Item Faction Overview

Item Factions are Last Epoch's answer to balancing between players who enjoy trading and those who prefer to find items independently or in smaller groups. You choose your Item Faction based on what type of playstyle you enjoy the most - The Merchant's Guild, which offers the ability to trade with other players through an auction house style interface called the Bazaar. The other is the Circle of Fortune, which boosts item acquisition through passive bonuses and a mechanic called Prophecies that allows target farming of certain types of items.

The Item Factions

Merchant's Guild

Merchant's Guild allows players to trade items with other players through an auction house style system called the Bazaar. Your Faction Rank with the Merchant's Guild determines what items you can Buy and Sell. As your Faction Rank grows, you can Buy and Sell a larger variety of item qualities, starting with Normal, Magic, and Rare, and progressing all the way to Exalted and Legendary.

Circle of Fortune

Circle of Fortune allows players to target farm items through a system called Prophecies, as well as other passive bonuses that offer more target farming, increased item quantity, and increased item rarity. The Prophecy system allows players to target different types of item rewards by completing certain objectives, such as killing Bosses or various types of enemies. Lenses are another mechanic tied to Circle of Fortune that allows you to modify which Prophecies appear, such as "15% Increased Chance per Rank to Find Large Idols."

Joining a Faction

Joining the Merchant's Guild or Circle of Fortune requires the player to reach the Upper District of Maj'Elka in Chapter 9 of the Campaign. Do this by progressing through the main story up to that point, or use a Temporal Sanctum Key and defeat Chronomancer Julra to open a shortcut straight to Chapter 9.

Here, the player interacts with Zerrick, who briefly describes both Item Factions and directs the player to their base of operations. The Merchant's Guild makes their home at the Bazaar, and the Circle of Fortune can be found at the Observatory. You can go to either of these locations and speak with the Faction Leader to join that Item Faction. Merchant's Guild players speak to Nama near the Bazaar waypoint, and Circle of Fortune players speak to Galila inside the Observatory

Faction Mechanics

Understanding the different Item Faction mechanics, such as the Item Faction Panel, Rank and Reputation, Favor, Faction Vendors, and Rank Requirements, helps you get the most out of what they have to offer.

Item Faction Panel

The Item Faction Panel allows players to view details of their chosen faction. The default hotkey to open this menu is "Y," or you can open it through the main flyout menu next to the player's Mana Globe.

This panel shows information related to the player's Item Faction, such as:

• Current Amount of Favor
• Current Faction Rank
• Your Progress Toward the Next Faction Rank
• Benefits You Currently Have

There is also a "Leave Faction" button to leave your current faction and a "Visit Observatory/Bazaar" button to fast-travel to your Item Faction's hub area.

Rank and Reputation

Your Rank with an Item Faction grows over time and determines what benefits you gain from them. You can raise your Rank by gaining experience through defeating enemies or completing quests. The second way to raise it is by participating in your Item Faction's core mechanic - for Merchant's Guild this is trading in the Bazaar, and for Circle of Fortune this involves completing Prophecies.

Your Faction Rank is never lost or spent and is shared account-wide. Characters in different game modes, such as Solo or Standard/Legacy, have separate Faction Ranks.

In both Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune, there are 12 total Ranks.

Favor

Favor is the main currency you use when interacting with Item Faction mechanics. Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune offer different ways to spend your favor:

• Merchant's Guild: Use Favor to list items for sale or to purchase items.
• Circle of Fortune: Use Favor to acquire Prophecies.
• Both Factions can spend Favor at their Faction Vendor to gain Reputation.

Favor is earned by slaying monsters, with the amount earned varying with the experience the monster rewards. Favor can also be earned by completing quests as well. As you get further into the game, the more you acquire.

Faction Vendors

Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune both have Faction Vendors. The Faction Leader is a common vendor that offers Item Gambling, where players can select Base Items for purchase and, in return, receive a random quality item matching that base type - including Exalted items. The item base types offered through Item Gambling are unique to that specific Item Faction. Circle of Fortune members can also purchase Lenses from this vendor, which allows them to modify their Prophecies. Spending Favor in these ways increases a player's Faction Reputation.

Rank Requirements

Items acquired through Item Faction mechanics have a Rank Requirement attached to them. Equipping these items requires the player to have the Rank listed on the item tooltip. You must also be in the corresponding Faction tied to the item to equip it.

Merchant's Guild Requirements

When aligned with Merchant's Guild items gain a Rank Requirement when they are purchased through the Bazaar or through player-to-player trading. The Rank Requirement given to an item typically matches the Faction Rank needed to Buy or Sell that item type. The exception to this rule is with Legendary items. If you purchase a Unique with Legendary Potential at Rank 7 and create a Legendary item from it, the Legendary item retains the Rank 7 requirement instead of the Rank 9 you need to purchase that same item from the Bazaar.

Circle of Fortune Requirements

Circle of Fortune Rank Requirements are included on items created from Circle of Fortune passive Rank bonuses or Prophecies. Since Circle of Fortune bonuses impact your loot in various ways, the Rank Requirement generated on items is tied to your current Rank when the item drops.

Gifting Faction Items

Items with a Faction Rank tied to them follow the same gifting rules as all other items. To gift an item to another player, they must be present and in your party when the item drops. A Resonance can be used to bypass this rule. Although the Rank does not impact the ability to gift an item, the receiving player must be the corresponding Rank to equip it.

Resonances

Resonances are a type of consumable that drops when playing in a party with other players. These items are tied to players who are in the party with you when they drop.

• Resonances allow items to be gifted to players who weren't there when an item dropped. This is useful when one player finds an item that could be useful to another player that they usually party with.
• Resonances are consumed when used.
• Resonances do not allow the receiving player to equip items that have a Faction Rank requirement that they do not meet. Example: An Idol with a Circle of Fortune Rank 3 requirement can't be used unless the receiving player is also Rank 3 with Circle of Fortune.
• This item allows small groups of Circle of Fortune players to trade sparingly despite not having access to the Bazaar.

Summary

• The Item Faction system impacts how players acquire items.
• There are two Factions, Merchant's Guild for Trade and Circle of Fortune for Solo players.
• Earn Reputation by slaying monsters, completing quests, and spending Favor.
• Earn Favor by slaying monsters and completing quests.
• Items earned through Faction mechanics have a Rank Requirement that needs to be met in order to equip the item.

Credits

Written by VisionGL.
Reviewed by McFluffin, Dredscythe.