Dying Light 2: Peacekeepers vs. Survivors – Which Faction is Better?

Dying Light 2 doesn’t quite offer the rich array of complicated choices that some hoped it might, but when it comes to choosing between the game’s two main factions (the Peacekeepers and Survivors), most players will probably have a lot of questions about which one is “best.”

The very short and frustratingly neutral answer to that question is that there is no runway “best” faction in Dying Light 2. Each offers its own rewards, and because your faction choice only has a relatively minimal impact on the overall story (we won’t spoil how here, but it can impact certain scenes and plays a role in determining which ending you see), your decision will likely come down to which faction’s rewards you prefer to receive and which one you prefer to join from a role-playing perspective.

That being the case, here’s a quick look at how to increase your faction reputation, what the benefits of joining and aiding a certain faction are, and, finally, which faction is the right one for you.

Dying Light 2 – How Do You Unlock Faction Rewards?

To increase your reputation with Dying Light 2’s factions and unlock the upgrades they offer, you’ll need to take over the seven facilities located throughout the game’s city. Once you’ve secured these facilities, you’ll be able to assign them to either the Peacekeepers or the Survivors. Assigning a facility grants the territory surrounding it to the faction you chose and, more importantly, unlocks the next reward on that faction’s upgrade track.

The good news is that (unlike some other games with faction systems) you do not necessarily need to “commit” to one faction or the other right from the start and can instead assign territory to each faction as you see fit. We’ll talk a little more about what that means when we talk about the best faction to “choose,” but just know that supporting both to suit your needs is a perfectly viable option.

Dying Light 2 – Why You Should Join the Peacekeepers

Try not to be surprised, but the Peacekeepers’ vision for maintaining peace actually involves quite a lot of violence.

The PKs are a militant faction who believe that the clearest path to any kind of “normalcy” involves killing as many infected as possible. There is certainly something noble about that goal, but the fact that most of the Peacekeepers have no problem destroying pretty much everything else that gets in their way in their pursuit of a rigid society ruled by their own members certainly complicates their vision of a world unbothered by the infected.

Questionable morals aside, the big thing you need to know about the Peacekeepers is that they’re a “combat-focused” group that will greatly enhance your ability to battle the infected should you choose to support them. We’ll discuss a few of the factors that complicate that analysis somewhat, but if you’re just looking at this from a gameplay perspective, then it’s safe to say that the Peacekeepers are perfect for players who either intend to focus largely on combat or want to be able to enhance their combat abilities in ways that the game’s usual array of weapons and skills can’t offer alone.

Dying Light 2 – What Faction Rewards Do You Get With the Peacekeepers?

The Peacekeepers’ approach to “keeping the peace” really shines in their faction rewards, which mostly consist of a series of weapons and explosives spread throughout the city that will certainly help you battle the infected and will also certainly cause quite a bit of collateral damage and accidents.

Still, these rewards undoubtedly make it significantly easier to battle large groups of infected:

Car Traps – Explosive cars that are capable of luring and destroying enemies are placed throughout the city.
PK Razor Canon – The PKs set up deadly mounted turrets throughout the city.
Electrical Traps – These manually deployed traps generate an electric AOE effect that damages enemies and denies their progress.
Crossbow Pack – This incredibly useful semi-automatic crossbow comes with recipes for elemental bolts.
Molotov Lanterns – The PKs hang explosive lamps throughout the city that you can be shot down and dropped on unsuspecting infected.
Pendulum Traps – These giant traps are capable of taking out large groups of enemies quickly and quietly.
UV Trap – The PKs install UV lamps on the streets and on rooftops that make it significantly easier to destroy and delay pursuing infected.

Dying Light 2 – Why You Should Join the Survivors

Dying Light 2‘s Survivors largely consist of regular people who have discovered that working together greatly increases their odds of…well…surviving.

The Survivors are certainly not fans of the infected, but they’re more interested in establishing and maintaining a community where resources are bountiful than they are in spending their days wiping out the infected. They offer some tools of destruction, but they prefer to use them defensively whenever possible.

Most of the rewards you get from helping the Survivors will establish new modes of transportation throughout the city that will allow you to not only navigate the area with greater ease but often avoid combat entirely. They also grant you access to a very useful steady stream of supplies that will certainly benefit any players who choose to use parkour skills over their combat abilities whenever possible.

Dying Light 2 – What Faction Rewards Do You Get With the Survivors?

If you keep finding yourself wishing there was a faster and better way to get around Dying Light 2‘s city, then these faction rewards you get from helping the Survivors will certainly make your life a little easier:

Ziplines: Pretty much your basic zip line, these randomly placed wires will allow you to zip between two points fairly quickly.
Airbags: This incredibly satisfying upgrade lets you bounce high in the air and get from the streets to the rooftops faster than ever before.
Landing Bags: With this reward unlocked, the Survivors will install a series of cushioned bags throughout the city that will break your fall when used.
Survivor Revival: One of the Survivors’ best faction rewards, this upgrade will send an NPC to resurrect you if you fall in Survivor territory.
Air Vents: This reward greatly expands the number of available air vents throughout the city, which makes it easier to glide to your destination.
Upgraded Airbags: These upgraded airbags will launch you to far greater heights.
Two-Way Ziplines: This shockingly useful upgrade lets you travel both up and down ziplines, which means that you can more ground quicker than ever before.

Dying Light 2 – What Is the Best Faction to Join?

From a role-playing perspective, the choice of whether to help the Survivors or Peacekeepers is entirely up to you. While it’s a little too simple to say that the Survivors represent the “good” moral alignment and the Peacekeepers represent the “bad” moral alignment, the dynamic between them certainly leans close enough in that direction to use that as your rough moral compass if you choose to do so.

Of course, since your faction choice ultimately has relatively little impact on Dying Light 2‘s story (at least compared to other decisions you’ll be making), deciding to choose one over the other for narrative purposes really does come down to your personal role-playing experience and preferences.

What about the rewards, though? Well, if you’re going to go “all-in” on a particular faction, I will say that the Peacekeepers generally offer a better set of rewards as well as invaluable access to weapons and other combat tools that will almost certainly come in handy. Some of the top-tier Peacekeeper rewards really do change how you approach combat situations as well as your odds of surviving them.

I certainly can’t sit here and pretend that the Survivor rewards are anything less than great, but I will say that the last few rewards you get with them aren’t necessarily as impactful as they perhaps could have been. It’s nice that you often have more opportunities to “use” their rewards due to their nature, but many of their most generally useful rewards are acquired relatively earlier on.

The good news is that you can make this choice significantly easier on yourself by embracing the “Why Not Both?” of it all.

Because you gain reputation with Dying Light 2‘s factions by taking over facilities and assigning them to one or the other, it’s perfectly fine to “mix and match” a bit by simply assigning a few to one faction and a few more to another.

Since there are seven total facilities in the game, I would recommend giving four to the Peacekeepers and three to the Survivors in order to maximize the rewards you get from both. The Peacekeepers’ crossbow reward is certainly worth working towards, and the first three faction rewards you get with the Survivors are arguably the most generally useful rewards they have to offer (though the resurrection ability is certainly nice if you’re in Survivor territory).

I could also see doing a 5-2 split in favor of the Peacekeepers if you’re looking for the best rewards, but I would advise unlocking at least the first two Survivor rewards (unless you’re committing entirely to one faction or the other).