Mercenaries

Overview
Mercenaries are NPCs for hire. When you hire or summon a mercenary it takes up a group slot and has a monetary fee. In order to hire a mercenary, you must either:
 * Own the Age of Discovery expansion (having purchased when it was a new release).
 * or


 * Own the Kunark Ascending expansion, which also allows the mercenaries to be trained and equipped with stat gear.
 * or

Please note: The Expansion where the mercenary is from still matters, even when leveling there is quite a noticeable difference in them.
 * Unlock Feature: Mercenaries via the Marketplace at a cost of 1500DC.

Hiring Mercenaries
To hire a mercenary the first time you will have to meet him/her/it at the locations listed in the tables below.

When you want to hire a Merc keep in mind that some are ...
 * always at a default location
 * always at a default location, but need an item obtained in order to see them
 * spawning at several possible locations and times in a zone

You can see your hired mercenaries in your Character (persona) window by pressing C and clicking on the Mercenary Tab
 * Only 1 can be active at the time. Most of the merc are locked in the persona window, which means you have to meet he merc to summon him again.
 * It is possible to unlock a merc which allows you to summon him/her/it anywhere in Norrath for 150 DBC.

Related changes/notes to merc
 * Mercenaries don't have any initial hiring fees
 * Mercenaries don't steal experience for kills
 * Mercenaries don't take a split of the coin in a group

Gear and Training
If you have the Expansion Kunark Ascending you can equip gear on your mercenary and you can train them. In order to do this you need to get out the mercenary you want to train or equip with gear and then press the big blue square symbol next to your active mercenaries name.
 * You can then switch between the appearance gear and the stat gear/training screen with the 2 buttons on the top.

Gear

 * This is gear purely for stats and has no appearance. Some mercenaries can additionally wear appearance gear ( i.e. weapons) even without Kunark Ascending Expansion
 * Mercenaries can get a bit more dps and survive longer with better gear. The "Merc Gear" has the tag "MERC-ONLY" on them or use the accolade slot.
 * Note that mercenaries can also wear regular armor in the available slots, not just that flagged for mercs. Mercs can wear as many relics as desired.
 * Merc armor also has an effect on unlisted stats such as casting speed and recast. The effect is seen in the spell tooltips.
 * White, purple, etc. runes don't seem to work for mercs.
 * Gear slots by Merc level:
 * Head, Chest, 2 Accolade
 * Forearms
 * +1 Accolade
 * Shoulders
 * +1 Accolade
 * +1 Hands
 * +1 Accolade
 * +1 Legs
 * +1 Accolade
 * +1 Feet, Accolade

Training

 * Training of a mercenary can be done passively. Take out the merc you want to train, tell him to train and call him again after X days.
 * Level 1 -> Level 2: 3 Days
 * Level 2 -> Level 3: 5 Days
 * Level 3 -> Level 4: 7 Days
 * Level 4 -> Level 5: 9 Days
 * Level 5 -> Level 6: 11 Days
 * With the Kunark Ascending Expansion it is possible to train a mercenary to a maximum level of 5 which takes 24 days per mercenary.
 * With the Planes of Power Expansion it is possible to train a mercenary to a maximum level of 10 which takes days per mercenary.

Upkeep
The mercenary will charge you an upkeep fee every 30 minutes, this amount is increased as you level up.

For example, the level 90 upkeep fee is or  per 30 minutes or on a respawn, after the mercenary is killed, depending on if the mercenary is standard or not.

Once you dismiss the mercenary you must also pay the upkeep fee to bring them back or use the Marketplace to buy a "Hire Anywhere" unlock for the mercenary. This feature unlock is accessed from the Mercenary tab of the Character window. Open the tab and click the Hire Anywhere button (looks like a green +) next to the name of mercenaries you previously "met" out in the world and hired.

Note: Special mercenaries may require a higher salary than shown in this table.

Mechanics
There are many mercenaries to chose from. Healers and dirges have a chance of actually rezzing you! No need to guess, their icons show their archetype, and hailing them will tell you their class. Available types are Tanks, Healers, Melee DPS, Caster DPS, and Support mercenaries.

You can manage your mercenary's appearance clothing via your persona window. Add any armor you want to your mercenary to display, but remember that they will get no additional benefit from it. It's akin to equipping a mannequin; the armor will remain with you.

The suspend timer is 1 minute. If you suspend your mercenary, you'll have to wait 1 minute to use /resume to bring them back. When a mercenary dies, s/he becomes suspended. You can resume him/her from the mercenary window in your Persona window, or you can type /merc resume. Each time you resume your mercenary, you will pay the upkeep.

If a mercenary loses too much confidence they will panic and suffer from a stat decrease. Avoid this by keeping aggro.

Right clicking on a Ranger Mercenary will allow you to use the tracking skill.

There are 3 additional options for mercs (compared to pets)
 * follow:the merc will follow that char in the group
 * assist:the merc will attack the target that char is attacking
 * protect:the merc will attack the target that attacked that char and it will heal/cure that char.

Examples
 * a healer merc: follow the healer char in the group, assist "none" and protect the tank
 * dps merc: follow the dps, assist the dps, protect "none"
 * tank merc (with a solo char): follow, assist and protect the char. if you don't wanna take the first hit, send the merc in before you attack the target

Slash Commands

 * /merc ranged
 * /merc melee
 * /mercname
 * /merc attack
 * /merc backoff
 * /merc preserve_self
 * /merc preserve_master
 * /merc suspend
 * /merc resume (unsuspends the mercenary)
 * /cl_ignore_merc_chatter {true/false}
 * /togglemerc (Toggles the display of the Mercenary information and command UI window)

How to Obtain
If you see one mercenary hanging around, there's likely more nearby. It is possible to sneak into other cities and hire their mercenaries. Once you have hired "foreign" mercenaries, they will appear also in your alignment's Mercenary Den.

These semi-instances are located in Qeynos (Basement of Fish's Alehouse and Inn, Qeynos Harbor) and Freeport (Seafarer's Roost in East Freeport, ).
 * The room under Seafarer's Roost is entered at }

Original Mercenaries
These are the easy to hire mercenaries that were introduced when the mercenary feature launched with Age of Discovery.

Elite Mercenaries
Elite mercenaries are rare and more powerful. The elite mercenaries roam the world until hired, after which that mercenary will despawn for a while from the world, so there will be gaps between players being able to find them.

Elite mercenaries are more expensive than normal mercenaries. They cost upkeep every 30 minutes (at level 90-95). All their spells are mastered, and they do not return to start locations like the rest of the normal mercenaries when dismissed.

The re-summon timer for elite mercenaries used to be 5 minutes, but this was changed to 1 minute with the December 17, 2013 patch.

Reported locations for the various elite mercenaries below will be found on their individual pages.

Unlockable Mercenaries
These mercenaries can be unlocked by finding their contract as a drop in certain zones/expansions.

Skyshrine
The Ancient Mercenaries have bonuses when used within Skyshrine. To hire an Ancient Mercenary, you must be able to go to Skyshrine: The Forbidden City of Dracur via the portal in Skyshrine at (10,000 Claws of Veeshan faction required).

Note: In order to speak/hire them it requires you to have completed To Speak as a Dragon quest.

In order to get the key that will unlock the mercenaries, you need to defeat Dozekar in the quest Revelations in the Temple. This is the final quest in a series that begins in Skyshrine: The City of Dracur. Speak to  to begin the quest. After you kill Dozekar, turn in your quest to receive the key. Return to the starting zone in Skyshrine and use the portal to Skyshrine: The Forbidden City of Dracur (-29.59, -0.41, -7.17). In one of three zones there you will find and be able to unlock your mercenary.

Ancient Mercenaries cost upkeep every 30 minutes (at level 90).

Chains of Eternity
Hireable after you loot their respective (coins/contracts) from a heroic Chains of Eternity instance.

Altar of Malice
The following are available after looting and examining their respective tokens, dropped in Altar of Malice instances:

The Siege of Zek
Zhugrus is rewarded for completing the achievement Exploring the Scourge Wastes (Solo)

Tradeskill Mercenaries
Raffik is available after completing his last Tradeskilling quest,. He stands on the docks of Isle of Mara.

Qho Augren is available after completing his last Gathering quest,. He wanders near the waterfall on Isle of Mara.

Gardening Goblin is available after completing the last quest from Growf questline,. This will require giving up your gathering goblin ability previously in the questline.

Live Event Mercenaries
These Mercenaries are only available for initial hire during the respective Live Events.

Bristlebane Day
Hireable in the Mercenary Den of each city after you complete during Bristlebane Day.

Tinkerfest
Hireable after you complete the The Reticent Tinkerer quest in Steamfont Mountains during Tinkerfest. They can be located inside Redd's Abode, located in the Gnomeland Security Headquarters in Steamfont Mountains. Access to Redd's Abode is available after Tinkerfest as long as your character has completed the quest during Tinkerfest.

Special Mercenaries
These Mercenaries are/were unlocked either during special events or by buying (special editions of) expansions.

10 Veteran Reward
Claim an item with the /claim command and use it to unlock. You can recruit them in the Mercenary Den.

SOE Live 2012
Available as a /claim item only for those who attended SOE Live 2012.

Chains of Eternity Collector's Edition
Available only for those who purchased the Chains of Eternity Collectors Edition.

Mercenaries are per character. You can choose either the Templar or the Paladin Lujien (werewolf) in Freeport or Qeynos mercenary dens. They will both be available for you to hire on all your characters.

The Collector's Edition mercenaries have significantly higher stats and confidence than the standard mercenaries (they can take a lot more of a challenge before they cower/debuff).

The Collector's Edition mercenaries will cost the same to hire as the standard mercenaries.

Tears of Veeshan Expansion
Available as a /claim item only for those who have purchased the Tears of Veeshan expansion. Note: Daeron will appear in the Mercenary Den of each city only after you activate the token in your inventory that appears upon claiming it.

Altar of Malice Collector's Edition
Collector's Edition purchasers received a /claim token which, when examined, makes Kluuron V'Lorn available in your city's Mercenary Den:

Terrors of Thalumbra Collector's Edition
Available as a /claim item only for those who have purchased the Collector's Edition or Premium Edition of the Terrors of Thalumbra expansion. Note: Delidrae will appear in the Mercenary Den of each city only after you activate the token in your inventory that appears upon claiming it. This mercenary uses Wizard-like and Brigand-like abilities as well as having some healing potential.

Kunark Ascending Collector's Edition
Available as a /claim item only for those who have purchased the Collector's Edition or Premium Edition of the Kunark Ascending expansion.
 * Note: Claz'zakla can be hired in Obulus Frontier only after you activate the token in your inventory that appears upon claiming it. Once you hired him he will appear in the Mercenary Den of each city.
 * This mercenary uses Warden-like and Ranger-like abilities so having some dps and healing potential.

Rogues Gallery
The first mercenaries found in Rogues Gallery were introduced with the Rum Cellar Pack. These are from mercenary crates purchasable through the Marketplace (described below) that give you a random token for the selected archetype.

The following archetypes may be available: Archon (Priest/Inquisitor) and Martial (Fighter/Monk), Mindbender (Mage/Coercer), and Songspinner (Scout/Dirge). In late 2016, the Crusader archetype, which is similar to a Paladin, was added.

Mercenary crates are tradeable until they are redeemed for tokens. The tokens can then be used to hire the indicated mercenaries or sold to city merchants for status points.

Each archetype has 5 common, 3 uncommon, and 2 rare mercenaries. All archetype tokens give you a chance to receive the ultra-rare fallen paladin mercenary.

To hire the mercenary indicated on a mercenary token, examine it and click on the option to sign the mercenary contract. You must then go to the Rogues' Gallery to hire the mercenary in person. The Rogues' Gallery is a special zone that can be found by clicking on the appropriate door in the Qeynos or Freeport Mercenary Den (basement). In Freeport take door at.

Marketplace Crates
The Marketplace plays a role in mercenaries in a few ways.
 * Some mercenaries can be re-hired anywhere after you pay a small fee to unlock the ability to do so. Press C to open the Chracter sheet and check the Mercenary tab to see which may have this option.
 * Different mercenaries can be purchased via the Marketplace. These are typically offered as one, three, or seven "crates". Availability for these can change. For example, seasonal mercenaries that look like gingerbread men appear around the annual Frostfell event in-game.
 * All Access members (paid accounts) may get to choose mercenary crates as in place of the monthly 500DC stipend. This could change at any time, so check the official game forums for any changes to this member perk.
 * Random Results

All marketplace mercenaries are packed in "crates" with 1, 3 or 7 mercenaries.
 * All are randomized by their archetype (or category). You can not pick the specific mercenary by name. This means that within an archetype, you will get random mercenary. For example, if you purchase a Crusader Mercenary, you can get a common, rare, or elite but you will not known until you unpack them.
 * After opening the crates, all of the marketplace mercenaries are found in the Rogues Gallery. Travel to the gallery location for your alignment, then to the locations listed for each one.
 * Unpacking Crates

Crates are HEIRLOOM until they are Unpacked and you receive the actual mercenary token.
 * This applies to single crates and to multiples. Therefore, it is wise to only buy or claim crates on the character you intend to have the mercenaries, to avoid accidentally making them untradeable to other characters on your account.
 * If you buy a crate with 3 and unpack it to the point of getting the tokens, you can not keep one and pass the others over to other characters.


 * Locate it in your inventory and R click on the crate to choose to Unpack it. Repeat this process to reveal each mercenary token.
 * As of the spring of 2017, unwanted or duplicate mercenaries can no longer be sold to City Merchants. In Qeynos, unwanted mercenaries may be sold for status points to at location (-4.65, -25.37, -19.27) in the Rogue's Gallery. The Rogue's Gallery is in the basement of Fish's Alehouse and Inn in Qeynos Harbor.

2016 Mercenaries
The Mercenaries below are available through the Marketplace as of fall 2016, but may change at any time.
 * See the official announcement about the changes.


 * Previous mercenaries crates were moved to "the vault," which means they are retired unless Daybreak decides to make them available for purchase again at a later date.
 * If you have a token for the prior mercenaries from a previous crate purchase they can still be hired.


 * The mercenaries available as of fall 2016 are all paladins, with the exception of the ultra rare, which is a guardian.
 * To hire them, travel one level deeper inside the Rogues Gallery.

Crusader Mercenaries
Paladins

Seasonal Marketplace
During the annual Frostfell world event (in 2015), themed mercenaries were offered. All look like gingerbread men. Most are archon mercenaries, with one rare archeon, and an ultra rare martial mercenary.

These Mercenaries are found by entering a door within the Rogues Gallery. The door to access these looks like a Magic Door to the Guild Hall.
 * Please confirm and create a table as needed for the info below and remove this note. Added for names and locs while still available! 


 * Crunchy Gingerbread Archon - common?
 * Molasses Gingerbread Archon - common 1,000,000 SP
 * Delicious Gingerbread Archon - common?
 * Sugared Gingerbread Archon - uncommon 3,000,000 SP
 * Sulky Gingerdread Archon - rare? Note: the name definitely has dread in it.
 * The Ninjabread Man - martial, ultra rare?

Retired or All Access Redeemed

 * These mercenaries can still be hired in the gallery if you have the tokens for them, but they have been retired from the Marketplace as of fall 2016.
 * Players with All Access (paid memberships) may be offered mercenary crates as an option instead of the typical 500DC monthly stipend.

Archon Mercenaries
Priests

Martial Mercenaries
Fighters

Mindbender Mercenaries
Mages

Songspinner Mercenaries
Scouts

Stormcaller Mercenaries
Priests

Credits
