Update May 23, 2008! This article was written with the word mercenary as referring to Bothunters. But now that a real MERCENARY SYSTEM is present in Philippine Ragnarok ONline, here are my thoughts on that.

View My Ragnarok Guide’s Mercenary Basics Post which discusses the Mercenary interface, usage, requirements, Loyalty, Relationship with Owner… etc. There is even a Demo Video of a Mercenary System in action!

Here are some FAQs

• No feeding required
• Has a maximum of 15 cells away from the summoner
• Can be used both in PvP and WoE maps, but couldn?t damage the emperium
• The mercenary?s level is distinguished through headgear.
• Stats may increased based on kill count
• High level mercenaries are loyalty dependent.
• Reputation is specific to each guild of mercenaries
• Each mercenary system contract lasts for 30 minutes
• You can buffs the mercenary but with restrictions. See below post.
• There?s a recovery potion for mercenary
• Attack speed enhancers are available for the mercenary as well
• The mercenary has skills based on their level and guild

First Impressions on the Mercenary System
After the debut of the AI system in Lighthalzen for the Alchemical pet system called Homunculus, comes another AI system Mercenary System.

Sorry but I can?t help but to compare this with the Mercenary System of Diablo Series where you hire different classes to fight with you together in combat. In Ragnarok Online there are three mercenaries available- Fencer, Bowman and Spearman.

Mercenaries are hired and summoned through a series of scrolls. And they are equipped with decent amount of HP and skills to complement their summoner. So imagine a party with one mercenary each party member, it will be a massive array of firepower literally.

But latest discussions have confirmed some conflicts with the Homunculus AI system, which can cause command malfunction. But is already under research for it to be fixed soon.

Being a free-to-play Ragnarok server, botting is a big threat to the stability of Valkyrie server. Harvester accounts may be used to cheat the php-based system. This is the server where players are encouraged to report misguided co-players who want to go around the no-bot policy.

Encouraged? That’s it? I understand that this server’s stability will benefit the players more than the company, but the loyalty of honest players will depend on how well LU! will handle the Valkyrie bot issue.

Personally, if I were playing in Valkyrie, there will come a point when I will not go out of my way to report bots anymore. As humans, we get used to the situations faster than we know. Soon, the bots in Valkyrie will be fixtures that other players can live with, and will just ignore (or emulate LOL).

My prediction:

UNLESS THERE IS A SYSTEM that will give honest players the chance to earn more in-game stuff with each successful bot report, bothunting in Valkyrie will taper off to just a few individuals who are either hired by LUG, or who have devoted their whole game to hunting bots.

How has the police in real life dealt with sneaky culprits? By using informants and assets. This mercenary-type bothunting system will make players who want more zeny or equipments in Valkyrie look around their circle of acquaintances and report those who they know are botting.

This system may even evolve to a “Bothunters’Hall of Fame”, which will pit honest players against each other for ranking based on the number of bots reported.

This is a good suggestion, so…. heads up, LU!