Suggestion to change merc's

[Qwazym]

Hi,

This is a suggestion to change merc's. I've only been playing on the server for about 2 hours but so far the thing I would most like to see, is the ability to equip merc's with more gear.

My Suggestion: Allow Mercenaries to be able to be equipped with all gear pieces, eg not only weapons armor helmet, but also gloves, boots, belt, rings, amulet, and whatever i'm not thinking of.

Not sure exactly how this would effect balance as some characters rely more heavily on merc than others.

This would allow much more customization of characters including the gear the character can wear if the merc is able to fill a certain role. They would now be able to have a range of sets equipped for them (maybe even make a merc specific set?) which would make them much more useful than just being an aura bitch.

Another possibility for this would be for summoning characters, eg a summon necro or druid with a ton of summons could have an act1 merc to shoot and do damage while teleing around having the minions take the brunt of the hits, and the merc able to do enough damage to effectively keep up with other classes.

I can see straight away some balance issues with this so it might need to have certain restrictions, eg a max of 2 auras, or particular bonus not working on merc's, or maybe a damage buff as they usually don't do much other than take hits, provide auras, and cc.

Open to suggestions of course, as this is only a suggestion from an experienced player, but complete noob to the server (haven't even finished normal yet let alone endgame content).

I thought it might be funny to add this comparison: This suggestion is kind of like starting with a long word as the first word of scrabble, it opens the game up to much more theory crafting and possibilities.

[Equalibrium]

would defo help hc players alot. but would anoy the elites who think game is to easy already. cant see it happening but we can hope hehe.

[Qwazym]

would defo help hc players alot. but would anoy the elites who think game is to easy already. cant see it happening but we can hope hehe.

this would make the game easier, hence other areas might need a nerf, or slight enemy buff to compensate (without making merc's a requirement) obviously one that would need some strong consideration in many areas to avoid making it too easy. But it would definitely open up a lot more viable builds and gear combinations etc.

[LordManhammer]

I really don't think this is necessary. As much as I would love to be able to equip mercs with entire sets of gear, they are already buff. An act 3 cold merc can farm Normal and Nightmare cows on his own without much, if any gear. An act 2 Holy Freeze merc(nightmare defense) is really strong in HC. Throw a Reaper's Toll on that guy and the mobs are almost completely frozen. If you really want to have a strong tank and spank experience, just run a Golomancer

[HoLy]

I'm going to have to agree with Equa on this. I think if would give us HC guys a little bit of a helping hand. We can hope for it but I don't see it happening.

[Equalibrium]

I really don't think this is necessary. As much as I would love to be able to equip mercs with entire sets of gear, they are already buff. An act 3 cold merc can farm Normal and Nightmare cows on his own without much, if any gear. An act 2 Holy Freeze merc(nightmare defense) is really strong in HC. Throw a Reaper's Toll on that guy and the mobs are almost completely frozen. If you really want to have a strong tank and spank experience, just run a Golomancer

i take your point mate but in all honesty we are talking end game here not norm or nm that content is just faceroll no matter your class. we are talking hell mode end game. this would help with more classes / specs being alot more viable. and would help alot towards HC players being able to actualy do ALL end game content. we who play HC can not die in order to do ALL content.
we get one chance thats it. this would go part way to lowering the risk a little for the less experienced or gifted players.

[LordManhammer]

I really don't know what it is that you hope that the suggestions made above are going to accomplish. Lowering the risk of hardcore defeats the purpose of playing hardcore.

[Qwazym]

I really don't know what it is that you hope that the suggestions made above are going to accomplish. Lowering the risk of hardcore defeats the purpose of playing hardcore.

That's exactly right, which I was saying this would need serious consideration in relation to balancing without just making it all easier. the idea is not to make them op and do the work for you, the idea is to be able to open up more builds and allow more possibilities in gearing and particular builds.

If this is going to make the endgame content easier in a way that can't be balanced, maybe endgame content will need to be buffed to make it equally as hard with the changes, or you know, not have them at all.

Edit: would like to add a note to say I'm yet to see the endgame content.

Re-Edit: would also like to say, if softcore can do it, hardcore can do it. we just have to be a little more careful and possibly be tankier so it takes longer.