[Hilo Oficial] For Honor

Hello everybody, and welcome to the Hall of Heroes guide to Faction Wars.

That’s right, everyone; we who had the opportunity to go to Montreal have been sitting on this information for over a month, and we can now confirm that it exists! The following will go more in-depth concerning what it entails, how it works, how you contribute, and whether it is a separate mode entirely, but for now, rejoice, and bask in the revelation that your wish has been granted.

You done? Good! Let’s get into it.

Faction War


Mode or Not?


To get the major question out of the way right up front, Faction War is not a separate mode. Every match of every mode that you play in For Honor contributes to the Faction War. It is always running in the background, and is influenced by the matches won or lost by the members of any given faction and the distribution of the awarded War Assets.

That might be a lot to process at once, so I’ll try my best to explain everything individually, but I’d like to emphasise and reiterate that everything you do in For Honor’s multiplayer has an influence on the Faction War.

Faction Choice


Those of you who played the Alpha, or watched footage of the opening, will remember that the first time you turn the game on, you are asked which faction you are pledging allegiance to. This is literal in terms of Faction War. The shield you choose is the faction you shall represent and contribute to once you actually start fighting.

For reasons that have not been divulged to us (though we are assured it will be properly justified), your faction choice does not restrict your choice of character in matches.

You are also able to change your faction allegiance at any time, but for reasons that will be discussed later, this might not be the best course of action outside of certain time intervals, even if your team is losing.

Territory


Once you actually get into the multiplayer, you will notice the large overworld map you saw in the Alpha is subdivided into coloured territories.

In game, these coloured sections are subdivided into individual shapes that players can strategically select and place War Assets into between matches (via menu options).

Through playing and winning matches and distributing the War Assets you acquire on a bordering territory to one you control—either on your side to defend, or on an opposing side to attack—the territories will shift based on the distribution of War Assets, so the map could, should the Samurai have a particularly good run in a season, look like this:


This has two effects. First, and most obvious, is that it affects your standing in the overall war for the season.

Second, it affects the variation of the map you’ll play on. If you’re fighting on a subdivision within Samurai territory, for example, even a traditionally Knight map like Citadel Gate will look like it’s in the middle of the Mire, with twisted trees and moody fog. Alternatively, it will become a winter wonderland if fighting in Viking territory.

War Assets


By this point, you’ve probably noticed the term ‘War Assets’ used a number of times and wondered what exactly those are. War Assets are the means by which you control the map.

Essentially, they are points awarded to you after a match which can be placed on one of the various subdivisions along the border where a territory you control meets an enemy controlled territory.

Should you not choose to personally apply War Assets to specific subdivisions, the assets you earn are automatically distributed along the entire border of the territory you control. However, this can be approached strategically in at least one aspect: to cut off supply lines and steal large swathes of territory with minimal effort.

For example, the Viking faction can push into the Samurai’s territory and cut a path around a territory that the Samurai control.

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The isolated territory would then be forfeited after another turn should the Samurai not be able to claim a territory touching the isolated area before the next turn ends.

Seasons


Now that the details of how everything within Faction War is out of the way, we can go into how it all comes together.

First, and perhaps most exciting, is that all the War Asset placement, territory layout, and indeed the entire Faction War itself is cross-platform. No matter if you’re on PC, Xbox, or PS4, you will see the same map and contribute to the same war. This does not, however, mean that the game itself is cross-platform. If you’re on one platform, you will not be able to fight players of another. While many are sure to be disappointed by the latter revelation, I hope everyone can can find a modicum of comfort in knowing that you can freely discuss strategies with friends without worrying about what system they’re on.

‘But how does the war itself play out?’ I hear you ask.

While the war in For Honor is presented as perpetual, the war players will experience will be a little less constant. Instead, the war for players will be broken up into seasons---for the purposes of this, let’s say a little over a month---with each season being broken up into turns---again for expository purposes, we’ll say a week. There are five turns in a season.

While fighting over subdivisions of territory, all stats will be taken into account—again, across all platforms—and the territories will shift depending on how many War Assets are distributed in which subdivisions after every turn. At the end of the fourth turn, the season ends and the faction that controls the most territory wins that season, and they will receive special rewards, including large caches of steel and customisation items unattainable any other way. At that point, the Faction War enters an off-season to reset the map.

As previously stated, you can change your faction allegiance at any time during a season, but doing so will disqualify you from any rewards, so don’t think you can go through a losing season and switch to the winning side for an easy score.

Player Count and Faction Sizes


One thing that might have crossed your mind is the potential imbalance that is likely to occur should one faction simply have more numbers than another, or if one faction is underpopulated compared to the others.

Well, not to worry, because if there is an overpopulated or underpopulated faction, the amount of War Assets those factions receive from matches will be adjusted to keep the overall playing field relatively equal. To be clear, this is not applicable to overall faction population, necessarily, but more in regard to the participation of the members of that faction. So, if you have twice as many Knights laying down War Assets as you do Vikings and Samurai, the overall War Assets given to the latter factions would be amplified to keep in pace with the Knights.

While it might be disappointing for some people to know they can’t dominate a season by grouping together and overpowering the competition through sheer numbers—and will probably elicit complaints from realism sticklers—it’s important to maintain the enjoyment of players regardless of the faction they choose, and for players who care about Faction War, I don’t think there’s any arguing that their enjoyment would be quickly eroded if every season ended with a Viking victory and they are committed to the Samurai.

Conclusion


While it might not be the faction-locked mode that some people *ahem* have asked for, this is shaping up to be one of the more engrossing aspects of For Honor’s multiplayer. It gives players a reason to fight beyond the more basic rewards of gear and steel, and involves every single player in something much grander than simple matches. With time, hopefully we’ll hear your war stories. Good luck, warrior.