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[Meng Lolorked]

Hello all,

I am not sure is I am simply very unlucky or there is something I don't know about - but I've played some 10 forts in new version (0.47.04) and never had a single mercenary asking for residence for the reason of soldiering. I've had quite a few monster slayers (too many tbh), tons of entertainers and even a few scholars. But not a single soldier. In forts in previous versions they were backbone of my military. It seems soldiers are visiting my fort, but don't want to stay - even though I have tavern with free rooms, available mayor, etc.

Aditionally I had almost no forgotten beast attacks (nor titans, dragons, etc.). Just a single roc attack in the latest fort. I always play in high savagery regions, sometimes even in evil biomes. Is it just my luck or something changed? Do I need to be in vicinity of a mercenary fort, or something?

[Salmeuk]

Hmm, well a couple of things:

1. What world size do you play on? Smaller worlds have less population, and you might just be unlucky as hell.
2. Are you breaching the caverns? I believe these dudes need the caverns opened up to start appearing, though I might be wrong.
3. Make sure your init settings are appropriate for the amount of visitors you tend to draw. Like, make sure your max visitor count is well and above what you usually see, so there are available slots for mercenaries to migrate.

Oh, I misread your OP, hmm.  . honestly I'm not too sure what the difference is between monster slayer and soldier-er. Perhaps there isn't enough history being generated to generate large populations of 'soldier' types.

So, my above points still stand, but also consider genning world history for an extra 50-100 years and see what occurs.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Some mercenaries are attracted by danger. So get your fortress to a status where it's telling you migrants are arriving "despite the danger" (or not at all) and you might see an increase. Also, yeah, as advised above, generate longer worlds. Not too long, I play 140-180 years or so and get mercs most of the time.

Too long a history and you'll find necromancers have taken over and killed every other possible merc producing civ.

[Thisfox]

Same here, actually. Got plenty of Monster Slayers (more in a bigger world), but haven't seen a mercenary since the update. Perhaps the job is just undesirable now? I've not seen a single mercenary.

I have plenty of food, alcohol, and invading armies to kill, but all I get is humans arriving to ask if they can slay the Forgotten Beast, then drinking themselves silly while waiting for the Beast, then getting hilariously killed by Elk Birds when the Beast arrives, and eventually the Forgotten Beast dies to a miner with a grudge.

And yes, I get a lot of "some migrants have arrived, despite the risk" messages.

[Meng Lolorked]

I almost always play a medium size world with 250 years of history. I am afraid that with longer history all the forgotten beast might be already killed. In previous version it was enough to get mercenaries aplenty. I also always play with goblins and necromancers nearby, cause I like the action - although it seems combat is more dangerous now (in older versions legendary warriors were near-invincible).
At least I know someone else has the same problem. Thanks for all the answers guys - I will try bigger world with longer history, maybe that will help. I also will try a shorter history - maybe it is actually too long...

[EternalCaveDragon]

This is just a thought, and I'm not sure how likely this is, but maybe it has something to do with the changes to mercenaries in worldgen? They gather into mercenary companies now so maybe these companies are gobbling up all the candidates before they can reach your fort? I'm not sure on the behavior's exact effects myself but I figured I'd bring up the possibility and see what everyone else thinks.

[Thisfox]

This is just a thought, and I'm not sure how likely this is, but maybe it has something to do with the changes to mercenaries in worldgen? They gather into mercenary companies now so maybe these companies are gobbling up all the candidates before they can reach your fort? I'm not sure on the behavior's exact effects myself but I figured I'd bring up the possibility and see what everyone else thinks.

Makes sense to me. All these monster slayers are solo types, and not affected, but it seems impossible to find a single mercenary now, and they probably are all joining companies and not journeying to our forts.

[PatrikLundell]

Since I don't like mercs and don't want them, I wouldn't mind a reduction in their numbers.

I can say with certainty that I've had them in 0.47.04. One thing I've noted, though, is that they tend to show up in quester groups early on, but later return as individuals, sometimes seeking work as mercs and otherwise as general tavern visitors (I've used DFHack to nickname questers to keep track of them should they start a mess. As a side effect, I've been able to see them return as individuals seeking work later).

My standing military force is a foreign legion type consisting of petitioning performers and occasional scholars. They become full citizens, as opposed to the mercs (but at the cost of having to wait two years for their second petition before they can be put to work).

[Meng Lolorked]

My standing military force is a foreign legion type consisting of petitioning performers and occasional scholars. They become full citizens, as opposed to the mercs (but at the cost of having to wait two years for their second petition before they can be put to work).

Yes, visitors-turned-citizens are often very good for military. It is surprising that most bards and artists have quite decent weapon skills. Still, it is a long wait until they gain residency - I usually used mercenaries for cavern-guard duty, since many of them are humans and thus not susceptible to cave adaptation.

[PatrikLundell]

A prime reason for my foreign legion is sort of the opposite: since they're not susceptible to cave adaptation they can be sent out to clear out the gobbos camping by one or more fortress entrance tunnels after a siege has been broken without the crippling them.

[ZM5]

Been having a similar experience - mercs seem a lot more rare since monster slayers got reenabled - doesn't help that merc companies don't offer their services to the player yet.

[CaptainArchmage]

The first visitor gaining permanent residency for Bogstandard, I believe, was a monster hunter or something.

[Thisfox]

Yep, monster hunters definitely don't appear to be affected by this, there are as many as always. Seems you all have experienced the same. Mercenaries really never seem to turn up though, and has anyone noticed that there are fewer bards asking to stay? I should experiment more.....

[PatrikLundell]

I don't think I've seen any reduction in the number of visiting performers seeking residence. However, it's the same set returning over and over again, until they die off due to old age or the stupidity of trying to get through necro invaders (both to enter and to leave).
Visitors can show up many times before they petition, and they're annoyingly stubborn in returning to petition after having been rejected (although I believe they can also return as regular visitors).