The tides are shifting, Captains. In this latest deep dive, we're taking a closer look at Faction War, where we'll uncover the secrets behind the ever-growing conflict.

What is Faction War?

Tensions across the Indian Ocean have reached breaking point, following Commodore Jonas Vanderkill's capture of the previously-Compagnie controlled Megafort. War is on the horizon and pirates are set to profit: for aligning with a warring faction grants access to elite tactics, and powerful equipment. 

Now is the time to decide! Will it be an alliance with the Compagnie or the DMC? You need not be loyal, of course. But just enough, to get your hands on profits. 

The objective is clear, Captains: capture territories. Advance the war in your factions' favour. Then reap the benefits, and rewards.  

Getting Started - Pledging your Allegiance

When you first log into World Tier 2 during Year 2 Season 3, your journey begins with the "Faction War" quest, which can be accessed in the recommendation screen or by talking with the Faction Broker located at Sainte-Anne or Telok Penjarah.

Note that participation in Faction War is only available to players who have progressed to the endgame.

Once you've chosen the faction you want to support, you'll be able to complete a series of quests designed to introduce you to core systems and gameplay features that make up Faction War. These missions will guide you through key mechanics such as understanding the conflict progress and its opportunities in the Faction War Map.

World Tier 2

It's important to note Faction War is exclusive to World Tier 2, where the full scope of faction-based conflict unfolds. If you switch to World Tier 1, you will not have access to Faction War zones, objectives, or related activities.

Hostility

Once you pledge your allegiance to a faction for the season, whether it's the Compagnie or the DMC, you'll immediately gain level one hostility with the opposing faction. Keep in mind that once you take a side, you will not be able to change it until the war ends.

Battle Phases

The Faction War unfolds across 21 Contested Territories; each considered a strategic battleground between the Compagnie and the DMC. These territories are only contested once per season, so you'll need to make it count when each territory is available.

The conflict is divided into Battle Phases, with the length of each phase being 2 - 3 weeks long. During each phase, 2 to 5 territories will become active combat zones. Once a territory is contested, both factions must compete to gather the most War Assets within that region. When the phase ends, the faction with the highest total War Assets in that territory claims victory and secures control for the rest of the season.

Captured Zones

Once the phase concludes, the previously contested territories transition into captured territories, claimed by the victorious faction which gained the most War Assets in the territory.

War Assets

As the Compagnie and the DMC intensify their struggle for control over the Indian Ocean, both factions will need to amass War Assets to strengthen their position. Since these assets are not exclusive to either side, both factions are competing for the same resources.

Once earned, War Assets are automatically attributed to the faction you've pledged allegiance to during the current war. Your personal contribution will be visible across various in-game screens, allowing you to track your impact on the conflict. In Faction War, rewards tracks are tied to your war effort, territories captured and the outcome of the war. Most of the equipment you unlock, such as weapons for instance, are directly tied to the number of War Assets you accumulate. 

It's important to note that War Assets cannot be lost as the season progresses. Don't go thinking you'll be able to steal War Assets from the enemy faction, as you won't be able to. This means every gain is permanent and every effort counts.

War Assets can be earned through activities, in both PvE and PvP, giving you plenty of opportunities to support your faction and influence the outcome of the war.

Roaming Warships

Within a Contested Territory, Compagnie and DMC warships will appear as part of active fleets, each carrying valuable War Assets. Be aware that you won't be able to loot War Assets from ships belonging to your own faction, so choose your targets wisely.

Plunder

Opposing Faction's POIs within Contested Territories will have War Assets as part of their plunder loot as well.

Random Events

If a random event such as the Hostile Waters Ambush occurs within a Contested Territory, players will be rewarded with War Assets upon completion.

War Events

Forts must be defended, convoys protected, and cargo seized. Faction War introduces three new events in Y2S3; Fort Defence, War Convoy, and War Cargo, with more events planned in the future. Each of these War Events brings opportunities to earn valuable War Assets that will help your faction in the war.

War Convoy

A heavily armed convoy of warships is racing back to secure a substantial cache of War Assets. Intercept their path, disrupt enemy plans and claim valuable resources for your faction.

Your faction allegiance determines which war convoys are visible. Once you've picked a faction, only the enemy's war convoys will show up for you to target.

You'll need to successfully eliminate the entire convoy to earn those all-important War Assets for your chosen faction. Both the Compagnie and DMC will have different routes they'll take, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled; knowing each route may give you the edge in achieving success.

Fort Defence

Waves of the enemy faction are advancing toward Forts. Their intent is clear; seize control and claim War Assets. The Compagnie and DMC are calling on all allies to stand firm and defend these strategic locations.

With each wave, the enemy grows stronger and will test your skill and coordination. Depending on the faction you've pledged allegiance to, you'll only see and interact with fort defences belonging to that side. This will ensure your efforts are focused entirely on protecting your faction's strategic assets from the enemy faction.

While both War Convoy and Fort Defence activities can be completed solo, they're designed with co-op play in mind. So, rally your fellow Captains, work together, and earn as many War Assets for your faction as possible.

War Cargo - PvP (1v1)

In War Cargo, you'll need to retrieve a valuable War Asset chest and deliver it to a marked outpost to "bank" the reward for your chosen faction. However, the mission won't be easy, as you'll face a player from the enemy faction.

This is a 1v1 opt-in PvP event, where one player from each Faction War side will go against each other. Upon the event starting, both players can engage in PvP and must fight each other to secure the cargo. If only one player joins the event, AI Privateers will step in as hostile opposition, attempting to intercept and prevent delivery.

The event will continue until the player with the cargo has successfully docked at the location the cargo needs to be delivered to.

Only one faction will walk away with the War Asset, the question is, will it be yours?

Coming later in Year 2 Season 3 will be an additional War Event, Elite Warship.

Elite Warship

As the War intensifies, pressure mounts on both factions. The legendary warships Soleil Royal and Opwelling, now fully committed to the Faction War, will re-emerge under the new banners of: Soleil Imperial and Opstuwing, stronger than ever to break the enemy. We'll have more details to share closer to when this War Event becomes available during Year 2 Season 3.

Daily Contracts

The Faction War Broker will also have daily contracts that you'll be able to complete. Make sure to note that these daily contracts will not grant War Assets. Instead, you'll earn silver and Gildmarks.

End of the War

As previously mentioned at the end of the Faction War, the faction that controls the greatest number of Territories will be declared the winner.

Once the war concludes, the Faction War system enters a temporary Rest period. At this point, no new territory battles or War Asset contributions will be available. However, you will still be able to claim any rewards you've earned during this time.

Faction War Rewards

Speaking of rewards, let's take a quick look at what you can earn along with the new equipment coming with Faction War. As you participate there will be three ways in which you'll be able to obtain rewards:

Personal War Contribution

This reward track is based on your individual engagement and contribution to Faction War. You will progress through this track by contributing War Assets, which reflect their personal efforts during each Battle Phase. The sort of rewards you can expect include:

• Exclusive Weapons & Furniture

• Curated Ascended Weapons

• Valuable materials & other rewards

Exclusive New Equipment (Y2S3)

• Heavenly Thunder (Sea Fire)

• Virulent Accord (Sea Fire)

• Leyden Vault Array (Minor Furniture)

• Cascade Coil Bench (Minor Furniture)

• Curare Crushing Bench (Minor Furniture)

Territories Controlled

The Territories track reflects the collective success of everyone in the faction you've chosen to back during the war. These rewards will be tied to the number of Territories your Faction controls. As you capture more territories you will work your way to unlocking a Faction Exclusive Ship set.

End of War Result

At the end of the season, you will receive a unique reward based on whether your Faction wins the War. For the upcoming season the winning Faction will unlock a Captain Vanity set.

Skull and Bones Tools

As the game grows, so does the Skull and Bones Tools website. With the launch of Faction War on the horizon, Heinz, the brilliant mind behind the community-made tools site, has been hard at work integrating this exciting new feature into the website. We're excited to give you a look at the upcoming State of War page, set to go live with the launch of the season.

• Territory Control - An overview of how many territories each Faction has won.

• Battle Progress - Updates on the current battle phase.

• Upcoming Territories - A preview of which regions are up for grabs next.

• War News - Key developments and strategic shifts as the conflict unfolds.

Evolution of Faction War

With this devblog, we also want to give some insight into how Faction War has evolved throughout its development and testing.

Shaping The New Endgame Experience With You

In our first testing phase, we trialled a two-phase Battle structure: Skirmish in week one and Invasion in week two. Skirmish focused on gathering War Assets to gain a strategic edge, while Invasion saw the leading faction defend forts and the trailing faction attempt to steal assets via attacking convoys. Players were able to loot War Assets on their associated faction and could also reaffirm or change faction allegiance at the start of each phase.

The most consistent feedback we received was around the unclear mechanics of Faction War, especially around scoring, objectives, and how individual actions impacted the success of each faction. Additionally, the reward system didn't resonate with the players, based on feedback, the reward track lacked uniqueness and didn't reflect the competitive spirit or identity of Faction War, making the content feel disconnected from the feature's core experience.

Based on all the feedback we received during the first testing phase, we made a tough but necessary decision to take more time to polish the feature focusing on quality. This meant postponing its launch from the Season 2 Mid-Season Update. Since then, the team has put all their energy and focus into improving the experience and ensuring that its first launch sets the right foundation for the new endgame ahead.

Building on that feedback from the first test, we introduced several key changes to make Faction War feel more engaging and responsive to player actions.

To start, we removed the two-week structure and the ability to loot War Assets from ships belonging to your own Faction, allowing for a more dynamic and immersive player experience. We also introduced War Events; the exclusive content designed specifically for Faction War.

One of the most significant changes was a complete overhaul of the reward system. The new triple reward track now reflects:

• Individual player contribution
• Faction-controlled territories
• End-of-war outcomes

And finally, we made a change to faction allegiance: once a player has chosen a faction, they must commit to it for the duration of the war.

Overall feedback from the second testing phase and an increase in engagement compared to previous testing confirmed that our commitment to a stronger focus on quality first approach when introducing new content and improving the core experience based on your feedback was the right call. And this approach will continue to guide the direction moving forward.

The second testing phase also surfaced several key takeaways around the gameplay dynamics in Faction War. First, there was a split in feedback around PvP and PvE. Some were eager for more competitive, faction-driven PvP encounters, whilst others preferred a more cooperative PvE experience.

Secondly, we found players expressed confusion around the friendly fire and hostility rules. While it's still being fine-tuned, it already makes interactions feel more dynamic and true to your allegiance. Your chosen faction will be a bit more lenient toward you at first, even if they don't fully trust you as an ally yet.

Lastly, concerns were raised about faction balance, with players questioning whether certain factions might have an advantage due to population size or design.

We'll continue to monitor community sentiment closely after launch to ensure Faction War keeps evolving with your feedback at the heart of it. 

Future of Faction War

The launch of Faction War in Year 2 Season 3 is the first chapter in our long-term vision to evolve the Skull and Bones’ endgame experience, with various gameplay mechanics on the horizon. Our focus right now is on building a strong foundation, one that we can meaningfully expand together.

The team is looking into various directions, including adding new types of Events, ties to the Helm and Seasonal Journey, and the possibility of new forces entering the fray. These ideas are still in early exploration and are subject to change.

With our continued commitment to a quality-first approach and strengthening the core experience, how Faction War evolves with largely depend on your feedback and how you engage with the new content. So, make sure to share your thoughts and feedback, as this will play a big role in helping to shape the future of Faction War.