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Good? Evil? How about none? Or Both? We take a look
at faction and how they work for and against you. As a major part of the Shadowlands
Gameplay, factions can get you places but it can also stop you dead in your tracks.
We give you the lowdown on how faction works. |
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 If you didnt
already know, faction is a core part of Shadowlands. It allows you to perform
the special attacks known as Shadowbreed, it allows you to wear armor, weapons
and items and also controls quests and how various NPC's sees you - friend or
foe. To access the factions window, the quickest way is to use the command
/open faction
The three main factions and their subgroups
There are three main factions in the Shadowlands - Unredeemed, Redeemed and Guardians
of Shadow. The somewhat oddly named Guardian faction is the one Ergo is in charge
of. Ergo is the neutral supercomputer in control of the Shadowlands. If you really
want to stretch the definitions, there is a fourth faction called The Brink, however,
this faction will always be your enemy no matter what.
The three factions are divided into subgroups as such:
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| Unredeemed |
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Redeemed |
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Guardian of Shadows |
Followers of the Temple
The Assertive Operators
Unredeemed |
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The Devoted
The Benign Conservers
Redeemed |
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As you see, Guardian of Shadows is a singular faction, while Unredemed and Redeemed
both have their respective subgroups, think of them as ranks within the organizations.
For the most part you will find that factionized mobs are aligned to two of the
above, a typical example can be a mob aligned to The Devoted and The Benign Conservers.
How the factions relate to each other
As you probably guess from above, the factions Unredeemed and Redeemed are deadliest
of enemies. So are The Devoted / Followers and Operators / Conservers too. Even
the Guardian of Shadows has enemies in the deadly Brinkmobs that roam the lands,
such as hecklers and horrors.
The direct effect will be most notable if you are playing a clan or omni-tek character
as both the Unredeemed and Redeemed has chosen to ally themselves with the forces
of Rubi-Ka. If you are Omni-Tek you will find your natural alignment will be towards
the Unredeemed, and Clans will be more in tuned with the Redeemed. Neutrals will
have to tread a narrow path inbetween both factions but can also be rewarded from
them both.
How faction is attained
Faction can be attained through two ways - by either killing mobs or completing
quests. While questing will be a nice addition to your factionizing repertoire,
we can really recommend to work for your selected faction by vanquishing your
enemies!
By targeting a mob and pressing " T " to bring up the information tab
about them you will be able to see if the mob is factionized and what faction
it belongs to. Killing this mob will most likely give you a minus to the faction(s)
it belongs to and give you a points rewards for its opposing faction. For instance,
killing a Devoted Conserver mob will make the Followers and Operators a tiny bit
happier with you. However there are limits to this.
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Each mob has a set number of factionpoints. If your own faction is higher
than that number, you will not gain factionpoints from killing it, so if you are
running about with your faction of 20.000 Redeemed trying to whack some poor grey
Unredeemed Orad-Or, you wont gain much (if any).
By killing Brinkmobs you will gain faction with Guardian of Shadows. Brinkmobs
are hard to spot at first, but once you do, you'll remember them. Trust us. Brinkmobs
typically consist of two variants of mobs, called Hecklers and Horrors.
They dwell on the brink of each playfield and are much harder than regular mobs,
so be prepared for quite a fight if you are going up against these, they're no
pushovers. |
Also, its not possible to determine if a mob is indeed aligned to the brink, however,
you'll learn through trial and error which mobs have earned the hatred of Ergo.
Be advised that there are limits as to high of a faction you can obtain depending
on if you are clan, neutral or omni-tek. Whereas if you are a clansman, you will
be able to reach the best titles for the Redeemed Faction, you wont do at all
so well in the Unredeemed parts, no matter how hard you try. The same goes for
neutrals, although neutrals can reach higher up in both factions opposite.
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Unredeemed |
Redeemed |
Clan
Neutral
Omni-Tek |
Low
Medium
High |
High
Medium
Low |
Faction pro's and con's
Faction controls a number of things. Not only does it allow you to perform quests
for the faction you are aligned with but also equipping items. The requirements
on the items should be fairly simple to understand as they work as any numberical
value out there today, however, you might want to consider another effect as well
- accessibility.
By opting to align yourself to a specific side you will ensure that you get a
faction level that sooner or later will get you attacked per definition as soon
as you run into the opposing faction, namely the Wanted title. You will
find that if you reach the level of "wanted" in a faction, mobs will
be out for your blood and aggro you on sight. Don't worry, its nothing personal,
they just hate your guts is all.
Faction also controls where you can go to a large extent. An Unredeemed encampment
or Garden is probably not going to accept that you invite yourself to the party
if they hate you. Much like how we never get invited to our nextdoor 'trox neighbour
Lars barbecues - and thats even after Twicer apologizes about spraypainting Lars'
dog purple. Some people just cant leave things like that behind them.
Last updated 07. September 2003
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