Le Hi said:
Quick question:
Whats the best strategy to survive as a mercenary? The pay and the loot isnt enough to cover my expenses and raiding villages hurts me in the long run. Any tips?
Thanks!
As above you should open shops in all the towns and I recommend looking at other options other than the velvet. For instance, next time I'm really thinking of opening a bakery. I haven't done too much research on it yet but it's hard to find bread in this game sometimes and I think it sells for a good price. Either way, I've found the Tannery to be more lucrative than velvet in many areas.
Next is that you want to have a mix of troops in your army. If it's all top tier troops then the mercenary fee won't be enough to cover it. I think you get 100 denars a man iirc. You companions probably cost over 100 to 300 denars a week if they are mounted (and the usually are).
Next is boosting your looting skill. Iirc companions actually get 3 loot whereas regular soldiers get 1 loot. (please correct that if it's wrong). I know one companion has a loot skill of 4 and I don't know if that effects the amount of loot you get either. My point is that fewer soldiers in your group means more loot for you.
Next is don't join battles that will destroy your forces. It's expensive training and feeding troops only to lose them because your allies do a bunch of stupid stuff or bring a bunch of green troops thus diluting the potency of your force.
I don't recommend raiding villages or merchants. It's a short term profit for a long term headache. Eventually you will own these villages or want to recruit from them. Either way it's bad business.
That said, I do charge merchants tolls. I do this even if they belong to friendly factions. For instance, if I am mercenary of Ravenstern and at war with Empire and allied with Fierdsvain I may still charge Fierdsvain merchants tolls. Why? If you have about 200 men in your army you will get about 2,000 denars. Because you will likely fight in battles alonside Fierdsvain troops you will be able to repair the modest relationship hit and if your relations get really low you can end your contract with your current faction and your relations reset to zero. Best thing about taxing friendly merchants is they don't run away. As for those that do run away, I sometimes wait in a neutral town until the merchant is almost at the gates and then chase them down. Easy money.
Tournaments can get you about 19k and sometimes some armor or weapon. The Noldor tournaments are the best. One you get really strong (I use qualis gems for this) you can win Noldor tournaments quite easily. They usually give a gift like a bow or sword but sometimes you get a Spirited Noldor Spirit Horse, a Reinforced Runed Armor, or a Qualis Gem. If you bought the Noldor horse it would cost you over 100k and the Reinforced Runded Armor is close to 300k. As Ben Franklin used to say, "A penny saved is a penny earned."
Then there is ransoming. I don't always release my prisoners. If they are evil and will give me negative relations or if they are a king I will keep them. If they don't ransom them right away you can talk to them and they will personally give you money for freedom. You can actually have a small force, join a large battle, win it and be the lord who captures the enemies. They do the work, you get the ransom.
Developing your trade and leadership skills are also important. You get more money for the loot you sell and you pay less money to your troops. As your army gets bigger having high leadership is really important and will save you buttloads of money.
Take prisoners. I equip all my companions (11 of them) with blunt warhammers. When we are just running around by ourselves I make them use blunts and then sell the prisoners. I can have 90 prisoners in my army now. It really adds up fast. You get around 800 denars for a berzerker! He doesn't even wear armor. One hit to the head, or charge with my Noldor Spirit Horse (I've done over 100 charge damage on lightly armored foes) and he's badly hurt or knocked out. Easy money.
You can check all items in Morgh's Editor.
.Im playing on %149 difficulty , does difficuly lvl effect this ?
