I joined FWC because they have a nice view from their loft in the hanger. I could see myself there for sure.

The following is taken from Destiny Reddit and may help in your decision: (NOTE: in the poster's original "Faction Combinations" heading, they had the attribute combinations abbreviated. I edited the entry to spell out each attribute in its entirety. Also, anything underlined was done by me) [u]Why Join a Faction[/u]? Factions and Groups are represented by vendors in the Tower, and offer legendary gear for use at level 20. In order to buy gear from these factions, you must accrue reputation until you gain Rank 2-3 for each faction, depending on vendor, and the necessary number of marks (faction currency) for each item. With a little dedication it is possible to max out your rank for all known factions. Joining a new faction is optional. You will be part of the Vanguard and Crucible factions as they are the default groups; you will automatically gain rep for each one depending on what activities you perform throughout the game. Vanguard focuses on PvE and Crucible on PvP. If you're interested in a pure PvE character, stay with the Vanguard faction. Now pay attention - the weapons and equipment you can buy with marks from these two groups do the same damage and have the same defense as the gear from optional factions, with one slight caveat. You cannot guarantee your stat bonus on gear from Vanguard or Crucible factions. The gear has random bonuses, as opposed to the optional factions (Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, New Monarchy). The other three factions work a bit differently. You can represent any of the three faction throughout the game, but only ONE at any given time. Each of the three factions has an attribute specialization, giving you a chance to customize a few parts of your character. More on that below. So what do you need to advance? Reputation and Marks! [u]Which Faction do I Pick[/u]? Great question--it depends. First off, your class is irrelevant. There is no better faction for any one class. When you pick a faction, you must decide which two attributes/stats you want to focus on. If the story/role-playing aspect is important, that too will play a role in your decision (more information on their backgrounds is available below). There are three attributes: Intellect: reduces the cooldown time of your super Discipline: reduces the cooldown time of your grenade Strength: reduces the cooldown time of your melee modifier [u]The Faction combinations are as follows[/u]: Dead Orbit: Discipline / Strength Future War Cult: Intellect / Discipline New Monarchy: Intellect / Strength An easier way to look at this: Dead Orbit: Melee and Grenades Future War Cult: Grenades and Super New Monarchy: Super and Melee Bonuses come from armor only. Weapons do not give attribute bonuses. Choosing which factions you want to work with is a simple combination of which abilities you use most and which faction interests you more. Personally, I would think that the chance to use your favorite two abilities takes precedent. Other details such as weapon appearance/patterns and emblems could also be considered.

I joined FWC. No reason really. Just a fanboy. I've really liked the drops I've gotten from FWC and New Monarchy. Not so much with the hipster emo d bag.

A factor to consider when making this choice is that leveling up a faction to level 3 and up awards you Crucible Commendations, not Vanguard Commendations.

Try this. Level vanguard to 3. Then go and level all the factions to level 2 and keep leveling until you are a few hundred from level 3 but don't hit 3. The take off the class item and put a regular vanguard item on. Now wait until the next expansion. Then swap the faction item back in and do enough bounties to level the faction. You'll get a reward in the mail for each of the faction. You can time out vanguard and cryptarch to get a total of 5 packages all of the new gear. So to answer your question. It is well worth it and you don't have to do a second of PvP. Unless of course you want to purchase anything.

As a fairly new player I chose to raise my Vanguard Rank to level 4, then I went and joined New Monarchy as they have the best auto-rifle you can buy from the vendor. The Vanquisher VIII. I guess it just depends on what you want and whether the factions have it.

If your looking to make 31 forget the factions until you have the Vanguard armor to get you there.