Mercenary: Bottom of the Barrel?

[Awea]

This sounds like an "I suck at my class, make it easier for me." thread?

[Yazule]

Simple interrupt like Quell has 8 sec cooldown and lasts 4 secs. So Quell->stun(another 4 secs)->Quell(or any other interrupt). There you go-twelve seconds.

 

As for our "second" interrupt", surely you must be joking. What, possibly can you hope to interrupt with a three seconds cast? Or are you gonna use THAT ability, the one that has a whooping two minutes cooldown? And not only that it breaks on damage, but it also does ridiculously high HoT on the enemy. Not only that, but it doesn't locks out the ability.

 

So no, effectively we have just one ranged and two melee, granted you have points invested into the second one, which isn't always the case if you're going bodyguard. In which cases you're down to stun dart and jet boost with their long cooldowns and no way to shake off an opponent if you're a dedicated healer.

 

 

in a pinch that second interrupt is very usefull, yes on a long cooldown and rarely used but used nontheless.... i normally use it when someone is chaneling at someone else to help the team

 

to say it does not exist because you dont like its functionality is silly... and it IS our 4th interrupt so meh, whatev ... all 4 either dislocate the target or stun it as well if specced like I am spec'ed... 2 min cooldown sucks though, but with 3 others to play with it isnt so bad.

[getdownsb]

Is it just me, or does it seem that the Mercenary class gets seriously shafted in this game, especially in PvP? I've been comparing the skills with other classes and even to those of the Powertech, and it just seems everyone else gets the better deal.

 

To begin with, our party skill feels like the most useless of all four. A boost of 5% in endurance is hardly noticeable in your HP, while other people get that 5% in something you'd want like total damage, main stat, or crit.

 

Then there's some major additions to similar skills Sorcerers have. For example their channel skill Force Lightning adds 50% speed reduction without the requirement of a talent. Their 4 second stun Electrocute also has some added damage to it that Electrodart doesn't. Then there's Force Storm which adds a slow affect over the usual Death from Above trait. All this and we don't even get an interrupt either which is not only important for PvP, but also Heroic Modes. As it stands, the only worthwhile tree for Merc seems to be Healing, and even then, one of the talents Cure Mind, which pretty much does the same thing as a Sorcerer's Sith Purity, loses out again in the Sith bonus of also healing your target at the same time.

 

A lot of these would not bother me if I had chosen Powertech over the Merc, who seem to receive a lot more useful skills and talents. A short CD interrupt, 15% passive movement bonus, 15 seconds of 25% additional crit (Explosive Fuel), and over-powered talents such as a guaranteed 8 heat vented (Prototype Cylinder Ventilation), 8 second immunity to roots and stuns plus 30% more movement speed (Hydraulic Overrides), 3 second Grapple snare (No Escape), 30m charge/interrupt/root (Jet Charge) and added speed afterward (Jet Speed), along with the lower heat cost on the majority of their moves basically makes them dominate in everything they do. And seeing as how you can't really kite in this game, range is not even an issue, since it's easy to get to the 4-10m range with all your added speed plus the fact that caster's best skills require you to stand still.

 

The only suggestions I can think of to fix the skill problem with Mercenaries is to make their class focus more on kiting by allowing them to cast and channel while moving. This way you can make some room after an ambush from a stealth unit that knocks you down and run away firing Unload, making the added 2 second slow from the talent worthwhile. It would also lessen the mass interrupting on your cast shots. All the other classes have their gimmick, such as Warrior types jumping at you, and Agents taking cover or stealthing, so this would seem fair as a Mercenary boon. Another good idea would be if the talent Afterburners instead made one of your missiles knock the enemy back instead of relying on a close range Rocket Punch. Slows should also last longer, considering that other classes can apply them for up to 8 seconds or more. The Hunter class in World of Warcraft was done pretty well in the kiting department in this respect, and for a game that seems like a near replica of WoW, you might as well follow in those footsteps on this matter as well.

 

I'm sure I'm leaving other things that seem unfair out, so feel free to add anything I overlooked. If nothing is changed, I fear I'm going to end up forever quitting on my Mercenary and focusing on alternate characters instead. I chose the class simply because I love dual-wielding in everything, and it would be a shame to shun such a cool looking class that could've had a lot more potential, fun factor and usefulness. If you agree with me, then please keep bumping this up, so hopefully Bioware will notice our pleas and do something about it.

 

I can't even fathom the fact that you're complaining about the class that has the easiest and most accessible RANGED DPS and armor debuff. Not only that but it is the easiest class from a management standpoint (LOL 3 BUTTONS).

 

Seriously, if you can't do it with merc the problem is YOU. L2P.

 

Oh, I almost forgot, you have self heals, and shield, two knockbacks and ******* heavy armor!

Edited January 4, 2012 by getdownsb

[Jodou]

Maybe it's just me, but I think that if we could fire off our attacks on the move we would be the most OP'd class in the game. We do a LOT of damage (Arsenal spec) but at the cost of having to stand still.

Well it would be refreshing for once to be called OP because right now there are clearly faults if every class gives us problems 1v1 save for our mirror class. Once you come up against fully pvp geared players, our damage isn't even close to what they can dish out with a single instant move either. I don't feel we should be able to kite melee to death, but we need something to counter the faceroll classes that we have no escape from.

[DervimNorth]

in a pinch that second interrupt is very usefull, yes on a long cooldown and rarely used but used nontheless.... i normally use it when someone is chaneling at someone else to help the team

 

to say it does not exist because you dont like its functionality is silly... and it IS our 4th interrupt so meh, whatev ... all 4 either dislocate the target or stun it as well if specced like I am spec'ed... 2 min cooldown sucks though, but with 3 others to play with it isnt so bad.

 

That's a two minutes wait pinch, which is no way near enough for a pvp match. And while it interrupts the skill, it does not locks it out. In fact, none of our powers can lock out the abilities of our opponents.

 

Not only that, but two of our interrupts(and just one if you're a bodyguard) are melee range. Sure, they help to push the opponent of the ledge in Huttball, but that's it. And don't count on your interrupts when you're dealing with other ranged classes, those that do have both stun and interrupt.

[Borigrade]

This sounds like an "I suck at my class, make it easier for me." thread?

 

Every Class but Mercenary is frequently called OP... take that as a sign. When we are called OP it's by someone who is still to low of a level to have unlocked their interrupt.

[Halphas]

Merc is amazing. I always top dmg and get 9-11 medals. Lvl 50

 

Following presumes arsenal spec

 

Strengths:

Very bursty dmg that can be done consistently.

 

Heavy armor+10% dmg reduction+25% shieldwall makes us much less sguishy than for example snipers/sorc which play a similar role to us.

 

15 sec cd huge aoe knockback followed by slow. It is insanely good. Also get knockback on uppercut which is just dumb in huttball.

 

Heals. Not amazing, but with a few talent points and some LOS abuse your survivability is pretty damn good.

 

Ranged stun and ranged 8sec cc(can insta cast with 2min cd)

 

Massive aoe dmg. When you get a chance to do fusion grenade>explosive dart>death from above, everything will be at 10-40% health if not dead.

 

Weaknesses:

 

Pitiful dmg when trained.

 

Interrupts hurt us alot. It's only 4 seconds though. Do an unload in their face and tracer is ready again.

 

Requires cast time, so compared to classes that use alot of instants, we are very vunerable to players that know how to LOS.

 

Conclusion: Great, fun class. Has a decent skillcap, only topped by jugg and vanguard perhaps.

[Zyillo]

Thank you OP.

 

I have a 50 sage that can hold its own against 3 players just long enough for backup to arrive at a turret on civil war. Sage has so many CC options and maneuverability meanwhile the sage is moving, everything done while kiting and LOSing.

 

My BH is 38 and climbing. If I engage any target in a 1v1 at a health deficit - more often than not I'm dead. Our one stun has no damage to assist in turning the fight and our mez has a cast time with no way to invest in reducing it. My sage can mez on the move.

 

Yes, we have AoE, yes we have strong sustained damage. However, the minute a melee class so much as looks at us; it's all downhill from there.

 

Merc is a great class when no one pays attention to you. But more and more people are realizing that merc is a priority target. Focused up and taken down all too easily. Our shields do a little work but they're not force armor. We have no movement speed so escaping is never an option.

 

Really, really regretting this AC selection and I'm hoping they allow respec in the future.

[Yazule]

Thank you OP.

 

I have a 50 sage that can hold its own against 3 players just long enough for backup to arrive at a turret on civil war. Sage has so many CC options and maneuverability meanwhile the sage is moving, everything done while kiting and LOSing.

 

My BH is 38 and climbing. If I engage any target in a 1v1 at a health deficit - more often than not I'm dead. Our one stun has no damage to assist in turning the fight and our mez has a cast time with no way to invest in reducing it. My sage can mez on the move.

 

Yes, we have AoE, yes we have strong sustained damage. However, the minute a melee class so much as looks at us; it's all downhill from there.

 

Merc is a great class when no one pays attention to you. But more and more people are realizing that merc is a priority target. Focused up and taken down all too easily. Our shields do a little work but they're not force armor. We have no movement speed so escaping is never an option.

 

Really, really regretting this AC selection and I'm hoping they allow respec in the future.

 

if merc ar is a priority target i am curious how it is broken

[Stonedsoul]

if merc ar is a priority target i am curious how it is broken

 

Its a polarized spec.

 

Ignore it? Its great damage.

Target it? Its borderline useless.

 

A merc with a melee toon on him is already more akin to a chicken flapping his arms then to bobba fett. When someone in arsenal spec has 2 ppl or more hitting on them, they are done.

 

Now this wouldn't be so bad if we actually packed that big a punch unless targetted, but frankly, our damage is comparable with most DPS specs in the game, who do not share the same issues.

 

We get trained because we are so easy to shut down, not because we are that dangerous unless focused.

[Yazule]

Its a polarized spec.

 

Ignore it? Its great damage.

Target it? Its borderline useless.

 

A merc with a melee toon on him is already more akin to a chicken flapping his arms then to bobba fett. When someone in arsenal spec has 2 ppl or more hitting on them, they are done.

 

Now this wouldn't be so bad if we actually packed that big a punch unless targetted, but frankly, our damage is comparable with most DPS specs in the game, who do not share the same issues.

 

We get trained because we are so easy to shut down, not because we are that dangerous unless focused.

 

that is why pvp is a team sport ... and you need to learn to be shneaky, i often drag 3 guys away from the objective as they try to "down the merc" giving opportunity to the rest of my team.

 

if you are going to die, get something out of it I say

 

not sure how you can say we dont dps more, there is no combat log and there is no parse, it is a "feeling" you have i am guessing. My feeling is if I am not under fire i pump out more than almost any other dps class with proc's on unload and rail gun mixed in.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Yazule

[Stonedsoul]

that is why pvp is a team sport ... and you need to learn to be shneaky, i often drag 3 guys away from the objective as they try to "down the merc" giving opportunity to the rest of my team.

 

if you are going to die, get something out of it I say

 

not sure how you can say we dont dps more, there is no combat log and there is no parse, it is a "feeling" you have i am guessing. My feeling is if I am not under fire i pump out more than almost any other dps class with proc's on unload and rail gun mixed in.

 

PvP being a team sport and you being able to exploit bad player's dumb reflexes (chase this guy!) does not change the fact that the spec (arsenal) is EXTREMELY easy to shut down.

 

Also, its not a "feeling". Its called empirical date from playing them.

[Yazule]

PvP being a team sport and you being able to exploit bad player's dumb reflexes (chase this guy!) does not change the fact that the spec (arsenal) is EXTREMELY easy to shut down.

 

Also, its not a "feeling". Its called empirical date from playing them.

 

i would love to see your data set, been looking for one since day one, combat log, whatever, all you see are your numbers over their head so all you can get is an intuition, not really empirical at all without measured data to be compared to other measured data. i would think maybe iterative experimentation, but not empirical.

[Yazule]

apologies,

 

empirical: depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, especially as in medicine

 

without scientific method or theory, so yes empirical...

 

which basically is "intuition based on what i have seen" but you can only see one person/class at a time (yours) so without something to compare it against in the exact same circumstances it is "a feeling"

[Awea]

Every Class but Mercenary is frequently called OP... take that as a sign. When we are called OP it's by someone who is still to low of a level to have unlocked their interrupt.

 

Wait, am I in the Sith Warrior thread?

 

I really don't see where the merc is looked at as weak. PVE or PVP. Do we lack somethings other classes have, yes! Do we have things other classes dont have, yes!

 

 

I am probably one of the most suckiest pvp'er of all time. Yet, I still manage to average around 7 medals per round, and piss off a bunch of other players that I always seemed to have people going out of there way to kill me.

[Stonedsoul]

apologies,

 

empirical: depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, especially as in medicine

 

without scientific method or theory, so yes empirical...

 

which basically is "intuition based on what i have seen" but you can only see one person/class at a time (yours) so without something to compare it against in the exact same circumstances it is "a feeling"

 

Yes, its what I meant by empirical: i have no factual data. Reason being, this data does not exist (there is no combat log).

 

However, keep in mind that all classes on one side eventually gets to the same planets, so its actually rather easy to do a side by side comparison, albeit an estimated one.

[Borigrade]

Wait, am I in the Sith Warrior thread?

 

I really don't see where the merc is looked at as weak. PVE or PVP. Do we lack somethings other classes have, yes! Do we have things other classes dont have, yes!

 

 

I am probably one of the most suckiest pvp'er of all time. Yet, I still manage to average around 7 medals per round, and piss off a bunch of other players that I always seemed to have people going out of there way to kill me.

 

What do we have that other classes don't? Just wondering.

[Stonedsoul]

What do we have that other classes don't? Just wondering.

 

Great AoE

 

 

... thats all I could come up with ><

[Juicenewtonz]

People need to stop judging a class before they are max level with it and have some decent gear.

 

as a 50 merc with almost full pvp gear, I have no problems in pvp with any class, if a melee jumps on me and my knockbacks are down i just chain cast in his face, he interupts tracer i unload, with energy shield / kolto overload and a reusable medpack i have no problems outdamaging any melee

[Postalz]

1: Our bubble that absorbs damage by 20% should be changed to first, remove all cc when activated and second reduce damage by a much larger amount.

 

2: Tracer Missile - we can't kite for crud so if the other team makes the mistake of letting us nuke they should pay for it. Make a buff so that every time we use tracer missile our cast time on tracer is reduced by 5% stacking up to 3 times.

[Teacosy]

im loving these posts of "merc has no pvp utility"

 

merc utility :

 

1 AoE Knockback

1 ST Knockback

1 Instant CC

1 Cast Long duration CC

Offhealing/Healing

 

PT Utility

 

1 Instant CC

1 Pull[Grapple]

1 Short Duration, VERY short range and unpredictable AoE CC with an inbuilt 1second delay after activating.

1 Short Cooldown Interrupt

Taunts/Guards

 

Currently, Knockbacks are King. Mercenaries have the most knockbacks in the game, on short cooldowns. Even attempting to kill a merc on huttball who is on one of the upper levels is nigh on impossible without ranged damage.

 

Albeit bad mercenaries are free kills. But obviously the people making these claims arent bad mercs? Oh No! That couldnt be the case at all could it.

 

Oh and i forgot, mercs have the highest on demand ranged burst in the game.

 

Also, if u couldnt figure out that mercenaries were glass cannons after reading the talent trees/watching beta footage or just doing some research like most intellectuals do when picking a class. Then you deserve your fate.

[Juicenewtonz]

So ive almost finished out my pvp gear and im just 3 pieces away from being full champion gear with only 3 centurion pieces, I just got my reusable power adrenal / stim today and i have to say holy crap, anyone saying mercs are bad is full of ****, im 3-4 shotting anyone who isnt a tank or doesnt have pvp gear and im critting 7k heatseekers with the red buff and my adrenal / power relic up.

[Rimbaldo]

Most of you have no idea what you're talking about, frankly. Killing sub 50s who don't have PvP gear counts for absolutely nothing. DPS mercenaries have some of the lowest damage in the game once you start encountering people in PvP gear. Sentinels and Marauders easily do just as much damage as I do, while having far more utility in the form of damage reflects, a vanish, a gap closer, and almost all of their attacks being instant. All this in spite of being widely regarded as one of the worst classes in the game, for some strange reason. Being melee is hardly a disadvantage since knockbacks are, contrary to what you insinuate, pretty much worthless outside of Huttball. You'll buy yourself an extra two seconds' time before they're back in your face (at most) which isn't nearly enough to burn through a Warrior with 15,000 HP in PvP gear. Melee are now learning how to properly juke our casts, too, so the match up is becoming even more lopsided in their favor.

 

DPS Mercs are easily the single most useless and worst archetype in PvP, and anybody who says otherwise is delusional or doesn't understand how the game works. At least Snipers can hide behind cover and take longer than three seconds to get ran over by the melee assist train. If you're queuing up as anything other than a healer you're doing your team a disservice, and even then a Sith Inquisitor or Operative would do it far better than you can.

 

Anybody who is serious about PvP should do themselves a favor and reroll as something else. I'd do it myself, but pretty much everybody I play with is planning to cancel after the free month anyway so it seems pointless now. Doesn't change the fact that Mercs are in a really bad spot PvP-wise right now. There are way too many many people on these boards with next to no PvP experience in any other game who hold themselves as experts, and they really, really shouldn't.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Rimbaldo

[Stonedsoul]

im loving these posts of "merc has no pvp utility"

Currently, Knockbacks are King. Mercenaries have the most knockbacks in the game, on short cooldowns. Even attempting to kill a merc on huttball who is on one of the upper levels is nigh on impossible without ranged damage.

 

Albeit bad mercenaries are free kills. But obviously the people making these claims arent bad mercs? Oh No! That couldnt be the case at all could it.

 

Oh and i forgot, mercs have the highest on demand ranged burst in the game.

 

Also, if u couldnt figure out that mercenaries were glass cannons after reading the talent trees/watching beta footage or just doing some research like most intellectuals do when picking a class. Then you deserve your fate.

 

Im gonna go with "you have no idea *** you are talking about". Outside of huttball, knockbacks are near worthless, since they cannot be used in conjoncture with other kiting tools (which dont exist since we are a turret class).

 

We do not have the highest on demand ranged burst, that would be the Sniper. We have the highest sustained damage, but only when un-targetted, and only if we stay immobile for an extended period of time (as it takes 5 x 1.5 sec cast to get our maximum damage going).

 

As for the glass cannon comment... well most "intellectuals" would assume that a class wearing heavy armor and with a whole defensive (healing) tree is not meant as a glass cannon, but hey, what do I know, I only use logic and common sense. Or did you mean "turret"?

Edited January 6, 2012 by Stonedsoul

[Vendui]

Why do you people keep saying we have heavy armor like it means something. The armor rating doesn't do squat with all the abilities that bypass armor. With heavy we die as fast as light if not faster. Edited January 24, 2012 by Vendui