Why mercenaries should go core (with some changes)

To start off, i have always been a solo player while playing PoE, and never really cared for party play with friends (hack, who needs friends when you have PoE right?)

So i saw some of the feedback about merc's might be too strong because of the items you can give them that affects enemies and allies, and thought mercs therefore wouldnt go core... but then it hit me... This is actually how strong party play alwas must have been (VS solo play) when you play with friends and align your builds a bit. So looking at actual player power, the merc's only boosted solo play for the big part.

so looking at the huge advantage party play must always have been VS solo play, i actually think merc's should go core, but with the change they will count as a party member slot when you want to go for real party play.

I am really curious how other (solo) players feel about this, am i very wrong? do you agree?



Bonus for GGG's business model: How awesome would it be if we could equip mtx to merc's too.. you can sell twice the mtx ;) win win

I think it's interesting for players who play solo to get an idea of some of the party mechanics. It's been one of the more interesting parts of the league for me. Not sure about it going core. I would like to see how it goes over the whole league. Haven't got a strong opinion on that currently. One benefit might be that it would help them with balancing between party vs non-party play, which they seem to have been having trouble with for a while.

It sounds there is some balancing questions with the Mercs themselves though. Doryani is pretty OP apparently. They one I'm using seems to be fairly balance. It's able to clear un-juiced t16 maps. Slower than me, but its relatively pretty balanced. I'm using a lvl79 one. Maybe at 83 it is stronger, but without any theory crafting, it actually seems surprisingly well balanced. I think it's okay if people have found ways to make them OP, that happens most leagues with almost everything. If it causes problems with balancing solo play and build diversity it may not be the best ongoing feature for the game. I think there has been some positive aspect though and might be something the can do with it in the future. It reminds me a bit of have D2 Merc, which is kind of fun.

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Belegur85#5784 wrote:

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It sounds there is some balancing questions with the Mercs themselves though. Doryani is pretty OP apparently. ...

This is exactly one of many examples; playing in a party for the passed dozen of leagues, this technique must have always been around. 1 playing the lightning skill, the other the dory/aurabot.
So i can only conclude this has always been around, and cetainly not a new power technique; its only been unlocked now for solo players too.

I agree with you about the balancing; With some adjustments (e.g. how merc werk in 5-player parties?) i think it can be a very good core mechanic, helping a lot to really balance the game much more

Really fun league so far for me I hope they can go core also but there is some balance issues with them that would be good to fix first. Possibly one of those let it go core a league after when it's been worked on a tiny bit might be good. I will def miss mercs if it doesn't go core. Also they are kind of rippy for hardcore players right now I'm not sure what the solution to fix that is besides just omega nerfing the damages overall.