Bioware, Mercenary needs a serious fix.

[AcePortgas]

I've been playing my mercenary since day 1. I love it, its a really nice class.

Especially the A R S E N A L specialization. From all the 3 spec, I love Arsenal the most, and it's what makes the class shine. I don't want to play a pyro which is also gimped, or a healer which is alright but not to my taste.

 

I enjoy playing the Mercenary with A R S E N A L specialization. However, lets face it, Bioware, you broke our class completely, and make us feel like we are ants facing giants in pvp. We are a free target to any class in-game. I have Full BattleMaster and i get dropped in a matter of seconds. Be it 1, 2 or 3 players targeting me, its relatively the same pace. I am sure that I am not the only person complaining about this because I've been watching this forum for a while hopping that BIOWARE would react since that Mercenary-killer patch 1.2 which broke every good part of our class. We are supposed to be heavy Armor but hell, I feel like we're naked. Comparing a sorcerer, a sniper or an assassin, all these classes which are supposed to be inferior in defense capabilities can survive much longer than any mercenaries in-game. Now the question comes here, why would these class with lower armor rating have much more survival and defensive capabilities than mercenary which is in heavy armor? They have much more utilities and skills toward these aspect. Now I know that you created Mercenaries with not much of these aspect because they are supposed to be a "Glass Cannon".

 

When reading the Mercenary description in your site, you describe the Mercenary as "[...] the best defense is a good offense, the Mercenary’s got the most intimidating defense in the galaxy. Heavily-modded blasters and deadly heatseeking missiles make the Mercenary a mobile heavy weapons platform. There’s no problem extra firepower can’t solve, and no one who knows what he’s doing gets between a Mercenary and his target.

 

Is that a joke you are trying to pull on us? Correct me if i'm wrong but, after patch 1.2, Mercenaries just doesn't fit in your description. They have been ninja nerfed/gimped. Call it whatever you want, but our DPS output is the lowest in-game, combine it with our lowest survival capabilities, and armor which doesn't mitigate with force power, what can you call this class? I can't think of any name, other than worthless.

 

Let's go into a bit more detail and try to analyse Mercenary and see what makes us so vulnerable and useless.

Our heat signature don't work properly, its been tested by many devoted Mercenaries lovers. So here we are missing a huge amount of DPS. HM which is supposed to be our strongest skill, is not so strong after the patch. My friend which is a sniper would hit harder than my best move with a regular snipe. Is that a joke? We have no interrupt and no way of cancelling any skill being cast upon us, unless you stunt them with your Electro Dart, or if they are next to you, you could use jet boost, which will cancel their casting. Our shield which is our only survival utilitie protects us with 25% reduced damager for 12 second. Not much utilities in my taste.

There is plenty of things you could do to improve our class. I am not asking to be OP, all I'm asking you is to do your job and find a fix. It doesn't take much intelligence to realize that there is a big problem with the Mercenary class. It doesn't even fit in your own description! If your not going to do a thing about it, then I suggest you change that description to something that describe the current useless Mercenary.

 

Now the reason I took the effort of writing all this is with the hope that you wake up and acknowledge that you broke the class in a million of pieces and do something with the next patch to fix Mercenary Arsenal specialization. It's no wonder why I don't even see anymore Mercenaries in Warzones, they have either unsubscribed or they have stopped playing that gimped class until there is an update with a fix to all our problems.

 

Hopefully this message would be read by one of your combat analyst and find a fix quickly because it's only going to get worse for each day to pass by. Eventually, there will be no more mercenaries willing to play a class which, although they might be skilled, can only go so far with that.

Edited May 14, 2012 by AcePortgas
Adding more arguments!

[Ifrit]

I agree. Merc is fine for pve, but in pvp it is terrible. We have no utility (except out knockback which was nerfed) and we are by far the easiest class to counter. We can't do anything to stop a melee class from destroying us. Why would anyone play merc dps when melee dps has more dps, utility with jumps/sprint/pulls, stealth, and better defensive cooldowns. Pyro PT & juggy rage/veng & mara's all do MORE dps than us. Assassins do the SAME dps but as a tank with crazy defense, stealth, utility from sprint/ 2 pulls. No reason to play merc dps in pvp right now =/ Edited May 14, 2012 by Ifrit

[Ifrit]

Most all good points and while I agree with what you are attempting to convey and know where you're coming from, your multitude of grammatical errors really sabotages your point and makes it hard to take serious.

 

ehhhh. It's not english class; he made good arguments and didn't just go on a rant. +1

[Kelenan]

I Agree with the OP entirely. But I highly doubt BioWare will do anything for the class.

 

The class is working as intended and they see nothing wrong with it. Even though the merc is suppose to be the DPS of the BH class, they get out DPS'd by Power Tech's.

 

Merc 2 blasters. Power Tech 1 blaster and shield. HMMMMM.

 

Power Tech Grapple, Jet Pack, Bladed gauntlet.

 

Merc, Off-hand blaster. No added dps, actually less dps. hmmmm

Edited May 14, 2012 by Kelenan

[Keonachak]

ehhhh. It's not english class; he made good arguments and didn't just go on a rant. +1

 

It's a rant if you are saying all of that just to say it. If your intention is to be heard and taken seriously, whether it's Bioware devs (which I am assuming is his intended target) or you're going for a job interview, then yes, it's English class. Take a little extra time to do it right, it makes a world of difference to the reader.

 

And I did mention they were all good points, which you reiterated for me.

[Artichokey]

Whats it been now? 2-3 weeks since 1.2 without so much as a comment directed at the state of Arsenal BH. It's clear that Bio ware is either not listening to customer/class feedback or that they lack every sort of common sense in regards to the class.

 

If they simply made a 50 with BM gear and played him out as all 3 specs in the Mercenary tree they could see how far off they are in balance. Bounty Hunters use to be close in balance with the "Glass Cannon" design of them. Now the "glass cannon" is a "wet rolled up newspaper". We do not do comparable damage to Snipers in pvp, which is a close to mercenary as it gets and they got BUFFED!

 

We take the same damage as light and medium armor wearers and do the damage of a level 40 character, plus we have a nearly nonexistent amount of utility.

 

In short, its time to give us an interrupt. Put Tracer back to where it was if not buff it more now. Shorten all of our 15 second CD's by 5-6 seconds to give us that burst factor back, and allow armor to mitigate force powers to a degree. I could care less if i get utility, i never had it before, why start now. Give us back our damage or you will go from amazing to free to play within months from other fed up players, not just all the Mercs out there.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Artichokey

[AcePortgas]

Most all good points and while I agree with what you are attempting to convey and know where you're coming from, your multitude of grammatical errors really sabotages your point and makes it hard to take serious.

 

FYI, I am not writing an essay for my teacher. Official or not, they can understand where I am coming from. And if they don't take me serious with all the good points I have made, then I don't know what can.

[DaPorkchop]

I don't post too much on the forums, but all these complaints are bugging me. Yes, we are the worst of the pvp as far as utility. I have been struggling deciding what do to. However, i've figured out my role, and I think you guys need to figure out your role as well.

 

Your role is dps. That is it. You NEED to go get the objectives in capture the node, and defend the middle in Hutt ball. Sitting and guarding is not your role and a waste of your abilities. I have TWO pieces of War Hero gear. Only two pieces, yet I out dps everyone when I am on the front lines. Not talking against just pugs either. I am part of a premade and we go against a lot of premades with a lot of war hero gear. I do more dps as pyro than I do as arsenal because I don't have to stand still. However when I am arsenal I do still do the most damage I just die more. More burst equals faster downed targets. It's just not my playstyle.

 

1v1 sure I can only kill maradaurs. This is not a 1v1 game. Yes you NEED a healer and yes a healer has to work harder to heal you than anyone else. That's his role though. If they are on the healer you have to take them out. If a group was made up of a Jugg, Sorc, Mara, BH and went up against Jugg, Sorc, Mara, Something else, the BH group would win everytime.

 

That's just my .02$ and sorry if i'm all over the place. I'm in class right now and trying to convey my opinion and listen to the lecture at the same time.

[Cegenaus]

ehhhh. It's not english class; he made good arguments and didn't just go on a rant. +1

 

FYI, I am not writing an essay for my teacher. Official or not, they can understand where I am coming from. And if they don't take me serious with all the good points I have made, then I don't know what can.

 

firefox has spellcheck, it couldnt be any easier but yet spelling inaccuracies still run rampant on these boards. it boggles the mind

Edited May 15, 2012 by Cegenaus

[Omegaman]

firefox has spellcheck, it couldnt be any easier but yet spelling inaccuracies still run rampant on these boards. it boggles the mind

 

omg everyone stop its the spellzorz police... everyonez startz spellzing correctlyzorz orz else you get a ***** out byz that oficerz !!!!

 

I mean dude who seriously gives a flying duck... go teach your special ed class...

[Ifrit]

I don't post too much on the forums, but all these complaints are bugging me. Yes, we are the worst of the pvp as far as utility. I have been struggling deciding what do to. However, i've figured out my role, and I think you guys need to figure out your role as well.

 

Your role is dps. That is it. You NEED to go get the objectives in capture the node, and defend the middle in Hutt ball. Sitting and guarding is not your role and a waste of your abilities. I have TWO pieces of War Hero gear. Only two pieces, yet I out dps everyone when I am on the front lines. Not talking against just pugs either. I am part of a premade and we go against a lot of premades with a lot of war hero gear. I do more dps as pyro than I do as arsenal because I don't have to stand still. However when I am arsenal I do still do the most damage I just die more. More burst equals faster downed targets. It's just not my playstyle.

 

1v1 sure I can only kill maradaurs. This is not a 1v1 game. Yes you NEED a healer and yes a healer has to work harder to heal you than anyone else. That's his role though. If they are on the healer you have to take them out. If a group was made up of a Jugg, Sorc, Mara, BH and went up against Jugg, Sorc, Mara, Something else, the BH group would win everytime.

 

That's just my .02$ and sorry if i'm all over the place. I'm in class right now and trying to convey my opinion and listen to the lecture at the same time.

 

The problem is that a number of other classes can do the same thing you just described, but better. Dramatically better. Hence, we have no role except as fodder.

[BPWyndon]

I am arsenal merc, I play PvP regularly, I always end up in the top 5 for damage and I’m not even full BM yet,

Huttball seems like the most difficult WZ to me only because there is a lot of movement, staying in the center only goes so far, but you’re not going to get much damage done, since everyone leaves that part of the map once the ball has been retrieved. But I counter my damage in Huttball by positioning myself for the ball carrier to jump to, or possibly just get someone targeting me instead of him. If I am lucky, and close enough to the goal line, maybe someone will throw to me. I don't expect much from Huttball matches, and I try to be as useful to the team as possible, even throwing out some heals on the ball carrier and making someone think I am a healer so they leave the other healers/ball carrier alone.

 

Otherwise, all the other WZ the best thing to do since we are as you say "glass cannons" is to scout around for easily killable classes and burn them down quick, then move onto the more difficult to kill ones. It's important to remember that you are a glass cannon, so try to make yourself scarce or hard to see, use the chaos of the WZ to your advantage, most players go after the person in there face, i.e. Melee guys, and most of the time they don't even notice they you have burned them down. Also keeping healers preoccupied is also very beneficial, if your fighting a skilled healer you can end up getting a lot of dps out of him, while keeping him from healing his teammates.

 

I don't know what you’re looking for in a PvP class, but if you want to just jump into the fray then merc at least arsenal is a bad career choice.

 

Also, if you really want BW to take you seriously I would suggest not calling them out on the forums, maybe contacting them with a more professional approach. When you make posts like this you just end up looking like someone trying to start some form of rebellion or boycott. Which is the same song and dance, and so far nothing has changed, we haven't even gotten a confirmation on whether or not our class is broken.

 

Just for your information, I do wish we either dealt more damage or had more survivability, but since I didn't reach 50 until after 1.2c , I never really knew the world of massive crit HSM or the stacking of TM buffs with other Mercs, so it is understandable that pre 1.2 Merc's are angry.

[Briggs_Knightly]

NO MORE COMMENTS IN THIS THREAD ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR COMMENTS TO ORIGINAL POST!

 

I would like to tell AP that I played a Merc/Pyro from level 14 all the way up to level 50 and valor 80+. I have a mix of BM and WH gear at this point. My experience pre 1.2 was that I was underpowered compared to Arsenals and all PTs but was able to get by OK.

 

The gap has only gotten worse for Merc/Pyro post "fix". I believe that in an attempt to curtail ranged DPS and help Melee classes, Bioware severely handicapped the Merc/Pyro. They must have changed some global game mechanics that affected all Mercs or even all Bounty Hunters.

 

Everyone knows it. You do not need to convince anyone who actually pays attention of that.

 

The question is… Can or will BIOWARE do anything about it???

I believe that they will, but probably not anytime too soon.

 

I will tell you that after getting me azz totally dominated by even average Juggs and PTs, I respecced to Arsenal and did better. I was able to do more damage and die less. The stronger knock-backs helped. I did have to tuck tail and run sometimes but still had a tiny impact on the outcome of WZs. I only played that way for a couple days though before suspending my account.

 

My main gaming comp was screwed up while troubleshooting in-game problems with the guidance of BW tech staff. I have sent it back to the manufacturer for repair. When it gets returned to me I may reactivate my acct? Not sure yet as I am having a blast right now playing my F2P hunter in WOW and finishing top 3 almost every battle even though I am only level 20 up against some level 24s.

 

For you… I recommend leveling an alt that you could also enjoy playing. That way you have options when they nerf 1 class or the other. You can then start up with your Merc again if they get this all "balanced". The best one right now is Jug but that could be FotM for only a short time. Maybe 1 of the stealth classes are the best way to go?

 

I understand your frustration of spending soo much time leveling the 1 you wanted to play but having options is always wise. Maybe the best option is to start a character in one of the many F2P games out there. You may find enjoyment there that may never be found here. I truly hope they fix it because I enjoy playing with some of the people in my guild but there are always new people to meet… GL

Edited May 16, 2012 by Briggs_Knightly

[Finionn]

I have a 50 merc(just about full bm) and a semi newly 50 sorc(some bm) i cant help but feel bioware has made up their mind that mercenaries should not do high dps in pvp.now this is entirely a PVP persperctive and i dont want pvers telling me everythings ok.i have tried all 3 specs as most mercs by now hoping i just missed something but it seems that is not the case. we similar to sorcs after 1.2 lack the burst and powerful cds to be a useful class. it is still possible for me to do close to 400k damage( this is incredibly rare btw)in some matches but even when that happens theres always a powertech or mara that does 500k+. i would like bioware to atleast tell me they dont plan on fixing mercenaries so i can go make a mara or pt.that said although i dont have videos or anything but it is evident that the majority of pvp mercs feel they are being completely ignored by bioware. i refuse to go back and put in commas so get over it