Hi folks, I'm looking to molo up a SK. I don't plan to raid or even group much. I was thinking of using a DPS Merc to speed up the killing. Should I go wo with the rogue or wizard Merc? Or maybe just stick with a cleric? Thanks!
I would either stick with a tank merc or cleric merc. Tank merc will probably be faster depending on your equipment.
If you are only going with one get the cleric. Especially starting out. Ive been playing an sk since 2004 daily and have two. I usually dont play without a healer in the group. When I have a merc out its usually my melee dps merc. I would advise against he wiz merc , tried it and had lackluster results. I might add also that this is the second merc in the group. Sk are one of the best toons for self sustainability but it does not last forever.
Tank merc for a SK makes NO sense (tank merc taunt the sk up and the sk cant heal him... and a dead tank merc does nothing...). All the way a heal merc (heals, Buffs and spell haste)
Up to a certain level (which I am unsure of), tank mercs can solo most content. That's probably the reasoning behind Aoxe's suggestion. If you're beyond that point, I would go with healer merc and then melee DPS merc.
Prior to the early 60s, a tank merc or DPS caster set to AE BURN are viable to mini-swarm with virtually no healing required (caster may require regen breaks between groups of mobs, however... ymmv). Eventually though, you'll want a healer to help you grind out the skills you've neglected to this point. Once your skills are up to snuff, you might be able to get away with a melee DPS merc for faster kills if you can self-heal (tap) sufficiently for the content you're attempting. Learning to efficiently pull singles will help accommodate that playstyle, particularly before you've got Mortal Coil or your 1.5/2.0 on which to capitalize. If you're still struggling, there's no shame in falling back to the healer merc, which is always a solid choice. Late game will depend more on your gear/skill level. Healer merc makes it mostly easy and mindless. Melee merc makes you pay attention to what you're doing, but if you're on your game, you can often get away with it without too much heartache.
Healer merc, unless you can tank the mobs and self heal, then use the rogue. Better yet, box a shaman with him lol.
Situational. I play a paladin, I usually use a cleric and have unending pulls as i don't tank my mana at all vs when i go with a rogue merc to "kill faster". In either situation i heal myself the cleric is more less a patcher i never rely on it and i pull multiple mobs not singles. So the question is do you want the burst fast dps or sustained constant pull method of killing.
Had a tank merc to about 100, as an SK. I found SK epic click would let her remain at full health without a hassle. Zevfeer's Bite line was useful. After about 100 I switched to a cleric. SK can heal others, but not in the same way a pally can. With cleric, at 115 I find it pretty easy to survive most challenges, and I don't need a cleric if I am going back to do Hero/partisan in lower zones, my own spells/disks keep me alive. As an SK I would seriously recommend the OMM/Anguish chest to help you live. It's awesome.
This is honestly pretty bad advice. Tank merc when you’re starting out is vastly superior to a cleric merc. Tank merc will power level you all the way to the 60s. Especially since the merc change. J5 tank mercs at level 1 is stupid broken. J5 tank mercs can tank mobs 10 levels above them and still lose 0 health. If you’re only going with one merc definitely grab a tank. You don’t want a cleric merc for anything other than rezzing and buffing until your 60s. Taking flatchy’s advice is the absolute slowest way you could possibly level.
Tank merc makes sense for every class until at least the 60s. Especially after the recent change. The tank merc just plain don’t take damage in the early levels at all.
My SK Tank Merc broke fear all by itself, at level 46. Must of had 25 or 30 mobs on it at one point. FD for the win!
If I were you OP, I would try them both and see which works best for you. And it could change as you level up. I listened to everyone who said run a tank up to level 60. And watched those tanks die more often than my ranger! I have leveled many classes with healer mercs - it just works better for my play style. Could be because I don't want to play the healer. So maybe I was subconsciously letting the tank mercs die I will say though as I got over level 100 when I do run a tank merc they take down the named pretty well. But under that level the tank mercs cannot keep up but the healer mercs keep me alive and that is the main idea.
In all honesty I got to 65 before mercs were even a thing and just figured I would go with what I did when they came into game. If they are indeed that bad then yeah by all means go fd and let the merc do all the heavy lifting for you. My bad !
Not "bad" at all. It's all about context. You weren't commenting on the low levels. I never had mercs for low levels either. When I have rolled new chars since mercs were a thing, I've been tempted to try the tank merc and see what they can do, but in my case, I have more than one account, and PLing from another account is even faster than an OP tank merc could ever be. So I haven't tried it either. One other tidbit for the OP (and any others interested in the low level/merc game): Some people have mentioned that they've had even better results using a caster merc set to AE burn, and pulling multiples. Tanks almost as well as the tank merc, while doing much more DPS. Just what I've heard, have no direct knowledge.
I did not mean bad "bad" I typed bad A R S E. The delicate powers that be can not let such vulgarity out and deleted the word changing the context. So here, " If they are indeed that powerful , then yah by all means fd and let the mercs do all the heavy lifting. "
Use your DBC to buy the slots and get all of them. Rogue merc will have the best single target DPS. Wizard merc has less single target DPS but may have higher AE DPS and you can hold aggro. Cleric merc is obvious. What you use will depend on the situation. There will be times you can't self heal, there will be times where you can and want more DPS. You can just go swap your merc depending on what you are doing (killing a named vs farming tradeskills). Being able to have different merc types in the pocket is worth the DBC investment for most classes however. For AA, focus on the works for all of them AA first, like HP. Then buy the class specific AA later as you decide which classes you use the most. You will certainly want a strong cleric merc at some point It's always easier to find DPS LFG than a healer.
That is the best answer really. I have three of them , really no need for a tank as SK takes care of all that. I have all merc aa so feel great about that, the one thing I have an issue with is merc gear. You can only have one set up at a time and it does not switch when you switch mercs. Make it so! Oh btw there is a task for being able to get another mercenary slot without paying for it. I cant remember the name of it offhand right now. I think it begins in POK , if someone remembers feel free to chime in.
