Reputation Grinding: What Actually Works

Reputation gates content: merchants, quests, and whole regions. The community spent real hours discovering two things the game never explains.

#Rule #1: sell goods that match the town type — not the starred demand

One player summarized it best: "selling 'in-demand' wares increase your reputation... I was misled by this the entire game."

Reputation rises when you sell goods matching the town's type, whether or not they carry the demand star. Stop re-rolling stock chasing stars — check the town type and sell what matches.

#Rule #2: value per danger point

Danger level rises with what you carry, so the best grinding goods have high gold value per unit of danger. A community analysis of military-type goods:

The same logic applies across categories: compute gold per danger point and keep the wagon lean.

#Rule #3: keep the streak alive

Traders in Rubbleton appear randomly; missing them breaks your selling streak. If you are grinding reputation there, expect gaps — and plan routes that can absorb them.

#What max reputation actually unlocks

Each settlement has a concrete max-reputation reward — legendary mercenaries, slot expansions, stat books, and more. We compiled all 17 settlements and their rewards in Settlement Reputation Rewards, and the unlock conditions in All Legendary Mercenaries. Prioritize legendary mercenaries first, slot expansions second, stat books third.

#What still frustrates everyone

Late-game reputation requirements feel grindy to many players ("the grind is unreal — no fun" is a recurring theme), and several town max-reputation rewards are still locked. The developer reads these threads, so expect tuning.

#Sources

• Steam thread: I was misled by this the entire game — town-type reputation
• Steam thread: My reputation strategy (CN) — value-per-danger analysis
• Steam thread: Traders in Rubbleton (RU) — streak issue

Community-reported as of launch day.