Planetside 2 is called MMO for a reason. There are 3 main factions, fighting for dominance over the planet Auraxis, and your first step to becoming a part of this war - is choosing your faction, and joining the ranks of either of those large and unique armies. Today we’ll take a look at all three factions within the game, and help you choose whichever suits you best!
*Note: All vehicles in the game are identical except for ESF (Empire’s Specific Fighter), and heavy tanks, we will review only faction’s specific vehicles
Terran Republic
A mix of a Roman Empire and Soviet Union. A government that has fulfilled the dream of many dictatorships of unifying the Earth under one single banner, bringing an end to international conflicts. But once humanity has started colonizing distant stars, Terran Republic, who brought peace on Earth, has met a problem with the revolt on Auraxis in face of a rebellious terrorist from New Conglomerate, and brainwashed religious cultists from Vanu Sovereignty. Loyalty and brotherhood, are the pride of the Republicans who stand alongside each other, disciplined, and resolute soldiers who believe in the ideals of their Republic.
You wish to bring order and peace alongside faithful brothers in arms? Then join the Terran Republic! And listen to beautiful orchestral music while battling your enemies!
Firearms:
- Terran’s infantry weaponry relies on high rates of fire, large magazines, and easily controllable recoil, sacrificing the overall damage. Terran’s weaponry despises clumsiness on the battlefield, so you better have high awareness to be always prepared to pull a trigger in the right moment, shooting accurately, for you’ll have little chances to make up for your mistake!
Vehicles:
- Aircraft: Terran’s ESF - Mosquito, is the fastest aircraft out there in the whole game, making it the best option when the battle requires a quickly deployed cavalry. Mosquitoes hull is quite linear, making its hitbox very hard to hit at times, mixed with the highest acceleration - it’s good using a strategy of “hit and runs”. It can be equipped with air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons, or a mix of them, or one weapon only and additional fuel tanks that will increase the ship’s speed or afterburn capacity.
- Ground vehicle: The perfect tank if you feel like playing a tower with tons of gunnery on top of it. Like Mosquito - it has the highest speed among all other faction’s specific tanks, thus it is quick to dispatch on the battlefield. But it’s the special ability of the tank, that makes it so unique - “Anchored mode”, which makes the tank stick to its position, and, sacrificing the ability to move, receive enormous projectile velocity as well as the reload speed, allowing it to send a hailstorm of tank projectiles right at the enemy. Can be equipped with anti-personnel cannon (more damage to infantry, less to armored units), anti-armor cannon (vice versa), and a cannon that has medium damage to both.
Strengths:
- High rates of fire, great speed, a recoil with which even a child will manage.
Weaknesses:
- As it was stated, TR weaponry relies on the rate of fire, sacrificing its damage. Thus being said, it’s not wise to try “one-tap” the enemy, unless you’re using a bolt action sniper rifle. You may also find many struggles, trying to fire at the enemy on long distances, shooting from anything but long-range rifles.
Why the Terran Republic?
Choose this faction if you are hoping for close to mid-range combats, or if you prefer carbines and assault rifles over SMG’s, but still want a great rate of fire. If you love speed, loyalty, duty, and epic orchestral soundtracks: TR is your choice.
New Conglomerate
Insurgents. Freedom fighters. Rebels. New Conglomerate is a coalition of small and previously divided rebellious groups, who dedicated their lives fighting the political oppression of the Terran Republic. When the opposition was peaceful and went out on demonstration, the Republican riot police have shamelessly killed the protestants, thus showing its true power-hunger face. With time, Terrans began to take away civil rights. New Conglomerate thought “Enough!” and when it has seen a great opportunity to establish their own government with their own rules on distant planet Auraxis, rebels have begun acting brutally, fighting the oppressors and religious fanatics in the literal meaning.
The New Conglomerate will not back down. It won’t surrender until everyone who threatens their freedom, be it totalitarian regime or religious cultists, will be defeated! Liberty or death, that is their slogan they are chanting while rushing into the fight under rock music compositions!
Firearms:
“Why come up close when you can be just as effective on longer distances, if not even more.” - That is NC’s slogan when it comes to their weaponry. Since it’s designed especially for mid-long range distances, because it has the highest recoil, the smallest rate of fire long reloads, but at the same time - the highest damage output in the entire game. The kinda damage that will allow you to dispose of one target quickly enough, and switch to another one, and on another one and kill as many before you’ll reload.
Vehicles:
- Aircraft: Reaver is one of those heavy birds you’ll have to shoot twice before it finally falls, due to it having the heaviest armor amidst all other ESF’s. It also possesses the highest afterburn speed (nitro boost, if you may), making it good at maneuvering, but only when you have the mentioned afterburn boost. Reaver’s hitbox is considered the largest among other ESF’s because of its large engines, making it an easy target for experienced pilots, so be aware. It can be equipped with air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons, or a mix of them, or one weapon only and additional fuel tanks that will increase the ship’s speed or afterburn capacity.
Ground vehicle: Vanguard. Really stands up for its name, it is the heaviest tank of all in the game, it’s slow and sometimes clumsy, but it can withstand more shots than others. The weaponry is heavy as well, and its large stock cannon often require no more than 2 shots to eradicate most of the enemy’s hardened targets. The rate of fire of the said canon will disappoint you greatly, but it’s the damage that will bring a smile to your face, so better aim accurately before shooting. Vanguard also can be equipped with a shield, similar to Heavy Assault’s class, which will allow the tank to endure even more shots! Can be equipped with anti-personnel cannon (more damage to infantry, less to armored units), anti-armor cannon (vice versa), and a cannon that has medium damage to both.
Strengths:
- Superior damage per shot. Heavy armor and endurance.
Weaknesses:
- Hell of a recoil. Slow rates of fire. Slow movement. Better consider taking a more ranged approach, since you will find yourself at a disadvantage fighting in close quarters.
Why New Conglomerate?
Rock-n-roll music playing in the background was quite a popular reason this faction has gained such popularity amongst the players. But, if you are a more practical person, you will consider taking it in case you love high damage, don’t care about slower movements, can manage their recoil, and love feeling protected by wearing armor. If you’re a more idealistic person, then that’s great, because NC allows you to fight for a true “American dream” of freedom, and barbeque with neighbors in the backyard.
Vanu Sovereignty
Many call them fanatics. Brainwashed cultists. But they are pursuers of truth. Pursuers of wisdom. Vanu is the name for a long-extinct alien race that has left many artifacts and technologies on Auraxis before humans came. Sovereignty is a coalition of bright minds, scientists, and sympathizers, who broke away from Republic’s ignorance, to not allow the latter to destroy the technology they deemed “dangerous for humanity”, whilst in reality, they thought cared only for maintaining their fragile government. While Terrans fight with its rebels, Vanu seeks to spread the wisdom of those who have progressed far beyond human comprehension, and once and for all prove that technology is might. Adapt or die, and staying ignorant - is the opposite of adaptation, and thus being, only those wise enough to learn from their superiors will be enlightened, and achieve new reaches! And while you enlighten others on the righteous path of progress, you may listen to technological dubstep music!
Firearms:
The firing rate is in between Republic’s fast shooting guns, and Conglomerate’s hard but slow hitting guns. Vanu relies on precision, hence why their weapons stand out not due to their fire rate or damage, but due to their accuracy, both hip and sights aim. Vanu weapons also have much quicker reloads in general, and it becomes noticeable and even life-saving in close-quarters combat. Worth mentioning is also that Vanu weapons do not have bullet ballistics as other Empires do, but they suffer more damage degrading over distance than others, so be aware of the distance you’re shooting at!
Vehicles:
- Aircraft: Vanu’s Scythe is the most agile fighter out there. Why? Because it has the fastest lateral movement speed. It can circle the enemy easily, keeping its aim on a single target and shooting at it until it’s done for good. It is not as fast as Mosquito and not as protected as Reaver, but in a dog fight, agility matters more, thus Scythe is considered the best dogfighter amongst the players. It can be equipped with air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons, or a mix of them, or one weapon only and additional fuel tanks that will increase the ship’s speed or afterburn capacity. Its hitbox is fairly small, and fairly large, a golden middle between TR Mosquito and NC Reaver
- Ground vehicle: Magrider is considered an ATV. Why? Because it’s a hover vehicle, thus it can hover over the vast majority of the terrain, which is unable to other tanks that still ride on tracks. Its disadvantage is that the cannon is attached to the front part of the tank’s hull, thus to rotate the gun horizontally, the driver must rotate the whole hull with it. Its special ability is the so-called “Magburn”, a short nitro boost, if you may. It has a long recharge, but sometimes it’s very useful to quickly drive away from a line of fire. Can be equipped with anti-personnel cannon (more damage to infantry, less to armored units), anti-armor cannon (vice versa), and a cannon that has medium damage to both.
Strengths:
- Weapon accuracy. Quicker reloads. No bullet ballistics. More agile vehicles. Hover tank.
Weaknesses:
- More damage degradation over distance. Mediocre weapon damage and rate of fire.
Why Vanu Sovereignty?
If you love dubstep when playing FPS games, you’ll definitely love Vanu Sovereignty then. Additionally, you may find this faction being quite a good competitor to TR in close quarters combat, due to quick reloads and the fact that VS weapons besides bolt action rifles have even less damage than TR if the distance is too great. If you want to shoot blasters, fight for technological superiority and have a fresh experience driving VS unique vehicles - then feel free to enlist!
Bonus Faction: NS Operatives
Available for experienced players only, and those with Daybreak All Access Membership. It has very little significance, since NS OPS characters are contracted to one of the 3 main factions anyways, but they are restricted to use NS and NSX weapons only, which puts them at the disadvantage. You will always be assigned to the faction with the lowest population on the continent, making it harder for you to find a big bunch of comrades in arms. They have access to a single special vehicle called “Javelin”, which is basically a Star Wars speeder ripoff. Also, they have a special unit similar to MAX, but it’s faster, for the price of smaller damage resistance. It has a grenade launcher, and two special abilities, one that turns the unit into a walking time bomb, and the second one that creates a shield for nearby allies. Overall you’ll rarely see these units on the battlefield because the unique traits this faction has are so few, it ain’t worth all the restrictions it has alongside.
