Mercenary Units

Mercenaries are recruitable specialist groups that augment your main faction army with unique units and abilities. Every competitive loadout picks one mercenary group alongside a main faction and hero—this trio defines your win condition. Mercenaries appear in campaign recruitment missions, skirmish, co-op, and Galactic War. Overview lore and recruitment context lives on the mercenaries faction page.

Mercenaries cover gaps in faction rosters: Marran adds tanks, Valkaru adds early aggression, Endari adds stealth flanks, Void Mages add AoE control. Use the loadout builder to see synergy sentences for each pairing. Meta rankings update on loadout tier lists and Galactic War picks after patches.

Learning mercenary tells helps scouting—enemy mercenary buildings or unique unit silhouettes should trigger immediate counter production from main faction production.

Marran supplies defensive tanks and superior shields—best for holding control towers with Hel hero anchors or Protectorate defensive lines. Marran struggles on wide-open maps without chokes; avoid Marran on layouts favoring infinite flanks unless allies provide vision.

Koru Kingdom focuses biotech enhancement and sustain—strong in lengthy Galactic War sectors where healing swings multiple RTS rounds. Koru ramps slowly; protect early economy from Dread Raider harassment. Pair Koru with Legion or Protectorate attrition strategies.

Both mercs teach beginners to value retreats—regenerating armies reward micro not common in pure faction lines without merc support.

Valkaru shock troops and flame units enable early pressure—finish damaged armies and punish greedy expansions. Fragile if caught alone; always pair with main faction meatshields or Mirror recon calls. Valkaru fits aggressive Galactic War striker roles.

Dread Raiders excel at scavenging, harassment, and economic disruption—inconsistent in straight fights but terrifying when enemies forget defense. Counter with turrets, detection, and quick response control groups mapped on the keybindings page.

Endari manipulates void stealth for flanks—high skill ceiling, weak in low-MMR mirror matchups without coordination. Endari dominates weather-reduced vision on Frozen Watch when enemies skip detection.

Aztec Cultists channel ritual power and unique summons—vulnerable during setup phases but devastating when rituals complete. Interrupt casts in tower fights before AoE lands. Cultists suit surprise all-ins documented in PvP meta builds.

Void Mages bring area spells and crowd control—ideal for dense tower contests and merc-heavy team fights. Low single-target DPS versus high-HP heroes means Void Mages need main faction focus fire backing their spells.

Experiment one mercenary per week in skirmish before rotating—consistency builds scouting reactions. Cross-link hero guides because Grace, Weaver, and Grinder amplify specific mercenary windows differently.

Mercenary power spikes often appear mid-game when their unique structure completes—scouting that timing tells you whether to all-in before the spike or delay a tower fight until after it passes.

Some players choose mercenary first, faction second—valid if you understand the merc win condition. Marran players pick factions that supply DPS behind tanks; Void Mage players pick factions with frontline meatshields; Endari players pick factions that can stall without vision. The loadout builder narrates these pairings in plain language.

In Galactic War, merc-first planning helps flex roles: alliance leaders assign you based on counter needs—bring Dread Raiders when enemies float economy, bring Koru when sectors expect multi-round RTS wars. Communicate merc choice before the galactic timer starts.

Review Galactic War tier lists weekly; mercenary balance targets disproportionately affect Season Zero because alliances stack synergies across multiple players.

When scouting enemy mercenary buildings, notify allies immediately—Galactic War sectors punish late detection swaps more harshly than casual skirmish lobbies.