In Part I. of our breakdown of Mercenary Tasks, we discussed what this new kind of gameplay element brings to Vagrus, how it works, and began describing the types implemented in the current build. Now it is time to delve into the rest of the Mercenary Task Types
Escort
This type is a classical RPG task: take someone (or several people) to a location and protect them on the way there. There are simpler variants - usually lower level Tasks - where you have to take them between settlements. In contrast to most regular passengers, these have known enemies hunting them, so an attack during your journey is almost certain - with several attempts at higher Task levels.
Losing Crew Combat against the attackers fails the Task. A future update would change this so that certain passengers can be killed and then these Escort Tasks will indeed focus on keeping them alive in the fight.
A more difficult variant is where the passenger's destination is out in the wasteland and once you take them there, you need to wait until they finish their business, then escort them to their final goal.
Abduct and Rescue
These types are the opposites sides of the same coin in some respects. Both would have you find a location in the wasteland, win a battle there, be joined by a passenger whom you need to take to their destination. The biggest difference is that the passengers do not join you voluntarily in Abduct Tasks, of course.
Both types carry the risk of being attacked on the way to the final destination as the foe tries to recapture the passenger.
Capture
In this type of Mercenary Task, you do not escort or take certain passengers but rather have to gain them from defeated enemies, that is, capture prisoners and turn them in at the given location. Most of the time, this can be accomplished in more than one Crew Combat encounters, but it depends on how many of the enemy flee or are killed during the battle.
Somewhat connected to this is the mechanic that allows you to decide the fate of the remaining captured enemies after a Crew Combat encounter. This means we have extended Crew Combat with a new feature: you can decide how to deal with the enemy from now on following a victorious battle.
The option appears on the Crew Combat UI at the end of the fight opposite your heal options provided that your enemy surrendered (remember, only humanoids can), fled, or retreated but you caught some of them while pursuing them.
Your options are:
Recruit: Depending on their willingness to join, this results in a few fighters, scouts, or workers to be added to your ranks. That, of course, will not sit too well with your existing crew who have fought them just moments ago, and the result is Morale loss. It's also considered to be a 'kind' action and certain companions may like or dislike it for the same reason.
Conscript: Somewhat similar to Recruit, except joining is not voluntary, and so in this case, neither your existing crew nor the newly added members are happy about it, leading to an even more significant Morale drop.
Enslave: Instead of joining as free crew members, all surviving enemies are pushed into slavery. As expected, a massive drop in Obedience accompanies this decision.
Release: Once you stripped the foe of their valuables, you set them free. It may sound kind but in fact, it's a relatively cruel decision given the dangers of the wasteland.
Execute: This is a drastic measure that is considered 'malevolent' and brings no benefits since the valuables of the enemy have been turned over anyway at the time they surrendered or got caught.
Imprison: The last one is an option that players will only see when they have an active Mercenary Task to capture such enemies (be them bandits or other faction rivals). Hence the timing of us implementing this feature alongside Mercenary Tasks.
These expanded options provide further incentive, strategic depth, and even immersion to Crew Combat encounters and we hope you'll like them and provide us with the usual valuable feedback.
Stay tuned, stay safe, and conquer the wasteland!
The Lost Pilgrims Team
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