One of the more common questions I get asked is “Can I join your faction”. And second to that “Should I stay in this faction”.
For new players having a group of players around you to give advice is the only likely benefit of being in a faction. With low stats and wealth the only factions you are invited to will have no bonuses, and really that’s all they are worth until War 2.0 is out.
So what are the bonuses?
- Steadfast: Each upgrade gives a 1% increase to gym gain
- Hermetic: Each upgrade decreases drug addiction gains by 5%
- Adept: Each upgrade decreases Education course times by 2.5%
- Pertinent: Each upgrade increases busting skill by 10%
- Salutary: Each upgrade decreases revive cost by 5 energy
- Gallant: Each upgrade increases nerve bar by 1 nerve
- Cumber: Each upgrade increases travel item carriage by one
- Enormity: Each upgrade increases crime skill
- Vigor: Each upgrade reduces hospital time
- Chaining: Each upgrades adds 30 seconds to your chain time
Obviously the most sought after is the Steadfast bonus – and remember until you hit 50m in a stat your steadfast bonus will really help speed up stat gains.
Then Hermetic for the Xanax abusers. This one can save you millions and billions as you go on.
After that the crime bonuses Gallant and Enormity can get you going with some OCs and increasing your nerve bar. Pertinent will be a slight benefit there, but if you are going to go on a busting spree join a Law Firm first.
Salutary is handy for getting the 1000 revives merit, but really unless that is your make-a-fortune plan it’s got no place in a warring faction.
Adept – great for new players. Get your educations done ASAP to get the gym gains, combat experience, medical boosters and then the other benefits you may want. But again no place in a warring faction.
Finally Vigor and Chaining.. the two worst upgrades possible. I won’t go in to it too much – read about chaining strategy here. But there is no reason to want slower chain cooldowns or have your members out of hospital quicker.
How do you find a faction?
The better factions are constantly trying to recruit heavy hitters and fast chainers, so if you have either of those you won’t have an issue finding a faction.
Otherwise you have to look for a faction which is made up of lower levels and you will often have to chain with a lot of your energy to “pay your way”. This is why I don’t recommend factions to newer players – your energy is worth a lot to you. You should be looking to increase your stats or wealth way before you think about warring. I would say get to 200m stat total, or 10b wealth, before starting to war.
If you find a faction which only wants you to take part in OCs and be active the likelyhood is it won’t have the best uprgades on these bonuses. Some factions may even charge you to join and use their bonuses (which is a great strategy for those using my ways to make 1b tips)
Faction Etiquette
Once in a faction there are a few generic rules you should follow:
- Don’t start fights (internal or external)
- Don’t beg (for weapon loans or money)
- Don’t fly without checking your organised crime status
- Stay active in chat and forums
- Keep people up to date if you are going away
- Remember other players are real people too