PATCH: January 21 – Factions Update

The political and ideological winds of change sweep through Avadon, stirring the kingdoms of the land. The decades of uneasy peace between the great powers erode as each vies to grow from their shattered pasts – for what does not grow will surely die.

The alarming news from Andaria that the true heir to the throne returns spurs Cambria and Prevalia to action. Cambria assembles the greatest mercenary host the golden kingdom has ever seen; flush with new-found riches, the once-dormant southlands now seeks to expand. The newly chosen Chancellor Xibald in Prevalia sees this growing threat both to the north and the south and knows that this opportunity comes but once in a life time – an opportunity to herald a new age for Prevalia. But it shall not be easy, for the stirrings of unrest and rebellion foment to the west in the small town of Terran, threatening to subvert the plans of the three kingdoms.

The blaring of war horns sound in the distance. The clanging of steel armor and swords is just over the hill. The red lines are drawn in the sand. The time of war is upon Avadon once more.

Factions
Factions on Outlands is a persistent PvP system of conflict between four separate factions:

• The Andarian Legion
• The Golden Banner of Cambria
• The Prevalian Order
• The Terran Rebellion

Global War

• The existing Global War system for Guilds has been removed (players will be encouraged to participate in Factions instead)

Factions Menu

• Players must be in a Guild to participate in Factions
• Players can access the Factions Menu of the Guild Menu by clicking on the Factions Tab
• Players can type [Faction to immediately jump to the Factions Menu of the Guild Menu

Note: During the first 30 Days the Factions system has gone live, players may Join/Leave Guilds at most once every 5 minutes, rather than the standard delay of once per hour (this is to give players more flexibility during the factions launch window to reorganize themselves into potential Faction-specific guilds)

Joining a Faction

• Each individual Guild decides optionally whether they will be aligned with one of four different Factions
• Any Officer or Guildmaster of a guild can change the Faction of their guild on the page 3 of the Factions Menu by clicking the Join button next to the desired Faction
• Guilds can only Join or Leave any Faction at most once every 7 days
• Note: During the first 30 Days the Factions system has gone live, Guilds may instead change Factions at most once every 24 Hours (this is to give guilds a chance to learn the system and “try out” different relationships with other guilds/factions)

• If a guild is aligned with a Faction, all members of the guild will see any text associated with their Faction displayed in Green text, and other Factions displayed in Orange text
• Guilds can leave a Faction by clicking the Leave button next to their Faction on page 3 of the Factions Menu

Allied Guilds

• Players cannot join a Faction if any of their Allied Guilds are currently aligned to a different faction
• Players will be notified which Allied Guilds belong to different factions and when prevented from joining a faction

Last Week Tally

• At the end of each week, a “Last Week Tally” will be calculated for each Faction based on how well it performed during the week in regards to Waypost and Flag Control, and each Faction will be ranked from 1st through 4th place based on that rating
• Guilds will not be allowed to join the Faction that has the 1st place ranking for “Last Week Tally” (i.e. which Faction was the strongest during the previous week)

Participate in Factions

• If a Guild has aligned themselves with a Faction, each individual player in that guild who wants to participate in Faction activity MUST have “Participate in Factions” enabled on the page 1 of the Faction Menu
• Players can only change their “Participate in Factions” setting at most once every 24 hours
• Note: During the first 30 Days the Factions system has gone live, Players may instead change their “Participate in Factions” setting at most once every 2 Hours (this is to give players a chance to learn the system and “try out” different faction mechanics)

Players cannot change this setting:

• While Flagged in PvP
• While inside a Faction Castle
• While within 50 tiles of a Faction Flag
• While within 50 tiles of a Faction Waypost

Players who are in a guild that has a Faction alignment, but they have Participate in Factions setting disabled, will:

• Not display as Orange to other factions
• Not be able to enter Faction Castles
• Not be able engage in any Faction Activity
• Will not display a Faction Tag for their overhead name

Faction Restrictions

• Players are restricted in they can only have “Participate in Factions” enabled for a single Faction across their IP/All Accounts
• If a player ever attempts to enable “Participate in Factions” where it would result in them having characters in two different Factions on their IP/Accounts, it will prevent the player from doing so
• If a Guild changes their Faction, it will audit all players in the guild and any player who now is in two different Factions on their IP/Accounts will have the “Participate in Factions” setting disabled for all their characters (forcing them to pick a new, single faction)
• If a player is offline when they have their “Participate in Factions” setting disabled by this mechanic, they will receive an overhead message informing them of this the next time they log in

Faction Flagging

Criminals and Murderers

• Faction Players who are Murderers will always flag as RED to other Faction players
• Faction Players who are currently Criminal flagged will always flag as GREY to other Faction players
• Murderer and Criminal Flagging will always take priority over any Faction Flagging, as players must always be aware that performing Beneficial Actions (such as Healing/Curing) on these players will be result in them commiting Criminal Action

Ships

• Players on board Ships are NOT considered Faction Participants
• Players on board Ships will NOT adopt any Faction Flagging nor will they count towards Faction Kills

PvP Events and Special Events

• Players who are participating in PvP events (such as Town Struggles, Corpse Creek Contests, Dungeon Flashpoints, or Stygian Rifts) or any special events (such as Strangelands, Stalag Grotto, Winterlands, etc) are NOT considered Faction Participants while they are inside the designated event zone
• Players participating in these events will NOT adopt any Faction Flagging nor will they count towards Faction Kills

Opposing Factions

• Players who are in a Faction, and have Participate in Factions enabled, will by default flag as Orange to players in opposing Factions
• Players will be able to freely attack players from opposing Factions at most locations, except for the PvP Events and Special Events described earlier

Same Faction

• Players who are in the same Faction, and have Participate in Factions enabled, will by default flag as GREEN to each other

Exceptions:

• Players who are in the same Faction, but are in different Guilds that are at WAR with each other, will flag as ORANGE to each other

Parties

• If two players are in the same Party, and the target player has “Flag Green to Party” enabled, they will display as GREEN even if they belong to opposing Factions

Harmful Actions in Factions
Players will NOT be able to do Harmful actions to other players in the same Faction, UNLESS any of the following are true:

• Both players belong to the same Guild
• Both players belong to the same Party and the target player has “Flag as Green to Party” toggled on
• The players belong to different Guilds that are currently at WAR with each other

Beneficial Actions

• If a player is NOT an active participant in Factions performs a Beneficial Action onto a Player or Follower who IS an active Participant in Factions, they will become flagged as attackable by all other Factions for 2 minutes

Fendrake is not in a Faction and heals Serathi who is in a Faction; Fendrake temporarily flags as attackable by the 3 other factions Serathi is not in

Fendrake now becomes attackable by Luthius, who belongs to a different faction than the healing target

Exceptions:

• This mechanic will not apply during PvP Events or Special Events

[PreventFactionHealing

• Players can use [PreventFactionHealing to toggle whether they are automatically blocked from performing Beneficial Actions on Faction Players while they themselves are NOT an active participant in Factions (since this action would flag them)
• By default [PreventFactionHealing is Enabled for players

Faction Commands andSettings

• The Commands and Settings menu has a number of Faction-specific toggleable options and hotkeys for players, that can be accessed by using Paperdoll -> Help -> Commands -> Faction

Area of Effect (AoE) Spells in Factions
As mentioned prior, players by default cannot harm members of their same Faction (unless they are in the same Guild, have an active Guild War between them, or are in the same Party with Flag as Green enabled)

However, to ensure that the casting of AoE spells still maintain some “risk” within Factions, the following mechanics are in place:

• Whenever a Faction Player casts an AoE Spell (such as Meteor Swarm, Chain Lightning, or Earthquake), before the spell is resolved, it will first calculate how many “Friendly Faction Players” exist within the spell’s target effect radius that the caster cannot harm
• For each Friendly Faction Player in the spell’s radius that the caster cannot harm, there will be a cumulative 20% Damage Penalty applied to the spell towards all targets hit (up to a maximum of 80% Penalty)

Note: The intention of this mechanic is to prevent players from being able to “spray” AoE spells during faction PvP with little concern of “invulnerable” nearby friendly players. This ensures that players should still be mindful of proper spacing during faction PvP when using AoE spells, and avoiding “hitting” friendly faction players in their target radius, since it will reduce the overall damage effectiveness of their spellcast

Player Faction Score

• Each player participating in Factions will have a weekly Faction Score that increases when they perform various faction-based activities
• Each player’s Faction Score resets to 0 at the start of each week during Tabula Rasa (explained later)
• Players can view details of their Faction Score (Current Week, Last Week, and Seasonal) as well as their Last Week Silver Earned on Page 1 of the Faction Menu

Faction Castles

• Each faction has an associated Faction Castle located in their respective town

• Players must be a Faction Participant in order to enter any Faction Castle
• Players cannot recall/gate/hike into a Faction Castle region unless they are a member of that specific Faction

Wayposts

• Wayposts are control zones that exist in the overworld that represent points of conflict between two different factions

• There are 18 total Wayposts in the game world
• Wayposts are positioned in the overworld so they form a “Chain” of 3 Wayposts on a path between every “pairing” of Factions
• For instance, there are 3 Wayposts that form a chain between Terran and Cambria, there are 3 Wayposts that form a chain between Cambria and Prevalia, and so on

• On Page 2 of the Faction Menu players can view all Wayposts and how they are organized into Chains between respective pairings of factions
• In the image below, you can see between the Prevalia Faction and Andaria Faction that there are 3 Wayposts in their Chain (6. Farmland Garrison, 5. Gate Fortress, and 4. Andarian Lumberyard)

• Players can also type [FactionMap or click the “Faction Map” button on Page 2 of the Faction Menu to display an interactive map showing all Castles, Wayposts, and the Purification Pyre (explained later)

Waypost Markers

• Each Waypost has a Waypost Marker that shows which Faction currently has Control Progress on it
• Waypost Markers have a Progress Bar overhead that shows the Control Progress % of the controlling faction
• Players can also single-click the Waypost Marker to see the specific Control Progress % of the controlling faction

Neutral

• If no faction has any Control Progress on a Waypost, it is considered to be Neutral

Partial Control

• If a faction has some Control Progress on a Waypost, they are considered to have Partial Control over it

Full Control

• If a faction has 100% Control Progress on a Waypost, they are considered to have Full Control over it
• Full Control over Wayposts is required for players to initiate Flag Steal attempts against other factions (explained later)

Waypost Region

• Each Waypost has a Region that players must enter and stay inside in order to attempt to contest it

• Players will receive a system message when they enter or leave a Waypost Region (similar to entering/leaving a Grey Zone like Corpse Creek)

Traveling to Waypost Regions

• Faction players can only travel via Recall, Gate, or Hike to a Waypost Region if it is currently Neutral or their Faction has Partial or Full Control over it
• Players not participating in a Faction can never travel to a Waypost Region

Waypost Control Ticks
Every 30 seconds, a Control Tick occurs where the system checks to see which players are Valid Contestants of the Waypost Region

Players are considered Valid Contestants of a Waypost Region if all of the following are true:

• They are Alive
• They are Inside the Region
• They are Visible (not hidden)
• They have “Participate in Factions” enabled for their Guild/Factions settings
• They have not been inside of a House or Ship within 100 tiles of the Waypost in the last 2 minutes
• Their Faction has Full Control over all prior Wayposts in that Waypost Chain (explained later)

Control Progress
If there are 1 or more Valid Contestants at a Waypost and they all belong to a single Faction, one of the following will occur:

• If an opposing faction has any control over the Waypost, they will lose 10% Control Progress on it (and becomes Neutral if reduced to 0%)
• If the Waypost is currently Neutral, it will flip to the new Faction and they will start with 10% Control Progress on it
• If the faction already has Partial Control of the Waypost, they will gain a further 10% Control Progress on it

• Players will receive a system message on the Control Tick informing them of the new control % of the Waypost or any status changes
• Additionally players will see how much Potential Faction Score they will earn if the Waypost comes under Full Control of their faction (explained later)

Potential Faction Score

• When a faction increases their Control Progress over a Waypost, each Valid Contestant from that faction increases the amount of Potential Faction Score they can possibly earn from the Waypost
• Players increase their Potential Faction Score on a 1% to 1 ratio (i.e. 10% Control Progress results in +10 Potential Faction Score)
• Whenever a Waypost becomes Neutral, however, all Potential Faction Score for players on it is cleared

Waypost Full Control

• When a faction reaches 100% Control Progress over a Waypost, the faction is said to now have Full Control over it
• All players who contested the Waypost within the last 10 minutes will receive Faction Score equal to their Potential Faction Score value for the Waypost

A Waypost comes under Full Control of a faction and a player’s Potential Faction Score is distributed to the player

• The Waypost will become temporarily “Locked” and factions cannot contest the Waypost for the next 2 minutes
• A sparkle animation will display on the Waypost Marker indicating that it is locked
• Players can single-click the Waypost to see how much time remains before it becomes unlocked and contestable again

Waypost Chain Control Order

• As mentioned previously, Waypost Chains are a collection of 3 Wayposts that exist in a route between one Faction and an opposing Faction
• For every Waypost Chain, each Faction has a specific Control Order they must follow to be able to contest and control Wayposts along that Chain
• Factions must have Full Control of their Nearest Waypost, then Full Control of their Middle Waypost, and then Full Control their Farthest Waypost

• If a player attempts to contest a Waypost “out of order” they will receive a system message telling them they must first have Full Control of prior Wayposts

Nearest Waypost

• This is the Waypost nearest to their Faction’s Castle on the waypost chain
• A Faction can always attempt to contest their Nearest Waypost in the chain

Middle Waypost

• This is the Waypost sitting in the middle of the chain
• A Faction must have Full Control over their Nearest Waypost before they can contest the Middle Waypost in the chain

Farthest Waypost

• This is the Waypost that is Farthest from their Faction Castle (and is closest to the opposing Faction’s Castle)
• A Faction must have Full Control over both their Nearest Waypost AND their Middle Waypost before they can contest the Farthest Waypost in the chain

Terran Example
For Terran’s waypost chain with Andaria, their control order of Wayposts is: Waypost 3 -> Waypost 2 -> Waypost 1

• Waypost 3 is their Nearest Waypost, and they can always contest it
• Once Terran has Full Control over Waypost 3 (Nearest), they can attempt to contest Waypost 2 (Middle)
• Once Terran has Full Control over both Waypost 3 (Nearest) and Waypost 2 (middle), they can then begin attempt to contest Waypost 1 (Farthest)

Waypost Summaries
Players have multiple places where they can see a summary of the status of each Waypost

• On Page 2 of the Faction Menu players can see a list of every Waypost, with a Progress Bar indicating the Controlling Faction’s Control % (hue of the Progress Bar reflects the Faction)
• Wayposts that are part of Waypost Chains belonging to the player’s faction will always be displayed on the top half of the page (above the horizontal bar)

• Players have access to a Faction Hotbar for a compact summary of Faction Activity
• The Faction Hotbar only shows Wayposts that are part of Waypost Chains belonging to the player’s faction
• Players can launch the Faction Hotbar by typing [FactionHotbar or by clicking the “Launch Hotbar” button on Page 1 of the Faction Menu

• Page 1 of the Faction Menu also shows a compact summary of Wayposts
• Under each faction is a set of 3 Tokens, each representing an opposing faction
• The number below each Token represents how many Wayposts that faction has Full Control over against that opposing faction
• A Crown Icon is displayed when the faction has all 3 Wayposts in that Waypost Chain under Full Control (meaning they Qualify to Steal that faction’s Flag)

The Andaria faction currently has Full Control over 3 Wayposts in their Waypost Chain against the Prevalia faction

Orb Buttons
When players click the Orb icon next to any Waypost in either the Faction Menu or in the Faction Hotbar it will do the following:

• Display an Overworld Map of the Waypost’s location
• List the X/Y/Z Coordinates to the Waypost location
• Start a Tracking Arrow that will point toward the Waypost location

• Clicking the Orb button on the Faction Map next to a location will start a Tracking Arrow to that location

Faction Flags

• Each Faction has a Faction Flag that begins in the Flag Room of their respective Faction Castle
• Factions have the potential to Steal other Faction Flags and Secure them in their own Castle’s Flag Room
• It is possible, although extremely difficult, for one Faction to potentially Steal and Secure up to all four Faction Flags in their Castle Flag Room

Flag Status

• On Page 1 of the Faction Menu, players can see which Faction Flags are currently Secure in each Faction Castle under the “Flags in Castle” section

Each faction currently has their own Faction Flag secure in their own Castle Flag Room

• Players can also see the status of each Faction Flag in the top section of the Faction Hotbar

Qualifying For Stealing Faction Flags

• In order for a faction to Qualify as being able to Steal a Faction Flag that is Secure at a Faction Castle, they must have Full Control over all 3 Wayposts in their Waypost Chain with the Flag’s Faction
• If a Faction’s Flag is currently Secure in an opponent’s Faction Castle (i.e. the Flag is not in their original faction’s castle), the Stealing faction must ALSO have Full Control over all 3 Wayposts in their Waypost Chain with the Castle’s Faction (for a total of 6 Wayposts needing Full Control)

Note: This mechanic intentionally makes it difficult for a single faction to Secure multiple Flags, as they will often need to simultaneously have 6 Wayposts under Full Control (3 Wayposts against the Flag’s faction and 3 Wayposts against the Castle’s faction)

Example 1 (Flag is in its Own Castle)
The Terran Flag is currently Secure inside of the Terran Castle

Any faction that wishes to steal the Terran flag in this scenario simply needs to have Full Control over their entire Waypost Chain with the Terran faction (3 Wayposts)

The Prevalia Faction has 3 Wayposts under Full Control against the Terran faction, and can attempt to Steal their Faction Flag from their Castle

Example 2 (Flag is in Opposing Castle)
The Prevalia Flag is currently Secure inside of the Terran Castle

Any faction that wishes to steal this flag MUST have Full Control over their their Waypost Chain with BOTH the Prevalia Faction as well as the Terran Faction (for a total of 6 Wayposts needed)

A Prevalia Flag that is currently Secure inside of the Terran Castle Flag Room

Andaria will need Full Control over their Waypost Chains with Terran AND Prevalia to steal the flag in this scenario

Faction Doors

• As mentioned prior, players are not allowed to Recall/Gate/Hike into Castles belonging to other factions
• Each Castle has a number of destructable Faction Doors that impede direct foot travel into the Flag Room of the Castle
• Players are not required to destroy all Faction Doors of a Castle to initiate Flag Steals, however they will likely need to destroy several of them in order to have a valid movement path to reach the Flag Room

• Players from opposing factions can double-click a Faction Door to attack it (and will repeatedly attack it so long as they stay stationary)
• If enough damage is done to the door, it will be destroyed
• Destroyed Faction Doors will respawn in 30 minutes
• If a damaged Faction Door has not been damaged in the last 30 minutes, it will automatically become fully repaired

A Faction Door is destroyed

• Players belonging to the faction can double-click a Faction Door to teleport to the opposite side of it (with a 5 second cooldown between uses)

Initiating a Flag Steal Attempt

• If a faction is Qualified to Steal a Flag from a Faction Castle, a player on that Faction may initiate a Steal attempt by moving within 2 tiles of the Faction Flag and double-clicking it
• The player who initiates the Flag Steal is referred to as the Stealing Player and they will remain an important role in the Steal Attempt process
• The Stealing player’s name is announced overhead and a Beam of Light graphic will appear at their location

• While a Steal Attempt is in process for a Flag, no other players, on any faction, can attempt to Steal that same Flag
• Additionally, Individual players can only attempt to steal one flag at a time (even if their faction Qualifies for stealing multiple flags within that Castle)

Flag Steal Status

• If a faction has a Stealing attempt underway against them, a Crossed Swords icon will appear next to their Faction on Page 1 of the Faction Menu indicating it is “under attack”

• The Faction Hotbar will also list the status of the Faction Flag as “Under Attack at X Castle”

Flag Steal Control Ticks and Steal Progress
Once a Flag Steal Attempt has been initiated, a Control Tick will occur every 30 seconds

On each Control Tick, if all of the following are true, Steal Progress on the Stealing Attempt will increase by 10% :

• The Stealing Player (who initiated the Steal Attempt) is Alive
• The Stealing Player is Inside the Flag Room
• The Stealing Player is Visible (not Hidden)

If any of those conditions are false, the Stealing Attempt will fail and all Steal Progress made will be lost

The boundaries of a Flag Room for a Faction Castle

Note: Once a faction has begun a Stealing Attempt on a flag, if they subsequently lose control of any of the Wayposts that were originally needed to Qualify for that Steal Attempt, it will NOT affect the Steal Attempt and will NOT prevent its completion

However, if a faction fails a Stealing Attempt, they will again have to Qualify as normal to begin a new Stealing Attempt, and therefore will again need Full Control over any necessary Wayposts to proceed

• On each Control Tick, a Beam of Light graphic will appear over the Stealing Player

• Players can single-click the Faction Flag to see the name of the flag’s Stealing Player as well as the specific Steal Progress % of the Steal Attempt

Potential Faction Score

• When a Control Tick occurs during a Flag Steal Attempt, all players of that Stealing Faction that are Alive, Visible, and Inside the Flag Room will receive a system message informing them of their faction’s current Steal Progress against the flag
• Additionally, each of those players will receive an increase to their Potential Faction Score on a 1% to 3 ratio (i.e. 10% Steal Progress results in +30 Potential Faction Score)
• In order to earn this Potential Faction Score, that faction will need to Steal the flag, Purify it, and then Secure it in their own Faction Castle (explained later)

Successful Flag Steal

• Once Steal Progress on a Steal Attempt reaches 100%, the Flag Steal will be deemed successful
• The Faction Flag becomes “equipped” by the Stealing Player and they will now be referred to as a Flag Carrier

Faction Flag Carriers

• If a Faction Flag is being carried by a player, it will be displayed under the “Flags Carried” section of the Faction Menu and in the top section of the Faction Hotbar next to the respective flag

If a player clicks the Orb button next to the Flag icon for a Carried Flag on the Faction Menu or Faction Hotbar, it will:

• Display the coordinates of the Flag location
• Launch a Map of the Flag’s Location
• And start a Tracking Arrow to the Flag location

Note: Players can use this information to track down the location of a flag, including Dropped Flags (explained later)

Faction Flag Carrier Restrictions

• Players carrying a Faction Flag can ride Mounts, Teleport, and perform most movement actions as normal

However, Flag Carriers are prevented from doing any the following:

• Entering Houses
• Boarding Ships
• Recalling, Hiking, or using any form of Gate Travel/Moongate
• Entering Dungeons or other non-Overworld locations such as the Arena or Casino
• Hiding or becoming Invisible

Flag Returning

• If a Flag Carrier somehow enters a “invalid” location with a Faction Flag (such as a House, Ship, Dungeon, Interior Region), the Faction Flag will automatically be returned to the last Castle it had been Secured inside (i.e where it was stolen from)
• If a Flag is ever Returned, any Potential Faction Score recorded for players for the flag is cleared

Flag Steal Expiration

• If 30 minutes have passed since a Faction Flag was stolen from a Castle, and it has not yet been Secured into a Castle, it will be returned to the last Castle it had been Secured inside of (i.e where it was stolen from)
• If a Flag is ever Returned, any Potential Faction Score recorded for players for the flag is cleared

Flag Carrier Death

• If the Flag Carrier dies, the Faction Flag they were carrying will be Dropped at their location
• Players can single-click a Dropped flag to see how much time remains before it is returned to its last Castle (i.e. the 30 minute timer)

Picking Up a Dropped Faction Flag

• Players can pick up a Dropped Faction Flag by double-clicking it within 1 tile
• However, before a player may pick up a Dropped Faction Flag, that player’s Faction MUST have Full Control over the 3 Wayposts in their Waypost Chain with the Flag’s Faction

Example
A Cambria Faction player carrying the Terran Flag drops that flag on the ground

A Prevalia Faction player encounters this and intends to pick up the flag

In order for the Prevalia player to pick up the flag, the Prevalia Faction must have Full Control over all 3 Waypost in their Waypost Chain with the Terran Faction

Note: This mechanic makes it very important for a faction to maintain Full Control over Waypost Chains throughout the full process of a Flag Steal, so they can recover Dropped Faction Flags in the circumstance where their Flag Carrier is killed

Purifying Faction Flags

• Before a player can Secure a Faction Flag back in their own Castle, they must first Purify it
• To do this, players must bring the Faction Flag to the Purification Pyre at the center of the Daemon Keep region (which is a Grey Zone)
• Players can click the Purification Pyre orb icon on the [FactionMap to display a Tracking Arrow that will help navigate the player to the Purification Pyre’s location

Flag Purification

• In order to Purify a Faction Flag, the Flag Carrier must spend 60 seconds consecutively within 2 tiles of the Purification Pyre
• If the player becomes Hidden or moves too far away, the Purification process will reset
• Control Ticks for the purification process occur every 10 seconds, and the Flag Carrier will receive system messages informing them of their purification progress on each tick

• Once a flag has been successfully Purified, a firestorm graphic will display over the flag carrier player

• The Faction Flag will now display a prominent Flame graphic upon it, indicating to players that the flag has been Purified

• The Faction Flag Icon in both the Faction Menu and Faction Hotbar will now display a surrounding Flame graphic indicating that the Faction Flag has been successfully Purified

Securing a Faction Flag

• Once a Faction Flag has been Purified, that faction may now attempt to Secure it in the Flag Room of their Faction Castle

Flag Secure Control Ticks
If a faction is attempting to Secure a flag in the Flag Room of their Castle, a Control Tick will occur every 30 seconds

On each Control Tick, if all of the following are true, Secure Progress on the Secure Attempt will increase by 10%:

• The Flag Carrier is Alive
• The Flag Carrier is Inside the Flag Room
• The Flag Carrier is Visible (not Hidden)

If any of those conditions are false, the Secure Attempt will fail and all Secure Progress made will be lost

Note: As long as a faction is carrying a Faction Flag, they can keep attempting to Secure it in their Faction Castle, regardless whether or not they have Full Control over any Wayposts of the related Faction’s involved

If a faction fails a Secure attempt, they can immediately attempt to Secure that flag again, so long as they have a player who is carrying that Faction Flag

Potential Faction Score

• When a Control Tick occurs during a Flag Secure Attempt, all players of that Faction that are Alive, Visible, and Inside the Flag Room will increase the amount of Potential Faction Score they can possibly earn from the entire Flag Steal Process (Steal + Purify + Secure)
• Players increase their Potential Faction Score on a 1% to 3 ratio (i.e. 10% Secure Progress results in +30 Potential Faction Score)

Successful Flag Secure

• Once Secure Progress on a Secure Attempt reaches 100%, the Secure action will be deemed successful
• All Potential Faction Score banked by players in the Faction for the entire Flag Steal Process will be distributed to those players as Faction Score

• The newly Secure flag will now show up in the “Flags in Castle” section of the Faction Menu for that faction

• The newly Secure Flag will become temporarily “Locked” and factions cannot make Steal attempts on that flag for the next 10 minutes
• A sparkle animation will display on the Flag indicating that it is Locked
• Players can single-click the Flag to see how much time remains before it becomes unlocked and can make Steal attempts on it again

Faction Handicap Bonus

• As mentioned previously, at the end of every week a “Last Week Tally” is calculated for each Faction based on its performance that week, and factions are ranked from 1st Place through 4th Place (with 1st place being the “strongest” faction and 4th place being the “weakest”)
• Based on this Last Week Tally ranking, each faction is assigned a “Handicap Bonus” that will persist throughout the coming week

Handicap Bonuses are as follows:

• 1st Place Faction: 0% Handicap Bonus
• 2nd Place Faction: 10% Handicap Bonus
• 3rd Place Faction: 20% Handicap Bonus
• 4th Place Faction: 30% Handicap Bonus

• Whenever a Faction has a Control Tick for a Waypost, Purification Pyre, Steal Attempt or Secure Attempt, there is a Handicap Bonus % chance that faction will earn double progress on that action (i.e. increase progress by 20% instead of 10%)
• If a “double progress” occurs, players from that faction will receive more Potential Faction Score (if relevant to the activity)

Example
A Faction was in 4th place last week and now has a 30% Current Handicap Bonus in place

On any Control Tick occuring for Wayposts, Flag Purification, Steal Attempts, or Secure Attempts, that faction has a 30% chance that they will instead earn 20% Progress rather of the normal 10% Progress amount

Note: The intention of the Handicap Bonus for factions is to provide chances for weaker factions to potentially Control/Steal/Secure things quicker, to make up for their lack of “firepower” from its members

Heat of Battle
Faction players will receive a 2 minute Heat of Battle flag whenever any of the following occur:

• They are in a Waypost Region and considered a Valid Contestant when a Control Tick occurs
• They are Purifying a flag and a Control Tick occurs
• They are in the Flag Room while their faction is making a Steal Attempt against a flag and a Control Tick occurs
• They inflict Damage on a Faction Door
• They are in the Flag Room while their faction is making a Secure Attempt for a flag and a Control Tick occurs

Note: The Heat of Battle for Factions is designed to make players “commit” to their actions, and not simply recall away the moment they see an enemy

Heat of Battle Removal

• If a faction takes Full Control over a Waypost, all participating players of that faction within 50 tiles of the Waypost will have their Heat of Battle removed
• If a faction Secures a Flag, all participating players of that faction within 50 tiles of the Flag will have their Heat of Battle removed

Note: This mechanic allows players who successfully take over a Waypost or Secure a flag to immediately be able to recall/gate/hike to their next destination (rewarding them for successful completion of their task)

Player Kills

• When a faction player is killed, the opposing faction player who inflicted the most damage on the killed player will be credited with a Faction Kill
• Faction Kills are worth 5 Faction Score
• If a Faction Kill occurs within 50 tiles of a Waypost, within 50 tiles of a Faction Flag, within a Classic/Faction Dungeon, or within a Faction Castle, it will instead be worth 15 Faction Score
• If a faction player has been recently killed within the last 5 minutes, they are worth 0 Faction Score
• Once a player has been killed 5 times during the same day, they will be worth 0 Faction Score until the start of the next day
• Faction Kills will impose a Faction Death Penalty on the dying player (see below)

Faction Death Penalties
Players who die as the result of a Faction Kill will receive a 2 minute Faction Death Penalty in place for ALL characters on their Account and IP Address

A player who has a Faction Death Penalty in place has the following effects:

• They do not count as a valid player towards Contesting Wayposts or Stealing/Securing Flags (they will still earn credit on successful Steals/Secures based on their previous progress earned)
• They cannot initiate a Steal Attempt against a Flag or pick up a Dropped Flag
• They cannot cast any Field Spells or Area of Effect (AoE) Spells
• They will suffer a 50% Penalty to their Damage inflicted against any Player and Creature
• Their Healing amounts will be reduced by 50% (to both healing themselves or other players/creatures)

Faction Ghost Gates

• At every Waypost location, there is a Faction Ghost Gate located nearby
• Only players who are in Factions and are currently Dead can see or use Faction Ghost Gates
• Faction Ghost Gates allow the player to teleport themselves (and their nearby followers) to their own Faction’s Castle

• Using a Faction Ghost Gate will teleport the player to randomized location in their Faction Castle’s main courtyard

Faction Moongates

• Inside of the Flag Room of each Faction Castle is a Faction Moongate that can only be used by members of that Faction
• Faction Moongates allow members of that Castle’s Faction to teleport to Wayposts that are part of that Faction’s Waypost Chains
• The text hue of each Waypost entry will match the Faction Hue of the opposing faction in the relevant Waypost Chain

A player attempts to use a Faction Moongate from a different Faction’s Castle and is blocked

• Faction Moongates follow all of the normal restrictions for using Public Moongates, such as not allowing Criminals to use them, not allowing players with a Heat of Battle active, and so forth
• Using a Faction Moongate will warp the player (and their followers) to a random location near the destination, using handling similar to Public Moongates
• However, unlike Public Moongates, the player will be Revealed when they reach the destination, instead of being Hidden

A player uses a Faction Moongate and is teleported to a random location near their Waypost Destination

Tabula Rasa (Weekly Reset)
At the start of every week (Fridays at 7pm EST), a “Tabula Rasa” will take place

When a Tabula Rasa occurs:

• Each Faction Flag will be returned to their faction’s Flag Room (even if was in the process of being Stolen or Carried by a player)
• All Wayposts will set to Neutral status
• All Faction Doors that were Damaged or Destroyed will be returned to Full Repair
• Any Potential Faction Score that had been tracked for players (but not earned) will be cleared
• The current Faction Dungeon will rotate (explained later)
• Scoring and Rewards will be resolved for Faction Players

Note: The Waypost/Flag resetting feature of Tabula Rasa is intented to ensure that a single faction doesn’t permanently maintain an exceptionally strong or weak position for weeks on end, such as holding either no flags, or multiple flags: it is intended to give each faction a “clean slate” each week to start their activities

Faction Ranking

• During Tabula Rasa, each entire faction will receive a Last Week Tally based on how well that faction as a whole performed over the course of the previous week in regards to Waypost Control and Flag Captures, and will be ranked from 1st (best) through 4th (weakest)
• This ranking will be used to determine the Handicap Bonus that each faction will experience for the coming week, as well as prevent players from Joining the faction that was in 1st place for Last Week Score (i.e. the strongest faction)

Faction Silver

• During Tabula Rasa, each player will earn Faction Silver based on how well their individual Faction Score for the week compared to all other players within their own Faction, known as a Faction Score Rank %
• Example: A player who has the 10th highest Faction Score out of 100 players in their faction during a week will have a Faction Score Rank of 90% (since their score is higher than 90% of all other faction members)
• Players will receive (10000 * (Faction Score Rank / 100)) Faction Silver
• Faction Silver is bound to a player’s Account, but is shared by all characters on that account

Note: If a player has multiple characters throughout the week that participate in Factions, the system will ONLY consider their individual character with the highest Faction Score across all their Accounts/IP for determining their Faction Silver amount earned (i.e. players cannot try to flood the system with multiple characters, hoping to earn a massive amount of Faction Silver)

Example:
At the end of the week, a player who has the 25th highest Faction Score out of 100 players within their faction will have a Faction Score Rank of 75%, and will therefore receive (10000 * (75 / 100)) = 7500 Faction Silver

• Players can view their Last Week’s Faction Score and Last Week Silver Earned on Page 1 of the Faction Menu

Faction Silver Capping

• Whenever a player is set to receive Faction Silver, they are capped in that they cannot earn more Faction Silver than what their Faction Score was for that week

Example:
A player ends the week with a Faction Score of 4000 and a Faction Score Rank of 75% (i.e their Faction Score was higher than 75% of all other players in their Faction)

Normally that player would receive (10000 * (75 / 100)) = 7500 Faction Silver, however that amount is higher than what their Faction Score was for the week, so the amount received will become capped

The player instead receives their cap amount, which is 4000 Faction Silver (their Faction Score that week)

Note: This cap is intended to prevent players on sparsely populated factions from earning a large amount of Faction Silver despite low amounts of activity and a low Faction Score for the week

Battle Commendations

• For every 500 Faction Silver (rounded down) a player earns during Tabula Rasa at the end of a week, they’ll also receive 1 Battle Commendation which will be placed in their Bank Box
• Players can double-click a Battle Commendation to consume it and receive a randomized reward (Gold, Special Loot, Rare Loot, etc)

Aspect Triumphs

• Players will now have access to unlock Aspect Tier 15 for each of their Aspects
• However, in addition to the normal Aspect Cores and Aspect Distillations needed to upgrade to Tier 15, players will also need 1 Aspect Triumph to be consumed

Earning Aspect Triumphs

• For every cumulative 40,000 Faction Silver that a player earns, they will receive 1 Aspect Triumph in their Bank Box
• Players will see a “Progress Meter” on Page 4 of Faction Menu showing their current progress towards earning Aspect Triumphs
• Players are allowed to earn multiple Aspect Triumphs over time, with each new one requiring 40,000 Faction Silver to be earned

Faction Dungeons (i.e Classic Dungeons)

• Every week 1 Classic OSI era dungeon is available only to Faction players, which is referred to as a Faction Dungeon
• When Tabula Rasa occurs at the start of each week, the current Faction Dungeon is deactivated (ejecting players currently inside to their last Moongate Town Destination) and a new Faction Dungeon becomes active for the week
• The current Faction Dungeons in the rotation are Covetous, Deceit, Destard, and Shame (others may be added later)
• Creature Spawns in Faction Dungeons are thematically similar to those found in Classic OSI dungeons, but have been balanced to have a better difficulty progression as players go deeper into the dungeons (i.e. no Giant Rats or Headless on level 2 or 3, unlike OSI)

• Players can see which Faction Dungeon is currently active on Page 2 of the Faction Page

Travel Restrictions

• Players must be in a Guild that is aligned to a Faction, and must have “Participate in Factions” enabled, in order to access Faction Dungeons
• Players cannot cast Gate Travel or use Chivalry Moongates into or out of Faction Dungeons
• Players may Hike (Camping) into and out of Faction Dungeons freely

Recall Spell

• Players may Recall into Faction Dungeons freely
• Players may Recall out of Faction Dungeons, however the casting time is increased to 4 seconds

• Additionally, when inside of a Faction Dungeon, a player may only cast the Recall spell a maximum of 5 times
• The Recall spell is considered a “successful” cast when the player receives a Targeting Cursor for the spell
• If a player does not reach the point where they receive a targeting cursor for the spell (due to either cancelling the spell or being interrupted) it will not count against their limit

• Once a player has made 5 “successful” casts, any further casting attempts will be prevented, and the player informed they must exit the Faction Dungeon through its entrance (or as a Ghost through a Ghost Gate)

Note: This mechanic is intended to prevent players in Faction Dungeons from repeatedly casting the Recall spell over and over again and “holding” the cursor, waiting for a player to show up on their screen, and then recalling away instantly. Because the limit only counts against “successful” casts, this mechanic should not impact any players who are legitimately attempting to leave the Faction dungeon

Faction Moongates

• The currently active Faction Dungeon will also appear as a destination at the top of the Faction Moongate menu that can be accessed at each Faction Castle

• Selecting the Faction Dungeon destination from the Faction Moongate menu will warp the player and their followers to the Level 1 Entryway of that respective Faction Dungeon

Gameplay Mechanics

• Mounts are allowed inside of Faction Dungeons
• Players cannot activate Echoes while in a Faction Dungeon
• Players cannot disable “Participate in Factions” while in a Faction Dungeon
• Players cannot leave their Guild while in a Faction Dungeon

Faction Dungeon Ejection
Players inside of a Faction Dungeon will be killed and ejected from a Faction Dungeon if any of the following occurs:

• The player has their “Participate in Factions” setting forcibly disabled (due to being in multiple guilds in different factions simultaneously)
• The player is removed from their current Guild (and therefore leaves their Faction)
• The player’s Guild disbands (and therefore leaves their Faction)

Note: This mechanic is intended to prevent players from attempting to “escape” PvP by purposefully triggering one of those events (and also to prevent them from warping out freely with their earned loot)

Tracking

• Players cannot Track other players inside of a Faction Dungeon
• If a player enters a Faction Dungeon while having Hunting Mode enabled for Players, it will automatically be disabled (and the player notified)
• Players will automatically receive their Tracking bonuses to Damage and Barding Skill while inside a Faction Dungeon

Creature Spawns and Loot

• Creatures in Faction Dungeons will inflict 25% Less Damage than normal (will not affect DifficultyValue or loot scaling)
• Creatures in Faction Dungeons will have 25% Less Hit Points than normal (will affect DifficultyValue and loot scaling)
• Creatures in Faction Dungeons will also have an additional 25% penalty to their Gold Loot amounts and chances at Special/Rare Loot are reduced by 25% of normal
• War Aspect Cores and War Aspect Distillation will drop as uncommon Loot in Faction Dungeons
• Players can gain War Aspect Experience from killing creatures inside of Faction Dungeons while wearing War Aspect Gear, and will receive an additional +50% bonus to War Aspect Experience gained

Faction Spawns

• Occasionally, creature spawns within a Faction Dungeon will occur as a “Faction Spawn” and will be indicated by Orange overhead text

• Killing a Faction Spawn creature will reward players with Faction Score equal to 20% of the creature’s Gold Value, with amounts divided between players based on their Damage Dealt % to the creature

PvM Bonuses

• Primary PvM Bonuses (such as Skills / Equipment) and Secondary PvM Bonuses (such as Aspects / Codexes) will work in Faction Dungeons as normal (this includes all Aspects, not just War Aspect)

Ghost Gates

• Because Gate Travel and Chivalry Moongates are not allowed in Faction Dungeons, we have placed a large number of Ghost Gates throughout the dungeons that only Ghost players can use, which will allow them to teleport out of the dungeon to Towns

Dungeon Exits

• As mentioned previously, players can use Recall or Hiking to exit Faction Dungeons (but not Gate Travel/Chivalry Moongates)
• Players can elect to leave a Faction Dungeon by exiting the Level 1 Entrance location

• Leaving a Faction Dungeon through the Level 1 Entrance will warp the player and their followers to a centralized location inside of the Daemon Keep (where faction players purify faction flags)

Faction Titles

• Players will gain access to Faction Titles, which are earned on a Seasonal basis
• If a player has a Faction Title earned for this season, having “Display Faction Title” toggled will display it, and will override any Achievement Titles currently selected for the player; i.e. Faction Titles will take display priority over Achievement Titles

• Faction Titles will NOT show up in the [Titles menu, only in the Factions Menu
• Faction Titles are earned on a per-character basis (not per-account)
• The Faction Title available to a player will be determined based on a Faction Title Tier assigned to them based on their seasonal [ServerRank results for Factions

[ServerRank

• A [ServerRank category will be created for Factions that is based on how much cumulative Faction Score players earn each season
• When a season ends, each player will receive a Rank % based on their how their seasonal [ServerRank total for Factions compares to all other players
• Example: A player who has the 50th highest [ServerRank out of 500 total faction players during a season will have Rank 90% (since their total is better than 90% of other faction players)

Faction Title Tiers

• Based on a player’s Rank %, they will be assigned a Faction Title Tier for the new season, that will determine what title is displayed for them
• Faction Title Tiers will stay with a player throughout that season, even if they change Factions

Faction Title Tiers for players calculated as follows:

• Rank 0-25%: Faction Title Tier 1
• Rank 25-50%: Faction Title Tier 2
• Rank 50-75%: Faction Title Tier 3
• Rank 75-95%: Faction Title Tier 4
• Rank 95-99%: Faction Title Tier 5
• Rank 99%-100%: Faction Title Tier 6

Faction-Specific Titles

• The Faction Title that is displayed for a player is based on a combination of their Current Faction and their Faction Title Tier they earned for that season

Example
If a player is currently in the Andaria faction, and earned Faction Title Tier 4, they will display the Andaria Tier 4 Title

If same player’s guild decides to switch to the Prevalia faction, they will now display the Prevalia Tier 4 Title

Faction Hues

• Each Faction has a unique Faction Hue that only participating members of that Faction may equip items using that Hue

Faction Dye Tubs

• Players can craft Faction Dye Tubs using the Tailoring Skill under the “Faction Dye Tubs” category

• Any item that can normally be Dyed by a standard Dye Tub can be Dyed with a Faction Dye Tub
• However, any equippable item dyed with a Faction Hue can only be equipped by a player if they are a participating member of that Faction

A member of the Prevalia Faction wearing clothing dyed in their Faction Hue

Faction Reward Items

• Players can purchase Faction Reward Items by spending Faction Silver on their Account on Page 4 of the Faction Menu
• Items purchased will be placed directly into their Bank Box
• Players should click the “Info” button next to each Reward Item to read descriptions of the item and potential important information regarding its use
• Unless noted otherwise, ALL players can wear or equip Faction Reward Items once purchased (unless the item current has a Faction Hue, which would require the player to belong to that faction to equip it)

Mount Gear System

• Mount Gear is one of the unique Faction Reward Items available for players to purchase with Faction Silver
• The Mount Gear System allows players to customize their Mounts with decorative elements such as Head Barding, Neck Barding, Body Barding, Caparisons, Saddle Pads, and Saddles
• Mount Gear is currently only compatable with Horse-type mounts, but will be likely expanded to work with types such as Llamas, Ostards, and others
• Mount Gear will work with both Tamed/Bonded Mounts as well as those summoned by Mount Tokens
• Mount Gear provides no combat benefit to the player, and they are purely for cosmetic purposes

Mount Tack

• In order to utilize Mount Gear, players must first acquire a Mount Tack, which can be purchased with Faction Silver from the Factions Reward Menu
• Mount Tacks are Blessed items that players will install Mount Gear into and use to manage the appearance of their mounts

• Players can launch the Mount Tack Menu by double-clicking a Mount Tack in their Backpack
• Each Mount Tack has slots available for 6 different types of Mount Gear to be installed, including Head Barding, Neck Barding, Body Barding, Caparison, Saddle Pad, and a Saddle
• By default a Mount Tack comes “empty” and players must purchase and install individual Mount Gear items into it

Installing Mount Gear

• Players can purchase Mount Gear items (such as Head Barding, Neck Barding, etc) from the Factions Reward Menu by spending Faction Silver

• To install a Mount Gear item, players must double-click it in their Backpack and then target a Mount Tack that is also in their Backpack

• The newly installed Mount Gear will now show in the Mount Tack menu for that slot and no longer show as Missing
• Once a Mount Gear item has been installed into a Mount Tack it will remain there permanently, even if any mount the player is riding dies or is unsummoned (i.e. players can never lose installed Mount Gear)
• Players can click the Remove button to remove the Mount Gear item from the Mount Tack and return it to their Backpack

Displaying Mount Gear

• When a player has a Mount Tack in their backpack and rides a mount, all currently installed Mount Gear that is marked as “Show” will automatically appear in game on that mount
• Players do not need to have the Mount Tack Menu open when they start to ride their mount: they simply need to have the Mount Tack in their backpack

Dismounting

• Anytime a player dismounts a mount that was displaying Mount Gear, the visual representations of that gear on the mount will vanish
• As previously mentioned, installed Mount Gear will permanently remain installed in a player’s Mount Tack even if their mount dies or is unsummoned (players can never lose installed Mount Gear)

Mount Gear Hues

• With the exception of Saddles, each Mount Gear slot has its own individual collection of Hues that can be Unlocked and selected from for that gear
• All Mount Gear slots begin with Hue 0 unlocked as well the Faction Hue for each Faction (Andaria, Cambria, Prevalia, and Terran)
• Players can select which Hue to display for a Mount Gear slot by using the Left/Right arrows

• When a player rides their mount, any selected Hues will automatically be applied to that Mount Gear
• If a player attempts to ride a Mount with any Faction Hues selected, and they are not a participating member of that Faction, the Mount Gear will instead adopt Hue 0

Mount Gear Dyes

• Players will be able to use Mount Gear Dyes to permanently add that dye’s hue to the Unlocked Hues Collection for a individual Mount Gear slot in a Mount Tack

• To unlock a hue for a Mount Gear slot, players must click the “Add” button next to it and then target a Mount Gear Dye in their backpack
• Targeting the Mount Gear Dye will consume it, and permanently add the Hue to the Unlocked Hues collection list for that specific Mount Gear slot
• Players can unlock and add Hues to Mount Gear Slots even if they have not yet installed that slot’s required Mount Gear item
• Note: Once a hue has been added to an Unlocked Hues collection for a Mount Gear slot, players cannot remove the hue from the collection

• As mentioned previously, each Mount Gear slot has its own individual collection of unlocked hues, so players wishing for a “full set” of a specific hue will need to add that Mount Gear Dye to each of the 5 dyeable Mount Gear Slots available

Loadouts

• At the bottom of the Mount Tack Menu, players can manage “Loadouts” which are saved settings for their Mount Gear
• Players can have up to 25 different Loadouts, and they can create a new one by clicking the “New Loadout” button
• Whenever a player begins to ride a valid mount with a Mount Tack in their backpack, the mount will customize itself based on the player’s current Loadout

• Players can click the Left/Right buttons next to “Loadout” to navigate between their current Loadouts
• Players can click the “Delete” button to delete the currently displayed Loadout on the page
• If a player only has 1 Loadout currently available, clicking “Delete” will reset each Mount Gear slot to selected Hue 0 and have “Show” toggled

Acquring Mount Gear Dyes
Mount Gear Dyes will be made available in the following Hue Types:

• PvP Events (such as Town Struggles, Corpse Creek Contest, etc) [Reward Purchase]
• PvP General “Legacy Faction” Hues (Order, Chaos, Balance) [Reward Purchase]
• Strangelands (Reward Purchase)
• Societies (Reward Purchase)
• Aspect (Craftable)
• Ore Hue (Craftable)
• Dungeon (Loot Drop)
• Thieves Guild (Black Goods)
• Shimmer (Prevalia Market)

Note: Certain systems such as the Arena currently do not have Mount Gear Dyes available, due to issues Mount Gear rendering their specific hue, however we will look at addressing this in the future

Purchased Mount Gear Dyes

• Players can purchase Mount Gear Dyes from a large number of Reward Systems such as Societies
• When a Shimmer Hue is introduced to the Prevalia Market, there will often be a Mount Gear Dye made available for it (however some hues, like with Ship Paint Upgrade Deeds, will not receive a Mount Gear Dye due to hueing issues)

Craftable Mount Gear Dyes

• Players can craft Aspect Hue and Ore Hue Mount Gear Dyes via the Blacksmithing skill under the Mount Gears Dyes category
• Crafting Mount Gear Dyes will typically require an Aspect Triumph as an ingredient as well as a very large number of Core/Distillation or Ingots
• Mount Gear Dyes are crafted in bundles of 5, rather than 1 (i.e. players craft a “full set” of Mount Gear Dyes at once)

Faction Mount Tokens

• Players will be able to purchase Faction Mount Tokens similar to the Mount Tokens offered by our other reward systems (such as Arena, Societies, PvP Events, etc) in Horse, Llama, Desert Ostard, Forest Ostard, and Frenzied Ostard versions
• Faction Mount Tokens are not tied to any specific faction, and will appear unhued in a player’s backpack
• However, when a Faction-participating player uses the token to summon a Mount, the resulting summoned Mount will automatically adopt the Faction Hue of that player’s current Faction
• If a player who is not participating in Factions uses a Faction Mount Token, the summoned Mount will be of Hue 0

The Andarian Legion

Luka placed his palms down on the long stone table in the Andarian Great Hall, feeling the polished coolness through his leather gloves. This table was the one his mother and father would sit at when discussing with nobles, lords, dignitaries, and other retinues of the courts. In his early years, Luka sat here, too, and watched. It’s been nearly thirty years since he last sat at this table. He bent and looked underneath and chuckled to himself. It was still there. The name “Luka” etched into the stone, made by a dagger when he was a bored child. In the decades away from Andaria, he never felt like he was home until now

Cailith the Sagacious faithfully stewarded the kingdom of Andaria over the decades in absence of the true king. He steered the kingdom away from war at every possible turn, only risking Andarian lives when absolutely necessary. Luka looked the aged Reagent over with a critical eye. Perhaps this defensive posture has weakened Andaria in the eyes of the other kingdoms, but it allowed for the Andarian people to prosper and live comfortably. But his experience commanding the Dark Banner Company for so many years has taught him that true peace and prosperity must come at the tip of a sword, not hiding behind a shield

Of course, the faithful Steward and Reagent of Andaria was likewise critical of Luka’s return to the kingdom. After all, it was Luka who left the throne behind in order to follow in his absent father’s footsteps and wage war against the world. Luka absent-mindedly balled his fist as a wave of anger washed over him. It was not a new anger, but anger from hurts suffered long ago. Anger from the death of his mother. Anger from the abandonment of his father. But, just as quick as it came, Luka unclenched his fist and let the anger go

Luka did terrible things in the decades past, including warring against his own kingdom. A reckless youth blessed with more talent and ability than sense, spurred on by anger and hatred. It was a shame it took almost thirty years to come to his senses. Thirty years to battle his demons

Andaria needed a real leader, one who will lead from the front, one who will capitalize on the mistakes of the enemies of Andaria, one who will right the wrongs of the past. Luka was a source of many of those wrongs. He resolved to make them right and prove to the Andarian people that he was worthy to be followed

When Luka unveiled his plan to Cailith, the old Steward was uncertain. Natually, the plan was too aggressive for his demeanor but ultimately bowed graciously to the true king of Andaria. This plan would certainly herald a new golden age for the Andarian people, but it would first require sacrifice and hardships. There was also not much trust for Luka, the once absent heir and Andarian beligerant. Luka would have to prove himself. But more importantly, he would have to train them to fight. The more loyal of the Dark Banner Company lieutenants accompanied Luka to the Andarian court. He would trust them to train this new Legion to serve Andaria faithfully

This new Andarian Legion will not just protect the Andarian people, but provide the opportunity for Andaria to finally realize its former glory long-lost since the days of his mother’s death. Luka will usher in a new era of prominence for Andaria!

Andarian Legion Hue (1078)

Title Tiers

• Tier 1: Conscript
• Tier 2: Soldier
• Tier 3: Sergeant
• Tier 4: Centurion
• Tier 5: Legionnaire
• Tier 6: Grand Legionnaire

The Golden Banner of Cambria

Jacob Valere was blessed by the One the moment he step foot into Cambria. A priest of the One greeted him at the city gates with the blessing, and his fortunes have been wonderful ever since, especially after his meeting with the king of Cambria that followed. Captain Valere became a rich man. He never hurt for coin while commanding a regiment of the Dark Banner Company but upon its dissolution Jacob Valere found himself in the direct employ of king Arshiya, the ruler of Cambria. Promoted to captain and given a hefty stipend, indeed life became quite pleasant for both himself and the men he commanded

King Arshiya spared no expense. He was quite adamant that his windfall of wealth be used to expand the interests of Cambria far and wide. That suited Captain Valere just fine; he was partial to the tropical climate and had a hardened dislike for the cold north of Andaria and the pomp of Prevalia. Undreamt wealth and the opportunity to wage war – what more could the head of the now-grandest Condottiere ask for?

Well, the Queen’s favor wasn’t too much to ask for, either. Indeed, it was given freely. The humble Captain did not beg an audience with the Queen of Cambria, but she saw fit to meet with him regardless. She, too, bestowed upon him and his Condottiere the blessing of the One

The Golden Banner Company already exceeded the Dark Banner Company in terms of raw recruits. Such wealth and prestige had a way of drawing those eager to make a living through killing. Captain Valere was sure that given a little time and training they would prove themselves even more fierce and capable as well

The enemies of Cambria near and far will soon know the power of the Golden Banner Company and the might of Cambria!

Golden Banner of Cambria Hue (1088)

Title Tiers

• Tier 1: Enlistee
• Tier 2: Sellsword
• Tier 3: Mercenary
• Tier 4: Elite Mercenary
• Tier 5: Banner Captain
• Tier 6: Company Commander

The Prevalian Order

Chancellor Xibald recited the mantra quietly to himself: The Virtues are Prevalia, and Prevalia is the Virtues. He repeated this several times. Though he would never publicly decry his king, the Chancellor often thought that King Iaric IV lacked in the Virtues. The king spent too much time pining after his lost queen to be of any real use to the Prevalian people. Because of this, Prevalia became weak

But that has changed

With a masterful military command and a staunch adherence to the true Prevalian Virtues, Xibald was a natural choice for the King of Prevalia to hand day-to-day duties to. After all, he who commands the military commands the great city. But more importantly, Xibald was the one to grant a higher purpose to the mighty Prevalian army: the true Virtues of Prevalia. One can not fight for a piece of land named Prevalia. One must fight for the higher ideals that Prevalia stands for

When handed the reigns of the Prevalian military, Xibald found the soldiers to be little better than brigands or thugs, suffering from lack of discipline and low morale. With the re-taking of the farmlands to the north of the city, Xibald earned the confidence of those who served under him. With the subjugation of the vile Goth Yub’Gub of Urukton Bluffs, he earned the accolades of the city and the army was whipped into shape. He ensured that they became a professional army capable of following orders. Having restored Prevalian order to the immediate north, it was time to plan a grander strategy

The Andarians to the north have embraced a warlord for a king, and the gluttons to the south feast their greedy eyes upon Prevalia’s southern reaches. On top of that, the citizens of Terran have forsaken all Virtue and began to rebel against their rightful King in Prevalia. Indeed, craven, insidious, and unvirtuous forces have Prevalia encircled. Xibald has them right where he wants them. He can strike out in any and all directions at once

Now is the time to push Prevalia’s borders in all directions. Now is the time to spread the true Virtues. Now is the time to show all of Avadon the might of the one true Prevalian Empire!

Prevalian Order Hue (1076)

Title Tiers

• Tier 1: Squire
• Tier 2: Soldier
• Tier 3: Knight
• Tier 4: Templar
• Tier 5: Templar Captain
• Tier 6: Templar Commander

The Terran Rebellion

The new Chancellor of Prevalia did not set well with Sawyer. Indeed, he did not set well with most anyone in all of Terran. Nearly immediately upon coming into his authority, Chancellor Xibald commanded the citizens of Terran to increase production of raw timbers for the construction of a new Prevalian navy. If that wasn’t enough, he wanted every first and second-born son to be sent to Prevalia to conscript into the new Prevalian Order. This did not sit well with Sawyer and the other citizens of Terran at all

The first time the Prevalian retinue came through Terran to collect first-borns, most families begrudgingly did Prevalia’s bidding. The second time the Prevalian retinue came through Terran to collect second-borns, there was adamant refusal from all families of Terran. Including Sawyer, who already regretted sending his son John to Prevalia

Sawyer knew that there would be trouble the third time the Prevalian retinue came through Terran. He had the foresight to know that Terran must show initiative. The good folk of this humble town will not give its sons to the Prevalian war machine. Nor would it produce timber for it anymore as well. The sweat and blood of Terran folk belong to Terran folk alone

And indeed, there was trouble when that Prevalian retinue came to Terran. Sawyer led a band of poorly-equipped woodsmen, carpenters, and shipwrights in an ambush of the well-armed soldiers. With the element of surprise and luck on their side, Terran struck the first blow against Prevalia and took the first step towards freedom and independence

The people of Terran rallied around Sawyer after this encounter. He was no military man, but he had the trust of his people. And, most importantly, he knew that if Terran were to win its freedom it would need to not just defend itself but bring the fight to its would-be oppressors

The fight for a free Terran has begun!

Terran Rebellion Hue (1086)

Title Tiers

• Tier 1: Militia
• Tier 2: Scout
• Tier 3: Ranger
• Tier 4: Commando
• Tier 5: Field Captain
• Tier 6: Field Commander