I decided to create a bard in Eq1. Why? Well I haven’t really played one before (at least not one above level 10) and I have actually thought the class was pretty awesome for a number of years now. Between my cleric and enchanter and other random alts, I just never really had the time. So yesterday Kanad and I decided to create alts. He created a Drakkin rogue and I created a Drakkin bard. We each decided to get mercenaries, and neither of us was really wearing any gear, so it was a great test to see how they worked out.
The mercenaries have no charge from levels 1-10. After that the charge is very slight, allowing anyone to be able to afford one. At level 13 (which was the level we reached after two hours of playing) the mercenaries cost a grand total of 2p to purchase, and 1g every 15 minutes.
The tank mercenary didn’t do his job very well, being distracted by numerous things it would seem. I sort of figured they wouldn’t exactly be on par with the level 60+ mercs due to the lack of skills available at that level. The healer was fairly good, though they did need a bit of time for meditation and after I hit level 10 they kept trying to rez me when I wasn’t dead but wouldn’t rez me the one time I actually died. I’m not sure what was going on with that.
One interesting point, is that even though the mercenaries did not physically level along with us as we leveled, their spells DID upgrade automatically. We picked up mercenaries at level 3 and used them until level 9, then switched out from level 9 to level 13. We had different cleric buffs on us when they became available to the mercenary, which is a pretty nice feature if you’re reluctant to upgrade. If they’re not tanking and seem to be healing you just fine, then you can hang onto them for a little longer.
Since we got to level 13 with no gear at all, doing no quests, just hiring mercs, it’s time to take a little time and see about some gear. I love how a game 10 years old can still hold my attention like no other yesterday was a LOT of fun and I’m looking forward to leveling the bard some more as well as playing with Nostalgia on Friday night with my druid.