Mercenaries need to go core!

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SilentSymphony#3358 wrote:

Lol cowmoo you're right, Idk why this person has the views that they do but i have been butting heads with their logic for many years now.

We do have to be careful what we wish for, the consequences are often worse when we are in a rush to reach the solution.

hehe we don't agree often, but when we do....it's a sure sign that the "other side" just doesn't really make a lick o' logical sense.

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MaxW81#9965 wrote:

They could go core in the same way you get wildwood or sentinels. Sometimes you get a juicy merc for one map.

I've seen this suggestion before....and I don't really understand it from a fundamental perspective.

Like....why? What would this ADD to the game? Would anybody RELY on a merc that only by chance exists for one map. And if they logically do NOT....then whats the point of when you find them? Even now, when they can be found in EVERY MAP, how many of them are just bubblegum currency drops? Even if they were temporary, this heavy balance towards uselessness would be significantly pronounced. Meanwhile, sentinels are ALWAYS useful when you run into them. Wildwood, same.


A counter to this idea that MIGHT make more functional sense, but still with severe severe limitations: when you find a merc, they last for the next x# of maps greater than 1. That way, if you happen to find one that actually does help you, you can actually plan to use them.

However, that design poses its own problems. 99% of mercs you find will be useless because they don't offer any benefit to your build. Plus, you'd find them so infrequently that they'd help for like less than 1% of your total mapping. Plus, at the point where you might actually NEED the mercs for help, you likely already have a fleshed out build farming t16s or t17s already which are not centered around merc help.


I think many people don't really think through the fact that mercs will NOT be found in every map....and how much that has an effect on ANY design or strategy centered around them. Unless there is a scarab that can force them onto any map, there would be absolutely no way to "plan" for randomly finding a helpful temporary merc.

If Mercenaries are to go core, they need a "Hiring Hall," a place to go and recruit them. That might include an arena to test one's mettle against them, if that aspect of things needs to persist. Personally, though I have gotten a LOT of excellent gear off of Mercs I've fought, I could do without the option to loot them, which would obviate the need to fight them, as well. ='[.]'=

Apart from restricting mercs from equipping player items, another variant is merc ascendancy. I.e. if some players so love to play support role, we can have new ascendancy which have mercs (though we have minion builds, isn't it better to add more variety to them instead?). At least in this way i am not be forced to play with merc.

the mistake of merc system was making them pretty much immortal and moving all the difficulty into acquiring correct merc (aka RNG grind)

this allows for gearing them with otherwise unviable gear focusing only on power, not on staying-power

thus - it is a glorious stat stick offering power comparable to old days aura stacking (as a baseline: +2 free pre-boosted auras, +2 curses, roughly +100% combined aura effect for aura(s) of your choice + case specific stuff like phys as ele, taunt, lucky damage etc). given that there is 0 penalty for equipping offensive items on them it it turns into 'how much can i abuse this system' very quickly (this ofc changes in the top-top content, but not by much at all)

there was a brief moment when GGG reduced merc's survivability, sadly they reverted it and that was the end of it being a sensible system

All they need to do to balance Mercs in core is put all their survivability into Atlas points.


Put them near the front of atlas tree to allow use in early maps for extra power

Make the strongest points have downsides.
example: +200% defenses/-50% party loot increase from merc

This will limit merc use to sub-optimal farming strats, to be used while build power is still low.

Anyone at end-game will spend the points on boosting loot over using a merc.

bump to get mercs into the core game the way they are, with just some minor tweaking that doesn't cost the devs too much time. Players need to feel the friction and weight of fomo :)

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Pashid#4643 wrote:

bump to get mercs into the core game the way they are, with just some minor tweaking that doesn't cost the devs too much time. Players need to feel the friction and weight of fomo :)

Maybe you at least read the definition of FOMO, before using it ten times in a row? Where is the Fear Of Missing merc, if i can get it by one click in hideout?

I fear that this thing doubles your power, making other parts of the game insignificant.
Have a bad build (skill tree and gems)? Not a problem
Have a bad gear and don't know how to craft? Not a problem
Don't know how to earn currency? Not a problem
Don't know boss mechanics? Not a problem

Just hire a merc, give him a few op items, and you become a hero.

^lol I totally agree. It's not fomo....because everyone has access to this crazy power with very little effort. That is the primary problem with mercs lol.

yeah.. lets cement that idiocy of Dory Merc forever, walking invulnerable aura-bots and a free loot multiplier

on a scale of long-term destruction Mercs - as they are now - are much, MUCH higher than OG Harvest and Necropolis crafting. these old systems made everyone powerful, not really hindering any form of build diversity, Mercs HEAVILY favour lightning to the point that playing something else is objectively stupid. sure, self-gimping is ok but only until the point when content starts to be balanced around Dory Mercs, then it is not so fun anymore

so bring them in, at 5% (five) of their current power. something comparable in power to average Flesh/Flame pair