What’s up, gamers? It’s Karl, back with another guide! Today we’re diving into the Human race and factions of Raid & Conquer!

Humans are mainly based in the country Ablein. There are three regions: Glacieth, Nigel Desert, and Sunny Plains. Glacieth is a low-leveled cold region while Nigel Desert is mid-leveled and hot. Neither regions are for Players unequipped to deal with extreme temperatures although you might get by with a high Body attribute and some temperature resistance buffs. Make sure you have some handy if you’re heading towards those areas!

Sunny Plains, on the other hand, is kind of in the middle; you won’t find weak mobs like Droopy Slimes but you also won’t be finding a dragon any time soon. It is a hotspot for monster events but those are rare, so the area doesn’t get much attention aside from hopeful Settlers. It’s got a pretty steady climate but natural resources, besides an abundance of flowers, are pretty sparse. I don’t recommend settling there unless you purchase a bag of tree seeds to set up your own forest but those are expensive.

The first thing to note is that there are no variants of Humans. While there are Ascended Humans, those are technically counted as a sub-race of Ascendants, one of the locked races. Some members of the community have debated whether or not only having the base Humans to play as is a good idea, stating there are many, many versions of Humans that have been created throughout the course of history. Despite the many complaints, the devs are firm on their stance that no Human variants will be added.

And so we must be content with turning our Humans into wacky resemblances of themselves. Luckily, we have three very different factions to choose from: the United Industries, Neo-Rex Faction, and Celestial Sand Paladins. Each faction has perks and penalties; perks, obviously, help you in whatever area the faction represents while penalties hinder progress in an area the faction does not represent. It’s limiting, yeah, but it’s a decent way to keep a Player’s power in check. You can’t be both a high-level [Warlord] and a [Alchemist] with a monopoly on potion selling.

But let’s get into the factions, shall we?

United Industries

Before we get into my totally unbiased opinion of United Industries, here’s the R&C description.

“The UI is a faction focused mainly on fast and efficient production with no room for error. Innovation is expected of any craftsperson in the faction and eccentricity is commonplace amongst various UI communities. Moral standards are often tossed away when it comes to making a profit and the inexperienced and uneducated will find themselves taken advantage of. They typically don't get involved in faction wars but will happily supply the other two factions for a hefty profit. This faction generally has good relations with other species due to their willingness to trade with anyone and everyone.”

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s the facts: if you’re aiming for totally crafting-based gameplay, go for it. This faction loves to reward you for making and selling weird as heck objects. It gives you a perk - Fast Hands, Smooth Tongues - which gives you a 55% experience boost to leveling crafting/merchant related skills. Traveling is also a lot easier with the perk Friend of All, which gives you 50 Rep with every race you come across.

The penalties are rough, though. Not So Tough gives UI players a 60% debuff to fighting related classes/skills experience gain. It’s a little extreme, especially when you consider that you need a ton of resources to progress in a crafting class. You’re only options are to join a guild - which can be detrimental to your progress since high-leveled players are often prioritized over greenies, independently buy from NPCs or players - that’ll burn some metaphorical holes in your wallet, or go out and collect them yourself which, because fighting is pretty frickin’ hard as a UI, isn’t the best idea. I’d recommend finding a good buddy who can go out and do the collecting for you in exchange for gear but your best bet is probably joining a guild and hoping they don’t screw you over.

I nearly forgot to mention their second penalty, You Rust My Steel. The UI is a fairly self-sustaining faction that survives mainly because it’s so good at pumping out high-quality goods. This puts them at odds with all Steelheart factions, who have the same goal of dominating the global economy with their products. You automatically start with -100 Rep with Steelhearts.

Neo-Rex Faction

Now, here’s my personal favorite Human faction. Neo-Rex is, I’m pretty sure, Latin for ‘New King’ which, according to the game description, is pretty fitting.

“The NRF is a faction that supports the recently crowned King Gustav in his efforts to expand the country's borders and take control of CSP territories. Every citizen is required to go through ten years of military service, nobility five. They are especially close with the Steelheart kingdoms and have good relations with Myconid nobility. The NRF regularly purchases military weapons and constructs from UI craftsmen. Because of CSP's xenophobic propaganda, the two factions regularly clash in bloody battles.”

It’s important to keep in mind that the NRF is a very militaristic and classist group. On the one hand, that ideology gives a whopping 50% EXP increase to fighting/royal classes and skills thanks to the perk Strong and Snobby. Coupled with the Like-Minded Allies Perk, which gives +50 Reputation with the Myconid faction Noble Spores and the Steelheart’s Grand Union of the Heart, they make for great Settlers hellbent on conquering other settlements.

But! And this is a very big butt. They suck at crafting. The first suck-ish part comes from their penalty Soft Hands that gives a 40% debuff to crafting class/skill experience gain. Then there’s the Ol’ Unreliable penalty, which drops the success rate of crafting down to 40%. This makes having a self-sustaining settlement very hard to pull off as all of your craftspeople are awful at their job. NRF settlers are heavily reliant on the goodwill of other races to get the resources they need to supply their war addictions. Fortunately, if you manage to keep good relations with both the Noble Spores and the GUH, they’ll send you a monthly stock of supplies for a discounted price. You’ll have to be careful about trading with both the UI and the Steelhearts, though. The Steelhearts aren’t very good at sharing willing customers so, if you’re buying supplies from the UI, keep your deals on the down-low.

Celestial Sand Paladins

Last but not least, we have the CSP. They’re...a mixed bag to say the least. The R&C description says it all.

“The CSP faction is lead by a theocratic oligarchy. They worship the Celestial Trinity and their celestial concepts: Conquest, Prosperity, and Progress. While the names of the deities are unknown, their devout followers zealously follow the teachings of their leaders. Their communities thrive despite the harsh deserts and jungle they live in, producing trained [Paladins], excellent [Alchemists], and smooth-talking [Merchants]. However, their shortcomings appear in interactions with other species. The leaders of the CSP regularly brainwash their people with xenophobic doctrine, cementing the belief that the god of Conquest has made it their duty to cleanse the world of 'non-human filth'. For this reason, they clash for control over the country of Ablein with the NRF.”

See? They’re amazing for Raiders with the ability to kick butt with the [Paladin] class, craft potions for themselves and others with [Alchemist], and easily swindle others of their money with [Merchant]. But R&C really kills that epic trio of powers with the ‘hate anyone and everyone who isn’t Human or a part of the CSP’. They get along decently with the UI but that’s about it. At least, with the perk [Blessings of the War Trinity] - 70% increase to Paladin/Alchemist/Merchant class and skill EXP gain! - you’ll be able to hold your own when your character eventually starts a fight with some random NPC due to Xenophobic Rage - gives you worse and worse dialogue options the longer you talk to non-human or NRF NPCs - and Friend of None - you start off with -100 Rep with all non-Human races. You won’t be a very good [Mage] either; Blasphemous Energy is a penalty that halves any non-celestial-magic attack by 50% and lowers your chance to learn a non-celestial-magic spell by 80%!

Play for the CSP at your own risk! They’re strong but social outcasts; I wouldn’t recommend them if you’re going for a make-NPCs-my-friends approach in the game.

That’s all I’ve got for you today It’s been cool hangin’ with ya and I’ll catch you in another guide, gamers!