Age of Wonders 4: How to Make Custom Factions

As you start your first playthrough in Age of Wonders 4, the game will prompt you to choose which faction you want to play as. This will significantly affect your entire gameplay and how you build and expand your empire as a whole.

However, one of the biggest features that Paradox Interactive revealed for the upcoming release of Age of Wonders 4 is the ability to make a custom faction.

Basically, this feature lets you make custom factions so you can play whatever faction you want to be. If you’re interested to learn how, this guide should help you out.

How to Make Custom Factions in Age of Wonders 4

Age of Wonder 4’s custom faction feature is pretty robust. Want to become cannibalistic elves? Check! A faction of necromantic Dwarves? Check!

How about a faction of civilized orcs? Big check! It really lets you shape your faction however you want to be – and it all starts at the very start of the game.

During the character creation screen, you’ll be able to pick from a diverse list of pre-made factions in the game. A few good examples are Destined Humans, Bloodfang Orcs, Corrupted Goblins, and First Elves.

If you want to get a feel of the game for your first playthrough, you can instead try out any of the pre-made factions to see which one best suits your playstyle.

Customizing Your Faction

On the other hand, if you’re feeling a little bit cheeky, you can make custom factions instead. To start, all you have to do is click the huge Create Faction button at the top of the factions list.

This will then open up the Physical Form window where you can customize the looks of your faction.

Here, you will be able to decide which race your faction belongs to, such as the Dwarfkin, Molekin, Human, Goblinoid, and Halfling, to name a few.

Each race will come with its own unique traits that set them apart from each other.

For example, the Orcoid race has the Strong trait which increases your units’ physical damage, and the Ferocious trait which allows your units to deal more damage from Retaliation and Opportunity Attacks.

However, you can actually change the built-in traits of your chosen race to whatever you want. All you have to do is click on the trait you want to replace and choose the new trait from the menu to the right.

Choosing Your Culture and Society Traits

Once you’re done, you can then proceed to the Culture page. This is where you’ll be able to choose the particular culture of your faction.

For example, if you want to create a faction of toadkin that specializes in magic, you can choose the Mystic option.

If you want to make a faction of bloodthirsty Elfkin, you can go for the Barbarian faction. The culture you choose will also change the appearance of the units in your faction.

Also keep in mind that the culture you choose will have a huge impact on your gameplay. It can even affect your affinity which is yet another feature of the game that will alter the way you play it.

After that, the next step is to choose your Society Traits. This is yet another aspect that can affect your gameplay, and it will affect how your faction’s society functions as a whole.

For example, if you choose Prolific Swarmers, you’ll benefit from faster city and population growth, higher-ranked units from the start, and reduced upkeep for your army.

You’ll actually get to choose two different traits, so it’s best to make sure that the traits you picked will nicely complement each other.

Picking Your First Tome

After choosing your culture and society traits, the next step is to choose your first tome.

Keep in mind that the tome you pick will affect your gameplay going forward. Each of the tomes will grant unique abilities and effects that set them apart from one another.

Overall, there are a total of 54 different tomes that are then categorized into different affinities.

Also, each tome has its respective tier, with higher-tier ones providing even more powerful effects and bonuses.

We can’t cover all of the tomes in a single article, but you can check out our Tomes of Magic recommendations if you’re starting out.

Choosing Your Ruler

The last step that you have to do to complete your custom faction is to pick your faction leader, also referred to as your Ruler.

You really only have two options here: either go for the Champion or the Wizard King.

The Champion is considered the hero of their respective race, and their people look up to them which, in turn, grants bonuses for your city.

However, this also means that the Champion you create must also come from whichever race you choose for your faction.

On the other hand, the Wizard King won’t necessarily have to match the race of your faction. This is because the lore states that the Wizard King has taken over a faction as its ruler.

You’ll also be able to customize the look of your ruler. Aside from that, you also get the option to decide what equipment your faction ruler will be using.

However, do take note that the type of equipment you picked will determine your ruler’s archetype from the get-go.

For example, if you choose the Axe and Shield, your ruler will basically take on the role of a tank. Meanwhile, the Blight Staff is for those who want their rulers to play as a support.

Once you customized the look of your faction ruler, you’ll then be able to start the campaign and get to building and expanding your empire right away.

Simply follow the same steps if you want to make custom factions in your next playthrough.

ALSO READ: Age of Wonders 4: Which Tome to Choose