Which faction should you rank first in Windrose?

Each of the factions i Windrose offer something different, and if you want to lean into something specific, you'll want to know what each one offers. Generally speaking, players should at least get all factions to level 2 as early as possible, then max out either Smugglers of Port Royal first to gain access to Naval Tactics and better ship supportor Rogue Buccaneers to get stronger cannons. If you are curious about what these factions offer Windrosehere is a summary of what you can expect to get after improving your reputation with them.

Family

All weapons in Windrose

Here's a look at the boom sticks and sharp sticks you'll be using to fight zombies, pirates, and zombie pirates in Windrose.

Windrose Faction Leveling Priority Overview

1st priority: Smugglers of Port Royal
2nd priority: Rogue Buccaneers
3rd priority: People from Tortuga
4th priority: Brothers of the coast

Smugglers of Port Royal

Point	Effects
Conquistador chest/legs	Improves your damage resistance and prevents enemy htis from interfering with your actions.
Pikeman sternum	Increases your health and two-handed weapon damage.
Keel holder Hull stay	Taking damage no longer affects the duration of repair kits.
Iron Resolve Hull Bracing	Your ship gains damage resistance the lower its health.
Steady hull bracing	Ship Wins Loose stacks over time, up to 5 stacks. Taking damage consumes a stack to reduce damage taken.
Naval Tactics 1: Ambush	If you neither deal nor take damage for 2 minutes, your next cannon volley deals increased damage.
Naval Tactics 2: No Quarter	Destroying an enemy ship within 50 meters restores 30% ship health for 10 seconds.
Naval Tactics 3: Stretch the Supplies	Increase the duration of Grog and repair kits.
Naval Tactics 4: Shipshape	Restore 3% ship health every second while out of combat.
Naval Tactics 5: Silence the Guns	Hitting enemy ships reduces their reload speed and damage.

The smugglers offer defensive upgrades for your ship in the form of various types of support. They also have plans for Naval Tactics, equipped ship items that give you perks. You will spend a lot of time fighting other ships Windrose, so you want to make your ship as strong as it can be, as soon as you can. Improved braces and naval tactics (especially Silence the Guns) can greatly improve your chances of surviving a skirmish at sea.

The Smugglers of Port Royal also offers the following kits and stylebooks:

Stone and planks Basset
Wooden columns, beams and fences
Thatched roofs and triangular walls
Luxurious fireplace
Fountains and plantings
Elegant iron utensils
Smugglers' flag designs

Rogue Buccaneers

Point	Effects
Trader: Animal products	Unlocks a trade building that sells meat, hides and other animal-based resources.
Flibustier's jacket/pants	Attacks consume less stamina and you take more one-handed weapon damage.
Tracker's jacket/pants	Improves damage resistance and increases healing efficiency.
Hardened guns	After reloading, you wait 6 seconds before firing, increasing your damage.
Perfectly ordered cannons	After reloading, hitting an enemy will increase your reload speed.
Devastating cannons	Hitting a target with more than 50% of a volley increases the damage dealt to the target.

Cannonballs sold by Rogue Buccaneers come in 12-, 24-, and 36-pound varieties.

If you want to improve your ship's firepower, the best choice is to level up Rogue Buccaneers. They will give you plans to make a variety of cannons, with either Perfectly arranged or devastating variants are the most effective in a fight. Keep in mind that not all ship types can use all cannon types, so make sure your ship can handle the weapons you plan to craft.

Also, by getting Rogue Buccaneers to level 2, you will unlock Trading agreement for animal products. This gives you easy access to food and hides, which will make cooking and leather crafting much less of a chore, especially when starting your own farm in Windrose.

This faction also offers the following construction and cosmetic sets:

Basset for clay and logs
Weathered pillars and fence
Thatched roofs and mud walls
The hunter's decor

Fit the 9 games into the grid.

People from Tortuga

Windrose People of Tortuga faction screen

Point	Effects
Merchant contract: Food	Unlocks a trading building that sells fruits, vegetables and seeds.
Trade Contracts: Natural Resources	Unlocks a trading building that sells firewood, ore and more.
Privateer's coat/trousers	Increases your critical hit chance. When surrounded, you take more critical hit damage.
Marksman's Doublet/Pants	Running, jumping and running consumes less stamina. Your ranged weapons deal more damage.

The items listed above are undoubtedly very useful, but the reason why raising the people of Tortuga is less important than the previous two is that all of these items can be unlocked just by reaching level 2 with this faction. The rest of People of Tortuga's offerings are all building kits and decorative pieces. More specifically, you will unlock the following:

Building kit for marble, plaster and tiles
Tile roof Extras
Elegant doors and windows in stained glass
Stairs and railings in mahogany
Luxurious seating
Mahogany table and cabinet
Elegant cabinets
Elegant curtains and shelves

You can see how all these building parts look through visiting the People of Tortuga base on your world. You need to buy all of these if you want to design a base that has a consistent aesthetic; all but the first two items above are locked behind levels 3 and 4.

Brothers of the coast

Windrose Brethren of the Coast faction screen

Point	Description
Steel nail	Craft materials. Mainly used to make Combat Repair Kits.
Salt	Ingredient for cooking.
Coffee	Ingredient for making drinks.
Whisky, Madeira and Brandy	Ingredients used to make different Grogs.
Brig	Medium ship; can carry 14 weapons.
Frigate	Large ship; can carry 36 weapons.

The Brethren of the Coast offer the most enticing crafting plans of any faction in the Windrose: new ships. The Brig is the first major upgrade players can get over the regular Ketch, and Frigate is the largest ship in the game so far, capable of launching three dozen cannons in total. The reason this is at the bottom of our leveling priority is simple: you probably won't have the resources to make any of these new ships early.

Not only are these ship plans expensive, but they also require materials that you can only get from biomes outside of the coastal jungle. Before you even think about raising Brethren of the Coast, make sure you have access to resources like Iron and Hardwood. Otherwise, you'll just be wasting your hard-earned coin and all the insignia you spent on leveling up this faction.