Age of Conan - Khitai Factions Guide

All the information you need on Khitai factions:
How to get started? Which factions should I choose? Where are faction vendors?

Getting Started

The Rise of The Godslayer expansion introduces twelve factions, two of which remain secret until the player seeks them out by completing their first quests. Excluding the two secret factions, you'll be able to join five factions, making the opposing factions hostile towards you.

Each faction has vendors that offer different rewards, including multiple sets of armor, weapons, cloaks, potions and companions. The best armors require you to reach Rank 4 to be able to purchase them.

Three factions set themselves apart by allowing you to earn a special mount at: Tamarin's Tigers for their Tiger pet/mount, Wolves of the Steppes for their Wolf pet/mount and the Hyrkanians who allow you to purchase painted Horse mounts.

Which factions you pledge your allegiance to will depend on what rewards they can offer you. All factions have vendors who sell armors, weapons, potions and others things (cloaks, necklaces, pets).

To go to Khitai, speak with the Khitai Pathfinder in Khemi (1179, 873). He'll offer you two options: pay 20 silver to automatically travel to the Gateway to Khitai or you protect the caravan for free, which pops a random encounter where you complete a short quest.



First things first, before going to Khitai, you will need to obtain the quest "Making Contact" from King Conan himself. You don't have to be level 80 to start your journey in Khitai as the quest is available once your destiny quests allow you to meet Conan. The quest will send you to meet Conan's agent in Khitai, Astreas, who stands at the gate of the Northern Grasslands.



Note: you can skip talking to Conan and go straight to Astreas in the Northern Grasslands if you wish (and you can get it starting at level 76).

Once you've spoken with Astreas, you will be tasked with meeting the 8 faction representatives present in Northern Grasslands. Once you've spoken to all of them, you speak again with the faction of your choice and you give them a scroll, officially joining that faction and making you the enemy of the opposing faction (If you want to make this faster, talk to the factions you won't be joining first, speaking to the factions you want last, so you can give them your scroll right away).

Brittle Blade vs. Shadow of Jade
Children of Yag-Kosha vs. Yellow Priests of Yun
Last Legion vs. Scarlet Circle
Hyrkanians vs. Wolves of the Steppes

For the remaining two factions, you will have to travel to the next map, Chosain Province. Speak with Yat-sen at the entrance of the map, down the stairs. Then you can go see the representatives for Tamarin's Tigers and Scholars of Cheng-Ho in the city of Shaulun.

Factions

This section is for those interested in the lore behind the factions. This can be read in-game in the Factions window so feel free to skip this part.

The Brittle Blade

"Sometimes when strength of arms or sorcery won’t do, the silent blade is the answer. The God-Emperors of Khitai have known this truth for centuries and they have often had cause to use the services of the Brittle Blade. Once a death cult formed around the ritual of human sacrifice, time has changed the Brittle Blade so that the ritual itself is what they worship. They respect the clean kill, the silent kill and the untraceable kill. They respect the goddess of death and they claim that when death comes, a man of courage can grasp her tightly and ask of her a question which she must answer truly."

Yellow Priests of Yun

"The priests of Yun are mainly responsible for two things, the cultivation of the lotus plant and the worship of the emperor of the underworld; the god Yun. They believe that in order to keep the universe in balance, the Emperor of the Underworld must approve of the God-Emperor in the real world. To this end, they have been opposed to the God-Emperor Yah-Chieng since he overthrew the former emperor. The Priests of Yun use human sacrifice to speak with the spirits in the underworld, and they have come in contact with Li-Yah, the spirit of the former emperor. Their ultimate goal is to see the rightful emperor on the throne. Who exactly that is, only the Priests of Yun know."

The Scarlet Circle

"The Scarlet Circle has, effectively, achieved its goals. They are the ultimate power in Khitai, as well as the one controlling the Entity, which is one of the most powerful artifacts ever discovered. The Scarlet Circle as a group of sorcerers is a relatively small circle. There are probably no more than ten or twelve members at any time. However, the Scarlet Circle often hire mercenaries to escort them on their various expeditions. By default the mercenaries then become known as Scarlet Circle Guardians. So while the Scarlet Circle itself is rather small, the organization has a name that extends very far."

Shadows of Jade

"The Shadows of Jade are an organization in a desperate situation. Chaos rules the empire and their profession is now filled by those who are willing to go beyond the moral limits of what their organization allows. In short, their world has fallen apart. They turned their resources to the search for understanding of their current situation and what they found was that Yah-Chieng’s neglect of his empire had allowed such rampant thievery. Now they seek to restore order to the empire and they know of only one way to do it; ending the reign of the current God-Emperor."

The Last Legion

"The soldiers of the Last Legion man the great wall despite the lack of contact with their superiors in the east. They hold true to their ideals of defending the wall and they have a dream of the empire. Their leader, Po-sha is mostly concerned with getting himself rich – he lives in the Kang Pagoda, just inside the great wall. He rules them as an administrator, but he is far more concerned with his lecherous ways than he is with ensuring that the empire is protected. As far as Po-sha is concerned, the less news from the interior, the better. He can continue lording it over the peasants of the region and pursuing his own deviant desires."

Scholars of Cheng-ho

"The Scholars of Cheng-ho used to rule the city of Shaulun. In the slender towers of the city, they used seeing-glasses to peer upon the face of their beloved goddess. In the darker times of the month, they summoned her servants, the Moon Children, a species of mischievous spirits who dwell in the underworld. The vast amounts of money being paid out by the opposing sides in the conflict have led to huge economic pressure on those living in the neutral city of Shaulun. As a result, the Scholars have been pushed from their homes. Pretending false sympathy, the Warlord of Gun Hai lured them north to his city. But the Warlord betrayed them and enslaved the Moon Children, refusing to allow them to return to the underworld. The Scholars were put to work in the city, creating potions and war machines for his use."

Children of Yag-kosha

"These are the men and women who worshipped the gentle god, Yag-kosha, until he was stolen away by the evil sorcerer, Yara. They are few in number, but they are powerful in the white sorceries taught them by Yag-kosha. When their god was stolen from them, they vowed to wander the lands spreading his word until he returned to them. Then, when the cataclysm began almost 25 years ago, they divined that their god had been killed. They learned the name of his killer, Conan. The priests of Yag-kosha know that the God-Emperor is an usurper, guided by the same powers which their god had sought to oppose. They preach insurrection against the God-Emperor (but quietly)."

Tamarin's Tigers

"Tamarin’s Tigers are a band of mercenaries from Vendhya, come to Khitai to fight in the war between the cities of Gun Xiu and Gun Hai. Their methods of warmaking are direct and brutal – they whip themselves into frenzy and then ride their fearsome tiger mounts into battle. Tamarin’s Tigers are known for their bizarre body-piercings and tattoos. Some of the more aggressive members of the mercenary company have filed their teeth to points. Repeated rumor states that the mercenary company was expelled from Vendhya for their practice of cannibalism."

Wolves of the Steppes

"The Wolves are the organized portion of the bandits who plague the central kingdoms. They are organized into packs that attack all across the grasslands, howling their fearsome howl as they charge into battle. Rumor has it that they have tamed the real wolves that prowl the steppes, and they use them as hunting companions. Some survivors have claimed that they have seen bandits riding the great beasts into battle – but that must surely be a lie. The wolves are led by Bhangi Khan, who rumor maintains is more than half-wolf himself."

The Hyrkanians

"Hyrkania is Khitai’s western neighbor and there is no love lost between the two lands. Hyrkania is a vast land of prairies, forest, and tundra. Hyrkania is best known for its broad, barren steppes where horse-warriors, masters of the powerful double-curved bow, gallop the great treeless tracts of land. Living in tribal clans and led by Khans, these warriors ride on raids of plunder. They are lean horsemen in sheepskins and high fur caps lashing their horses and loosing their barbed arrows."

Secret Factions

There are two secret factions in Khitai, both are tied to the story around their respective maps and neither have an opposing faction.

Jiang Shi

"The Jiang Shi are a rumor and a myth, though a persistent one. They are said to be creatures that were once human, but are created when a person’s soul fails to leave their body. They are said to live forever and feed upon the souls of men.

The truth of the Jiang Shi is that they are humans who have been infected by a curse and subsequently changed. The change drives some Jiang Shi insane, leading them to become feral beasts that attack anybody that enters their territory.

The more intelligent Jiang Shi live among the people of Khitai, in their villages and cities, carrying out their daily lives as if nothing has changed. But their lives are uncertain at best, for even the slightest rumor is enough to condemn them to being burnt as a Jiang Shi.

Recently rumor hold that a small village of Jiang Shi can be found in Kara Korum huddled at the edge of the empire just as the Jiang shi have always been huddled at the edge of society."

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To join the Jiang Shi, go to Kara Korum. To discover this faction, you have to find the quest "Telltale Signs" in Fengdu, Kara Korum, by interacting with a symbol on the building that's left of the Shadow of Jade's building. Next to it will be a poster.

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Insurrection

"The dark days that have settled upon Khitai have driven the oppressed and the downtrodden into despair. But there are always those who, when pushed hard enough, will push back.

The people of Paikang whisper of them in quiet corners where they do not think that they can be overheard. The Insurrection, those foolhardy souls who would challenge the God-Emperor himself, hide somewhere in the depths of the Paikang jungles. They are poor, untrained and without strong leadership.

What the Insurrection needs is a leader..."

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To join the Insurrection, go to Paikang. Once you've entered Paikang, go to the first camp on the left and talk to Mei-su to receive the quest "A Hero Comes".

Once you've completed that quest, talk to another NPC in the camp, Zhi-fu, and get the quest "Growing Discontent".

You'll have to talk to the Insurrection leader who is hiding as a plant in the jungle. Once in front of him, do the emote /Salute to start the dialogue.

From here on out, Insurrection quests should be easy to find.

Faction Ranks

Press L to open the Factions window. This is where you'll be able to see how much XP you need to achieve the next faction rank.

All factions have 4 ranks. Each rank gives access to more and more Faction items like Armor, Weapons, Potions and Epic Armor.

Note: Rank 4 is required in any Faction in order to buy Epic Dungeon Armor, Pets and Potions.

You can increase your rank with a faction by:

• By killing members of the opposing faction (if they have an opposition).
  
• Trading in Imperial Insignia's to Faction Heralds (Blue ? above their head) ***
  
• Completing Faction Quests.

***Imperial Insignia's are obtained by completing faction quests***

Tokens

To purchase any item from faction vendors, you need to have the required amount of tokens, most of which are earned by completing quests or dungeons.
Many armor pieces do however drop only in dungeons
( https://aoc.is-better-than.tv/armory.php for all faction armors).

Marks of Acclaim

Marks of Acclaim are obtained by performing faction related activities or quests in Khitai, Dragon's Spine and Vanaheim.

Rare Trophy

Rare Trophies are obtained by completing group and solo Dungeons in Turan, Khitai, Dragon's Spine and Shadow of Vanaheim (all zones accessible by owning the Rise of the Godslayer expansion).

Simple Trophy

Simple Trophies drop from Khitai dungeons in the following maps:

Simple Trophy I - Northern Grasslands

Simple Trophy II - Northern Grasslands and Chosain Province

Simple Trophy III - Chosain Province, Kara Korum and Paikang

// You can also exchange Marks of Acclaim to a "Trader of Fortunes (Mystic Supplies)" merchant to obtain simple trophies //

Trader of Fortunes Locations:

• Pin-Pin, Northern Grasslands (915, 933)
  
• Shaulun, Chosain Province (969, 860)
  
• Fengdu, Kara Korum (450, 121)
  
• Heaven's Lake, Paikang (694, 1407)

Faction Gear & Vendor Locations

Khitai Faction gear doesn't fall in any Tier, however, when compared to Tiered armor sets, it's a bit weaker than T3.5, but stronger than T3 so it's a worthwhile option once your character reaches level 80.

Factions have three types of vendors. Both merchants who sell armor offer 6 Rare pieces and 2 or 3 Epic pieces per class. The third merchant sells weapons, potions, pets, cloaks, necklaces or rings. None of them sell complete sets, meaning any missing pieces can drop in Khitai dungeons.
All three vendor types have different requirements to purchase their items:

Faction Armor: Requires faction ranks and Marks of Acclaim.
Dungeon Armor: Requires no faction ranks, only dungeon tokens (Simple Trophy & Rare Trophy)
Weapons and Accessories: Requires Rank 4, Marks of Acclaim and/or Rare Trophies.

New and experienced players alike often have trouble finding faction vendors so I will provide their locations and coordinates here:

Brittle Blade

• Kara Korum, Fengdu (550,130)
  
• Paikang, Cove of the Blade (995,1345)

Children of Yag-Kosha

• Kara Korum, Fengdu (550,130)
  
• Paikang, Glade of the Elephant God (555,645)

Hyrkanians

• Northern Grasslands, Hyrkanian Camp (455,1410)

Jiang Shi

• Kara Korum, Refuge of Jiang Shi (990,1180)

Last Legion

• Kara Korum, Fengdu (550,130)
  
• Paikang, Baishan (320,1160)

Scarlet Circle

• Kara Korum, Pra-Eun's Palace (1390,1060)
  
• Paikang, Baishan (320,1160)

Scholars of Cheng-Ho

• Chosain Province, Gun Hai (300,1405)

Shadows of Jade

• Kara Korum, Fengdu (550,130)
  
• Paikang, Sanctuary of the Shadows (765,540)

Tamarin's Tigers

• Chosain Province, Gun Xiu (685,110)

Wolves of the Steppes

• Northern Grasslands, Wolves of the Steppes Camp (1210,1395)

Yellow Priests of Yun

• Kara Korum, Fengdu (550,130)
  
• Paikang, Temple of Yun (230,505)

Which factions to choose?

This is easily the most frequently asked question regarding factions.
Your choices here will mostly be based on which factions offer the best armor for your class.
Other things to factor in are weapons, accessories and potions. One faction can offer you an armor set for your class, but their enemy offers you a good weapon, cloak, ring or potion useful in dungeons/raids.

To see what rewards all factions could offer you, you can either go see their vendors or, the easy way, check out this website:
https://aoc.is-better-than.tv/armory.php

Without going too in depth, I've listed a few recommendations below, comparing each faction to their rival to keep it simple, with additional information that might be useful in making your choices.

If you're not familiar with character attributes, I recommend reading this page: https://www.ageofconan.com/news/attributes_and_skills

Best factions for Soldiers

Last Legion is a no-brainer for all tanks as they offer sets of Heavy and Full Plate armor with Hate Increase, decent Protection and good damage.
Scarlet Circle does however offer a good talisman for DT and a Hate Increase cloak for Conq/Guard.

Tamarin's Tigers is a must have for tanks as their Heavy armor sets offer the best DPS out of all factions.

Wolves of the Steppes are a good pick, some of their Full Plate pieces are a good option.
Hyrkanians offer a strength necklace as an alternative.

Brittle Blade offers the best DPS potion once you reach Rank 4 (+25 Strength and +135 Critical Damage Rating).
Shadows of Jade have a Ring with strength and combat rating (but the BB's potion should be priority).

Children of Yag-Kosha offers a 1 HB and a Shield for Guard.
Yellow Priests of Yun offers a 1HB with Hate Increase and a Polearm for Guard.

Best factions for Priests

Scarlet Circle is a no-brainer for Pom/Tos if you're after DPS.
Last Legion offers the best healer potion (+25 Wisdom and +135 Critical Damage Rating).
If you want, you can go with Yellow Priests instead of Scarlet Circle and take the Legion for their potion.

Yellow Priests of Yun and Children of Yag-Kosha both offer good Pom/Tos armors.
The Yag-Kosha one provides the best Heal Rating and some Protection, which are useful in Raids.
The Yellow Priest armor on the other hand has less damage and heal rating, but it gives Wisdom instead of Protection.

Note: When compared to the Scarlet Circle set, you'll notice that out of all three, it does the most damage, but the least amount of healing. For that reason, the Yellow Priests set is seen as a good and balanced set as it's important for a healer do DPS, not just heals.

Both factions offer armors for Bear Shaman as well, but Children of Yag-Kosha's is better and gives the best heal rating for BS.

Tamarin's Tigers offer a very good staff for healers, and Medium armor for the Bear Shaman. Scholars of Cheng-Ho have a decent armor for Heal Rating, but the Yag-Kosha's armor is better, both in damage and heal rating.
Plus, you can get a Pet "Moon Child" once Rank 4 (cannot be used in dungeons/raids).
But is it as cool as riding a Tiger? Definitely not. Most players go with the Tigers here.

Shadow of Jade offers a good DPS armor set for Bear Shaman, a healer shield and a ring.
Brittle Blade offers a good 1HB and a cloak.

Wolves of the Steppes offer a 2HB for Bear Shaman and a necklace for Pom/Tos.
Hyrkanians offer armors for all Healer classes, but they have the worst stats out of all factions. Only good for vanity in this case.

Best factions for Rogues

Brittle Blade is a no-brainer for Sins and Barbs as they offer Light and Cloth armors with strong DPS. There is also a Crossbow for Rangers.
Once you're Rank 4, you can also buy their DPS potion (+25 Strength and +135 Critical Damage Rating).
Shadow of Jade offers Ranger armor. They also have a potion (+25 Constitution and +135 Critical Damage Rating) so Rangers don't lose out much since Dexterity is better than Strength for them.

Tamarin's Tigers is also a no-brainer for Barbs and Rangers.
Scholars of Cheng-Ho have a good necklace for Rangers.

Scarlet Circle Only offers a decent cloth armor set for Sin, Ammunition for Rangers and a good DPS cloak for Barbs and Sins.
Last Legion offers a Ranger cloak and a good 2HE sword for barb.

Children of Yag-Kosha have Sin armor and the Yellow Priest of Yun have Barb armor.
Both factions have Ranger armor, but Yag-Kosha has a potion (+25 Dexterity and +135 Critical Damage Rating) so this should be priority.

Hyrkanians have Ranger and Barb armors.
Wolves have a bow for Rangers and a Sin armor set.

Best factions for Mages

Scarlet Circle is a no-brainer for Mages. They offer the best DPS with their cloth armor. Last Legion only offers a cloak and a staff for Mages.

Brittle Blade and Shadow of Jade both offer cloth armor for mages, but the Brittle Blade's sets are better (especially for Hox) and a good option if you don't want to go for Scarlet Circle.

Yellow Priests sell a good potion for mages once Rank 4 (+25 Intelligence and +135 Critical Damage Rating).
Yag-Kosha offer a ring.

Hyrkanians have a nice sword for Hox.
Wolves have cloth armor (not as good as Scarlet Circle).

Tamarin's Tigers have a necklace and a dagger.
Scholars have cloth armor (not as good as Scarlet Circle).

How to change factions?

If you want to change your allegiance from one faction to another, you have to find poster boards right outside of faction encampments. To change factions, find the faction's poster and click on it. A message will pop up to confirm your choice. When you accept, it resets your faction standing with your old faction to -50 000 points and -5000 points with your new faction. You then have to kill members of your old faction to increase your standing with your new faction to 5000 points to be allowed to do quests.



Here are the coordinates for the poster boards:

Northern Grasslands
Wolves of the Steppes: (1117,1410)
Hyrkanians: (515,1240)
Last Legion: (927,1096)
Scarlet Circle: (1244,1128)
Yellow Priests of Yun: (864,268)
Children of Yag-Kosha: (466,902)
Brittle Blade: (392,315)
Shadows of Jade: (968,1482)

Chosain Province
Tamarin Tigers: (992,866)
Scholars of Cheng-Ho: (1005,866)
Last Legion: (987, 841)
Scarlet Circle: (1094, 774)
Yellow Priests of Yun: (1023,743)
Children of Yag-Kosha: (994,723)
Brittle Blade: (1086,798)
Shadows of Jade: (1082,728)

Kara Korum
Last Legion: (469,220)
Scarlet Circle: (558,102)
Yellow Priests of Yun: (530,133)
Children of Yag-Kosha: (464,130)
Brittle Blade: (527,142)
Shadows of Jade: (584,122)

Paikang
Last Legion: (274,1207)
Scarlet Circle: (330,1190)
Yellow Priests of Yun: (342,534)
Children of Yag-Kosha: (572,709)
Brittle Blade: (1194,1240)
Shadows of Jade: (655,715)