Shinsoo, Chunjo or Jinno: Which Empire Should You Choose?

There are three empires in Ancient Online: Remastered: Shinsoo, Chunjo and Jinno. Choosing an empire is more than choosing the colour of a banner; it decides who you can form a party with, who you will see as a rival, and how much of other players' chat you will understand. This guide explains the concrete consequences of that choice in the game and what to look at when you make up your mind.

The game is in development; the rules below describe the development build and may change before launch.

Three empires, three characters

The empires are equal in gameplay; the difference between them lies in story and atmosphere.

• Shinsoo stands for military strength and expansion. It is an empire that defines itself on the battlefield and is determined to push its borders outward. It appeals to players who love competition and the front line.
• Chunjo stands for knowledge and discipline. Here, learning and magic are valued as highly as the sword. It appeals to players who like planning ahead and strategy.
• Jinno stands for honour and tradition. Its people live in harmony with nature and hold to the teachings of their ancestors. It appeals to players who value loyalty and deep-rooted values.

Your empire does not restrict which class you play: the villages of every empire have teachers for all the skill paths.

What does your choice of empire affect?

Your entire account

Your empire is held at account level: every character on the same account flies the same banner. Even the background of the character selection screen changes with your account's empire. Changing it later requires a special item and, again, applies to the whole account; so make this decision knowingly when you create your first character.

Your starting region

You start the game in the lands of your own empire. The villages and hunting grounds the game steers you towards in the early levels depend on your banner, and you choose your skill path from your own empire's teachers as well.

Who you can form a party with

A party can only be formed with players from the same empire. You cannot hunt in the same party as a friend who chose a different banner. That is why, if you are going to play with friends, it matters that you agree on an empire together.

PvP: who is a friend, who is a rival?

Players from different empires are each other's rivals and can attack one another in the open world. The name of a player from a rival empire is shown in a separate colour, so in a crowd you can see straight away who is on the other side.

There is a safeguard for new players: characters below level 15 are protected in the regions of their own empire; they cannot attack and cannot be attacked. At level 15 the character switches to peace mode. In safe zones such as village squares, damage between players is turned off; the only exception is a duel that both players have accepted.

You only come up against players from your own empire depending on the combat mode you have chosen, a duel both sides have accepted, or a guild war.

Chat: the language barrier

In Ancient Online, the empires speak different languages. If you have not learned the language of another empire, you see the speech of a player from that empire as scrambled letters.

• There is a language book for the language of each empire. Language improves rank by rank, like other skills: a character who has never read a book can make out only a small part of what is said, the share you understand grows as you read, and once the language is fully learned you read conversations in full.
• While the Ring of Language is equipped, you understand the speech of the other empires completely.
• Party and guild chat are not affected by this scrambling.
• Shout messages from an empire whose language you have not learned at all do not reach you.
• A whisper (private message) always arrives, but if you do not know the language its contents look scrambled.

These rules carry the rivalry over into chat as well: to understand what your rival is planning, you have to learn their language.

How does it work alongside automatic translation?

The game translates chat messages into the language of the reader. The translation is done by a model running on our own servers; messages are not sent to an outside service. The language barrier is applied after translation: you read a player from another country but the same empire in your own language, whereas you see someone from a rival empire as scrambled until you learn that empire's language.

Banners in chat and on names

Chat lines show the empire badge of the speaker. In the settings you can also choose to have character names shown in their empire colour; even in a crowded market, you can tell at a glance who flies which banner.

Which empire should I choose?

1. Choose the same empire as your friends. Under different banners you cannot form a party, your chat is scrambled and you count as rivals in the open world.
2. If you have a guild or a community, join their banner. Unity matters in guild wars and in clashes between empires.
3. If you are starting on your own, choose by theme: Shinsoo for strength and expansion, Chunjo for knowledge and discipline, Jinno for honour and tradition.
4. Do not worry about your class. Every class can be played in every empire.

Common mistakes

• Choosing without talking to your friends: This is the most common regret; a change affects the entire account.
• Choosing by name alone: This is a long-term decision for all of your characters. Read all three themes and choose the one that feels closest to you.
• Putting off learning languages: Once you start running into players from rival empires, language books make life much easier.

Frequently asked questions

Is one empire stronger than the others?

No; there is no fixed difference in power between the empires. During events, an experience or item drop bonus may be set for one empire or for all of them.

Which empire will have the most players?

That will be decided by the choices players make; we are not offering a prediction before the game is out. We recommend choosing by the theme that appeals to you and by what your friends prefer, not by a guess at population.

Can I talk to a friend in a different empire?

A whisper always arrives; if you have not learned the language, it looks scrambled. Language books and the Ring of Language remove this barrier. To play in the same party, though, you need to be in the same empire.

Next step

Once you have decided on your banner, it is time for your class: the character classes guide covers the six classes and their skill paths. For your first hours, you can move on to the beginner's guide.