Mercenary Heroes or Storyline Heroes?

I bought the Mercenary Hero pack thinking it might help me but I still have a question. Should I be upgrading the gear on my Storyline Heroes like Gwen etc. or should I just abandon them and switch completely to mercenary heroes based on PvP-clones while I'm doing campaigns? I want to know if I'm just wasting those insignias and such on them.

I should mention I do not have Nightfall and Factions and there are still large numbers of skills I have no unlocked so I expect it will be impossible to make the various merc hero builds that are floating around.

Thanks!

Not sure what your dilemma is about. One you have acquired them, a Mercenary Hero and a Storyline Hero of the same class are completely identical on any practical aspect.

yes the only difference is looks. otherwise story line and mercs are the same. xD i prefer my mercs cause they look better

I guess I'm really asking is it better to use gear upgrades (insignias and such) on the Storyline heroes or mercs? Or is their starter gear essentially the same so it doesn't matter?

Storyline heroes, because there is occasions when you'll be forced to use them, it would be advantage to have them geared up. You are never forced to use Mercenary Heroes.

However, it is usually just for a mission or two only, so you can normally get by and it is of little concern.

storyline heroes and mercenary heroes function the exact same way. it really doesn't matter which you decide to rune up.

Their gear is identical, however mercenary heroes do not start off with weapons. You should first have an idea of which professions you want to fill you team and then simply equip those seven heroes. Keep in mind you can simply salvage the insignia and runes with an expert salvage kit since hero armor has no chance of breaking. So if you change your mind along the way, you can just strip one of the heroes' armor and give the equipment to another one for a trivial cost.

if you plan on doing nightfall with them then get some runes on the heroes (the ones that are necessary for the story line); otherwise it doesnt matter. Personal preference.

As you don't have Nightfall you have no specific use for storyline heroes. So just equip the ones you use more, apart from that they're exactly the same as far as armor goes.

Personally, ever since I bought mercenaries I try and never use storyline ones (mercenaries are my own chars, gwen etc. are just a few idiots everybody travels with) so I'm giving everything to them now.

This is basically the only reason why to pick storyline heroes over mercs. While there's no advantages using one over the other, Mercs are more fun because they're customized with name and looks of your chosing.

Besides, runes and insignias can be salvaged without risks, so if you are required to pick a storyline hero and it's not properly equipped, you could just temporary salvage a merc and move the equipment.

Key differences:

Merc can be removed and created as different professions, whereas Story ones can't (except Razah).
- Advantage Storyline: Fully speccing up Liva for a build you'll take often is safe, since you'll not need to undo it.
- Advantage Mercs: You can take whatever combinations of professions you wish.

Storyline heros come during the story, and do not always start at L20
- Advantage Mercs.

Storyline heroes have a fixed look, with a few armor upgrades.
- Advantage Mercs: They look like whatever you like.
- Advantage Storyline: Once upgraded w/ armor, they add points to your Hall of Monuments.

In Nightfall, several quests and missions require a certain hero to be present.
- Advantage Storyline: When required, they are up and ready for use. It should be noted, however, that each hero is required for just a few things, and not having them fully runed/etc rarely makes a large difference.

I tend to mainly use a blend of the two. However, I do tend to lean heavy on my mercs, but that's mainly because after playing the game for a few years, I like having the different looking heroes to play with.

It doesn't really matter. You seem to be unaware of the fact that you can easily remove and replace gear on all heroes without fear of breaking anything or losing armor or weapons.
All of the insignias and runes can be removed from a hero using an Expert (or Superior) Salvage kit without fear of loss.

So, for example, let's say you have a fully outfitted Mesmer Merc but for some reason, you want to use Gwen for something. You can just remove all of the gear - weapons, Runes, Insignias - from the Merc and transfer it to Gwen, and then switch it back when you're finished using Gwen. It will cost you some uses of an Expert salvage kit, and some time, but that's all.
You can, of course, also load the same skill-set/build onto both of them.

I don't recall any times when you need to specifically use EotN heroes, but in Nightfall you often need a particular Hero with you on a quest or mission.

Thanks for the info everyone, it was really helpful!

The point about hero weapons was very useful. I guess I'll stick with story heroes until I find weapons for the mercs and slowly trade them out. Except Jora, she stays

This only goes for Nightfall heroes (they can be required in certain NF missions and quests), but he already stated that he doesnt have Nightfall and Factions.

If I recall, there's no reason why you can't take everything from a Storyline Hero, including their weapon and skills, and transfer it to a Merc.