DPS mercs

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Andarriel, Sep 1, 2021.

  1. Andarriel Everquest player since 2000

    Have always just used a cleric merc. Whats the difference between melee and caster dps mercs and which are better? Pro's and Con's on each if possible.

    Andarriel
  2. Kolaisa Elder

    Basically the same as asking which is better a wizzy or a rogue. I think its self explanatory right now.
  3. Elyssanda Bardbrain

    Rogue.. wizzies are broke..
  4. Qimble Augur

    Rogue mercs are really, really bad. Insanely low DPS even when set to burn. Wizzie mercs are worse.
    Andarriel likes this.
  5. demi Augur

    rogues never go out of mana .. , however make sure you focus on their silent/subtle strikes AA or whatever its called and get them some good merc gear .. they take agro really easily ..
    Andarriel likes this.
  6. Andarriel Everquest player since 2000

    ok thanks for the info i know about wizard being broke why i went from a main wiz to ranger lol. Just eventually my ranger will do hunters he wont be able to handle to well since mobs in the newer expasnion have alot more hps. I do RoS fine just more of a challenge especially when i tried howling stones lol.

    Andarriel
  7. kizant Augur

    Rogue merc DPS is really good. It's only low if you let them get aggro a lot which forces them to stop attacking.
    Caisy, Coagagin and Elyssanda like this.
  8. Velisaris_MS Augur

    There's something wrong with the wizard mercs. They're...not right.

    The rogue mercs can put out some insane DPS on Burn, but your tank better be on point with holding aggro because those rogues will grab it in the blink of an eye (especially if you don't have the AAs for them).

    My group is cleric/ranger/sk with three rogue mercs on Burn. Even with the sk, I have to pay attention to those aggro numbers.
  9. Laronk Augur

    Rogue mercs on burn with support like a bard out do 90% of random not my guild dps that are lfg. Don't forget to buff your rogue merc. As stated by others, rogue merc agro can be a bit high sometimes but as a paladin I can keep agro if I pay attention.
  10. Wulfhere Augur

    Last time I tested, April 2020 discussion, they did not stop attacking in Burn stance, only on Balanced.
  11. kizant Augur

    I see. Good to know.
  12. Schadenfreude Augur

    Rogue is higher DPS with proper support but quite a bit more aggro, even with massive amounts of AA, a full set of buffs and the tankiest gear available they evaporate if forced to tank for any length of time.
    Andarriel likes this.
  13. Coagagin Guild house cat

    I use a fully vigilant equipped rouge paired with a Wizard and have no problems whatsoever. To be more concrete rogues are fine with single dark blues from T1 ToV and before. T2 dark blues in ToV or CoV can be very dicey but this depends on your playstyle and risk appetite and model. The scrykin model is by far the slowest to react while I suspect the wood elf rogue the fastest from what I can see having the two rogues in the same group, no matter what Pip thinks, there is a difference in reaction time.
    Wulfhere and Velisaris_MS like this.
  14. Qimble Augur

    It baffles me that people think rog mercs are decent DPS. Casual players in a non-raid mish mash of gear should be putting out 2x their DPS or more without really burning. When I group with well played rogues they routinely put out 5-10x the DPS of a rogue merc. IMO all DPS mercs could stand to have their DPS doubled or tripled. As a pally I can out DPS my merc with sword n board vs live mobs, which is pretty damn sad. We’re playing a game where 1 million DPS is easy to hit during burn with a full group, a rogue merc only doing 150k while set to burn is sad.
  15. Laronk Augur

    And I would say most players in pickup groups don’t sustain what a merc can sustain. Even some “good” players don’t sustain it over long periods of time. Lots of players that i have played with really do like to cherry pick their parses but when you go combine 30 minutes or where mercs really shine combine a good 4 hour parse of questing then you’ll start to see the mercs pulling their weight and the afk’s of the players add up.

    Yeah on nameds and on HAs mercs don’t compare at all specially if the players use their discs. Mercs should only be a temporary solution until you find more players or just to be there to fill you out when doing boring stuff. They don’t need 2x to 3x the damage.
    Skrab likes this.
  16. Qimble Augur


    That has not been my experience. Good players will sustain a massive lead over DPS mercs unless they’re AFK for huge chunks of the parse. The real rub for me is that over a 2-3 hour grind a DPS merc will cause to gain less XP than not having them out. The only players being beat by DPS Mercs are the ones who think throwing their pet on the mob or turning on auto attack is all it takes to do damage. I run parses whenever I’m grouping and spend time pouring through them whenever I noticed anything out of whack to try and help people improve. Can’t remember the last time I saw a non-afk player get beat out on a decent length parse by a merc. A 3x damage buff wouldn’t put them ahead of even decent DPS classes, but it would make non raiders much better able to tackle content. I shudder to think of anyone trying to do COV content with the inflated health pools and relying on mercs for damage. I imagine it would take 3-5 minutes per kill of blue cons.
  17. Waring_McMarrin Augur


    You are looking at it as player versus merc and not caster merc versus melee merc as was asked about in the question. Of course a well played player is going to out parse a merc.
    Coagagin, Elyssanda, Stymie and 2 others like this.
  18. Wulfhere Augur

    There are a couple of scenarios were a wizard merc makes sense.

    1. PBAE damage: At low levels, from level 1 to about 65, the Journeyman caster merc can tank 2 to 8 mobs and kill them all while in Burn AE stance. There is a flat spot, in the mid 50s, where the wizard AE spells are a bit under powered, but otherwise this strategy works well. This is a good way to self power level. If you have 2 or 3 of them in group, then they will ping pong aggro and mobs will die quickly. Rogue mercs on Burn are not quite as lethal at these low levels, unless buffed and hasted.

    2. Wizard Alliance: If you have a wizard character, then 2 caster mercs can trigger your alliance fulmination consistently for decent DPS.
  19. Qimble Augur


    My original comment was that rogue mercs are terrible and wizzie mercs manage to be worse, I only responded again because I saw a bunch of comments about how good rogue mercs are, which is just plain wrong. A poorly played DPS class will outdps a rogue merc. A well played DPS class will blow them outta the water.
  20. Tucoh Augur

    Been years since i played with a merc. Lotta people talk about their DPS but i haven't seen any parses. Now I'm kind of curious.