Revision as of 15:46, 6 May 2014

Note: this is my draft copy of an overhauled page on Factional Warfare.

Factional Warfare

Factional Warfare (sometimes also called Faction Warfare) is a game mechanic whereby you can sign up to fight for one of the four empire factions (against its enemy faction) for control over certain areas of low-sec space. It was first introduced in the Empyrean Age expansion (2008) to offer players a stepping-stone into PvP (player-vs-player) gameplay.

Factional Warfare is primarily centered around two #war zones (areas of low-sec contested by two empires): the Amarr-Minmatar war zone and the Caldari-Gallente war zone, which each are located on the border of the two respective empires. In these war zones, players who participate in Factional Warfare attempt to #conquer star systems for their empire, and are rewarded with #loyalty points and increased #faction standings for their efforts. Additionally, as players who participate in Factional Warfare are effectively at war with two of the four empire factions in the game, they can therefore attack (and be attacked by) players fighting for the enemy factions anywhere in New Eden, as well as fight the NPC faction navies (who patrol the high-sec star systems belonging to their faction).

Joining Factional Warfare

There are two ways to join Factional Warfare (the game calls this "enlisting"): join as a solo player, or join as part of a player corporation or alliance.

Joining as a solo player

Any player can join Factional Warfare provided that:

They have a regular paid EVE account (trial accounts may not join), and
Their standings towards the empire faction (e.g. the Gallente Federation or the Caldari State) they wish to fight for must be 0.0 or greater. Note that only raw, unmodified standings (i.e. without taking the effects of skills like Social into account) count; you can check your standings on your character page.

You can enlist at any station belonging to the empire faction you wish to fight for by opening the "Militia Office" window (from the NeoCom or the Station Services window). Note that even through the Khanid Kingdom and the Ammatar Mandate are affiliated with the Amarr Empire, they do not count as being a part of it, and therefore you cannot join Factional Warfare from their stations.

If you join as a solo player, you will leave your current corporation (be it a player-run or NPC corporation) and automatically join one of the four militia corporations (NPC-run corporations which are populated exclusively by other players enlisted in Factional Warfare for a given empire):

Amarr: 24th Imperial Crusade
Caldari: State Protectorate
Gallente: Federal Defence Union
Minmatar: Tribal Liberation Force

Joining as a solo player happens immediately, unless you have roles in a player-run corporation (in which case it takes at least 24 hours to relinquish your roles and leave your corporation).

Joining as a corporation

The CEO or Director of a corporation can enlist their entire corporation (i.e. all their members) in Factional Warfare to fight for one of the four empires. As with solo players, the corporation must have a standing of 0.0 of greater towards the empire they wish to fight for (corporation standings are an average of of its all the members' individual standings, see corporation standings for more details). Enlisting a corporation takes effect after the next downtime.

It's not possible for individuals in a player-run corporation to either join Factional Warfare on their own (they have to leave their corporation and join one of the militias, see above) or to opt out of Factional Warfare if their corporation joins (if the corporation joins, every member of that corporation automatically joins too).

Factional alliances

Factional Warfare revolves around two conflicts, one between the Amarr and the Minmatar, and the other between the Caldari and the Gallente. Additionally, the Amarr and the Caldari are allied (as are the Minmatar and the Gallente), which means that pilots fighting for (for instance) the Gallente can also help their Minmatar allies fight against the Amarr (with a few exceptions, see #control bunkers), and attack (and be attacked by) pilots fighting for the Amarr as well as the Caldari. Additionally, that same pilot would be attacked by the #faction navies of the Amarr and the Caldari should he enter their high-sec space.

Capturing systems

The core mechanics of Factional Warfare revolve around capturing and holding star systems in the #war zones. This occurs in two steps:

Attacking and completing #complexes ("plexes") in a system to make the system vulnerable to capture.
Once the system is vulnerable, attack and destroy ("capture") the system's #control bunker to capture the system.

Complexes

Control bunkers

System upgrades and warzone tier