Best Star Wars Outlaws factions, ranked

One of the most interesting aspects of Star Wars that Star Wars Outlaws dives headfirst into is its many rival criminal syndicates. You’ll have to choose which to work for and which to make enemies of, with valuable rewards on the line—but which one should you throw in with?

Star Wars Outlaws utilizes a reputation system, with most actions you can take affecting your standing with at least one of the galaxy’s enclaves of scum and villainy. Helping one faction will invariably anger another, meaning you cannot reap the benefits of being beloved by all four. That means your choice largely comes down to the rewards, with each faction offering different enticing goodies.

What’s the best faction in Star Wars Outlaws?

Star Wars Outlaws‘ four factions each offer three reward bundles at Good, Excellent, and Maximum reputation respectively, meaning you may have to grind a bit to get a reputation’s final reward. To help you choose, every faction in the game and its rewards are listed below from worst to best.

4) Crimson Dawn

Unfortunately, the Crimson Dawn’s mega-badass leader Darth Maul is dead by the time Outlaws takes place, so you won’t get to face down a real Sith Lord. The Syndicate seems to be taking the loss hard, as their rewards easily place them at the bottom of the list. That’s not to say they’re terrible, though—the Crimson Reign blaster cosmetic is fairly slick and the equippable Crimson Dawn Crest gives you a flat boost to your stealth capabilities.

Their final outfit reward, however, is fairly underwhelming, with the Crimson Reign set only boosting your fairly superfluous non-lethal tactics like Stun Bolts and Smoke Bombs. With this in mind, you can kick them when they’re down and generally screw them over without guilt.

3) Hutt Cartel

Yavoo du Jabba the Hutt! The Hutt Cartel is immediately recognizable to any Star Wars fan, and for good reason. In Outlaws, you’ll be rewarded well for staying on Jabba’s good side, with the blaster skin and Hutt Cartel Crest (which reduces damage taken from melee attacks) serving as decent appetizers for the true reward: the Boonta Brawler outfit set, which greatly boosts defense, the power and quantity of your grenades, and heavy weapons you can pick up to let you play the game like a true action hero. Why use “stealth” when you can just blow up everything in your path instead?

2) Ashiga Clan

The Ashiga Clan is the only faction created specifically for Outlaws, and the developers may have shown them a bit of favoritism. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Health regeneration effects are absolutely broken in every game they appear in. The Ashiga Clan’s equippable Crest grants you a decent chunk of health every time you perform a stealth takedown or melee finisher, essentially giving you free license to take on groups as large as you want without any fear.

The blaster skin and Kijimi Explorer set are also great if you like cold-weather gear, with Nix’s cute little scarf warranting special mention. This set makes him the most adorable little easily marketable sidekick in the galaxy!

1) Pyke Syndicate

Star Wars truly can’t escape the Pyke Syndicate. They showed up in The Clone Wars, then Book of Boba Fett, and now Star Wars Outlaws, where they are easily the best faction in the game to join up with. No matter which faction you side with, you’ll still chafe against the galactic grip of Imperial authority… unless you don’t. Maxing out your relationship with the Pykes will score you a full-on Imperial uniform of your very own, which will allow you to waltz right through Imperial territory and essentially invalidate the entire Wanted system (as long as you don’t go around blasting people indiscriminately, that is).

The sleek Imperial blaster and the Crest that lets you regain thrown grenades are also nice, but come on. How can you possibly resist turning Kay Vess into Agent 47? It’s up to you whether you think that sounds more valuable than whatever’s in their secret vault, but for my credits, it’s the best outfit in the game.

Ultimately, the choice of who to side with is yours, but it’s no surprise the Pykes’ Imperial ties make them a very attractive choice. It’s a big galaxy out there, with a lot of choices to make—just make sure you can live with the consequences afterwards.