Jump to content

Mercenary PvP challenge


Lieflen

Recommended Posts

So after reading and hearing the banter of how bad mercs are at PvP (being mostly involved in PvP in all games) I've decided to try to make an effective mercenary in ranked WZs as I have played many classes as well as the mercenary to 50 and I see much potential. I'm curious your thoughts and advice to assist me on attempting to play this class in pvp as a DPS spec effectively.

 

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after reading and hearing the banter of how bad mercs are at PvP (being mostly involved in PvP in all games) I've decided to try to make an effective mercenary in ranked WZs as I have played many classes as well as the mercenary to 50 and I see much potential. I'm curious your thoughts and advice to assist me on attempting to play this class in pvp as a DPS spec effectively.

 

Thanks.

 

You're going to need a LOT of combat awareness, and always be ready to move and LOS enemies. Sweeping Blasters is great for interrupting caps, but it is very expensive, so spamming it is prohibitive.

 

Merc animations draw a lot of attention (especially Death From Above), but if the enemy's ever grouped up just begging for it, by all means throw it out. You have a TON of AOE, and if the enemy's just going to stand there and make things easy for you, use it - DFA, Fusion Missile. Maybe Sweeping Blasters, but by that point you might be better off single-targeting, as they'll be burning and you can use your Rail Shot.

 

Heal yourself when necessary. Cure any Physical/Tech dots you get (burns, bleeds, poisons).

 

I've heard that tossing both Explosive Dart and Thermal Detonator on the same target can make for a VERY satisfying explosion and there's not much they can do about it.

 

I admittedly haven't done Pyro myself, but those are my experiences from playing a Merc in PVP in general.

 

Don't forget Thermal Sensor Override and Power Surge. No other class has utility tools quite like those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tips! I'd really like to try to prove that merc has the ability to be effective in PvP. Also is the Arsenal merc build the most standard for PvP or has anyone else tried any other dps builds?

 

Pyro is standard for PVP. The prevailing belief with Arsenal is that while it can put out *massive* damage, that's largely only if you get left alone. An Arsenal Merc in PVP is not a 1v1 DPS, his job is to burn down targets that other people are already engaging, more or less. You get a melee on you and you'll get shut down real fast.

 

*If* you're going Arsenal, though, do remember that Power Shot is your backup attack to proc Unload if your Tracer Missile gets interrupted and locked out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like ill be going a pyro build then. When it comes to heat control is there any difference in major PvP compared to PvE? Not sure with pyro if its quick burn and then sit out until heat cools off or if its manageable to simply maintain heat over a good period of time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been playing my Merc since day one. I have full elite war hero gear and play pretty much only PvP. I am one of the rare few who have stuck with the class and I still enjoy it now. I have a full WH marauder and full WH assassin, but I still mainly play my Merc.

 

I am still not welcome on RWZ teams. And I've put in about a year on this toon. It may not be the best idea for you to try this lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a good set of individuals in my guild that will assist me in this endeavor even if it provides poor results. We're hoping for the best but I won't have to worry about not being able to get on a team thankfully.

 

This is truly a worthy endeavor. I've been playing a arsenal merc since day 1. Granted I have my bad days in pvp, but I also have my good days. Situational awareness is very key for Mercs. Save your defensive cool downs if a melee jumps on top of ya. Stick to the edge of combat, I usually try to find something I can LoS around. I'm not full elite, but full War hero and if you play smart, you can definitely do some major dmg to people. Lately, my rotation as arsenal has been the following.

 

Tracer Missile x3 (Unload on barrage proc), explosive dart, heatseeker, and then railshot. I use the explosive dart there because it will go off by the time I use railshot. The end result is mass quick dmg burst which probably sends my target into a panic, due to the major loss of hp. I also have power shot and missile blast on hand. Powershot if tracer is locked. Missile blast because if a melee is on you, you need to be putting distance between you and them; missile blast is instant, use it sparingly, but it does enough dmg that it may help you survive.

 

I also pick my targets in this order: light armor, medium, and lastly heavy armor. I usually single out healers, mainly cause if I start putting the pressure on them, then their heals aren't reaching their teammates.

 

Huttball tips: 1st off your not a ball carrier, if someone throws the ball to you it better be cause your in the In-zone. Otherwise they just painted a pretty big bullseye on your back that says "free kill". I switch to my healing stance when my team has the ball, spamming rapid shots on the carrier for heals and I also have my cleanse on standbye. 2nd, while on the defensive, I try to stick to the catwalks focus firing down healers and the enemy carrier.

 

Civil War: I love hanging on the balconies around the middle cannon, stick to the edges of the raised platforms on the side cannons in case you need to LoS.

 

Voidstar: You are a AoE machine, sweeping blasters, explosive dart, DFA, Fusion Missile. Utilize these while defending. Use terrain for LoS.

 

Hypergate: The bunker is your playground, Use the cube in the middle of the room for LoS. Pick off healers as always.

 

Obviously pocket heals are always nice, but in most cases I'm working alone so have your healing abilities on standbye as well as a good med pack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I play ranked on my merc regularly. We do great damage sure but what the problems with the specs are is we don't provide anything else to a team other than dps that on a good day can only just compete with other classes.

When puting together a team choice between arsenal and a sniper, I would pick the sniper because they have more survivability and more useful aoe.

As pyro merc we are just a squishy power tech without flame burst and taunts so the PT gets the spot to make the better team.

As a long time merc player (mainly pyro though) I have always found that more then two tracer missiles used together is a bad thing and causes to much stationary time.

Unload is your biggest damage dealer that is your priority proc or no proc use it.

Tracer x2

Unload

Explosive dart

Tracer

Unload (if possible)

Heatseaker

Tracer

Railshot

Unload (if possible)

Then followed by whichever instant ability lights up first with tracer used as fillers.

You have the best knock back as arsenal and a root also a great slow so peel of your healers.

Pyro guide is in another thread "how do you make pyro work"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is truly a worthy endeavor. I've been playing a arsenal merc since day 1. Granted I have my bad days in pvp, but I also have my good days. Situational awareness is very key for Mercs. Save your defensive cool downs if a melee jumps on top of ya. Stick to the edge of combat, I usually try to find something I can LoS around. I'm not full elite, but full War hero and if you play smart, you can definitely do some major dmg to people. Lately, my rotation as arsenal has been the following.

 

Tracer Missile x3 (Unload on barrage proc), explosive dart, heatseeker, and then railshot. I use the explosive dart there because it will go off by the time I use railshot. The end result is mass quick dmg burst which probably sends my target into a panic, due to the major loss of hp. I also have power shot and missile blast on hand. Powershot if tracer is locked. Missile blast because if a melee is on you, you need to be putting distance between you and them; missile blast is instant, use it sparingly, but it does enough dmg that it may help you survive.

 

I also pick my targets in this order: light armor, medium, and lastly heavy armor. I usually single out healers, mainly cause if I start putting the pressure on them, then their heals aren't reaching their teammates.

 

Huttball tips: 1st off your not a ball carrier, if someone throws the ball to you it better be cause your in the In-zone. Otherwise they just painted a pretty big bullseye on your back that says "free kill". I switch to my healing stance when my team has the ball, spamming rapid shots on the carrier for heals and I also have my cleanse on standbye. 2nd, while on the defensive, I try to stick to the catwalks focus firing down healers and the enemy carrier.

 

Civil War: I love hanging on the balconies around the middle cannon, stick to the edges of the raised platforms on the side cannons in case you need to LoS.

 

Voidstar: You are a AoE machine, sweeping blasters, explosive dart, DFA, Fusion Missile. Utilize these while defending. Use terrain for LoS.

 

Hypergate: The bunker is your playground, Use the cube in the middle of the room for LoS. Pick off healers as always.

 

Obviously pocket heals are always nice, but in most cases I'm working alone so have your healing abilities on standbye as well as a good med pack.

 

I really appreciate the advice. Being required to play smart and use your environment is something I love to do as for me it makes me a better player than just running into the fight swinging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after reading and hearing the banter of how bad mercs are at PvP (being mostly involved in PvP in all games) I've decided to try to make an effective mercenary in ranked WZs as I have played many classes as well as the mercenary to 50 and I see much potential. I'm curious your thoughts and advice to assist me on attempting to play this class in pvp as a DPS spec effectively.

 

Thanks.

 

I went Healer Almost exclusively and I consistently am top 5 in medals and top healer for group. So I guess it's just a matter of how you play? I didn't think Merc was so bad. I did Maurader. Now THAT was bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...