It's out. The newest patch for Allods Online is live, with all the goodies it entails, plus a contest. In the patch are tons of rebalances and tweaks, especially for the Psionicist class, the Scout, the Warden, and the Paladin. Mentoring is also changed for ease of use, Mercenaries have been implimented, and Draconic Aspect is also reworked to be based on bonus Strength and Intelligence. Two promotional deals have also gone up, with those who log in between the 8th and the 21st entering a lottery for Razer gear automatically, and their new partnership with Guild Launch allowing your Allods guild to get a free month of premium membership. Whew! Huge day for Allods players.

One year later, it's still here. Allods Online celebrates its first birthday on the 30th of May, and they're throwing a celebration. Tons of free content is being put up, divided above and below level 32, into packs, and sent to mailboxes all over the world. But that's not all - you can also collect Anniversary Coins from fallen bad guys and redeem them for more sweet gear. Plus, anyone who creates an account today will be given 500 Premium Crystals. Now's a good time to check into Allods!

More details are surfacing for the next content expansion for Allods Online Volume 5: Game of Gods! We now know about the Bard archetype, the PvP Battlegrounds, and the new raid; all of which will go live February 15th. The new Bard archetype is everything we come to expect from a class of this nature: a support class that helps their party by singing powerful songs to provide buffs while giving a large augmentations to stats.

Singing songs not your cup of tea? How about some PvP? (Notice that lyrical transition?) The PvP Battlegrounds is an all new PvP mode that pits 12 players against 12 players - all level 23 and above - in PvP combat that you can participate in up to 20 times a day. Finally, the new raid area being introduced for high level characters is Dead City. Complete with 13 new end-game bosses and 10 individual encounters, you will be sure to spend serious time up against these foes!

Some big updates in the pipeline for Allods Online. Set to launch in February 2012, Volume 5: Game of Gods will be hitting players with the overwhelming force of ten, nay, twenty thousand suns. Some of the key features promised in Volume 5 include brand new archetype, the Bard, a level cap increase to 51 (a bit odd), a new raid, new PvP battlegrounds, an Astral ship physics revamp and... wait for it... social network integration!

Well, everything except that last one sounds pretty sweet, but if my Facebook account starts getting spammed with Allods screenshots, well... I won't be happy.

Enjoy the trailer below!

Allods Online's Undaunted expansion is now live in both North America and Europe. In addition to streamlining the opening stages of the game, Undaunted introduces the Kingdom of Elements open-world PvP zone and the Mausoleum of Sparks instance that will award unique prizes to players who gain the highest scores and fastest completion times.

If that's not enough for you, Undaunted also allows players to customize their Astral ships and enter the Hall of Changes to update their characters' appearance, including their gender. It even features two new classes: Xadaganian Mages, known as Specialists, and Elven Psionicists, known as Oracles.

Allods Online's Undaunted expansion is scheduled to launch in both North America and Europe on October 11. In addition to streamlining the opening stages of the game, Undaunted will introduce the Kingdom of Elements open-world PvP zone and the Mausoleum of Sparks instance that will award unique prizes to players who gain the highest scores and fastest completion times.

If that's not enough for you, Undaunted will also allow players to customize their Astral ships and enter the Hall of Changes to update their characters' appearance, including their gender.

Allods Online: Renaissance is now live in Europe. This content update introduces a reincarnation feature for high-level players that allows them to re-roll and gain certain benefits. A player’s main character becomes an Ascendant, and an all new character known as an Incarnation is born. These characters can transfer abilities and share items like gold and mounts.

Other features include the Twilight Isle zone, the Cave of Tka-Rik dungeon, a new Astral layer for spacefaring players and Happy Hours and Happy Days, a new server-wide bonus system. You can watch the Renaissance trailer below.

A new tradeable Item Shop currency called Gem Shards will soon be added to the North American version of Allods Online. In a nutshell, new items called Pouches of Gem Shards will be sold in the Item Shop for real money. Once purchased, they can be sold on the Auction House or given to other characters. Gem Shards can be used to buy items in the Item Shop, which gives players an alternate way to obtain these items without using cash.

According to the announcement, this new system will be convenient and help balance the in-game economy:

"This will also help stabilize the amount of gold that certain items from the Item Shop are worth since supply and demand will have less of an impact. No longer will a player have to wait until someone auctions that Advanced Arisen Underwear they’ve been wanting, at which point they decide to purchase it at whatever price in gold is asked to avoid missing out on the item altogether. Instead, a player could buy any Pouches of Gem Shards that may be on the auction house and then use the Gem Shards to buy whatever they choose, however unusual the item may be."

Allods Online's Rise of the Gods patch is now live! This update introduces a variety of new features, including the reincarnation system, two new high level zones, the third Astral layer, new vanity items, the Summer Festival and more!

For more details on the Rise of the Gods patch, browse through the patch notes.

The folks over at gPotato have released a preview of the Reincarnation System coming to Allods Online in Patch 2.0.04. Players who reach level 46 and complete a series of trials will be able to go through a reincarnation ritual to create an alternate character of another archetype. Only one incarnation is allowed per level 46 character.

Read the full details regarding shared abilities, the Reincarnation Ritual, and how to choose your incarnation now over at the official Allods Online site!