I think Mercs are fun. I think more than other sets, YOU, the MM, need to be in there fighting like you said. So you can go offensive secondary or self-buff or whatever. But I'd focus less on buffing the pets other than what comes from the standard, and do some damage and/or buff yourself.
I am in a love/hate relation with Mercs. I love the theme, the idea of controlling a mini-army, no undead or high-tech stuff, just some peeps that know how to shoot a gun, gives me a great link to my AR blaster.
And thats about how far my love goes for them, the rest of it.. i hate. Summontime, upgrade time, abilities, overal usage and 'flaws' in the set, ironicly i am playing a Merc/TA, along with procs the set has a huge -resist debuff but still they dont feel even close to the effectiveness i get with my other favorite, Necro/trap. My necro/trap i activly fight along, /trap aint that 'active' on playstyle, so i have the 2 attacks (single hit and selfheal) along with Soul Mastery. With my Merc/TA/Mace, i got sick and tired of the freaking redraw.
If only they would take some time, redesign some of the Merc aspecs (as said, Serum, overal usage of Seals and strength of Commando), i would love to play the set again. But the more and longer i play my other MM's, the less interesting it becomes to continue my Merc. Even a very matching secondairy doesnt make it better, the very same secondairy can also work perfectly on other sets, perhaps even better (/storm on bots for example).
Not untill they pickup and fix up the set like they recently did with EA, i'm not looking back at my Merc MM anymore. Though its sad, i really like the set as theme, but the other sets are just way better then Mercs now ever can be.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
Yeah, is there a way the developers will listen to us, seems that ninjas even has strong ST damage but what do the merc's have. Every other primary MM has something but Merc's what do they bring to the table besides looking the coolest, they win the fasion contest but I would also want to win the defeat the mob without dieing contest.
Things to change...
1.) Make the medic heal only, no firing weapons. He will have good heals and they will be frequent only to pets and pets only along with some kind of buffs.
2.) The seals will have some kind of defense componet like Super Reflexes that make them hard to even hit.
3.) Seals have better dmg output and better range
4.) Commando just better at everything (lol).
Post what you would like to see improvments on.
My biggest complaint with the commando was the AI. But it's not an easy fix. the idiot loves to open with Knock attacks, then start using non-knock AoE on lone enemies. So he's scatter a perfect group, then flamethrower one guy. If he'd just invert those two attacks his performance would be so much more impressive.
"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.
My Merc/Trap is a blast to play and I find it's quite active. Almost softcapped at 30, so I have been using my vet attacks to get the alpha. I will probably pick up provoke to help.
No one pays attention to me, cause I listen to the voices in my head.
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Not sure about ranking, but my Merc/Dark was my 1st villain and is still my go-to for unknown content.|
Originally Posted by Mint
Question to all merc fans out there, what would you rank as the best secondary for a merc, and merc only?
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| Right now im rolling a merc/TA, its cool and all but serum is very upsetting so far, only lvl 18 so far. Serum only last a very short while then makes your pet into a statue that stands there useless cause he's drained of end. They need to make serum last longer, perma, and no crash then mercs might finally get some respect. |
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| Im really liking the concept of merc/TA so far but the medic is isn't that great, his heals are weak and few and far between. Will things get better? |
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| Will commando make up for the lack so far? |
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| Also I dont stand by and do nothing and let the pets do all the fighting like some MM's do, I get in there and I have selected all 3 gun powers. Im in the fight much as my pets are constantly shooting, and I usually always have them fire all on my target. Kinda figure if they fire on my target and im helping will make this set good. |
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| Correct me if im wrong, but do most people just stand by either healing, buffing, debuffing and ect. with their MM and not shooting and fighting with the pets? Cause im doing alot of shooting and shooting TA everywhere to. |
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| Mercs are the most fun pet to play as so far, but starting to become the most upsetting unless commando makes up for it. So far its the medic and serum im having problems with. |
It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.
I love the look of the set. I hate how under performing it is. I just qwnat a decent machine gun set is that too much to ask CoX devs?
I hope with /time the +recharge on Commado can make the dmg better
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You do know that all MM pets are totaly unaffected by recharge buff or debuff?
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Originally Posted by Dz131
I hope with /time the +recharge on Commado can make the dmg better
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50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
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Put achilees heel into the soldiers and a damage proc into the commando. World of difference right there. three soldiers each independently have a chance for the -20% res to go off (doesn't stack but makes it pretty reliable at least) and if you use the right damage proc it's lightly resisted. Means all your boys are doing more damage and several of the commando's AoEs will have a significant kick to them.
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Originally Posted by Dz131
I hope with /time the +recharge on Commado can make the dmg better
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"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.
Right now i'm lvl 48 on my Mercs/TR (yes Thermal 
) and i'm loving it! Not sure why thermal isn't mentioned so much for mercs. It's got the 2 shields which help. 2 heals (1 aoe 1 st). Forge ramps ur commando up. melt armor + Heat exhaustion = HUGE debuff combo, haven't tried it on AV's but i'm hoping the -regen -def -res in that combo helps in that dept. I really don't get why it's hard to find posts of MM's with thermal as a 2ndary. I guess too many bots/FF clones.
I like Mercs/Storm.
Storm makes any set more fun. I love the team stealth. I love the crazy knockback and knockdown powers. They keep things off balance while my mercs shoot enemies in the head. The set has a single target heal also. Finally, freezing rain has a resist debuff, which helps the mercs a lot. Oh! The mercs are mainly ranged too, so they can shoot bad guys, even when tornado is flinging the foes around the room.
Good stuff!
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
My favorite secondary with Merc is /Storm.
/Storm gives them exotic resistance type and /storm offers more damage through tornado and lightning storm and freezing rain is awesome. Hurrican will help you push the foes away so your fragile soldiers die slower...
Tornado is the best place to put four pet unique.
I can't solo an AV with Merc/Storm but it's one combo that I can stand. I like the versatility of Merc/Storm.
PS: The worst secondary for Merc is Poison. I have a lvl 50 Merc/Posion who I haven't played in years. It's my first lvl 50 villain and I hate him.
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
Merc/Dark, was my first vill I made when CoV came out and like was said before it's my go to toon for new content, or when I feel like soloing AV's and GM's 
Favourite so far is a Merc/Storm at 35. Abandoned a Merc/FF at 34 and a Merc/Pain at 22. The /FF was boring as hell, and no debuffs make for a sad Merc MM. The /Pain got rerolled.
/Storm is nice and active, with a heal, some decent debuffs and buffs, and just plain creates havoc which suits the Mercs ranged nature well. Hurricane is a thing of beauty.
Edit: And then I get bent over by a Longbow EB. Couldn't even hurt the guy. Whatever, if Ghost Widow can't fend for herself for the 15 seconds it takes me to get back up she deserves to get captured.
They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
@Starflier
I like mercs: my first lvl50 villain was mercs/TA (though I wouldn't recommend it: on basic IOs she struggles on +0/x5/bosses, which most of my subsequent MMs laugh at).
For passive playstyle I'd say the best pairing is Thermal, but since you said you like to be more active, I'd say go w/ dark or storm (in that order) Mercs/Dark has some pretty sweet cones, and tar patch helps you keep enemies in cones. Storm is pretty nice for making the enemies *slowly* run towards you, while slipping on ice, being KB'd by gust/Tunderstorm, while being ripped to shreds by a hail of bullets. Until you get the lvl32 upgrade, mercs scale up (as in, +1,+2,+3) moreso than out (x4,x5,x8)
...Since /poison got an upgrade, it may too be a good secondary (slows, -dmg -res -regen -toHit), but I haven't tried it yet...
Definitely Mercs/Dark for me ( I have one of each primary and secondary). My Merc/Dark is also my first villain and my badger with just over 1000 badges. I use him for hard content like AVs and GMs
I found it easier to heal them as they have a tendency to bunch up around me. I also use GOTOs to bring them back to me when they feel the need to punch things. (Medic)
Dark has a lot of tohit and once you combine it with Fluffies -tohoit and a good 425 point AOE heal you can steamroll through most stuff
My first MM, and the only one I've liked to date, is Mercs/Traps. It is perfect conceptually and it gives me plenty to do. It has buffs, crowd control, and like the OP, I am hands on so I took two of the gun attacks. The idea of just playing a Defender for my pets with Pain or Bubbles sounds depressing to me. I did NOT take the grenade one, though, because I do not want to draw aggro off the boys by firing an AoE. I'm not that hands on.
One thing I really loved was that he was the only toon I ever made who did not need Stamina (back in the day before inherent fitness).
Medic is a pretty mediocre healer, yeah. Don't hinge too much on his Aid Other saving anyone. But he's worth having for Stimulant.
Serum is nice for boss fights, but honestly... I almost didn't bother taking it because I didn't feel the Commando really needed it. Not when I can keep the fight under my shield and within triage beacon and acid mortar range. It's good against those red and purple bosses who aren't polite enough to stay where you want them.
--
My AE Story Arcs:
Family Matters - 82136
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Serum is awesome if you frankenslot it. You can put most of your Commando's resistances up to his 90% soft cap, in which case he becomes truly invincible (except against psionics) for that full minute. However... if you're not planning to frankenslot it (give it 6 slots and fill them), then I'd recommend you not bother taking it at all. There's a huge difference between 90% resistance and 70% resistance. |
Originally Posted by Mint
Question to all merc fans out there, what would you rank as the best secondary for a merc, and merc only?
Right now im rolling a merc/TA, its cool and all but serum is very upsetting so far, only lvl 18 so far. Serum only last a very short while then makes your pet into a statue that stands there useless cause he's drained of end. They need to make serum last longer, perma, and no crash then mercs might finally get some respect. |
In tough battles where I'm about to lose, I heal my Commando to full health, put Serum on him, tell him to attack the toughest enemy in the group, and then run back to the elevators, where I resummon the others as they die. When he crashes I just dismiss and resummon him, and then equip everyone while I wait for the enemies to come find us.
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Im really liking the concept of merc/TA so far but the medic is isn't that great, his heals are weak and few and far between. Will things get better? |
Mercs/TA is a tough build. You're better off with a set that has its own heals.
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| Also I dont stand by and do nothing and let the pets do all the fighting like some MM's do, I get in there and I have selected all 3 gun powers. Im in the fight much as my pets are constantly shooting, and I usually always have them fire all on my target. Kinda figure if they fire on my target and im helping will make this set good. |
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Correct me if im wrong, but do most people just stand by either healing, buffing, debuffing and ect. with their MM and not shooting and fighting with the pets? Cause im doing alot of shooting and shooting TA everywhere to. . |
A lot of MM's do what is affectionately called "tankermind". You know about "defensive mode", right? (You open up the text on your follow command, erase the word "aggressive" and replace it with the word "defensive")
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Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
Put achilees heel into the soldiers and a damage proc into the commando. World of difference right there. three soldiers each independently have a chance for the -20% res to go off (doesn't stack but makes it pretty reliable at least) and if you use the right damage proc it's lightly resisted. Means all your boys are doing more damage and several of the commando's AoEs will have a significant kick to them.
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For the Commando, I don't bother so much with procs, just frankenslot him for damage. On both my Mercs MM's so far I gave him the full set of Blood Mandate.
Would Mercs/Traps be better to go with than Mercs/TA?
Is TA even a good secondary? Anyone have anything good to say about TA?
Is Traps always a good secondary?
Yeah. Pretty much everybody loves traps. Mercs don't get as much benefit as some other AT's, but they don't do too shabby with it either.
/TA is a difficult powerset for MM. It can be rewarding, especially after you get oil slick, but it's not easy. The main problem is that it offers little or no protection to you or your henchmen. You can mitigate some damage with its slows, immobilizes, and EMP Arrow, but the other sets all have heals, or shields, which help more.
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Trick Arrow is a tough secondary for MMs only because it doesn't mesh well with certain Primaries. Its strength is in aoe slow, immb and debuffs/controls but some pets like Zombie and Genins will always run in and you'll end up not having enough powers to protect/babysit the melee pets. Aid Other can only save some.|
Originally Posted by Mint
Would Mercs/Traps be better to go with than Mercs/TA?
Is TA even a good secondary? Anyone have anything good to say about TA? |
Thug/Robot have an easier time with TA because they are mostly range and they have fire damage to light Oil Slick. Ninja/TA could do good damage but Ninja's survival is severely hindered with TA.
The debuffs from TA are also quite low because they follow all Mastermind's values.
Some sets like /Dark, /Trap and /Storm use "pet's" debuff values so they are naturally stronger than MM's own debuff value. For example, Freezing Rain and Tar Patch debuff 30% resistance regardless which AT uses it, including Defender! This is an advantage for MM. The only exception is Defender Trap. They did increase the debuff/buff values to match Defender's strength.
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
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The trick with procs in the commando is that he is boss level so they do more damage and he has a lot of AoEs so they go of more often. that said, a full set of blood mandate gives very nice bonuses.
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Originally Posted by Berzerker_NA
I put both the Achilles Heel (-Resistance) proc, and the Touch of Lady Gray (chance for negative damage) proc on both the soldiers and the spec ops. Almost all of their attacks have -def to them, so both procs fire quite often. When the Touch of Lady Gray proc fires (20% of the time) I notice that it deals approximately as much damage as the attack that triggered it, so it's like adding 20% to your damage level, with the added bonus that it's an "exotic" damage type that certain enemies are less resistant to.
For the Commando, I don't bother so much with procs, just frankenslot him for damage. On both my Mercs MM's so far I gave him the full set of Blood Mandate. |
"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.
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Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
The trick with procs in the commando is that he is boss level so they do more damage and he has a lot of AoEs so they go of more often. that said, a full set of blood mandate gives very nice bonuses.
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I find the Soulbound Allegiance: Chance for build up works wonders in the Commando, it procs a lot and since he is a boss level he gets full damage.
With 2 Hami, 2 SA and the edict / Sov in my Commando he is 66% Acc / 95% Dam and 33% end.
Level 1: Soldiers -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(3), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(3), HO:Nucle(5), LdyGrey-%Dam(5), Achilles-ResDeb%(33)
Level 12: Spec Ops -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(13), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(13), HO:Nucle(15), LdyGrey-%Dam(15), Achilles-ResDeb%(33)
Level 26: Commando -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(27), S'bndAl-Dmg/EndRdx(27), S'bndAl-Build%(29), EdctM'r-PetDef(29), SvgnRt-PetResDam(33)
Question to all merc fans out there, what would you rank as the best secondary for a merc, and merc only?
Right now im rolling a merc/TA, its cool and all but serum is very upsetting so far, only lvl 18 so far. Serum only last a very short while then makes your pet into a statue that stands there useless cause he's drained of end. They need to make serum last longer, perma, and no crash then mercs might finally get some respect.
Im really liking the concept of merc/TA so far but the medic is isn't that great, his heals are weak and few and far between. Will things get better?
Will commando make up for the lack so far?
Also I dont stand by and do nothing and let the pets do all the fighting like some MM's do, I get in there and I have selected all 3 gun powers. Im in the fight much as my pets are constantly shooting, and I usually always have them fire all on my target. Kinda figure if they fire on my target and im helping will make this set good.
Correct me if im wrong, but do most people just stand by either healing, buffing, debuffing and ect. with their MM and not shooting and fighting with the pets? Cause im doing alot of shooting and shooting TA everywhere to.
Mercs are the most fun pet to play as so far, but starting to become the most upsetting unless commando makes up for it. So far its the medic and serum im having problems with.