Mercenary contract never ends???

[8faiNt ı♣ı]

Im working for the vlandians at the moment i would like to change or renew my contract because my current contract's payment sucks. does it ever end? do i have to just break the contract and get hit with the minus relationships with vassals and such? if i want to can i go back to them after i break the contract at some point in the future?

[adobo]

Merc payment is based on your influence and it drains faster the more you have. Most of your income is going to be from loot.

[GIJoe597]

You can request to be released from the contract by talking to the faction leader. There is no penalty hit when you do so. The contract never expires or needs to be renewed.

At the initial talk when you ask to be a mercenary you are told how much pay you will get. When you battle the realms enemies you gain influence, the influence is then converted to denars at regular intervals.

[RJboxer]

I cant exactly remember.. It has been a long time since I "merc'd" for more than a month or two of game time....

IIRC, the "denars per influence" price is determined by:
1- Their need for you. (i.e. if they have power 20k, and all enemies are 1k.. they dont need u much)
2- Their cumulative wealth (or probably more likely, the faction LEADER wealth). If their faction/leader is rich, they pay more.
3- Your max party size. (if you have a party that can have a MAX of 40 dudes.. it will pay less than a party of 80 dudes.. --all else being equal--)


So yes, it is USUALLY beneficial (in my memory) to QUIT your merc contract, and get a new one as They get weaker, but richer, and you have more dudes...

You can go from 100/inf to 400/inf etc...

But... alas, I haven't "Micro managed:" mercenary contracts for a long long time.

For me, it is better to just use merc long enough to Bump you Renown, Raise relations with lords (Help yours, and release enemies)... and then decide if u want to vassal for that kingdom or not.. If so, TIME IT so that u join as a vassal, at the right time (based on what town is going to be taken next).

All this should be pretty easy to test, and see if it is still accurate..

I'm not gonna, because Like I said.. I find it far better to use Merc contracts very sparingly as I got "other stuff" to do.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Just started a brand new character in 1.7.2, and he just turned clan level 1, so I signed him up with Derthert. Derthert was only offering 110 denars, but I took it just to get started.

I'll start tracking income and see if I can make it go up by job switching, just like in real life.

I also asked to marry Derthert's daughter Elys, but he wanted all my money and everything I owned and then some more. Apparently, Derthert doesn't want his baby procreating with the help. Little does he know I'm heading to Elys's house now.

Finally, you can also leave mercenary service by going to the Kingdom tab and clicking on that Leave Kingdom button. There is no penalty, and you can sign right back up with the same kingdom if you want.

One more note: I have been known to hire on as a mercenary, raise some cash and level up the clan, then follow the king around until he attacks a nice fief. I ride up to the siege camp, then use the button to leave the kingdom, I talk to the king and ask to be a vassal, and he invariably greets me as a vassal with open arms. Once I am a vassal, I join the siege, and the chances are pretty good I will get that fief. (If not, Keep Calm and Reload On.)

[8faiNt ı♣ı]

and do you lose your workshops if someone declares war?

[Clovis Sangrail]

Originally posted by 8faiNt ı♣ı:

and do you lose your workshops if someone declares war?

You can if they are in towns controlled by the kingdom your kingdom went to war with.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Update on new mercenary --
My new employer, the Vlandians, were at war with the Western Empire, giving the possibility of some lucrative caravan raiding without having to stray too far from home. To raid caravans, you need some speed to catch them, so my little army of 40 is all cavalry.

Right out of the gate, Tancred's Raiders hit a Western Empire caravan, for which I received 5.9 renown and 13 Influence. Mercenary income for that days was 440 denars plus a Vlandian cultue bonus of 66,

The math on the culture bonus works out fine, but I could not figure out how the game came up with merc earns of 440 denars, This does not correlate with either the 5.9 Renown or the 13 Influence.

So I spent the night in Pen Cannoc, and the next day I received 330 denars mercenary income (plus 49.5 culture bonus). I got this without doing anything but waiting in Pen Cannoc.

And that's when I figured out what it was doing. Over the next few days, I did nothing to earn merc earnings. But I still got paid.

The game paid me in decreasing daily increments until it had paid me 1430 denars, which is 110 denars times 13 influence points.

So -- 1430 denars for one battle for a clan that is barely level 1. Add in Vlandian bonus for an additional 215, and that comes to over 1600 denars. Then add in another 3600 for all the battle loot I sold, and that comes to over 5 grand for that one battle. No way I can make that much smithing at this stage of the game,

[flyingscot1066]

Just hit "Leave Kingdom" button. No relationship hit or anything. It's actually too easy. I think when you agree to merc for a kingdom you should be locked in for a certain amount of time and have to renegotiate when your contract is up.

[GIJoe597]

Good AAR/Info post.

I am not into doing much math. I started a new game last night and had a message from Monchug wanting to hire us. He would pay 170. I declined as I was Sturgian and wanted to join them.

We eventually joined Sturgia as a merc company. My little band of 35 mostly T2 units. This is very early in the game. I saw a Sturgian army heading to Vladiv castle in the kingdom army screen. We headed that way arriving just in time to see Raganvads army of 700 decimated by 2 groups of Khuzait. One 900 and a second of 400 joining the battle. It was hopeless, we hightailed it back Sibir.

We were contemplating where, or if, our small number could make a difference. Lo and behold a horde arrived. Sibir was doomed. We decided to hold in place and assist the defense. The hope was the remaining lords could pull a relief force together if we could hold just long enough. We would give it our all.

As I sat in prison, I refused to pay for my release out of spite. Eventually they got tired of me and let me go. I, solo, headed for Balgard, certain Varnovapol was next.

After being captured 2 or 3 times on the way I was finally able to gather some more men, now 55 and head back towards Sibir. Varnovapol was still in Sturgian hands but I could not see that being the case much longer.

We arrived Just ahead of another swarm of Khuzait. I once again rolled the dice and entered the city with the Khuzait hot on our heels. There were 600 some odd of us against 1000 or so Khanate forces.

I sat in prison for the 3rd time or so, looking at the town on the map. No more than 30 seconds after the town fell I vast Sturgian force appears. They descended on the disordered tribes as they were tricking away from the city gates.

The Sturgain host numbered around 1000 all told, the Khuzaits perhaps 450 odd. They clashed, The Principality forces where clearly getting the better of the tribesmen. The Khanate forces ordered a unit to hold as the rest tried to slip away. Unfortunately for them the holding unit was swiftly chewed up. The remaining units were pinned against the mountain range just north of the town and wiped out.

The city was liberated, I was free. As I start making my way back towards Omor A message arrived. Something along the lines of Raganvad is impressed with our service and wants us to become a proper vassal.


All of that just to type, it is nice to be appreciated from time to time. Good new game mechanics.

[Clovis Sangrail]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

A bunch of stuff

I assume this is 1.8

This is really quite cool. Looking forward to getting invited by the king.

And it looks like merc rates might be higher in 1.8.

[GIJoe597]

Yes, 1.8.0 beta. I have never played Sturgia before and I have been reading on these forums how they are very underwhelming. I was not even familiar with their troop lines. I wanted to test them and I started with default setting, i.e. easier recruiting etc. That may be affecting merc pay.

[RJboxer]

Originally posted by Clovis Sangrail:

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

A bunch of stuff

I assume this is 1.8

This is really quite cool. Looking forward to getting invited by the king.

And it looks like merc rates might be higher in 1.8.

was thinking same thing


and also thinking "wow, GIJoe, is far more realistic than me.. if I'm ever about to be captured before I own a fief , and stored stuff, I reload" lol

so yep.. I'm a cheesy save scummer

[Clovis Sangrail]

Originally posted by RJboxer:

and also thinking "wow, GIJoe, is far more realistic than me.. if I'm ever about to be captured before I own a fief , and stored stuff, I reload" lol

so yep.. I'm a cheesy save scummer

Life is too short to let the randoms screw with you.

Keep Calm and Reload On.