Quick answer (Season 5, patch 1.5.3, checked November 2, 2026): Pick Circle of Fortune if you want to play your own loot, and Merchant's Guild only if you will actually sell items on the Bazaar. Patch 1.5 removed every Merchant's Guild rank gate on buying, so MG can buy any item from Rank 1, while Circle of Fortune now runs four automatic Prophecy slots at once. For most players CoF is the better default. MG wins for chase items with exact rolls, but only if your gold comes from selling.
This guide was rewritten for Season 5, Rage of the Frostborn, which launched on October 1, 2026. The live version is patch 1.5.3 from October 21. If you read a faction guide written before Season 5, ignore its rank table: Black Market Tokens are gone, and the Prophecy system it describes no longer exists. Both reworks come from the official Patch 1.5 notes.
Merchant's Guild or Circle of Fortune: which is better in Season 5?
Neither is stronger on paper. They answer different questions: do you want to shop for exact items, or do you want more and better drops of your own?
| Merchant's Guild (MG) | Circle of Fortune (CoF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Gear comes from | Other players, via the Bazaar | Your own drops, boosted by rank |
| Currency | Gold plus Favor | Favor only, spent automatically |
| What rank unlocks | Bags of keys and crafting materials | Drop bonuses, Prophecy slots, rewards, Lenses |
| Buy any item at Rank 1 | Yes, since patch 1.5 | No trading |
| Target farming | Bazaar filters | Four Prophecy slots |
| Worst case | You run out of gold | RNG on a specific roll |
| Best for | Sellers, crafters, exact-roll chasers | Most players, alts, anyone who hates markets |
Our call: start with CoF unless you already know you enjoy trading. The reason is the gold gap. In a Season 5 thread on r/LastEpoch this month, one player reported about 10 million gold after 70 hours of play, while the cheapest 0 LP Death's Dance on the market was listed at 250 million. A reply from a dedicated seller reported 20-30 million per day. Those are community reports, not official rates, but the lesson is sound. MG rewards people who sell, not people who only loot gold.
What did patch 1.5 change for each faction?
Both factions were reworked for Season 5, and each change removes that faction's biggest chore.
Merchant's Guild. The official line is blunt: "All equippable item types can now be purchased simply by being a member of the Merchant's Guild, regardless of rank." Black Market Tokens were removed, because Eleventh Hour Games said there was an "overabundance" of them in Season 4. Only the Merchant Token remains, and it removes the Favor cost from one purchase. The patch also added Price Suggestion, opt-in Automatic Price Lowering, and listing from one sidebar. Patch 1.5.2 later cut the minimum automatic price from 500 gold to 1 gold.
Circle of Fortune. Prophecy rerolling is gone. As the EHG faction update puts it: "you simply select the exact reward you want, and it will automatically charge and repeatedly fulfill as you gain favor." You no longer spend Favor by hand or hunt through random Prophecies at a telescope.
We covered the pre-launch reveal in our Season 5 faction rework breakdown. The sections below describe what actually shipped.
How does the Merchant's Guild work now?
You earn Favor from kills and quests, then spend it with gold at the Bazaar. Listing costs Favor too, but the official support page notes that "selling items requires much less Favor than purchasing them."
Two trade rules decide how you should play MG:
- An item can only be traded once. Anything you buy becomes untradable, so you cannot flip it.
- Bought items are bound to MG. Support says they become "impossible to equip as a member of the Circle of Fortune even if you switch Factions."
Rank still matters, just not for buying gear. It now opens item bags, which give you a use for spare Favor and gold. This list comes from Maxroll's Merchant's Guild overview, updated October 1 for Season 5.
| MG Rank | Unlock |
|---|---|
| 1 | Buy and sell all item types in the Bazaar |
| 2 | Bags of Common Shards |
| 3 | Bags of Common Glyphs |
| 4 | Bags of Common Runes |
| 5 | Bags of Dungeon Keys and Arena Keys |
| 6 | Bags of Shards |
| 7 | Bags of Glyphs |
| 8 | Bags of Runes |
| 9 | Bags of Uncommon Shards |
| 10 | Bags of Uncommon Glyphs |
| 11 | Bags of Uncommon Runes |
| 12 | Bags of Uncommon Materials |
The practical result: a new MG member can buy any equippable item type straight away, as long as it has the gold and Favor. The bottleneck moved from rank to money. Our Last Epoch gold farming guide covers the selling loop that fixes that, and it matters more than any rank.
How does Circle of Fortune work now?
CoF has two layers. Passive rank bonuses improve every drop, and four Prophecy slots turn the Favor you earn into chosen rewards.
What are the Circle of Fortune rank bonuses?
There are 12 ranks. This table uses Maxroll's Circle of Fortune overview, updated October 3.
| CoF Rank | Passive bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Enemies have a 35% chance to drop twice as many items |
| 2 | 45% chance to preserve Rune of Ascendance on items requiring CoF Rank 1 or higher |
| 3 | 25% chance for two more Idols when an Idol drops |
| 4 | The whole set drops when a Set item would drop |
| 5 | 35% chance for double Monolith echo rewards |
| 6 | Affixes are 50% more likely to be Exalted |
| 7 | Exiled Mages drop twice as many experimental items |
| 8 | Uniques are twice as likely to have Legendary Potential |
| 9 | T7 affixes are twice as common |
| 10 | Bosses have 150% increased drop rate for their specific rewards |
| 11 | Rare drops have a 25% chance to become Exalted |
| 12 | Prophecies grant twice as many items |
Rank 8 is the one to rush if you chase Legendary crafting. A recent r/LastEpoch data-mining post claims a low-level unique like Mad Alchemist's Ladle can no longer drop at 0 LP once you reach CoF Rank 8. That is a community finding, not an EHG statement, but it shows how much the bonus does for low-level LP farming.
How do the four Prophecy slots work?
Each slot holds one reward and one Lens. Every slot charges as you earn Favor, stores up to 99 charges, and pays out when you complete either of its two targets. If a slot holds several charges, one target can spend several and drop the reward multiple times.
| Slot | Unlocks at | Complete by |
|---|---|---|
| Mesembria | Rank 1 | Defeat a Rift Beast or activate a Shrine |
| Dysis | Rank 3 | Defeat a Nemesis or open a Lost Cache |
| Eos | Rank 6 | Defeat an Exiled Mage or Timeline Boss |
| Arctis | Rank 9 | Defeat a Fateweaver or an Omen |
Rewards are the real upgrade. Patch 1.5 added items that CoF players used to struggle to farm. Rare gear rewards upgrade to Exalted at Rank 4, Runes of Weaving open at Rank 8, Glyphs of Despair and Envy at Rank 10, and Runes of Havoc, Redemption, Ascendance and Creation at Rank 11. Rank 12 turns experimental rewards into guaranteed T7 experimental affixes.
EHG's pre-launch screenshot gives a sense of scale: Exalted Body Armor drops 10 items per charge, at 1 charge for every 1,610 Favor earned. The tooltip shows the live cost for your own setup, so check it before you pick.
Which Lenses matter most?
Lenses change a slot's rewards or its charge speed. You get them from Galila, and each one unlocks for your whole stash.
- Tyranny (Rank 3): doubles charge rate by eating existing Favor. EHG suggests it for crafting materials, where quantity is key.
- Origin and Finality (Rank 4): higher prefix or suffix tiers on rare and Exalted rewards.
- Duplication (Rank 5): 40% chance to duplicate rewards.
- Curiosity (Rank 8): makes rare uniques drop more often. EHG calls this one out for "Red Ring enjoyers."
- Quality (Rank 9): higher average Legendary Potential on unique rewards.
CoF's Rune of Havoc access at Rank 11 pairs well with Ice and Blood Forging Potential rewards from Rage of Morditas if you craft your own endgame gear, and our Last Epoch crafting guide covers the rest.
Which faction should you choose for your playstyle?
Use this as a straight decision list.
Choose Circle of Fortune if:
- This is your first or second season, or you play casually.
- You like target farming through normal content such as shrines, Nemesis fights and bosses.
- You play alts and want one setup that keeps paying out.
- You would rather never think about prices.
Choose Merchant's Guild if:
- You will list drops regularly. A trade loot filter plus Automatic Price Lowering is the core loop.
- You want one exact item, such as a high LP unique, instead of farming it.
- You want to fund a build from good bases you don't personally use.
- You enjoy the economy for its own sake. As one r/LastEpoch player argued, trade expands what counts as a good drop, because items for other builds become worth money.
Timing matters this late in the season. Season 5 is more than a month old, and sellers on r/LastEpoch disagree about how healthy the seasonal market still is. One says you now need to sell "good or perfect rolls" to get attention, with strict filters. Good items still sell, but the easy early-season money has passed. If you are starting now with a modest budget, CoF will likely give you more power per hour.
Your first faction unlock comes in Chapter 9. Both factions open in the Upper District of Maj'Elka, where Zerrick points you to Nama at The Bazaar and Galila at The Observatory. Once one character has joined, later characters can join earlier without reaching Chapter 9 themselves. A Temporal Sanctum Key and a Chronomancer Julra kill give you a shortcut to Chapter 9. Our Season 5 leveling guide covers the fastest route.
Can you switch factions in Last Epoch?
Yes, and you don't need a quest or a new character. Open the Factions window with Y, click Rank and Reputation, then click Leave Faction and confirm. The official support article lists what it costs:
- You must remove all Faction-tagged items first.
- You lose all Favor with the old faction.
- Your Reputation and Rank do not reset.
- Leaving CoF also removes your active Prophecies.
- The switch affects every character sharing that stash.
That last point is the one most players miss. Faction data lives with the stash, so treat your choice as a decision for the whole stash, not one character. Items you got through CoF bonuses keep a CoF rank requirement that can never be removed. They stop working while you are in MG and work again if you return. Bazaar purchases stay bound to MG in the same way.
FAQ
Is Merchant's Guild rank still important in Season 5? Not for gear. Since patch 1.5 any member can buy all equippable item types at Rank 1. Rank now only unlocks bags of shards, glyphs, runes and keys, from Rank 2 through Rank 12.
Do Black Market Tokens still exist? No. Patch 1.5 removed them. The Merchant Token is the only Token left, and it removes the Favor cost from one Bazaar purchase.
Can I sell Circle of Fortune items on the Bazaar? No. Support states that items with either Faction Rank requirement cannot be sold at the Bazaar, and items dropped through CoF bonuses carry that requirement. You can still gift items in a party, since these rules do not affect Party Gifting or Resonance.
Does my faction rank carry over to other characters? Yes. Rank is never lost or spent, and it is shared across your account within a game mode. Different game modes, such as Hardcore and softcore, track rank separately.
Do I lose my rank if I switch factions? No. You lose Favor and any active Prophecies, but your Reputation and Rank stay, so returning to a faction does not restart it.
Is Circle of Fortune good enough for endgame? Yes. It reaches all Monolith content without touching the Bazaar, and the Last Epoch tier list builds do not depend on your faction. MG only pulls ahead when you need one exact roll on one exact item and can afford it.
