Overview
The world of Zhou is populated with factions and NPCs that react to Cheng's actions and choices. Faction reputation, NPC relationships, and time-based schedules create a city that responds dynamically to player behavior.
Major Factions
Multiple factions operate within Zhou, each with their own relationship meters and gameplay rewards:
Star Fall Society: the primary resistance faction, led by The Master. Alignment provides stealth tools and non-combat mission paths
Celestial Defectors: former servants of the Celestials who have turned against their masters. Aligning with them teaches Cheng high-risk, high-reward combos that favor aggressive, all-in combat styles
Building reputation with specific factions unlocks unique element modifiers for the Elemancer system, crafting recipes, and exclusive quest lines.
NPC Schedules
NPCs in Zhou follow daily schedules tied to the game's time cycle. Vendors open and close their shops, civilians follow work-home routines, and patrol routes shift between day and night. Zifei Wu gave the example of "someone gets off work at 7 PM," meaning players need to plan their approach around NPC availability. A target might be vulnerable only during their commute home, or a contact might only be reachable at their workplace during business hours.
Relationship System
Cheng can build relationships with individual NPCs through conversations, quest completion, and repeated interaction. Completing side quests increases relationship points, and these points influence the main story's difficulty and available paths. The developers gave a direct example: befriending an NPC who controls a building can lead that NPC to remove the guards, opening a non-combat route through an otherwise heavily defended mission area.
Some NPCs interact with both of Cheng's identities through the dual identity system without connecting them, creating complex social dynamics where information learned in one identity can be leveraged in the other.
Vendors
Merchants throughout Zhou sell crafting materials, consumables, and equipment. After major quest completions, certain vendors rotate their inventory to include rare cores available on a weekly basis. Regular visits to vendor districts reward players with access to materials that may be difficult to find through exploration alone.
Companions
Certain NPCs join Cheng as temporary companions during specific missions. These allies provide combat support and narrative dialogue, but they are not permanent party members. Their availability depends on story progression and relationship status.
Faction Mechanics
The Steam store page lists three social mechanics that thread through faction interaction. Each is exposed through dialogue, NPC schedules, and mission consequences across the campaign:
Mechanic | What It Does | When It Matters |
|---|---|---|
Ally Cultivation | Cheng builds relationships with key NPCs over time through repeated interactions, side quests, and faction-aligned choices | Unlocks safe houses, vendor access, and unique mission approaches; some quests open only once a faction trusts Cheng |
Favor Trading | Exchange information, services, and items with NPCs in return for ongoing access or future help | Used to bypass guarded checkpoints, get vendor discounts, and recruit temporary allies for mission objectives |
Bribery | Direct payment to rival or hostile NPCs to ignore Cheng's actions, look the other way, or provide intel | Lower-tier alternative to ally cultivation; faster but less reliable, with NPCs sometimes flipping back or alerting their faction |
Confirmed Factions
Faction | Role | Status in Build |
|---|---|---|
Anti-Celestial resistance; trains and shelters Elemancers | Confirmed; led by The Master | |
Divine antagonists who rule Zhou after The God Fall | Confirmed; reveal trailer shows Celestial Wardens in combat | |
Steam Soldiers | Mechanical infantry serving Celestial control over the capital | Confirmed in gameplay trailer; some drop a giant hammer that can be picked up |
Vendors and Civilians | Non-aligned merchants, market stalls, and residents whose schedules create stealth windows | Confirmed via store page mention of vendors with rotating stock |
Notes on Faction Standing
Specific named NPCs beyond The Master have not yet been confirmed in publicly available press materials. Treat any name you see in trailers or interviews as preliminary until Pathea publishes a character roster or until additional gameplay footage confirms a recurring role.