Mercs/????

So right now I'm working on a Merc/TA who I'd like to take hero side when I can. The concepy: my Merc/ MM is the leader of a special forces unit that deals with "supernormal" threats.

Merc/TA has been ok. But the survivability at lvl 23 is terrible. If I can keep things under control it's not so bad. And the "Stun Grenade" craftable temp power helps if things start to go south. The problem it, its very easy to lose control of a situation. And when that happens I don't have the tools to keep the pets alive.

My question is is there a better "natural" pairing with Mercs/ than TA? Since my MM and his troop are not "superhuman" I wanted to go with as natural feel as possible. I've thought about Force Field or Traps as well. Since GR is far away, I have no problem deleting and restarting.

Any suggestions on what works well with Mercs/?

I have a Merc/TA at level 50 and it is a very enjoyable toon. Mercs will get a lot better once you get your Commando and your second upgrade. Traps will work very well as a secondary to go with a "natural" Theme. I like TA as it really does provide some utiity powers and debuffs enemies which helps the Mercs damage.

Make sure you look at the guides for Binds to help control your Mercs. I use some very simple macros which I got from a guide since i found that I really cant play well with the keypad. I find that Mercs are best near me and working at range.

Mercs/Traps is what you want. Drop the trap-sticks TA feels to me like traps but on ... sticks, that are 1/2 as effective. I would not sugest FF its is VERY boring. Also FF is +def Merc's are Res orientated. I love my L50 Mercs/Traps and yes around the 20's Mercs are rather underwhelming. But traps has a lot of good powers like Poison trap, Acid Morter and Caltrops. Those 3 powers are very useful, Poison Trap is a good AOE hold (better with a Lockdown Chance for +2 mag hold proc) Acid and Caltrops scatter the mobs. Mobs that are running away aren't shooting at you or your men.

I'd agree that Merc/FF is boring, but it does help in keeping enemies away from the mercs so they can hammer them from a distance. That said, mine stalled in the mid-30's quite some time ago after being ganked by BAB's in a mission.

What's about /Storm? Seems to be perfect to keep the Mobs away with the Repels+Knockbacks.

I think that /dark is the best way to go with mercs. My merc is /dark and it is the perfect set to match with mercs.

All the cc you could ever need. Tack on web grenade and powerup in the 40s, and you got some serious controls. I open up all engagements with this sequence.

Mercs in BG mode > Powerup > Darkest Night (on biggest dude in bunch) > Fear > web grenade > tar patch > All pets attack my target and switch very quickly between mob to mob reissuing that command after every target switch.

By the time you start micromanaging the mercs, half of them are dead. Oh, fluffy (the temp pet) kicks a$$ to.

What you want as a merc mm is to keep sh$t in place and away from you. Dark is superior at that by far. In addition, if you micro manage your mercs for optimum pwnage after the initial portion, they stay right next to you usually. This means that the ridiculously small heal radius of the dark heal will still typically hit all your mercs anyway.

Guys the OP wants a natural themed toon /Dark and /Storm are very Super like.

Ill back "Dark" as secondary as well. Ive a 50 MercDark and he is a blast to play, and fully IOd out, is a lot stronger than most teams think he is.

Don't feel bad about M-30 its good, despite what people say about MM personal attacks.

For example on my primary PVE build for my Merc/Trap I have all the personal attacks, leadership, (-vengeance) hurdle, health, stamina, Combat jumping, and Super jumping. Only things I didn't take is Serum (LOL Serum) and Detonator which I have a special hate for.

As for Aid Other I have personally never taken it that said you could use it but keep in mind it can be interrupted. Your medic, as you may have noticed is rather good at sacrificing himself for the greater good. However he is not so good at healing.

Some advice from what little experience I have with TA. (L19 Cor) You need lots of recharge for glue arrow and poison arrow (As they are more or less TA's Caltrops and Poison Trap.) I haven't played it yet but the combo of Flash arrow and Disruption arrow for your opening salvo looks to be very good. Taking the above into consideration try to work Hasten into your build provided you can work it into your concept.

On M-30 I love it my self it provides good mitigation with its KB and the damage isn't 1/2 bad ether. The thing that kills me is the weapon switching. Captain Den'Rath was originally going to be Merc/TA but by level 6 I had enough with the redrawing. If however that's not a problem for you charge on!

Here is my build. It was based off when you had to buff EACH pet so the Equip powers might be a little over slotted for now.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Skorpion: Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Mercenaries
Secondary Power Set: Trick Arrow
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leadership

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Burst -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(5)
Level 1: Entangling Arrow -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Soldiers -- BldM'dt-Acc(A), BldM'dt-Dmg(5), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(9), Achilles-ResDeb%(9)
Level 4: Slug -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(13), Dmg-I(13)
Level 6: Equip Mercenary -- RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(11)
Level 8: Glue Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(21), Slow-I(21), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(23)
Level 10: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(23), Flight-I(25)
Level 12: Spec Ops -- HO:Endo(A), HO:Perox(15), BldM'dt-Acc(15), BldM'dt-Dmg(17), Dmg-I(17), Achilles-ResDeb%(19)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Poison Gas Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A), IComa--Rchg%(25)
Level 18: Aid Other -- RechRdx-I(A), Heal-I(31), Heal-I(31), Heal-I(33)
Level 20: Acid Arrow -- Acc-I(A), LdyGrey-DefDeb(33), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(33), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(34), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(34), LdyGrey-%Dam(34)
Level 22: Aid Self -- RechRdx-I(A), Heal-I(36), Heal-I(36), Heal-I(36)
Level 24: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 26: Commando -- BriL'shp-Acc(A), BriL'shp-Dmg(27), BldM'dt-Acc(27), BldM'dt-Dmg(29), Dmg-I(29), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 28: Disruption Arrow -- EndRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 30: Tactics -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(37), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(37), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(39), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(39), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(39)
Level 32: Tactical Upgrade -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 35: Oil Slick Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42), Dmg-I(42), Dmg-I(43), Dmg-I(43)
Level 38: EMP Arrow -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(43), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(45), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(45), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(45), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(46)
Level 41: Ice Arrow -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(46), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(48), Hold-I(48), Hold-I(48)
Level 44: Flash Arrow -- Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Resuscitate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- DefBuff-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 0: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 6.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 21.1 HP (2.63%) HitPoints
• 20% Perception
• 8.5% (0.14 End/sec) Recovery
• 22% (0.74 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 1.26% Resistance(Energy)
• 1.26% Resistance(Negative)

Don't ranged pets like mercs sprint into melee now? So it is probably a lot harder to keep them alive.

What about poison?

Also, I can say that getting the Achilles heel proc into your tier-1 mercs is nearly a critical goal. Makes a huge difference.

My soldier MM has pain as secondary. Poison I used for ninja.

Somewhat related, how painful would Mercs/FF be to level? If Storm works with Mercs to keep mobs in firing range, FF would too, right? I guess its down to FF's Def Buffs vs everything else Storm does.

I know how weak Mercs are, and this is more for concept than numbers, but I'd like to avoid making things too tedious on myself.

good luck D.B.B.

I don't think almost any MM is particularly 'painful' to level.

I quite enjoy my Mercs/FF MM when I play him, which unfortunately isn't that often. I'm still working on getting him all slotted up, which will help a ton, but he's still effective. Repulsion Field is nice for keeping enemies out of melee but costs an ***-ton of end to run.

The bubbles help keep you and your henchmen alive, but FF really does nothing to improve kill speed which kind of sucks. Conceptually, the combo works really well for my character, but it lacks oomph which is probably why I don't play him that often.

Now, Mercs/Storm, that would be a crapload of fun.

My Mercs MM is /Poison... my first villain to 50. The one especially nice bit of synergy the combo has is when fighting an AV or some seriously nasty enemies, giving my Commando Serum + Noxious Gas and sending him into melee... debuffing the everloving crap out of whatever he's next to, with Serum keeping him alive and preventing him from being knocked back.