Hey Survivors,
On our last Dev Note we gave you a quick look at REMORE’s new Act and the stories tied to The Outer Ward. We’re working on bringing you even more exciting and detailed stories to explore in-game soon!
This time, however, we want to introduce one of the playable characters you’ll meet in The Outer Ward — the Mercenary. You might remember we gave a brief peek at this character before, but now we’re back with a deeper dive into who they are and the unique gameplay they bring. Let’s get into it.
An Expert from Beyond REMORE
If we had to sum up the Mercenary in one line, she’s a “jack-of-all-trades problem-solver from outside the city.”
As we previously mentioned in Georg’s narrative, he needed to build up his own forces to push back against Richard’s army and their constant pressure on outside merchants. But in Remore — a place known for its exclusivity — and with Georg’s reputation as a foreigner who amassed wealth by any means necessary, there weren’t many willing to stand at his side. That’s why Georg had to look beyond REMORE’s walls.
Enter Luisa, the Mercenary. At a young age, she had already founded and led her own group, the Red-Haired Mercenaries — a testament to her skills. As their leader, she carried a strict sense of professionalism: if you paid her price, she would get the job done, no questions asked. For Georg, Luisa and her mercenary band were a perfect fit. Being outsiders, they drew far less suspicion than he did within REMORE, and they had the military strength to stand toe-to-toe with Richard’s central forces.
So, the Red-Haired Mercenaries became Georg’s “hunting dogs.” When the Hammer Rebellion broke out, they crushed the rebelling artisans at his command. Later, during the arms race between Georg and Richard, Luisa’s band gave Georg the power he needed to hold his ground. But after countless hardships — and the great calamity of the Memolith Explosion — only Luisa was left standing. One by one she lost her comrades, and she drowned the weight of that grief in drink.
And so, while fighting to stay alive, Luisa eventually crossed paths with the band of Survivors who had made it within the city walls.
A Skilled Problem-Solver Who Controls the Battlefield
Luisa is a mid-to-close range fighter who mainly wields Polearms. Her primary stat is Strength, the same as the barbarian Diurmuid, giving her greater potential for offensive rather than defensive play. Her defining trait can be summed up as “Battlefield Control.” Drawing on her experience in rugged terrain, she uses her Polearm and Grappling Hook to disrupt enemy formations and create favorable conditions for her allies. Expeditions with the Mountain Mercenary will go smoother when players not only make use of her own skills, but also understand how they synergize with the strengths of other playable characters.
Her base unique skill, “Tactical Pull,” is similar to the Grappling Hook from Early Access, but with a more advanced mechanism. It can pull both enemies and allies to a chosen spot within range. That means you can rescue an ally who’s stranded in the middle of enemy lines after spending all their TP, or reposition enemies to set them up for a devastating sweep.
Her base unique trait, “Trip,” applies Slow whenever she pushes or pulls a target that isn’t adjacent to her. Maintaining the right distance and executing carefully planned plays will let you restrict enemy movement through this debuff — turning tactical precision into a selfish but rewarding advantage.
Victory Belongs to Those Who Are Prepared
Through Memory Bonds and other unlocks, the Mercenary gains new skills and traits that will show just how prepared for battle she can really be.
Her unique skill, “Precise Timing,” cuts the power of Push/Pull weapon skills in half but completely removes their cost. In other words, it’s most effective when used with high-cost skills where the added utility is more important than raw damage. For example, you could first strike with a standard attack, then use Adjust Tempo to drag an enemy into position for another ally’s attack. Or you could use it up front to group enemies tightly together, setting up a sweeping strike that can wipe them all out — plenty of strategies open up.
Her unique passive, “Execute Plan,” highlights her meticulous, calculated style even further. When using an Area-of-Effect skill, if there are no empty tiles in the range — in other words, if you’ve hit every possible target — she regains 2 WP. By lining up enemies with Tactical Pull or Precise Timing to control the battlefield, then landing the perfect blow, she earns herself another chance to strike. This means the Mountain Mercenary is heavily rewarded for pulling off the high-level strategy of battlefield control: when executed well, she gains yet another opportunity to unleash devastating attacks, chaining forced movement, and follow-up strikes to utterly demolish her foes.
Another aspect that allows the Mercenary to shine as a combat expert is her ability to skillfully wield a variety of weapons depending on the situation. This is realized through her unique trait, “Weapon Mastery.” When she uses a weapon skill with a different attribute than the previous skill within the same turn, the cooldown of a random skill is reset.
For example, if she first attacks with a slashing-type weapon skill using the Slash attribute, then follows up with a thrust from a spear-type weapon with the Pierce attribute, one of her skills that is currently on cooldown will be reset. Since each of the Mountain Mercenary’s skills carries significant value, making efficient use of Weapon Mastery is crucial. To do this effectively, she must equip the appropriate types of weapons before entering combat.
Gotta eat to survive…!
While Luisa shows herself in battle as an excellent problem-solver and a prepared professional, she also has her human side. For her, combat isn’t about nobility or honor — it’s a means to make a living. And because she’s willing to risk her life for mercenary work, her desire for anything valuable can easily get the better of her.
Her unique trait, “Collecting Instinct,” reflects this weakness in-game. Whenever an item spawns on the map, there’s a chance she’ll move up to 4 tiles toward it. So even if your strategy seems flawless, you can’t let your guard down — you’ll also need to account for the unpredictable pull of the Mercenary’s greed.
That was a look at the Mercenary and her abilities and personality. Next time we’ll be moving onto The Jester and delving into his story and playstyle!
Until then, thanks for being with us!
REMORE