Easy changes for Mercs. Easy.

[Sybaris]

-Make a talent in the arsenal tree additionally reduce the heat cost of missile blast to 16 heat. Missile blast costs way to much heat for far too little damage. Without missile blast, arsenal mercs cannot kite.

 

-reduce the cooldown of jet boost back to pre-1.2.

 

-return the damage reduction of power barrier to pre-1.2 levels.

 

-if Mercs don't get an interrupt, no other ranged classes should. It's only fair, considering ranged classes mostly interrupt mercs, sorcs, and healers. If snipers cannot be interrupted, they should not have an interrupt. Sorcs are the only ranged class that "should" have an interrupt if they must, considering their utility as a strength.

 

-Make a talent in the pyrotech tree additionally reduce either the cast time or heat cost of fusion missile. You have to burn your Thermal sensor override and/or Power surge for it to be useful.

 

 

There are plenty of other changes that could make dps mercs more viable in pvp, but these are the easiest and most conservative changes possible. I can't imagine anyone complaining about these changes (except for the interrupts part). If you want to keep people playing mercs in pvp, this is the best start. I doubt more radical changes will ever be implemented, but you could at least give us something.

 

Easy changes. Little to no complaints or claims of OP'ness. Little risk. Do it. TY.

[ManiacalShen]

Without touching the other suggestions, I have to say that the interrupts thing is a bad idea. In PVE, we're enough of a liability some fights because of our lack of interrupt. No one will ever kill the droid boss in Lost Island hardmode if no ranged fighters have interrupts. Last time I tried it with a Jugg tank, a sorc who was busy healing, and two merc dps, it didn't go super well. And that's only one example. For PVE purposes, I say don't take away a lot of interrupts.

 

Maybe we could get a cooldown ability that makes us immune to interrupts, if that aspect of pvp needs balancing. Or we could get a flat percentage chance to resist them.