Arsenal Mercenary is completely overpowerd

[Icykill_]

^This.

Mercs are great when they have the ability to free cast an entire game, but if they receive enemy focus they're easy to shut down. If mercs are consistently topping dps, it's more of a reflection on the declining quality of players in regs, rather than mercs being op.

When I play heals I'm finding more and more that I'm marking enemy snipers and mercs who are being left to happily free cast. I type in chat to focus those players, which is mostly ignored. Occasionally will get asked "why focus a dps?" or get the comment "but he's not healers" or something along those lines.

The devs have the ability to nerf and buff the different classes; unfortunately they can't buff common sense.

 

Well put... I took my Merc out of moth balls to see what all the fuss was... Nothing's changed except how bad people are now in regs.

I literally stood in a LOS position all match and basically dummy parsed on their multiple healers/slingers. I took 1200 damage LOL... Of course I topped the scoreboard the other Merc was close to me too...

But you have to love the burst if you can setup the proc properly to Crit missiles and then rail shot straight after. That's actually less likely in a free moving PVP environment where priorities out weight perfect parsing. Still, it was fun watching a healer die when I Crit 20k missiles and then 19k rail shot. I only did it once, but gee it felt good taking that Sorc healer down a peg.

[Lhancelot]

Come to TOFN or Harb and let me change your view on mercs

 

Just because you have some magical ability to make a turd shine doesn't mean it's not a turd. Yes, mercs are very formidable especially when played by a great player but it's not the norm.

 

I understand the will to want to stop the hyperbole, and disclaim the stupid comments saying how awful and pathetic mercs are but at the same time when people proclaim the merc as an apex indomitable force it sounds equally stupid to me.

 

The class is fun and workable in 8v8s in most circumstances. The class has glaring weaknesses when facing tunneled damage and when facing specific classes that are hard to kite or who can put up strong defensives to negate damage.

 

It is what it is. Great players can make any class shine, and bad players can make any class look awful.

 

The difference between the classes are some are easy to play and thus easier to make look good. Mercs are not the type of class a nub can jump on and make look awesome.

 

That's why bad players constantly complain how bad their merc is imo. The better players recognize the weaknesses but find the best ways to work around those and make the class fairly competitive.

[AlrikFassbauer]

Just because you have some magical ability to make a turd shine doesn't mean it's not a turd. Yes, mercs are very formidable especially when played by a great player but it's not the norm.

 

To be honest, that's exactly the same feeling I have every time when I read from someone that Sharpshooter Gunslingers are "fully viable". Excuse me, but I have become a bit bitter over the last few years regarding that. My Harbinger Gunslinger was - so to say - my last try to get this spec into something I could enjoy.

 

That's why bad players constantly complain how bad their merc is imo. The better players recognize the weaknesses but find the best ways to work around those and make the class fairly competitive.

 

I acknowledge that.

 

And I never said I was a good player.

( Nobody told me to be a hacker, too. )

Edited April 2, 2016 by AlrikFassbauer

[Lhancelot]

To be honest, that's exactly the same feeling I have every time when I read from someone that Sharpshooter Gunslingers are "fully viable". Excuse me, but I have become a bit bitter over the last few years regarding that. My Harbinger Gunslinger was - so to say - my last try to get this spec into something I could enjoy.

 

 

 

I acknowledge that.

 

And I never said I was a good player.

( Nobody told me to be a hacker, too. )

 

I think sniper/slingers are a difficult class to be good on also. If they were not, you'd see tons of them in the warzones and you don't.

 

That being said, I do play against some snipers that really surprise me with how good they are, and they can really pour out a lot of damage, topping the chart and really make a big impact on the match.

 

I also notice they run with decent players too or are on a really great team. That leads me to believe they are probably like mercs in that regard, they shine best with support.

 

I know everyone likes to say, "but EVERY class is like that!!!!" But... they are not. I can actually play a madness sorc, healing sorc and perform noteably well even on a terrible team. Both specs are very self-sufficient.

[ToMyMa]

Come to TOFN or Harb and let me change your view on mercs

 

TOFN rather, prepare for a double dose of FOTM MERC

[omaan]

Time to bring this FOTM spec into the light. Warzones are now nothing but electronets, 4 mercs per team average most games with the rest being sorcs. This spec is totally over performing right now and it needs to be brought down to Marksmanship dps numbers. There is absolutely no reason Arsenal spec should be doing more dps than most DoT specs in sustained damage. Why has BW not nerfed the surge on this spec, down to 10% like all the other specs. Trying to play a melee spec while being killed by 7k ticks from electronet, and 8k ticks of blazing bolts is just ridiculous. Not to mention the other totally insane burst hits they have, capable of achieving well over 35k in 2 global cooldowns with crits from HSM and rail shot.

 

I know there is a ton of merc fan boys out there that are gonna be upset about this post, but I really think people have just been afraid to come out and say how OP arsenal spec is, because mercs were garbage for so long. There is currently nothing in the game that can burst like an arsenal merc, and almost nothing aside from marauder that can match its sustained dps. IO is supposed to be your high dps spec, currently we see NONE of them. Why? because arsenal is so OP its totally unreal. And don't even say that they have weak defensive cooldowns. Its way harder to kill an arsenal merc than it is a Sorc, don't kid yourself.

 

The only reason this spec is sliding by right now is because they are overshadowed by Sorc healers. But I assure you once sorc heals get neutered into uselessness arsenal is next in line.

 

When i saw this thread first time i thought "ah,another whining thread",but after this i got in a fight with several mercenaries on wrz and noticed that they really have big damage,much bigger than other classes. Electro net + freedom ability + huge damage make them fotm indeed. They shoot me down so fast that i can't even notice how my hp gets down.

[Ruhun]

When i saw this thread first time i thought "ah,another whining thread",but after this i got in a fight with several mercenaries on wrz and noticed that they really have big damage,much bigger than other classes. Electro net + freedom ability + huge damage make them fotm indeed. They shoot me down so fast that i can't even notice how my hp gets down.

 

I would be ************ about enet if I didn't hate Sorcs so much, but a Netted sorc taking a Merc + my burst is something I'm enjoying right now.

[Lhancelot]

I would be ************ about enet if I didn't hate Sorcs so much, but a Netted sorc taking a Merc + my burst is something I'm enjoying right now.

 

Yep, the weaknesses the merc have right now is worth managing as long as you get to net some stealths or sorcs.

 

The best is netting an overconfident sorc then bursting them dead which is easy if you got one other decent dps on them.

 

I have been on the other end of this, when I am so used to pathetic dps on my sorc, when i face competent burst specs that actually tunnel their damage I have gotten blown up so fast I never even got a chance to bubble. it's embarassing, but it happens.

[Dysfunxtional]

Okay hi I'm a bit late to this thread because I rarely play this game since it's been over 5months since 4.0 dropped and still no season 7. Haven't actively played in 3months.

 

This thread alone with the OP are a joke. In no way is Arsenal Merc overpowered, I played this class since day one of 4.0 in team ranked on the Harbinger and beat every single team with it. To do that requires kiting, LoS and defensive utilities. In no way is the class successful with out taking defensive talents such as, 30% DR while stunned and 30% AoE DR along with taking dmg lowers the cd of your energy shield. Which are both your heroics talents.

 

Now since most teams run with Snipers and or Powertechs both those classes can easily shutdown an Arsenal Merc. Especially a Sniper since Arsenal has zero white dmg mitigation. A powertech can just sit on the Merc and shut them down unless the Merc has brains and kites the Powertech back and has support from his/her healer. (Healer would have to stand inbetween the Merc and tank/second dps on the team) while the merc is kiting away to lure the PT or any other melee dps sitting on the merc in hopes they would go out of guard range so the merc can blow them up. I personally did that everygame and got very easy kills on melee doing that. Which requires a lot of coordination from your team for all of them to know what they're doing.

 

Now people are going to be like blah blah blah mercs hit hard. Sure mercs hit hard. I'd say on a geared player 20k-22k heatseeker is pretty normal maybe push it to 24k~ if lucky with relics on a sorc. I'm not sure why anybody here is complaining since snipers can do that as well and Snipers can't even be interrupted or stunned 80% of the time. While a Merc can be interrupted and stunned constantly. Not to mention in a team ranked environment Snipers defensive cooldowns are incredibly strong. I only read a few pages of this thread until I was bored of the drool, I think I saw someone complaining about mercs doing 18k railshots? Yeah that's correct if the other player is in PvE gear lol.

 

Now to you OP. You say Arsenal Merc is OP, you post a video to prove you've played a Merc before. A video of you playing IO with a Pocket healer, we all know IO can pull great numbers with the dotspreads and what ever else, IO is essentially a ranged Pyro PT of 1.4 Great Burst and sustained. But you're not even playing the Spec you call OP so that entire post you made is thrown out lmao. Not to mention you're talking about regs, where any class that a player is good at on an out standing level will look good especially since most people just run premades these days with healers since this game is a joke.

 

Absolutely any class with a Pocket healer will look great in the hands of a good player in regs.

 

@OP I suggest you take Arsenal Merc into team ranked against a competent team (If there is any left on this game) and see how Overpowered it really is.

 

Oh and L2P

 

~T1 S3 Mando, T1 S4 Merc/Mando T1 S5 & S6 Merc.

 

Thanks and I'll go back to hibernating again. PST Smh on Harb for Lessons /Who Pizza Cats

Edited April 3, 2016 by Dysfunxtional

[Icykill_]

When i saw this thread first time i thought "ah,another whining thread",but after this i got in a fight with several mercenaries on wrz and noticed that they really have big damage,much bigger than other classes. Electro net + freedom ability + huge damage make them fotm indeed. They shoot me down so fast that i can't even notice how my hp gets down.

 

Several Mercs? Of course they seem bursty with big damage... Try a Merc in 1v1 against 60% of other classes and come back and tell us they put out bigger damage than other classes.

Have you ever been in a match with 4 snipers?.. Lots more damage than a Merc... How about 4 or more juggs or Maras.

Mercs do pump out some damage, but certainly not the biggest.. And if they put out more damage than normal, I would say that either they were allowed to free cast all match or they were just exceptional players who would have done that on any class.

[Dysfunxtional]

Mercs are only op if there is a premade of like 4 of them queing and you have no heals on your team. 1v1 mercs die to just about every class.

 

Incorrect .....

This thread is what happens when most of the good PvPers have moved on to other games.

 

Some mediocre rando thinks Merc is overpowered because they can run around in pugged 8s pewpewing unopposed.

 

Awesomesauce. Perhaps I should play on SL some more. Play my Jugg perhaps.

 

This post sums up this thread nicely. If I wasn't Australian and have 300+ Ping on an East Coast server I'd go to SL and farm some pheasants.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Dysfunxtional

[Icykill_]

Okay hi I'm a bit late to this thread because I rarely play this game since it's been over 5months since 4.0 dropped and still no season 7. Haven't actively played in 3months.

 

This thread alone with the OP are a joke. In no way is Arsenal Merc overpowered, I played this class since day one of 4.0 in team ranked on the Harbinger and beat every single team with it. To do that requires kiting, LoS and defensive utilities. In no way is the class successful with out taking defensive talents such as, 30% DR while stunned and 30% AoE DR along with taking dmg lowers the cd of your energy shield. Which are both your heroics talents.

 

Now since most teams run with Snipers and or Powertechs both those classes can easily shutdown an Arsenal Merc. Especially a Sniper since Arsenal has zero white dmg mitigation. A powertech can just sit on the Merc and shut them down unless the Merc has brains and kites the Powertech back and has support from his/her healer. (Healer would have to stand inbetween the Merc and tank/second dps on the team) while the merc is kiting away to lure the PT or any other melee dps sitting on the merc in hopes they would go out of guard range so the merc can blow them up. I personally did that everygame and got very easy kills on melee doing that. Which requires a lot of coordination from your team for all of them to know what they're doing.

 

Now people are going to be like blah blah blah mercs hit hard. Sure mercs hit hard. I'd say on a geared player 20k-22k heatseeker is pretty normal maybe push it to 24k~ if lucky with relics on a sorc. I'm not sure why anybody here is complaining since snipers can do that as well and Snipers can't even be interrupted or stunned 80% of the time. While a Merc can be interrupted and stunned constantly. Not to mention in a team ranked environment Snipers defensive cooldowns are incredibly strong. I only read a few pages of this thread until I was bored of the drool, I think I saw someone complaining about mercs doing 18k railshots? Yeah that's correct if the other player is in PvE gear lol.

 

Now to you OP. You say Arsenal Merc is OP, you post a video to prove you've played a Merc before. A video of you playing IO with a Pocket healer, we all know IO can pull great numbers with the dotspreads and what ever else, IO is essentially a ranged Pyro PT of 1.4 Great Burst and sustained. But you're not even playing the Spec you call OP so that entire post you made is thrown out lmao. Not to mention you're talking about regs, where any class that a player is good at on an out standing level will look good especially since most people just run premades these days with healers since this game is a joke.

 

Absolutely any class with a Pocket healer will look great in the hands of a good player in regs.

 

@OP I suggest you take Arsenal Merc into team ranked against a competent team (If there is any left on this game) and see how Overpowered it really is.

 

Oh and L2P

 

~T1 S3 Mando, T1 S4 Merc/Mando T1 S5 & S6 Merc.

 

Thanks and I'll go back to hibernating again. PST Smh on Harb for Lessons /Who Pizza Cats

 

Hi Carthy, good post

 

Can I pick your brain on stats for a sec, I've only taken my Merc back off the shelf recently and like you've mentioned, Mercs can get easily interrupted. Priming shot seems to "not" instant crit Tracer a lot more than I think it should. I know defence CDs can effect that a bit. My question is, do you use much accuracy for ranked or any at all. I've seen some people say none, which is what I had, I've tried the 1 piece of accuracy method and didn't see a change.. I'm now onto the 104.99 accuracy build to test. It's hard to say if it's helped in regs because the skill lvl in them is appalling now.

[Icykill_]

Incorrect .....

 

 

This post sums up this thread nicely. If I wasn't Australian and have 300+ Ping on an East Coast server I'd go to SL and farm some pheasants.

 

LOL.. Im also from Aus... But damn babe, how the hell do you do so well with that ping, I know youre good, I remember you from Dalbors, but your skill is at a whole other lvl with 300ms... I'm always getting Globaled in ranked because of those Americans and their 20ms.. Of course my skill lvl isn't much better than average compared to the "old" ranked people.

[Dysfunxtional]

Hi Carthy, good post

 

Can I pick your brain on stats for a sec, I've only taken my Merc back off the shelf recently and like you've mentioned, Mercs can get easily interrupted. Priming shot seems to "not" instant crit Tracer a lot more than I think it should. I know defence CDs can effect that a bit. My question is, do you use much accuracy for ranked or any at all. I've seen some people say none, which is what I had, I've tried the 1 piece of accuracy method and didn't see a change.. I'm now onto the 104.99 accuracy build to test. It's hard to say if it's helped in regs because the skill lvl in them is appalling now.

 

I don't run any accuracy, having priming shot miss can be a major problem in certain situations especially if you're being tunneled and getting interrupted on Tracer Missile which leaves you with Explosive Dart, HeatSeeker (If its not on CD) and an unproc'd Blazing Bolts (Which still does decent damage and still snares the target greatly) My current stats on my Merc are 4612 Mastery, 3035 Power, 1233 Crit and 502 Alacrity. I'm not sure if that's *BiS* I'm sure others have found slightly better stats but imo it makes very little difference in overall DPS.

 

In terms of ranked having your Priming Shot miss there are several things you can do, if you have Rocket Out up you can use the Blazing Bolts with out a proc for the snare then rocket out, you'll have created a decent out of distance and the target will be snared and can't get into range of you (Assuming they don't have a leap up.) Which will allow you to cast Tracer Missile. Also being tunneled constantly you're shield is going to be up a lot of the time which will grant interrupt immunity if you take the talents for it. (Power shield for the immunity and Energy Rebounder for Energy Shield cd to be reduced by 3 seconds every 1.5 seconds of you taking damage.)

 

If you're being tunneled by a Ranged class Sniper/Sorc/Another Merc. Sorc is very easy since your over all burst and constant damage is going to destroy them with you trading dmg, Snipers are a lot harder, MM being the easiest since it's a lot easier to LoS compared to Lethality. How I countered a MM sniper was to constantly LoS them forcing them to get out of cover to chase and eventually giving up. (Least the Snipers I played in 4s did.) Lethality I found to be more trouble since it's dots and cull is instant dmg (No cast to start losing before the dmg) I found face tanking a bit more and trying to out pressure them to work the best.

 

 

This of course is all my prospective from team ranked solo ranked is a lot different.

[Hoppinswtor]

I've found the best way to counter lethality is to listen to that tell tale sound of weakening blast, which will usually be activated the GCD before Cull. It kinda makes a grinding sound. If you have an LOS object nearby, you can usually block all but the first tick of the cull. Edited April 3, 2016 by Hoppinswtor

[Icykill_]

I don't run any accuracy, having priming shot miss can be a major problem in certain situations especially if you're being tunneled and getting interrupted on Tracer Missile which leaves you with Explosive Dart, HeatSeeker (If its not on CD) and an unproc'd Blazing Bolts (Which still does decent damage and still snares the target greatly) My current stats on my Merc are 4612 Mastery, 3035 Power, 1233 Crit and 502 Alacrity. I'm not sure if that's *BiS* I'm sure others have found slightly better stats but imo it makes very little difference in overall DPS.

 

In terms of ranked having your Priming Shot miss there are several things you can do, if you have Rocket Out up you can use the Blazing Bolts with out a proc for the snare then rocket out, you'll have created a decent out of distance and the target will be snared and can't get into range of you (Assuming they don't have a leap up.) Which will allow you to cast Tracer Missile. Also being tunneled constantly you're shield is going to be up a lot of the time which will grant interrupt immunity if you take the talents for it. (Power shield for the immunity and Energy Rebounder for Energy Shield cd to be reduced by 3 seconds every 1.5 seconds of you taking damage.)

 

If you're being tunneled by a Ranged class Sniper/Sorc/Another Merc. Sorc is very easy since your over all burst and constant damage is going to destroy them with you trading dmg, Snipers are a lot harder, MM being the easiest since it's a lot easier to LoS compared to Lethality. How I countered a MM sniper was to constantly LoS them forcing them to get out of cover to chase and eventually giving up. (Least the Snipers I played in 4s did.) Lethality I found to be more trouble since it's dots and cull is instant dmg (No cast to start losing before the dmg) I found face tanking a bit more and trying to out pressure them to work the best.

 

 

This of course is all my prospective from team ranked solo ranked is a lot different.

 

Thanks babe for those tactics and the stats. I'll get mine back to those and start practicing those tactics.

[Dysfunxtional]

Thanks babe for those tactics and the stats. I'll get mine back to those and start practicing those tactics.

 

Np Pst me in game or msg on forums for anything regarding solo ranked if you want. Preferable in game whispers or if I'm not online send a mail since I won't have posting privileges for very long.

 

I've found the best way to counter lethality is to listen to that tell tale sound of weakening blast, which will usually be activated the GCD before Cull. It kinda makes a grinding sound. If you have an LOS object nearby, you can usually block all but the first tick of the cull.

 

That's actually really good lmao. Next time I do team ranked vs a Lethality Sniper I'll have to turn up my game sounds thx

Edited April 3, 2016 by Dysfunxtional

[Chimerako]

You cant compare class or AC performance between regs and arenas. Merc dps IS a bit OP in 8 v 8 regs not in ranked. Most ppl don't play ranked which is why I'm baffled that's it's always brought up as some kind of counter point. The best comp in ranked doesn't really mean anything when translated over to regs objective based wz. Merc are currently the best objective clearing class in the game. You can dominate nodes and force players in to poor positions consistently. Unlike burst melee you also have target freedom where you don't have to be very selective on who you target, and little fear of random cc or constant stun locks.

 

when I read this thread I jumped in regs on a IO merc the worst of the two specs, without using dot spread and I unbound serrated shot from my keybinds. lol I had 1.7 mill damage topped dps and never died. Yeah it was a pug wz but still and I wasn't free casting I had shadows and sents on me all match.

[Kaedusz]

You cant compare class or AC performance between regs and arenas. Merc dps IS a bit OP in 8 v 8 regs not in ranked. Most ppl don't play ranked which is why I'm baffled that's it's always brought up as some kind of counter point. The best comp in ranked doesn't really mean anything when translated over to regs objective based wz. Merc are currently the best objective clearing class in the game. You can dominate nodes and force players in to poor positions consistently. Unlike burst melee you also have target freedom where you don't have to be very selective on who you target, and little fear of random cc or constant stun locks.

 

You do realize this counts for all ranged classes in all dps specs.

[Kaedusz]

My current stats on my Merc are 4612 Mastery, 3035 Power, 1233 Crit and 502 Alacrity.

 

Can somebody give their impression of alacrity in Arsenal and/or IO.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Kaedusz

[Lhancelot]

Can somebody give their impression of alacrity in Arsenal and/or IO.

 

It seems to smooth out the rotation on arsenal, I have 4-5% alacrity, not much but it does seem to flow better than when I ran with zero alacrity. I imagine it aint a big difference in performance though.

 

I actually was thinking of trying an overload of alacrity for ***** and giggles just to see how it worked on my arsenal merc.

 

I put all alacrity on a dps sage, had 17.9% and it was fun.

[Icykill_]

It seems to smooth out the rotation on arsenal, I have 4-5% alacrity, not much but it does seem to flow better than when I ran with zero alacrity. I imagine it aint a big difference in performance though.

 

I actually was thinking of trying an overload of alacrity for ***** and giggles just to see how it worked on my arsenal merc.

 

I put all alacrity on a dps sage, had 17.9% and it was fun.

 

I can confirm that Carthy's suggested Alacrity works well.

[Dysfunxtional]

You cant compare class or AC performance between regs and arenas. Merc dps IS a bit OP in 8 v 8 regs not in ranked. Most ppl don't play ranked which is why I'm baffled that's it's always brought up as some kind of counter point. The best comp in ranked doesn't really mean anything when translated over to regs objective based wz. Merc are currently the best objective clearing class in the game. You can dominate nodes and force players in to poor positions consistently. Unlike burst melee you also have target freedom where you don't have to be very selective on who you target, and little fear of random cc or constant stun locks.

 

when I read this thread I jumped in regs on a IO merc the worst of the two specs, without using dot spread and I unbound serrated shot from my keybinds. lol I had 1.7 mill damage topped dps and never died. Yeah it was a pug wz but still and I wasn't free casting I had shadows and sents on me all match.

 

Overall dmg means nothing, what was the dps?

 

The strongest classes in ranked will preform insanely well in regs as well .... It's always a counter point because balance should never be done from 8v8 regs lol which is where all these qq threads come from.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Dysfunxtional

[Kaedusz]

Ok i recently got 420 alacrity. Getting any more and i feel the the burst would be impacted too severely. But yes it kinda feels the class flows better, even if it has a little less of a punch. Edited April 4, 2016 by Kaedusz

[Dysfunxtional]

Ok i recently got 420 alacrity. Getting any more and i feel the the burst would be impacted too severely. But yes it kinda feels the class flows better, even if it has a little less of a punch.

 

Running 500~ I still get 20-24k heatseekers along with 6k+ blazing bolt ticks. It's mostly just personal preference and play style since it doesn't really change your overall dps.

 

It's the same as a Hatred Assassin, A lot of people swear by alacrity for faster dot ticks but the highest dpsing sin I've seen and played with ran full power/crit and was constantly pulling 4-4.5 dps in 4s

 

I've been using Alacrity on most of my classes for a while now so with out it makes everything feel slow.