Faction Warfare

Enlisting and the flag

Enlist with a city's faction in that city, then switch your faction flag on and off as you go. The six factions are Martlock, Lymhurst, Fort Sterling, Bridgewatch, Thetford and Caerleon.

• You need 700 base IP to use Faction Transports and take part in Faction Warfare activities. Since Realm Divided Patch 2 the check ignores quality and spec bonuses.
• While flagged, enemy faction players can attack you, including in blue zones.
• A knockdown between faction players costs 30% less durability than a normal one.
• In yellow zones, flagged players can execute knocked-down enemy faction players. Get up and away fast, or have a friend cover you.
• If you die in faction combat you respawn at a friendly Outpost in the region or at its entrance.
• After changing faction you wait 24 hours before you can change again.

Flag off when you want to haul or gather in peace.

Provinces and Supplies

The Royal Continent is split into 20 Provinces: 15 non-lethal and 5 lethal. A Province is in conflict when a neighbouring Province attacks it. Each faction should have two attacks on non-lethal Provinces and one on a lethal Province running at any time.

In a contested Province, both sides earn Supplies:

• Outposts generate Supplies over time for the faction holding them. You must be flagged to capture one.
• Faction Chests give Supplies to the first faction that opens them. Loot goes to every flagged member of that faction nearby, party or not. Since Part II they can spawn in the blue zones of a contested Province.
• Faction Camps, small for solo players and medium for groups, are supply camps overrun by bandits. Clear every mob to unlock the chest.

Catch-up rules keep fights close. Attackers generate 33% more Supplies from every source (Realm Divided Patch 3). A faction more than 30% behind gets 75% more Supply generation once the Province has produced at least 650 Supplies in total.

Flagged players also get fame, silver and loot bonuses in Provinces their faction owns or is contesting. A Province cut off from its Royal City by enemy territory loses those bonuses, its camps and chests, and its supply contest.

Sieges and Fortresses

At set times each day the game compares Supplies. If the attackers lead, a Siege begins on the Province's Fortress after a 10-minute pre-siege, and everyone outside the defending faction is removed from the Fortress first. Siege times are in the dropdown at the top of the World Map. Realm Divided Patch 1 added three more siege times per server (Europe: 01:00, 09:00 and 23:00 UTC), so off-hours sieges happen.

During the Siege:

• Attackers break walls and gates with Siege Hammers; defenders repair them with Siege Hammers.
• Attackers capture the Fortress by holding its tower with no defenders inside. The first time they start, guards spawn for a Last Stand and must all die first.
• Defenders win by filling the Fortress Defense bar, which grows the whole time the Siege runs.
• Weapons Caches appear near the Fortress. Capturing one shifts Fortress Defense toward your side and gives your faction a stacking damage and defense buff for the rest of the fight.

If defenders win the supply contest instead, they push back with an attack on a neighbouring Province.

Catch-up buffs

• Rallying Cry (non-lethal Provinces only): if your faction owns fewer Provinces than the largest faction in the fight, you get bonus damage and defense against faction players. A gap of 2 Provinces gives +5%, 3 gives +10%, 4 gives +15% and 5 gives +20%.
• Enlistment Bonus: factions with fewer recruits pay more Faction Points, up to 200% since Realm Divided Patch 5. Moving to a weaker faction costs less standing than it used to, and you keep up to 1,000,000 Faction Standing after a move.

Faction Points and Battle Standards

Faction Points come from Province activities, Outposts, the Bandit Assault and Battle Standards. Spend them at your faction's vendors; the Faction Commander in each Royal City sells the Faction Legionnaire vanity set and avatars once you reach the rank.

A Battle Standard is a capture-the-flag banner from Part II:

• It appears locked in a contested Province and shows on the Region Map, and on the World Map if you are nearby. After a short time anyone flagged can pick it up, and it disappears from the World Map.
• You carry it on foot. After 4 seconds without taking damage, the carrier sprints until hit or until an enemy comes close.
• Its Prestige rises from Uncommon to Rare, Epic and Legendary as you fight and take Outposts. Past Epic, only enemy kills raise it.
• Deliver it to Fiona Fableheart at a friendly Outpost for Faction Points, shared with everyone who fought beside the carrier. She hides while the Outpost is under attack.
• A standard cannot cross between non-lethal and lethal Provinces, and cannot enter dungeons or cities. Lethal standards can pass through red-zone tunnels since Patch 5.

Ride with escorts. The carrier is the target every enemy in the zone is looking for.

The Bandit Assault

The Bandit Assault now runs on Provinces and Supplies, and Caerleon joins as a faction.

• Phase one, 40 minutes: every lethal Province is in play, and Caerleon takes all their Outposts. Factions race for Bandit Assault Supplies from Outposts, Camps and Chests.
• Phase two, 20 minutes: the race narrows to two Provinces with much higher Supply gains. Their Fortresses open to attack by every faction except the owner, and each holds a valuable chest.

Factions are ranked by Supplies at the end and paid Faction Points by rank. Every flagged player in an active Province gets a fame, silver and loot buff for the event. It is lethal, so bring a set you can lose.

How to get started

• Enlist with the city you already play from, so your bank and the fights are close.
• Use the Faction Transport next to the faction leader in your city. It takes you to a contested Province or an open faction party for a silver fee based on what you carry and how far you go; a trip to a non-lethal Province next to your city is free.
• Find your faction's groups in chat or the Party Finder. A caller makes a big difference.
• Start with Faction Camps and Outposts in non-lethal Provinces.
• Bring a cheap, mobile set and a faction mount. Since Realm Divided each has a passive: the Swamp Salamander turns invisible for 2 seconds when hit, the Winterbear becomes immune to crowd control after 10 hits, and the Bighorn Ram gallops faster the longer it runs.

Faction players' loadouts are in Builds by activity, and the ZvZ guide helps when fights get large. For where flagged players can be attacked, see Zone colors, PvP flags and death loss.