For those who enjoy strategy games, the same old factions and cultures can become stale and tiresome over the years. But a beginner guide to faction creation in Age of Wonders 4 helps shake things up and keep repeat playthroughs fresh!
How Faction Creation Works in Age of Wonders 4?
There are multiple steps in the faction creation process, from choosing a physical form for your people to their culture to your ruler’s origin and Tome of Magic. It’s a lot to unpack for newcomers to the franchise and strategy games.
Faction Form
Whether you’re working with just the base game or an expansion or two, you have plenty of options for the appearance of your faction. Some of the highlights include:
- Halfling
- Goblinoid
- Ratkin
- Toadkin
- Molekin
- Dwarfkin
- Orcoid
Each form in this step alters your faction’s Body and Mind traits, with some receiving Defensive Tactics and others more arcane abilities for frontline combat. That said, you can pick your traits, too, for the ultimate custom faction.
Related: How to Recruit Heroes in Age of Wonders 4
Culture
Again, you have multiple options to choose from. These cultures change the appearance of your faction, allowing them to wear different types of armor and wield unique weapons. In the background, your culture alters your affinity, the style of buildings you can erect, your combat focus (melee, ranged, etc.), and various abilities, like gaining the power to find resources in the mountains with Industrious.
For new players, I recommend either Feudal or Industrious. Both offer a fantastic base for your custom faction, with martial and industrial traits to help bolster your economy and keep the front lines pushing forward against your enemies.
Society Traits
When creating a faction in Age of Wonders 4, you can select two Society Traits to flesh out your faction further. These traits affect your culture’s affinity: Order, Chaos, Nature, Shadow, Materium, and Astral. You’re not locked into a specific affinity, though. For example, you can choose Astral and Shadow to create magic-wielding masters of the land.
You will want to read through each carefully, however. They all affect gameplay in some manner, with some unlocking unique abilities for your entire faction.
Tomes of Magic
Your Tome of Magic is the spellbook that dictates what type of magic and abilities your culture can use. For example, if you look at the screenshot of my most recent faction, you’ll see I went with the Tome of Enchantment. It’s a buff-based spellbook specializing in physical damage with Golems, which I felt was perfect for a Dwarfkin kingdom.
You may opt for the Tome of Faith, which provides combat healing abilities, or perhaps you prefer the Tome of the Horde, which focuses on cheap units to overwhelm your enemies. You have plenty of options to customize your combat abilities further here.
Related: Optimal Steam Deck Settings for Age of Wonders 4
Your Ruler
The last step is to customize your ruler by selecting their name and title and then choosing your Race Name. From there, you can also set their origin between either Champion or Wizard King.
- Champion
- Provides additional income and stability to all cities.
- Non-Hero units gain additional experience.
- Start the game with +100 Relations with Free Cities.
- Wizard King
- +10% Mana income for all cities.
- +5 World Map and Combat Casting Points per level.
- Unlocks the Overchannel ability, allowing two spell casts per turn.
Once you’re done crafting your faction ruler, the only thing left is to jump into the game proper and start conquering the land. Best of luck to you!
Age of Wonders 4 is a vast game with many fresh mechanics to explore for fans of the 4X strategy genre. For instance, learning to acquire Archmage Attire can prove challenging, but Gamer Journalist has you covered on that front!
