Eandori Raintree wrote:That's actually exactly what I meant. 2 Mercs at the same time.
As long as Mercs are always worse then having RL players I don't see the issue personally.
2 mercs out at the same time for one player toon... Hmmm... Think EQ grouping will be completely over if they allow this.
If they allowed 2 mercs per person to be in use at the same time, I may go with 2 clerics.
The issue with many of us is even with one merc cleric the pet dieing before the mob does. Sure more DPS means the mob dies faster, but I would rather kill slower if the pet is sure to stay alive with 2 mercs on balance and reactive to ensure the pet lives then hope the added DPS will make up the difference.
If 2 mages group, then use 1 merc a cleric, and with 2 pets if one pet dies no real issue as the other takes up the slack and chain a new one, and why give exp to a dps merc that won't even be needed? If 2 mages with cleric mercs can't handle a mob, then one cleric merc and 2 mages and added dps from a merc wizard won't help, as the pets die so do the mages.
Calebe wrote:
If 2 mages group, then use 1 merc a cleric, and with 2 pets if one pet dies no real issue as the other takes up the slack and chain a new one, and why give exp to a dps merc that won't even be needed? If 2 mages with cleric mercs can't handle a mob, then one cleric merc and 2 mages and added dps from a merc wizard won't help, as the pets die so do the mages.
Just my thoughts,
Calebe
Best I can tell though mercs don't get any sort of AAs, meaning they're not going to have any aggro reducing AAs like spell casting subtlety. I don't know about you, but in normal grouping/solo mode (not full burn, just casual burning) I put out around 2500 DPS, the same as a DPS merc. However I have a decent bit in subtlety, so I'm looking at 25% aggro reduction at the least. If my pet were to die the mob would go for the wizard merc first, which would give me time to either get CoN off or gate. Gating is not an ideal escape if you're far from your bind point, but it's not death either.
Calebe wrote:
If 2 mages group, then use 1 merc a cleric, and with 2 pets if one pet dies no real issue as the other takes up the slack and chain a new one, and why give exp to a dps merc that won't even be needed? If 2 mages with cleric mercs can't handle a mob, then one cleric merc and 2 mages and added dps from a merc wizard won't help, as the pets die so do the mages.
Just my thoughts,
Calebe
Best I can tell though mercs don't get any sort of AAs, meaning they're not going to have any aggro reducing AAs like spell casting subtlety. I don't know about you, but in normal grouping/solo mode (not full burn, just casual burning) I put out around 2500 DPS, the same as a DPS merc. However I have a decent bit in subtlety, so I'm looking at 25% aggro reduction at the least. If my pet were to die the mob would go for the wizard merc first, which would give me time to either get CoN off or gate. Gating is not an ideal escape if you're far from your bind point, but it's not death either.
If I need 2 mercs to take out a mob, then it is time to find a group.
With 2 mercs, only raid mobs will be safe from most players solo with mercs.
2 players would fill up a complete 6 man group.
That would end grouping since people could camp names and have better chances at loot due to only 2 real players actually rolling on drops.
I think 2 mercs out at the same time per player is a bit much.
The ability to swap between 2 different merc classes is what we should get and would benifit all player classes IMO.
- Grouping is already for the most part Dead. Getting invited to a group or successfully starting a group is already a large play of pure luck. Especially if your online time is not peak-server time.
- Lots of content is made for group only, no matter how powerful I am compared to that content. For example I would like to go do an executioner trial in Plane of Justice and smash through it by myself just for nostalgia and fun. But I can't because it requires a group to start.
- The entire expansion of LDoN is mostly un-usable for me, as are others in the exact same way.
- MOST OF THE TIME, if a group target can be easily killed by 2 players with 4 mercs then that target was not very hard to begin with and the gear is probably not much of an upgrade. Face it, Merc's are stupid. If I had an exp potion for every time my Merc got herself killed...
- Even an average to low skill player is better then my Cleric Merc. ANYBODY who has actually played with a Highly skilled and equipped player knows that comparing a Merc to that person is like comparing Michael Jordan to a high school basketball kid. Not even in the same ballpark of value.
- Some of you state "grouping will die if that happens" but I state it differently. Grouping is already mostly dead, as EQ is mostly dead. Opening up more ways for players to go try out other content and challenge themselves in a new way brings people back to EQ. Know any old EQ Players that got excited when you told them about Mercs? I do. Some even came back to EQ simply because of Mercs.
- With the EXTREMELY SMALL number of players doing EQ right now, if you want to group you are FORCED to go to the zones where you actually can find a group. Seems to me like 70% of zones go totally un-used these days because it's raid/group content that you simply cannot do by yourself. If adding another Merc to each player makes so so many older zones usable again then FANTASTIC!
- Finally, Merc's are only good for Molo and Small groups. They are for the most part lame for raids. If I was in a mid to highly skilled raid guild, I would hands down 100% want just players and not Mercs for everything we did.
Here it is simply put guys...
Make EQ Fun and exciting and people will come back.
Eandori Raintree wrote:Those reasons seem a little weak to me.
- Finally, Merc's are only good for Molo and Small groups. They are for the most part lame for raids. If I was in a mid to highly skilled raid guild, I would hands down 100% want just players and not Mercs for everything we did.
Ok you win.
People should be able to have as many mercs as they want.
But I missed the part where they were allowing mercs on raids
A Raid can be done in the total absence of the formal raid grouping. For example I can just run into Innoruk in the Plane of Hate and "Raid" him by myself +1 cleric merc. I could have others in my group, or even other groups there helping me along. Those other players could have their own mercs.
But the main point I was trying to make there, is even though you can "raid" with Mercs, if Mercs were ever allowed in all raid formats then I'm sure there would be discussions if that is good or bad. To that discussion, insert my point above. A RL player will always be far better then a Merc on a raid. A Merc is just filler in the absence of a quality player that can read text and follow raid leader directions.
Eandori Raintree wrote:A RL player will always be far better then a Merc on a raid. A Merc is just filler in the absence of a quality player that can read text and follow raid leader directions.
I dunno. There are some players in my raids that I would prefer a merc for the very reason that they seem to be unable to read and follow directions, or are just simply lazy and/or afk half the time.
