The mercs in the merc crates that members can choose to take each month - are they any good for use in the new expansion? Or, assuming you're not a healer, is the Zek healer the best option if solo? Also, is there any practical difference between the common / rare mercs in the crates? Or are the rare mercs only rare because they have a higher status value if sold? Thanks.
The mercs are about the same as you can hire in your city and really the only good thing they're for is guild status. The token ones you get in the high level zones are the ones you want to go after, like Werner Thunderleg in AOM for tank help and Zhurgus Blightstaff in Siege of Zek for heals. Kenny from Nek works pretty good for pre-AOM zones.
Thanks all. I guess for my healer Daeron Ashenwing should still be a good option then. Everone else can have Zhurgus. Cheers
+10500 for Gardening Goblin as well - he have a lot more HP compare to Zhurgus, buff you like no tomorrow and proc from attack heals (which ARE affected by amount of potency goblin have so 2+Stardust accolades and goblin will do miracles) One thing to keep in mind Goblin is NOT a tank he need flaking attacks to work on full power so if you need tanking merc - well Zhurgus probably better choice. I haven't tested Dolas (ranger) but did tested Sarnak (ranger/fury hybrid) - it does decent DPS for merc but with Epic 2.0/Ascending 10 its really not really matter
I also have a question. I used to play EQ2 but one reason I left was that the only mercs worth having were pretty much perma-camped. I saw one, once, after staying in the area for literally days...and got to him just in time to watch someone else hire him. sigh. It just tore me up and I couldn't stand doing it again. Is this still true? Is it possible to buy a decent merc for real dollars? I know, I know, purists just hate that stuff but my time means more to me than that. I want to PLAY, not camp.
...and please don't answer if you're going to sneer at me or call me lazy. When I played before, I was in a raid guild, I played long hours into the night. I worked hard for what I had. BUT now I am older and have trouble sleeping...I log onto a game and play solo until I can sleep. I want a good merc so I can solo effectively. Once I feel I've caught up, I will look for another guild (my old one has disbanded). I left EQ2 over 2 years ago and went to WoW, but...well...wow. The latest expansion is sooooooo not-fun. EQ2 is starting to look good again... and no, I don't mind spending real life dollars if it will make the game more fun for me.
If I am not mistaken the rare merc's that spawn in the "wild" now all stay up for a time so more then one person can hire them. however there is no need to get them except for nostalgia. Some of the better mercs are easy to get free. If you want a healer merc and you are a member just fly around Zek, Scourge Waste and collect all the POI's. Then you can hire Zhugrus near the Keep. If you want someone to do damage check your /claim and see if you have one. If not you can usually by the token for some for plat on the broker. The Ranger that came with the latest zone increase is not bad either. All merc's can be trained with the latest expansion.
Just FYI, a lot of people including myself say the same thing about the zone increase we got with EQ2. Also, if you don't mind pay to win then you will fit in great with the new game model that has become EQ2.
Don't need to The "best" healing/debuffing/buffing merc comes from TS Epic 2.0 (KA) side line - aside of getting one of best cloaks in game you will get goblin (brigand) As for offensive merc - I'd say get ranger merc again I believe upon completion Epic 2.0 it become available (Dolas) The best "tanking" merc imo Zhurgus (warpriest - in a sense inquisitor) - comes from completion all points disco in new Zeks (solo) - take like 10 minutes to compete for anyone who can fly. Good solid merc - excellent cure bot and rez bot and best of all looks ugly as sin
For "free" mercs: Zhug - from doing solo exploration in scourge zek area. The quickest way to get a decent merc. Gardening Goblin - some ppl love 'em. If you're a crafter... because ya gotta do all the crafty stuff to get 'em. A side note on Zhug: he's a portly old fellow - and ya might have some clearance issues (size wise) in small dungeons - if you visit your class trainer -you can get a "merc shrinky dink" spell - makes 'em smaller. He'll tank. He'll spank. He'll rez / heal... as he sees fit. Pretty decent for the effort involved in gettin 'em. For "paid" mercs: Claka-whatchacallit something zilla - from the KA expac "expensive edition" As for the Marketplace mercs: I hate RNG. If I spend X bucks, I'd certainly want to get a merc that's better than any "free" merc that's roaming around Norrath. This is not the case. MOST marketplace mercs are just re-skinned "normal" mercs - ones you can hire from the cities. I've never been lucky enough to get a "rare" marketplace merc - so I can't really comment. I just can't see myself shucking out X amount of bucks PER chance to get one - and then having umpty squat useless mercs on ONE toon. That's right - once unpacked, they're bound to that ONE character. Don't forget to drop some gear on your mercs after you get 'em too. There's a surprising amount of gear that will fit on them - gear that you can adorn...etc. Pretty customizable. I've managed to deck out one of my Zhug's in some tank gear / etc... adorns.. and he's a pretty stout fellow now.
About merc adorning an gear Completing meta for As/Solo shiny will yield for you very decent fabled merc chest piece but ..... if you been doing for long enough heroic daily quests you might have spare mythical chest ... interesting enough type of armor doesn't matter - your merc will accept cloth, leather, chain and plate Same goes for shoulders - it you have some spare from inca key (mythical one) - feel free to give it to your merc. Hydra Scale helm also fit nicely to your merc About adorns - I'd say go with ToT one "critical chance" booster - this is the stat your mercs lack badly. As for accolades Almost no brainer - for DPS type merc - get star dust one (with 1K pot) and for tank get one that comes with 15.5% health bonus - you can give your merc all identical accolades if you like
What on earth are you talking about???? There is no 'win' in a game like this. There is only 'keep on playing'. What you call 'pay to win', I prefer to think of as 'pay to bypass a certain amount of tedium and get to the fun stuff faster'. If I can drop a few bucks (not a huge amount, mind you, but a few) and avoid a bit of grinding, I'm OK with that. Apparently there are people who agree, else there would be no market for character boosts. After all, isn't 'fun' the only reason to play a game in the first place? Trust me, I know, I left WoW last week because in the latest expansion, anything 'fun' is purely accidental and is nerfed immediately. I'm looking for a new game whose developers do not view their customer base with utter contempt. I am 67 years old, retired, and widowed. I need a pastime I enjoy, not one that provides endless hours of annoyance.
