Mercenaries don't level up with you. Really?

Ok, so I'm only playing through campaign, but I already see it's super annoying that the Merc I choose, which has all the skills I need, doesn't level. So every few zones I have to hire a new merc, transfer his equipment, etc. Just wondering what is the point of this. I wanna keep 1 type of merc, why am I forced into this juggling act that is literally designed to waste click and my time. Come on, ggg, just make them gain levels. qol. that is all.

Totally agree, what a disappointment - I was so excited about the first merc and its gone - just the way ggg do things :(

not saying its good design, but that IS literally the entire point and design philosophy of the league.

Think about it: by having the mercenaries NOT level with you, you are forced to re-engage far more often. Just like in the situation you describe, if you find a good mercenary too early, and it DID level with you, you'd never have a need to touch the mechanic again. This could effectively end your league before you even leave the campaign.

They don't WANT you to keep your mercenary too long. Because that ruins the entire league. Because its fundamentally flawed as an idea from the very beginning.

"

cowmoo275#3095 wrote:

not saying its good design, but that IS literally the entire point and design philosophy of the league.

Think about it: by having the mercenaries NOT level with you, you are forced to re-engage far more often. Just like in the situation you describe, if you find a good mercenary too early, and it DID level with you, you'd never have a need to touch the mechanic again. This could effectively end your league before you even leave the campaign.

They don't WANT you to keep your mercenary too long. Because that ruins the entire league. Because its fundamentally flawed as an idea from the very beginning.

Mercs offer loot and currency too, so why wouldn't you touch them? U can duel them to take their loot, see no problem with the mercs leveling, nothing terrible should happen to this league "design".

"

y3lw0rC#4020 wrote:

Mercs offer loot and currency too, so why wouldn't you touch them? U can duel them to take their loot, see no problem with the mercs leveling, nothing terrible should happen to this league "design".

That's your opinion.....NOT the league design.

Sure, mercenaries offer loot. But that is SECONDARY to the fact that you can hire them and that...they are MERCENARIES. As such, GGG has decided their primary function is to BE hired as mercenaries. And nothing would completely destroy that by allowing mercenaries to level. They don't WANT them to be simple sources of extra loot, but they do recognize that not every single one will be valuable for every build: loot was a way to try and add value to each encounter. But design shows us that this is NOT their main intention behind the mechanic.

Why is this not just MY opinion? Because of how the mechanic is designed. We've had loot-splosion mechanics many times. If loot were the main focus (or even a POSSIBLE main focus), they could have easily had ALL the gear drop if you don't hire the merc and the game wouldn't be worse for the wear. Additionally, they could have at least had ALL mercs carry at least 1 rare with new modifiers. However, they chose NOT to do that and instead you only get ONE item (or bubblegum) per mercenary encounter, if you choose not to hire them.

Again....I think its terrible. But that is how it has been crafted by GGG. They have a habit of thinking of the worst, most inelegant solutions to self-made problems like this.