Is "Mercantile Background" a useless feat?

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I was considering giving it to my Paladin with maxed out Diplomacy and CHA, but I'm not sure if I'm wasting a feat if I do so. Maybe I should stick to combat feats in the early going...?

 

It is nice to have early in the game since cash flow is limited. Discount on selling and bonus on sell back does come in handy since you will be constantly upgrading weapons and armor mostly at the shops, until magic drops replace your basic equipment. If you have a 4 person party or less, you may not want to get it as the offensive feats are important, but in a 4 or 6 person party, this does help. Maybe a socerer with maxed CHR?

 

I'll echo General Ghoul. The 5% bonus is useful early on but less so later in the game...which is kinda counter-intuitive, since that 5% cut means a lot more gold, in absolute terms, later in the game. There just comes a point where you're picking up so much more magical weaponry than you can use that there's way more to sell than buy.

In my current game, all the characters are paladins, so I don't get quest rewards...but even so I'm not facing cashflow problems. Extra gold would be nice to buy a few more potions, but I'm surviving fine without it. Definitely pick a combat feat instead.

 

I reckon you should base this feat on a role-playing viewpoint. When I played as a character based on Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders, I used this feat, simply to reflect that fact that my character was a Trader so should be good at negotiating prices.

 

Just as the Grey and Ghoul pointed out, it's up to your party structure and what type of party you've created. But you know, in HoF, items can REALLY start to get expensive ...

 

And its hard to generate money to buy those great items at the start which arent acessible for long such as the golden heart, kegslayer and goblin slayer(i think dats its name).

 

I take this feat only in HoF. It's pointless to take it when you have lvl 1 and items in HoF are really expensive.

 

I disagree slightly with the general consensus. I'd suggest taking it even in normal mode with a 5-6 person party, because fully-equipping a large party changes things quite a bit.

Obviously your expenses are a little higher buying the necessary stuff for 5-6 people. Less obviously, you tend to make use of more of the stuff you find, so that's less income. Magical ammunition is one of the major income sources in the game, but if you have a party that actually uses most types (arrows AND bolts AND bullets) then you'll make far less money.

Finally, there are long periods where you may think you will be coining it with all the loot you are picking up, but then along comes a big money "bump" in the game where suddenly there's a merchant with very good stuff to buy. This happens quite a few times, and it can be frustrating to fall a few thousand gp short on the uber-item on offer that would really make a difference right now, rather than hours later when you can finally afford it.

 

Luis breaks down my point, with a 6 man party, more of the stuff you find stays with the party ans\d will not be sold right away. Even your initial floor item pickups at the docks are spread thin through the racks. Then to come up with enough cash to get everyone a missle weapon and ammo. I'm BIG on everyone having a missle weapon, even the tanks. Why not soften up the competition before wading in. Also all spell casters should use a backup missle weapon. Why waste valuable spells on minimal targets Even late in the game those returning frost darts can come in handy.
Plus the magic you do sell has been handed down through the party until it is no longer useful. So you sell that plain +1 short sword for 500, how is that going to help you buy that greataxe+3 for 25K? Some games have never ending cash flow, but with a big party you need every GP you can get. How many times have you returned to town in the middle of a map just to unload all the crap you found, admit it.

 

Such feats are only really good for roleplaying purposes. They are in for the fun value.

 

I always have my Sorcerer take Mercantile Background as his initial feat. You need every piece of gold you can get you hands on once you get to the monastry or Kuldahar.