New World Factions – How to join them and what benefits they have

New World Factions are a big part of Amazon Games' MMO, but who to join and the benefits they offer isn't obvious upfront on the mystical island of Aeternum. While they all offer roughly the same things, the Factions in New World mostly serve as the gateway for PvP in the game. Factions can engage in large 50 vs 50 player War games or 20 vs 20, PvPvE Outpost Rush games to vie for control over settlements, forts, and regions of the island. Factions also place some restrictions on who you can play with, so make sure you and all your friends know how New World Factions work, including how to join them and what benefits they have.

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What are New World Factions?

There are three New World Factions to choose from, and each one has the ultimate aim of controlling Aeternum. You have to join one of the three Factions, and doing so will allow you to participate in New World’s PvP activities, whether that’s when you’re roaming around, or joining 50 vs 50 Wars for territory. You’ll also get access to Faction Missions which, along with the PvP activities, allow you to increase your Rank within your Faction and increase your Faction’s influence in a particular territory.

On the New World map, you’ll notice that different regions are colored differently, indicating which Faction is in control. Faction members inside territories controlled by their Faction gain benefits, such as combat buffs, and being able to set the taxes for their settlement. It’s in your interest to defend your Faction’s current territory and undermine the influence of the other Factions elsewhere on Aeternum. If you undermine them enough, you’ll eventually be able to make a Declaration of War and start a battle for your rival Faction’s territory. Here are the three Factions competing for your allegiance:

• The Syndicate: A secretive organization that is constantly in search of knowledge to usher in a new age of enlightenment for Aeternum. The Syndicate’s banner is purple with a large, bright eye on it.
• The Marauders: A militarized group of warriors that use their eternal lives to perfect their combat skills with the goal of conquering Aeternum. The Marauder’s banner is green with a golden skull in front of a black hammer.
• The Covenant: A zealous and righteous order that seeks to protect life on Aeternum by purging it of evil. The Covenant’s banner is dark red with a shining gauntlet on top of a gold, winged shield.

They’re all mostly the same in terms of how they operate, but their values and aesthetics are what separates them, so pick the one that appeals most to you.

How to join a New World Faction

To join a Faction in New World, you’ll need to have reached the main settlement in your region and must complete a series of introductory quests. Eventually, you’ll be tasked with meeting all the Faction representatives in the settlement.

After you’ve spoken to the three representatives, you’ll need to pick one of the Factions to join. To do this you need to head back to any of the Faction reps and say you’d like to join them. You’ll then be shown a few tutorial pages on how New World Factions will work and then will be presented with all three Factions at once. You’ll need to choose which Faction to join on this screen. Once you’ve chosen, you’ll be given an initiation quest for that Faction to seal your membership.

A few words of warning about Factions. Your choice is not final, but you can’t switch Factions very often. Once you’ve joined a Faction for the first time, you can immediately change to a different one through your character’s Bio screen. You’ll have to wait 120 days to change your Faction after you’ve changed it the first time, so it’s a very long wait. Furthermore, you’ll only be able to join New World Companies with players that are of the same Faction. Similarly, if you’re Flagged for PvP, you can only play with players from the same Faction. While you can do most PvE activities with any players, you should make sure that you and your friends all choose the same Faction so that you can play together at all times.

Benefits of New World Factions

Being a member of a Faction comes with a host of benefits for you. All the Factions have been created equally, so all players get the same benefits from their Faction. One of the first main benefits to being in a Faction is access to Companies. These are New World’s answer to clans or guilds. Large groups of players from the same Faction can join a Company to stay organised and work together. Players inside Companies can donate money into a Company Treasury, and Companies are needed for declaring Wars.

One of the other major Faction benefits is that you’ll be able to participate in New World’s PvP. As a Faction member you can Flag yourself for PvP in any settlement, which means players from other Factions will be able fight you for Faction influence. You can Flag yourself to patrol and defend a region or invade enemy territory to undermine their influence.

In terms of the more player-centric aspects of Faction membership, players will be able to complete Faction missions and access the Faction shop. These missions will contribute to the influence of your Faction, but you’ll also benefit personally through earning Faction Tokens and increasing your Rank. This will allow you to buy better gear in your Faction’s shop with your Faction Tokens and other currencies. It’s worth noting that all Faction shops are the same in terms of quality. The appearance of each Faction’s gear is the only thing that changes. As a member of a dominant Faction in home territory, you’ll also benefit from cheaper fast travel, lower Workshop costs, and can upgrade your settlements through quests.