I have returned recently and am playing my old necro he's now 101 and I am soloing in Plane of Magic, necro is strong as always but I would like to use a merc and not sure which, I recruited the ratonga healer from freeport but I don't really need heals...so whats best?
Mercenaries are a bit of a feel-good perk of EQII IMHO. They really do not offer any real benefit to solo or group play. They may add a little bit of DPS to a fight or provide a heal or cure but other than that ALL of the solo PoP content can be done without a Mercenary. But if you are going to use a Mercenary get you a healer one, Inquisitor, for its Verdict. Stamper is the weakest of them, so I would get Boohger, the Summer KA event one and as a last choice Zhurgas, you can get from exploring Zek. This is my opinion only others may have different views
I rarely use mercs on any of my toons, but when I do, I generally select a healer merc in cast I need a cure and I'm stunned or stifled and therefore unable to cure myself. The healer mercs don't really heal that well anyway. They do cure well. And they sometimes rez you if you get in over your head. The ranger merc (common, found in Qeynos) is also useful because he has track. If your necro is a race that does not have the tracking ability, ranger's track skill might be useful.
If you're a crafter, the Gathering Goblin merc is like a brigand who can heal. He's a nice companion. But in a fight where cures or possibly a rez may be neeed, I go with a healer merc.
Hi Thanks for the replies, yes I don't really need the mercenary, I just want one for no real reason but would like one that's at least semi useful.
You're a necro, which means that your pet is likely tanking for you and you won't get hit too much so long as the pet has aggro. You can heal your pet, you can cure yourself, but you will need heals. How MUCH healing you need, though, depends a lot on how you are geared. If you are low on STA and/or hit points, you may want an actual healer merc. Or you might want a Crusader (Paladin/SK). I recommend going ahead and spending in the Marketplace enough to get your favorite mercs on permanent retainer (i.e., so you can dismiss then resummon them anywhere, any time). The option for that is in the mercenary window. I actually have several mercs, some just because they've fallen in a loot drop, but the ones I use the most are the Gathering Goblin (combo brigand/healer, no rez, no cure) for general purposes, a healer merc (inquisitor is nice, all can heal, cure, and rez), and a tracker merc (Trundo Flitterwing from Kelethin, ranger). I use the healer when I solo duo instances, because I need the cures. If I'm doing the weekly overland "kill 5 named things", then the tracker is handy. Otherwise, I use the Gathering Goblin. YMMV.
I'll put another tick in for the Gathering Goblin Merc.. I play a Mage... sorry.. Conjy at the moment and find him to be the best at healing; every time he attacks he procs a group wide heal which is nice for you and your pet. Also, do not forget that you can place normal armor on a merc now, which is super nice. I was having some issues running Guk solo after the recent personal mage ward changes (prestige/dragon tree). I tried other healing mercs, like the tinkerfest clockwork. It just did a poor job. Never healed fast enough, or cured fast enough. I got frustrated. I could do the zones but they were no longer fun.. One group at a time and a few named like the frenzied ghoul were epic fights. I took a moment of reflection.. Picked up the Goblin Merc on this character, and went Hydromancer pet for the zone. Do necros have a similar AA Pet that can heal? By switching over those two things I'm back in beast mode pulling several groups at once, and depending on the named in the area, them as well. I know the two classes share some of the same AAs. make sure to pick up the 'extra fire attack' for pets AA; I believe there are a few and they help a ton as well. Anyway. Just my two copper, take it for what it is.. and welcome back to the game.
Welcome back...it is fun....the faction grind for epic 2 is wild, but other than that....nostalgia and wide variety of content is the bomb. Oh yeah, you are asking about mercs. If you have the Collectors Edition...usually the best mercs. The Ranger Merc from KA is pretty OP>....happy gaming!!
I ended up with Lorr'Kejut and have today made 110. I am wondering now which armour should I be working towards and were is it, I assume PoP quests ?
To start with, take the spires to Plane of Magic. Near the spire is a guy standing next to a box. That box has your starter armor. The Planes of Prophecy Timeline will guide you through the quests. I recommend doing the Pakiat faction before the other two, and remember that you have to complete your faction with each group before you start another (it will let you do it, but each factions quests lower your faction with the others).
And make sure to get to 50k with each faction, and do the cap quest (loot a chest), to finish each line.
