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Mercenaries are a group of individuals that are introduced in Fable III that are mostly made up of deserters from the Royal Army that replace the generic bandits of Fable and Fable II.. This can be seen in the design of their uniforms, which are usually military uniforms dyed black.

Early in the game, the Hero must earn the support of the Dwellers by infiltrating the Mercenary Camp to find, fight and possibly kill Captain Saker, who has been stealing from the Dwellers. After Saker's defeat, the group in the camp will become more or less friendly and will follow the Hero's revolt against Logan. However, all other mercenaries that the Hero finds outside of the Mercenary Camp are hostile and must be either fought or fled from. They will continue to be such and appear in great numbers in Mistpeak Valley until the implied 'level' of the Hero gets too high (this can be done by acquiring upgrades in Melee, Ranged, and Magic on Road to Rule) in which case they may be replaced during the night by balverines.

Outside of Saker's mercenary band, prominent mercenaries are also employed by Nigel Ferret, a wanted criminal. When the Hero encounters Ferret, he is always accompanied by mercenaries.

Mercenaries can be found and fought in many locations around the Albion such as Millfields. They are almost always present regardless of the time of day, and as the Hero progresses the mercenaries in the area become tougher and begin to include rank members that resemble Captain Saker in appearance, known as mercenary leaders.

Like the highwaymen of Fable II, mercenaries will occasionally drop from nearby trees or emerge from nearby foliage in an attempt to ambush the Hero. Mercenaries have a wide variety of ranks that are effectively around the same level in strength, with the exception of the feared mercenary leaders.

Types of Mercenaries[]

  • Standard mercenary: The common criminal cursing the lands of Albion during the Industrial Revolution, standard mercenaries are equipped with Rusty weapons at first, but eventually upgrade to using Iron and sometimes Steel weapons. Most mercenaries prefer to keep their distance, but some will attack the Hero directly. However, these mercenaries are usually on the defensive, adopting a blocking stance while their comrades train their rifles on the Hero.
  • Grenadiers: Grenadier mercenaries make their appearance as the Hero grows in strength. As the name suggests, grenadiers primarily throw surprisingly deadly grenades at the Hero from a range. These mercenaries almost never attack with melee weapons, letting their allies distract the Hero.
  • Mercenary leaders, or Mercenary-Commanders: Resembling Captain Saker in size and ability, the mercenary leaders (the official strategy guide, styles them, "Mercenary Commanders"), are extremely dangerous. They exist in toughness somewhere between the Balverine and the Sentinel. Usual employing of spells incapacitating to next to every other foe, such as Shock and Vortex, prove ineffective utterly. The direct aggressive damage infliction is only really usefully available through the Fireball, Ice Storm and Blades gauntlet spells and their variegated weaving. Commanders tower over and lead their group, using their powerful fists in a type of volcanic ground-earthquake attack having some element of "magic". Their most prominent abilities involve their apparent command over Will, using Fire-based powers to do great damage to the Hero. They often additionally use grenades to boot, in proportion to the "Hero Level" of the individual player: the more combat-experienced the player, the more deadly and "bombardier" the mercenary headman. Mercenary leaders are among the most extremely tough enemies in the game, and overcome only through intelligent defensive aggression. Ranged weapon attacks and flourishes that leave in corpse-mounds the rest, these enemies prove resilient to especially and simplistic shooting must be supplemented with counter-offensive skirmishing tactics; the shootist-oriented player must be creative in gun-play if successful.

Notable Mercenaries[]

Quotes[]

  • "He/She shot you good mate."
  • "A parry a day keeps the doctor away."
  • "That's gotta hurt! I should know, I shot myself once."
  • "Don't let that little wimp/girl beat you! It's embarrassing."
  • "Balls!"
  • "Block, block, block, is that all you can do?" (when the Hero blocks for long periods of time without attacking)
  • "Just a flesh wound"
  • "Look, this one's got a price! We're gonna be rich!"
  • "Arse-Hats! We're doomed!"
  • "Good Idea! You soak up all the bullets while I sneak around back."
  • "You couldn't shoot a fat guy from five paces!"
  • (After the player is King/Queen) "Throne's gonna be cold tomorrow without your arse to warm it."
  • "Ever seen your own liver?"
  • "You ain't got a doughnut's chance in a room full of fatties."
  • "You ain't got a chocolate's chance in a schoolgirls' dormitory."
  • (When there is only one Mercenary left out of a whole group) "I-I'm the last one left!"
  • "Killin' rich folk like you is just so rewarding!"
  • "Look at the money bags on this one! We're gonna be rich!"
  • "You've got a price"
  • "Was there meant to be a storm today?"
  • "Fight fair!"
  • "Using fire?! That's cheatin', innit?!",
  • "I'll show you some real magic! I'm gonna make your head levitate off your body!"
  • "There's enough of us...we'll overwhelm him/her!"
  • "That's sorcery!"
  • "Yeah! Make him/her bleed!...not on my new shirt, though".
  • "Ha! Denied, you steaming turd!"
  • (After killing one) "He was the light of my life, and you snuffed him out like a candle!"
  • (after using a melee Flourish) "she/he's as strong as a troll knocking us about like that"
  • "The taller they are, the furher they have to hit the floor"
  • "Dead just like that, nobody can be that good" (after killing one with a cinematic flourish)
  • "How did you kill him so quickly" (after killing one with a cinematic flourish)
  • "I'm sorry it's all been a misunderstanding really" (when only one Mercanary out of a group is alive)
  • "ooh she's a big strong lass aint she" (after hitting one with a melee flourish)

Trivia[]

  • They will sometimes say "just a flesh wound" when hit - this is a reference to the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • They sometimes say "You've got a price", which suggests Logan knew you fled the castle and put a price on your head.
  • During development, they were known as "Renegades". This title can also be seen on the posters during the Leaders and Followers loading screens.
  • When using spells or weapons that do elemental damage in combat, the mercenaries will respond accordingly. For example: when using Shock, they will sometimes say "Was there meant to be a storm today?" or just complain by saying "Fight fair!"
  • When mercenary leaders who are similar in appearance to Captain Saker, toss fireballs at the player in combat, the other mercenaries will still make comments as if the player had cast a Fireball spell such as: "Using fire?! That's cheatin', innit?!"

Gallery[]

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