Currently all mercenaries cost −25 food, +25 metal. However, infantry costs 100 resources in total, cavalry 150, elephants 250, so the changed costs represents 25%, 16.7%, and 10% of the total costs, respectively, which means infantry mercenaries are //relatively// more expensive than cavalry mercenaries.
This patch further differentiates mercenaries from citizens:
* they cost only a single resource, metal:
* infantry 70 metal (instead of 50 food + 50 wood)
* cavalry 100 metal (instead of 100 food + 50 wood)
* elephants 180 metal (instead of 175 food + 75 wood)
* they have −30% training time
* they can no longer gather resources
* like heroes and champions, they can still collect treasures
* unlike heroes and champions, they can still build structures
To do:
* maybe raise their attack damage or health a bit
* investigate if the AI can handle them
* figure out if Worker or Citizen class needs to removed
* consider adding a loading screen tip
[[[ https://code.wildfiregames.com/D3269?id=14897 | Initial version ]]]:
This patch changes it to 20% of total costs:
* infantry −20 food, +20 metal;
* cavalry −30 food, +30 metal;
* elephants −50 food, +50 metal.