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The Battalion, the Radio Rats, and the Headhunters

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On St. Lawrence Island, the law is held by only a handful of towns, and raiders divide up everything else between themselves. Three of them you’ll run into more often than any others: the Battalion, the Radio Rats, and the Headhunters. This isn’t an alliance but three separate forces, each with its own habits — and the player deals with all three under the same set of rules.

What they have in common

All three are raiders, and the game treats them with the same harshness. Each faction is flagged “hostile by default”: its fighters consider an unknown player an enemy until he earns “neutral” reputation (the contact threshold is 10). Until that threshold is reached, the AI opens fire.

  • Not a single bloc. The Battalion and the Radio Rats are rivals and count as enemies of each other. The Headhunters keep to themselves: they’re hostile to the peaceful trading bloc (the Traders, New Gambell, Savoonga), but they don’t wage war on other raiders.
  • You can join all three, but only by earning “respected” reputation (threshold 51). Joining sets a reputation floor of 10, leaving removes 5.
  • Two rank tiers in each. The Battalion has Soldier and Commander, the Radio Rats have Radioman and Signalmaster, the Headhunters have Hunter and Master Hunter. Your rank is shown in the PDA and on the nameplate above your character.
  • Each has a headquarters with a peaceful contact for joining. Ordinary faction fighters are hostile, so a safe NPC takes your application to join: for the Radio Rats and the Headhunters this is a dedicated recruiter at the HQ, and for the Battalion it’s the leader himself. You can only reach him and submit your application once you’ve earned the required reputation.

How to earn reputation with them

You can raise a raider faction’s reputation up to the joining threshold by two proven routes:

  • Their open repeatable jobs. The Radio Rats and the Headhunters have job boards that even non-members can take from. Each such job gives +10 reputation with an 8-hour cooldown.
  • Through combat. Killing a member of a faction that counts as an enemy of the raiders you want raises your reputation with them. For example, killing a Trader gives +2 to both raider factions, while killing a Battalion fighter gives +3 to the Radio Rats (but not to the Headhunters, since the Battalion doesn’t consider the Headhunters enemies).

Reputation drops the same way in reverse: attacking and killing faction members incurs penalties (the raiders’ are the mildest, –8 for a kill), and witnesses to theft also hurt your reputation.

The Battalion

The Battalion is the most “serious” of the three. By the lore, it’s a powerful raider group with military training and iron discipline that came to the island from independent Korka in the early 2040s. Its fighters dug into the ruins of the airport and laid siege to New Gambell, forcing the town into agreements: the Battalion’s command decides who is even allowed to trade in the town, and obliged the locals to supply it with medicine and food. To fit into peaceful life, the gang founded the “Bar” — the largest establishment in the region, guaranteeing its guests’ safety — and through it built ties with trading organizations, doing well-paid dirty work for its partners. Their gear is quality fragments of the pre-war U.S. army, from which you can read both a fighter’s occupation and his rank.

In game: the leader is the Battalion trader at the Weather station location; joining is handled at the same hub. The Battalion is hostile to the Traders, New Gambell, Savoonga, and the Radio Rats. Its services are the Quartermaster (available at “neutral”), combat contracts (at “respected”), and heavy equipment (at “trusted”). Trade with their merchant is closed to hostile players: barter opens only from the contact threshold.

The Radio Rats

The Radio Rats are raiders who live off the airwaves: comms interception, radio warfare, and a predatory economy. In the PDA, their “habitat” is the radar station, radio points, technical shelters, and comms interception. They’re typical raiders out of Korka’s general lore: gangs in dark armor with insignia, festooned with weapons, light and mobile — to haul off loot or make a timely getaway; the guards of any prosperous town open fire on one the moment they spot it.

In game: the leader is a radio operator at the radar station Radar System; the recruiter — the Radio Rat Broker — stands there too. The Radio Rats are hostile to the Traders, New Gambell, Savoonga, and the Battalion (their longtime rival). Services are radio reconnaissance (at “neutral”), trophy exchange (at “respected”), and access to relays (at “trusted”). The open boards that grant reputation: their field raids and cleanup work.

The Headhunters

The Headhunters are independent contractors of violence: contract killings and collecting bounties. Their main feature is that they’re loners among raiders: they fight the peaceful bloc, but they’re not at war with either the Battalion or the Radio Rats.

In game: the leader is the Headhunter Leader at the Antenna location, with the recruiter nearby. Services are contracts (at “neutral”), the bounty board (at “respected”), and special operations (at “trusted”).

It’s the Headhunters who are behind the bounty system. A victim player can place a bounty on the head of his offender; the assigned sum is paid out in full to whoever kills him. In addition, the Headhunters have a “defection” track: their contractor can offer a member of the Traders faction the chance to abandon his own — to leave branded an outcast and join the Headhunters.

How the player encounters them

  • In combat on the routes. By default their fighters are hostile — expect skirmishes until you build up reputation.
  • At their headquarters. The Weather station, the Radar System, and the Antenna are public locations, unlocked on the global map, where the leaders and recruiters sit.
  • In the PDA. All three are in the relations list: reputation, status, and — for your own faction — your rank as well.
  • By picking a side. Having raised reputation through jobs or combat, you can join one of them — but only one at a time: while you’re in another faction, joining is closed.