Destiny currently has 5 factions with vendors: Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, New Monarchy, Vanguard and Iron Banner.
Factions are groups of like-minded Guardians and other citizens of the Tower and the City who have banded together around a certain philosophy. It was not always so; Faction wars once raged in the City’s earliest days…
This article will focus on DO, FWC, and NM. You can represent each faction throughout the game, but only one at any given time.
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How do I gain Faction Rep?
For PvE Factions other than the Cryptarch, reputation is earned in PvE by completing Vanguard Strikes, bounties, and Patrol Beacons, as well as special events.
You can earn Crucible reputation by completing Crucible bounties and competing in PvP special events.
Earn enough reputation with a Faction, and you can gain a reputation level. Reputation levels are required to purchase certain powerful equipment. Once you reach the cap for reputation level (generally 3 for most Factions), every level past the cap earns you rewards!
There is no upper limit to a reputation level past the cap; you can continue to earn rewards every time you achieve a new level.
By default, all PvE reputation you earn goes toward the Vanguard Faction. To represent another Faction, you must purchase a Class Armor item of that Faction and wear it while completing missions that award reputation.
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Vanguard Marks: Awarded by high-level Strikes, Daily and Weekly Heroic activities, and exchanging materials with Vanguard Quartermaster. Level 18 is required and there is a maximum of 100 per week. Vanguard Marks can buy stronger gear.
Vanguard Reputation: Awarded by completing Vanguard Bounties. Unlocks more powerful gear for purchase.
Crucible Marks: Awarded by high-level Crucible matches and exchanging materials with the Crucible Quartermaster. Level 18 is required and there is a maximum or 100 per week. Crucible Marks can buy stronger gear.
Crucible Reputation: Earned with Crucible Bounties. Improves Crucible rank, unlocking powerful gear. [/toggle]
Ask yourself: Which Faction is best for my playstyle?
When you pick a faction, you must decide which two armor attributes you want to focus on.
Intellect: reduces the cooldown time of your Super.
Discipline: reduces the cooldown time of your grenade.
Strength: reduces the cooldown time of your melee special ability.
- Dead Orbit: DIS/STR (Melee and Grenades)
- Future War Cult: INT/DIS (Grenades and Super)
- New Monarchy: INT/STR (Super and Melee)
Choosing which factions you want to work with is a simple combination of which abilities you use most and which faction interests you more. Other details such as weapon appearance/patterns and emblems could also be considered. There’s also a question of gun choice:
- Dead Orbit: Crypt Dweller SR1, Deviant Gravity-A, Hide and Seek-42, Unwilling Soul-09
- FWC: The Calling, The Chance, The Crash, The Culling
- New Monarchy: Crusader I, Judgment VI, Prestige IV, Vanquisher VIII
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Faction History
Dead Orbit believes that the Guardians’ destiny lies not with the Traveler, but out amongst the stars. They seek to leave the Earth and travel to a new home. Dead Orbit’s theology has developed from mere fatalism into an obsession with worlds beyond Earth. Now their focus is on the building of a starfaring fleet, cobbled together from the ashes of our past and the spoils of war.
Future War Cult believes in the inevitability and, indeed, the necessity of conflict. They seek not to leave or to rebuild, but to wage war, in all its forms. While the origins of the Future War Cult are greatly debated, their mark has been found on ancient chambers and encampments throughout the system, dating them back to the late Golden Age.
Though their secrets are vast, they have proven indispensable in our struggle against the Darkness, earning them power and respect in the City Consensus and among Guardians.
New Monarchy believes that together, the Guardians can rebuild their lost Golden Age, and that true leaders for the City can be found…or forged. The New Monarchy rose from the ashes of the Faction Wars with a simple, inclusive guiding tenet: “Together we will rise.”
Leery of the fragile state of the City’s politics, the New Monarchy maintains a watchful eye on the Speaker, the Consensus, and the Vanguard, seeking the leadership that will properly reign over the City and return our civilization to its Golden Age splendor. If that leadership cannot be found, then it must be created.
Vanguard, the order of veteran Guardians devoted to the protection of the City, the best of the Titan, Hunter, and Warlock orders. All player Guardians belong to the Vanguard initially, as it is the Faction that you automatically represent when you begin the game. All reputation rewards for completing Vanguard Strikes, bounties, and Patrol Beacons go to the Vanguard Faction, unless you choose to represent another Faction.
The Crucible is not a Faction precisely, but an organization formed to test the Guardians in battle against their most dangerous opponents—other Guardians. This live-fire training hones Guardians into lethal weapons against the Darkness. Sometimes being dead and having a Ghost that can revive you is convenient…
The Iron Banner is a Faction led by Lord Saladin, a veteran of the Battle for Twilight Gap, the Iron Banner seeks the mightiest of Crucible combatants to lead the war against the Darkness.