Faction Settings

New to Publish 13.1 is an improved Faction Settings system. No longer is there Overt and Covert. They have been replaced by Special Forces, Combatant, and On Leave. This applies to characters who have joined a faction. A character's faction setting affects how they interact with factional NPC's, other factional players, and factional recruiters.

Special Forces
The closest thing to Overt in the old system is Special Forces. This is the factional setting where PvP is enabled. Rebel Special Forces can attack Imperial Special Forces and Imperial Special Forces can attack Rebel Special Forces. Special Forces players may not attack Combatants or On Leave players at all, even when they receive a TEF. This keeps PvP and PvE completely separate. Only Special Forces players are able to enter PvP faction bases (or SF bases). Special Forces can attack any opposing faction NPC's, and will be attacked by them on sight.

Combatant
Resembling Covert in the old system, Combatant makes a player a member of the faction they joined, with all the risks involved. Opposing faction NPC's will attack on sight, regardless of whether the player has a TEF. Combatants can be healed by Special Forces members without risk of PvP, but Combatants are not able to heal Special Forces players. Combatants cannot enter Special Forces Faction Bases, but the new PvE Faction Bases are perfect for Combatants to attack and take down.

On Leave
This faction setting allows players to keep their faction points and faction rank, but reduce their risk in the GCW. Opposing factional NPC's will not attack On Leave players, and On Leave players will not be able to immediately attack factional NPC's.  On Leave players may heal other On Leave players (regardless of faction) and Neutrals. They may be healed by Combatants and Special Forces, but cannot heal players of those faction settings. While On Leave, players still run risk of being attacked by factional NPC's, but only if they are scanned by a patrol of opposing faction and found to be carrying illegal goods (spices or spliced equipment). Also, while On Leave, you will not have any regular conversation options with a Recruiter.

To go back to Combatant status, either talk to a Recruiter or attempt to attack an opposing factional NPC. When you try to attack (using /attack), a window will pop up confirming your intentions to change to Combatant. If you accept, a 30 second timer will begin, after which you will be a Combatant with all the privileges and risks involved.

Neutral
This status is not a faction setting, but functions similarily to On Leave. Neutrals never run risk of being attacked by factional NPC's, but may still be attacked by non-faction police NPC's in cities, if searched and found holding illegal goods (spices or spliced equipment). All factional NPC's appear as white (non-attackable) to neutrals.