which Merc AA?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Grecojin, Aug 26, 2020.

  1. Grecojin New Member

    I have been doing HA in ETWK and thus picking up some Merc AAs I have used most so far on AC improvement. Currently the Merc healer is not running low on mana. But I wonder going forward what is the best Merc AA to obtain? I am currently at lvl 97
  2. Buster_Shruggs Augur

    I dont have a strategy set in stone for how I spend my merc AA points other than focusing on whatever type merc I use most on a particular character. Healer mercs I tend to take +hp/mana merc AA to 20 with the required +resistance/ac merc AAs needed to advance. After 20 on +hp/mana Ill start to add to healing acumen/proficiency. I don't neglect the +hp/ac because if your merc does happen to go OOM or garners aggro when dealing with multiple mobs and no CC, then survivability is a good thing! I've had healer merc offtank in bad situations; even if its just so you have time to escape!
    Also, dont neglect merc gear, iirc theres some for your current merc's level in the main camp in ETWK.
  3. Funky Augur


    also remember, you cannot max most of the other skills without HP/melee defense/mana being a certain level itself
    Buster_Shruggs likes this.
  4. Nolrog Augur


    I have not purchased the healing subtlety Merc AA for that exact reason. I want him to get aggro on the add so that we can focus on one at a time.

    I tend to do healing acumen as soon as possible (with whatever pre-reqs necessary) so they heal better . . . well unless I'm using a tank or DPS one (one of my boxes has a caster DPS merc, so he does the ones relevant for that class, including any subtelty)
    Buster_Shruggs likes this.
  5. Sigpa0s Journeyman

    If you aren't already, be sure to do /overseer tasks as often as possible. The reward that gives character experience is also giving close to a full merc AA. It's not intended, and will be removed/fixed eventually, but until then, it helps immensely when trying to improve your merc.

    As for which merc AA, I've been maxing all the General categories first, before going into any specialization, because I swap between healer and melee mercs often.
    Nolrog and Buster_Shruggs like this.
  6. Buster_Shruggs Augur


    NEVER encourage utilizing an exploit! ;)
    Vumad and Sigpa0s like this.
  7. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Source?
  8. Petalonyx Augur

    I max merc HPs (the higher ranks give a lot more hp), then healing through at least rank 10 (which requires rank 15 spell resist).

    I'll then generally work on AC, final healing ranks, and start healing subtlety.

    Generally, i feel that bolstering healer survival is most important.
  9. Sigpa0s Journeyman

    Completing overseer normally, accepting the reward, and getting what is stated on the reward window is not exploiting. I appreciate the humor though.
  10. Sigpa0s Journeyman

  11. Vumad Cape Wearer


    In my opinion...

    The best AA for general (all merc) is HP (because it also helps against AE spells).

    The best AA for the tank merc is AC.

    The best AA for the cleric merc is healing.

    The best AA for the DPS mercs is DPS (post rogue adjustment).

    Obviously this is dependent upon your play style. I don't let my cleric merc get hit, so HP (for AEs) and total healing ability are important. Aggro management AA become important if your DPS mercs are pulling aggro. Etc.

    As you buy the AA, their costs go up, reconsider how you are spending your AA as you change tier. At rank 10/20 the cost jumps from 5 to 10 AA per rank which is significant. This might be a good time to start buying the cheaper ranks of aggro management or w/e.

    Now I 3-box ENC, CLR, MAG with Rog+War+Rog/CLR mercs. (This balances spell and melee DPS better, second cleric needed sometimes for named).

    On my ENC main, I had spread it out for diversity for before I boxed my mage, but now it's primarily rogue DPS and HP.
    On my mage I went straight to max out cleric healing for molo/backup and rogue DPS.
    On my cleric I went full warrior AC, then when it hit rank 10 and skyrocketed in price, I got HP then continued through the AC.

    I used to switch out my mercs a lot. As an ENC+CLR box I frequently rotated out WIZ+WIZ, WIZ+WAR, CLR+WIZ depending on the level of the zone, if I was charming, how hard I wanted to work, etc. Now with a mage and an extra merc, I have my offtank (pet) for charm breaks and steady DPS, so each character is more singularly focused on merc AA.
  12. CrazyLarth Augur

  13. Conq Augur

    Merc's are the Devil.