Should You Pick Hammermage, Cryoknight, or Guardian Faction in Brighter Shores? Answered

After you have completed the tutorial and the first episode, you’ll be able choose your character’s faction in Brighter Shores. This is an important decision since it will affect how your character approaches combat.

All Factions in Brighter Shores, Explained

There are currently three factions that you can choose in Brighter Shores. Although they are called factions, your chosen group will be your selected class. As you can see from the image above, each faction has its own unique weapons and combat style.

You can unlock the faction feature once you enter Episode 2 and start exploring Hopeforest. After you have found your companions, you can head to the Dryad Glade and defeat the Mutant Stag to rescue a Dryad.

The NPC will give you a leaf key item that you can use on the stone door on the Thin Trail. Just head northwest and walk through the Narrow Path. The leaf will open the door, and you can head inside the chamber to select your class.

The factions are basically a fancy version of a rock-paper-scissor game. Cryoknight is strong against Guardian but weak against Hammermage. They mainly use metal weapons and prefer to use swords and shields alongside their Ice magic. This class is arguably the most aggressive class since with its close-range attacks and magic.

Guardian is the ranged class in Brighter Shores. They mainly use Nature magic and have an advantage over Hammermage. They can still use melee weapons, but they won’t be able to deal with as much damage as the other two factions. Unlike Cryoknight metal gear, you need to use Bones to craft your equipment.

Hammermage is more similar to Cryoknight since they are also melee fighters with magic. They can easily handle groups of enemies with their powerful Lightning spells. However, they are rather weak against rangers such as Guardian. Their gear is crafted from rocks, making them quite sturdy.

Related: How To Complete the Brannof Inheritance in Brighter Shores

Which Class Should You Choose?

Well, the answer depends on your preferences. As you can see, the developer tries to make each faction to be as balanced as possible. Hammermage and Cryoknight are a bit more interchangeable since they are both close-range fighters. You just need to choose whether you like Ice or Lightning more.

Guardian is a bit more unique since they mainly use ranged weapons. This class is definitely not my preferred choice since I don’t like to use bows, but this faction should be perfect for players who like to play as druids or elves.

Note that each faction will have its own unique attacks as you progress. Unfortunately, they are not available yet since the game is still in development. The special moves will definitely be related to the main element each faction has and their preferred weapons.

Brighter Shores is available to play for free on PC.