how does merc compare to sorc?

[LordLojak]

forgive me if i seem ignorant but im just returning to the game and i havent gotten around to playing my merc yet but im asking this right before i turn in for the night.

 

in terms of healing, off healing in dmg mode in a pvp and pve aspect. i was gonna have my Operative as my main but she doesnt feel quite right dmg wise and in pvp i suck at melee range hence why its down to the sorc and merc.

 

i do remember than even tho a merc wears heavy armor she was rather squishy at times. and sorc now has phase walk to get out of trouble.

[Lalainnia]

forgive me if i seem ignorant but im just returning to the game and i havent gotten around to playing my merc yet but im asking this right before i turn in for the night.

 

in terms of healing, off healing in dmg mode in a pvp and pve aspect. i was gonna have my Operative as my main but she doesnt feel quite right dmg wise and in pvp i suck at melee range hence why its down to the sorc and merc.

 

i do remember than even tho a merc wears heavy armor she was rather squishy at times. and sorc now has phase walk to get out of trouble.

 

Healing tree is behind in ever possible aspect except maybe stacked aoe healing if you can even sustain that. ONly dps tree that can think of having any impact offhealing is arsenal and you need to spend a minimum of 2 stacks of tracer lock imo for it to even have a decent impact.

 

As for pve it's fine behind in pve as well but it's not like we can't clear content. If you happen to find ppl that still do NIm where there are just few it favors sages.

 

As for the heavy armor part it matters way more in pve compared to pvp and sorcs biggest previous issue at the start of rav and tos is gone with the 30% aoe DR heroic talent .

 

If you're wondering what to invest time in go with a sorc overall enjoyment should be better pvp and pve. Merc heals have only ever been near to top dog around launch and that was when the game was chaotic and pretty broken in general , with that though feel free to try your merc out I still love mine as sappy as it may seem that's what matters in the end if your good at it and enjoy it go ahead and play it.

[NuRhoPhi]

Healing tree is behind in ever possible aspect except maybe stacked aoe healing if you can even sustain that. ONly dps tree that can think of having any impact offhealing is arsenal and you need to spend a minimum of 2 stacks of tracer lock imo for it to even have a decent impact.

 

As for pve it's fine behind in pve as well but it's not like we can't clear content. If you happen to find ppl that still do NIm where there are just few it favors sages.

 

As for the heavy armor part it matters way more in pve compared to pvp and sorcs biggest previous issue at the start of rav and tos is gone with the 30% aoe DR heroic talent .

 

If you're wondering what to invest time in go with a sorc overall enjoyment should be better pvp and pve. Merc heals have only ever been near to top dog around launch and that was when the game was chaotic and pretty broken in general , with that though feel free to try your merc out I still love mine as sappy as it may seem that's what matters in the end if your good at it and enjoy it go ahead and play it.

 

Off-healing: the DoT-spec can make rapid scan activate instantly every 15s with magshot (/ medical probe, magbolt republic). And, DoT-spec rapid scan costs 5 less heat.

Thing is, arsenal can be similarly mobile than assault specialist, additionaly arsenal can afford the heat for the off-heal. Still, in pure "continuous off-heal" mode, IO should come out on top from the 5 reduced heat cost I think.

(equally mobile: *** are you smoking NuRhoPhi: Dot-spec uses magshot every 15s for an instant cast ability. This can be serrated shot, power shot or the rapid scan.

Incendiary round, thermal detonator, magshot and unload can be fired on the move (thrill of the hunt). This means, the rotation has two cast-time abilities: serrated shot, and power shot.

Arsenal: Tracer missile is the only thing that needs to be cast. Reset Blazing Bolts cooldown, and fire on the move whilst channeling. Priming shot, heatseekers, railshot: all insta-cast.

Simpler rotation, direct damage.. yup, tends to be an advantage for pvp.

 

Also: heavy armor: empty body: +10% all healing received (not life steal).

And, life steal, or self-heals from their bubble, and the option to take indeed -30% AoE damage as well as -15% DoT damage etc.

Edited January 8, 2016 by NuRhoPhi

[AlrikFassbauer]

In terms of healing, I read that Sorcs are superior in almost any aspect over any other healing class in PvP right now.

Or so I understood it.

[Lalainnia]

Off-healing: the DoT-spec can make rapid scan activate instantly every 15s with magshot (/ medical probe, magbolt republic). And, DoT-spec rapid scan costs 5 less heat.

Thing is, arsenal can be similarly mobile than assault specialist, additionaly arsenal can afford the heat for the off-heal. Still, in pure "continuous off-heal" mode, IO should come out on top from the 5 reduced heat cost I think.

(equally mobile: *** are you smoking NuRhoPhi: Dot-spec uses magshot every 15s for an instant cast ability. This can be serrated shot, power shot or the rapid scan.

Incendiary round, thermal detonator, magshot and unload can be fired on the move (thrill of the hunt). This means, the rotation has two cast-time abilities: serrated shot, and power shot.

Arsenal: Tracer missile is the only thing that needs to be cast. Reset Blazing Bolts cooldown, and fire on the move whilst channeling. Priming shot, heatseekers, railshot: all insta-cast.

Simpler rotation, direct damage.. yup, tends to be an advantage for pvp.

 

Also: heavy armor: empty body: +10% all healing received (not life steal).

And, life steal, or self-heals from their bubble, and the option to take indeed -30% AoE damage as well as -15% DoT damage etc.

 

Yup main reason I picked arsenal over IQ for offhealing is really tracer lock with the 20-100% heal buff on rapid scan is just to big even if IQ can get an instant cast 1 every 15 secs and has a lower heat cost by 5.

[ForceWelder]

For PVP, healing isn't even part of the consideration.

 

It all comes down to survivability.

 

The Merc / Mando has none. All they can do is use their over abundance of utilities and hope like crazy they can outheal the DPS they are receiving.

 

Universally, it is known that merc / mandos have very weak survival skills. They lack an effective escape or target break ability. And generally speaking if you get hit with a back to back stun, you might as well give it up. Your dead.

 

The merc / mando require range to stay alive. And to be honest, too many classes have ways to break the distance. Add in the poor stealth detection of the class, and the merc / mando has players on them before they can even have a hope of enabling their weak defenses and / or fighting back.

 

If your goal is to PVP, merc / mando is the absolute worse classes to play. If you goal is to run as a healer in ops and other PVE type events, merc / mando is still the weakest of the three healers.

 

Go with sorc.

 

And if you don't believe anything I say, then look at the leadership boards. The lack of merc / mandos on those boards should speak volumes.

[MayhemVaper]

I couldn't tell you much about the dps aspect of mercenary, however I will have to disagree with the majority vote of merc heals sucks, because quite simply they don't. I will say that a sorcerer is probably the easiest to heal with however I don't believe that mercenary nor scoundrel are completely irrelevant because the sorc.

 

I actually just started doing these videos on mercenary healing feel free to watch.

 

[Lalainnia]

I couldn't tell you much about the dps aspect of mercenary, however I will have to disagree with the majority vote of merc heals sucks, because quite simply they don't. I will say that a sorcerer is probably the easiest to heal with however I don't believe that mercenary nor scoundrel are completely irrelevant because the sorc.

 

I actually just started doing these videos on mercenary healing feel free to watch.

 

 

It's nice that you love ur merc and all and keep playing it if you do but all that video did was really just help enforce that sorc healing is better on top of the fact that other team had no real dps besides a dot spreading sage and sent. You have 3 healers including yourself and a tank that are hardly if ever focused. You also kotlo bomb a lot on full hp targets along with using major heals like successive treatment on full hp targets and also refresh ur shells a bit to early. I mean the sorc did 2.6 mill to your 1.8 and half a round of node guarding won't cause that. Again its nice you love your merc I love mine too but the only thing a merc can do that's better is stacked aoe healing with kolto bomb and even then you need the initial hit to crit otherwise its pretty weak.

 

Side note while kolto bomb on cd is nice for aoe healing and pretty numbers it's not sustainable if you're actively using you other heals like rapid scan and healing scan.

 

Have fun tho

[MayhemVaper]

Utility is key, I would tag my other videos but I can see it's pointless. No worries have fun on the sorc is the only viable healer to play train. If you notice in the video I say " on downtime" make sure to re kolto shell anyone, and start building stacks,key being " on downtime" so to say that i re apply kolto shell to early doesn't strike right, but that's ok everyone is entitled to their opinions. As far as " numbers " sure I normally( not always) see sorcs putting out a little more than I do, but once again I'm not sure what gear that sorc had as I know I'm half 204/208. Maybe I'm wrong for saying this but to blatantly tell someone that merc healing is pretty much worthless is wrong in my opinion. Most the time it's the same people that do not understand how to be a "healer" that make those remarks. Healing to me is a lot more than just who has the highest numbers.. Back to the OP's original topic, I would answer it like this.

 

Play what you want to play, I play all 3 healers but spend most of my time on my mercenary because I enjoy it. But for the love of god don't just jump on sorcs because they are the " bandwagon" . Although I will admit that sorcerer is hands down the easiest " class" to play. If your looking for a challenge play merc, if your looking for a real challenge play operative, if your looking for an easy transition play sorc. That's what I would suggest to you.

Edited January 11, 2016 by MayhemVaper

[Lalainnia]

Utility is key, I would tag my other videos but I can see it's pointless. No worries have fun on the sorc is the only viable healer to play train. If you notice in the video I say " on downtime" make sure to re kolto shell anyone, and start building stacks,key being " on downtime" so to say that i re apply kolto shell to early doesn't strike right, but that's ok everyone is entitled to their opinions. As far as " numbers " sure I normally( not always) see sorcs putting out a little more than I do, but once again I'm not sure what gear that sorc had as I know I'm half 204/208. Maybe I'm wrong for saying this but to blatantly tell someone that merc healing is pretty much worthless is wrong in my opinion. Most the time it's the same people that do not understand how to be a "healer" that make those remarks. Healing to me is a lot more than just who has the highest numbers.. Back to the OP's original topic, I would answer it like this.

 

Play what you want to play, I play all 3 healers but spend most of my time on my mercenary because I enjoy it. But for the love of god don't just jump on sorcs because they are the " bandwagon" . Although I will admit that sorcerer is hands down the easiest " class" to play. If your looking for a challenge play merc, if your looking for a real challenge play operative, if your looking for an easy transition play sorc. That's what I would suggest to you.

 

I'm going based of what i saw in the video you had instances where u applied it when hp was missing from targets that should have been healed with other moves I also play all three healing Acs and have been playing from 1.0 while my sorc was my first toon I play my merc/mando the most and anyone can love the spec to death but in the current state of swtor healing and 4.0 they come no where close to comparing you can stay delusional and all but its a a fact that mercs have less output in all areas compared to a sorc even in a stand still pve scenario except for aoe stacked healing and even then u need lucky crits on the initial kolto bomb heal.

 

When we have less output on top of poor utility point choices and power shield being our main def cd, were also hard capped on our overall healing output because of very very poor energy management the only way our energy will stay decent is if we pray to be rooted or stunned with the alignment jets utility vs great dps. Also 2.6 vs 1..1 healing is not a small gap and while i absolutely agree that highest healing isn't the most important thing you did nothing in that specific video to save anyone or even keep some plays topped off the majority of the healing done came from the sorc as well as the saves the most notable thing done was when you went back to the node to guard for half a round because you had lazy teammates. Ultimately your role as a healer is to heal you can off dps to add extra pressure or help secure a kill if no healing is needed cc key targets in the back to set up kills for dps or peel but if the spec is bad at its actual role which medics and bodyguards are there is no real point to play it other then loving the spec. Lastly the only special utility mercs provide are E-met and an instant cast mez outside of that they do nothing special team utility wise.

[WarriorMark]

I'm going based of what i saw in the video you had instances where u applied it when hp was missing from targets that should have been healed with other moves I also play all three healing Acs and have been playing from 1.0 while my sorc was my first toon I play my merc/mando the most and anyone can love the spec to death but in the current state of swtor healing and 4.0 they come no where close to comparing you can stay delusional and all but its a a fact that mercs have less output in all areas compared to a sorc even in a stand still pve scenario except for aoe stacked healing and even then u need lucky crits on the initial kolto bomb heal.

 

When we have less output on top of poor utility point choices and power shield being our main def cd, were also hard capped on our overall healing output because of very very poor energy management the only way our energy will stay decent is if we pray to be rooted or stunned with the alignment jets utility vs great dps. Also 2.6 vs 1..1 healing is not a small gap and while i absolutely agree that highest healing isn't the most important thing you did nothing in that specific video to save anyone or even keep some plays topped off the majority of the healing done came from the sorc as well as the saves the most notable thing done was when you went back to the node to guard for half a round because you had lazy teammates. Ultimately your role as a healer is to heal you can off dps to add extra pressure or help secure a kill if no healing is needed cc key targets in the back to set up kills for dps or peel but if the spec is bad at its actual role which medics and bodyguards are there is no real point to play it other then loving the spec. Lastly the only special utility mercs provide are E-met and an instant cast mez outside of that they do nothing special team utility wise.

 

 

 

This can't be Donna from MEU can it?

[Lalainnia]

This can't be Donna from MEU can it?

 

MEU? huh....?

[MayhemVaper]

Well Here is another one, however something tells me you might bomb this one too, so for what it's worth here you go.

 

[Lalainnia]

Well Here is another one, however something tells me you might bomb this one too, so for what it's worth here you go.

 

[/QUOT

 

nuuu nuu nuu bonk I don't bomb don't have the heart to bomb Iv'e only ever actually "bombed" like 1 person and got a fracture thingy for it. I simple don't want ppl to grow bitter with a sub par spec. A few things I will mention for u tho that will hopefully help u. Don't back pedal, only honest time that's ever useful is when you turn around to jet escape like u did a few times. Next You overheat a lot, in a match vs dps that will actually try to kill you and focus you down I really suggest taking gyro alignment jets least for regs, also a good idea to use thermal overrides on progressive scan or rapid scan otherwise looks fine and just learn what other specs and classes can do to react better like using ints on sents is a waste and actually helps them because it breaks that silly channel and lets them go back to actual dpsing.

 

Ultimately though I'm just trying to make sure ppl are aware of the fact that mando and merc healers are the weakest of the 3 and that will honestly make it less painful when it clicks. There are 3 things that honestly come to my mind when I think of something we excel at . we bring e net yup.....2 we can face tank damage like no other with guard and a co healer. 3 we are the aoe stacked kings and queens of heals in a pve environment and possibly pvp if enough ppl stay together stacked. Really though by all means play the spec you clearly have a great grasp on it and enjoy it and that's what really matters in the end.

 

my sub runs out tonight i think so I'm pretty sure I won't be able to reply if u re post something either way play what u have fun with.

[knell]

I love my merc heals in pvp. It's a really a fun class to play and takes alot to master. Not everyone can survive initial burst. That being said, I put out way more heals per second (probably double) on a Sorc. I stopped worrying about what's best and stuck to play style I liked. We could use a buff but Merc heals can hold their own in right hands.

 

Small buff suggestion - Add HoT on Kolto shot that stacks or kolto shot increases effectiveness of kolto shell by some percentage every stack.

 

-Lotto