Switching from Darkness to West?

[RodriguesSting]

Harondor is, by default, Darkness, but can switch to Ways of the West. Rhovanion seems to be the opposite.

Now, all temples seem to offer the same economic and military benefits, with the exception of Shadows, in which you forsake some of your factional troops in favor of cultic troops and orcs. But is there any actual point to changing when it is between West and Darkness?

[athanaric]

But is there any actual point to changing when it is between West and Darkness?

Yes, it's a huge advantage those two factions have. It doesn't give you any different units, but it makes pacifying vassal provinces much easier. As Harondor, it allows you to use the pre-existing alignment buildings of both the Southron factions (Tribal Moots etc.) and the Dúnedain factions, saving you time and costs when you take over a province. It also means that the native alignment of a province is never at odds with your faction's alignment, as long as it's either WotW or WoD. Unlike for most factions, the only regions you'll eventually have to flip are the ones with a pre-determined Shadow Cult majority. For Rhovanion, it's the same, just with Northmen and Barbarian alignment buildings. Essentially, it doesn't matter which of the two alignments the majority of your provinces have, so you can go with whatever is the most convenient for each region. Of course, you can also manually switch if you want.

[RodriguesSting]

Yes, it's a huge advantage those two factions have. It doesn't give you any different units, but it makes pacifying vassal provinces much easier. As Harondor, it allows you to use the pre-existing alignment buildings of both the Southron factions (Tribal Moots etc.) and the Dúnedain factions, saving you time and costs when you take over a province. It also means that the native alignment of a province is never at odds with your faction's alignment, as long as it's either WotW or WoD. Unlike for most factions, the only regions you'll eventually have to flip are the ones with a pre-determined Shadow Cult majority. For Rhovanion, it's the same, just with Northmen and Barbarian alignment buildings. Essentially, it doesn't matter which of the two alignments the majority of your provinces have, so you can go with whatever is the most convenient for each region. Of course, you can also manually switch if you want.

Yeah I noticed there seems to be some hidden resources thing going on regarding the temple bonuses, so depending on region, maybe one type of temple will be better than the others. It seems to be indeed a boon to have access to these both.

Also, at least regarding Dunland, they have traits and anciliaries that depend on the character's alignment. So I guess you can try prioritizing one, but as we just talked, West and Darkness is one thing and mostly trivial, West/Darkness and Shadows is a whole different matter.