WoW Strategy IV: Follower mechanics

"Followers" is a catch all-term that denotes essentially every NPC a player can recruit for his cause. WoD had only standard followers (but dozens of them, spread over the entire world), while Legion had a limited amount of class-specific standard followers and a few class-specific units in addition to them. The new follower system expands on this by introducing several categories of followers with different functions. Unlike before, the player has control over certain follower traits:

• The player can decide which races he wants to recruit his units from (a decision that's merely cosmetic, but should be a nice addition for those who want to build a dwarven hamlet etc.)
• The followers can gain experience from doing their tasks. This means better success chances for missions in general, but also other perks: champions and troops are more capable as guards (possibly additional skills and/or increased combat aptitude), crafting professionals get access to additional recipes/plans/schematics, workers become better at being multi-purpose)
• The player can equip his followers to improve their performance. If he doesn't command a base where he can order their equipment to be crafted, he can still buy it elsewhere (the auction house, for example).

A fully equipped troop of knights.

Follower categories

• PC follower: if the offline availability system (see chapter 15.3) is implemented, PCs can be used in the function of a body guard (and resource gatherer) or craftsman.
• Champions: these henchmen are the "hero unit" among the followers; they're basically standard NPCs with a race and class. They are transmogrifiable (using either the player's transmog tab or a special follower transmog tab) and having more items at their disposal. Henchmen are suited for the appropriate mission slot and can be used as bodyguards in situations where bodyguards are available. Two additional differences for followers are that they can be equipped with craftable equipment and don't depend on the player having a base.
• Troops: troops are units most like those encountered in the Warcraft RTS. They are a small-sized unit of multiple NPCs with the same function (i.e. a bunch of knights or wizards etc.). Also, the units can be visually customized to some extent (tabard design, additional equipment is shown etc.). Troops are suited for the appropriate mission slot and can be used as cohorts in situations where cohorts are available. Also, opposed to champions, troops can be withered down and have to be restocked (but can't die because this would really suck if they can also gain experience).
• Crafting professional: instead of having multi-purpose followers like in WoD, crafsmen are specialized  professionals who can be used for a specific task, like blacksmith, alchemist, carver etc., but not for fighting. They are available for the appropriate mission slots (usually crafting missions) and are otherwise to be found in the garrison.
• Worker: worker units are small-sized units of multiple NPCs whose function is resource gathering and building. They are available for the appropriate missions slots (usually gathering or building missions), can be summoned to harvest basic resources if found "in the wild", and are otherwise mostly occupied with mining, harvesting, and building while in the garrison.

A Draenei Warrior and troop followers preparing for a battle scenario.

Follower missions/functions

• Standard missions: the missions are most like those already existing since WoD - the player can fill a given number of slots with the followers most suited for the task in order to increase the success percentage. 
• Guard function: for certain quests or in certain areas, followers are allowed (usually bodyguards), and here units on guard duty can be summoned.
• Base missions: like standard missions, except that these missions depend on a player having a base and the followers that come with it. Because of this, there are two notable differences:
• There are different slots for different units. Unlike Legion, troops can't replace champions unless it's a multi-purpose slot. Generally, a mission takes the shape of 1 or 2 champions leading 1 or 2 troops into battle. Also, not all missions are combat missions, some missions are for craftsmen and workers, respectively. Dangerous crafting/harvesting missions may require an escort, though.
• The player can decide to support his troops by seeking them out. This will increase the odds of the mission succeeding, but more importantly will           significantly reduce the time needed to finish the mission. However, this support should also require significant effort from the player - for example him having to spend a considerable amount of time fighting alongside his troops in order to hurry the mission counter. The idea behind this is that this option should be interesting if the player really needs his troops back ASAP or that he simply has too much time to kill, but that he isn’t REQUIRED to do it.

• Battle scenario: These are the scenarios that are the result of having beaten a follower mission that netted a scenario key. This key unlocks a scenario that allows a player to beat another challenge on his own, but with a selection of his followers in tow (as with follower missions, he has certain slots to fill). These scenarios get progressively harder (and more generous) the better the player and his troops are; they should generally require an appropriately-equipped character and appropriately trained and equipped followers - if a single player can defeat a scenario of his level on his own, something isn't right. Battle scenarios are not unlike the proving grounds, except that it actually makes sense to do them (beyond bragging rights)
• Other players as well as one’s own characters (follower mode) can be recruited to fill champion slots instead, which also makes them eligible for rewards.

A raid scenario map.

•  Dungeon/Raid scenario: this scenario is a specific type of the battle scenario described above; and the result of winning access to a raid mission. Instead of not having to deal with the dungeon/raid boss at all (like in WoD) or having to kill him in LFR (like in Legion), the player again gets a special key that allows him to enter a specific scenario that consists of this particular boss, the appopriate trash and his wing of the raid. The difficulty of the boss depends on the content of the cache (a mythic cache boss is far more difficult than an LFR cache), but the abilities are like they are in standard PvE (except for those skills that would be impossible to deal with under these circumstances). The reward of beating the scenario is the raid crate, or multiple raid crates if the player had multiple access keys for that specific boss on that specific difficulty level.
• Other players as well as one’s own characters (follower mode) can be recruited to fill champion slots instead, which also makes them eligible for rewards. As a rule, a raid scenario nets only one epic item; however, this option enables players to gear up their alts (or their less gifted friends) instead of themselves.

 

A raid scenario with 2 champion slots and 2 troop slots.

·