There's a lot to be said for faction pride in New World. When you've hit max level and made your way through the PvE content, it's representing your team that keeps you coming back. But what exactly does it mean to join a faction in New World? What do you have to gain by doing so? To answer these questions, we've gone ahead and created this guide that covers everything you need to know about the three major players in Aeternum.
We'll cover the three factions, how to join their ranks, and what content you unlock as a result of doing so. Factions play a part in all aspects of the leveling experience - from early to end game - and we'll go over how the affect each point in your New World experience.
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What Factions Are There and How Do You Join Them?
There are three factions that players can sign up for in New World, each with their unique armour, missions, and narrative backstory. They are:
- The Marauders - a might-makes-right faction that believes that this new land they've landed upon should be a free place where the strongest can strive.
- The Syndicate - looking for hidden knowledge in the new land they've arrived in. They prioritize smarts and cunning over brawn.
- The Covenant - a fanatical order who've set their mind on cleansing those they believe are heretical, they've come to Aeternum to keep it untainted.
So none of these groups are particularly "nice", instead all owning their own different brands of sketchiness. Early on in the levelling experience you are told to talk to a representative from each of these factions in the first settlement you arrive in. Once you've talked to each, you'll be able to make a choice of which club you want to join! This is an important choice, so be sure to think it through before you sign on the dotted line.
What Do Factions Have To Offer?
As soon as you join a faction, you'll be granted access to a variety of features. The most important of these being the ability to join a company. These are faction-locked groups of players where like-minded people can socialise, play together, etc. If you've played WoW or Final Fantasy 14, these are your guilds and free companies respectively. These are an excellent way to find people with the same interests as yourself, so it's absolutely worth joining one even if you aren't too invested in the wider faction.
Joining a faction also unlocks faction quests. These allow you to help out your faction in the region you're in, and are split between PvE and PvP quests. Completing these provides not only reputation for your faction, but also special currency that you can use to acquire special gear. The Marauders, Syndicate, and Covenant all have unique gear that you can't acquire anywhere else. Not only that, but this gear will be useful at all points during the levelling process - so it's worth doing even if you're not invested in the factions too much.
Late Game Faction Gameplay
All the PvP faction quests completed in a region builds towards your faction's influence there, eventually leading to a faction taking control of that part of the map. This provides a variety of benefits to members of the controlling faction in the region, and even allows a company to take control of a settlement, setting the tax rate and determining the direction the town will develop towards.
This doesn't mean that the other two factions in this region sit on their hands. Quite the opposite, PvP faction quests completed by these factions work to undermine the power of the ruling faction, eventually leading to a massive PvP battle for the area. The winner gain control, while the losers go back to grinding the faction bar again. This cycle is what powers the endgame PvP in New World, where the stakes are highest and the rewards are worth dedicating dozens of your best players to.
To conclude, factions are a pretty big deal! With the help of this guide, you should have no problem manoeuvring the politics of picking a faction, and understanding the new avenues for gameplay doing so opens up. If you want to learn more about each of the three factions, be sure to read our articles on the Marauders, Syndicate, and Covenant.