Faction Change

The Faction Change service is a paid service offered by Blizzard that allows players to change the faction (Alliance or Horde) of a character. This service is being offered in response to player requests. This service has been designed carefully to avoid disruption of the current gameplay on the realm, so certain restrictions will apply. The current cost is $30 USD, €25 Euros, or £20 GBP per character to switch. The change is permanent, however, after a cooldown period, you can purchase an additional change to go back to the player's original faction. This service is also available to Classic branch characters.

The initial release was made available to US players on September 2, 2009, and to EU players on September 17, 2009.

If you completed In the Blink of an Eye on at least one character, you can skip to the beginning of Legion on your new faction by talking to Recruiter Lee in Stormwind or Holgar Stormaxe in Orgrimmar.

• The character must be at least level 10, and have no active auctions, mail, or WoW Tokens.
• The character must not have changed factions in the last 72 hours.
• You can't faction change on a Starter Edition account.
• Guild Masters must transfer leadership or disband the guild. See the Guild Services article for information on changing the guild's faction.
• Characters with too much gold can't change factions.

When a character changes factions, their home city reputation level translates into the same level as the home city of their new opposite faction race. For example, a Gnome turning into a Blood Elf would see his Gnomeregan reputation become his new Silvermoon City reputation.

Then, reputation with the default counterpart of the new race converts into the counterpart of the original race. Using the previous example, since the default counterpart of Blood Elf is Draenei and the default counterpart of Gnomes is Tauren, the gnome's Exodar reputation would become the new blood elf's Thunder Bluff rep.

Reputations with the remaining home cities will then convert to their opposite-faction counterparts according to the default pairs.

• If you convert to or from an Allied Race, all other racial reputations are subject to default conversions. If you convert between two non-Allied races, your character's home-city reputation converts to your new home city, with other racial reputations subject to default conversions.
• Other faction-specific reputations convert into their cross-faction equivalents if one exists. Neutral reputations are not affected, except for Sunreavers and Silver Covenant, which revert to Neutral.
• Faction-specific items, titles, and completed achievements convert to their cross-faction equivalents.
• Some faction-specific mounts may be unavailable or will convert during the faction change.

When a character changes factions, the mounts associated their original race automatically convert into those of their new opposite faction race. For example, a Troll turning into a Night Elf would see his Raptors turn into Nightsabers.

Then, the mounts associated with the default counterpart of the new race convert into those of the counterpart of the original race. Using the previous example, since the default counterpart of Night Elves are Undead and the default counterpart of Trolls are Dwarves, the troll's Skeletal Horses would become the new night elf's Rams.

The mounts associated with the remaining home cities will then convert to those of their opposite-faction counterparts according to the default pairs.

• * If you own one of the discontinued epic mounts (Ivory Raptor, Ancient Frostsaber, etc) and you transfer to a race without discontinued mounts, you will be given a random discontinued mount from another race on your new faction.
• ** Some races have three varieties of the normal-speed mounts (require 75 riding skill), while others have four. During a faction change, you may receive a random normal-speed mount of a race in your new faction to accommodate this disparity. Your total number of mounts will be unaffected by a faction change.

The following mounts will always convert to a default opposite-faction counterpart.

Faction-specific achievements include several in the Player-vs-Player category (such as those to defeat the racial leaders and enemy players in their capital cities), and are included in certain world events like Midsummer Fire Festival and Hallow's End. The majority of these achievements follow a 1-to-1 conversion to an opposite-faction equivalent.

The achievements relating to the Argent Tournament, including becoming a champion for each home city, will not translate in a faction change.

Some items will automatically convert into the corresponding items of the opposite faction. These items include Insignias of the Alliance/Horde, and PvP weapons and armor such as the Grand Marshal's Claymore (which will turn into the High Warlord's Greatsword, and vice versa).

If an item has an opposite-faction counterpart, that information will be displayed on those items' information page as displayed by the Armory.

Items that do not have an opposite-faction equivalent, such as faction-specific quest starting items, will be turned in to Solid Gold Coins.

• Incomplete quests are removed from your quest log and all quest items are destroyed. You need to visit the initial quest giver to restart affected quests.
• Faction-specific completed quests will be lost and will no longer count toward any completed quests counters.
• Progress on character-specific achievements, such as for quests and PVP, will be reset.
• Argent Tournament progress, including achievements, resets after the faction change.

• Raid lockouts are not reset after the faction change.
• The character's Friends and Ignore lists will be reset.
• Guild pages and heralds will be lost.
• Currencies—honor points, gold, etc.—are unaffected.
• The hearthstone is automatically set to the inn inside the capital city of their new race, which is also where they re-enter the game world as a member of the opposite faction.

• Flight points will be reset, and your character will receive a new list of level- and faction-appropriate flight points.
• Followers, Shipyard, and completed Garrison buildings will not be lost. Unfinished missions, buildings, or work orders will be lost.
• Faction-specific followers, ships, and ship crews convert to an equivalent from your new faction. Follower traits stay the same, but abilities may change. Ship abilities and equipment remain the same.
• Active Garrison and Order Hall missions will be cleared.

• What is the Faction Change service?
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• How do I begin the Faction Change process?
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• Will we be able to switch between the races on our own faction?
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• Will I be able to choose the race on the opposite faction that I want to change to?
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• How much does this service cost?
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• Is this service taxed? If so, how can I tell if my purchase will be taxed?
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• Can I change multiple characters' factions at once?
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• At what level can I change a character's faction?
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• Will PvP realm restrictions prevent me from changing a character's faction?
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• Will this service allow me to customize a character and select a different name once its faction has been changed?
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• When I change factions, can I select any race for the character?
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• Does that mean I can use this service to change the character back to its original faction?
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• When I change a character back to its original faction, can I select any new race?
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• Will I be able to select Cataclysm races and class combinations for a character once they're available in game?
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• How often can I change a character's faction?
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• Blizzard have now reduced the faction change cooldown to 3 days.

• What happens after I initiate a Faction Change?
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• What will happen to the character's old name?
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• What will happen to the character's equipment when I change its faction?
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• Will the rest of the inventory (materials, alternate currency, etc) be affected in any way?
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• What will happen to the character's mounts when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's non-combat pets when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's achievements when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's titles when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's reputation levels when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's quests when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's flight paths when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's "Friends" and "Ignore" lists when I change its faction?
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• What will happen to the character's Guild and Arena team(s)?
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• What will happen to the character's honor and Arena points?
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• What will happen to the character's mail and auctions?
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• Is there a gold limit for Faction Changes?
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• Where will the character be located after the Faction Change is complete?
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• What will happen to the character's Armory profile?
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• Will this service share a cooldown with the Character Transfer, Character Name Change, or Character Re-Customization services?
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• Can I use this service to change race on my existing faction?
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• Will this service share a cooldown with the Race Change service?
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• Can I purchase a Faction Change for a character that has a pending Name Change or Re-Customization or is in the process of being transferred?
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• When will I be charged for the character's Faction Change?
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• Is there any way to cancel a Faction Change while the process is pending?
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• Is there any way to reverse a Faction Change once it's completed?
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All achievements and quest lines related to the Argent Tournament and Shadow Vault are reset after using the Faction Change service.

Additionally, due to the manner in which Argent Tournament character information is saved, reputations with Sunreavers and Silver Covenant are reset (0/3000 in Neutral) during a faction change and do not translate.

• Game Services