Shadow Empires introduced a new concept in the game – factions. At the start of the game, players select their tribe and additionally a faction. There are 5 factions. Each faction starts the game in a different position on the map:

Empire – in the center	Dynasty – in south-east
Rebels – in north-west	Horde – on the east
Marauders – on the north

In the beginning, new players of a specific faction will start in the same region. Once it’s filled, newer players will start appearing in another region nearby, and so on. It doesn’t depend on quarters or distance from the map center anymore.

Regions

Factions not only determine the starting position of players, but they also introduce a new level of cooperation between players.

Regions are now conquered by factions, not by individual alliances. Both factions and alliances that helped conquer regions gain victory points. However, only one alliance can access the ancient power of the region. See the article about regions and ancient powers for more details.

Players and alliances in factions

Players select their faction at the start of the game and cannot change this selection.

An alliance belongs to the faction of the player who created that alliance. It also cannot be changed later.

However, players are free to join any alliance they want. So even if you started the game playing for Rebels, you could join an alliance that belongs to Horde or any other faction.