Unexpected

[GuyTallman]

So, I am on Illum, trying to do the stupid 2 man heroic on my merc. Blizz is apparently a worse tank than me, and even with spam healing is dropping faster than a prom dress. The jedi shadow mob is just ripping him to shreads, and I am on the verge of overheating. I finally work the first one down by distancing myself far enough from blizz that when it uses its stun on blizz and attacks me I can use the travel time to recover. Re-apply the CC on the second shadow and heal up, wait for cooldowns before starting the whole process again. After what feels like the most intense 4 minutes in game ever, I have 2 jedi down, 2 to go, and I am staring at that useless pile that is blizz thinking, "screw this guy, I tank better than him, and at least I do damage." Time to get Mako, hit N and summon her up.

 

Mako: Getting Lonely?

 

...realize its Valentines... now sad...

[CogitoErgo]

Yeah I was super excited to get Blizz. Then I used him and realized that every BH pet except Mako is useless.

[SheepishOne]

I'm sorry for your unexpected celebration of Singles Awareness Day. Blizz, however, is perfectly fine. Like all tanks his damage is terrible, but his aggro control is the best available out of your tank pets. I found two to three heals was enough to keep him full life at any time in Ilum--the healing rotation lends itself well to proccing SCG for your main source of damage. Make sure to use your knockback to keep mobs distanced from each other so you can utilize your CC's. Kill weaker mobs first. Should be a breeze. Ilum is only really viable for picking up gun barrels. Access to Columi (HM FP's and Normal Ops) is attainable at entry level 50's range if the group is competent.

 

On an unrelated note, since I enjoyed Blizz's efforts so much I bought him a full supercommando suit. It's a bit of a mismatch of Champion and Columi, but it works.

[Madicen]

Blizz is fantastic, if you take the time to gear him, just like any other companion. I run merc as Bodyguard and my Blizz is now in a miz of Rakata/Columi/crit crafted, had 40% Shield, 38% Absorb, 19k Hp, and holds agro like a champ.

 

Ive been working on gearing Torian as well, who is now in Columi/Rakata/Tionesse, but as a healer i prefer just to have Blizz out. I through Kolto Shell on him at the start of fights, SGC > Kolto Missile and he only needs to be topded of here and there..soloing Poisonous Strategy (that 2 man heroic on Ilum) is not a faceroll, but its certainly not all that hard either.

Torian, even well geared, takes too much damage from that many strongs/elites...but he does have his uses...an Armtech friend critted a nice Electrostaff for him and he puts out the damage now, so for solo quests he is ideal.

 

Could just be a gear issue you're seeing with Blizz.

[BlownSi]

So, I am on Illum, trying to do the stupid 2 man heroic on my merc. Blizz is apparently a worse tank than me, and even with spam healing is dropping faster than a prom dress. The jedi shadow mob is just ripping him to shreads, and I am on the verge of overheating. I finally work the first one down by distancing myself far enough from blizz that when it uses its stun on blizz and attacks me I can use the travel time to recover. Re-apply the CC on the second shadow and heal up, wait for cooldowns before starting the whole process again. After what feels like the most intense 4 minutes in game ever, I have 2 jedi down, 2 to go, and I am staring at that useless pile that is blizz thinking, "screw this guy, I tank better than him, and at least I do damage." Time to get Mako, hit N and summon her up.

 

Mako: Getting Lonely?

 

...realize its Valentines... now sad...

 

 

You do realize the heroics are not meant to be soloed right? Yes, as a Merc, and especially a BG Merc, it can be done on some, but not all Heroic 2+ are created equal my friend. The daily heroic on Ilum should really be a Heroic 4. I have tried it with an Arsenal Merc in my guild and we get face-rolled every time, even when we do everything right.

 

Also, Blizz is an amazing tank when geared properly. I use him to run the 2 man heroic on Belsavis dailies (Freeing the Fallen) with my same guildie and he does a fine job. Yes, his damage is crap when compared to Gault or Torian, but he is a tank, so his job is to hold aggro.

 

As a BG Merc myself, I use Torian. When geared up, he hits stupidly hard and I can burn through groups as fast as being Arsenal w/ Mako. Elites are a joke with Torian.