Frostpunk 2 throws players into a freezing wasteland, forcing them to make some rather questionable choices to help the city grow, aid innocent civilians, and appease factions to help enact policies and laws.
As such, there are plenty of confusing aspects for players to explore. Which policies should you research first? Should you sacrifice the elders? Should you automate the workforce? Which laws should you pass to appease specific factions? It’s all rather tricky to balance.
So, to help you out, here’s everything you need to know about the factions in Frospunk 2, from their beliefs, how to gain their trust, and all those useful abilities that will help keep your city growing, thriving, and most importantly, warm.
All factions in Frostpunk 2
Story mode
Story mode is designed to take players through all the best aspects of Frostpunk 2, while also teaching them how the game works in general. As such, there are only four factions for you to contend with, but they all have some pretty different beliefs and cornerstones.
All the story factions are below:
| Faction | Belief | Cornerstones | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evolvers | Reason, Progress, and Adaptation are the best ways to overcome the Frost. They’re also into Science and Innovation. | – Adaptation– Merit– Reason | Enhance Workers: Increases Production Efficiency citywide. |
| Faithkeepers | They value Tradition and Equality and want to rely on the Generator while finding ways to make it stronger. | – Progress– Equality– Tradition | Evening Prayers: Increases Trust. |
| Pilgrims | The Pilgrims support adapting to the frost, as long as Tradition and Equality are maintained. | – Adaptation– Equality– Tradition | Deploy Guides: Speeds up expedition time in the Frostlands. |
| Stalwarts | The Pilgrims support adapting to the frost, as long as Tradition and Equality are maintained. | – Progress– Merit– Reason | Recruit Enforcers: Provides additional Guard Squads. |
Utopia Builder
Utopia Builder is a lot more freeing in Frostpunk 2, giving players tons of factions to discover, appease, or get rid of. Unlike the story, each has their own passive ability as well as an active, meaning you’ll need to be careful before annoying anyone, as it could greatly benefit your city if they’re appeased.
All the Utopia Builder factions are below:
| Faction | Belief | Cornerstones | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemians | Artists and rebels who make adaptations a form of art. They want to bring down inequalities and old traditions. | – Adaptation– Equality– Reason | – Mindshaping (Active): Increases Trust.– Trust Fostering (Passive): Randomly boosts relations with communities while the Bohemians are happy. |
| Icebloods | Tradition, Merit, and Adaptation must be pursued equally to make the best city. | – Adaptation– Merit– Tradition | – Volunteer Expeditions (Active): Increases Food output by 80.– Hunting Trips (Passive): Increases overall Food production while the Icebloods are happy. |
| Legionnaires | Acting as the front line against the Frost, the Legionnaires value discipline, equality, and tradition. | – Progress– Equality– Tradition | – Raise Prefabs (Active): Instantly provides Prefabs.– Guard Recruitment (Passive): The city has extra Guard Squads while the Legionnaires are happy. |
| Menders | Rugged explorers who view the frostlands as their new home. | – Adaptation– Equality– Tradition | – Rescue Operations (Active): Increases population by rescuing survivors from the Frostland.– Exploration Support (Passive): Expeditions are faster while the Menders are happy. |
| Overseers | Elite engineers who want to establish technological primacy of the few. | – Progress– Merit– Tradition | – Overdrive Output (Active): Increases Production Efficiency.– Voluntary Patrols (Passive): Crime is reduced while the Overseers are happy. |
| Proteans | Rationalists who are dedicated to adaptation and merit-driven evolutions. | – Adaptation– Merit– Reason | – Coordinate Patient Care (Active): Returns sick patients to the workforce instantly.– Healthcare Assistance (Passive): Disease is reduced while the Proteans are happy. |
| Technocrats | A tech-minded faction who uses rationale and calculations to further the city. | – Progress– Equality– Reason | – Optimize Research (Active): Increases research speed.– Maintenance Optimization (Passive): Materials Demand is reduced while the Technocrats are happy. |
| Venturers | Meticulous individuals who are always looking for the best deal. | – Progress– Merit– Reason | – Finance Mercenaries (Active): Recruits additional Guard Squads.– City Investment (Passive): Heatstamp income is increased while the Venturers are happy. |
How to gain Factions’ trust
Gaining the trust of Factions isn’t an easy venture, as most will either work with or heavily against their fellow factions.
As such, you’ll need to keep a close eye on your relationship with the factions and work to enact laws that both help the city and appease any lower factions. Thankfully, some work well together, like the Pilgrims and Faithkeepers through Equality, Subsidised housing, and automation. On top of this, the Stalwarts and Evolvers both love efficiency and rewarding hard workers.
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Below are some tips on the best ways to appease specific factions in story mode:
- Evolvers
- Pass laws that reward people based on their work like Efficiency Bonuses.
- Encourage change to survive the Frost by creating buildings that push scientific discovery forward like Teaching Hospitals.
- Prioritize efficiency as much as possible.
- Faithkeepers
- Pass Laws that encourage equality and tradition like Traditional Funerals, Equal Pay, and Mandatory Unions.
- Create Subsidized Housing, and research technologies that automate the workforce.
- Prioritize equality.
- Stalwarts
- Pass Laws that advance new technologies.
- Reward hard workers through laws like Efficiency Bonuses,
- Pass laws and research to create a society where workers are made to provide the most output possible.
- Enact order whenever possible, through whatever means possible.
- Pilgrims
- Prioritize Laws that increase Equality.
- Work to reduce strain on workers with automated workforces.
- Support Adaptation initiatives.
- Create buildings that help people like Subsidized Housing.
As for Utopia Builder, the best method here, given there are so many factions, is to keep an eye on their Cornerstones and Beliefs. If you spot a faction you want to keep getting low, promise a law or research that is beneficial for other factions. It’s quite the juggling act, but as long as you keep their beliefs in mind, you can use them to bounce off each other and benefit multiple people for just one policy.
It’s also worth keeping in mind the factions’ actions. They won’t improve the trust of other factions, but they can help you enact more policies and complete research faster (thanks Technocrats).
Faction actions explained
Faction actions are a pivotal aspect of Frostpunk 2 and are something you can’t ignore if you want to survive.
Essentially, faction actions are enactable bonuses for your city. For example, if you get to a good standing with the Stalwarts, you can Recruit Enforcers to keep crime down. This doesn’t cost you anything and is a great bonus if your city is struggling.
Appeasing aside, we recommend you keep an eye on all the faction’s abilities and passives. If you’re struggling for a resource, check the factions and see what you can enact. Sometimes you’ll need to enact some questionable laws just to increase favor and grab their abilities, which will in turn grant more food, Prefabs, Heatstamps, or workers.
So, that’s all you need to know about Factions in Frostpunk 2. While loading up your next run through the deadly Frost, be sure to check out how to grab more Cores, or where to find permanent fuel for all your heating needs.