This guide will help you pick your faction when you get met with the decision in the Magic Well. It’s a permanant decision, but doesn’t really give you much information on the choice by the time you have to make it.
Faction Overview
Deciding between each faction is defined by three primary aspects: Elements, Aesthetic, and Professions
Elements: Each faction has elemental strengths and weaknesses, but no faction dominates over the others. The Cryoknights, Guardians, and Hammermages each have their preferred elements. Their weapons are more commonly infused with their element, but they can use any element just as well as each other.
Aesthetic: Each faction has their own style of weapons and armours with cosmetic differences. The two leaders of the Cryoknight and Hammermage show the style, but the Dryad isn’t much help as we don’t play a tree.
Professions: Each Faction’s weapons are created by a specific crafting profession down the line. Any faction can make weapons from any profession, but will strongly prefer their specific one over the others. Down the line we can make epic weapons by destroying 1 rare weapon of each faction as well.
Cryoknight
Elemental Weakness: Susceptible to electricity-based attacks from Hammermages, as their metal armor conducts Tempestae.Equipment: They use fully metal armour, platemail, chainmail etc. and medieval-style weaponry, including Longswords, Greatswords, Maces, and metal throwing weapons or metallic bows.
Professions: Mining ores and Blacksmithing. If you’re the type that loves blacksmithing, pick Cryoknight for sure.
Guardian
Guardians are attuned to nature and are granted ancient magic by the Dryads, with a focus on Arborae.
Elemental Weakness: Vulnerable to Cryonae because plants hate the cold.
Equipment: Wield leather and bone-based equipment, using Batons, Cudgels, Quarterstaves, and other monk-style weapons. Ranged options include bows, crossbows, and javelins.
Professions: Their primary trades are Harvesting and Bonewright, focusing on gathering natural resources and crafting with bones and wood. They need to do more Carpentry than the other classes as well, offset by the fact that Bonewright is simpler.
Hammermage
Hammermages are storm-magic warriors empowered by Tempestae.
Elemental Weakness:Weak against Arborae, though there’s no lore reason for it in-game.
Equipment: Stone-based armour, stone-based weapons, Rock and Stone! They use Maces, Warhammers, and Greathammers. Ranged attacks consist of Bolas, Throwing Hammers, or even rocks.
Professions: Dedicated to Mining and Stonemason. Stone weapons sometimes need wood poles from Carpentry, but not as many as Guardian.
Additional Info
Each faction offers slight differences for playstyles and preferred looks and crafting, but they’re balanced, so your choice comes down to personal preference.
Andrew has said special attacks is coming as well, which should help differentiate them a bit.
We know all the professions in Episode 5 except one, and there’s only one Armourer profession which I bet will make armour for all classes instead of splitting them up again
Hope this helped – this video I made below can give some further insight and has some shots of the combat if it helps decide as well.
You can reach the author’s profile from the link. This guide was created by Teloril.