There’s a glut of choices that you can make in Frostpunk 2, but some alter the game in substantial ways. Case in point: Deciding whether to say an old symbol on a corpse represents Order or Faith alters the rest of the story, so it’s worth considering what each one does before you answer. Luckily, we’re here with a guide covering everything you need to know.
Should You Choose Order or Faith in Frostpunk 2? Outcomes Explained
To cut right to the chase, your choice between Order and Faith in Frostpunk 2 determines which of two different factions you deal with throughout the story.
Choosing Order leaves you with the Stalwarts, while Faith sticks you with the Faithkeepers. Both have their own likes, dislikes, and agendas, and move the story along toward a different end goal for your post-apocalyptic empire. They likewise clash with different groups based on their views, and can cause other factions to emerge at different times.
To that end, it’s best to choose the faction that aligns with your play style and how you want your city to evolve. We’ve provided additional details on both playthrough types and their factions below so you can properly narrow down your choice.
Faith Playthrough Explained – Faithkeeper Abilities, Agendas, and More
The Faith story is one where the Faithkeepers champion equality for all and a more hopeful vision of the future.
All of their initiatives are aimed at making life easier for the wider populace. This can mean fighting for laws that ensure everyone can count on a place to live and food to eat regardless of how much they work. Or, it can mean a strong push for subsidized housing, which addresses the need for shelter without putting as much strain on resources.
Their abilities fall along this same track. Once your relationship with them is good enough, they can hold sermons that unify the city and raise citizens’ trust in you. Once their trust for you is maxed out, they’ll do it automatically and basically ensure you rarely have to deal with heightened tensions from anyone remotely aligned with your vision.
All this is terrific if you want to make a city where Equality reigns, but they aren’t without their drawbacks. The group is aggressively traditional and shuns ideas that lean too far into Progress or Adaptation instead of Tradition.
Case in point: If you try to pass Laws that provide schooling to children instead of apprenticeship programs, or try to change and improve the practices of the old world, their distrust and Fervour are liable to skyrocket. This can also cause friction with factions that want to adjust to their new world and can cause the emergence of the Evolvers.
As such, we recommend the Faith story if you want to build a peaceful utopia where you make the most of what you already know. Any advancements should take advantage of what already exists, and any changes shouldn’t stray too far from the norm of civilization.
Order Playthrough Explained – Stalwarts Abilities, Agendas, and More
An Order playthrough of Frostpunk 2, on the other hand, is all about forcing your way forward into the future alongside the Stalwarts.
They prefer ruthless methods over peaceful ones, and their ability bolsters your force of guards for defense and the disruption of protests. Their agenda leans more toward progress and expansion, with little regard for the good of your citizens or their personal desires.
All of this is great if you want to make your city your way, and the fact that they readily embrace change makes it easier to push experimental Laws and research different ideas. Likewise, their harder stance on opposition makes it incredibly easy to build your city toward Captain’s Authority, wherein you have the last say on every decision.
And yet, this also means it’s incredibly hard to make a kind and thoughtful city that takes care of people. They oppose popular ideas that pull from Tradition, and their “my way or the highway” attitude gives rise to the Pilgrim Faction rather quickly.
It can also be hard not to end up on the fast track to ruin if you don’t keep them in line. This makes the late game more challenging if you didn’t go the Captain’s Authority route, as their swelled numbers can get worked up with Fervour lightning fast.
Keep all of this in mind, and go for them as long as you want a playthrough that’s all about doing things fast and dirty.
What Happens if You Don’t Choose Order or Faith?
But then, you might now be wondering: what happens if you select the third choice, and don’t give meaning to the symbol in Frostpunk 2?
Well, the answer is simple: The game randomly selects a track for you to go down. It’s not really affected by any other choice you make during the prologue chapter, and you then have to deal with Factions that are either right in line with your playstyle or firmly opposed to it. Admittedly, we haven’t had time to fully experience how random this makes the story, but our brief time with it made it seem like the story was chosen for us. If it’s a little more in-depth than that, we’ll update this guide accordingly.
To that end, give this choice a shot if you really want a random experience. Otherwise, choose one of the core story paths to have a little bit more control and a smoother experience all around.
And that’s all we have on whether you should choose the Faith or Order story in Frostpunk 2. Both are wholly viable, and you should go with the one that speaks to you the most. And hey, now that you know all that, you can check out our other guides on every Faction and how to get Heatstamps fast to ensure you have the best playthrough possible.
Published: Sep 17, 2024 01:01 pm