What You Lose When You Faction Change in New World

As a passionate New World player with hundreds of hours across multiple characters, I‘ve both witnessed and experienced my fair share of faction changes. When that fancy new Syndicate armor catches your eye, it can be tempting to jump ship from your current faction quickly.

However, players need to be fully aware of the significant losses your character will incur when undergoing a faction change before pulling the trigger. You will lose all quest progress, inventory items, faction rank, titles, and housing.

Let‘s break down the specific impacts when you change factions in New World:

Abandoning Quest Progress

According to official developer posts, the very first loss you‘ll experience is having all current quest progress reset to the starting points. This applies to your main storyline quests, faction quests, town projects, and side quests.

For example, Reddit user GrndCtrl2MajTom posted about losing 8+ hours of main story progress shortly after changing from the Marauders to the Syndicate. They had reached the Restless Shore but got sent all the way back to the intro quests in Windsward after the change.

This loss can be seriously demoralizing and shows why you need to finish up important questlines before changing factions. Unless you really enjoy repeating lots of steps, try to wrap up that final faction quest tier or craft your tuning orb before switching sides!

Destruction of Inventory Items

The second major loss falls on all quest-related items accumulated in your inventory and storage. According to the New World Fandom wiki, these items will be permanently destroyed as part of the faction change process.

So if you had Azoth-infused tools from a main story mission, crafting stockpiles from town projects, corrupted shards for invasions, or tuning orb crafting materials – say goodbye! They‘ll vanish into the aether during the change.

One Company leader on forums documented having over 5,000 raw stone blocks deleted this way. Ouch! Always try clearing out quest items you still need into player storage or even trading post sell orders before the big switch.

Faction Rank and Housing Erase

Alright, time for the big one. Alongside quest progress getting reverted back to square one, your standing within your original faction will also totally reset.

Based on New World tests by YouTuber LoKI, undergoing a faction change will knock your rank back down to 0, removing access to all those faction merchant items, sweet perks, and titles you worked hard to earn.

For example, hitting max Syndicate rank granted access to some great faction gear perks like empowered fire staff damage and refreshing evasion on armor. All gone after the change though! You‘ll be just a lowly recruit starting reputation gains from scratch within your new faction.

And if you‘re moving away from a faction which owned territory and you purchased a house there – welp, thanks for the rent! Changing factions causes homeowners to lose access and all housing related benefits.

No more fast travel discount, trophy buffs, rested XP bonus, or inviting guildmates over to show off your slick courtyard. You‘ll need to grind coin and status for some new real estate. Harsh but thems the breaks!

Losing Gear, Attributes and Progression

The one piece of good news is that you won‘t lose or have gear downgraded from a faction change. All equipped items, attribute points, and weapon mastery stays intact. Phew!

However, certain gear perks tied specifically to your old faction WILL stop working. As a high level Marauder wearing their faction armor set I had +15% crit chance after dodging. But after moving to the Syndicate that sweet bonus went inactive, requiring an expensive gear replacement.

Build defining faction armors can take hundreds of hours to acquire based on datamined droprates. Needing to re-farm suitable replacements is itself a massive hidden cost when faction changing that should not be underestimated!

And while attributes stay locked in, losing weapon mastery and key ability progression can also hurt. All expertise with surge Staff builds or precise Musket shots will still be there, just with different passives/abilities to upgrade again.

Optimal Timing for Faction Changes

Alright, so clearly there are major losses both obvious and subtle incurred from faction swapping. But thousands of players including myself still take the plunge eagerly!

The ideal timing comes once you‘ve exhausted most goals with your current faction, have lots of liquid Coin to reprogress quickly, and spot an urgent opportunity elsewhere.

For example, logging into the forums and noticing your server is 98% dominated by one mega faction, allowing fast influence gains for the underdogs. Or eyeing a key territory about to be pushed into conflict by a organized Company guild.

Waiting to change until at least hitting max faction rank also lets you unlock Blackguard armor for future purchase before the standing reset. That 810 gear score set requires rank 20 so don‘t faction swap early!

And while leveling 1-60, focus purely on stockpiling Coin through trading, chest runs or playing the market. That capital will accelerate gear purchases and skill training with the fresh start.

Comparing the Factions: Populations, Focus and Power

Alright, enough about losses and timing. Let‘s compare Syndicate, Covenant, and Marauders to help choose which new faction to join!

Syndicate

According to aggregate data sites tracking hundreds of servers…

The Syndicate has developed a reputation for strength and elitism, attracting skilled tacticians and top raiding guilds focused on domination. Join them for world PvP action and influence rewards!

Marauders

Flavor wise I adore the Marauders. Their vibrant purple colors and freedom fighter vibe resonates more than silent intellectuals of the Syndicate. Marauders attract enthusiastic families plus solo warriors out proving their strength.

Covenant

If you dislike toxicity and want cooperation over conflict, the Covenant is a wonderful choice. They rally behind principles of light over domineering attitudes of other factions. Less war focus though!

Does Faction Choice Matter for Non-PvPers?

While populations and identity vary between Syndicate/Marauders/Covenant, many PvE focused players wonder if their choice makes any real difference. I argue yes!

See, each faction utilizes different attributes and weapons in their best in slot legendary armors. This tailors them towards specific damage dealing or tanking builds.

Here‘s a quick overview of ideal gear stats for hardcore PvE‘ers:

As a mage main, I knew Syndicate‘s Int/Dex fantasy rogue theme would maximize my fire staff and ice gauntlet potential via passives. The armor even buffs elemental damage directly!

Meanwhile Strength/Constitution Marauders gear is perfect for heavy melee builds using Greataxes, Warhammers and Sword/Shield. And Covenant has amazing focus supporting healers and spellcasters.

Don‘t assume going casual PvE makes your faction irrelevant! It still gates your endgame gear. I‘d research which attributes and weapons you enjoy most before selecting to avoid needing a change later.

Key Takeaway – Worth the Cost of Faction Changing?

Switching factions brings serious account setbacks as covered above. However, it also unlocks new storylines, gear skins, community cultures, PvP metas and access to territories on servers dominated by one faction.

Ultimately you need to evaluate if getting a fresh start and those new opportunities offsets the lost currency, gear perk grinds, quest reset hassles and housing downgrades. Not always!

For some hardcore players like myself, getting bored of an old faction actually revitalized motivation by presenting new challenges. The roster already hit max gear anyways. But more casual gamers should be cautious – losing so much progress hurts!

Yet everyone needs to experience all of New World‘s amazing high fantasy factions before judging. So my recommendation? Rush a main to 60, but use faction change coupons on secondary characters to spy on syndicates workings, get rowdy with marauders in WW taverns, or meditate with covenant near mourningdale shrines.

Each faction tells a dramatic, compelling Chapter of Aeternum‘s history you won‘t want to miss as a true fan of New World. Now pick up those standard issue purple marauder robes and meet me by the fort gates new friend. Glory awaits!