OK, a sweeping statement like the topic title above means diddly squat as a stand-alone comment - I think we all know that.
So, I gathered a little evidence whilst I was trying to find some defence based mercenaries for my guildie to hunt Dreadlord and Skull Carver.
I sent out 100 expeditions and got the following results :-
There were also 18 "no-shows" in the results.
Now, of the results above, only ONE mercenary has a defence over 8K (The Hooded Archer - and that's not even the best attribute - as can be seen in the table above) and only an additional ONE had a defence over 4K (Grabbit Swiftclaw - and this mercs defence is his WEAKEST attribute). So, in 100 search parties, I found a grand total of TWO mercenaries with a defence over 4K.
This isn't, I know, a definitive result - but I also have an excel spreadsheet that lists 81 of the (approx) 115-120 mercenaries available and in that list, there are only FOUR mercs with a defence over 8K (Agarka Bonebuster, Shadowsword, Grinder Stonehide & The Hooded Archer) along with a further 6 with defences between 4k - 8k (Wandering Swordsman, Golden Prophetess, Gevern the Shadow Sorcerer, Field Reedglitter, Maka Lamda the Sho-Gi and Grabbit Swiftclaw).
So, IMHO, there's a definate "gap in the market" for some more defence based mercenaries.
Also, in my spreadsheet of 81 mercs, the level breakdown is quite revealing ...
Level 1 - Level 100 - 16 mercenaries
Level 101 - Level 200 - 28 mercenaries
Level 201 - Level 300 - 13 mercenaries
Level 301 - Level 400 - 6 mercenaries
Level 401 - Level 500 - 6 mercenaries
Level 501 - Level 600 - 1 mercenary
Level 601 - Level 700 - 2 mercenaries
Level 701 - Level 800 - 1 mercenary
Level 801 - Level 900 - 0 mercenaries
Level 900 - Level 1000 - 4 mercenaries
Level 1000+ - 2 mercenaries
Initially, I thought the search parties were "weighted" so that the chance of finding a lower level mercenary was higher than finding a higher level mercenary - but it seems, from the statistics I've gathered, that's its a pure dice roll for which one you get - but the plethora of lower level, less useful ones tips the balance their way.
Given that the game already has content to Level 2100, I feel that mercenaries deserves a good looking at and quite a substantial amount adding from around level 500 upwards and ideally, ones above the current ceiling.
However, I also think that this should be looked at AFTER the current roadmap ...
(as an addendum, I think that the majority of the ones up to Level 200 are, not to be blunt, as much use as a chocolate poker and/or an ash-tray on a motorbike)
Edited by Pardoux, 13 June 2014 - 03:58.