Item Factions in Last Epoch: Choosing Your Path

Item Factions in Last Epoch are designed to balance the preferences of players who enjoy trading with those who prefer to find items independently or in smaller groups. You choose your Item Faction based on your preferred playstyle:

1. The Merchant's Guild – This faction allows you to trade with other players through an auction house-style interface called the Bazaar.
2. The Circle of Fortune – This faction enhances item acquisition by providing passive bonuses and a mechanic called Prophecies, which enables you to target specific types of items for farming.

The Item Factions

Choosing between Kруг Фортуны and Merchant's Guild

Merchant's Guild

The Merchant's Guild allows players to trade items with others through an auction house-style system called the Bazaar. Your Faction Rank with the Merchant's Guild determines which items you can Buy and Sell. As your Faction Rank increases, you gain access to a wider range of item qualities, starting with Normal, Magic, and Rare items, and advancing to Exalted and Legendary items as you progress.

Circle of Fortune

Circle of Fortune allows players to target farm items through a system called Prophecies, as well as offering other passive bonuses that enhance target farming, increase item quantity, and boost item rarity. The Prophecy system allows players to target specific item rewards by completing certain objectives, such as killing Bosses or different types of enemies. Lenses are another mechanic tied to Circle of Fortune that allows players to modify which Prophecies appear, such as "15% Increased Chance per Rank to Find Large Idols."

Joining a Faction

To join the Merchant's Guild or Circle of Fortune, players must reach the Upper District of Maj'Elka in Chapter 9 of the Campaign. You can do this by progressing through the main story up to that point or using a Temporal Sanctum Key to defeat Chronomancer Julra, unlocking a shortcut directly to Chapter 9.

Here, the player will interact with Zerrick, who briefly explains both Item Factions and guides you to their respective bases of operation. The Merchant's Guild is based at the Bazaar, while Circle of Fortune can be found at the Observatory. Players can visit either location and speak with the Faction Leader to join that Item Faction. Merchant's Guild players will speak to Nama near the Bazaar waypoint, while Circle of Fortune players will speak to Galila inside the Observatory.

Faction Mechanics

Understanding the different Item Faction mechanics, such as the Item Faction Panel, Rank and Reputation, Favor, Faction Vendors, and Rank Requirements, is essential to maximizing what each faction has to offer.

Item Faction Panel

The Item Faction Panel allows players to view details of their chosen faction. The default hotkey to open this menu is "Y", or you can access it through the main flyout menu next to the player's Mana Globe.

This panel provides information related to your Item Faction, such as:

• Current Amount of Favor
• Current Faction Rank
• Your Progress Toward the Next Faction Rank
• Benefits You Currently Have

There is also a "Leave Faction" button to leave your current faction and a "Visit Observatory/Bazaar" button to fast-travel to your Item Faction's hub area.

The Item Faction Panel

Rank and Reputation

Your Rank with an Item Faction grows over time and determines the benefits you receive from them. You can increase your Rank by gaining experience through defeating enemies or completing quests. The second way to raise your Rank is by participating in your Item Faction's core mechanic – for the Merchant's Guild, this involves trading in the Bazaar, and for Circle of Fortune, it revolves around completing Prophecies.

Your Faction Rank is permanent, never lost, and shared account-wide. However, characters in different game modes (such as Solo or Standard/Legacy) have separate Faction Ranks.

In both Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune, there are 12 total Ranks.

Faction Reputation Bar and Rank Rewards

Favor

Favor is the primary currency used when interacting with Item Faction mechanics. Both Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune offer different ways to spend your Favor:

• Merchant's Guild: Use Favor to list items for sale or to purchase items.
• Circle of Fortune: Use Favor to acquire Prophecies.

Both Factions also allow you to spend Favor at their respective Faction Vendor to gain Reputation.

Favor is earned by defeating monsters, with the amount earned depending on the experience the monster provides. It can also be earned by completing quests. As you progress through the game, you'll find yourself acquiring more Favor.

Favor on the Item Faction Panel

Faction Vendors

Both the Merchant's Guild and Circle of Fortune have Faction Vendors. The Faction Leader acts as a common vendor offering Item Gambling, where players can choose Base Items for purchase and, in return, receive a randomly generated item of matching quality, including Exalted items. The available item base types for Item Gambling are unique to each respective Item Faction. Additionally, Circle of Fortune members can purchase Lenses from this vendor, which allow them to modify their Prophecies. Spending Favor in these ways increases a player's Faction Reputation.

The Faction Gambler Window

Rank Requirements

Items acquired through Item Faction mechanics come with a Rank Requirement attached. Equipping these items requires the player to meet the Rank listed on the item tooltip. Additionally, you must be aligned with the corresponding Faction tied to the item in order to equip it.

Merchant's Guild Requirements

When aligned with the Merchant's Guild, items obtained through the Bazaar or player-to-player trading come with a Rank Requirement. This requirement usually matches the Faction Rank needed to Buy or Sell that item type. However, there is an exception for Legendary items. If you purchase a Unique with Legendary Potential at Rank 7 and craft a Legendary item from it, the Legendary item will retain the Rank 7 requirement, not the Rank 9 requirement needed to purchase the same item from the Bazaar.

Circle of Fortune Requirements

Items tied to Circle of Fortune that are created from passive Rank Bonuses or Prophecies also come with Rank Requirements. The Rank Requirement on these items is determined by your current Rank at the time the item drops, since Circle of Fortune bonuses affect your loot in various ways.

Example of Rank Requirement

Gifting Faction Items

Items with a Faction Rank requirement follow the same gifting rules as all other items. In order to gift an item to another player, they must be present and in your party when the item drops. However, this rule can be bypassed by using a Resonance. While the Rank does not affect the ability to gift an item, the player receiving the item must have the corresponding Rank in order to equip it.

Resonances

Resonances are consumable items that drop when playing in a party with other players. These items are tied to the players who are in the party when they drop.

Resonances allow items to be gifted to players who were not present when the item dropped. This is especially useful when one player finds an item that could be beneficial to another player they frequently party with.

Resonances are consumed when used.

However, Resonances do not allow the receiving player to equip items with a Faction Rank requirement that they do not meet. For example, an Idol with a Circle of Fortune Rank 3 requirement cannot be used unless the receiving player is also Rank 3 with Circle of Fortune.

This mechanic allows small groups of Circle of Fortune players to trade items sparingly, even without access to the Bazaar.

Example of Resonance

Summary

• The Item Faction system impacts how players acquire items.
• There are two Factions: Merchant's Guild for trading and Circle of Fortune for solo players.
• You earn Reputation by slaying monsters, completing quests, and spending Favor.
• You earn Favor by slaying monsters and completing quests.
• Items earned through Faction mechanics have a Rank Requirement that needs to be met in order to equip the item.