(Mercs going core confirmed!)Mercenaries need to go core!
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bump for deserved visibility
Windows 11, 9950X3D, RTX 4090, 96GB DDR5, 14,100 MB/s SSD, 15,360x2160p @240Hz Ultra 4K Gaming & Workspace Powerhouse
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Here is my argument as to why they should go core:
Mercs as a scaling vector for the player A lot of people see mercs as a way to scale the player as a bad thing. I agree. These changes can fix that - ◽Make is so mercs auras only effect themselves. (which shouldn't be a problem coding because supreme ego exists) ◽Make it so mercs warcries only effect themselves. (probably not a problem coding assuming they work similar to supreme ego - but if not possible, we know "call to arms" exists, so make it so they can waycry, but not grant buff effects) ◽Make it so mercs curses either only effect mercs damage, or make it so they cannot curse. ◽Make it so mercs "nearby enemies" are not the same as your "nearby enemies", making it so doryanis, osin, etc. only effect their own damage - or just make it so mercs cannot effect nearby enemies at all, so no one benefits from doryanis, etc. ◽Make is so mercs "nearby allies" is not the same as your own. Basically disable all gear that effects nearby allies. No crown of the tyrant, etc. Because the player is stronger than a merc, these changes would basically disable mercs as a scaling vector for your character. You can still aurabot or linkbot to your merc, which is a fun and not overpowered way to play the game. Your auras, links, cries, curses can make your merc deal more damage, but your mercs auras, links, cries, curses will no longer benefit you. Build that I liked, and don't want to see go: I had an eruptor with a jugg that cast flame link to buff my merc (see infamoustank on my profile in void league). It could kill void ghosted feared, void ghosted shrinebuffed einhar exilehunter, and run all mods (struggled only with -%life on hit or +6 proj elder on valdos - merc died while flame linked to elder when he lifts up and spams projectiles. Killed my merc in under a sec and is why that char is void league after like 26 days /played). It wouldn't take long to kill those bosses. However, It could not kill regular eater of worlds in under a minute - so you know it's not overpowered, as that is very very easy to do. I ran a lot of audience with the kings, so i know it can kill his second phase in 7 to 10 seconds. That playstyle is not overpowered, and it did not rely on any gear that effects allies. The merc did not have any curses. The merc only had infernal cry. The merc did not have any auras. I deal no damage and only cast flame link. This was a really fun playstyle that is unique, and it would be sad to see it go. Things that should not be nerfed: The player counted as a "unique enemy" and "pinnacle atlas boss" when it came to the mercs eater/exarch implicits. I think this should stay how it is because it's not that strong, but allows the player to get 100% reduced reflected damage, so mercs don't instantly die as they enter a reflect map. It's a somewhat expensive investment too, just to have a reduced reflect effect that is still able to kill your merc if he is shocked (unless you invest further with essence of insanity ring). Please leave it in GGG :) Other ways to nerf mercs that wouldn't effect the fun aura/linkbot playstyle: Make it so players deal 10% less damage per item equipped on the merc. Or make it so players deal no damage when you have a merc, so the merc has to deal all the damage. It would still allow the fun link/aurabot solo playstyle, but no one could argue that mercs make you overpowered anymore. Surely people that badly want mercs removed from the game will accept that mercs are not overpowered if all of the above nerfs go into effect. It would still make a fun niche build playable, that i would play a lot in the future. |
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" Yes, absolutely, agree with everything on this list. And if this is something that can functionally be done "easily" within the code (such as how you describe "turning off nearby"), then great....that would be a solution to like 90% of my concerns. That being said, I DON'T think it's as easy as that because mercs are dipping into OUR pool of information. The same information is being read by the merc, as by ourselves. Short of turning them into "minions", I don't see many of these being possible without a "one by one" look at every unique and every mod. <---- This is the primary reasoning behind much of what I have said in this thread....because of the underlying structure of mercenaries AND the game itself, the tweaking isn't nearly as easy as some people want to believe in this thread. *Auras and warcries like you describe could be as simple as one line on the overall merc, those are good points. Additionally, when all of those above things are done (as they would have to be).....how many people ACTUALLY played with a merc as an offensive merc? That was a VERY niche use of them....fun, but niche. Going through all that effort, only to result in very few players actually using them is just a waste of time for everyone. Starting anew....with PoE 2 Last edited by cowmoo275#3095 on Oct 14, 2025, 11:37:19 AM
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https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3867394
It's official: As predicted Mercenaries will go core! This is a huge future addition and will make PoE 1 much better in the long term. Thank you GGG for listening to our feedback! |
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" "Aged like milk. Can't wait to play with my Mercs again in 3.28! |
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" Yeah gladly they will be useless or not impactful next time we see them! |
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Flames and madness. I'm so glad I didn't miss the fun.
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" You're either getting nerfed into the ground, or the mercs are. They are way too OP to be added to the game as is. And if players are the ones who get nerfed to allow mercs to exist, give it a week or two when they start dying in maps and take half of your DPS with them. I main summoner and AG is a requirement in any of their builds, I know what I'm talking about. PoE players: Our game has a wide diversity of builds. Also PoE players: The [league mechanic] doesn't need to be nerfed, you just need to play a [current meta] build! And the winds will cry / and many men will die / and all the waves will bow down / to the Loreley Last edited by Pizzarugi#6258 on Oct 15, 2025, 8:29:47 AM
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Future core merc version:
- dies to everything instantly even with heavy investment - auras are gone or only affect them - unique item effects do not work on them - mercs cannot grant extra curses/hexes Fun detected, fun destroyed. Good thing we put those mountain of unique items back in the "lol these are useless and so bad" pile. A+ design. |
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" Pretty much, my merc was already dying sometimes and he was a lvl82 infamous guy lol They're gonna be nerfed into oblivion and they won't even show up every map. And if they still don't level up together with your character, have fun hunting for a lvl84 merc in a t17(and also trying to find a specific one out of the like 50 types). I'm not gonna bother with them, if I find one sure I might look at his loot, but if all they do is buff enemy hp and give me a measly half-player quant buff I'm never using them kek And if they make them a mandatory chore, the backlash is gonna be crazy. So they'll most likely be giga-nerfed. They also said they needed time to re-balance the character-equippable relics from Sanctum League btw, and we still haven't gotten those. So mercs might get stuck in development/balance hell forever for all we know. I dunno how hard it is to balance a magic relic with 2 stats, but mercs will be 1000x harder to balance. |
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