My Mid-20's Merc is mediocre, I needs help

[ElZaguero]

First, some background. I have zero interest in PVP. I have Treek available to all my toons, (thank you, Collections!). I have 5 toons in total. Sniper, Sorc, and Merc on the Imp side. Sage and Gunslinger on the Republic side.

 

Now, the problem. My other 4 toons work fine. I spend half a day getting my toon and her Companion re-ubered, and then I can go out in the field and it's basically romp-and-stomp fun time. But my Merc, even after being given the full update treatment, is just a slow starter. She gets the job done, but every fight is slower and more difficult.

 

My Merc is currently level 25, using Arsenal, with her two util points in Boresights and Afterburners.

 

Her usual rotation with bosses is to open with Tracer Missile, Rail Shot, and Unload.

 

With groups of normals, she uses Fusion Missile, and then either Sweeping Blasters or Death from Above.

 

I have Treek available, but she almost always uses Mako in her Healer mode, (whatever that's called).

 

Endurance is 417, Aim is 440, and her Armor rating is 1970, with 4975 Health.

 

Can you, based upon above info, offer me any helpful advice, please?

[ForceWelder]

God, it has been so long since I leveled either my Merc or Mando that I am not sure if I can give you any advice that might be useful. Every class has its ups and downs while leveling. I don't recall where this class dips at.

 

But for starters, you didnt mention how many times you fire tracer missile before using unload. You need to proc it 5 times and you should get 2 procs each time you fire it. The more procs you have the more damage you do.

 

Near the end of your leveling, you will find that the Merc / mando excel in PVE. This is because they have been given a crap load of utilities. Against multiple higher level mobs yu can 1 min stun one, cryo grenade a second, electronet a third and pound him with tracer missile and unload, and then you still have a knockback, shield, and an interrupt if it is more than you can handle. And against a small army of normal mobs you just AOE the crap out of them and pick the loot off the corpses later.

 

Ever wonder why our offheals are so crappy? It is because if you use your utilities right you don't need them. We are probably one of the few classes that can come out of a fight against multiple high level mobs with the bulk of our health intact. Other classes were given better shields, escapes, and "oh $#%$" abilities simply because their class design doesn't allow them to CC so many NPCs at one time. They take a beating so they have been given utilities specifically designed to keep them alive while they take out multiple mobs. Something this class does with relative ease.

 

We are a very mobile class. At your level it may not seem so, but those utilities are coming. You will get to a point where your entire first rotation can be done on the move. And in PVE, that is usually all you need before the majority of a group mob you are engaging is dead or close to it. And even when you do have to stand stationary after the first rotation, you still have some utilities left to buy you some breathing room to get the second rotation started so you can rinse and repeat.

 

But the down side of that is, we aren't the burst killers that some other classes have to be to survive in PVE. We are not the rabbit we are the turtle. We wear you down and come out of the fight without much more than the opposition's blood on the armor.

 

You mentioned you don't care to PVP. And that is actually a good thing because this isn't a PVP class. All those utilities mean we suck when we get ambushed. What makes us strong in PVE is an inherent weakness in PVP. Against multiple mobs we need to have time to use our utilities. In PVP the opposition refuses to give you that time. Other than our knockback, all our CC is single target only and when ambushed by multiple players you lose range and you lose and the ability to CC everyone due to incoming stuns. In a nutshell you lose control of the situation and you are dead.

 

So may be this class isn't the one for you. We don't do "burst" like so many other classes. But in the end I think you will find that the down time between fights is less. I don't have to use the reload ability. Outside of epic boss fights, I don't even usually heal myself. My companion healer is usually more than sufficient. My only down time is the amount of time it takes me to loot the corpses and reach the next group of victims. Most other classes can't say that.

Edited March 17, 2015 by ForceWelder

[Ridickilis]

^^He doesn't get 2 stacks from tracer until level 28. Speaking from limited experience, currently leveling my Gunnery mando (mirror spec, for the OP), it was kind of a PITA to spam tracer 5 times until I finally got the level 28 "light em up".

 

Level 26 should be good too because you get your heat-seeker missiles attack.

 

I'd also recommend power barrier for the damage reduction instead of afterburners. You're using tracer anyway to get 5 stacks, so you'll also get 5 stacks of 1% DR. Afterburners looks more like a pvp centric utility but maybe I'm not looking at it correctly. In fact I took the mando version of boresights at first but swapped that out for the +endurance and healing received utility. I also use my 5 stacks on the instant heal a lot, especially in pvp, but in pve I've been leveling with my dps companion so I usually need to heal a bit more.

 

Anyway good stuff FW, picked up a few things myself.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Ridickilis

[mrvwbug]

Lvl 26 gets you HSM which helps a ton.

 

Personally I found my Merc to be complete ez-mode for leveling (quite possibly the easiest of all to level), especially compared to an Operative.

 

Don't be afraid to use rocket punch and flamethrower on mobs that get in melee range (both still do more damage than Tracer Missile even at higher levels).

 

If you aren't IO spec I would take fusion missile off your bar. DFA and SB are all the AOE an Arsenal merc needs. Basically open with DFA and drop a SB on them while they are still on the ground, this will finish off most groups of standard mobs.

 

By level 40 Mercs are absolute death machines

Edited March 21, 2015 by mrvwbug

[ElZaguero]

Lvl 26 gets you HSM which helps a ton.

 

Personally I found my Merc to be complete ez-mode for leveling (quite possibly the easiest of all to level), especially compared to an Operative.

 

Don't be afraid to use rocket punch and flamethrower on mobs that get in melee range (both still do more damage than Tracer Missile even at higher levels).

 

If you aren't IO spec I would take fusion missile off your bar. DFA and SB are all the AOE an Arsenal merc needs. Basically open with DFA and drop a SB on them while they are still on the ground, this will finish off most groups of standard mobs.

 

By level 40 Mercs are absolute death machines

 

This is one of those situations in which I wonder if the author of the post I'm reading is even playing the same game I am. It's not really helpful when you are having trouble, and ask for help, to be told "oh, it's easy".

 

And DFA is not always available. It does have a cooldown.

[Ridickilis]

This is one of those situations in which I wonder if the author of the post I'm reading is even playing the same game I am. It's not really helpful when you are having trouble, and ask for help, to be told "oh, it's easy".

 

And DFA is not always available. It does have a cooldown.

 

Are you still having trouble, did you get to 26 yet and your heat seeking missiles? I'm in the same boat you are but when I got the commando version of that recently the spec started to feel like it was coming together. Level 28, will be even better.

 

At level 28 my "usual" routine goes: Throw sticky on a weak, sweeping blasters, finish off any single weak left standing with tracer ( if multiple weaks with little health, sweeping blasters again), tracer the silver, heatseeker the same silver, tracer, railshot and say goodnight. Sometimes if the silver is close to death I won't bother waiting on 5 stacks for railshot. I'll do it with 2 or 4 stacks, which is usually still enough to finish off a silver by that point in the fight.

 

If you're not into pvp, which I've gathered from all your posts now, boresights is a good utility for leveling and sweeping blasters doesn't have a cool down. Throw sticky grenades in as well (forgot the merc version, it's the delayed explosion one that you got before level 10). I would say get rid of fusion missile, it's not cost effective. You're better off tracer missile or sweeping blasters spamming at that point.

 

Also, perhaps give Treek a shot in tank stance. I understand she will still heal in tank stance but will also keep the enemies off you with aggro. Don't be shy about using your 2 heals every now and again as well.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Ridickilis

[ElZaguero]

Are you still having trouble, did you get to 26 yet and your heat seeking missiles? I'm in the same boat you are but when I got the commando version of that recently the spec started to feel like it was coming together. Level 28, will be even better.

 

At level 28 my "usual" routine goes: Throw sticky on a weak, sweeping blasters, finish off any single weak left standing with tracer ( if multiple weaks with little health, sweeping blasters again), tracer the silver, heatseeker the same silver, tracer, railshot and say goodnight. Sometimes if the silver is close to death I won't bother waiting on 5 stacks for railshot. I'll do it with 2 or 4 stacks, which is usually still enough to finish off a silver by that point in the fight.

 

If you're not into pvp, which I've gathered from all your posts now, boresights is a good utility for leveling and sweeping blasters doesn't have a cool down. Throw sticky grenades in as well (forgot the merc version, it's the delayed explosion one that you got before level 10). I would say get rid of fusion missile, it's not cost effective. You're better off tracer missile or sweeping blasters spamming at that point.

 

Also, perhaps give Treek a shot in tank stance. I understand she will still heal in tank stance but will also keep the enemies off you with aggro. Don't be shy about using your 2 heals every now and again as well.

 

Ah, OK, now this is useful!

 

Yes, I made 26 last night with a Bounty, and got the HSM, thanks.

 

I only use Fusion Missile to open with, against an un-alerted group of Normals. I like it because it knocks them down and gives me a little time. I would never use it once the fight has begun; it just takes too freaking long. LIkewise, I only use Tracer Missile once to open with, the execute time is just too lengthy. And I don't really know what you mean by stacking...

 

Treek is an excellent suggestion, thanks. I bought Treek at half-price when she was on sale, and used Collections to open her up for my whole Legacy.

Edited March 21, 2015 by ElZaguero

[Ridickilis]

Ah, OK, now this is useful!

 

Yes, I made 26 last night with a Bounty, and got the HSM, thanks.

 

I only use Fusion Missile to open with, against an un-alerted group of Normals. I like it because it knocks them down and gives me a little time. I would never use it once the fight has begun; it just takes too freaking long. LIkewise, I only use Tracer Missile once to open with, the execute time is just too lengthy. And I don't really know what you mean by stacking...

 

Treek is an excellent suggestion, thanks. I bought Treek at half-price when she was on sale, and used Collections to open her up for my whole Legacy.

 

Explosive dart, that's the one I couldn't think of the name. It's sticky grenade for troopers. I open with that instead of fusion missile as it too knocks down weak enemies but costs a little less. Though it is a delay and not an instant but I still like it. It also stuns the one weak you throw it on as they're in a "state of panic". Then when it explodes it knocks all weaks down in the area.

 

*Wait, are you sure you mean fusion missile and not missile blast? Fusion missile is a 1.5 second channel that aoe explodes and leaves a little dot behind. Missile blast is an instant aoe attack that also knocks down weak enemies.

 

You want to use tracer missile a lot. Never use heat seeking missle on a target unless you have your "heat signature" on them first. Hitting someone with a tracer missile places a heat signature on them, then HSM does 25% more damage.

 

The stacks I'm talking about is your level 12 passive ability in your tree; tracer lock. Tracer lock increases the damage dealt by your next rail shot by 6 percent or lowers the casting time of your next healing scan by 20%. Stacks up to 5 times. Those are the stacks I'm talking about. Then level 28, lightem up, grants 2 stacks per tracer, so you only need to use it 3 times to get 5 stacks instead of 5 times.... if this makes sense. So yeah you want to use tracer often as a filler move.

 

That's also why I suggested earlier in a post that perhaps the utility power barrier may be a good idea. It builds a 1% damage reduction on the same ability (tracer missile) and also stacks 5 times. The Light 'em up in the arsenal tree also applies to the utility power barrier, so 2 stacks of damage reduction per tracer at level 28.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Ridickilis