Mercenaries need to go core!

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PrimordialDarkness#3913 wrote:

I'm convinced people who are pro mercs are completely out of touch.

The only conceivable way that mercs wouldn't break the core game is if they are not allowed to equip any interesting items. No Doryani's prototypes. No perquil's toes. No Defiance of Destinys. You get the point.

I don't want a core game where lightning builds do 12x the damage of everything else. And if you do, you need to get off your keyboard.

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Rextec#4521 wrote:

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

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Sabranic_SilverDeth#2793 wrote:

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Rextec#4521 wrote:

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.

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Pizzarugi#6258 wrote:

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.