Apprentice Melee Damage Merc's seem to exhaust Stamina at a faster rate than ... well anything I have ever encountered. Level 86 Melee Damage (Apprentice V) can use ~3% of their stamina, during a fight vs a level 78 Mob, with a Level 86 Pet Tanking and taunting, Swarm Pets level 87 attacking and player Level 86 beating down on the Mob (Necromancer Level 86) Fight may last 30 to 45 seconds. The recovery rate is almost non existent ... this may not be a problem if Stamina has no affect on a Merc but it does not seem as though that is the case. For what it is worth, the Melee Merc is always the Last to engage the mob, sometimes only engaging the mob when it is running away. I have made sure that the Melee Merc is buffed with Acumen for what it is worth. Is this really the intended action of the Apprentice V Melee Merc?
Stamina <> Endurance, which is the actual limiter you are encountering. Acumen does not do anything for endurance.
Can you define within EQ definitions the difference between Stamina and Endurance? The spirit of the question is that Stamina is being reduced at an (my opinion) unrealistic rate. The reality of this is that after 10 to 12 mobs the Stamina is at 0 and it can take a very long time for it to be regenerated. It has been forever but I seem to recall that not eating and running reduced stamina representing Endurance.
That yellow bar isn't Stamina - and hasn't been for years. It's Endurance, and it's basically yellow mana. Endurance regen is considerably lower than mana regen on pretty much everything - not just mercs, but players too. Acumen does nothing for endurance regen, as Qbert said. Stamina is a stat, and it increases your hit points. It also has an impact on some of the mod.... 3s? I think they were mod 3's when they were on gear.
All non J5 mercs suck. The regen for mana or endurance is non existent by design. They want you to pay for subs.
Mercs are pretty terrible by design. The devs want to encourage grouping with real players, and of course paying for a sub to get a j5 merc. J5 mercs are slightly less terrible, but still terrible. I'm also not surprised that your merc isn't engaging the enemy when they should, because they aren't smart creatures. Be thankful that you are not trying to do progression with a tank merc, which is no longer possible. Thank you daybreak.
My all access account earned the J5's seems odd that they would be taken away (went silver) (why not limit them to J5.L1) but it is DB's call. Making the noted Melee class so ... unusable seems to be ... just inconsistent. Thanks for all the input but let me make this as clear as I can make it (100% is equal to) J5 vs Apprentace: Tank ... 150% J5 vs Apprentace: Melee ... 550%+ J5 vs Apprentace: Healer ... 110% If something is not standing out in that list then it is time to call it a day in terms of this thread and just adapt.
Sadly, having never used an Apprentice .... anything.. I can't say what the comparison is, and if the comparison you have made is fair. I know that even for a J5, the melee are pretty terrible. If it sucks so much worse as an Apprentice, it would become unusable for sure. =\
Ok, just for fun, I took a Level 86 Melee DPS Merc to Guk City (mostly high 40's to low 50's) just to see and yup after a dozen or more fights the Melee was done. Mind you these are GREY cons. So unless/until DB decides to bring this back into line that style merc is useless.