

Cape: Miner Backpack

Reduces the weight of Ore by 50%.

As you want to be able to gather as many resources as possible without overloading yourself, the gatherer backpacks are a must-have. It will save you the risk of going out twice for the same amount of resources!

Mount: Armored Horse

Armored Horses are ideal for travel throughout the more dangerous parts of Albion, as they are relatively fast and safe.

The only option for a solo-gatherer in terms of mounts, is the Armored Horse. While an Ox would greatly increase your weight capacity, as a solo-gatherer it will be of little to no help to you once you are under attack. A Tier 7 Armored Horse is the optimal choice between benefit and costs, but you might want to consider using a Tier 5 Armored Horse if you are running low on silver.

Consumables: Food and Potions

Pie and Omelette

Improves your gathering yield, and your load capacity.

and

Reduces your cooldown times.

Resistance Potion

Improves your resistance, and your crowd control resistance for a short amount of time.

The Pie is a solid option for gatherers. The faster you can fill your inventory, the faster you can get your resources to a safe place. In addition, the Pie will increase the total amount or resources you can gather from rare nodes.

However, the Pie won’t help you at all in a combat situation. To increase your chances of surviving, always have an Omelette ready. If you are chased you can quickly eat it to increase your mobility by lowering your cooldowns, but keep an eye on your weight. You cannot use the Omelette if you would end up overloaded by losing the Pie’s buff.

Like the Motivating Miner’s Song, the Resistance Potion is there to help you to fight against any kind of crowd control. The value of not being caught in a place while multiple people are attacking you outweighs the missing healing.

General Tips and Tricks

Especially when solo-gathering, the most important thing is communication between you and the other solo-gatherers in the area. Tell them about hostile players, share nodes with them or shout out rare resources you cannot gather. Building yourself a good reputation and network might even prevent guilds from attacking.

Never stay in one area for too long. The longer you remain in the same area, the more likely a hostile scout might spot you.

While this might seem contra-productive, never clear all nodes completely. A trail of fully gathered nodes will allow people to track you down easily. Sometimes it is even worth skipping a whole node area to mislead possible chasers.

Always have your mouse on your mount while gathering. The one second you save to move your mouse might be what keeps you alive.

Make use of Siege Camps! Stashing your resources will allow you to use your time more efficiently and once you have an Ox worth of resources you can call for your guild to escort you back home. If you are quick enough you can also stack all your equipment in the chest, in case you are chased by a huge group of enemies and you know you won’t be able to survive. Use Shift + Left click to quickly stash your items into a chest.

Always keep in mind, as a gatherer, you’re like a delicious candy. A lot of people will be after your head and you will often find yourself in thrilling chases around the Outlands. If you die you will not only lose your gathered resources but your gear as well. Be mentally prepared for this and always try to stay calm and assess the situation. Learn from your deaths and think about what you could have done in that situation to not die. Step by step you will be able to survive more and more encounters.

What do you think about Buldozer’s build and tips? Are you a solo-gatherer yourself? Share your experiences and adventures with us on our forums!

Want your build to be featured on the Albion Online website? Contact UrzaKeFrostgard via the forums or on Discord (UrzaKeFrostgard#5431).