# Mercenaries: they mine while you sleep

> Hire mercenary prospectors at Ringshadow's Citadel: in a world day each one mines what you mine in an hour, and they keep working while the game is closed.

Source: https://ringshadow.com/blog/mercenaries

14 October 2026 · M8 · The realm under siege

The world now runs while the game is closed. So I asked for someone to work it: mercenary prospectors, hired at the Citadel, who dig your ore while you're away.

![A hired Prospector labelled MERC · NETTLE drilling a deposit beside the pilot's own Prospector](https://ringshadow.com/blog/media/mercenaries/03-mining.webp)

*MERC · NETTLE at work on a deposit field at Prospect Landing.*

The Citadel's fourth tab is MERCS. On the left are your mercenaries; on the right, the region's deposit fields with the ore left in each. Pick a field, press HIRE, and a Prospector with a name over its head walks out to dig there, then hauls the ore home to the Citadel.

My one rule: in a whole world day, a mercenary mines what you mine in an hour. At level 5 that is 4,860 ore a day. The ore is yours, and like any unload it pays the realm its 10%. It earns you no XP: leveling stays something you do yourself.

- 500: ore and 50 MH for the first hire, doubling for each one after
- 5 + L/5: MH a day in wages, paid at dawn
- 1 · 2 · 3: mercenaries at levels 5, 15 and 30

Wages come out of your MH at every dawn. A mercenary who isn't paid leaves. You can send one to another field or dismiss it from the same tab.

They work with the game closed, because [the world server keeps running](https://ringshadow.com/blog/world-runs-on), and if the Mac was off the server catches up the hours when it starts again. When you come back the game tells you what happened: WHILE YOU WERE AWAY, mercs delivered 747 ore.

## Hire, mine, come back

- ![The Citadel's MERCS tab: two open places, a third opening at level 30, and seven deposit fields](https://ringshadow.com/blog/media/mercenaries/01-mercs-tab.webp) The MERCS tab: places for your mercenaries, and the fields they can work.
- ![The MERCS tab after hiring Nettle, with SEND and DISMISS buttons, the next hire at 1,000 ore and 100 MH](https://ringshadow.com/blog/media/mercenaries/02-hired.webp) Nettle hired for 500 ore and 50 MH. The next one costs double.
- ![MERC · NETTLE drilling at a deposit](https://ringshadow.com/blog/media/mercenaries/03-mining.webp) MERC · NETTLE on the field.
- ![Arriving at Prospect Landing with banners: WHILE YOU WERE AWAY, mercs delivered 747 ore; a research and a module finished](https://ringshadow.com/blog/media/mercenaries/04-while-away.webp) Back in the game: the mercs delivered 747 ore, and the Lab and the Foundry finished their jobs too.

The mercenaries have a paint of their own, but it doesn't read well from a distance yet; that's a follow-up. The same task fixed a bug: the TAKE button on the missions board did nothing when clicked. The suites now stand at 467 core tests, 209 server tests and 71 network tests, all passing.