Six patron faiths · per region · drift over time
Who each region prays to.
Every region scores all six patron faiths from 0 to 100. Once you pick a patron at a Temple, regions your patron leads pay you a bonus and regions led by another faith cost you a little. Nothing here is permanent.
What this means in your first week
- You can ignore loyalty at first. Nothing in the early game is locked behind it, and you make no loyalty choice during setup.
- Loyalty only matters once you choose a patron at a Temple (building one needs a Healer on your roster). Until then no region gives you a bonus or a penalty.
- Your home region starts with its native faith at 70, so it is already dominant. Picking that faith as your patron means your home pays you a bonus from day one.
- Nothing is one-way. The first patron pick is free; switching later costs gold (2 per point of devotion you have built with your current patron), and your devotion with the old faith is kept if you switch back. Regional loyalty itself drifts back toward each region's starting values over time.
How loyalty works
Dominant or Contested
The faith with the highest score in a region is dominant, but only if it has at least 35. If no faith reaches 35, the region is Contested and gives no bonus or penalty. Each home region starts with its faith at 70; Tundra, Ruins, Archipelago and Titan Wastes start with every faith at 20, so they begin Contested.
Drift (slow and automatic)
Every 6 hours each faith moves 0.1 back toward its starting value in that region. A consecrated shrine doubles that speed and a recent patrol adds 1.5x (3x at most). Weather the faith likes or dislikes adds up to +1 or -1 a day, and your faction's alignment adds a gentle lean. Drift is capped at 5 points per faith per region per day, and a long absence only catches up 12 hours of it.
Jolts: the things that move loyalty quickly
Jolts are one-off changes from things you do. They are capped at 10 points per faith per region per day, so no single busy day can flip a region on its own.
| Event | Loyalty change |
|---|---|
| Consecrate a shrine to a faith | +15 to that faith, -3 to every other faith in the region |
| A shrine's catechism reaches a new tier | +5 per tier to its faith |
| Break a shrine's covenant (apostasy) | -20 to the old faith, +5 to every other faith |
| Mendicant circuit completes | +3 per visited shrine, to each shrine's faith |
| Finish a quest in the region with a patron chosen | +1 to your patron |
| Fill a region's sacred district | +5 per consecrated shrine there (+3 more if its faith favours that district) |
| A faction patrol stops in the region | +2 to the patrol's faith |
| A pilgrim reaches a shrine | +0.5 to the shrine's faith |
What it does for you: Patronage Bonus and Heretic Penalty
With a patron chosen, every region where your patron is dominant pays a Patronage Bonus that grows with your devotion to that patron (built at the Temple). Every region where a different faith is dominant applies a Heretic Penalty of -5% production and -10% quest gold there. Contested regions give neither. None of this ever applies in the Arena.
| Patronage tier | Devotion | Bonus in regions your patron leads |
|---|---|---|
| Postulant | 0 to 49 | +2% production |
| Acolyte | 50 to 199 | +5% production, +5% quest gold |
| Devotee | 200 to 499 | +8% production, +10% quest gold |
| Apostle | 500 to 999 | +12% production, +15% quest gold, +5% essence drops |
| Saint | 1,000 | +15% production, +20% quest gold, +10% essence drops, +5% activity rewards |
The Loyalty screen also lists extra quest slots at Devotee and above. In 2.0.7 we could not find that part being applied, so do not plan around it.
Where to see it in the game
On the world map, open a region and tap Loyalty. The Faction Loyalty screen shows each faith's score (0 to 100), who is dominant or whether the region is Contested, the Patronage Effect you are getting there, recent shifts, and a "Shift Loyalty Here" list of what you can do about it.
Not the same thing: Faction Specialization
Your own faction's Specialization (the personality with its perk tree) is a separate system and has nothing to do with regional loyalty. It opens at Chapter 8 and faction level 3. It is not a one-way choice either: changing it costs 5,000 gold, 50 gems and 500 essence dust, resets your perks and refunds every perk point, and also changes the rival you face.
The six patron faiths
Greenwood Wardens
Root and canopy. The forest remembers.
- Home region
- Forest (starts at 70)
- Also strong in
- Jungle (15)
- Weather
- Likes fair, rain, clear monsoon. Dislikes ashfall, titan stir, void rift.
- Favoured district
- Frontier
Sunlit Riders
Saddle and psalm. You ride with the sun's permission.
- Home region
- Plains (starts at 70)
- Also strong in
- Coast (35)
- Weather
- Likes fair, clear cold, clear monsoon. Dislikes blizzard, fog, void rift.
- Favoured district
- Military
Ironpeak Conclave
The anvil remembers each blow. The stone has measured you.
- Home region
- Mountains (starts at 70)
- Also strong in
- Highlands (35), Caverns (25), Volcano (15)
- Weather
- Likes blizzard, tremor, clear cold. Dislikes heatwave, sandstorm.
- Favoured district
- Industrial
Bleakfen Coven
Bone and reed answer. The marsh keeps your shadow.
- Home region
- Swamp (starts at 70)
- Also strong in
- Jungle (35), Shadowlands (30), Caverns (15)
- Weather
- Likes fog, void rift, ashfall. Dislikes clear cold, clear monsoon, fair.
- Favoured district
- Sacred
Ashwalker Seers
The dune that does not move. The buried Titans hear your vigil.
- Home region
- Desert (starts at 70)
- Also strong in
- Volcano (30)
- Weather
- Likes heatwave, sandstorm, ashfall. Dislikes monsoon, blizzard, clear monsoon.
- Favoured district
- Civic
Tide Mother
Wave and shore in one breath. The deep has accepted your vigil.
- Home region
- Sundered Coast (starts at 75, Far Reaches)
- Also strong in
- Grows in water-access regions that see storms and floods
- Weather
- Likes monsoon, storm, rain. Dislikes heatwave, sandstorm.
- Favoured district
- Maritime
The five rival factions
Separate from the patron faiths are the NPC rival factions: hostile AI powers you do not court. They have no loyalty score. Their map panel opens after you clear Chapter 3.
Shadow Cartel
ShadowlandsSmugglers and assassins who profit from chaos and run the black markets.
Iron Dominion
MountainsA militaristic empire conquering by force of arms; its war machines threaten every border.
Void Cult
CavernsFanatics of the Void Titan tearing rifts between realms.
Gilded Merchants
CoastA wealthy guild that buys loyalty and silence, manipulating markets and politics.
Thornwatch
JungleRogue rangers and druids who sabotage any who encroach on their sacred groves.
See also Patron shrines (consecration, catechism, apostasy), Living world (patrols and pilgrims) and Districts.