I've been seriously considering starting a Mercenary, but every time I come here everything about it is negative. I do mostly 99% PVE, only doing PVP just enough to get my daily out of the way. It's safe to say I very largely dislike PVP. I solo play almost all of the time, except when doing flashpoints with my guild.

 

I'm not really asking for anyone to crunch some numbers for me, I don't care how the class plays in PVP, I just want to know if I can play it efficiently in PVE. Can I play through the PVE content without becoming overly annoyed? Is it actually fun to play? I've played quite a few classes that people say I should play because THIS skill is better than THAT skill, or THESE numbers are higher than THOSE numbers. To be honest it's a little boring playing the class others think I should play because it's better for them.

 

So it all pretty much comes down to just how much fun it is vs how annoying the problems are.

True to my own heart! I also play for fun, not numbers. The most fun I had was my Operative, melee DPS, sneaky as hell and the best story in the game by far.

Merc is fun to level. It's pretty laid back and simple, so it's the sort of class that you can just kick back, blast things, and not stress.

 

From a PVE perspective, there's nothing wrong with it at all. Especially if you're not interested in maxing out the class.

 

It was probably the easiest class to level to 50 that I've done so far. Maybe not the fastest, maybe not the most edge-of-your-seat, but it was easy and it was decently fun.

Great story.

One of the easier ones to play PvE. Especially if you go Powertech. Only Trooper easier (mirror class but all companions use the same armor stats).

 

I only stopped at 43 because my merc was orphaned during the server merge. Rolled a new one and enjoying it again.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Rerednaw
tpad typos grrr

After a level 50 powertech which I've been playing for a year now, I have recently decided to level a mercenary.

I know mercenaries have their problems, but pre-50 at least the class is in my experience fantastic in both pve and pvp. It basically plays very similar to a powertech but with mainly castable abilities instead of mainly instant abilities, and heals instead of taunts. If you know how to kite the class owns, but if you get caught unaware by a melee class (including powertechs) you will die. I'm having loads of fun with it, as its both more relaxing and easier to play than my powertech, and at the same time harder

Edited January 30, 2013 by LordExozone

Merc is fun to level. It's pretty laid back and simple, so it's the sort of class that you can just kick back, blast things, and not stress.

 

From a PVE perspective, there's nothing wrong with it at all. Especially if you're not interested in maxing out the class.

 

It was probably the easiest class to level to 50 that I've done so far. Maybe not the fastest, maybe not the most edge-of-your-seat, but it was easy and it was decently fun.

 

This was my experience too. very easy to level (your first companion is a healer). dual blasters are keen looking (power blast with the merc is still one of my most favorite looks...winding up with the blasters cocked is pretty cool).

 

lots of versatility in PvE. PvE damage is high, PvE healing is potent and effective. Their healing mechanic is also a unique one...I've played a ton of healer classes in other MMO's, and the merc stood out quite a bit. its something about the nature of the heat buildup that makes it interesting. low intensity healing you can do for EVER, literally, burst heals build up heat fast so you have to manage heat by juggling your healing...Its much more interesting then the sorcs more traditional "big cast" "small cast" til you run out of power approach.

 

few things to think about. One, they are very much a "turret" style of play. most their abilities have cast times, so you will usually be standing there casting things. two: the heat mechanic. it's both a unique approach to resources, and a pain when your under the gun. takes a bit to get a feel for how much you can put out over what time frame before needing to release some heat. Overall a great class though.

 

99% of the griping is solely about PvP. so it your going to PvE 99% of the time, ignore it. this is probably one of the best balanced PvE classes in the game.

 

EDIT: just for the sake of comparisons, I also play just about every class at 50, with the exception of the agent/smuggler (theyr'e still in their 30's), and raid with same toons. My merc got her raid gear faster then anyone else.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Elyxin

Thanks for all of your replies everyone. I'm going to roll a Merc.

When i levelled my merc, it was before the DFA nerf. Levelling was so much fun with the old DFA range. But its still pretty easy, one of the few classes that 'flows' when levelling. In pvp though, it seems to be missing 'something', or rather, 'everything'.

My first toon was a Merc - still leveling, but loving it. If I'm in the mood to dps, I can. Or heal? I can do that too.

 

The hard part for me, since I play a sniper as well is remembering my range limits while playing Merc:o

If you mostly PVE and you only regular PVP for the daily you will be fine. To be a dps merc or a healer merc in a progression guild you might have to work a little harder but you shouldn't have a problem. Rated warzones FORGET it. You will not be asked to go in there because the merc is broken pvp wise compared to other classes. In regular warzones no one cares and they can't keep you from queueing anyway.

Short Answer: Yes

 

Long Answer: I recently finished leveling a mercenary bounty hunter. I had a good time with it, but...

 

I think that one of the stumbling blocks is that the mercenary bounty hunter is a healing/dps class and the companions you get do not necessarily work well with you. Mako, your first companion, is a cunning healer, so you are almost forced into speccing DPS early on. Your next two companions are DPS types (one ranged cunning, one melee aim) and so you can switch to a healing spec at that point, but there are some hairy moments when you take on tougher encounters (significantly large groups or elites). Your last two companions are tanks (one ranged, one melee), but they are undergeared so combat slows down because they do not do a lot of damage and you spend a lot of time healing them rather than contributing to damage.

 

There are also the LS/DS choices - most of the DS choices are "kill everything in your way" which most of the time do not make sense and go against most of your companions' beliefs (loss of affection). That being said, I've learned not to worry about farming points because of my BH character. I just made the conversation choices I thought were right based on the personality I gave the character (mostly LS btw)

 

The class story is very good although there are some sections that drag a little. IMO very similar to the smuggler class story.

 

All-in-all I like the class, I liked the story (once I played the character focusing on the character and not points farming (LS/DS and affection).

meh, the amounts of interrupts you can sustain in both pve & pvp makes me cringe for this class sometimes.

I fear that with the upcoming patch might get things worser for us:confused:

Especially for Arsenal Mercenaries

I just hope that i'm wrong,but it seems that they keep nerfing us.

It seems that this is a kind of BH destiny,back in SWG the BH had a big nerf as well.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Marshal_Ney