Loyalist <-> Resistance ... switching alignments EVERY TIME for Praetorians

Some of us are ... completionists ... who are compelled to play every story arc (in Praetoria), but who want to do so as the ultimate double agent playing BOTH SIDES all the way through.  This means that every time you're confronted with an opportunity to SWITCH alignments between Loyalist and Resistance ... YOU DO.  Never stay with the same alignment for more than a single arc within a zone.

First and foremost ... DO THE TUTORIAL.

I don't care if you've done the Tutorial before on a different Praetorian character.  Do it anyway on any new character (not just Praetorians).  The reason being that you only get the "undercover mission" options if you did the Tutorial and pledged your "true" loyalty to one faction or the other at the end of the Tutorial before you leave the Tutorial zone.  Skip this step and you can't go back for a Do Over without rerolling.  Besides, you wanted to get all of the Badges in Precinct 5 don't you?  Especially since you'll never be coming back here ...

If you're going to be doing ALL of the missions for ALL of the contacts in ALL of the arcs ... you're going to wind up earning too much XP, even without any XP booster bonuses.  I strongly recommend going into your Options Menu and disabling XP gain when you're at Level 9.9 ... Level 14.9 ... and Level 19.9 ... so as to prevent an unfortunate situation of accidentally outleveling any Contacts.  If your level rises above the Contact's "threshold" for levels, they will stop (usefully) talking to you and will instead refer you on down the line to later Contacts.  This is obviously a problem if you haven't completed ALL of the content within a city zone yet for all 4 of the storylines within that zone and you don't want to miss any.  Once you've completed your last mission and reported into your last contact in a zone, it ought to be a simple enough matter to Street Sweep for the last (under) 10% of XP remaining to get you to a level up to 10, 15 or 20 (after turning XP back on, of course!).

Additionally, I recommend that when transferring to a new zone to resume progress it is a best practice to go and talk to EVERY Contact you are given, if only so as to unlock them.  After ALL of the (starting) contacts in a given city zone have been interacted with ... only then will you want to start working on the respective story arcs.  A best practice would be to do each story arc to completion (and alignment switch) before moving on to a new story arc.  This will help prevent confusion regarding which content/contacts you have concluded already, so long as you stick to the plan below (or at least something akin to it).

In order to get the Moral High Ground badge, you will need to make the end of story arcs choice of alignments between Loyalist and Resistance at least 5 times.

The other thing to remember with Praetorian Contacts is that some of the arcs will "do things" that can prevent progress in a different arc.  I've noted below which arcs "block" progress on other arcs so as to avoid this kind of progression blocking (look for the italics on the Contacts names for this, and read the NOTES at the end of all of this).  The conflicts that can occur are in all three of the zones, with the biggest one being that the Resistance Crusader Contacts require you to be Resistance aligned in order to talk to them AT ALL (let alone access them in the Underground Resistance Bases).  This limitation means that there is simply NO POSSIBLE WAY to always switch alignments while matching the alignment you choose with the Contact who gives you that choice, since you can only do Crusader missions while you are already Resistance aligned, and using this "rule" for yourself will mean that you have to both start and end Crusader arcs as Resistance, foiling the effort to switch alignments EVERY time you're given a choice.  Conversely, in order to even talk to any of the Loyalist Power contacts, you need to be a Loyalist.

This means that if you're going to switch alignments, starting from the "wrong" alignment, you will need to use a Warden arc or a Responsibility arc in order to switch to the alignment you're trying to reach.  I've noted these alignment pre-requisites using either an _R for Resistance or an _L for Loyalist on the specific contacts who will "stop talking to you" if you are the wrong alignment for their arc.

=====

Do Tutorial! -> Choose RESISTANCE!

"Betray Alignments" Path = ALWAYS … Resistance Contact to Loyalist alignment + Loyalist Contact to Resistance alignment

Nova Praetoria (1-10)
Resistance Crusader (Ricochet_R > Splice_R > Jack Hammer_R) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Deputy Assistant of Information_L > Warrant_L > Reese_L) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Warden (Robert Flores > Tunnel Rat > Doctor Arvin) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Chief Interrogator Washington > Cleopatra) -> Choose RESISTANCE!
Imperial City (8-15)
Resistance Crusader (Hatchet_R > Beholder_R > Vagabond_R > Wardog_R) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Mr. G_L > Transmuter_L > Tami Baker_L > Praetor Sinclair_L) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Warden (Jessica Flores > Luke Larson > Doctor Steffard > Seer 1381) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Interrogator Kang > Alec Parson > Investigator Whitworth > Chance McKnight) -> Choose RESISTANCE!
Neutropolis (15-20)
Resistance Warden (Aaron Walker > Penelope Yin > Dark Watcher) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Ivy > Praetor Tilman > Anti-Matter) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Crow_R > Helix_R > Calvin Scott_R) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Dr. Hetzfeld_L > Bobcat_L > Neuron_L) -> Choose RESISTANCE!

Choose Hero or Villain

"Accept Alignments" Path = ALWAYS … Resistance Contact to Resistance alignment + Loyalist Contact to Loyalist alignment
Nova Praetoria (1-10)
Resistance Crusader (Ricochet_R > Splice_R > Jack Hammer_R) -> Choose Resistance
Loyalist Responsibility (Chief Interrogator Washington > Cleopatra) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Deputy Assistant of Information_L > Warrant_L > Reese_L) -> Choose Loyalist
Resistance Warden (Robert Flores > Tunnel Rat > Doctor Arvin) -> Choose RESISTANCE!
Imperial City (8-15)
Resistance Crusader (Hatchet_R > Beholder_R > Vagabond_R > Wardog_R) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Warden (Jessica Flores > Luke Larson > Doctor Steffard > Seer 1381) -> Choose Resistance
Loyalist Responsibility (Interrogator Kang > Alec Parson > Investigator Whitworth > Chance McKnight) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Mr. G_L > Transmuter_L > Tami Baker_L > Praetor Sinclair_L) -> Choose LOYALIST!
Neutropolis (15-20)
Resistance Warden (Aaron Walker > Penelope Yin > Dark Watcher) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Crow_R > Helix_R > Calvin Scott_R) -> Choose Resistance
Loyalist Power (Dr. Hetzfeld_L > Bobcat_L > Neuron_L) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Ivy > Praetor Tilman > Anti-Matter) -> Choose LOYALIST!

Choose Hero or Villain

Do Tutorial! -> Choose LOYALIST!

"Betray Alignments" Path = ALWAYS … Resistance Contact to Loyalist alignment + Loyalist Contact to Resistance alignment
Nova Praetoria (1-10)
Loyalist Power (Deputy Assistant of Information_L > Warrant_L > Reese_L) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Ricochet_R > Splice_R > Jack Hammer_R) -> Choose Loyalist
Resistance Warden (Robert Flores > Tunnel Rat > Doctor Arvin) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Chief Interrogator Washington > Cleopatra) -> Choose RESISTANCE!
Imperial City (8-15)
Resistance Crusader (Hatchet_R > Beholder_R > Vagabond_R > Wardog_R) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Mr. G_L > Transmuter_L > Tami Baker_L > Praetor Sinclair_L) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Warden (Jessica Flores > Luke Larson > Doctor Steffard > Seer 1381) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Interrogator Kang > Alec Parson > Investigator Whitworth > Chance McKnight) -> Choose RESISTANCE!
Neutropolis (15-20)
Resistance Warden (Aaron Walker > Penelope Yin > Dark Watcher) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Dr. Hetzfeld_L > Bobcat_L > Neuron_L) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Crow_R > Helix_R > Calvin Scott_R) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Responsibility (Ivy > Praetor Tilman > Anti-Matter) -> Choose RESISTANCE!

Choose Hero or Villain

"Accept Alignments" Path = ALWAYS … Resistance Contact to Resistance alignment + Loyalist Contact to Loyalist alignment

Nova Praetoria (1-10)
Resistance Warden (Robert Flores > Tunnel Rat > Doctor Arvin) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Ricochet_R > Splice_R > Jack Hammer_R) -> Choose Resistance
Loyalist Responsibility (Chief Interrogator Washington > Cleopatra) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Deputy Assistant of Information_L > Warrant_L > Reese_L) -> Choose LOYALIST!
Imperial City (8-15)
Resistance Warden (Jessica Flores > Luke Larson > Doctor Steffard > Seer 1381) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Hatchet_R > Beholder_R > Vagabond_R > Wardog_R) -> Choose Resistance
Loyalist Responsibility (Interrogator Kang > Alec Parson > Investigator Whitworth > Chance McKnight) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Mr. G_L > Transmuter_L > Tami Baker_L > Praetor Sinclair_L) -> Choose LOYALIST!
Neutropolis (15-20)
Resistance Warden (Aaron Walker > Penelope Yin > Dark Watcher) -> Choose Resistance
Resistance Crusader (Crow_R > Helix_R > Calvin Scott_R) -> Choose Resistance
Loyalist Responsibility (Ivy > Praetor Tilman > Anti-Matter) -> Choose Loyalist
Loyalist Power (Dr. Hetzfeld_L > Bobcat_L > Neuron_L) -> Choose LOYALIST!

Choose Hero or Villain

NOTES

• Resistance Crusader Contacts are only accessible while Resistance aligned because they are behind a locked door in the Underground that requires Resistance alignment to access.  If you do not open them while aligned with the Resistance you won't have access to them, nor will you be introduced to them by Provost Marchand (for what ought to be obvious reasons).  If you are Loyalist aligned, the Crusader Contacts will become Inactive and any missions you have from them will be dropped and cannot be reacquired until you are Resistance aligned again. This is true for each set of Resistance Crusader Contacts.
• The Loyalist Power Contact of the Deputy Assistant of Information is located within the Loyalist Lounge, which requires Loyalist alignment in order to enter so as to have access to him.  For this reason you cannot access this Contact until after switching alignment to Loyalist, meaning you cannot even begin the Power arc in Nova Praetoria until you are a Loyalist.
• Be sure to open Resistance and Loyalist Contacts in Imperial City before exiting Resistance and Loyalist alignment shifting in Nova Praetoria.  This will let you do the "breadcrumb" introduction missions from Calvin Scott and Provost Marchand, respectively, if that's important to you.  You can do the same for the Neutropolis Contacts before exiting Imperial City.
• Doctor Steffard will be removed from the game world if you complete (not start, complete) the third mission for Interrogator Kang (which is the search 10 dumpsters for the Limbo Device mission), so be sure to do ALL of Doctor Steffard's missions before doing ANY missions for Interrogator Kang. Fortunately, the breadcrumb introduction mission from Provost Marchand to Interrogator Kang can be completed without removing Doctor Steffard.  It is also possible that completing missions for Interrogator Kang may remove Seer 1381 from the world also (not confirmed).
• Aaron Walker will be removed from the game world by missions given by Calvin Scott, so be sure to do ALL of Aaron Walker's missions before doing ANY missions for Calvin Scott.
• The Betray and Accept Alignments paths laid out above will result in different (as in mutually exclusive) NPCs showing up at the end of your time in Praetoria for your journey to either Paragon City or the Rogue Isles due to the fact that each path chooses mutually exclusive alignment options in every instance.
• If you want to do the Newspaper Contact for each zone, you can, but I recommend doing as much as you want to before "moving on" to the next zone due to inactivation for Level range limits.

Another potential gotcha to note wrt the Resistance (Crusader) arcs. As part of Calvin Scott's arc, you permanently lose access to Crow. I accidentally started Calvin's arc before he would send me to Crow. By the time he did, it was too late for me to do his arc.

Now I'll have to wait til I'm 25 so I can complete it via Ouroboros

.

Can you go back and get the Moral High Ground badge through Ouroboros? I am not sure if it includes alignment swapping.

Can you go back and get the Moral High Ground badge through Ouroboros? I am not sure if it includes alignment swapping.

Moral High Ground Badge

Safer to assume you CAN'T get it through Ouroboros until someone posts that they've tested the proposition and found that you can.

This is a great guide. Of course a true completionist will have to do both versions of this, not only to see all of the Informant options, but also to see both potential outcomes of each moral choice for themselves.

Now, the tutorial is mandatory for a run like this, but it's completely optional for anyone else, even if they are a badge hunter, since there are no unique badges in the tutorial that can't be picked up later. I would go along with your caution about getting Moral High Ground before leaving Praetoria, but you'll have more than enough chances to make 5 moral choices before you leave, even if you skip the tutorial. That's averaging less than 2 quest lines per city zone.

I did something very much like this on my second Praetorian many years ago, just to fit the concept of someone who was so disgusted with the state of affairs there, that he happily betrayed everyone that he could before leaving the place behind.

You can get the Moral High Ground Badge through  Ouroboros.

I actually got it on my main character earlier this week after  going through Ouro and completing a bunch of the Loyalist/Resistance Praetorian Arcs that I had outleveled early on during those double XP days when the Homecoming servers came online early on.

Of course ideally you would get it as you're levelling up early on... but well if you don't - you can get it through Ouroboros later on. Even when you're at 50!

Paths through alignments, switching as often as possible, updated in my original post.

Word of wisdom: The final mission for Chance McKnight can be leveled out of. I went all the way thru Responsibility, figured it was safe to hit 15 once I got McKnight's arc, then found out the hard way that for some reason the final mission does a level check. 😞 

6 hours ago, Tankshock said:

Word of wisdom: The final mission for Chance McKnight can be leveled out of. I went all the way thru Responsibility, figured it was safe to hit 15 once I got McKnight's arc, then found out the hard way that for some reason the final mission does a level check. 😞 

Elaborate.

According to the wiki page for Chance McKnight his mission range is 8-15.  I take this to mean that so long as you're still Level 15 at the time you're doing his missions/arc, including the alignment mission at the end, you won't outlevel him.

After the penultimate mish, you get a huge xp bonus and merits. That may have actually dinged me to 16, which normally wouldn't matter because you get to finish an arc. But the final mish does another level check, so no joy.

Ah, that would make sense.  I advise keeping XP Gain turned OFF until you're turning in the last alignment mission to the contact (which will then bump you up to next level with XP Gain turned on at that point).

Edited OP to include additional limitations on which contacts will talk to you at any time (Warden or Responsibility) and which contacts will require you to match their alignment in order to talk to you (Crusader or Power).  This revealed some flaws in the previous pathing through alignment switches, which needed to be rectified so as to not accidentally block progress for needing to talk to (and get missions from) a contact who opposes your current alignment.

I didn't see Praetor White's initial missions mentioned, any reason to do or not do those before, for example, the Ricochet arc if you have gone Resistance in the Tutorial? 

56 minutes ago, Scientist said:

I didn't see Praetor White's initial missions mentioned, any reason to do or not do those before, for example, the Ricochet arc if you have gone Resistance in the Tutorial? 

I do all of Praetor White's missions before moving on to the other contacts.  However, Praetor White's missions do not involve any Alignment switching, hence why I did not mention them.

Well, my friend and I discovered that if you level to 9.9, you go directly from Jack Hammer to Mr. G and miss several arcs and switches.  Apparently we should have turned off XPs at 7.9, to avoid leveling to 8.  

Question, your guide cautions to avoid doing any Calvin Scott missions until after you have done all the Aaron Walker ones.  In the Mr. G arc in Imperial City, at the "Reveal Truth to Eddie Polstra" mission, it offers the option to talk to Calvin Scott about going undercover in the Powers line for Loyalist.  Is that mission and similar ones safe to do, until Calvin's actual arc at level 15-20 when you need to make sure Aaron Walker is done first?  

You can do the breadcrumb missions that give you the introduction to the first contact in a line of missions, because the "source" of that breadcrumb is usually Someone Else than the person you're being introduced to (Provost Marchand gives the mission to meet Interrogator Kang, for example).  This means that the breadcrumb doesn't "count" against you for having completed it (and it offers no XP/rewards, so if the breadcrumb gets skipped it's no big deal).

And yes, there is more content than necessary to level through zones, so you'll need to go to No XP before crossing the boundary into the next group of contacts.  I find that's the most problematic aspect of everything, since it's SO EASY to get lost in Scrapperlock and lose track of how much XP you're gaining until DING!! ... and then it's like DAMNIIITTTTT!!!

8 hours ago, Scientist said:

Question, your guide cautions to avoid doing any Calvin Scott missions until after you have done all the Aaron Walker ones.

That's because Calvin Scott will phase remove Aaron Walker ... just like Interrogator Kang will phase remove Doctor Steffard.  Therefore, better safe than sorry.

Redlynne, I wanted to thank you for this guide which has proven most useful as I navigate my characters through the Praetorian maze, even though I don't actually follow the pathways you lay out.  I prefer to confirm on the "good guy" alignments (Warden & Responsibility) while betraying on the "bad guy" alignments (Crusader & Power) when playing a character that will choose Hero when leaving Praetoria - & vice versa for one that will choose Villain.  The nice thing about your guide is that it provides the information I need to navigate the maze even though I am not following the paths you lay out.  Kudos!

18 minutes ago, Mister Mass said:

The nice thing about your guide is that it provides the information I need to navigate the maze even though I am not following the paths you lay out.  Kudos!

We make every pretense of competency around here ... 😎

Is all the Praetorian content available through Ouro?  Also will doing the arcs through Ouro award all the Praetorian Badges?

On 10/2/2019 at 10:35 AM, Zatawave said:

Is all the Praetorian content available through Ouro?  Also will doing the arcs through Ouro award all the Praetorian Badges?

Everything but the tutorial & the "breadcrumb" missions are available through Ouro.  Doing the arcs through Ouro will allow your character to earn all of the Praetorian badges - except the one badge for reading everything, since that one is from the tutorial.  But that badge is available via a different method through Ouro once the character has completed an incarnate trial.

I can confirm you can obtain Moral High Ground via Ouro. One of my Praetorians out leveled Chance McKnight before his final mission, as the loyalty missions are technically their own arcs. Said character went back and did that mission via Ouro after leaving Praeotoria and received the badge. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any badges in Praetoria you can permanently miss. Everything can be gotten by either going back to Praetoria after leaving (exploration, events) or via Ouro (moral choice).

Avid Reader can be gotten from Prometheus, so even that isn't missable (or exclusive to Praetoria).

I'm confused about the undercover option. 

I did the tutorial as loyalest throughout the game the option would pop up to call someone if I was Resistance but I never was.

So if you stay on one side you can't go undercover but the game keeps asking you to call a non-existent contact?

7 hours ago, ILIWAPCT said:

I'm confused about the undercover option. 

I did the tutorial as loyalest throughout the game the option would pop up to call someone if I was Resistance but I never was.

So if you stay on one side you can't go undercover but the game keeps asking you to call a non-existent contact?

So the way the undercover option works is that when you're doing missions for the OPPOSING faction you are given an option to modify the path through that mission by calling in to either Provost Marchand or Calvin Scott BEFORE entering the mission.

So if you're secretly aligned as a Loyalist, because you chose to be a Loyalist in the Tutorial, when you're doing Resistance aligned missions SOME of the missions will have an option to Call Marchand before you enter the mission (and this will be advertised to you in yellow text in the mission description itself).  Same deal with being secretly aligned as Resistance, because you chose Resistance in the Tutorial, when doing Loyalist missions SOME of the missions will have an option to Call Scott before you enter the mission (and this will be advertised to you in cyan blue text in the mission description itself).  Exercising these Call In options before entering the mission will then enable DIFFERENT OPTIONS in the interact windows during the mission itself, yielding slightly nuanced differences in outcomes.  That way, when you play through on different "sides" of the Loyalist/Resistance divide, the gameplay experience isn't necessarily a perfect mirror image of each other.

The thing is, whatever you chose during the Tutorial sets your secret alignment for the rest of your time in Praetoria and is not something you can change later (short of rerolling and starting over from scratch).

So yes ... if you start as a Loyalist and do only Loyalist missions, your secret reporting to Provost Marchand "won't work" or do anything useful for you because that secret is only used during Resistance missions.  If you're not infiltrating the enemy faction then your secretly reporting to either Marchand or Scott doesn't matter one bit.  It's only when you go "undercover" as being aligned to the faction you did NOT choose during the Tutorial that your secret reporting back to Marchand or Scott actually matters to how the story of the missions you are doing plays out.

So if you pick Loyalist and only do Loyalist missions for Loyalist contacts and never switch alignments at the end of an arc of contacts then the alignment you chose during the Tutorial winds up being quite meaningless and you could have skipped the tutorial entirely.  However, in the context of this thread, where the idea is to be switching alignments back and forth as often as possible, the secret alignment you choose during the Tutorial becomes VERY important for your path through Praetoria and you'll have ample opportunities to exercise your "undercover mole" role as you work your way through all of the Praetorian content.

4 hours ago, Redlynne said:

So the way the undercover option works is that when you're doing missions for the OPPOSING faction you are given an option to modify the path through that mission by calling in to either Provost Marchand or Calvin Scott BEFORE entering the mission.

 

So if you're secretly aligned as a Loyalist, because you chose to be a Loyalist in the Tutorial, when you're doing Resistance aligned missions SOME of the missions will have an option to Call Marchand before you enter the mission (and this will be advertised to you in yellow text in the mission description itself).  Same deal with being secretly aligned as Resistance, because you chose Resistance in the Tutorial, when doing Loyalist missions SOME of the missions will have an option to Call Scott before you enter the mission (and this will be advertised to you in cyan blue text in the mission description itself).  Exercising these Call In options before entering the mission will then enable DIFFERENT OPTIONS in the interact windows during the mission itself, yielding slightly nuanced differences in outcomes.  That way, when you play through on different "sides" of the Loyalist/Resistance divide, the gameplay experience isn't necessarily a perfect mirror image of each other.

 

The thing is, whatever you chose during the Tutorial sets your secret alignment for the rest of your time in Praetoria and is not something you can change later (short of rerolling and starting over from scratch).

 

So yes ... if you start as a Loyalist and do only Loyalist missions, your secret reporting to Provost Marchand "won't work" or do anything useful for you because that secret is only used during Resistance missions.  If you're not infiltrating the enemy faction then your secretly reporting to either Marchand or Scott doesn't matter one bit.  It's only when you go "undercover" as being aligned to the faction you did NOT choose during the Tutorial that your secret reporting back to Marchand or Scott actually matters to how the story of the missions you are doing plays out.

 

So if you pick Loyalist and only do Loyalist missions for Loyalist contacts and never switch alignments at the end of an arc of contacts then the alignment you chose during the Tutorial winds up being quite meaningless and you could have skipped the tutorial entirely.  However, in the context of this thread, where the idea is to be switching alignments back and forth as often as possible, the secret alignment you choose during the Tutorial becomes VERY important for your path through Praetoria and you'll have ample opportunities to exercise your "undercover mole" role as you work your way through all of the Praetorian content.

Is there some way for me to pick up Resistance Missions without changing alignment?

Or

If I change alignment during the tutorial and kill the cops then I get to choose both Loyal and Resistance Missions?

1 minute ago, ILIWAPCT said:

Is there some way for me to pick up Resistance Missions without changing alignment?

Resistance Warden Contacts will talk to a Loyalist, so you can do their arc(s) as a Loyalist.

Resistance Crusader Contacts will require you to be Resistance Alignment in order to talk to you, so you can't do their arcs as a Loyalist.

Loyalist Responsibility Contacts will talk to you if you're in the Resistance, so you can do their arc(s) as Resistance.

Loyalist Power Contacts will require you to be Loyalist Alignment in order to talk to you, so you can't do their arcs as Resistance.

Each of these distinctions is annotated in the OP, and the requirements for Loyalist and Resistance alignment to talk to the respective contacts is denoted by a _L or _R appended to the names of the Contacts with those respective prerequisites.