Epitome How to Choose Aria or Zetia
Two kingdoms, two Archon policies, and PvP talk that is still vision—not a finished ladder.
After you pick a class in Epitome, Steam asks where your allegiance lies. Will you join glorious Aria, who worship all the Archons equally, or imperial Zetia, who acknowledge only the supremacy of Zethar and aim to overthrow the other Archons? That sentence is the entire official fork. This guide unpacks it for an MMO that is still Coming soon: what the fantasy is, how it might matter for PvP and guilds at vision level, and what you should not pretend is already a live-service war.
If you have not created a character yet, read how to play Epitome first. If you care who the gods even are, keep Archons and world lore open beside this page.
Aria: worship the full set
Aria is marketed as the kingdom that keeps every Archon on the altar. Steam’s world pitch says Archons rule unique realms and distort them as they wish, and that you enter the System of Epitome to strive to become an Archon yourself. In that frame, Aria is the polity that treats the whole pantheon as legitimate. Magic-forward flavor shows up in third-party summaries as well: Aria as the side that excels at the art of magic while still living in the same war.
Play Aria if you want:
- A character who can talk to AI NPCs as if many divine names are allowed in public.
- A starter kit that still feels “classic fantasy kingdom” when you walk the two pre-alpha cities.
- Room to roll Shaman or later Elementalist without feeling like you picked the anti-god empire. Class and faction are still separate Steam decisions.
Aria is not automatically the “good” meter. Morality Metrics are how Steam unlocks Necromancer and Elementalist. Faction is not that meter. You can be a helpful Aria citizen or a cruel one. The wiki will not invent a holy-point threshold.
Zetia: only Zethar
Zetia is the imperial answer. One Archon is enough. The others should fall. Steam’s wording is aggressive on purpose: acknowledge only Zethar’s supremacy, overthrow the rest. Third-party write-ups often add a technology flavor to Zetia. Treat extra adjectives as color until the studio’s own lore page matches them. The locked-in fact is the Zethar monopoly.
Play Zetia if you want:
- A banner that is easy to explain in guild chat: one god, one empire.
- NPCs who should, if the AI is working, sound different when you mention other Archons.
- A future PvP identity that is not “we like all the statues.”
Zetia is not automatically the Necromancer faction. Steam never says that. Some backer clients currently let people create Necromancer as a fourth option; that is a test-build note, not a Zetia racial bonus.
PvP, guilds, and other vision-level implications
Kickstarter talk pointed at sandbox-style systems later: guild and faction warfare, territory control, player housing, a larger map set. Those sentences live on the Kickstarter roadmap. They are not a current pre-alpha manual. The slice testers have been sold is closer to one map, two cities, and open PvP as a system that already exists in the claimed feature list.
What you can reasonably assume at vision level:
- Open world PvP will eventually care which banner you wear, because otherwise the Aria/Zetia prompt is cosmetics.
- Guilds will want a majority faction for the same reason guilds always do: simpler diplomacy, simpler “kick the other color” rules. The studio has not published those rules.
- Territory and housing, if they ship, will probably sit on the faction war the campaign described. They are not in your bag because you pledged.
What you should not assume:
- A finished ranking of which faction wins 3v3.
- A transfer token on Steam launch.
- That online co-op and party play from how to play only work inside your kingdom. Party and trade are claimed systems; cross-faction grouping is not a published law.
Combat itself is still the controls and combat action kit. Faction will not replace WASD. Class pages on the classes hub still decide whether you are a Warrior wall or a Ninja opener.
How to choose in one evening
Ignore min-max posts. Ask which city fantasy you want to photograph: a polytheist capital or an empire of one name. Ask which sermons you want AI NPCs to give you. Ask whether you are willing to be the villain in someone else’s Archon story. Then click it. Pre-alpha characters will be wiped. Launch rules may add a price to swapping. Neither fact is a reason to stall in the create screen for an hour.
Hardware and access are still the boring gates: system requirements, pre-alpha access, Epitome System Account, Armorify.it. A faction war cannot start on a PC that never logs in.
When you have picked a color, read the Archon page for the names behind the war, then return to the Guides Hub for the mechanical index. Aria versus Zetia is a banner. It is not a finished MMO, and it is not a reason to tell anyone Steam already offers a public download.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers for wishlist, classes, and pre-alpha questions.
What is the difference between Aria and Zetia?
Steam says Aria worships all Archons equally. Zetia acknowledges only Zethar and wants the other Archons overthrown. That is the official split.
Does faction unlock Necromancer or Elementalist?
No. Those advanced classes are tied to [Morality Metrics](/guides/morality-metrics/). Faction is a separate allegiance choice on the create flow.
Which faction is better for PvP?
There is no finished launch ladder. Kickstarter described future faction warfare at vision level. Pick the fantasy you want to inhabit, not a fake win rate.
Can I change faction later?
Steam has not published a transfer rule. Treat the pre-alpha pick as temporary because test characters wipe, and treat launch swaps as unknown.
Where is the lore for Archons and Zethar?
Read [Archons and world lore](/players/archons/). Come back here when you need the practical Aria versus Zetia create decision.