Mercenary leader (Daemonheim)

The Mercenary leader is a monster in Daemonheim released in the third major Dungeoneering update. It is often found dressed in full celestial robes. 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. Depending on what tier the Leader is, the summoned enemies will be half his tier, rounded down. For example, a tier 8 mercenary leader will summon tier 4 units. After the Mercenary leader is killed, no more mercenaries will appear in that room and the summoned enemies will teleport away after some time.

Strategy
Since the Mercenary leader attacks only 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, unless the leader is of a very low level.

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 if too many of its summoned warriors and rangers appear. Do not worry about the mages, as you'll be praying against their attacks anyway. 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. However, if you are soloing and do not have any laws, and if the leader is of a high level, you will most possibly be killed from the leader's mages, warriors, and rangers.

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 much lower for their level than the warriors, and the mages' attacks will be reduced 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 can dramatically increase the amount of time spent on one dungeon, and consumes large amounts of prayer points, which can be a problem if an altar has not been revealed or constructed. If you can make regular or strong rejuvenation potions, along with making the herbs and getting materials, feel free to do this method.

Trivia

 * The Mercenary Leader was completely rewritten on of 15 March 2011 to reflect the level of the Dungeoneering party. Before this update, a solo dungeoneer or a low levelled party could encounter the highest levelled mercenary leader and could cause problems, especially if the player/party had to get past him while low on food/prayer. The mercenary leader also wore a specific tier of equipment, and what he wore would also mean what reinforcements he could summon. For example, encountering a Tier 10 mercenary leader (spiritbloom robes), when he called reinforcements they would be using tier 10 equipment also.
 * After the aforementioned update, the leader may use different armours but summon different reinforcements to help him. Even if he wears the highest tier of mage robes, he may summon reinforcements using equipment of a lower tier then him, but this is completely dependent on combat level.