Mercenary AAs for ToL?

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Bobokin, Dec 9, 2021.

  1. Fanra https://everquest.fanra.info

    Please no.

    I do not want to play Dress Up Barbie but EverQuest. Having to switch outfits every time I switch mercs is not my idea of fun.
    Yinla, Ssdar, Shindius and 2 others like this.
  2. Darchon_Xegony Augur

    This raises another mercenary issue. The Mercenary gear should be specific to the mercenary. If I have 4 mercenary slots 1 per type, when I swap from Healer to Caster it should load the different mercenaries gear set.
  3. Riou EQResource


    Depends if they found it in the Beta report on Mercenaries not being upgraded with 116-120 levels that was fixed like the Friday before Expansion launch
  4. Vumad Cape Wearer


    I think the biggest problem with mercs right now is valient gear only dropped in TBL. Merc armor should roll over to the loot tables of the next expansion until new merc armor is released. The merc armor situation is very bad right now. We need TBL merc armor on ToV, CoV and ToL named until a new merc armor comes out.

    Also, I don't think tanks proc a slow like real tanks do from their belt. That would be a big and needed change if possible. Also not sure, but do the cleric proc group heals off their belts, etc?

    The tanks are not terrible as is for stats, but I can't agree they are fine. A little more tanky would be good. Sure, they hold up okay against a single with a strong cleric, but they are very hard to keep alive against 2 mobs, and wont survive 3. They are pretty much guaranteed to die against a bad pull if CC isn't complete before the mobs get into camp. I'm not saying we should be able to pull 3 all the time, but a little more survivability would be greatly appreciated (and that may be more from a slow belt, weapon procs or w/e than stats).

    The tank merc is around 65k DPS, the rogue around 120k DPS. As an ENC, I'm around 180k DPS. Their DPS stats need some improvement. I haven't used a wizard merc in a long time, because the DPS was just so bad, and the survivability was non-existant. They may be better, but they needed a big overhaul last I used them.

    Also, thanks for taking the time to explain why not having an AA increase is a positive. It very much is so.


    This would be such a huge nerf. We can pocket mercs. I have a cleric and a rogue. There is a stat sacrifice as is when changing out mercs unless we carry multiple sets of gear. Putting the focus on the armor would be a big hinderance and no benefit. It would also delay upgrades, as they come with those focus, rather than having to farm the armor to get them, and we would still have TBL focus. It would be great if all merc armor were the same by slot, and all the modifiers were in the mercs themselves. Then we wouldn't get penalties for changing between merc types, as we already do now, but at least it's not as significant as you have suggested, though choosing b/t the atk and the heal amt is not insignificant as is.
    Fanra likes this.
  5. Nennius Curmudgeon

    I don't know if it is the biggest problem, but I do wish the Valiant gear did drop in later expansions. Lots of other issues for the devs. to look at, so I don't see it being a priority.
    Bobokin likes this.
  6. Vumad Cape Wearer


    Other issues might be bigger, but fixing that issue would just require them to add them to the random loot tables. I don't know how big of a job that would be, but I suspect of all the merc related jobs, it would be the easiest.
    Bobokin likes this.
  7. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    Wait. What?!? You mean that's not how it works with mercenaries? Switching to a priest merc doesn't load the priest merc gear?

    k. You merc lovers are a wacky group. :confused:
  8. Bobokin Augur

    Thank you for the reply.

    You were going to tell us this, when? To say you had, "no plans to add mercenary AA," and then not announce this before release reads as disingenuous. This topic was started December 9th. If those were your plans, why did it take 13 days for anyone at Darkpaw to respond?

    Furthermore, why were banked merc AAs increased for upper level characters if they could not be used for anything? This isn't a logical premise.


    It makes sense if we don't know about it. If you gain a fortune in your favorite rich uncle's will, and no one tells you about it, would it make sense to ask about it?

    How does not having merc AAs for this expansion help players that are attempting to "catch up"? Sure, they won't need more merc AAs after they reach 115, but they will need the same AAs while they are actually catching up.

    It will help some with characters that are already at 115 or above and had not maxed their merc AAs already, as they don't have to use points on the new expansion, but it doesn't do anything for lower level characters trying to catch up.


    You basically decided to eliminate further merc AAs for programming convenience to make a deadline? Is that correct or no?

    At no time was there an indication or announcement by Darkpaw that future merc AAs will be phased out in this expansion pack. To state a half a month after release that this is as intended is either not being frank or is a grievous oversight by your staff - especially when concerns were posted to your official board two days after launch.


    That is a positive, but it begs the question: if this was as intended, why did you have to look into this?
  9. Bobokin Augur

    Sound like the job for yet another keychain to me. o_O
  10. Fanra https://everquest.fanra.info

    I would guess this was done because quests now give mercenary AAs as a reward. If they didn't increase the banked limit then we would often lose some because the reward would put us over the limit.
    Vumad likes this.
  11. Smokezz The Bane Crew


    LOL dude. No one is required to reply to you, me, or anyone else immediately when you post. The expansion was just released and they're BUSY fixing much more important things.
  12. Bobokin Augur

    Dude, no one is required to do anything. That's a pretty low bar to be set, and a pretty lame response.

    I was a customer liaison for a well known software company, and this would have been answered within 24 hour of being posted. People get paid to read and reply on this board, and they are not BUSY fixing anything in the game.

    In any case, how long does it take to announce a change in mercenary AAs? If this was actually as meant to be, it would have been noted and announced before launch with almost no effort. Please stop with the excuses.
  13. Bobokin Augur

    I am aware of why we asked for the change, as I was one of the players asking for it.

    That stated, they put in place a level based limit instead of a set limit, and that would suggest it would be needed more at higher levels. If Darkpaw had planned to phase out mercenary AAs for this expansion, that would not have made logical sense to go through the trouble.

    I have been a part of a game software development team. This kind of change would have been noted in production meetings or in production notes and announced prior to launch. Failing to do so means that either it was not intended until the deadline crush made it the easier programming route, or that there was a failure in communication and customer relations. Either way, Darkpaw Games dropped the ball on this. Basically stating, "We always were going to make this change in a system that has been around for many years, but we made the purposeful decision not to tell the players," sounds a little far fetched, doesn't it?
  14. Verily Tjark Augur

    I like my mercs. I duo'd progression in both T1 and T2 zones with a shaman friend. We used a tank merc and a healer merc, and we both just did dps. As an enchanter I was able to CC any adds, but the tank merc did just fine.

    I wouldn't trust the tank merc on a named or in missions, but I don't believe that's their purpose either.

    I was soloing yesterday with a charm pet tanking and a dps merc. It was good stuff. Depending on the charm pet, they can mostly hold aggro off the dps merc.
  15. Fanra https://everquest.fanra.info

    "Valiant"? Are you sure you don't mean Vigilant? Because I can't find any valiant merc gear.

    https://everquest.allakhazam.com/search.html?q=vigilant
  16. Nennius Curmudgeon

    Bobokin likes this.