Why Mercenaries should go core, a plea

I decided to not play the league because I don't like the idea of running around with a merc in poe, and I'm glad I did that.

Doryani Lightning Support Merc should NEVER be allowed to go core. Unless they find a way to remove that particular interaction, Mercs shouldn't go core at all. It has skewed balance in top end builds towards lightning damage by so much that it's not even funny.

The only way I can see where these things are ok to send to the core game is if they're only allowed in very specific content (kinda like Heist). Where you don't offload all the downsides of items that would otherwise be necessary for your build onto another entity. Again - Doryani Merc is a massive balance hole. Builds that would normally have to drop their chestpiece are running around with 4-5 times the ehp and 10-12 times the damage that they would normally have.

I do agree that it's cool that they give life to some otherwise useless items. But that's not a good enough argument, not to mention every good merc I've seen is basically running around with basically the same necks (perquil's toe, shaper's seed etc.) because those are broken to have for free for example.

Also, resource management for things like auras/curses is a real thing, and mercs completely circumvent that for some builds. That's not good for the long term health of the game.

I love the concept, but I think it needs to be better balanced so that they require very high investment to sustain them or allow them to contribute.

Torchlight /Diablo II required expensive gear/tags/spells to keep your companion alive against anything stronger than carvers and zombies. Scale it up.

- Hard lock them to ONE warcry, hex, mark, or Aura - and cap it at level 15 or 17.

- Make the player invest in sustain to keep a merc using skills and alive. Mandatory leech, mana on kill, life and mana regen. If they don't have a mana bar, they should.

- Make defenses and resists more important. Force leech, regen, health on kill, sustain on block, high armor, ES, Evade, block chance. Capped or even overcapped resists.

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If the mercs can be covered head to toe in aura/debuff/curse/mechenic uniques and not instantly fall over dead in Red maps, then they have too much sustain and staying power innately.

Ameliorate that, and I think they will be a cool new addition.