Commando and Powertech, or Mercenary and Vangard?

[MikeFL]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I ended up going Merc and Vanguard, and I'm very happy about that decision. Here's why:

 

Vanguard, out of the two AC's feels more like a traditional soldier/trooper archetype to me. As I said in one of my previous posts, I am a sucker for anything having to do with Clone Troopers/the Clone Wars, so I wanted a Trooper that would look as close to a Clone Trooper as possible. The assault cannons, while admittedly cool in concept and appearing in the game's cinematics, just feels clunky to me for a trooper that is supposed to be the front-line "the buck stops here" guy or gal. Although Powertech has more vibrant animations than the Vanguard, I am really enjoying the Vanguards animations as they fit in well with a soldier type character. Plus Ion pulse and Explosive Surge are better imo because Ion surge gives a good representation of who will be hit unlike Flamethrower, and ES activates quicker and with a shorter animation than the BH counterpart, better for PvP. Additionally, although stockstrike's animations leave something to be desired, you can't beat that *CRUNCH* sound of the rifle hitting your enemy's jaw.

 

The Mercenary feels right for a Bounty Hunter. I really liked my Powertech, but I LOVE my Mercenary. Its just an insanely fun class to play, and it fits the Bounty Hunter archetype. I thought the flamethrower was satisfying, but watching my BH discharge beams of death from both pistols, then lean forward and shoot out missiles Jango Fett-style, just can't beat it. To me this is what I envisioned of both classes...the Trooper is the vanguard of the Republic, he/she should be in the middle of the action. The BH is out for him/herself, collecting their due pay and making sure that it stays professional not personal. In this context, while both PT and Merc are awesome, Merc fits the bill more here.

 

Anyway, what it really comes down to is my own personal opinion on the aesthetics of the classes and my own view on their role, since for all intents and purposes the mirror classes gameplay is more or less identical. The vast majority of people here went with PT and Commando, and more power to them. For anyone who is still hung up on choosing ACs for Trooper and BH, it should really come down to what you want to do with the class, and if you like how it looks. After all, if you're playing these characters for 100+ hours to level them, you better like how it looks or you'll stop playing. If you LOVE the BFG, go Commando and PT. If you like a more traditional trooper look, or think (like I do) that BH's modeled after Jango Fett should be more of a ranged class, go VG and Merc. Either way you can't go wrong.

[MikeFL]

You can play a Commando with a Rifle, if you really want to. There's not a huge difference in effectiveness. Though I have to see my Commando with body size 3 looks fine with her Assault Cannon.

 

You are right that Commando's can still use assault rifles, but I'd like to add in a clarification. In terms of healing, I don't think rifle or cannon makes a difference, so if you're gonna be a dedicated Combat Medic, go for the rifle if you prefer. BUT using a rifle as a DPS spec means you miss out on 2-3 of the Commando's bread-and-butter skills which require cannons, meaning you're seriously gimped and wont be very effective.

 

I personally find Mercenary healing much more visually appealing than commando healing. Rather than standing there with radio waves coming out of your head like the Commando, Mercenary does some inputs into his wrist-gadget and heals. I also like the heal bullets over the giant green beam (which screams HEY OVER HERE I'M HEALING in PvP). As a Merc I can more or less blend in with DPS in PvP matches most of the time and heal without too much attention being directed at me.