NPC Heroes vs My Own

I'm lvling my third char to 20, I have all the eps, and purchased the full merc hero slots.

1) Is there any advantage to using my own characters, say I build up 5 or 6. Or is it just as easy to use the npc heroes.

With enough npc heroes unlocked, would I be able to have enough flexibility in team builds.

2) Are there any shortages in the class selection of npc heroes? I believe the wiki shows at least 2 or 3 of each class if you unlock all Nightfall and Eye heroes.

It's not really too hard making 20s. Getting into Eye, grabbing a couple of my existing 20s, then going back to where ever and creating another 20 can be done in 15 hours of game play. Maybe less time with practice.

So what are you doing as a pve team builder? Making your own team or using npc heroes?

There is no difference between merc heroes and NF + EotN heroes aside from their look. In terms of your gameplay, merc heroes will allow you to get more heroes of a certain class if you so desire that flexibility. Also, don't create PvE characters just to make merc heroes (unless there is a certain armour you want said merc to have and don't want to use TRP or ZC); you can create mercs via PvP characters.

OMG I'm glad I asked.

Also it depends on the team composition and build you want to run. You cant get more then 3 of the same profession without mercs.

It is possible to do that with Razah for certain classes.

sousuke+zhed+vekk+razah= 4 ele heroes

4 ele heroes in HM = pointless...

What am I saying....

>2 ele heroes in HM = pointless, and only if they're running ERProt anyway...

There is no advantage to having Mercs as opposed to Heroes - they act the same in-game (have the same AI). Unless you specifically want extras of a certain class, there is no advantage to making PvP based Mercs, either, except that you can get the Mercs easier in many cases. That is, some Heroes require certain quests, etc., to unlock.

Merc Heros can be any of your level 20 chars and they'll be available right away for your use. The other heroes have to be unlocked individually for each of your characters, and although that might take a while, there's usally a decent enough split in professions as you progress to get you a good mix early on.


As you progress you'll get a few of each class. There's at least 2 of every profession, 3 of some that you can unlock as you go, but some aren't available until a good deal of the way into each campaign. You'll get a derv, monk, warrior, necro, sin, ranger or ele early on and another derv once you reach lvl 10 and fairly regularly throughout each campaign. You should accumulate a good mix by the time you reach lvl 20 if you hit nf and eotn.

Most people will have npc heroes for the most part. Mercenary heroes though are a nice addition if you have the cash.