Probably Stolen Factions Guide: Reputation Choices

The faction screen looks like a scoreboard. It is closer to a set of doors. Each door has a different customer behind it, a different supplier and a different way of killing you. The crime system is the enforcement arm of the same system; this page is about the relationships.

The five tracks

Lower Levels

The people who live around your shop. They buy cheap goods, test water, and remember whether you treated them fairly.

• Raise it by: fair prices, honest labels, buying from scavengers, not reporting petty criminals.
• Lower it by: gouging, selling bad water, reporting their friends, Security cooperation.
• Unlocks: cheap stock, loyal customers, the Lynched ending at -100.
• Best for: water, food, general goods, a stable early game.

Upper Levels

The wealthy customers and collectors. They pay more and expect more.

• Raise it by: genuine luxury goods, accurate appraisals, good presentation, the Sycophant perk.
• Lower it by: fakes sold as real, bad labels, low-quality stock in the display.
• Unlocks: high-ticket sales, rare goods, better prices.
• Best for: wine, collectibles, appraised goods, a margin-focused run.

Security

The station police. They are a customer, an inspector and a threat.

• Raise it by: reporting wanted customers, legal permits, clean inspections, the Model Citizen perk.
• Lower it by: contraband, stolen goods, fights, failed inspections, the Convict perk.
• Unlocks: permits, protection, the Framed ending at -100.
• Best for: gun shop, legal trade, a low-risk run.

Black Market

The fence network. It moves goods that cannot be sold in the open.

• Raise it by: fencing, contraband sales, the Fence start, discretion.
• Lower it by: reporting criminals, cooperating with Security, refusing deals.
• Unlocks: stolen stock, illegal buyers, better fence prices.
• Best for: fencing, contraband, fast cash.

Revolution

The political faction. It wants leverage, not just goods.

• Raise it by: the Revolution Sympathizer perk, anti-Security choices, helping their people.
• Lower it by: reporting revolutionaries, Security cooperation, betraying a request.
• Unlocks: request chain, political customers, the Revolution ending at -100.
• Best for: story runs, high-risk political play.

The -100 rule

Each faction can end the run at -100. The ending names differ:

• Lower Levels: Lynched.
• Security: Framed.
• Revolution: Revolution.
• Black Market and Upper Levels: faction-specific failure states in the ending list.

The exact behaviour depends on the faction and the case, but the rule is the same: do not let a track reach -100. If a faction is at -80, stop doing the thing that lowers it and spend a few days repairing.

How to repair reputation

Reputation repair is slower than damage. The reliable methods are:

• Trade with the faction. Sell them goods at a fair price, not a gouge.
• Complete a request. Faction requests are the fastest repair, but they can cost money or risk.
• Use a perk. Well Connected starts you at +15 with every faction; Diplomatic increases trade reputation by 33%; Sycophant boosts Upper Levels; Model Citizen boosts Security.
• Avoid the trigger. If contraband sales are lowering Security, stop selling contraband for a week. The absence of damage is not repair, but it stops the bleeding.

Do not try to repair a faction by betraying another unless you have decided which one you can afford to lose. The station is small; the factions talk to each other.

Which factions to court

For a first run, court Lower Levels and Security. They are the easiest to raise, they cover the early customer base and the legal route, and they keep the two most common failure states away.

For a profit run, court Upper Levels and Black Market. They pay the best margins, but they pull in opposite directions: Upper Levels punishes fakes, Black Market rewards them. Pick one as the main and keep the other above the floor.

For a challenge run, court Revolution or Security exclusively and accept that the other side will hate you. The Rock Bottom guide covers the political choices in that start.

The Diplomatic achievement

Diplomatic requires maximum reputation with any faction. The fastest route is:

1. Pick the faction whose customers you already serve.
2. Take Diplomatic (+33% trade reputation) and, if possible, the faction-specific perk.
3. Trade with them every day at a fair price.
4. Complete their requests.
5. Do not split attention across all five.

Maximum reputation is a long-term project. Do not expect it in the first week; the achievements guide lists the full 21.

Reputation and endings

The ending list is not just a set of punishments. It is a map of the factions' tolerances:

• Lou's debt is a personal obligation, not a faction track.
• Retirement is the cartel handover, not the Black Market track.
• Sentinel Collapse is the Immunivax clock.
• Augmented is the Aug meter.
• Meltdown is the reactor.

The faction endings are the ones you can see coming on the reputation screen. Check the screen before every rent day. A faction at -90 is a warning, not a statistic.

A weekly reputation routine

1. Open the faction screen.
2. Note any track below -30.
3. Identify the last action that lowered it.
4. Do one repair action for that faction.
5. Check the other tracks for collateral damage.
6. Do not start a new faction project until the lowest track is above -30.

The money guide explains how faction access changes margin. The best perks page ranks the reputation perks.

Five reputation bars, including the negative floors that end a run.

FAQ

Which faction is best?

There is no universal best. Lower Levels for scavenging, Upper Levels for premium buyers, Security for clean runs, Black Market for contraband, Revolution for its ending.

Can I max every faction?

Not practically. Reputation gains trade off. Pick two and keep the rest above the -100 floor.

What triggers the lynch ending?

Lower Levels reputation at -100 or below.

Sources and version notes

• Steam store page and in-game faction screen, checked 2 November 2026.
• -100 thresholds and ending names cross-checked against the community ending list.
• Perk effects cross-checked against the community perk tables.
• Build 1.0.0.6.

Official source: Steam store ↗ · Steam guides ↗ · Steam Workshop ↗, checked 2 November 2026.