How does Faction Play actually work?

[RetroACE135]

If anybody has a guide on how that mode works, I would love to read on how to play it.

I can see how you need to make drop decks, create a unit name and tag, and pledge loyalty to a faction, right?

Drop Decks are somewhat self explanatory. I've seen a few things that say you need to choose mechs up to a tonnage limit and they are used in matches as respawns as opposed to only having a single life in Quickplay.

Is the Unit Name something I can skip on for now until I can think of something pretty cool? or is it like a clan tag? Can I join somebody else's unit? Seeing that you can earn MC as rewards is tempting, but I don't want to make a name up, then regret it later.

As for factions, Can I pledge loyalty to anybody, not just whatever factions are "needing reinforcements" at the moment, and still participate in which fight is happening?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm still learning some of the more advanced logistics of the game. I've been able to figure out mech customization and learn tactics just fine, but still learning new things every time I play.

[spartanspud]

Actually, you canchange your pledge all the time now. So change it to whichever faction you are actually dropping. You get some extra points that way.

But really not many people play FP outside of specific times unfortunately. Lots of people complain about FP because they think the games are stompy. But generally they're not actually that bad in my experience. They're often quite close. And even when they're not, I still think the matches are often more interesting.

Other than the drop deck and choosing a faction to pledge to, you can ignore the rest.

[The Fifth Horseman]

You don't need to create or join a unit and you don't need to pledge loyalty - there's a separate "mercenary" progression track if you don't.

I've seen a few things that say you need to choose mechs up to a tonnage limit and they are used in matches as respawns as opposed to only having a single life in Quickplay.

Don't casually treat them as respawns. Usually it's better to regroup with the rest of your team as they drop back in with new mechs than to reinforce a dying wave.

Is the Unit Name something I can skip on for now until I can think of something pretty cool? or is it like a clan tag? Can I join somebody else's unit? Seeing that you can earn MC as rewards is tempting, but I don't want to make a name up, then regret it later.

Units are this game's equivalent of guilds/clans. You can join someone else's unit if they invite you to it.
There is no difference in rewards. Units no longer earn MC for holding planets and have not for years.

As for factions, Can I pledge loyalty to anybody, not just whatever factions are "needing reinforcements" at the moment, and still participate in which fight is happening?

Mostly correct, unless the conflict is Clan vs Clan and you've pledged to an Inner Sphere faction or vice versa.
It's no big deal. You can break loyalty at will and rejoin another faction - there used to be a penalty and wait period, but not any more.

[Tritol]

You can swap factions, but to earn goodies you need to "pledge" yourself. Just picking one faction thats currently on offer will not give you all rewards.
But you can still change any time you want, game remembers your progress.

You dont need unit, but playing in unit can help, look around forums for discord links.

Its always IS vs Clan.

Theres tons to learn in FP, it doesnt have tier system, so you get mix of trash and premades. Tons of people using only meta mechs and matches are not played very often.
If you wanna give it a try, I would recommend not giving up, your first bunch of matches can be absolute stomp, where you just sit in dropzone for 20 minutes doing nothing.

[RetroACE135]

Thanks for the big help everybody! Another question I've got is when would "Peak" times be to play in Faction Play? Should I change my matchmaking to include areas outside North America? Are there "Community Faction Play Days" that groups usually assign?

[spartanspud]

You should probably queue for every region because usually you have to get a bit lucky to get an FP match. And if you have just NA but two people have NA unpicked and everyone else has all three clicked, probably the match will end up with you not in it.
And for peak times, tbh I don't know. Just checking every so often. Hardly anyone queues FP until someone coordinates it.

[Tritol]

FP is mostly dead, usually when you get "need reinforcements" its probably someone trying to fill up the que.
I had most luck during weekends, and what is european night time or evening.

But you can pretty much just play QP whole day and occasionally check FP if there are people.

FP also tends to die very fast, if you see 0 on one side and 18 people on other side, it means that side has premade and noody wants to play against them :D ...
(You can see how many people are waiting on each side in the FP interface)

There was FP event few months ago and tons more people played FP, maybe they will make something like that again in the future.

PS: Groups have priority in matchmaker, if its 13 people on waiting in que, you might get left out. Even just inviting 1 person, it will take you first into the game, ignoring someone else who is alone.

[spartanspud]

Yeah people didn't even really complain about FP during that time either. Just one or two.
It's a little annoying at times that the queue doesn't get populated a little more. It's enjoyable sometimes to get to play it. A nice change of pace and the premade honestly don't have that much of an impact.