The social ranking spectrum in New World is divided into factions and companies. Factions and companies are two different features, but they are both linked and significantly impact each other. Let’s take a look at both of these in detail.
Factions
What are factions and their benefits?
As mentioned before, a faction is a social system in New World, and you get to pledge allegiance to one of the three factions. The three factions in New World are called The Marauders, The Syndicate, and The Covenant. Joining these factions provide exclusive special stat bonuses, executive cosmetic items, goods, and consumables. Factions also have Faction Quests that reward you with Faction Tokens and increased faction reputation within your faction. You can use the Faction Tokens to buy materials, consumables, and other faction-specific equipment from the faction store. You can only accept up to six faction quests at once, and this can be done by interacting with your faction representative. Faction influence can also either increase or decrease if you engage in PvP faction missions. Speak to your faction representative after the completion of a quest to collect your rewards. When you are part of a faction, faction wars are a regular occurrence. Factions can go to war over a territory and settlement control where the players go at each other in a 50v50 PvP battle. The winning faction gets control of the settlement’s development and tax rates along with some buffs in the general area.
Joining a faction
To join a faction in New World, you must complete a series of main storyline quests until you’ve reached your local settlement and reached level 8. At the settlement, you will come across Urbanus Bixford, who will introduce you to the faction representatives. After talking to each faction representative, you will be able to join a faction. To join a faction, a faction representative will give a starter faction quest for you to complete before you are completely welcomed into the faction. Note that choosing a faction does not give you any added gameplay benefits over the others. Each faction has its own unique equipment, looks, lore, and missions. It is a way of having a sense of “group” in an MMO game similar to others in the market. Choosing your faction really just boils down to what faction aesthetic and lore please you the most. Are you a warrior type of player or a mage? Or perhaps you prefer a healers’ look? It is, at the end of the day, a personal preference. But we do recommend choosing a faction with the company your friends have joined or a company you wish to join in the future. This is important as companies only allow members of the same faction. You cannot have different faction members in the same company. So, choose wisely, as selecting a company is determined by your faction - More on companies below.
Can you change Factions?
Yes, you can change your faction, and you can do so by going to your Bio tab in the game’s menu. But you can only change your faction once every 120 days. That is four months in real-time. This is another reason for you to choose your faction wisely. It is undoubtedly a long-term commitment, but less formidable than being locked in a faction forever. While it may not have any added gameplay advantage over other players and other factions, it may restrict you from joining a company your friends might have joined having a different faction.
Companies
Companies are a new player-run organizational feature introduced in New World, and it is associated with each faction. As mentioned before, players cannot join companies from a faction they’re not part of. Each company can have up to 100 members.
Ranking System
Companies have a hierarchy system that includes a four-tier ranking system, each having a different set of permissions and actions. The ranks in order of descending power include Governor, Consul, Officer, and Settler. The character that starts a Company automatically becomes the Governor of the company and associated controlled territory.
Governor
The Governor is the highest rank in a company and has the authority over pretty much everything. The Governor can invite members can demote or promote members below their current rank. The Governor has complete power over the company treasury and can set a withdrawal limit to prevent other players from having an Officer rank to steal from it. The Governor can manage the army and declare war.
Consul
Whether it’s the territory upgrades or modifying the taxation values, Consuls have the power to do it all. Consuls can also make transactions to the company treasury, such as depositing and withdrawing gold, but they cannot set treasury withdrawal limits. Consuls also have the same member management permissions as the Governor, where they can invite members, demote or promote members’ rank as long as they are below their current rank. Consuls can also declare war and pretty much do everything except setting the treasury withdrawal limit.
Officer
Officers have all the member management permissions as long as the permission-receiving members are below the current rank of the officer (that would be the Settlers). As far as the communication goes, the Officers can see and speak in the company chat. They can also start and cancel territory upgrades. They can also make deposits to the company treasury just like any other ranking member. They can also withdraw gold from the treasury.
Settler
Settler is the lowest possible rank in a company and has little to no permissions. The Settlers are limited to only seeing and speaking in a company chat. Other than that, they can deposit gold into the company treasury. This is a default rank for new members of any company.
Settlements
So, what exactly is the main benefit of having a company? Having a company is helpful as a community and can help you progress in New World relatively faster. If you have a company, then you can claim settlements in unclaimed territories. You can claim settlements by opening up your map and finding an unclaimed one. You will see that the territory’s status will be marked as ‘Unclaimed.’ You need to pay around 100,000 gold coins to buy a territory, but the price varies with different territories. Once purchased, you will now own the settlement, and everyone on the map will see that your company owns that territory on the server’s world map. If the territory is claimed by another company, you will have to declare war against them, given the opposing company belongs to a different faction. Settlements are areas or towns where players can live, craft, work, trade, and select faction missions by talking to their faction representative. Settlements also act as respawn points for you. Settlements are found within territories. If you have a settlement, then the main benefit is the passive income you get from the taxpayers. As a Governor of the settlement, you have the option to set taxes. If you happen to be a Governor of a well-populated settlement, you can set the tax percentage low, attracting more players to your settlement. You must have noticed whenever you are crafting, trading, or doing any activity within a settlement, there is a tax cost for every action. That tax you pay goes to the Governor or, in other words, the company treasury. If you own a settlement, you also get other territory incentives such as fast travel discounts, your own taxes discount, the ability to buy a house, and the faction associated rewards as long as the settlement is owned by the same faction as yours. This means that faction rewards are applicable even if you’re not a Governor. If you wish to join a settlement, you must purchase a house in your settlement of choice.
Town Projects & Upgrades
If you own a settlement as a Governor, you need to also worry about the settlement upkeep fee, which must be paid every week. If you do not pay the upkeep fee, your settlement will lose its upgrades over time, resulting in players going to other settlements for their activities. Your settlement can have several upgrades, such as a blacksmith station. If you upgrade your blacksmith station to level 2 or 3, players will be able to craft better items at the blacksmith station, thus attracting more players. Upgrades can be performed by completing town projects. Town projects are large-scale activities that require the input of the members of the company and the settlers of the settlement who purchased a house in the settlement. Completing town projects not only upgrades the settlement but also rewards players with experience points and gold. You can also upgrade the defense systems of the settlement.
Territory Standings & Bonuses
Unlike your character or weapon level-up system, territory standing is a ranking system for each region. You gain territory standing points by completing quests, defeating enemies, and even doing activities such as crafting while in a region. When you complete a quest, craft, or kill enemies, you are rewarded with reputation points. These reputation points build up until you reach a certain milestone where your territory standing increases. You can view your territory standing levels by going to the territory menu on the world map. When you reach a certain territory standing threshold, you receive permanent bonuses when in that particular territory.
Territory Standing Bonuses
Leveling up your territory standing grants you several bonuses that come along with it. As you increase your standing, each level of standing offers you a set of three bonuses you can choose from.
Increased Faction Tokens
This bonus helps you gain more faction tokens for completing faction quests. You gain faction tokens considerably fast either way, but having this bonus will increase the gain rate even further.
Increased Town Storage
This is one of the most important bonuses, and you must choose this bonus whenever you get it. Every item in New World holds some weight, and carrying more will slow you down. You need a space to keep all your hard-earned loot. Armor and weapons have a lot of weight in his game, and you cannot carry all of the sets at once.
Increased Gathering Speed
This is also one of the useful bonuses, especially in the early game. This bonus helps you gather materials faster, like iron, flint, greenwood, etc.
Faster XP Gain
This bonus helps you earn more XP when in a territory. This one is not as useful as you might think. It would be best to spend maybe a point or two on this bonus as completing other quests and activities would have increased your XP considerably well for this bonus to have any significant effect.
Increased Standing Gain
This bonus helps you gain future standing rewards faster by increasing the rate at which you earn the reputation points by performing quests, killing enemies, and crafting in a territory.
Decreased Trading Taxes
If you use the trading post regularly, which we’re sure you do, then this bonus is for you. This bonus helps reduce trading tax prices by a fair percentage.
Decreased Station Fee
This bonus helps reduce the crafting fee by a fair percentage. Crafting is an important aspect of the New World, and you are always going to be crafting something, whether it’s tools or other equipment. Crafting is going to be a regular thing for all the players. It would be best to spend some points on this bonus.
House Ownership
We’ve already discussed how you can purchase a house in a settlement, but there is a pre-requisite that you must meet before buying one. This upgrade cannot be skipped as it is part of the main gameplay, but you can purchase a house once you’ve reached a territory standing rank 10. Houses are essential buildings and act as respawn points besides being a décor-fest for most of the players.
Territorial Control & Influence
Control
Each territory has a neutral fort by default and can be claimed by your company for a fee, as we’ve discussed above. The fee varies depending on the territory you’re in. Once the territory fort is claimed by a company, the whole territory comes under the company’s control and its faction.
Territory Influence
You cannot declare war against another company easily. You must “undermine” their influence or control of the territory. This can be done by increasing your own company’s influence through PvP activities within a territory you’re interested in. If the controlling faction performs PvP actions, their influence is “reinforced,” making them stronger. If the opposing factions perform PvP actions, the influence of the controlling faction decreases.
The Vanguard System
When a faction goes to war in a territory, several companies are trying to declare war against the controlling company. So, which one gets to go to war? The company contributing at least 10% of the total influence required to throw the territory into conflict is randomly chosen to become the Vanguard. In case none of the companies have contributed 10%, any one of the companies will be selected to be the Vanguard randomly.
