Mercenary AC needs a real interrupt (and other things)- a discussion.

[Guioki]

 

mercs are made to be sturdy cause we have no escape mechanisms. let me ask you this though: what negates more damage, heavy armor + damage reduction buff or being out of range due to multiple snares, force run, talented knockback aoe root, and/or talented bubble aoe stun? you get an interrupt too fyi

 

Multiple snares? What spec are you talking about?

 

I'll tell you what negates more damage... Heavy armor plus all your other defensive cool-downs.

 

Since were talking about all specs, merc healer > sorc healer, near impossible to kill 1v1 except maybe for a mara, bubble makes you immune to interrupt as a healer? WTB anything like that as a sorc. Our only defensive cool-down is a "very good" bubble and resolve.

 

Sprint can be snared, our dots can be dispelled, we have 2 abilities that are internal and make up maybe 20% of our damage, everything else is mitigated fully by armor (no arp), all our procs in every spec come from spamming an ability with a cast time, either channel or the weak lightning strike 1.5 sec cast, an aoe knock-back that depending on where the enemy is standing doesn't even knock them out of melee range, we have the worst burst and easiest counter-able damage. The only use for our in combat heals as a dps is if we first escape the fight, compared to mercs face tanking people. These are just some of the weaknesses that GOOD players can exploit, we do have a good toolkit but everything we have can easily be countered.

 

Mercs on the other hand, don't NEED to run away, their role is a front line troop, to take the hits, and they do that well, hence the 6% increased healing received in your DPS tree (guess what, its 8% in the sorcs HEALING tree for us). Stop trying to have everything on one class, mercs are better at voidstar and civil war, sorcs at huttball. You cant have everything.

[Guioki]

Hulkweazel: Thanks for the info on operative healing!

 

Guioki: Several of the items you cited are augmented via talents, and rather deep within a tree. Additionally, choosing those talents comes at the cost of more "DPS" oriented skills.

sorcs shortest range knockback, mercs longest.

stackable defensive cooldown off tracer missile 2% damage reduction per stack, up to 10% for 15 seconds.

Our force regen ability costs health and prevents natural force regen, yours can be talented to give 7% health.

Mercs have stealth detect... Sorcs?

All are made that way via talent choices. Additionally, Sorc have a talent that gives them an additional extra instant cast at increased damage. All that said... As you mentioned, I for one am entirely willing to give up something for an interrupt or a better survival CD.

 

 

I suppose we will see how the changes pan out beyond 1.2. I will be the first to admit that Arsenal has very powerful burst, but they give up a lot of mobility for it, and a player that has an interrupt can easily counter an Arsenal specced player. That is precisely why I don't play Arsenal. What most people (possibly myself included) aren't taking in to consideration is the OTHER talent trees. Pyrotech has decent damage output (comparative with arsenal on longer duration fights), but none of additional defensive capabilities of Arsenal. It also doesnt hold a candle to the burst capabilities that Arsenal is capable of.

 

Just like to clarify your stealth detect is baseline, talents give it the ability to snare.

 

Mercs benefit far more from their 31 point trees giving them utility, we have to build hybrid which they are killing in 1.2 to get enough utility just to survive. Sorcs wont have nearly as much utility come 1.2.

[CerberusSeven]

I can't help but notice that you didn't list operatives, and I tend to think it's because the lack of tools on an operative healer ruins your argument and you know it.

 

Can you elaborate a bit? This thread is mostly about Mercs/Comms lacking interrupts and escape/mobility, things Operatives have. What am I missing?