Faction allying guide

[rasilio]

I've seen this question come up multiple times with no one having really provided solid answers to it and I noticed that through my various Iron man games I had allied with all but 2 factions at one time or another so I had most of the data. Played one more time to get those last 2 factions and put it all together into this guide.

I'll follow up with the data for each faction in separate comments so it isn't a wall of text but the first question is whether to ally with anyone at all. There really is no right or wrong answer to this, some people want to be a true merc, others have a favorite house and always ally with them so the most important thing is to play the way you like. That said there are definite costs to allying with a faction so unless you have some out of game reason driving your choice the real question is whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

Most of the time I have seen variations of this question posted the consensus has been that it isn't worth it, that the faction stores are not enough of a benefit to make up for the loss of ability to do missions for the enemies you gain. They seem to forget that it also opens up additional missions for your ally which would not have otherwise been available.

Overall I think the optimal state would be to ally with 2 or 3 factions (more than that would be impossible) because the combined benefits of the faction stores would be formidable. So with that said lets go into what each faction has to offer...

[rasilio]

Davion

Difficulty to ally with: Moderate, it requires traveling to the border of Taurian and Davion Space which is out of the way for most games but once there provides ample low to mid difficulty planets on which to find missions

Other possible Allies: Steiner, Marik, Magistracy of Canopus, Arano Restoration

Store Access: Good, 2 stores both located near the center of the map

Store Sells Gear:
AC2+++ +4Acc +50%Crit
AC5+++ +4Acc +20Stab
AC10+++ +50%Crit +20Stab
AC20+++ +20Dam +20Stab
UAC2+++ +10Dam -2Tons
UAC5+++ -2Recoil -2Tons
UAC10+++ +10Stab -3Tons
UAC20+++ +20Dam -3Tons

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
ANH-1A Annihilator
AS7-D Atlas
BNC-3S Banshee
MAD-3D Marauder
Zeu-6S Zeus
WHM-6D Warhammer

Analysis:
Easily the best faction to ally with as the +++ Ultra Autocannons are the best weapons in the game and they are cheap in the Davion store and hard to find elsewhere. 5 Million C-Bills will get you enough UAC's of each size to outfit all your cannon using mechs and have enough spares that you might never need to go back for more. The mechs available are also good, most of them can be easily found through salvage but the Annihilator, Atlas, and Banshee S are not and you can acquire all 3 here at reasonable prices

[rasilio]

Kurita
Difficulty to ally with: High, Requires traveling around Davion space looking for missions and most of the planets in Davion space have higher difficulty ratings

Other possible Allies: Laio, Marik, Taurian Concordat, Arano Restoration

Store Access: Good, 1 store located in independent space near the border with Laio and Marik

Store Sells Gear:
PPC++ +4Acc
PPC++ +30Stab
PPC++ +10Dam
SnubPPC++ +10Stab
SnubPPC++ +10Dam
SnubPPC++ -10Heat
Exchanger++ -20% Wpn Heat

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
BNC-3S Banshee
CPLT-K2 Catapult
DRG-1N Dragon
DRG-1G Dragon
HGN-733 Highlander

Analysis:
Probably the second best faction to ally with overall and the best if you like to run a lot of pure energy weapon mechs. While the upgraded PPC's are not too difficult to find elsewhere the Exchanger++ is almost a requirement for running mechs with heavy energy loads and I've never seen more than a handful of them available in stores alwasy at double the price you can get them for here and never once seen an exchanger available in Salvage. For Mechs the Banshee-S and maybe the Highlander might be worth buying as they are both good assault mechs and hard to find

[rasilio]

Steiner
Difficulty to ally with: High, High, Requires traveling around Marik space looking for missions and most of the planets in Marik space have higher difficulty ratings

Other possible Allies: Davion, Magistracy of Canopus, Arano Restoration

Store Access: Moderate, One store located in Davion Space. It is in the lower left corner of Davion so near the center of the map but it is more than a months travel from Marik Space where you had to be to do the missions to ally with them

Store Sells Gear:
LB2-X++ +2Dam, +50%Crit
LB5-X++ +4Stab, -1 Ton
LB10-X++ +2Dam, -1 Ton
LB20-X++ +4Stab, -2 Ton
Arm Mod+++ +60 Melee Dam
Arm Mod+++ +60 Melee Stab
Leg Mod++ -30 DFA Self Dam
Leg Mod++ +15 DFA Dam

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
ARC-2S Archer
BNC-3S Banshee
BLR-1S BAttlemaster
STK-3F Stalker
TDR-5SS Thunderbolt
VTR-9S Victor
ZEU-6T Zeus

Analysis:
The store is better than Kuritas but is knocked below them by the location of the store and the more limited other ally options with only The Magistracy making sense as the Davion stores UAC's would compete with Steiners LB-X's for space on your mechs. That said if you like LB-X's better than UAC's you could bump Steiner up to the best to ally with. The Arm Mods here are excellent as well if you like Melee combat mechs, it doesn't show in the stats above but those mods are only 1 ton meaning you don't need to sacrifice much to give a mech +60 to either damage or stability from a punch. The leg mods are less impressive as the 1self damage one weighs 2 tons. The Mech choices here are decent as well as the Stalker is one of the best missile platforms in the game and are almost impossible to find, The Banshee S is hard to come by in normal play and one can never have enough Victors in your mech bays

[rasilio]

Magistricy of Canopus
Difficulty to ally with: Easy, ample missions all over independent space

Other possible Allies: Marik, Steiner, Davion, Arano Restoration

Store Access: Poor, 2 stores in Magistracy space but both are pretty far from anything of note

Store Sells Gear:
Large Laser++ +10Dam
Large Laser++ +50%Crit
Large Laser++ +3Acc
Large Laser+++ +10Dam +3Acc
Medium Laser++ +10Dam
Medium Laser++ +50% Crit
Medium Laser++ +3Acc
Medium Laser+++ +3Acc +50% Crit
Gyro++ +3 Hit Defense
Gyro++ +3 Melee Hit
Gyro+++ -35%Stab

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
AWS-8T Awesome
BSK-MAZ Bull Shark
GHR-5H Grasshopper
WHM-6R Warhammer

Analysis:
While the upgraded lasers are fairly easy to find in other stores or as salvage the reality is medium and large lasers are going to be your most commonly used weapons by total number and this is the only way you could ensure sufficient supply that all of your mechs had exactly the variety of lasers you wanted. The Gyros are much harder to find elsewhere and very much worth buying. Not a lot of variety of mechs to choose from in this store but the Bull Shark and Awesome are good enough and difficult enough to find elsewhere that you might consider buying them. Overall as a primary alliance Canopius is just mediocre but they make an excellent 2ndary ally, probably the best

[rasilio]

Marik
Difficulty to ally with: Easy, ample missions of varying difficulty in independent space plus many targets in Laio space.

Other possible Allies: Davion, Kurita, Magistracy of Canopius, Taurian Concordat

Store Access: Moderate, 2 stores both fairly close to independent space but both are all the way on the left hand side of the map making it a long trip to get anywhere but Marik or Canopian space

Store Sells Gear:
LRM5+++ +50%Crit +2Stab
LRM10+++ +50%Crit +2Stab
LRM15+++ +50%Crit +2Stab
LRM20+++ +50%Crit +2Stab
Narc Beacon++ +75% Missile Dmg
Cockpit Mod++ +3 Injury Resist
Comms System+++ +4 Resolve Gain
Rangefinder+++ +120M View

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
ARC-2S Archer
BNC-3M Banshee
BLK-6-KNT Black Knight
HGN-733P Highlander
KGC-0000 King Crab
Vtr-9S Victor

Analysis:
The LRM's are meh would be much better if it also offered the Telos LRM++ in addition to the Zeus LRM+++ so you could choose between bonus physical or stability damage depending on the role of the mech using them. The missiles also suffer in usefulness in that you won't need that many of them to outfit all your mechs that use LRM's and they aren't that hard to find elsewhere. YMMV but I've never been a fan of the NARC system, too much weight for too little payoff. The cockpit mods however are excellent being both difficult to find and highly useful to employ. The mechs available here are also excellent as the Highlander and King Crab are powerful assault mechs that are hard to find, the Victor is versitile enough of an assault mech to have 3 or 4 in your bays and personally I am a fan of massed MG fire following a punch from a 95 ton mech the Banshee-M allows. Overall Marik is meh as a primary ally but as a secondary ally they aren't a bad option

[rasilio]

Taurian Concordat
Difficulty to ally with: Easy, ample missions of varying difficulty in independent space plus many targets in Laio space.

Other possible Allies: Marik, Kurita

Store Access: Good, 2 stores both located near the center of the map

Store Sells Gear:
Sm Laser++ +10Dam
Sm Laser++ +50%Crit
Sm Laser++ +3Acc
Sm Laser+++ +10Dam, +50%Crit
Target Comp+++ +3Acc Missile
Target Comp+++ +3Acc Ballistic
Target Comp+++ +3Acc Energy

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
BLR-1G Battlemaster
CP-10-HQ Cyclops
MAD-3R Marauder
ON1-V Orion

Analysis:
The Small Lasers are almost an insult. No one is basing their mechs around them and it is plenty easy enough to find the upgraded versions for the few you will likely need. The targeting computers on the other hand are phenomenonal and if the quality of the stores was the only factor would have bumped the Taurians above Marik and Canopius. +3 acuracy TTS are extremely rare to come by and usually VERY expensive when you do, as the Taurian Ally they were less than about $750k each. All other things being equal those would make the Taurians the best secondary ally in the game. Problem is all other things aren't equal, apparently everyone hates the Taurians and the list of other potential allies is slim with your only option being a 3 way alliance with Marik and Kurita

[rasilio]

Laio
Difficulty to ally with: Easy, ample missions of varying difficulty in independent space plus many targets in Laio space.

Other possible Allies: Kurita, Arano Restoration

Store Access: Moderate, 2 stores, one is on the Marik border a couple jumps up from independent space, the other is in the middle of Laio space

Store Sells Gear:
Infernos++ 8 Volleys, +10Heat Dmg
SRM2+++ +4Dam, +2Stab
SRM4+++ +4Dam, +2Stab
SRM6+++ +4Dam, +2Stab
Heat Bank +5 Overheat, +10 Max Heat
Heat Bank+ +10 Overheat, +20 Max Heat
Heat Bank++ +15 Overheat, +30 Max Heat

Heavy/Assault Mechs available in store:
CTF-1X Catphract
CPLT-C1 Catapult
CPLT-C4 Catapult
CPLT-K2 Catapult
CP-10-Z Cyclops
HGN-733 Highlander
HGN-733P Highlander

Analysis:
Honestly this is garbage. SRM's are decent secondary weapons, especially the +++ models but even there they underwhelm in performance on the battlefield becuase of their inaccuracy and heat relative to other options and worse they aren't even that hard to find elsewhere. Infernos are scary on inferno carriers but difficult at best to be useful as a primary or even secondary mech weapon. Finally Heat Banks are probably the weakest cooling option, I'm not even sure if they are better than standard heat sinks on a per ton basis. With the mechs only the Highlander is really worth looking at. Most importantly of all however is how is there no way to get the one piece of gear Laio is noted for. I'm not really a fan of the ECM system but you can't get them here, not the standalone units and not the versions of the Raven and Catphract that mount them natively. If you can add them as a tertiary ally at a low enough cost it might be worth doing otherwise just skip them.

[rasilio]

For completeness sake there remains the Arano Restoration and the Pirate factions. Arano restoration has no faction store and so there is no benefit in allying with them. With the Pirates having a high reputation with them is definitely a benefit as it lowers costs on the black market but allying with them makes you everyone elses enemy and you can get access to the black market other ways. Worse, trying to build favor with the Pirates often makes the early game inordinately hard because it means bypassing a lot of early missions so as to not lose rep with them. Staying on the Pirates good side is helpful but allying with them is all downside for you.

[rasilio]

Overall I think they best allying combinations would be
Davion, Marik, Canopius
Kurita, Marik Canopius
Kurita, Marik, Taurians
Steiner, Canopius

[kensw]

Or better yet just Roleplay your favorite faction.
Edit: Also I forgot the 5 major factions Alliance Flashpoints - some of the hardest and most fun flashpoints in the game.

[wesnef]

rasilio a écrit :

While the upgraded lasers are fairly easy to find in other stores or as salvage the reality is medium and large lasers are going to be your most commonly used weapons by total number and this is the only way you could ensure sufficient supply that all of your mechs had exactly the variety of lasers you wanted.

Ehhhhhhh. . . unless you take way too much internal damage & destroyed weapons, you'll be swimming in LLas and MLas variants long before you could ally with these guys. I always end up selling off the extras when the piles get too high.


(and a few extra missions for Allied Faction in no way makes up for losing all the missions from 4+ factions. But that's just my opinion, obviously. /shrug)

[ImHelping]

*Considers reinstalling on a whim last night*
*sees someone trying to be honestly informative today*

Throw this on a steam guide to keep it from being lost in the shuffle.

Even just the all in one list of faction favored toys and accessibility is useful as a reference. Which remains true regardless of "Excuse me, your opinions on the value of gear do not match my optimization spreadsheet" whiners.

Though filling in the blanks of accessibility sure wouldn't hurt.

[rasilio]

wesnef a écrit :

Ehhhhhhh. . . unless you take way too much internal damage & destroyed weapons, you'll be swimming in LLas and MLas variants long before you could ally with these guys. I always end up selling off the extras when the piles get too high.

Yes you will have many variants but few +++ and ++ 10 damage variants.

I've never once been able to outfit all 18 mechs with ++ and +++ lasers and keep it that way without being allied to Canopius so yeah you could be selling off tons of ML+ and ML++ variants with a bonus you don't like but you'll still have use for the ones you do like that you bought from the Magistracy.

As far as preferring to not ally, cool, you play your way. The point here is to give people information that so far as I can tell has never been available anywhere so they can make informed decisions in their own play

[revenantsknight]

Thanks for writing up this guide - as a compilation this will be a handy reference.

rasilio a écrit :

Most of the time I have seen variations of this question posted the consensus has been that it isn't worth it, that the faction stores are not enough of a benefit to make up for the loss of ability to do missions for the enemies you gain. They seem to forget that it also opens up additional missions for your ally which would not have otherwise been available.

As far as I'm aware, the only additional missions available once allied are a single Flashpoint per faction (and I don't think the Pirates even have that.) Now, if you want to run those for the novelty or RP, then sure, allying adds something, but that's what, 4-5 contracts worth with a good Flashpoint reward? If you ally with anyone you'll see double that number of contracts blocked by your alliance in a standard 1200 day career, so allying is pretty clearly a net negative on contract availability even counting the Flashpoint. If there's more to your argument than the ally Flashpoints, I'd like to know.

That said, allying is still plenty viable if you'd like the RP, and you certainly did good work putting this together for those so inclined.

[Mr.Sardonicus]

Hmmm... Okay. Finally completed enough Steiner contracts to become allies. Now, where exactly is Steiner space so I can visit their stores? Some other threads seem to imply that you need to mod the game???