Last Epoch: Merchants' Guild vs. Circle of Fortune
Time: 2025-04-21 by mmojugg Game: Last Epoch Guide Tags: Last Epoch Faction
Choosing between the Merchant's Guild (MG) and Circle of Fortune (CoF) in Last Epoch Season 1.2 can shape your entire endgame experience. Each faction offers unique ways to acquire loot, catering to different playstyles—whether you love trading or prefer solo farming. This guide breaks down the pros and cons of both factions to help you decide which aligns with your goals. For more Last Epoch tips and exclusive gear, please bookmark our site and check out our store for the latest gaming resources!
Understanding the Faction System
In Last Epoch, factions determine how you obtain and exchange items in the endgame. The Merchant's Guild focuses on trading through the Bazaar, while the Circle of Fortune emphasises self-found loot with enhanced drop rates and Prophecies. Both factions require Favour, which is earned by killing monsters and completing quests, to access their features. You can switch factions at any time via the faction panel (default key: Y), retaining your reputation, so experimentation is low-risk.
Below, we analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each faction, drawing on detailed insights into their mechanics and how they interact with game systems, including item drops, market dynamics, and balance changes.
Merchant's Guild: The Trading Powerhouse
The Merchant's Guild is ideal for players who enjoy the social and economic aspects of ARPGS, leveraging the Bazaar for player-to-player trading.
Pros of the Merchant's Guild
High-Value Item Acquisition: MG players acquire fewer items from maps, but each item has a higher chance of being useful due to access to the Bazaar. You can buy exactly what you need, like a meta Red Ring of Valyria, without relying on random drops.
More straightforward Build Pivoting: Liquid wealth (gold) makes it simple to acquire affordable gear for new builds, allowing for quick experimentation before committing to a min-max approach.
Unlimited Stash Space: Listing items for sale effectively frees up stash space, reducing inventory management headaches. This is a significant advantage over Cof's stash constraints.
Off-Meta Opportunities: Savvy players can buy undervalued, off-meta items with high legendary potential (LP) to create powerful builds at a lower cost, bypassing expensive meta uniques.
Faster Power Progression: When played efficiently, MG can gear up a character to a high power level faster than Cof, especially for meta builds, due to direct access to desired items.
Cons of the Merchant's Guild
Competitive Market: You're competing with other players, and inflation can outpace slow farmers, making high-demand items like Red Ring expensive if you're not efficient.
Limited Target Farming: MG cannot target-farm specific uniques (e.g., Red Ring) due to fixed supply, relying on gold farming to buy them. This may improve in 1.2 with Weaver mechanics.
High Game Knowledge Required: Success demands understanding meta builds, item values, and substitutes. Without this, you may struggle to price items or find deals.
Favor Tax: Trading incurs a Favour cost, which can add up, especially for frequent transactions.
Vulnerability to Market Shifts: Balance changes or meta shifts can devalue items you're farming, requiring constant market awareness.
Merchants' Guild Best For:
Players who enjoy trading, have strong game knowledge, and want to gear up the meta quickly, build or experiment with multiple builds.
Circle of Fortune: The Solo Farmer's Dream
The Circle of Fortune is tailored for players who love the thrill of hunting loot themselves, with bonuses to drop rates and access to Prophecies for targeted rewards.
Pros of Circle of Fortune
Enhanced Loot Drops: Cof's loot multiplier increases the quantity and quality of map drops, making every run potentially rewarding.
Targeted Farming via Prophecies: Prophecies allow you to focus on specific item types (e.g., unique rings), with an average cost of ~200,000 Favour for items like a 0 LP Red Ring when using lenses optimally.
Meta-Independent: You don't need to track market trends or meta builds—just kill monsters and collect loot, making it ideal for casual or solo players.
Strong for Random Uniques: Cof excels at farming non-class-specific uniques like Red Ring, which are easier to target via Prophecies compared to exalted items.
Offline Play Advantage: Cof's self-found focus makes it perfect for offline characters, unaffected by online market dynamics.
Cons of Circle of Fortune
Exalted Item Struggles: Exalted items are harder to target via Prophecies, with favour costs nearly matching uniques (e.g., exalted rings vs. unique rings). This can delay build completion, especially for T7 affixes.
Stash Management Issues: Hoarding uniques, exalted items, and crafting materials for potential build pivots consumes stash space, necessitating frequent management.
Slower Build Pivoting: Switching builds is time-intensive, as you must farm new exalted items, and Prophecies don't help much here. This is especially tough at high corruption levels (300–500).
Diluted Prophecy Value: If map drop rates increase (e.g., 10x), Prophecies become less valuable relative to map drops, indirectly nerfing Cof compared to MG.
RNG Dependency: Without the “lottery effect” of MG's market, Cof relies on consistent farming, which can feel grindy without sudden windfalls.
Circle of Fortune Best For:
Solo players, casual gamers, or those who enjoy self-found loot and targeted farming without worrying about market trends.
Weaver Faction: A New Contender in Patch 1.2
Introduced in Season 2, the Weaver faction offers a unique farming system centred around the Weaver tree, imprints, and Woven Echoes. While less discussed in the context of MG vs. Cof, it's worth exploring for its distinct mechanics.
Pros of the Weaver Faction
Influential Imprints: Nodes like Commoners' Riches and Echoing Riches allow you to duplicate uniques (e.g., Aurora's Time Glass) or generate piles of armour/jewellery, ideal for targeting specific gear or trading high-value items.
Flexible Farming: Nodes like Twin Champions, Fury, and Fortune boost rune, glyph, and dungeon key drops, supporting crafting and dungeon farming (e.g., Lightless Arbour keys).
Targeted Echoes: Woven Echoes (e.g., Unclaimed Trove, False Temple) let you farm specific rewards like lost caches or XP shrines, offering tailored farming experiences.
Legendary Potential Boost: The Echoed Legends node gives a 1% chance for champions to drop 1+ LP items, enhancing unique farming.
No Market Dependency: Like Cof, Weaver focuses on self-found loot, making it great for solo or offline play.
Cons of the Weaver Faction
High Risk Nodes: Fury and Fortune increase enemy difficulty (+60% attack speed, +35% movement speed), which can overwhelm undergeared builds.
Complex Management: Managing Woven Echoes, imprints, and tree points requires planning and game knowledge, which may intimidate new players.
Limited Exalted Farming: Like CCof Weaver struggles to target exalted items, relying on random drops or specific echoes.
Memory Amber Costs: Re-rolling idol enchants or buying echoes at Haven of Silk can drain Memory Amber, a scarce resource.
RNG for Echoes: Converting echoes to unlock tree points is RNG-dependent, and optimal echoes may take time to acquire.
The Woven Faction Best For:
Players who enjoy strategic farming, crafting, and targeting specific uniques or dungeon items without trading.
How Game Changes Affect Factions
Balance changes in Last Epoch 1.2 can shift faction viability:
Increased Map Drops: Benefits MG more, as their entire value comes from map drops, while Cof's Prophecies are unaffected, diluting their relative value. Weaver's Woven Echoes may also lose efficiency if random drops outpace targeted farming.
Prophecy Buffs: If Prophecies become cheaper or more effective, Cof gains an edge, as their targeted farming becomes more efficient.
Weaver Enhancements: New Weaver nodes (e.g., Warlord's Riches) or better echo conversion could make Weaver competitive with MG for unique farming or Cof for targeted drops.
Rune of Havoc: This 1.2 addition helps Cof and Weaver target specific exalted affixes, addressing their weakness in exalted farming.
FAQS About Last Epoch Factions
Which faction is best for casual players?
Circle of Fortune is more casual-friendly, requiring no market knowledge and offering enhanced loot drops for solo play.
Can I switch factions without losing progress?
Yes, you can switch factions via the faction panel (Y) at any time, retaining your reputation with each faction you have previously joined.
Is the Merchant's Guild better for min-maxing?
MG is generally faster for min-maxing meta builds due to direct access to high-value items, but it requires efficient farming and market knowledge.
How does New Woven Faction compare to MG and Cof?
Weaver offers a middle ground, with targeted farming like Cof and potential trade value like MG, but it requires strategic node choices and can be riskier.
What's the best faction for offline play?
Circle of Fortune and Weaver are ideal for offline play, as they don't rely on the online Bazaar market.
Thanks for Reading
Choosing the right faction in Last Epoch 1.2 depends on your playstyle—whether you thrive on trading (Merchant's Guild), love solo loot hunting (Circle of Fortune), or enjoy strategic farming (Weaver). Each faction has unique strengths, and with the ability to switch freely, you can experiment to find your perfect fit. Keep following MMOJUGG for more guides to master Last Epoch's endgame!
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