One of the most significant decisions you'll make in Frostpunk is choosing between the Faith and Order paths. Both paths offer unique advantages and disadvantages, and your choice will significantly impact your gameplay experience.

Faith path is better for discontent and hope management, which is more suitable for beginners and casual players. On the other hand, the order path is better for productivity and efficiency management, which is more suitable for experienced players challenging harder levels.

Which Path To Choose

Generally, players find Faith to be more balanced for beginners as it offers a more straightforward way to manage hope and has less severe drawbacks.

Faith path often involves moral dilemmas related to religious freedom and the potential for fanaticism. For instance, you might have to decide whether to allow religious processions that could lead to clashes among citizens.

Order path can lead to an authoritarian regime, where the player may have to decide on implementing harsh laws like forced labor or curfews, potentially sacrificing individual freedoms for the greater good.

Faith vs Order Comparison

Faith is more beneficial in many aspects, such as not requiring buildings to be staffed, wider area of influence, and better utility. Faith Keepers are particularly useful for rehabilitating citizens without the need for imprisonment. However, Order has its own merits, like the "Foreman" ability that boosts productivity and the ease of planning with guard posts and watchtowers.

Factors	Faith	Order
Buildings	Requires less building materials.	Requires more building materials.
Workers	Churches do not require workers.	Guard towers require 5 workers.
Hope & Discontent	Generally results in higher hope and lower discontent.	Generally results in lower hope and higher discontent.
Special Abilities	Houses of Healing for health	Foreman ability to increase production.

Faith Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Lower Building Requirements: Faith buildings generally require fewer materials, making it easier to set up your society quickly.
2. No Worker Requirement for Churches: Churches and other faith buildings do not require workers, freeing up your labor force for other tasks.
3. Higher Hope Levels: Faith buildings like the House of Prayer and Temple can significantly boost hope levels among your citizens.
4. Healthcare Benefits: The House of Healing can treat both the sick and the gravely ill without requiring engineers, providing a significant advantage in healthcare.
5. Benevolent Path: The Faith path offers more benevolent options, making it easier to manage your society without resorting to harsh measures.
6. Activatable Abilities: Faith buildings have various abilities that can raise hope and decrease discontent, providing you with more tools to manage your society.
7. Wide Area of Influence: Faith buildings like the Temple have a wide area of influence, allowing you to affect more citizens with fewer buildings.

Cons:

1. Potential for Fanaticism: The Faith path can lead to religious fanaticism if not managed carefully, which could result in internal conflicts.
2. Limited Efficiency Boosts: Unlike the Order path, Faith does not offer significant boosts to workplace efficiency.
3. Moral Dilemmas: You may face moral questions related to religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
4. Resource Drain: While the buildings may be cheaper, the activatable abilities often require food or other resources.
5. Less Control Over Discontent: While Faith is excellent for managing hope, it offers fewer tools for controlling discontent compared to Order.

Order Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Efficiency Boost: The Foreman ability can significantly increase the efficiency of workplaces by 40% for 24 hours, making it easier to meet production goals.
2. Discontent Management: Buildings like the Guard Towers and Prisons can help manage discontent effectively, especially during emergency shifts.
3. Worker Flexibility: Guard towers require workers but can also be staffed by engineers, giving you more flexibility in labor allocation.
4. Strong Control: The Order path allows for a more authoritarian approach, making it easier to maintain control over your citizens, especially when discontent is high.
5. Tech Advancement: The Foreman ability can be combined with child engineers and 24-hour shifts to complete the tech tree before the storm, as mentioned in the Reddit discussion.

Cons:

1. Resource Intensive: Order buildings generally require more materials to construct compared to their Faith counterparts.
2. Worker Requirement: Buildings like the Guard Towers require staffing, which can strain your labor resources.
3. Lower Hope: The Order path generally results in lower levels of hope compared to the Faith path, requiring more active management.
4. Moral Dilemmas: The authoritarian nature of the Order path may lead to moral dilemmas, such as whether to implement forced labor or curfews.
5. Higher Discontent: While Order has tools to manage discontent, the path itself often leads to higher levels of discontent that need to be managed.

Faith is Better For Warmth & Health

Warmth

In the Faith path, you have the option to build Field Kitchens. These are specialized buildings that not only distribute food but also raise the temperature in their immediate vicinity. This dual function makes them incredibly valuable for keeping your citizens warm, especially in harsh conditions. The Order path doesn't offer a direct equivalent for managing warmth, making Faith a better option.

Health

When it comes to healthcare, Faith offers House of Healing. This building can treat both the sick and the gravely ill, and the best part is that it doesn't require engineers to operate. The Order path lacks a similar healthcare facility, making Faith a better option for health management.

Order is Better For Productivity & Efficiency

The Order path provides tools and abilities specifically designed to boost productivity and efficiency. From the Foreman ability to the strategic placement of Agitators, Order offers more ways to maximize the resource output and efficiency of your city compared to the Faith path.

Factors	Order	Faith
Productivity	Foreman Ability	-
Efficiency	Agitators	-
Workforce Management	Guard Stations	-

Productivity

Order path offers the Foreman ability, which is a game-changer when it comes to boosting productivity. Activating the Foreman in a workplace provides a 40% efficiency boost for a limited time. This can be particularly useful during crunch times when you need to maximize output, whether it's gathering resources or producing goods. Faith doesn't offer a direct equivalent for such a significant productivity boost.

Efficiency

Order path provides the option to build Agitators near workplaces. These structures give a passive 20% efficiency boost to any nearby workplaces. You can strategically place Agitators near workplaces to maximize their impact, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of your city. While Faith does offer some buildings that can boost hope and lower discontent, it doesn't have structures that directly increase workplace efficiency.

Workforce Management

The Order path allows you to build Guard Stations and Prisons, which can be useful for maintaining order during emergency shifts. This helps you push your workforce harder without facing the same level of backlash that you might experience in the Faith path, thereby allowing for more extended periods of high productivity.

Faith is Better for Discontent & Hope

The faith path provides a more humane and ethical approach to managing discontent. It offers specialized buildings and abilities that are geared towards community building and emotional support, which are effective in lowering discontent. Unlike the Order path, Faith avoids the use of authoritarian measures that can spike discontent, making it a more favorable choice for maintaining a harmonious society.

Factors	Faith	Order
Work Productivity	Low	High
Community Building	Strong	Moderate
Specialized Buildings	Available	Limited
Ethical Benefits	High	Low
Special Abilities	Available	Limited
Coercion	Low	High

Raising Hope

1. Emotional Connection: The Faith path allows for a more emotional connection with your citizens, which can be leveraged to raise hope. Citizens feel more personally cared for, which naturally boosts hope.
2. Voluntary Compliance: Unlike the Order path, which often relies on surveillance and coercion to maintain order, Faith achieves compliance through belief and community. This is generally better received by citizens and contributes to higher levels of hope.
3. House of Prayer and Temple: The Faith path offers buildings like the House of Prayer and the Temple, which are specifically designed to raise hope among citizens. These buildings provide spiritual support, which is a direct and effective way to boost hope.
4. Special Abilities: Faith buildings often come with abilities that can be activated to give a quick boost to hope. For example, the Temple can organize a "Ceremonial Service" that significantly raises hope.

Lowering Discontent

1. No Harsh Measures: Faith generally avoids the need for harsh measures like prisons and forced labor, which can spike discontent in the Order path.
2. No Forced Labor: Unlike the Order path, Faith does not require forced labor or extended shifts, which are common triggers for discontent.
3. Community Building: Faith encourages community building through prayer, which can be a powerful tool for lowering discontent. Citizens feel a sense of belonging and community, which naturally lowers discontent.
4. Field Kitchens: The Faith path allows you to build Field Kitchens, which not only help keep citizens warm but also lower discontent.

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