Might & Magic X - The Mercenary

Couchpotato

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Might & Magic X has another update introducing us to the mercenary class first seen in the update from yesterday.


mercenary_book.jpg


Mercenaries hail from the Free cities. They are warriors and explorers that follow Ylath, the Dragon of Air, wandering the world in search of riches and causes worth fighting for.

Jack of all trades ...

The Mercenary is a powerful fighter who specializes in being unspecialized - so whatever melee weapon you assign to them they will be able to wield it with a master's skill, together with a shield, dual wielding their favorite weapons or even using two handed models. Like the Dwarven Defender, the Mercanary can become grand master of warfare, but different than Defenders, Mercenaries will most likely focus on the offensive aspects of that skill. Being followers of Ylath, every Mercenary can develop basic powers in the Magic School of Air.

Human specialties

Humans are said to be dynamic, but short-lived compared to the other races. They have a strong connection to Air and Light.
More information.
 
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Some mercenary: that sword is hanging on the wrong side. Just try to pull it out and wield it, why don't you? :p

Looks good otherwise...
 
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Some mercenary: that sword is hanging on the wrong side. Just try to pull it out and wield it, why don't you? :p
It's a game so who cares.;) Realism isn't necessary you know.:biggrin:
 
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Some mercenary: that sword is hanging on the wrong side. Just try to pull it out and wield it, why don't you? :p

Looks good otherwise…

I laughed out loud at that one. I suppose he could be left handed but just likes clutching the hilt with the right hand when not in battle.
 
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That is funny. With so many classes it is going to be hard to only pick four. Hope I enjoy it enough to play thru it a few times.
 
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About the Mercenary:
The Mercenary is the first class which has a starting skill which can not be improved up to GrandMaster. The advanced Class ability seems to be pretty strong though I don't know how a crit is calculated. But I am not sure wether this mitigates the drawback of not having the weapon class GrandMastered. Overall - what is the idea behind having all weapon skills capped master? I don't see why anyone should actually bring all of them to a master level. I can't think of a single game where you play a party where I raised more than one melee skill for the character. The only exception is when you don't have to spend points to do so.

About the other classes:
For those interested, I threw all classes together in one Sheet over here.
Each Race seems to get three classes: A Melee Class, a Ranged Class and a Magical Class.
So what can we expect for the rest?
My guess is that the humans get either another ranged class. However they are in a position of already having the mercenary which might cover both roles. My guess is that they either get something really weird or something really generic.
For the elves I think it's quite obvious that they get a Class like a Bladedancer. We do not have any GrandMaster Sword and Dual Wield class yet and they would be pretty fitting to Elves.
The Dwarfs are missing a Mage class. So I guess they will get Mage which covers the Fire and Light Grandmaster spots which are still open.
And for orcs…guess it will be "just another ranged class".
 
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Thanks for the chart Kordanor - definitely makes it easier to compare.

I really think the Mercenary is lacking. It pales in comparison to the Elf Ranger & Dwarf Scout. Both of them can each master two magic skills, the Ranger can still master one melee (and grand master Bow), the Scout can GM Axe & Crossbow, and still master Spear.

If you're going to compare to the other pure 'might' classes (Dwarf Defender, Orc Berserker) it seems much less useful.

Its not an MMO which has to strive for every class perfectly balanced, but the mercenary just seems very lackluster for the 'might' (and not hybrid)
 
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Also I'd like to see as much as possible from the game like the strongest skills, the most powerful spells and so on. But the mercenary doesn't provide much in that matter. I also don't know if different races can trigger events or open up dialogue options. But just to make sure I'll see everything I'll pick one character from every race. Luckily the Freemage seems to be a good pick. However I hope for a second good human class so that I have got a choice.
 
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I usually don't use 'hybrid' classes unless the party is like 6 characters or more. In almost every game I've played (except maybe Baldur's Gate 1) it's better to use pure classes.
 
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Any one here involved with the early access? If so, what are your initial thoughts?
 
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I usually don't use 'hybrid' classes unless the party is like 6 characters or more. In almost every game I've played (except maybe Baldur's Gate 1) it's better to use pure classes.

My preference is usually the opposite: for a smaller parties, using hybrid classes helps shore up the group's weaknesses. (E.g. a fighter/thief rather than a thief.) It's only when I have six of more that I can have party members focus on non-'hybrid' classes.
 
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Just wanted to mention that I updated the sheet with an overview of all Skills and Spells.

The advantage is that you can see all the stuff there and not just what your character can learn.
 
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My preference is usually the opposite: for a smaller parties, using hybrid classes helps shore up the group's weaknesses. (E.g. a fighter/thief rather than a thief.) It's only when I have six of more that I can have party members focus on non-'hybrid' classes.

that's actually what I said :)
 
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That's maybe what you meant, but not what you wrote. ^^
Btw: Just saw that the spell time stop, which should be an exclusive spell for the advanced freemage class, is also available for the druid....so either this is an error, or the freemage will need another gimmick.
 
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That's maybe what you meant, but not what you wrote. ^^
Btw: Just saw that the spell time stop, which should be an exclusive spell for the advanced freemage class, is also available for the druid….so either this is an error, or the freemage will need another gimmick.

Oh you're right. Yes for small parties I prefer pure classes, like if I have 4 chars, one is a mage, one a priest, one a warrior and one a rogue. But if I have 6 then I can compliment the big 4 with an extra healer hybrid (mage/cleric or fighter/cleric), sometimes two (can't have too many healers)
 
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Interesting, while I always have a mage and a cleric, I prefer a fighter/thief (locks/traps) hybrid, unless there is a solid need for an actual pure thief. That gives me a free slot for a healing hybrid!!
 
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