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Simple solution for fixing dps Mercs/Commandos


tehrealdealz

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I think right now the problem with dps mercs and commandos is that they have to stay still in order to do any kind of decent damage. (talking about the arsenal/gunnery trees) In PVE that might be fine but in PVP if you stand still for too long your going to draw attention from hungry marauders/juggs, especially if your a dps merc (yes youre an easy kill). So what I think BW should do is make it so that tracer missile/grav round can be casted while moving. That will fix the issue of mercs/commandos being nothing more than turrets in wZs.

 

Also another thing is mercs/commandos need an ability like "Hold The Line" which will make the merc immune to all movement impairing effects for 8 secs AND give them a 30% speed boost. Those two changes right there will solve the problems dps mercs are having in WZs.

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I could only see that working if they put a cooldown on it.

 

hold the line does have a 30 sec cd. But yes tracer missile needs to be able to be cast while moving. Will that bring the merc ac in line with the other classes? probably not. mercs need a lot of help atm.

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The underlying problem with DPS Mercenary/Commando is that it is completely overshadowed by Sniper/Gunslinger. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to play a DPS mercenary in this game. Snipers are glass canons, whereas mercenary’s are just glass.

 

I completely agree with the OP's suggested changes. If arsenal mercenary’s are given mobility, then the tree would (finally) serve a purpose and not be completely overshadowed by the marksmanship sniper tree.

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Great suggestions in this thread. Any one or two would make the specs Viable and an actual threat for end game, ranked/competitive PvP play. We definitely need one or two of the following:

 

-Protection against interrupts.

 

-Greater mobility

 

-Higher Survivability

 

-1 more VIABLE, reliable, and on demand escape mechanism and or snare. As Gunnery our only snare comes from a channeled ability, rooting us in the process, this is counter productive, it should either root for 1-2 seconds or be cast able while moving. As Assault we have an unreliable and absurdly awkward 30% speed reduction snare, sweltering heat not only is not usable on demand with a proc chance of 16%(talented) BUT proves to now be insignificant due to being reduced to 30% reduced slow speed. I understand the nerf overall, as it was justified for Vanguards/Powertechs but it unfortunately was essential for Commando/Mercenary survivability, even at 50% it proved to be a gamble due to it's unpredictably and lack of on demand usage.

 

-Further emphasizing our mobility problems, we either need a backwards jet pack leap, speed boost or if you intend to make Heavy Armor actually mean something and intend to make us the tank caster, which seems to be the case, increase our survivability/armor/health pools. Seems like we sacrifice an abundant amount of utility for something (heavy armor) which frankly is no where near worth it's cost.

Edited by LeonHawkeye
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The underlying problem with DPS Mercenary/Commando is that it is completely overshadowed by Sniper/Gunslinger. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to play a DPS mercenary in this game. Snipers are glass canons, whereas mercenary’s are just glass.

 

I completely agree with the OP's suggested changes. If arsenal mercenary’s are given mobility, then the tree would (finally) serve a purpose and not be completely overshadowed by the marksmanship sniper tree.

 

Very well put. That is why you hardly see a dps merc in a WZ nowadays. Yes, i'm sure someone will come in here and post a link about how dps mercs are fine because 1 merc out of a 1000 is awesome and pulls 500k dps a wz and that everyone else needs to learn to play. Stop fooling yourselves. Mercs need a lot of help atm and I can say this for certain that the Merc AC is light years behind other ACs as far as being PVP viable. (speaking again about the Arsenal tree btw, which is the only tree that matters.)

 

I know when this game first came out, everyone was crying about how mercs primary ability (tracer missile) was doing so much damage and was considered OP. Here's the thing. That ability right there was the only reason mercs were pvp viable because we really had nothing else and Heatseeker Missile was still broken at the time and was hardly worth using. But what did BW do? They nerfed Tracer Missile to the ground and made mercs useless in the process.

 

So here is what I propose to BW.

 

1.) Make tracer missile castable while moving. (That right there will literally solve a majority of the mercs problems)

2.) Give mercs some kind of interrupt immunity like the vanguards "Pulse Generator" talent.

3.) GIve mercs some kind of snare immunity/speed buff like the Vanguards "Hold the Line"

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Good grief NO to making tracer/grav castable while moving.

 

People still complain today about TM/Grav spamming, even when we use a full rotation including many other abilities - if castable while moving it'll be all a lot of people EVER use.

 

Instead give us the tools to cast without interruption whilst stationary. I'd like to see Full auto uninterruptable, and more defensive abilities for a start.

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hold the line does have a 30 sec cd. But yes tracer missile needs to be able to be cast while moving. Will that bring the merc ac in line with the other classes? probably not. mercs need a lot of help atm.

 

No, you need a lot of help.

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The fact is Mercs were never "Overpowered". They should have not been nerfed to begin with. They used to be balanced as a ranged DPS class. Yes, prior to patch 1.2 you could simply spam one button (Tracer Missile) and do decent damage, but you would NOT achieve maximum damage by doing this. A lot of bad players decided to cry, cry, and then cry some more about this, rather than simply use their interrupts to shut "tracer missile only" mercenary's down.

 

Patch 1.2 DESTROYED the viability of the Arsenal Mercenary tree. It's as simple as that, and no screenshot of one or two mercenary's doing "good" damage changes that. Those same players would simply be doing even MORE damage playing marksmanship sniper, so its a moot point.

 

A class or tree is not fine when the role it is supposed to serve (in this case, "glass canon") is completely overshadowed by another tree/class. Again, Arsenal Mercenary is completely overshadowed by marksmanship sniper. The fact that mercenary has been left in its current state so long is just embarrassing.

Edited by Volxen
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I posted this in the other thread about Merc DPS on arsenal tree; but this is also simple. I don't think it would go too far, maybe even not far enough, but it would be a start.

:

 

1. Reduce cast time on tracer missile slightly. Stationary target needing to fire this several times, just stuck in place too much. Shorter cast would at least give you the chance to move in between a little more often.

 

2. Proc Barrage a little before the end of the cast of tracer missile. As it is now, I am already started on the next TM many times when I hear the proc for barrage

 

3. Heat signature, power barrier and tracer lock currently seem to stack when the TM hits. Seems like an unnecessary delay when the proc on Pyro activates as soon as you activate unload and as soon as power shot fires. Either make it stack on instant of firing, or have tracer missile projectile move much faster.

 

Just some very slight things I think would go a long way. The problem with the class is it is sluggish and stationary and lacks utility. This would at least help you move through rotations faster and move on.

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The fact is Mercs were never "Overpowered". They should have not been nerfed to begin with. They used to be balanced as a ranged DPS class. Yes, prior to patch 1.2 you could simply spam one button (Tracer Missile) and do decent damage, but you would NOT achieve maximum damage by doing this. A lot of bad players decided to cry, cry, and then cry some more about this, rather than simply use their interrupts to shut "tracer missile only" mercenary's down.

 

Patch 1.2 DESTROYED the viability of the Arsenal Mercenary tree. It's as simple as that, and no screenshot of one or two mercenary's doing "good" damage changes that. Those same players would simply be doing even MORE damage playing marksmanship sniper, so its a moot point.

 

A class or tree is not fine when the role it is supposed to serve (in this case, "glass canon") is completely overshadowed by another tree/class. Again, Arsenal Mercenary is completely overshadowed by marksmanship sniper. The fact that mercenary has been left in its current state so long is just embarrassing.

 

It really is embarrassing. It's almost as if BW has no idea how to fix the merc and the sad thing is it's really simple. Make mercs more mobile by what i have proposed above. If not, give us back the old tracer missile or buff our damaging abilities by at least 10-15% so that we can at least compete in WZs.

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I posted this in the other thread about Merc DPS on arsenal tree; but this is also simple. I don't think it would go too far, maybe even not far enough, but it would be a start.

:

 

1. Reduce cast time on tracer missile slightly. Stationary target needing to fire this several times, just stuck in place too much. Shorter cast would at least give you the chance to move in between a little more often.

 

2. Proc Barrage a little before the end of the cast of tracer missile. As it is now, I am already started on the next TM many times when I hear the proc for barrage

 

3. Heat signature, power barrier and tracer lock currently seem to stack when the TM hits. Seems like an unnecessary delay when the proc on Pyro activates as soon as you activate unload and as soon as power shot fires. Either make it stack on instant of firing, or have tracer missile projectile move much faster.

 

Just some very slight things I think would go a long way. The problem with the class is it is sluggish and stationary and lacks utility. This would at least help you move through rotations faster and move on.

 

Also some good ideas here. Really hope BW is reading these threads.

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I support improvements to Mercs. However, as a group we need to be more clear when making suggestions. All Bounty Hunters aren't Arsenal, or Pyro. All Bounty Hunters aren't even Mercs. So we should make it a point to specify Merc OR Pyro OR Arsenal (or BH in general).

 

I like the suggestions for allowing Tracer Missile to be cast on the move. However, we should fully think out this suggestion and expand it to Power Shot. They are basically the same attack and by saying only Tracer Missile, you are leaving out Merc Pyros (and even healers). This is not Arsenal vs Pryo, its Mercs vs the world.

 

Also to the Arsenal guys who hope that a mobile Tracer will make everything better, it wont. Sure it will help you die less in PvP, and put out slightly more damage in PvP. But its only part of the solution. The reason I say this is because Pyro Mercs already are very mobile. We open with a rotation that hits harder than 3 tracers and a heatseeker. So by Arsenal becoming more mobile, its only just catching up to Pyro. You will then have all the same problems Pyro currently has.

 

Mobile Tracer / Power Shot - a big needed change. This could make Pyro into a borderline viable spec. But for Arsenal, this helps but doesn't bring the spec anywhere near viable in PvP. Arsenal needs 3x more help than Pyro.

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I think its time we stop these Merc threads, BioWare dont listen anymore, hell they hardly even read the forums anymore. They wont change anything for another 6 months plus, and thats if the game last that long.

They have no clue what needs fixing in this game and they have done a **** job from the start. They cant patch or update for **** also.

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I support improvements to Mercs. However, as a group we need to be more clear when making suggestions. All Bounty Hunters aren't Arsenal, or Pyro. All Bounty Hunters aren't even Mercs. So we should make it a point to specify Merc OR Pyro OR Arsenal (or BH in general).

 

I like the suggestions for allowing Tracer Missile to be cast on the move. However, we should fully think out this suggestion and expand it to Power Shot. They are basically the same attack and by saying only Tracer Missile, you are leaving out Merc Pyros (and even healers). This is not Arsenal vs Pryo, its Mercs vs the world.

 

Also to the Arsenal guys who hope that a mobile Tracer will make everything better, it wont. Sure it will help you die less in PvP, and put out slightly more damage in PvP. But its only part of the solution. The reason I say this is because Pyro Mercs already are very mobile. We open with a rotation that hits harder than 3 tracers and a heatseeker. So by Arsenal becoming more mobile, its only just catching up to Pyro. You will then have all the same problems Pyro currently has.

 

Mobile Tracer / Power Shot - a big needed change. This could make Pyro into a borderline viable spec. But for Arsenal, this helps but doesn't bring the spec anywhere near viable in PvP. Arsenal needs 3x more help than Pyro.

 

I'm pretty sure everyone knows by now that when you talk about merc dps needing help we're mostly talking about the Arsenal tree. The Arsenal tree is the official tree for merc dps bounty hunters if you think about it and it is the tree that needs the most attention. Pyrotech is fine where it's at although it doesnt have the same pop as the PT version, but still gets the job done. Arsenal on the other hand despite what everyone says, is NOT viable in a pvp environment unless the other team is completely brain dead. Don't get me wrong I know there are players that can make the spec work i'm not denying that, but in the hands of the average pvper it's a downright nightmare to make it work against a team of hungry marauders/juggs.

 

And yes I agree that they should make power shot also castable while moving so as to not leave out those players who really enjoy Pyrotech. I have been playing my Merc since Day 1 and really really enjoy playing him when i'm doing my PVE dailies. It's such a unique and fun class, but I dread doing my pvp daily/weeklys on him because of how infuriating it can be against a decent team.

 

Bottom line though. Making tracer missile/power shot castable while moving will definatly solve a mercs dps mobility issues and will definatly be a step in the right direction. Will it bring us in line with the rest of the classes? Nope. The merc will still be light years behind marauders/juggs/shadows but at least we'll be somewhat viable in a pvp zone.

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dont know why you bother posting. we've been saying these same things for months now, and the devs continue to ignore our feedback/suggestions, and continue to nerf Merc.

 

the horse is dead. feel free to continue beating it if you wish

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simple talent tree changes could fix a lot of problems - at least in my opinion.

 

add a talent or just even change sticky grenade to -> slows taget for 50% 4 - 5 sec after explosion; on demand slow with 15 sec cd

 

in addition change cover fire to something like -> 5 sec after using a full auto, charakter is imune to interrupts; would also fix brainless gravround spamming

 

at last, change adrenaline rush to something like -> regain 50% (up from 15%) of health over 5 sec (down from 10) on 2min cd

 

problems fixed and, at least in my opinion, no gamebreaking changes to merc / commando class

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Here are a couple options I thought of as a Gunnery Commando. Some of them have been mentioned

 

Move combat shield to Tier 1 or 2, the same for Degauss. Add Hold the line to the gunnery tree near the top or make it a trooper ability and not Vanguard only.

 

Add elemental/internal damage reduction to heavy armor maybe 15-20%. Reactive shield is our only defensive CD that can be used in PvP, I think this could be a viable addition, even if the ability is purchased at the trainer.

 

Commando should be able to purchase the ability or have the talent available to make cryo grenade 30M. 10M might work for a Vanguard but not a Commando.

 

Stockstrike should be a hard stun or Knock Back, not a root. We aren’t a Vanguard and can take nowhere near the damage of a Vanguard. This boggles my mind because it is a talent in Gunnery. Who ever decided this should be drug tested...

 

Or give us similar abilities of a gunslinger with cover and hunker down, to allow us to keep space.

Edited by Lowyjowylof
Grammer
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dont know why you bother posting. we've been saying these same things for months now, and the devs continue to ignore our feedback/suggestions, and continue to nerf Merc.

 

the horse is dead. feel free to continue beating it if you wish

 

The reason I personally didn't start making suggestions until now is because my suggestions would have sucked. I was not a hard core PvP'er. Even though I knew Merc was under powered, my suggestions would be only based on my own experience and not the reality of end game PvP.

 

Now that I'm almost 90 valor and have been through thick and thin on my Merc, I feel my suggestions are finally valid and I can see what the class really needs. I have fully augmented, fully optimized WH gear (not counting the new elite stuff). I also have leveled 2 other classes to 50 and can see the bigger picture more clearly.

 

NOW I can finally start my own list and X out the ideas that are too wild or unbalanced. 95% of players can tell that Mercs need help, 100% of players can throw out suggestions, but how many of those suggestions are made by players with PvP knowledge and not just PvP desire?

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The reason I personally didn't start making suggestions until now is because my suggestions would have sucked. I was not a hard core PvP'er. Even though I knew Merc was under powered, my suggestions would be only based on my own experience and not the reality of end game PvP.

 

Now that I'm almost 90 valor and have been through thick and thin on my Merc, I feel my suggestions are finally valid and I can see what the class really needs. I have fully augmented, fully optimized WH gear (not counting the new elite stuff). I also have leveled 2 other classes to 50 and can see the bigger picture more clearly.

 

NOW I can finally start my own list and X out the ideas that are too wild or unbalanced. 95% of players can tell that Mercs need help, 100% of players can throw out suggestions, but how many of those suggestions are made by players with PvP knowledge and not just PvP desire?

 

Pretty much this. I too have been playing my Merc since launch and have leveled two others classes to level 50 as well-a Vanguard and a Gunslinger. Both of them are in full War Hero gear. After playing my Vanguard and my Gunslinger, it opened up my eyes as to how bad mercs really have it in pvp.

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I've been saying for awhile that a Hold the Line type ability granting immunity to leaps, pulls, and most importantly interrupts as well as giving a speed boost, put into the upper tiers of the Gunnery/Arsenal tree would do wonders for performance in PVP, would differentiate us from Snipers and in general would make the class more fun AND more viable. Simply granting us the CM Energy Shield buff won't be enough because of its cooldown.

 

They ALSO need to address Heavy Armor in this game because right now outside of a tank stance the DR provided by armor alone is pretty garbage, especially since BW often boosts the lighter armor classes to make up for their "deficiency".

 

Unfortunately I've also come to the conclusion that BW just isn't listening and just doesn't care. After the last patch it's certain they don't understand how the spec works.

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