They seem to be very squishy. The healers less squishy but I'm talking about DPS. Sorcs are squishy too, but maybe slightly less so than mercs? But is that balanced with our abilities?

play a sage than ask yourself if mercs are the squishiest.

Yah my main is a sorc healer, you don't know squish like the squish coming out of every orifice in my fragile little body when I play, but, I like it, its fun, and it's challenging, and no one ever gets mad at a healer for trying to keep so many up when most times your the only one on the team.

Mercenaries have heavy armor, heals, and ranged DPS. They're a very durable class.

Short answer: No. Just for an example, I took 330k+ damage in a WZ tonight and only died 2 times.

We are squishy if we are focused but so are most classes. I'd say we are middle of the pack.

Our problem is not squishy-ness --we can actually take quite some beating, at least from 1v1.

 

Our problems are:

 

Lack of pro-active range-dictation, and lack of escapability to range.

 

Vulnerability to being shut off.

 

This helps contribute to xxIPWNN00BZ666xx (guess which class/spec) and his mates landing on us, and that rarely ends well for any class :/

I think the main problem is showing itself more so now in the new 4v4 arenas ..the lack of defensive abilities is all to apparent, you get bombed by charging foes sent/gaurd/vangaurd,or whatever at the start as they have already targeted and marked you for a nice quick easy termination before the round even begins and boom after youve popped the aoe kb the only tactic available,they all seem to be back on you 1 second later, so now youve tried to stun 1 of them for 4 secs and he just pops cc breaker.. futile your dead.vans/PTs are the worst they know what your gunna do and jusr pop Hydrolic overides to negate the kb .

 

I think its about time this had some looking at and why the hell did they change the kb effect in arsenel tree with rocket punch to " imobilize" i find it completly useless ( what am i supposed to do - rocket punch and imobilize a guy for what 1 or 2 seconds and run away ? yeh right-o ) and the kb atleast let you keep mele guys off you a bit more and have a bit better chance of suvival. I think they got that right the first time and should never have changed it ( I am a returning player so Dont know when or why this changed ).

 

So to answer your question despite mercs having heavy armor yes they are the squishiest of all classes. DPS mercs i mean, ofc healers have more survival options availible to them. DPS mercs cant heal in these situations the instant AOE heal is pitiful with a couple meles on you, by the time youve waisted a GC on it to heal 1-2 K you will have lost alot more ..but you had to try smt right?

 

I also have a DPS sorc and when i am focused i have the aoe kb a sprint and the 10 sec invunarability sheild and the a 4 sec stun, and a insta heal not a great heal but quicker and stronger than the merc one, Its not about armor its skills and the smartest thing a merc can do in random 4v4 hide for a bit because they really are almost always focused first and really gets frustraiting you must rely on your team to save your *** its not good enough.

 

There should be like the legasy ability a 5 sec rocket boost that lets you fly away but you cant attack while flying or some kind of decent escape move.

Amongst the healers, Sorc the squishiest.

 

Amongst dps, it is more complex. Sorc actually is less squishy when attacked by a group. That's because used correctly, their bubble and sprint can extricate them from a group of as many as four attackers IF the Sorc still has teammates alive. In contrast so many of the Merc dps' defensive abilities work best against a single opponent and indeed need to be chained together to deal with a single attacker. So Arsenal is actually less squishy than Sorc when attacked by a single melee, but worse when attacked by multiple. In many ways Arsenal is a bit like Jugg Rage from a defensive standpoint.

 

Merc Pyro on the other hand is worthless. No root. Pathetic knockback. Weakest snare in the game. Weakest sprint in the game. Free kill for any decent melee. Simply attack, watch the Merc Pyro activates his shield, go attack someone else for 12 seconds, then come back and kill the Merc Pyro. Works every time.

Speaking as someone who mains sorc and sniper for pvp. I started playing my merc...and YES merc's are the squishiest class in this game. If you ever see a merc in an arena...kill them first as they will crumple like a ball of paper compared to any other class. It is down right pathetic that a heavy armor class dies as fast and has so few defenses as the merc/commando.

 

DPS sorc vs DPS merc...my sorc can go 3v1 and I have a pretty good expectation of holdign those 3 off for over a minute no problem, giving help plenty of time to get to me...and I will not die.

A merc int hat situation? You are dead...don't even try to deny it...merc's simply don't have the defenses or options available to expect to survive for very long in such a situation.

 

Yes, that is how you define survivability and defenses, how long can the class reasonably survive against 2 or 3 on 1 scenario's...no stealth doesn't count as you aren't going to prevent a cap while hiding stealthed so ignore anys tealth options a class may have.

Yep

 

And its all about skills its so simple to fix too in 3 simple steps.

 

1 Gives mercs back the KB effect with rocket punch it really helped because of the short cd of rocket punch , i mean come "imobilize pfft "a short range imobolize move with a ranged dps omg

 

2 Give mercs back the 30 metre range fo their 4 poxy second stun only half decent defence move they have.and can stun one guy " BEFORE" they actaully have freaking charged and smashed you .

 

3. Give them a new decent defensive ability like that uses their jetback .boost back much like the sorcs teleport move in Aion.

 

Done job

DPS sorc vs DPS merc...my sorc can go 3v1 and I have a pretty good expectation of holdign those 3 off for over a minute no problem, giving help plenty of time to get to me...and I will not die.

A merc int hat situation? You are dead...don't even try to deny it...merc's simply don't have the defenses or options available to expect to survive for very long in such a situation.

 

Yeah, I drop a cartel waste grenade, activate HO and my shield, and run *pray* that I have something off CD so I can heal (don't say Kolto missile after having 2/3rds of my health wiped off).

 

No seriously, Merc isn't bad at surviving if you are not facing an opponent that can simply jump right back on top of you after you've *escaped*. We need something to help us escape those situations, amazingly I seem to be wearing this great big useless jetpack on my back

Who drops faster with no support? Merc DPS, Powertech DPS, Sniper, Operative DPS, Sorc DPS.

 

Merc's are not going down significantly faster than those other classes. What does a PT or Sniper do when focused and they have no support? Continue DPSing until death I would assume.

 

What does a Merc do when focused, with no support? I'm not saying they are going to escape but Hydraulic Overrides and heals goes a long way towards delaying death and buying time. Knockback and Electro Net, or Concussion Missile.....or even simply Rocket Punch Root and Hydraulic Overrides (when the other classes have to stand there and take it like a man).

 

Squishy? Sure, if you feel like they are (I don't, but we can disagree). Squishiest? In my opinion, No.

Merc is not squishy at all.

I have found my Arsenal Merc to be an incredibly effective arena class. Fusion missile electro net and death from above groups dumb enough to stand close and you'll top damage... Focused? Hydraulic override Kolto overload jet boost Los and heal yourself.

 

I've played with Mercs that go into arenas thinking they can tracer spam and not use half the tools in their abilities... They give the whole class a bad name

AP PT, which is considered a durable class, has same exact defensive capabilities of arsenal merc, except 30% aoe damage reduction for AP and arsenal can resist 2 tech/force atks every 45 sec. I would not consider merc remotely squishy, but no question that dps drops while being focused, but that is not defense related. Edited November 1, 2013 by Ottoattack

I've played with Mercs that go into arenas thinking they can tracer spam and not use half the tools in their abilities... They give the whole class a bad name

 

That would be 90% of merc Unfortuntely

AP PT, which is considered a durable class, has same exact defensive capabilities of arsenal merc, except 30% aoe damage reduction for AP and arsenal can resist 2 tech/force atks every 45 sec. I would not consider merc remotely squishy, but no question that dps drops while being focused, but that is not defense related.

 

Except their 30% damage reduction while stunned?

Except their 30% damage reduction while stunned?

True. But arsenal mercs are fully ranged class with heavy armor, shield, rebounder, spammable root breaker and movement speed buff and off heal. Most classes (including some melee ones) envy these DCDs. Edited November 1, 2013 by Ottoattack

AP PT, which is considered a durable class, has same exact defensive capabilities of arsenal merc, except 30% aoe damage reduction for AP and arsenal can resist 2 tech/force atks every 45 sec. I would not consider merc remotely squishy, but no question that dps drops while being focused, but that is not defense related.[/Q

 

Why do you say 2 tech/force attacks every 45 seconds? Pretty sure it's one in six seconds. And it doesn't even eat smash, because smash is an aoe attack.

 

30% damage reduction and 30% aoe damage reduction is why they are considered so durable. Realize most burst comes when a class is stunned. Also their damage is actually increased while focused because they are in the middle of the fight. If multiple melee hit them their snare of a flamethrower rapes stuff. They also have instants up the butt whole. They output more damage then they take while being focused.

 

So your entire argument about having the same defensives as a prototype vanguard is pretty wrong.

 

When a merc is being focused, the amount of healing he can get off is effectively limited to a 1.5-3k heal every six seconds, provided he isn't stunned. The other 4.5 seconds he's relegated to explosive dart ( on cd), (heatseekers) on cd, railshot (requires a heat signature and on a cd), (rocket punch (4 meter range and cd) and missile blast.

 

Damage output drops, so damage taken is much greater than damage outputted (nil).

 

Anyway, you took a single "tanky" class and tried to compare it misleadingly. Don't. They have their taunts, and ability to be in tank stance, we have our offheals.

 

You are right, plenty of melee and perhaps sorcs would be jealous of our cd's. But please don't tell me snipers, warriors, and powertech's don't have better cd's because that's false.

 

Operatives DPS, Madness sins, and Sorcs are the only people that should and can complain about dcd's relative to an Arsenal merc.

AP PT, which is considered a durable class, has same exact defensive capabilities of arsenal merc, except 30% aoe damage reduction for AP and arsenal can resist 2 tech/force atks every 45 sec. I would not consider merc remotely squishy, but no question that dps drops while being focused, but that is not defense related.[/Q

 

Why do you say 2 tech/force attacks every 45 seconds? Pretty sure it's one in six seconds. And it doesn't even eat smash, because smash is an aoe attack.

 

30% damage reduction and 30% aoe damage reduction is why they are considered so durable. Realize most burst comes when a class is stunned. Also their damage is actually increased while focused because they are in the middle of the fight. If multiple melee hit them their snare of a flamethrower rapes stuff. They also have instants up the butt whole. They output more damage then they take while being focused.

 

So your entire argument about having the same defensives as a prototype vanguard is pretty wrong.

 

When a merc is being focused, the amount of healing he can get off is effectively limited to a 1.5-3k heal every six seconds, provided he isn't stunned. The other 4.5 seconds he's relegated to explosive dart ( on cd), (heatseekers) on cd, railshot (requires a heat signature and on a cd), (rocket punch (4 meter range and cd) and missile blast.

 

Damage output drops, so damage taken is much greater than damage outputted (nil).

 

Anyway, you took a single "tanky" class and tried to compare it misleadingly. Don't. They have their taunts, and ability to be in tank stance, we have our offheals.

 

You are right, plenty of melee and perhaps sorcs would be jealous of our cd's. But please don't tell me snipers, warriors, and powertech's don't have better cd's because that's false.

 

Operatives DPS, Madness sins, and Sorcs are the only people that should and can complain about dcd's relative to an Arsenal merc.

 

There is no argument that AP PT is stronger than merc defensively. My main is AP PT, and is unquestionably strong in 2.4 and in my point of view better than merc offensively and defensively. AP PT main strength, is the damage output is not impacted much, if at all, by you being focused, unless your healer sucks. Instant damage + extreme mobility = win. Most competitive arenas I played on my AP PT that I get focused the other team loses. Ironically most these game are by smashers.

 

I won't go in detail listing which classes have better/worse off DCDs, but its a fair statement to say that arsenal merc is in pretty good position defensively. Ya, damage drops when you get focused especially with warriors, due to the gazillion interrupts, but all-in-all arsenal merc is in good spot offensively and defensively. I honestly prefer merc over sniper. The lack of mobility with sniper is a killer for me. At least with merc I can move. I know this is more of player preference.

 

Funny note from AP PT, when you are CCed and your shield is up smashes do 2-3K damage. Same damage as slash. lol..

Without taking defensive cooldowns into account, not really, they're relatively durable, when taking defensive cooldowns into account, most definitely. The problem is far more prevalent in arenas and 1 on 1s though. Personally, on any class I play I always go after mercenaries in warzones. Why? Because I know I'll be able to kill them(instead of having stealth/escape/temporary invulnerability/cc immunity) allow them to get out of my grasp, and its easy to throw a wrench in the rotation with an interrupt. A 2 or 3 man team doing spike damage usually needs to use stuns preemptively to keep a target from using a defensive cd to escape, but you don't have to worry about that with mercs.

We aren't squishy... we are just locked down really easily once our opener is finished.