Mercenaries need to go core!
" I believe all of these issues - and I agree they are legitimate issues - can be addressed. |
|
|
mercs should be a 1 off and never be core, too op, not balanceable if you can put gear on them. if you can't put gear, they are very mid and will become loot pinyatas
|
|
" This is not true. You can absolutely balance them and still have them be "equipable." It won't even be terribly difficult to manage. Simply add the tag "cannot be equipped by mercs" to a select number of items is the easy easy easy way to do this. Another option is to address how mercs can equip these types of items and not simply get pasted by the t16+ enemies. If they are so tough you can gear them out like an animate guardian, without worrying about sustain and defense, then they are too resilient, and that needs to be addressed. If they are becoming pseudo aura-bots, then restrict them to 1 aura or one warcry or one curse maximum. If they are clearing screens, then track their mana and force some sort of leech/regen/on-kill into their template. If they don't have to worry about getting high defensive stats on armor and high resists, reduce their bases and make the Kitava penalty apply to them. Then you can't have them running around in a Leercast, Victario's Boots, Damage Aura Staff, and other such goodies. This is not even close to an intractable problem. You can have these added to the game, tuned to the point they are an interesting and helpful addition, without breaking things. Last edited by Sabranic_SilverDeth#2793 on Jul 29, 2025, 3:20:59 AM
|
|
" I would rather they just rework their equipment system completely and give them exclusive gear that only mercs can wear, similar to Heist crews. That way, GGG has complete control over the balance. Or, they keep the gear system, but prevent you from being able to give them anything yourself. If you want a merc with good outfit, you better hope you find them out in the wild with it and recruit them. I can say from experience that my Striker with his starting equipment can barely hurt much of anything, but he's still tanky enough to be one of the best aggro peels that puts my minions to shame. 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 |
|
|
They just need to make Mercenaries rare enough to not have your BiS one day one and perhaps attach a recurring expense for them to follow you around. Not being able to equip them as you see fit takes away what makes them great and interesting to begin with.
|
|
" This could be a solution. I think that would be an interesting way to go about it. |
|
|
Bump for the best mechanic in recent memory to go core. :)
|
|
|
-1
Even for ordinary player having additional aura is too strong. + they deal pretty decent dmg even in crap gear (probably even more, than my first build). What to say about pro players, who already start wearing them with Doryani, Perquil, 500+ rarity Gravebinder... And i think it only beginning. Pls better overpower any class/item/whatever, but not release mercs in current state. |
|
|
+1
Yes, and good mercs should be extra rare and hard to come by just to add another good layer of fomo into the core game :) Flames and madness. I'm so glad I didn't miss the fun.
|
|
" Problem with this: if they allowed you to "collect them all"....that would put a "finality" on a mechanic. Once you have them, you need never interact with mercenaries again. That is poor design for replayability. Much like the fact that we have to create a brand new character to play a new archetype or ascendancy, there must be a reason to hunt mercenaries on a new archetype as well in order for the content to function. Forcing a choice versus negating choices is almost always better. Especially if they remain even half as powerful as they are now. Starting anew....with PoE 2 Last edited by cowmoo275#3095 on Aug 13, 2025, 10:19:15 AM
|
|
