Please don't bring Mercenaries to POE2

Mercenaries implemented well would be a tremendous addition to the game. It even extends retention by adding the ability to gear a 2nd pseudo-character.

The problem was how powerful they were in PoE1 - they were required due to a lack of real opportunity cost. There was only something to be lost by NOT having a mercenary, and nothing to be gained.

People complain about the kiss/curse stuff but you can't just have all kisses otherwise we get the scenarios you're currently complaining about.

My personal idea is for there to be some sort of sacrifice required on the player, such as 60% less spirit - it would cost most players a persistent buff or two (60 of 100 spirit, leaving them with 40 spirit, enough for a buff and 10 for one of the low level clarity/precision. Players with minions already would pay a lot more spirit for it, likely making it not worth it, as a player with 200 spirit would be choosing between having a mercenary vs all the other things you can do with 200 spirit, rather than 80 + a merc.

There could also be something done towards the rarity/quant bonus that comes with the "additional player" scaling that makes it feel less "required" if you want to "get the most" out of the content in order to save all the juice-chasers from optimizing their own fun out of the game.

I'm just spit-balling here, but honestly, the concept of a side-kick is awesome and I think a lot of people enjoyed it. I know I personally did. I also agree that it was too powerful in it's current form. I think there's a middle ground in there somewhere and I also think it's worth finding it.

Another huge problem with mercenaries: They make visual clarity even worse. I personally don't like them and also wouldn't want them in POE 2.

same here, they need to come at a cost, me personally hate sidekicks and dont like having a minion following me it ruins my fantasy

+1 on this one

Are mercenaries one of those things that if you like it you can use it and if not your don't have to?

+1

I'd rather have some melee buffs and stuff happening around that instead.

Most of missing weapons are melee. Lay some ground for that.

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karsey#2995 wrote:

It even extends retention by adding the ability to gear a 2nd pseudo-character.

Just make a new character. :) That's my answer -- I'm on character 10 this POE2 league.

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karsey#2995 wrote:

My personal idea is for there to be some sort of sacrifice required on the player, such as 60% less spirit - it would cost most players a persistent buff or two (60 of 100 spirit, leaving them with 40 spirit, enough for a buff and 10 for one of the low level clarity/precision. Players with minions already would pay a lot more spirit for it, likely making it not worth it, as a player with 200 spirit would be choosing between having a mercenary vs all the other things you can do with 200 spirit, rather than 80 + a merc.

If it's not integrated as an archetype and only comes at a spirit cost, it's additive power. People will just start pushing for higher total spirit or removing less powerful auras than they have. We're already seeing this with companions. It has to be a more material deterrent or be temporary in nature.

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Antiharmonics#2612 wrote:

same here, they need to come at a cost, me personally hate sidekicks and don't like having a minion following me it ruins my fantasy

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Elena#1466 wrote:

I agree, please don't bring mercenaries as additional power into this game. I want to play my character and not have an NPC do part of the combat for me.

This 1000% for me. I don't want some companion, minion, sidekick running around beside me. Get away from me you dirty plebian.

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iHiems#0168 wrote:

Mercenaries are cool though. I like rogue exiles but they feel empty, mercenaries would be rogue exiles+

This was something I thought about the other night and can definitely get behind. If they rework Mercenaries into a Rogue Exiles v2 I could see that being fun -- because again, they wouldn't be a companion, they'd be an enemy. It'd be fun to take on a Rogue Exile and then instead of them just dropping their gear you get the POE1 Mercenary window and can choose between an item or their currency. I think there are a lot more interesting things they can do from a mechanic perspective with this too -- I'd even be open to additive power within the map if they join you after you beat them for the map. I can just not fight / spec into them. Or walk by them like I do Strongboxes (except Researchers). Just don't make them a permanent companion like we have now with Tame Beast.

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And to clarify for some of the other comments, I wouldn't expect them as the league in 0.4 -- it obviously would need a lot more polish / balance before it gets added. I'm just making the case to not add it ever at all the concept of permanent mercenaries / companions. It's a hill I'm considering dying on because I just hate them that much. In my aggregate 5k hours between POE1 and POE2 I've never played a minion or totem build.

I literally couldn't even finish getting my character to maps in the current POE1 league because it put me off so much. This will be the first league I don't at least complete the atlas on for the first time since Heist when I started playing POE1.

Please DO bring mercenaries to PoE 2.

This game has a decent balancing mechanic - Spirit. You can spend it on different things that give you extra powers. Mercs can be one of those things. Don't like to play with companions - spend your Spirit on something else.

One problem though: the name is already in use. There is this immersion-breaking class with modern assault weapons in a medieval ARPG disguised as "crossbows" (no, crossbows don't work like that). But that's a different topic.

Instead of Mercenaries, bring us fighting pet skills...

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AngryLakitu#4381 wrote:

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iHiems#0168 wrote:

Mercenaries are cool though. I like rogue exiles but they feel empty, mercenaries would be rogue exiles+

This was something I thought about the other night and can definitely get behind. If they rework Mercenaries into a Rogue Exiles v2 I could see that being fun -- because again, they wouldn't be a companion, they'd be an enemy. It'd be fun to take on a Rogue Exile and then instead of them just dropping their gear you get the POE1 Mercenary window and can choose between an item or their currency. I think there are a lot more interesting things they can do from a mechanic perspective with this too -- I'd even be open to additive power within the map if they join you after you beat them for the map. I can just not fight / spec into them. Or walk by them like I do Strongboxes (except Researchers). Just don't make them a permanent companion like we have now with Tame Beast.

That would be cool. Yea, there are so many different ways they could implement mercenaries. Rogue exiles is just one of them