Merchants Guild Enhancements

According to the official Caves of Qud wiki, it says all varieties of merchants, the exception of the "human tinker," are Level 1. There's no documentation on how legendary merchants differ in strength compared to regular ones that you'd find at the Stilt. Many players enjoy killing merchants to get their inventories without paying as well as their water supply. The only consequence of killing merchants is they don't respawn and restock inventory that they would if kept alive. Other players like using mental attacks like Dominate and Proselytize to take control of a merchant so that their inventory can be transferred to the player rather than traded. This way these merchants can restock and more in-game resources can be extracted at a later time.

I propose that merchants have more diversity of attributes and higher levels. There should be a diversity of attributes to have players second-guessing whether a merchant can be fought directly and whether certain skills and mutations will successfully hit, such as Domination. Merchants, like dromads, should also have higher levels, particularly if merchants sell higher-tier items that have a steep price tag when purchased. The attributes should reflect their level as well.

Regarding hired guards, so far I've only seen ichor merchants with hired guards. Besides legendary merchants at their lairs, hired guards could see more use in the Stilt as well as any merchants encountered out in the field, since a merchant would want protection when traveling between stops. Hired guards would make sense for some merchants but not others. Some of the farmers are likely too poor to afford protection while a gunsmith may passively warn thieves simply because it's safe to assume a gunsmith knows how to use their wares. From a lore standpoint, one should consider what types of merchants would benefit and be capable of hiring guards to protect their persons and their merchandise.

Regarding mental attacks such as Proselytize and Domination (among others), would it make sense for NPCs like merchants who restock their inventory to have some kind of bonus that would apply specifically when defending against mental attacks?

One last proposal: Are yellow merchant NPCs that have a randomized faction and species still in the game? Are these merchants part of the Merchants Guild or do they belong to their species/faction? They appear in villages sometimes and it would be great to see these at the Stilt or as legendary merchants. This could add more diversity and challenge to the merchants guild.

These above suggestions a possible way to balance merchants to give more challenge to players who may play certain ways while still having fair mechanics. I do hope this is an appropriate place to post this for the developers to comment.

Live and drink.

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