Mercenary XP from Overseer

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Graag Baash, Feb 17, 2023.

  1. Graag Baash New Member

    I've been (naively) choosing the "Mercenary XP" option for many of my Overseer quests. I molo a lot, and I'd like to power up my scarecrow stabber and halfing healer.

    But I recently saw an old online post (and another YT video) suggesting that this is a poor choice, and that I should always choose Character XP and have my merc active when claiming Overseer rewards. They claim this granted more mercenary XP than the "Mercenary XP" option.

    What the what?!?

    Is the "Mercenary XP" option just there to catch people that still have trust in the game?o_O Both posts from EQ players I otherwise have a lot of faith in, and seem like solid players. Not just someInternetRando_01.

    Is this still true in 2023? If so why is Merc XP still an option?

    While we are here, can someone conform mercs only gain XP when they are active? (I forgot to test this during this morning's Overseer time). I can sorta understand this.

    Thanks in advance
  2. Iven Antonius Bayle

    It does depend on the PC level. Until a certain level the merc xp option is better. Above lvl 104 the character xp option should be better. You can check the quest preview rewards to see the difference.

    Mercs don't have to be active anymore to receive Overseer and quest experience. You can keep them suspended and they will still receive xp but not from mob kills.
    Graag Baash, Gialana and code-zero like this.
  3. Velisaris_MS Augur

    Prior to 111, usually taking the straight merc xp option is better than the character xp option. It starts to even out as you get close to 111 and you need to check the values to pick the best option.

    After that, never take the merc xp option...only the charcter xp option. The merc xp option is just a set amount. The merc AA you get from the character xp option is based on a percentage of the xp amount your character gets. Since 111 and beyond require massive amounts of xp to get through, the side effect benefit is that you get craploads of merc AA.
    Graag Baash and Rijacki like this.
  4. Rijacki Just a rare RPer on FV and Oakwynd

    Even if you're level maxed (i.e. 99% to 121) or have all XP going to AA (and thus get no character XP from Overseer), the "Character XP" option still gives more Merc XP than the "Merc XP" option by a significant amount.

    IMHO, the Merc XP option should always be more XP for the merc than the Character XP option but it's likely never to be fixed.
    Annastasya and Graag Baash like this.
  5. Velisaris_MS Augur

    If the level "size" had remained on the same curve it was for the previous 110 levels, it probably would do just that. But when they made everything hell levels, they effectively killed the Merc AA only option.
  6. Rijacki Just a rare RPer on FV and Oakwynd

    It has nothing to do with "hell levels". The Merc XP reward is a flat amount regardless of the character level. The merc XP as part of the character XP option is a % of the raw amount of XP which is a percent of a character level. With raw XP amount needed to level increasing each level (which they have always done since day 1), the amount raw amount of XP represented by a % of a level increases. A level 86 character gets a smaller % of merc XP with the character XP option than a level 107 character because the raw amount of XP they need per level is smaller.

    The raw amount of XP a character needs to level has never been the same for every level but has always increased as you level. The amount of XP needed for an AA is flat and it is likely the amount of XP needed for a merc AA is flat as well. This would also make the % of a merc AA much higher for a high level character with the Character XP option being a % of the raw amount for character XP.
  7. Bernel Augur

    Perhaps rather than merc reward be a fixed amount, they could make it be a multiple of the merc AA that comes from the character XP reward. Perhaps a 2x multiple. So if you looked at the Character XP reward and it said "1% of the XP to go from level A to B and 50% of merc AA", the Merc XP reward would be double that and say "100% of a merc AA". This way it's always better to take the Merc reward if you want the maximum merc AA percent. We can certainly explain the way it works in the current implementation, but it is weird and confusing and seems like a bug (e.g. likely the reason this thread was created). Since they seem to be fiddling around with the Overseer code a bit, tweaking the merc reward so it's always the best reward for merc AA no matter your level seems like a beneficial change to make.
  8. Graag Baash New Member

    Yes indeed!

    Thanks all for the detailed and helpful replies.