Is it just CZ's that will up this rank?
Mercenary rank
- Thread starter Tyres O'Flaherty
- Start date
Killing anything on foot.
There is this: https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Mercenary
And some of the comments there are very relevant as well...
And some of the comments there are very relevant as well...
Everything you kill on foot contributes to your mercenary rank, but much slower. I got up to Soldier without doing any CZs apart the ten engineer unlocks, but it took very long. Then I did a few high CZs and got pretty quickly to Gunslinger.
Yawn. Another "do it as fast as possible with meta" guide in those comments. Just play the frikkin' game (not you personally, I mean that generally).
You're probably right, but definitely on-foot combat is (or used to be back in October/November 2021) really effective in getting Combat rank
I just checked the logs on my Epic account and i got Gunslinger, then 2 weeks later i got an unplanned Dangerous too and unlocked Lori (but i have no idea how many CZ i did, probably a ton - along with a lots of scavs, but definitely no space combat at all).
Then i got to Deadly/Gladiator in the same week by doing HighCZ in Mudhrid during the CG there (Fight for the Neo-Marlinist Order of Mudhrid / Fight for the Epsilon Fornacis Empire Group).
yeah on-foot CZs give the most progress, but every on-foot kill contributes.
I concur...I only provide information, not necessarily endorse using it, especially for min/maxing.
I'm very "anti-grind" and "just play the game". My commander progresses as it comes...and its always a surprise when it happens...
nonono, wasn't directed at you. I just hate the inevitable "here is the meta, get it over with as fast as possible, hey why am I burned out on the game, this game and the grind sucks!!!!"
One thing I started doing recently is when I take extermination missions, I try and scan every target to check for a bounty before I kill them. This adds a credit reward for each target killed. This makes the 'Mercenary' rank move faster than just the lone kill.
I'm still not sure that Merc progression isn't bugged. I'd think all foot combat would add to Merc and nothing else. After all I'm not getting Merc from shooting ships. I'm not getting CQC rank either. That rank should be locked to the Ody update.
Would be nice to see Dev weigh in and confirm it's working as intended.
Would be nice to see Dev weigh in and confirm it's working as intended.
It's definitely also raising my CMDR's combat rank.
Yeah, the behavior is inconsistent, which is why I'd like Dev to confirm it's intentional.
Why have a Merc rank at all otherwise? My personal preference would have been to fold foot into Combat and exobio into Explo. A field should be broader than one activity.
Why have a Merc rank at all otherwise? My personal preference would have been to fold foot into Combat and exobio into Explo. A field should be broader than one activity.
Yes.
I am unsure about the fold back, yes there should be depth to these things but on the other hand both on foot combat and to a slightly lesser extent exobiology can be done without taking part in the older activity so why shouldn’t they have there own achievement structure.
It's too late for folding them into the existing ranks now. I just don't know why there is a separate rank, a separate activity but somehow you can cross pollinate both combat ranks with foot combat. Do you get explore with exobio? Maybe you do and no one's noticed. 
And if we're gonna get pedantic, why isn't there an SRV driving rank? And we've already had calls for a mining rank and a thargoid combat rank....
And if we're gonna get pedantic, why isn't there an SRV driving rank? And we've already had calls for a mining rank and a thargoid combat rank....
It's too late for folding them into the existing ranks now. I just don't know why there is a separate rank, a separate activity but somehow you can cross pollinate both combat ranks with foot combat. Do you get explore with exobio? Maybe you do and no one's noticed.
You also get both trade and exploration ranks while doing Sightseeing missions
I was under the impression that Tourist Passengers only did explo and Bulk Passengers did trade.
I was under the impression that Tourist Passengers only did explo and Bulk Passengers did trade.
VIP sightseeing does both ranks
I did bulk passengers only for evacuations... my ship is not a goddamn bus, it's a luxury liner, top 1% - so unless i play the Samaritan, i only do VIPs
