Having trouble deciding on a merc for my SK. I leveled a pally with a tank merc but as a pally I could buff and heal him. Should I fear kite using a rogue perhaps treating it as an uber pet? If I took the tank merc would I have trouble keeping him up and downtime waiting for him to heal? Any advice appreciated thanks.
It depends on your account level and how aggressive you are. All-Access with Journeyman Tier I tank merc, can take on pretty much anything and everything 1-40, then still all reds till 60. Silver with Apprentice Tier V tank merc, is similar but can't take on multiple reds continuously and by 50+ will start having to stick to white or lower cons in general, without help (dps, heals, shared tanking, etc.). F2P or Bronze is only App II, and much weaker still. They are fine with single white and lower cons below 40, and maybe higher. Good buffs, like Temperance, Regen, and damage shields help them out tremendously, just like players. In comparison, Rogue's do about the same dps at lower levels, but are like being an account level behind defensively. That is, All-Access, a J1 Rog, is about as tough as an A5 tank. However with a J1 Rog, you can set it to Burn or whatever the high DPS stance is called and they'll do a little better DPS as you level. As a Silver, A5 Rogues are passable defensively, but similar to an A5 tank offensively, since no DPS stances on Apps. Wiz mercs, without a constant crack buffer run out of mana quick. Clerics waste all their mana on buffing the group and their heals are worthless until 40 when they get a complete heal. This is worthless compared to HoT / Heal potions and good buffs. By 46, if F2P, you may feel better tanking yourself, if you can and have kept your skills up and gear up, and leveled slowly enough to do that, and using a Wiz or Clr merc since KEI and Virtue will land on them and last for hours. Same with a Rog merc. But my general opinion is stick with tank till 50 on f2p or 60 or 65 on Silver / All-Access with A5 / J1 tank mercs. Maybe even that high on F2P, just depends on if you think you can out tank the App 2 or not. I've tempered it down due to a few complaining about unbuffed tanks not being that great. But, who plays with mercs and doesn't get good buffs for asking and waiting 5-10mins for some one to see it and respond. And J1 are very tough even unbuffed at low levels. Are they better buffed? Absolutely! Ask yourself the same question. So, all in all, most people avidly agree on choosing a tank a merc, and those few that don't just don't want to play that way at all or have some other reasoning why not to use them. /shrug Each person is unique. Yther Ore.
Thanks for the replies. I'm a full access member. I'm more than happy to subscribe to a great game. Will give the tank a shot.
Tank at low levels does not keep agro on mobs I'm within mellee range with. I have to back out of combat for the tank to get agro. I can safely say its quicker and safer for me using the healing merc at levels 1-18. With tank I'm constantly having to back in and out of combat and manage my health carefully should it drop to low mobs will blood rush me and ignore tank anyway. Might try the tank again after level 20.
Also, if Journeyman, set it to Aggressive stance, and pull with a low aggro, zero damage or close to it method. Thrown items or arrows work well. Spell like cancel magic if no thrown / archery items. If you don't have any no damage detrimental spells yet, use your lowest damage spell, pull the merc by getting behind the merc. Wait a sec or two then move into melee, or if spell caster stand back and cast. It's all about learning pulling and aggro management with a low level tank. And if you have a Journeyman tank merc, and are worried about helping out, then don't be. They can handle all sorts of stuff alone, just learn to pull and get out of the way. As they level, they get faster and better at aggro, and you can learn when you can join in, and what not to do, like snare early on, or root the mobs and get in melee range or use high aggro spells like flame lick on a Rng or Dru or pull with your best nuke or worst dot or debilitating spell, like slow. These are things you wait on, until the main tank has solid aggro before using, then don't chain them. Cast one, make sure you didn't get aggro, wait a few seconds more before casting another. Yther Ore.
The tank merc, just like real warriors, gets a provoke skill at level 20, where it gets much better aggro control. There is a simple technique for using the tank merc at lower levels: stop dpsing and step back if you want it to take aggro. Personally, I don't usually care much, as I want the hits for my defense skills, but with tough fights I will turn off. This isn't much different from duoing with a warrior, except that you don't need to heal it .
I'm leveling an alt-SK right now - just got him to 36 the other night. Honestly - a healer merc is great to keep you up and while you're tanking and you're increasing your defensive skills. The J1 tank merc is only used when I go AFK. He's a beast. He literally kills everything without any help. While I'm full mana with a clarity buff and if I can get an enchanter to buff me and my merc I ALWAYS use a wizard merc. The J1 caster merc NUKES THEIR FACES OFF. As an SK and I'm sitting on my mount so I'm always meditating I just cast heat blood and a lifetap or 2 and stuff stays on me for my taunt skills. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the dps of the J1 wizzie merc is INSANE. Mana will be an issue but it's REALLY WORTH it to hang out and get a clarity 2 or a Koadic's or something to keep his downtime minimal. An SK can AoE tank decently too in my very limited humble experience/opinion. Best of luck!
Funny you should say that Witch. I went Mistmore castle last night and was using the very same a wizard merc. Amazing results. I just pull with darkness hit them once then fear and pull the next, I Normaly got about 3 pr 4 mobs on the go like a yo yo. Sometimes the wizard will nuke them dead from 50% HP.
Yeah - it's pretty intense! My main just hit lvl 65 last night - a Magician - and whew boy! The J1 wizzie merc nukes in the thousands on the "burn" setting. It ALWAYS pulls agro off me and my air pet (gogogadget STUN). As a mage I'm not as well equipped to deal with that as on my shadow knight. And on the SK the snare and fear are godly! I'm glad you're having a good experience with my suggestion. Let those fools in Mistmoore know that we haven't forgotten about them and that their treachery can only go unpunished for so long! *brandishes fist*
