1.4 changes explained in pvp

[physicXx]

I havn't played an Arsenal Merc since 1.2 so I can't provide any input there.

 

As for the Pyro Mercernary there's a few things I would like to bring to light...

 

Both Pyro Powertechs and Mercenaries have no exeuction skills but they receive a dot damage increase on targets with HP below 30%. Fair trade off I would say but....

That perc would only be great for Mercs if we had a guaranteed chance to reset our CGC effects (which we dont so the class feels funky)

 

Also the fact that Pyro PT's have two instant cast proc's to Rail Shot, (rocket punch and flame burst) one which is spammable if you don't consider the GCD as a CD and providing a guaranteed reset to CGC makes the Pyro Mercenary feel funky yet again.

 

Reasons:

 

We are given two easily interruptible casting abilities to proc our Rail Shots (unload and powershart) if that's not bad enough we also don't receive any method to reduce pushback on our Powersharts. Infact they decided to give that perc to Arsenal Mercenaries who seem to never use that skill--> seriously guize?

 

So if Pyro Mercs fail to proc Rail Shot via Unload we are left to conjure up some tactical way to keep up dps..or we are left to cast our ridiculously long POWERSHART that gets pushbacked/interrupted with ease. (1.5 seconds have never felt so long in my life)

 

My dream proposed changes that would bring Pyro Mercs back to competitive play would be either

-uninterruptible powersharts or

-a chance to proc an instant casting powershart.

-Also giving CGC a 100% chance to refresh it's effects via unload or powershart would be a great thing to consider.

If any of those ideas are not viable at least give us the chance to proc Rail Shot via Rocket Punch so we can find a way out of melee cluster flucks.

 

Powershart=Powershot. The skill sucks so badly that it literally feels like a stronger version of sharting.

[Soljin]

I know, im just frustrated with BW and taking it out on anyone atm.

 

These changes are really P***ing me off.

 

Welcome to the Party!

Edited September 6, 2012 by Soljin

[Soljin]

Then go play a mara you ******* playing a ranged class but who dont want to run away. My god people are so stupid sometimes.

 

Root + snare + interrupt, I'm a happy a happy merc.

 

Oh, and you win a instant heal as an arsenal, how great is that ? everybody's whining like little girls but nobody talk about the instant heal.

 

Why talk about the heal...its the smaller heal thats also on a CD and your going to be penalized in DMG for using it because it consumes TL.

 

Root in melee range....is good for what? rooting a melee who just rooted you and is now one GCD ahead of you...SW classes have snares and roots coupled onto their intro dmg rotation.

 

Snare! Awesome you still just rooted yourself to slow soemone else if your Arse...Awesome! Pyro you maybe snared them....depends on your luck. Bodyguard yep you snared them...But no one is complaining about Bodyguard and most have not.

 

So when that Mara runs up and snares you...and you blow aa GCD to root them, then KB...you cant dmg them because 2 secs are up so you will break the remaining 2 secs of root upon dmg ...so they are not worried...oh and your snared as well because thats the first thing they did so your not out of range ...now they will leap and Super ravage you and keep you snared until death....

 

This change is just bad...It needs to be a ranged root, the KB on Rocket Punch needs to stay, and we need an on demand snare on a standard cooldown...and thats it.

 

Merc should never be in melee unless its a mistake...or they are getting ganged up on. I play a jugg and can tell you right now this change only allows me to ravage you with no worries of being stopped, If you do stop it you just blew two CD's for what you used to do in one...and now your helpless....if you use your long CD KB that insured I will now Obliterate and get you with a 5 to 7k smash with nothing to worry about.

 

Mercs will actually eat more dmg from melee with these changes.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Soljin

[Omophorus]

Uh, no.

 

I play a Mara as well as a Merc in pvp. And the scenario you describe may be your dream scenario, but let me tell you what really will happen against even an average Mara/Sent.

 

First you need to know that most of the Mara/Sent population is transitioning the equipment they use and to exploit those changes most of them are now putting two skill ranks in Stagger.

 

So after they Force Charge to you, you are rooted for 3 seconds. One of the things they will apply to you in that 3 seconds is Crippling Slash (some Annil specs may use Rupture). So even though your RocketPunch has a 1 second duration advantage you will not be getting out of their melee range before the root wears off.

 

That's not to say that a 4 sec root for RocketPunch is always worse than the KB. Sometimes it will be better and sometimes it will be worse. But the Merc dps is so far behind the Mara subclasses, that this change I feel is insignificant. The addition of the interrupt is also nearly pointless in a combat vs. Mara/Sent. The addition of the interrupt does help if the Merc dps is attacking a healer tho.

 

The one thing with this....

 

Most good Marauders know that Mercs have a knockback and will pop it the moment you leap in.

 

So most Marauders don't leap to Mercs for that very reason.

 

Likewise, Merc is sturdy enough to survive a hit or two until the initial root is about to wear, Rocket Punch, and boogie (with a cleanse if necessary). Then, while escaping, they have burned off half the CD on their root (which is shorter than the CD on leap), gotten in a couple free GCDs of damage without filling resolve, and can more or less repeat ad nauseam.

 

The earlier poster had it right... against a Marauder it'll actually be a fight, and come down, to some extent, to who has more skill and better tactics, rather than being an automatic trip to the penalty box.

 

Marauder still has the advantage, don't get me wrong, but the metagame makes your worst case scenario just as unlikely as the Merc's best case scenario.

 

The best upside I can see is that it'll make it much easier to save a stun/knockback to deal with Ravage and/or a Gore window while still being better able to manage the pressure. That is gold right there. The rest of what a Marauder can throw at a Merc is manageable, so being able to stop the worst of the burst is a huge help in that matchup.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Omophorus