The Mercenary Life

[morphwan]

I don't know about you guys but I kinda wish there was more benefit to being a mercenary in warband. I mean you sign on with a faction, to fight their enemies and you get paid a monthly or whatever the pay cycle is stipend. but that's it. You can loot villages and caravans, but you can't loot castles and towns? That doesn't make sense to me. The whole point to being a merc in those days, and probably still these days is that you can make alot of money as a skilled merc. Even more then the common soldier if you're really good. So anything I think the ability to loot more then just villages and caravans should be added. Also it would be nice to get some more mercenary specific quests, like go capture this enemy lord, or go raid that village or conquer this castle or town. Or even go kidnap this or that lady and ransom her. And there should definitely be an increase in profitabilty. Anyone else got ideas, lets here what you think?

 

[Assassinator1097]

I agree with the quests, but you can always captures castles/towns. You don't have to be a vassal. Just attack their farmers, raid their  caravans, etc, enough until they hate you.

You're a mercenary anyway, you don't have any friends. Don't see you point about being alone.

 

[morphwan]

for me it's not really the whether or not I can capture castles or towns, I just think there should be some extra benefit for doing so as a mercenary otherwise, what's the point of me doing it, well by myself at least.

 

[Assassinator1097]

for me it's not really the whether or not I can capture castles or towns, I just think there should be some extra benefit for doing so as a mercenary otherwise, what's the point of me doing it, well by myself at least.

No one will give it away to some fat, worthless lord.

Your a mercenary anyway, I don't see your point about being alone. 

 

[morphwan]

No one will give it away to some fat, worthless lord.

Your a mercenary anyway, I don't see your point about being alone. 

No, but they will give it away to a fat, worthless king!

Maybe it's just me but the way I see it, a merc would only risk their skin if there was something in it for them, and the way native plays it just doesn't seem like there's enough to make you want to do it, especially if you still do the 90 day contracts instead of 30, I get board with a faction after one month usually

 

[Lance Tankmen]

i agree for taking a castle a merc gets dead troops, loss of moral,and i guess xp? n you can free some prisoners to replace all your lost men, their needs to be a castle taking bonus for mercs

 

[. Fearless .]

If a mercenary had an entire castle for himself, I don't see why his band shouldn't be called a kingdom.

That's how I see it.

 

[Lance Tankmen]

o no mercs shouldnt get the castle but i think as merc captain the faction should pay a bonus for every one of your mercs killed that or u can sack the castle if only you are taking it

 

[MatthaisRagnarsson]

If a mercenary had an entire castle for himself, I don't see why his band shouldn't be called a kingdom.

That's how I see it.

a Mercenary Kingdom would be cool.

I think what the OP is trying to say is that he wants a bit more depth/options for players who choose not to swear fealty to a particular faction.

 

[CriticallyAshamed]

I think I know what OP is saying. Since the merc can't get anything from capturing castles, they should get a pay bonus. As it is, mercenary in native is just an intermediate stage between newbie and vassel/king. Personally I think you should get paid for every soldier lost too, mainly if they are high tier however.

 

[Potent_Schraphlon]

Yes, there should be some extra bonus for being a mercenary I think, but also penalties to balance them out, e.g. allied or enemy lords don't treat you with respect but you get paid your weekly stipend plus a bonus for each battle you fight, scaled to the size of battle and possibly how well you perform etc

 

[Azrooh]

I'd say scaling the pay with your troop size would be good. 10 denars per troop, plus an additional 2 denars per tier of said troop would bring in some good money.

It would also help you get from the 'newbie' stage to the 'lord' stage.

 

[Blaze]

As I see it, being a mercenary means instead of working for a king, your "king" is profit.

Sword of Damocles had the right idea about mercs, run it like a business to maximize profit. They even had a nice little haven to train and set up a contract with the owner of the land. Of course, that was only for the AI though.

The big problem is that being a mercenary means you'll be working your ass off and barely break even at times. You get pocket change for joining, get entire factions pissed at you with little warning, and for what? "Right to salvage and prisoners" - which you already have even without becoming a merc.

 

[Blackfish]

Though as I see it, being a merc is pretty good as it is as you basically get a free pass to raid/extort caravans and fight enemy lords, and when your contract ends your relations with them go back to neutral, and your former masters don't resent you for leaving their employ.

A related question: if I already have a castle/town (say I took it while independent), will I still get invited to be a merc? Or will the kingdoms treat me as a new kingdom? If the former's answer is yes, what happens to my castle when I enter their employ? Because I'm having lots of fun as a merc in my current game, but having a castle to deposit my troops in would be nice.

 

[Blaze]

The moment you get a fief, you're considered a lord. If you're is not part of an existing faction, then you're an independent faction. So no, you won't get any merc contracts.

 

[CriticallyAshamed]

Yeh you get the whole "Hail vagabond scum, owner of lands that they should not!" line as opposed to the "Go die for me and I'll give you this shiny" that you get while neutral.

 

[Vespasian]

Perhaps your pay should also increase relative to your renown aswell, as mercenary captains such as John Hawkwood, who were known by their employers to be great strategists and leaders, were some of the richest men of the time.
Furthermore, this would support players by providing income relative to their needs - as you increase in renown, you will probably be needing more higher tier troops if you're to advance your character at a steady pace.

 

[Blackfish]

The moment you get a fief, you're considered a lord. If you're is not part of an existing faction, then you're an independent faction. So no, you won't get any merc contracts.

Yeh you get the whole "Hail vagabond scum, owner of lands that they should not!" line as opposed to the "Go die for me and I'll give you this shiny" that you get while neutral.

Thanks guys. That's a damn shame. I don't feel like conquering the whole map, and large kingdom management seems kinda tedious from what I read.

 

[Knight of will]

Being a mercenary does have major advantages.
1. You get to go to war and improve relations with lords early on.
2. Free pass to make an entire kingdom into a bonfire ( My favorite part  )
3. And best of all, when all is said and done and your contract expires, you can go and join another faction and do it all again

I think thats some pretty good reasons to be a merc, though i dont know if being a lord is better as ive only been a lord 2 times and a merc 10.

 

[marshallannes]

what would be cool would be further depth to life as a mercenary

for example if you attained various achievements as a mercenary

which could be time spent a a mercenary/ participating in successful campaigns etc / taking down 'x' number of lords

then you got to choose a mercenary/bandit lair (which would function as a limited castle) which you could hide somewhere and which you may have to defend from lord attacks from time to time just like ' attack bandit lair' mission in reverse