So, in order, the best first (the number is the number of AAs he gained in a 30 minute Lesson of the Devoted):  So yes, at level 55 for melée characters, a merc is worth having.  Strictly solo, in Grieg’s End (which was a hot zone at the time, although not in the other tests), I got 5.18 AAs.  For this test, I used a 55 warrior with < 50 AAs (including CA3/CS3/CF3), with and without a tank merc. The evaluations below were all made with a merc, but it’s also interesting to see if the exp cost (around 40%) for using a merc is balanced by their added dps.  So my starting point was a level 55 enchanter with all spells, most skills decent for his level (but he was afk while SOE made some skill cap increases), and the best enchanter and cleric buffs available (which means Tranquility, Aanya’s Quickening – 64% haste, and Virtue).  I decided to use him with a tank merc, partly because at this level they are still vastly overpowered against even con mobs, and partly because avoiding using charm was my only way of making generally comparable experience with this character (plus that goes against all the “rules” of how to solo with an enchanter). I chose level 55 as my starting point, at least partly because I had an old favourite character who was already exactly 55 (and had been for about five years).  One important factor is scaling of AA experience as you gain more AAs, so newer zones I try should in theory give gradually reducing exp, unless the AAs I am buying are making a significant improvement to my kill rate.  The introduction of mercs last year also shook up general preconceptions about what would work best, along with general gear upgrades from Defiant drops and trickle down from recent expansions.  As the current (August 2009) hot zone set hasn’t received a noticeable ZEM boost, it was time to check out my personal rankings for favourite zones. ![]() ![]()  I have a suspicion that the devs don’t always reset the ZEM back to quite the same as it was before the zone was “hotted”. One of the benefits of the Hot Zone switching programme is that it forces us to rethink the “best” zones for levelling every few months. Reworked from my posts in the SOE forum thread: 55+ solo ideas.
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