Meet the Factions – The Elari, the Maru and the Jorn

Factions have always played an important role in The Settlers. Whether you want to explore different playstyles, try different strategies, or you just love to get stuck into lore; factions are at the core of The Settlers experience. In The Settlers you will meet three brand new and exciting factions: The Elari, the Maru, and the Jorn. Curious? Then keep reading!

Each faction comes with their own backstory, their own strengths, and their own playstyle. We wanted to make sure that each faction would inspire different strategies that our players can explore and let theory-crafts run wild!

Time to get to the juicy parts, let's meet the factions.

Elari - Background story:

The Elari are a culture of tinkerers, builders and masterful artisans.

They highly appreciate a good piece of craftsmanship, be it a well-built tool or a finely forged sword.

They are goodhearted and always try to find common ground in any conflict. However, they also are defensible if a conflict gets too heated.

Elari are friendly and open, and it is widely considered to be a good habit to try to solve problems together. This cooperative way of living made them optimistic and positive as they have made the experience that even the most damaged roof can be repaired - if enough hands are there to help.

Faction benefits:

• Food: Reduced costs for farms, windmills, bakeries and residences
• Living: Smaller but cheaper residences
• Military: Rangers are superior compared to their base counterparts.

Maru - Background story:

The Maru have lived in close harmony with the land and the sea for generations. They can foresee future events by the way the clouds form on the horizon, the wind bending the grass or the waves crushing into the shore. They are masterful sailors, traders and are as supportive and helpful as people can be.

Altruism is considered one of the highest values in Maru society and they strive to always support each other. They are a peaceful culture and try to prevent conflicts from happening. However, this has led to a situation where Maru feel quite uncomfortable if a conflict gets too heated. Most of the time they will withdraw from the argument completely, picking it up later again once some time has passed.

Faction benefits:

• Trade: Harbors, gold mines and mints cost less
• Defenses: Towers and bastions attack faster
• Military: Guardians are superior compared to their base counterparts.

The first thing that comes to mind of ANY strategy players in a game is to have factions to choose from. This was a crystal-clear goal from day 1! – Creative Director

Jorn - Background story:

The Jorn are a clan society that lives in the northern "Veiled Islands". This group of volcanic islands, cold weather, fog and swamps has had a lasting impact on the people living there. They are as harsh and sturdy as the land they live on. They consider everything a challenge and to them, it is a great honor to overcome a problem.

Family and friends are the most important elements in any Jorn clan and aiding a struggling friend is a very common thing to be seen, because solving a problem together by beating the odds is a much greater success than failing alone. Also, most Jorn would argue that asking for help is a challenge, too.

At the same time, these people are used to tough situations and therefore don't fall into despair easily. Instead, they roll up their sleeves and get to work. After a long day of hard work, they get together and celebrate life. That is also the reason why Jorn feasts are legendary among travelers and traders alike, and every village follows their own traditions in preparing food, drinks and entertainment.

Faction benefits:

• Training: Ranches and training grounds cost less
• Smithing: Furnaces and weaponsmith cost less
• Military: Warriors wield two axes and attack faster

In order to make life simpler for you, we’ve created a faction cheat sheet, where you can find all the information quickly. It might come in handy when you are facing an unknown opponent and you want to know what their strength is.

What do you like the most about the factions? Which one do you want to try out first? Let us know in the comments.