Hi All, anyone currently using merc tanks and healers in TBM/EOK? I'm running a Bard/Ber duo and was wondering how the mercenaries stand up to both trash mobs and named. I think I recall the mercs getting a power boost not too long ago. Thanks in advance!
Not well.... a real tank with a healer merc will take you much farther than the reverse. Even if you have it totally maxxed the problem with tank mercs is that they have zero situational smarts with cool downs and tend to just blow them whenever relying on a tank merc and a healer merc so you can DPS and ADPS is going to be very frustrating in end game content
I assume you either don't actually use mercs. We're using healer mercs exclusively in EoK and havn't had a single problem. I can't speak for tank mercs, but I've heard they have benefited from the improvements.
Me and a couple friends run a tank (when actual tank isnt around) and healer merc, we play Bard, Ranger, Boxedtoon/guildmate (rog/chanter), monk/ranger and have great success. Granted we havent ventured to much in t2, but havent found a t1 named we cant do. We have been doing the chardok HA and do so very effectively. Our tank did decided to ditch the group mid fight on the drunk giant in FM... that was comical! We also run them in TBM for the HA's and pretty much ever where else. I personally run a ranger /shaman with tank/healer merc at BiFaak with bery little issue. Granted metcs van be dumb so sometimes I wipe on BiFaak or the Zerker cause they took forever to engage. One question I have on tank mercs tho is about the mins that fd the tank, do they auto stand quickly, or do they just lay there dumbfounded.
Tips: Avoid hillsides. Try to pull the mob to the flattest open area you can, like the base of the hill for Bi'faak. Not sure what causes it but we've seen weirdness with late healing on hillsides, especially rough ones with a lot of uneven bumpy patches. Use 2 healer mercs for named mobs. One on Reactive, the other on Balanced. This also helps on regular mobs if you have a weak group. I've duo'd with a 105 Necro as a 95+ Monk and we use his pet to tank and run two healer mercs. It helps address spiky damage or hits on multiple people at the same time early on. Don't try any of this in EoK with less than J5 mercs. It probably has something to do with how confidence works for mercs, but any risk of them giving up is too much. You need the highest reliability to avoid downtime from wipes. If you have a player who can Feign or deaggro in the group and you can use other player's mercs for the group, do that. If it looks like a wipe, have them FD. Their merc will be able to be popped right away to res if somebody drops group for a minute. This saves a lot of recovery time.
Speaking as the Necro in the group Niskin mentioned above, a couple of other points: 1) With one healer merc and no backup healing, the ability to slow is required for anything but the weakest trash. 2) Two healer mercs, set up as Niskin states, is pretty brain dead even with an add. Three can be tough if you can't control the third (root/mez/etc). Even then the tank merc will bounce around so the further from camp you can lock adds the better. If you have the merc bouncing from critter to critter, and you've got them locked down (say with root), put the merc on passive and bring everything else to camp then back to agro. 3) Make sure the tank is level 105 wearing as much tank gear as possible. You can get away with lower level healers, especially if you have two and one is in the 90s. 4) Set up roles to ensure the mercs stay put in camp. 5) Pull to the tank merc directly... like run through the merc with the critter you are pulling. Engagement can be spotty. 6) Having a pet tank as back up, taunting, can be helpful with a tank merc. If they merc goes down, your pet tank should have agro and you can always call another if it dies. I find player tanks hate this... yes you LC 7) Feign death solves most risks.
Thanks for the new replies! right now it's just me boxing a Bard and Berserker so 2 healers isn't likely to happen, I'll see how it goes and if a 3rd toon is necessary i'll probably add a tank, likely warrior since they are easiest to box. Only L 103 right now with some heroic gear and some of the higher end Gribbles stuff. I'll need to get to 105 and get fully geared in Mark of Valor gear before heading to TBM.
