Category:Mercenary

The  System is designed to add a new dimension to Ragnarok Online, allowing players to have an NPC henchman to fight at their side. Players will be able to support, party with, and control a mercenary using an updated version of the Homunculus System. Unlike homunculi, any player can use mercenaries. But instead of a creature that grows alongside you, mercenaries have fixed stats based on the level of mercenary summoned. A contract is made with a mercenary and scrolls are used to call them into battle. Both homunculus and mercenary can be used by a player at once. Mercenaries are all Demi-Human type.

Summoning a Mercenary
Initially to make use of the mercenary system, you must visit one of the mercenary guilds across the Rune-Midgarts Kingdom. The Spearman Mercenary Guild is located in Prontera (prontera 41, 337), the Bowman Mercenary Guild is in Payon (pay_arche 99, 167), and the Fencer Mercenary Guild is located in Izlude (izlude 47, 139).

To invoke a contract with a mercenary and summon one to your side, you must purchase scrolls. The cost of scrolls increases with higher level mercenaries, and the maximum level of mercenary that can be summoned is limited by a character's base level. Some high-level contracts require a certain amount of Loyalty Points to purchase, and the Superior Mercenary Scroll (Level 10) can only purchased in exchange for loyalty points. Scrolls cannot be sold, transferred, or moved into storage or carts.

The stats of the mercenary summoned is based on the scroll used and they come with fixed skills which are different depending on the type of mercenary summoned. Once a mercenary is summoned, it will last either until it dies or the contract expires.

End of Contract
The following are the 4 conditions in which a mercenary will leave its master. In each case, the game will display a message in the chat box as to why the mercenary left.
 * Contractor Dies
 * The player summoning the Mercenary has died.
 * Mercenary Dies
 * The mercenary summoned has died.
 * Contract Ends
 * The mercenary contract lasts 30 minutes, after which the mercenary will leave.
 * Contract Canceled
 * The player manually dismisses the mercenary.

Loyalty
As a player fights along side with mercenaries, that player can gain Loyalty Points (basically reputation). More points gives the player faster Kill count Bonuses and allows the player to contract higher level mercenaries. Number of Loyalty Points is specific to each guild of mercenaries, so for example, if a player gains a large number of points with the Bowman Mercenary Guild, the amount will have no effect on their standing with the Fencer and Spearman guilds.

The following conditions affect one's Loyalty Points.
 * Fighting Together with Mercenary
 * When a suitably strong monster is killed by a player (more than 1/2 the base level of the player), their Killcount goes up by 1. It doesn't matter if the player or the mercenary kills the monster, or if they work together to kill it. For every 50 killcount, they gain one Loyalty Point.
 * Successfully Completing a Contract
 * If a player and their mercenary successfully survive the full duration of a 30 minute contract, they gain one Loyalty Point.
 * Mercenary Dies
 * If the mercenary is killed while bound by contract to a player, they lose one Loyalty Point.
 * Monster Mercenaries
 * Monster Mercenaries do not gain any loyalty points.

Kill Count
As either the player or their mercenary kills monsters (monsters higher than 1/2 the base level of the owner), their kill count will increase. At fixed kill count intervals, a mercenary will receive a random boost to one of their stats. The number of kills required goes down based on the player's reputation with that mercenaries guild. The mercenary can obtain multiple bonuses, which will increase another stat randomly or boost the same one further. There's a total of 5 increases that can be received to each stat.

Monster Mercenaries still increase kill count reflected in the Mercenary window but do not get any kill count bonuses through the same manner.

Kill count bonuses do not stack, and if a player receives a higher level bonus it will replace the existing bonus of that type.

Artificial Intelligence
In addition to in-game commands and the UI, players can also install an AI to allow their mercenary to function a certain way without player involvement. Many experienced players have created their own custom AIs to use in RO and share with others.

After installing the AI, type the following command into the in-game chat window to activate:

"/merai"

Patches

 * Patch (2019 Jun. 05)
 * Fixed the problem that the information window position was not saved when the information window of pet, homunculus, and mercenary is moved and closed.
 * Patch (2018 May 16)
 * Fixed an issue that causes the mercenary to not disappear when you die on a siege map.
 * Patch (2007 Apr. 24)
 * The mercenary system is modified (the application of the invincibility is compensated).
 * [[File:RO-minilogo.png]]Episode 11.3 (2007 Apr. 10)
 * Implemented Mercenary System.