The Outer Worlds Factions and Reputation explained: How to find Factions and gain Reputation

The Outer World Factions are a variety of organisations that that have laid claim to their own corner of the Halcyon system.

Whether it's the anti-capitalist Iconoclasts of Monarch or the independent people living on the Groundbreaker space station, your actions can either leave you revered or despised in the eyes of these factions.

This page will go over how reputation works in The Outer Worlds, what Factions you meet, and key quests that can majorly impact your reputations - and in turn, some (small) aspects of the ending.

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If you're looking for help with The Outer Worlds, see our Companions page.

How Reputation works in The Outer Worlds

For each faction, there is a positive and negative reputation bar that fills up when you do certain actions. The only way to gain positive reputation is to complete quests, specifically for people who represent a faction.

As an example, take the citizens of Edgewater - the first town you arrive in at the start of the game. Doing quests that help the people you find there will gain you positive reputation for Spacer's Choice.

To gain negative reputation, you can complete quests that negatively affect a certain faction, kill members of that faction, or be caught committing a crime.

Quests where you have to choose between one faction or another are the ones that apply here, which while rare, do pop up a couple times throughout the game.

Killing members of a faction is quite straightforward and applies to guards and non-quest relevant NPCs as well as named characters you come across in a faction's territory. If you're trying not to get on someone's bad side, be careful who you shoot, hit, or otherwise grievously injure.

For all you sneaky types it's worth noting that you're only punished for committing crimes if you're caught. If you want to pick a lock, pick a pocket, or hack a computer, make sure nobody is around to catch you red-handed and you'll be fine.

If members of a faction are hostile to you, check your reputation page. As long as your reputation status with them isn't 'kill on sight', you can leave for a while and come back later when they've calmed down.

Your main reward for maintaining a good reputation among factions is vendor discounts, which get better and better as you gain more positive reputation. It works both ways though, as gaining too much negative reputation can lead to worse vendor prices and even open hostility if you push them too far.

There's also the appearance of factions you've got a good reputation with during the final mission. If you've put in the work helping out people throughout the game, they can have come and help you during some particularly tough firefights.

The more friends you've made, the easier the final battle, so it's worth nurturing a good reputation even if you're not keen on the faction themselves - especially on harder difficulties.

Finally, you can improve your positive reputation gain and lessen your negative reputation with a high-charm character. So if you want to focus on getting the most out of reputation at the start of the game, make sure to set charm to very high in character selection.

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Groundbreaker faction explained and how to increase Groundbreaker reputation

The Groundbreaker space station is an independent faction separate from the influence of The Board where a small population of people try to survive without corporate support.

You'll first travel to the Groundbreaker in the main mission 'Passage to Anywhere' as Phineas instructs you to meet with a black market fence on board.

When you arrive, you can talk to Junlei in the engineering section of the station for the quest 'Happiness is a Warm Spaceship'. Comdt. Sanita at security for 'Who Goes There?', and Edna Ingmire in engineering for 'The Silent Voices'.

All of which are quests that will provide positive reputation with the Groundbreaker faction.

Iconoclasts faction explained and how to increase Iconoclasts reputation

Found on Monarch within the town of Amber Heights, the Iconoclasts are a group of free people who are against the corporate powers that rule the system. You'll pass by the town of Amber Heights while doing the main quest ' Radio Free Monarch', which is where the faction is located.

Once you enter, talk to Ash at the bar for the quest 'Little Memento', their leader Graham for 'Pay for the Printer', and Bronson by the entrance for 'Odd Jobs' - all of which will provide positive Reputation towards the Iconoclasts faction.

Watch out for the quest 'The Canid's Cradle' which forces you to support the Iconoclasts, Monarch Stellar Industries, or negotiate peace between the two.

If you side with Monarch, expect to gain huge amounts of negative reputation with the Iconoclasts. Therefore, if you want to keep this faction in your good books - you'll have to pick one of the other options.

Monarch Stellar Industries faction explained and how to increase Monarch Stellar reputation

A corporation once loyal to the board, Monarch split off as a fairer force for the workers of the system. You first run into this faction while doing the main quest 'Radio Free Monarch' when you first land on the planet.

You arrive on the Stellar Bay landing pad, the hub for the Monarch Stellar Industries.

Once you arrive in Stellar Bay, talk to Velma in the warhouse for the quests 'Herrick's Handiwork' and 'The Secret People' and go to the apartments to trigger the quest 'The Stainless Steel Rat'.

These will get your started towards a positive reputation with Monarch Stellar Industries.

Once again, the quest 'The Canid's Cradle' can have a seriously negative affect on your reputation with Monarch Stellar Industries. To stay friendly with this faction, you'll either have to side with them and fight off the attacking Iconoclasts, or establish peace between the two factions.

Sublight Salvage and Shipping faction explained and how to increase Sublight Salvage and Shipping reputation

Using a legitimate salvage company as a front, Sublight are essentially space pirates and smugglers that take what they want and are more than willing to get into a scrap for it.

You can first find Sublight on the Groundbreaker at their offices on the 5th floor of the station, but you can also run into them at Fallbrook in the south of Monarch Wilderness.

To get you started, talk to Lilya Hagen in the Sublight Offices on the Groundbreaker for the quests 'Space Crime Continuum ' and 'The Ice Palace'. Then head to Fallbrook and complete quests there such as 'Spratkings' from Nelson and 'Slaughterhouse Clive' from Catherine.

While on the quest 'The Ice Palace' you will enter a space station with Mechanical Sentries on board. Killing these enemies will give you negative reputation with The Board, so disable them at a computer if you have the hacking skill of 60, otherwise try to avoid them unless you want to gain some unnecessary negative reputation.

Another quest to look out for is 'The Chimerist's Last Experiment' will have you decide the fate of a scientist in Byzantium. Choosing to let her live and stay where she is will upset Sublight, but will make The Board happy.

Forcing her to work with Phineas Welles or killing her will gain you negative reputation with The Board, but it's worth keeping in mind that killing her is the only way to continue working with Lilya, so you've got to pick between The Board, Sublight, and your morales here.

The Board faction in The Outer Worlds explained and how to increase The Board reputation

The Board are the capitalists and CEOs that run the system, trying to milk every planet for as much profit as they can. You first run into them at The Board's office on the Groundbreaker, but later you can find quests all over Byzantium.

When you first arrive at the Groundbreaker, go to the medical section and accept the quest 'Worst Contact' and pay off Jessie's debt. Then, once you get to Byzantium talk to Hortense for 'Why Call Them Back From Retirement', Maverick Johnston for 'At Central' and Celeste in her clothing store for 'Makes Space Suits, Won't Travel'.

Spacer's Choice faction in The Outer Worlds explained and how to increase Spacer's Choice reputation

This corporation runs Edgewater, the first town you come across North East of your ship in Emerald Vale.

You first go there for the main quest 'Stranger in a Strange Land', but once you're there you can also do quests such as 'Die Robot' which Ludwig gives you at the Edgewater landing pad, 'Fistfull of Digits' which Constable Reyes gives you at the jail, and 'The Long Tomorrow' that Abernathy gives you from his house in the centre of town.

Be careful when on the quest 'Stranger in a Strange Land' as it requires you to chose between sending power to either Edgewater or Botanical.

If you want to avoid gaining negative reputation with Spacer's Choice you should send the power to Edgewater, but bare in mind this will lead to negative reputation gain with the Deserters faction.

Deserters faction in The Outer Worlds explained and how to increase Deserters reputation

People from Edgewater tired of the in-humane treatment of workers, this smaller faction is comprised of those who left the life of corporate servitude behind.

You first come here for the main quest 'Comes Now the Power', but while you're there you can pick up the two quests 'The Frightened Engineer' from Thomas near the workbench and 'A Few kindred Spirits' from Grace at the entrance.

Again, be aware that during the 'Stranger in a Strange Land' quest you'll have to choose between giving Edgerwater or the Botanical Labs power. If you want to remain friendly with the Deserters, you should send the power to the labs, although you'll also gain negative rep with Spacer's Choice if you do so.

Auntie Cleo faction in The Outer Worlds explained and how to increase Auntie Cleo reputation

A Corporation that produces medical products and runs the R&D settlement of Roseway, they are the sole faction you interact with in the Roseway Gardens area and have little impact on the world outside of this zone.

You receive the quest 'The Doom that came to Roseway' while on your ship, which allows you to travel to the Roseway Gardens.

Once you're there, head to Roseway for quests like 'The Amateur Alchemist' from Vaughn, 'By his Bootstraps' from the head scientist Anton, and 'Vulcan's Hammer' from Orson who can be found in his own lab.

The Outer Worlds begins on Terra-2 where you can complete The Frightened Engineer quest and decide whether to divert power to Edgewater or the Botanical Lab. Once you’ve fixed The Unreliable, you can complete Weapons From the Void to unlock the Science Weapons.

You can crew The Unreliable with a crew of companions and manage your reputation with various factions too. Finally, if you’re ready for spoilers, we have a guide on the various endings.

C and Boarst Factory faction in The Outer Worlds explained and how to increase C and P Boarst reputation

Under the control of Clive Lumbergh, C and P runs a large factory in the South West of the Monarch Wilderness where they produce Boarst, a popular meat product made from Cystypigs that's making Clive lots of money on an otherwise impoverished planet.

You end up going to the factory for the quest 'Slaughterhouse Clive' for Catherine in Fallbrook, but talk to Clive instead of killing him and you'll receive the quest 'A Cysty-Dance with Death'.

This quest is the only way to receive positive reputation with this faction, but nets you negative reputation with Sublight in return. What do you get for doing this? Shipments of Boarst to your ship free of charge! Is it worth it? Probably not.

But it's the only way to become friendly with Clive's secondary faction.