You’re wandering through a misty Fae Realm, fending off stray bog wraiths, when you stumble on a hidden Nightingale camp. The faction leader approaches, holds out a carved silver medallion, and offers you a formal spot in their ranks. If you’re like most new players, the first thought that pops into your head is is becoming a nightingale worth it. I’ve put over 120 hours into Nightingale across three full playthroughs, so I’ve tested both joining and skipping the faction to see exactly what you gain and lose with this choice.
What You Gain When You Become a Nightingale
The Nightingale faction is built for players who prioritize exploration and stealth over brute force combat, and their rewards reflect that focus. Most perks are tailored to help you navigate remote, high-risk areas of the Fae Realms without wasting resources on unnecessary fights. You’ll also get access to content that is completely locked off for non-members, including side quests that fill in major gaps in the game’s core lore.
The core benefits of joining the faction include:
- Exclusive Nightingale glider with 25% longer glide time than standard craftable models
- Unlimited access to Fae invisibility potions that cannot be crafted or purchased from non-faction traders
- 20% permanent discount on all faction trader goods across every unlocked realm
- Access to locked Nightingale-only story quests that reveal hidden Fae Realm lore
I found the glider to be the most useful perk by far on my solo exploration run. It let me cross entire mountain ranges in the Winter Realm without stopping to climb, cutting my travel time by almost 40% compared to the basic glider you craft at the start of the game. The free invisibility potions also saved me dozens of hours of grinding for crafting materials, since I could sneak past high-level enemy camps instead of fighting my way through them.
The Hidden Costs of Joining the Nightingale Faction
It’s not all easy exploration and free perks, though. Joining the Nightingales comes with real tradeoffs that can ruin your playthrough if you don’t know what you’re signing up for. The biggest downside for most players is the mandatory weekly quest requirement to keep your faction standing. If you miss two weekly quests in a row, you lose access to all exclusive perks until you complete 5 tedious catch-up quests.
Fae enemies will prioritize you as a target in all group encounters too, since Nightingales are marked as high-priority threats by the Fae hierarchy. When I played a co-op run with friends who joined the opposing Ranger faction, I’d get swarmed by enemies the second I stepped within 50 feet of a patrol, while my Ranger friends could walk right past them without being noticed. You also lose access to all Ranger-exclusive building materials, which makes building large, fortified bases far more time-consuming.
Casual players who only log in for 1-2 hours a week will likely find the weekly quests more frustrating than fun. One week I had to collect 30 rare Fae fireflies from the Swamp Realm, which took almost 4 hours because they only spawn at night and are guarded by level 20 bog wraiths. If you don’t have that kind of time to spare each week, the faction perks probably aren’t worth the hassle.
Is Becoming a Nightingale Worth It for Your Playstyle?
The answer to this question depends entirely on what you want to get out of your time in the Fae Realms. There’s no universal right choice, but there are clear groups of players who will get way more value from the faction than others.
Solo exploration-focused players get the most value out of the faction, by a wide margin. The extended glide time and free invisibility potions let you access high-tier loot areas way before you’re geared enough to fight your way through the enemies guarding them. I was able to get a full set of legendary exploration gear 10 hours earlier on my Nightingale playthrough than I did on my Ranger run, just by sneaking past high-level camps to get to hidden ruins.
It’s a bad fit, though, if you prefer base building and group boss fights. The Nightingale faction doesn’t offer any perks for combat or construction, so you’ll be at a big disadvantage compared to Ranger faction players who get discounted building materials and combat buffs. If you play mostly co-op with friends who are joining the Ranger faction, you’ll also miss out on shared faction quests and group rewards, which kills a lot of the co-op fun.
What to Do Before You Commit to the Nightingales
You don’t have to make the choice on the spot when the faction leader offers you the medallion. There are a few simple steps you can take to make sure you’re making the right call for your playthrough.
First, complete the three introductory side quests the Nightingale faction offers before you take the official oath. These quests are open to all players, so you can test what the weekly quest grind will feel like without locking yourself in. You’ll also get a free sample of the invisibility potion to test out, so you can see if the stealth playstyle fits your preferences.
Second, check the full reward list for both the Nightingale and Ranger factions at any nearby camp before you decide. You can view every perk and item offered by both factions at any time, so you don’t have to guess what you’re giving up. If you see a Ranger-exclusive building material or combat buff you can’t live without, you’ll know to skip the Nightingales.
Finally, if you play co-op, check in with all members of your group before anyone joins a faction. If half your group joins Nightingales and half joins Rangers, you won’t be able to share faction rewards or complete group faction quests together. You cannot switch factions once you complete the official initiation oath, so this small check will save you a lot of frustration later on.
At the end of the day, is becoming a nightingale worth it? For me, it was a no-brainer on my solo exploration run, but it was a frustrating mistake on my co-op combat-focused playthrough. There’s no right answer for everyone, but if you take 15 minutes to test the introductory quests, review the reward lists, and align your choice with your playstyle and group’s plans, you won’t regret your call. The Fae Realms are built to let you play the way you want, so don’t let other players’ opinions push you into a choice that doesn’t fit what you enjoy about the game.
