Paradox, please do something about the mercenary system

[Commonblob]

I know some people are fundamentally opposed to the new merc system but I actually really like some parts of it. I like the way that every merc company has its own manpower pool and stops replenishing once this pool is exhausted. And I like the way the merc generals die and get replaced with new ones from time to time. These aspects really make it feel like there's stuff happening "behind the scenes" within the game. The new estate system also gives that "behind the scenes" feeling very well.

However, about 50 years into the game most of the merc companies are already almost the size of my force limit. And they cost so much that I would either have to take multiple loans to be able to afford a single company, or take maximum ducats in multiple peace deals. It's such a shame that this feature of the game has become unusable in all but the very start of the game.

Also 50k+ men merc companies are hardly realistic. That's an enormous army, and that's without even counting their manpower reserve pool. In real life, what would such a large group of armed men do when unhired? They would probably be a huge problem for any country they resided in.

Please find another way to phase out mercs in late game. The current system is neither good for gameplay nor realistic.

 

[Riukus]

It actually not new. In I:R after realise a few hundred thousand merc staks were normal. I think someone just copy paste code to EU4.

Also you can use mods or sink few transport boats while mercs load in with attrition to fix it size. However it all just duct tape fixing. And I think now PDX have bigger problems (recent DLC) to solve then mercs somehow work.

 

[Vicar of Christ]

GB during the revolution hired like 30000 hessian. But that would be the starting troop and include part of the manpower pool.

At 100k+, a single mercenary company has half the manpower of my empire. These guys could conquer their own country. Hell if they all allied they could take me down. I guess its because their strength scale with the person hiring them it creates those silly numbers.

 

[Jarvin]

It actually not new. In I:R after realise a few hundred thousand merc staks were normal. I think someone just copy paste code to EU4.

Also you can use mods or sink few transport boats while mercs load in with attrition to fix it size. However it all just duct tape fixing. And I think now PDX have bigger problems (recent DLC) to solve then mercs somehow work.

Nobody is asking for a merc overhaul at this point though.
You could do a ton to improve this system just by tweaking it a bit
Things like making merc companies stick to reasonable sizes(portions of combat width), tying the increase in merc cost to their number or your FL rather than technology so it's not this dumb situation where some companies randomly cost thousands of ducats to hire
they shouldn't take too much resources but would improve this system tremendously

As of right now, aside from the "flavor", this system is IMHO a stepdown from the previous one in like all ways possible on a gameplay level.

 

[pinetemplar]

I agree that this is stupid af in current state. I think capping their max seize at half combat width but increasing number of available stacks instead would be an easy fix.

 

[Godd_Howard]

Like I always say, look to CK2 and Imperator. Monumets were a good step in that direction. Now if the Mercs would also go in the same one that would be grand.

 

[Jarvin]

Like I always say, look to CK2 and Imperator. Monumets were a good step in that direction. Now if the Mercs would also go in the same one that would be grand.

Please don't look to CK2 and Imperator
It's okay to draw inspiration from other games but you have to be aware why those games and EU4 are not the same titles in the first place. The gameplay between those 3 games is so extremely different that if you go any further beyond just "drawing inspiration" you risk developing something that simply doesn't work.

 

[Godd_Howard]

you risk developing something that simply doesn't work.

Funny you should mention that.
And yes we do know they are not the same game. Now I don't know anything about coding EU4 but I can tell when something is really bad. I don't need to be a professional pilot to tell a crashed plane from a flying one. And CK2 and Imperator are flying at this moment, while EU4 is diving nose down, and the uselessness of the mercs is just one of the failed engines dragging it down.

 

[Jarvin]

Funny you should mention that.
And yes we do know they are not the same game. Now I don't know anything about coding EU4 but I can tell when something is really bad. I don't need to be a professional pilot to tell a crashed plane from a flying one. And CK2 and Imperator are flying at this moment, while EU4 is diving nose down, and the uselessness of the mercs is just one of the failed engines dragging it down.

What it really comes down to is that PDS needs to have at least one guy among themselves who not only loves the game, but also loves its gameplay and truly understands it, so that he can tell in advance if some of the ideas that they are working on shouldn't be tweaked to be actually proper gameplay additions; and if they can't have that, they should try getting some feedback from some of the more commited members of the community, maybe people like Zlewikk or florry or whatnot

EU4 is a super complex game, so it's natural to a degree that its devs might not always fully grasp the consequences of what they are trying to add into the game; I just wish there was a way for them to possibly get feedback that certain mechanics might require serious tweaking to be 'good' before they are released into the wild.

 

[jscaco]

Limit the sizes of the armies to something reasonable and get rid of or at least reduce the professionalism hit

 

[Froonk]

I made this suggestion as well as I think currently mercenaries are just nonsensical, there is no reason for mercenaries to scale to your force limit in terms of either gameplay or flavor. They should be static and the size should be particular to the companies. It's such a shame in their update which took a whole year they didn't bother to adjust this even remotely.

 

[Victoria 3 finally]

What it really comes down to is that PDS needs to have at least one guy among themselves who not only loves the game, but also loves its gameplay and truly understands it, so that he can tell in advance if some of the ideas that they are working on shouldn't be tweaked to be actually proper gameplay additions; and if they can't have that, they should try getting some feedback from some of the more commited members of the community, maybe people like Zlewikk or florry or whatnot

EU4 is a super complex game, so it's natural to a degree that its devs might not always fully grasp the consequences of what they are trying to add into the game; I just wish there was a way for them to possibly get feedback that certain mechanics might require serious tweaking to be 'good' before they are released into the wild.

We had a guy who "loves" EU4s gameplay and his time is generally considered the downfall of EU4 among most people above 200 hours.

 

[DarkSpiryt]

I said it last time: reduce prof hit to 1% and give mercs purpose. Some of them will be siege stacks, others front line. Keep them in small groups to like 20k (siege stacks should be smaller like 4 - 7 - 10 depends of tech). Let them use auto split for carpet siege.

 

[iClipse]

The main reason I don't use merc companies apart from the first 50 years is because of the professionalism hit actually. Every company basically costs 250 military power upon hiring. Which is a steap cost on top of some loans that are more easily paid off.

 

[subzero12479]

The main reason I don't use merc companies apart from the first 50 years is because of the professionalism hit actually. Every company basically costs 250 military power upon hiring. Which is a steap cost on top of some loans that are more easily paid off.

When u buy your professionalism back before the month tick u still get the 50% discount from 100% army professionalism. Also works for professionalism hits from events. Just fyi.

 

[Manwe_Sulimo]

IMO its not that dramatic, they fullfill their purpose in the early stages of the game very well. The intention was to limit their role and make them not to be used so excessively as before, especially in the later part of the game. That was good in principle, but it went too far in the end.

But yeah it needs fine-tuning. Size should grow far slower, the impact of the FL should be reduced significantly (no need to compensate, large nations can life with a disadvantage on that front). Professionalism hit should also be lowered or adjusted (size of the stack, ticking down over time)