Mercenary leader (Dungeoneering)

The Mercenary leader is a monster in Daemonheim released in the third major Dungeoneering update. It can be found in an empty room, and attacks with a style similar to that of a Forgotten mage of about the same level. The Mercenary leader also summons Forgotten mages, warriors, and rangers, each somewhat less powerful than the Mercenary leader. Depending on what tier the Leader is, the summoned enemies will be of equal tier. For example: if the Leader is tier 5 (which is level 81) it will summon only Forgotten Warriors/Rangers/Mages from tier 5, nothing else.

You could make the room full of bones, but this is only recommended when the Leader is Level 9 or 26 since the summoned enemies will not deal over 100 damage (tier 3 mages can deal that high), and especially not on anything above tier 9 (tier 9 mages hit over 200 very commonly). Your team could also do this on Mercenary Leaders between tier 1- tier 7 (Level 9-134) if you are ready to do so and everyone jump on the summoned enemies as soon as they appear. This miniboss is perfect for those who are in need of food and can kill units to use the spell bones to bananas to make some emergency food.

Strategy
Since the Mercenary leader attacks with magic and summons Forgotten mages more frequently than warriors or rangers, players should use Protect from magic, wear melee armour, and attack the Mercenary leader first. Once the Mercenary leader is dead, the other summoned mages, warriors and rangers will eventually teleport out and disappear, so it is suggested to wait outside the room for this to happen.

The most effective strategy to kill the mercenary is to rush. As the Mercenary leader will only summon new Forgotten mages, rangers and warriors when the player is in the room directly outside the Mercenary room, it is an effective maneuver to make Gatestones and drop them two squares from the Mercenary room. Then, just use Protect from magic, rush the Mercenary, and teleport out when too many of its summoned mages, warriors and rangers appear. Wait until all the summoned minions disappear, then repeat the process. It is possible to complete this puzzle without dying once with this strategy. It could also be a good idea to drop a personal gatestone next to the mercenary and teleport in after the room is cleared. Using this strategy will save you a lot more prayer points.

Alternatively, soloing players can wait outside of the room until there are only rangers and/or mages summoned. This is a notably effective tactic and saves food in the long run, because summoned rangers hit considerably lower than the warriors, and the mages' attacks will be negated by Protect from Magic. If a warrior appears, teleport out and wait for it to disappear or be replaced by a ranger or a mage. The downsides of this method are that it consumes large amounts of prayer points, and can dramatically increase the amount of time spent on one dungeon.

Another way is that you can wait for one type to be summoned, while some players will tank the damage while others will attack the leader, so it will prevent damage on the mercenary-leader-attackers from dying.

100% drops

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Trivia

 * There is currently a rare glitch that makes it possible for small F2P teams with high combat levels or a large F2P team with only one player with a high combat level to get the level 203 (Tier 11) version of this monster. It is also possible for a player as low as combat level 30, possibly even less, to get the level 203 mercenary leader in even a small solo dungeon. Players have reported this to be frustratingly hard fight as they have to fight alone against very accurate and high hitting tier 11 warriors, mages and rangers. It is unknown whether Jagex will fix this.
 * Some players complain over the difficulty of this room as it often requires most or all members of the team to successfully complete. Others complain that it is also very hard to solo without very high level tier weapons and armor, making it virtually impossible for F2P dungeoneers. It is unknown whether Jagex will fix this.
 * The Mercenary Leader isn't always tier 11 (203 combat). In extremely rare cases, you may enter the room with the mercenary being tier 1. However the chances of this happening is extremely slim, even at level 3 combat.
 * Sometimes a glitch may appear when the Mercenary Leader goes to a corner it may become invisible and the examine option will appear blank in the chat box
 * Unlike other mages, Mercenary Leaders only drop bones.
 * The Mercenary Leader has been rewritten as of March 15th 2011 to reflect the level of the Dungeoneering party, which means his combat level isn't always 203 anymore.