Honestly I would love to see my PYRO Merc use some FIRE abilities, such as Flamethrower, and it being used as an anti melee ability would be perfect. I wonder if anyone can do the math to make it a plausible skill.

Potential for being a defensive cooldown in PvP is huge.

Potential for being a defensive cooldown in PvP is huge.

No I like it and it has plenty of potential, I meant if like a theorycrafter could figure out how much damage it should do, what side effects, and how long of a cool down, that way it isn't so op.

Would really like another dual wield skill used when playing the arsenal tree.

Maybe some sort of buff/skill in tree for power shot to make it part of rotation.

Perhaps a reduction to length of armor debuff for tracer missile to 20-25 secs so it still is used fairly often with the above buff to power shot. Or maybe give tracer missile a chance to proc a instant power shot.

Would also love a execute skill added. Perhaps something along lines of a armor piercing missile that ignores 100% of targets armor.

Arsenal Mercs should have the free rail shot added back in, but I don't think the rail shot should be tied to a set bonus. It should work off something from the skill tree, like how pyros get a free proc and ap pt's get a free rp.

 

My idea for rail shot:

- Tracer lock now also reduces the heat of the next rail shot by 2 heat per stack. (Maybe lowering dmg per stack to 4-5% to offset a little)

As my Alacrity is 10.47%, I would oppose lowering the dmg on rail shot, as heat isn't an issue for me. I take no issue with lowering heat cost of abilities, but I do when it comes at the cost of dmg.

Purely from a pvp perspective, as someone who is succeeding as an arsenal merc in 4s, playing with a merc healer in 4s, and playing pyro in solo queue...

 

Pyro:

- dots being dispelled are ok, just make them tick harder. make the talent "only affects players" if it screws with pve too much. When I play pyro, the burst combos feel like they're just not quite enough. Harder ticking dots would make up for this. Lethality snipers are the perfect example of a dot class.

I feel for PvP only, all dots/bleeds shouldn't be cleaned, unless it's a class with their own self purge ability.

I'm going to be tackling the issue from the perspective of merc dps in pvp.

 

The issue is not with our damage, and its not even with our burst. When I play merc dps in pvp, I always wonder why I'm not playing another of my characters(I play my merc because it was my main for pve and my first char, so it has all my stuff on it). I don't think any player should get the feeling of, "Why am I playing this class?" for either pvp or pve.

Maybe it's because for you, playing merc pvp isn't your thing. Some players only like playing a certain class, others like me, have 16 chrs. My alts are my main.

Merc healing - Pvp Perspective only

 

The second problem is energy management. Mercs have, by far, the worst resource management of all the healers with no good way to recoup for losses. I would suggest one change here. Have activating supercharged gas, when activated vent 25 heat instead of the current 8. This would go along way to get the energy management on par with other classes.

 

Merc healers lack an "oh ****" button. Sorcs can bubble for 10 sec of invuln (which they can heal via tree option) and Operatives have vanish and to a greater extent, roll. [

Sorcs/Sages have the worst energy as healers, with scoundrel/OP with none. And that so called oh poo button is worthless. Unless you get healed back up or the gang of enemies dancing at you while you're in your FB are killed, you die 10 seconds later. FB only delays death most of the time.

And for healers, it's only 1% every second while in FB, so 10% total health max you get.

One thing I have always been annoyed by playing a healing merc is that we can't cast Rapid Shots on ourselves. If you want to make it so we can't build stacks of supercharged gas (at least not in PVP, maybe) and only healing specced mercs can do it, fine, but not being able to do it at all still throws me off a bit.

I feel it should be a cast ability, but we can now use on ourselves, and make Healing Scan a mobile heal. If you don't agree with me, my feelings will be hurt!

Something I'd like to see but doubt will happen is the return of the 30m Electro Dart for Merc only. It's a ranged class, it deserves to be able to kill from a distance.

 

Something that really should be given, however, is a Gap Opener. Something like Wow's Disengage where you bounce backwards 15-30m or so would be lovely!

Smuggies/Agents always had a 4m CC, and while I do sometimes think of the good old days of CCing someone far away in Huttball in the fire pit, I do now agree with it for balance.

But our other CC should be instant for balance as well. Some classes get an instant AoE CC, but we have to cast a single target CC? How is that balanced?

This post is written with arsenal mercs in mind and while I don't have suggestions for most of them, to me these are some of the more glaring questions.

What does everyone think of being able to be interrupted?

 

There are other higher dps classes that cannot be interrupted, so why do arsenal mercs have this disadvantage? I feel this is mostly a carry over from world of warcraft just because that is what they have on their casters. We need some beneficial trade off for this.

While GS/Snipers cannot be interrupted, that is only when in cover. Mele class attacks are 4-10ms, ranged 30-35ms. So all but 1 or 2 attacks are casted. That is my answer why.

Is running a Merc healer any fun? I run a pyro Merc but was just curious.

I NOW like healing as a Commando. It's funny... I love healing either as a Scoundrel/OP, but heal as a Sage has I hate the DPS anime and heal as a Commando as I hate the heal anime for mercs.

When I first tried healing as a merc, I hated it and thought I'd never be any good at it. So even if you don't like it at first, (if you ever try it) just go back to DPS as I did, and when you feel like trying out heals again or are just tried of DPSing, go back to it.

Hello, comrades. First of all i am sorry for my bad english. It's not my first language, but i hope, you'll understand me.

Some time ago i played arsenal, but nowdays i am pyro merc, so i want to make some suggestions for this spec.

I do not realy think, that BW will hear us, but at least we must try.

In my opinion pyro does not need strong defensive CD, like Saber ward, deflection etc. Of course our survivability is pretty low and we die quick, especially in arenas. The reason is the lack of abilites to kite enemies. Look what we realy have: 4sec 50% slow after jet boost, 2 sec 30% slow (that's just lol), EN (1.5 min CD), ED (1 min CD). We can't even use our mezz, cause our dots. Compare this to what snipers have and we can say, that we have nothing. So to solve this problem we need some good talants and this are my thoughts.

1) rework "sweltering heat". Increase slow to 50% for 3 sec.

2) rework "jet rebounder". It must additional increase slow after jet boost by 10%/20% (70% summary) and increase it's duration by 0.5/1 sec (5 sec summary)

3) Increase HO speed bonus by 5%/10%. I do not know how, by new talant or BW should rework some old talant.

4) Stun for 1.5 sec with RP? (I am not sure about it).

Also i think we need some kind of dot protection. There is a lot of ways to do this. For example:

1) While Thermal detonator or it's dot is active, cleansing one of your dots deals X elemental damage to target and stuns it for 1 sec.

or

2) Cleansing one of you dots shock the target, incresing damage received by 15% from all sources and reducing healing received by 50% for 6 sec.

The idea is simple. Let them cleans your dots, but make them pay for this.

Also it would be nice to see some smal QoL improvment like:

1) CGC reduce targets accuracy by 15% for the duration.

2)Cure now has no heat cost and activate with 0.5 sec GCD.

What do you think, guys?

First off, I never read the whole thread of people suggesting their personal opinions on Mercenary changes (my apologies, I am in TL; DR mode at the very moment due to class). That being said, please correct me if there is already a change suggested by another player.

So let's begin. I have been playing Shulk (My main Mercenary) for over 2 years now. I stopped playing him because of the repetitive nature of spamming Tracer Missiles over and over for proc'cing Unloads. My Sniper is my main now but here's what I like to see that motivates me into playing my Merc again.

ARSENAL Proposed Changes (For PvE)

- I would like to see other ways we can to proc Unload since it's only reliant on one ability: Tracer Missile. I would suggest allowing Rail Shot to proc Unload as well with the same rate limit of a 6-Second Lockout but with a higher chance to proc. This sounds overpowered but then it improves the QoL as we don't have to be necessarily dependent on Tracer Missile the whole time. Here's an example of why I thought of this: Pyrotech Bounty Hunters can proc Rail Shot with Flame Burst/Power Shot (45% Chance to Proc) and Unload/Rocket Punch (75%/60% Chance to Proc). Shouldn't Arsenal be granted the same?

- Rework Electro Net by a little. I love the importance of this skill being another DoT based attack alongside Fusion Missile but a minute and thirty seconds seems awfully excessive. Perhaps make this a minute CD but lowering the damage as well to make it seem balanced?

- Missile Salvo...BioWare, you seem to be going in the right direction with it but this isn't really enough to give us incentive to use it in raids. To some degree, I found myself using it during fights like Dash'Roode but ultimately, this is a heat-killing, weak ability. I think for us Mercenaries exclusively, rework one of the talents that reduces Missile Blast heat cost as well as buffing the damage up to improve its Quality of Life, giving us reason to use it during kiting fights other than being reliant on Tracer Missiles all the time (via 2 stacks of Power Surges but it's ultimately not enough.)

I think that is all for now. Again, I did not read everyone's opinions on changing Merc playstyle so I apologize if my changes are the same as others.

I play all 3 specs in WZs regularly and I had a couple of thoughts from a pvp perspective.

Mercs in general:

- Improve the speed buff of hydraulic overrides so we can create distance over melee. (50% speed boost minimum, 75% preferred)

- Give us a slow mechanic on a shorter duration than E-NET. (Something that just slows targets by 30-50% on a 12s CD.

- Make our shield give us 100% pushback protection while activated.

- Make Jet Boost dump some heat.

- Either reduce the cast time by 50% or make Concussive missile an AOE mez.

- Double the range of stealth scan to cover the stealth stun range.

Bodyguard:

- Multi-target Kolto shell is a must

- Make the DOT off healing scan tick harder

- Make rapid shots trigger Kolto Shell on us at 100% rate with no timer.(limit is built into the number of charges and having to recast shell.

- We have no auto-crit heal and no power boost to increase our healing power for a short suration, maybe a talent to make TSO boost tech power by X% for 8-12s.

- How about a talent to have rapid shots proc a reduced cool down on Emergency scan.

Arsenal:

- More pushback protections

- Please fix resolve.

Pyro:

- Make IM an AOE similar to corrosive grenade

- Pyro needs a debuff of some sort...

- fix the heat costs... this is the worst spec for overheating by far.

- Alacrity should make the dots tick faster.

It is very simple as a pvp player and looking at were we currently rank (only 1 Merc at top 100 solo RWZ) we need a complete revamp with starting first with survivability I will say again survivability oh let me say that again I don't think you guys get my drift SURVIVABILITY yeah I'm saying it right we plainly suck at surviving in pvp.

Cheers

It is very simple as a pvp player and looking at were we currently rank (only 1 Merc at top 100 solo RWZ) we need a complete revamp with starting first with survivability I will say again survivability oh let me say that again I don't think you guys get my drift SURVIVABILITY yeah I'm saying it right we plainly suck at surviving in pvp.

Cheers

Solo RWZ is the worst possible metric anyone could use. This game's PvP is based on group balance, yet Solo Queue throws it out the window in favor of RNG based groups. No thank you. There are Mercs doing very very well in Group Queue.

We do not need any survivability changes.

Solo RWZ is the worst possible metric anyone could use. This game's PvP is based on group balance, yet Solo Queue throws it out the window in favor of RNG based groups. No thank you. There are Mercs doing very very well in Group Queue.

 

We do not need any survivability changes.

I m sorry you could not be any more wrong you obviously don't do any Ops, Mercs when it comes to ops are the laughing stocks some do very well but these are exception when I do ops and if I can choose between a anything else other then a Merc I will choose anything else Mercs just plainly sucks don't get me wrong my main is a Merc but I run all my Ops with my sniper. Mercs have no survivability other then a 25% shield that last for 12s and you can use in 2 min and don't even get me started with kolto overload the most pathetic useless skill in the game LOL

I m sorry you could not be any more wrong you obviously don't do any Ops, Mercs when it comes to ops are the laughing stocks some do very well but these are exception when I do ops and if I can choose between a anything else other then a Merc I will choose anything else Mercs just plainly sucks don't get me wrong my main is a Merc but I run all my Ops with my sniper. Mercs have no survivability other then a 25% shield that last for 12s and you can use in 2 min and don't even get me started with kolto overload the most pathetic useless skill in the game LOL

You are the one who is wrong. Mercs don't suck in PVE. Merc healer is as good as the rest and Pyro is the highest sustained dps spec atm. And Merc survivability isn't bad, try playing an operative or sorcerer then you will know what true bad survivability is...

I m sorry you could not be any more wrong you obviously don't do any Ops, Mercs when it comes to ops are the laughing stocks some do very well but these are exception when I do ops and if I can choose between a anything else other then a Merc I will choose anything else Mercs just plainly sucks don't get me wrong my main is a Merc but I run all my Ops with my sniper. Mercs have no survivability other then a 25% shield that last for 12s and you can use in 2 min and don't even get me started with kolto overload the most pathetic useless skill in the game LOL

I wouldn't be blindly shutting down Mercenaries as "laughing stocks". Mercenaries are one of the top DPS classes (but not the very best on par with Marauders and Snipers) with a good array of utility. The reason most of the top progression guilds bring Mercs as viable raiders is because 1.) Tracer Missile Raid Armor Debuff, 2.) Great utility with healing (ex. Kolto Missile), and 3.) Great damage in terms of burst and damage of time (surprisingly, thanks to Pizza'dah'hutt testing out the full potential of Pyrotech spec).

Please elaborate "no survivability". We have talents that address that form of decency. For example, Energy Shield that lasts 12 seconds. The Energy Rebounder (from Arsenal) reduces our active cooldown by 3 seconds every time we get hit, not to mention a Shield Probe-like passive that absorbs low amount of damage (could be better but this is in a right direction with survivability). Decoy (from Arsenal) allows us to absorb a Force or Tech attack which is situationally very useful in fights like the Dread Guards (Doom is a Force attack that can be absorbed via Chaff Flare). Degauss (from Pyrotech) is decent, with Chaff Flare acting as a sub-cool down, reducing 25% damage for 6 seconds. Kolto Overload is not that bad either. In PvP, that would be a serious case but if you're talking about PvE, then this isn't a bad of an issue. Lastly, should emergencies arise in critical phases, we can use Kolto Missile to give a window of opportunity for healers to "heal-to-full" as well as instant casting with Healing Scan (with 5 stacks of Tracer Lock, if not a faster activation time from Arsenal) and Rapid Scan (with Power Surge; 2 stacks if running Arsenal)

It is very simple as a pvp player and looking at were we currently rank (only 1 Merc at top 100 solo RWZ) we need a complete revamp with starting first with survivability I will say again survivability oh let me say that again I don't think you guys get my drift SURVIVABILITY yeah I'm saying it right we plainly suck at surviving in pvp.

Cheers

Mercs when it comes to ops are the laughing stocks

You went from addressing survivability for Merc PvP to criticizing everything for Merc PvE, stating that if they do poorly in PvP they would also do poorly in PvE as well. Do be careful that you are alienating yourself from most of the PvE community when you sound conceited on knowing the class. As Zoltan stated, if you want to know more about survivability issues, try playing a Concealment/Lethality Operative in Warzones/Arenas and in raids too. They have worst (in anything, the best "worst") survivability skills in general.

I m sorry you could not be any more wrong you obviously don't do any Ops, Mercs when it comes to ops are the laughing stocks some do very well but these are exception when I do ops and if I can choose between a anything else other then a Merc I will choose anything else Mercs just plainly sucks don't get me wrong my main is a Merc but I run all my Ops with my sniper. Mercs have no survivability other then a 25% shield that last for 12s and you can use in 2 min and don't even get me started with kolto overload the most pathetic useless skill in the game LOL

Sounds like youve got a real good grasp on what Mercenaries are capable of....

Degauss (from Pyrotech) is decent, with Chaff Flare acting as a sub-cool down, reducing 25% damage for 6 seconds.

Please, read tooltip once more. It would be great, if it gave us 25% damage reduction. For now it gives 25% defence chance. Not so good, yeah?

Please, read tooltip once more. It would be great, if it gave us 25% damage reduction. For now it gives 25% defence chance. Not so good, yeah?

Misread. Sorry about that. >_< Though I wish my previous statement for Degauss would have been a good Quality of Life change for Pyro survivability

A few things I would like to see added/changed that in my opinion would greatly help bodyguard mercenaries in PvE;

New abilities

• Dual Life Support [Heat cost???] - Place a DLS on a friendly target for X amount of seconds. While affected, the target will benefit from X% of your heals casted on other friendly targets. [Cooldown ???]
   
  
• Bodyguard [Heat cost???] - Use your jetpack to jump to a friendly target to immediately reset the cooldown of Emergency Scan. In addition, if the target is below 30% HP the next Emergency Scan has a 100% chance to critically hit and it's critical magnitude increased by 5% [Cooldown???]
  

Changed abilities

• Power surge - In addition to current effect, you may now move while continuing to cast healing/damaging abilities for X amount of seconds.
   
  
• Kolto Residue - Increase the radius by a small amount or allow the effect to "stick" to all affected targets. Currently, it's too easy to accidentally move out of the area of effect during "movement heavy" fights.
  

A few things I would like to see added/changed that in my opinion would greatly help bodyguard mercenaries in PvE;

 

New abilities

 

• Dual Life Support - Place a DLS on a friendly target for X amount of seconds. While affected, the target will benefit from X% of your heals casted on other friendly targets.
   
  
• Bodyguard - Jump to a friendly target, immediately resetting the cooldown of Emergency Scan but increases the heat cost by 25 on the next use. If the target is below 30% HP, chance to critically hit is increased by 100% and surge increased by 5%
  

 

Changed abilities

 

• Power surge - In addition to current effect, you may now move while continuing to cast healing/damaging abilities for X amount of seconds.
   
  
• Kolto Residue - Increase the radius by a small amount or allow the effect to "stick" to all affected targets. Currently, it's too easy to accidentally move out of the area of effect during "movement heavy" fights.
  

Good stuff.

Id rather see the heat cost for bodyguard be attached to the move itself instead of emergency scan. If used on ranged, it's an escape so it shouldn't be free. Or maybe scrap emergency scan all together and replace it with bodyguard that heals for the same ammount as the current emergency scan and has the same cd but cost 15-25 heat. Would be interesting to see how this affected pve. Just my opinions/ thoughts though.

The easiest way to make the above change work for both pve and pvp would be to move around the skill tree so that the change to emergency scan would be optional.

Thanks for the brainstorming!