[Guide] Insanely's Comprehensive Guide for Mercenary

Posted by : Zulfikar Alfayed Minggu, 01 April 2012

Warning: This may be a little draggy but, it'll probably be of great help and PLEASE do not generalize my build, as your build will soley depend on how much gold you can aquire and what you like.

First of all, this is not a pure PVE or PVP build. It's a build leaning to PVE but allows you to PVP without any skill handicap. In which, the build opens up every skills you need and the remaining SP are allocated to the best growth skills.

As for my item build, I prefer critical as critical's a good stat against mobs ( espc Lv50 mobs as Lv50 mobs have high def ) , crit ignores the enemy defence. FD is also a MUST for DPS, I'll be heading for a FD build with max crit when Lv50 comes. In regards on how to do this, Battle Howl ( Mercenary Transformation ) will help us with this build.

Warrior:

Mercenary:

Explainations of skills :

( Note: Minor change in build : Possibility of skipping Toughness to put the SP into Battle Howl since Toughness isn't really that useful outside PvP. You decide if it's worth to skip. )

Warrior skill tree :

[ Rising Slash ] - Why not 1~5 ? Lv6 gives a second hit to the skill and opens Soccer Kick Combo.

[ Drop Kick / Sweeping Kick / Soccer Kick ] - Need them for PVP, Lv1 ONLY.

[ Relieve ] - Remove debuff, save you from flinch ( PVP ).

[ Soccer Kick ] - Requirement to open Soccer Kick Combo.

[ Highlander ] - 0 SP skill needed to pump this. Party skill, get it!

Mercenary skill tree :

[ Taunting Howl ] - It's only wise to get it at Lv 1 or you DON'T get it at all, this skill is mainly used for PVP. In the past, Lv 10 was needed because of SDN to debuff 100%. That's why you see people getting at Lv10. However, they've patched it and mercs no longer can debuff 100%.

[ Crisis Howl ] - Lv1 for PVP.

[ Dash Upper ] - Skill used as filler to open Soccer Kick Combo.

[ Soccer Kick Combo ] - DPS filler skill and a good skill for combos in PVP.

[ Iron Skin ] - Super armor, defence. Added to Lv3 as growth is awesome.

[ Battle Howl ] - Awesome skill after the merc transformation, gives us an almost permanent critical buff if you're using a skill crest..

[ Howl Charging ] - Super armor buff and defence buff for party members be it PVP / PVE.

[ Toughness ] - Choice of skipping this skill to add 1 more SP to Stomp for a 30% slow debuff ( It's only good for PVP ). We can also skip this skill to add 1 more SP to Battle Howl to max Battle Howl skill ( For PvE, very viable ).

[ Havoc Howl ] - Debuff attack of enemy, awesome skill for PVE.

Mercenary Transformation Explainations :

Okay, more explainations on some mercenary skills. As you've all experienced, we got the Mercenary Transformation at our very own server. So yup, the awesome boost on PvE damage and 2 other important things to note which is Battle Howl and Howl Charging Battle Howl skill is a very viable skill as of now. It gives you an almost permanent critical buff. As you can see, the build ontop has only Lv2 Battle Howl and what I feel is that, getting a Lv3 one depends on your preference for now. The difference is only 1s and 2% critical. However, with a plate, there is a 1.2s difference which dafuq, I don't really care about.

[ Battle Howl ]

Lv2 Battle Howl + buff duration plate = 34.8s and Lv3 Battle Howl + buff duration plate = 36s . The CD for the skill is 40s. We'll be only lacking a few seconds of critical. So with this new change, what's the desired critical at this point of time? It would be 8000 critical. Some people still wouldn't be able to reach 8000 critical but 7000 critical should be the lowest you can go. With this transformation, having a high critical should be prioritized at the point of the time.

Any changes in skill allocation? Possible. The choice of throwing away Toughness to get Lv3 Battle Howl. It's certainly viable and I may go for it but there's no point resetting my skill at this point of time as I hardly play and obviously, PvE so yeah. I'll wait for Lv50 and see what I can do. Battle Howl will certainly be maxed at Lv50 too as it's such an awesome skill.

[ Super armor ]

One more thing to note is that it is now also possible to get an almost permanent super armor ( PvE only ). Having Lv3 Iron Skin and Lv1 Howl Charging gives you a total of 53s of super armor. With a CD plate for Howl Charging that will give you 56s CD on it, meaning which if you don't overlap your super armor skills.. You can get a 3s interval of no super armor only. Which is totally awesome.

[ Plates for the changes ]

Now, with these 2 new big changes.. Are they really worth to get a plate on it?

Well, Battle Howl plate will be really worth it but I'm not changing it at the moment because I hardly play this game anymore as it's pretty boring. It'll be good if you PvE alot and the 6s will be certainly worth it.

What about Howl Charging plate? I'll be getting this for SDN but not on a normal basis because I feel that I won't really need super armor and it won't be that useful unless it's for the damage reduction in big nests like SDN.

Okay with the recent Mercenary Transformation, any more changes? Apparently no, not really because they just buffed the damage of our skills for PvE and the changes to some important skills which I've already covered. I really like our PvE damage as of now, it's really awesome!

For those people that are asking for my skill bar;

I do some switching depending on where I'm going. I've a special skill heraldry so obviously, I'll use it.

Nest = Switch Impact punch to Gravity Ball. Impact punch is not that important in nests.

Dungeon = Switch High Lander to Gravity Ball. Obviously, I won't die when I'm in dungeon.

PVP = Switch High Lander to Gravity Ball too. High lander takes too long to CD, depends on what PVP of course. If need be, I won't take gravity ball.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SKILL BUILD SHOULD WORK NO MATTER YOU'RE GOING FOR BARBARIAN OR DESTROYER.

This section used to be reasons for for choosing destroyer or barbarian. However, due to the recent transformation of mercs that patched in cDN, I'm back to a dilemma of choosing which class to go. Ultimately, the class you would pick will depend on the playstyle you like. If I do have the time to update on this section, I'll give reasons and explainations on skills for Destroyers and Barbarians so we can make a good choice! Fear not for now, we're all the same at the moment and level 50 will take quite a long time to come.

As for now, I shall not post anything up on which class to go. I will revise on my skill build when it patches and cap comes, so stay tuned in months to come! For now, Barbarians or Destroyer, we're all the same!

As for my skill crests;

Only 1 thing to note, Side Kick is purely meant for PVP and Circle Swing -CD is for PVP + PVE as the damage and huge aoe is awesome, thus I like the low CD!

Possible crest set up after Mercenary Transformation :

1) Battle Howl [ buff duration increased ] - Having a Lv3 Battle Howl will give you 36s of critical buff and the CD is only 40s so you only will not have that buff for 4s and will be good to be used to max out your critical.

2) Whirlwind [ damage increased ] - Your boss slayer skill, the ultimate DPS skill for PvE.

3) Rolling Attack [ damage increased ] - The next best DPS skill of mercenary and it's awesome for PvP if you can land a full rolling attack hit.

4) Side Kick [ animation decreased ] - Used purely only for PvP, there ain't a need for explaination on this crests.

Other possible plates will be Circle Swing - CD [ more for PvP and crowd control on PvP / PvE ] and Howl Charging - CD[ for near permanent super armor for PvE / faster CD for super armor buff for team at PvP ].

Heraldry;

Destruction, Bear, Life Vitality, Health, Wind, Fatal, Tent of Plate.

Last plate will be of your choice. Try to get all plates with 3rd stat critical.It's IMPORTANT.

Please note : If you're going Manticore 7/7 set or Apocalypse 7/7 set, it is wise to have a Lv40 Ultimate Plate as your last heraldry.

P.S It's obvious that if you've enough critical then you'd not need to get 3rd stat critical and you can sub out with FD, attk, STR, vit etc. I took 3rd stat critical to be benchmark heraldry incase you've not enough crit.

Item Builds; [ Most of this builds lean to critical, just variations on what to get ]

1st Variation : Manticore Set 7/7 + 2 Apo Rings + 2 Apo Necklace / Earrings + 1 Lv40 Ultimate Plate. Gives 657 FD. How to build crit? Need 3-4 critical potentials on weapons and rings + all 3rd stat critical plates ( Maybe some allowance to other plates for FD ).

Conclusion of build = 657 FD ( 657 FD = 56.9% Damage Boost )

2nd Variation : Manticore Set 7/7 + 1 Lv 40 Ultimate Plate + 2 Apo Necklace / Earring. Gives 535 FD.

Conclusion of build = 535 FD ( 535 FD = 36.2% Damage Boost )

3rd Variation : Manticore Set 7/7 + 1 Lv40 Ultimate Plate. Gives 413 FD

Conclusion of Build = 413 FD ( 413 FD = 20.5% Damage Boost )

4th Variation : [ Survivability with DPS ] Manticore Set 5/7 + 2/7 Apocalypse Set. Not a FD build, FD builds are only for 7/7 set.

Conclusion of build = Survivability.

5th Variation : [ The basic set up ] Manticore Set 5/7 + 2 Lv40 Rare. The cheap alternative! Whatver you lose out = what you don't have as stated above. But, fear not, it still works well. You can also go for Cerberus set 5/7 with Lv40 rare weapons. Note that weapons MUST be lv40 as the growth in dps is so much higher!

Conclusion of build = Able to get bonus from set effects and cheaper.

6th Variation : Apocalypse 7/7 or Manticore 7/7 + 1 Ultimate Plate + Full STR / Attk Power. Gives 413 FD.

Conclusion of build : Non-critical build, makes use of growth in damage by FD. More base damage you have, the higher FD helps you.

7th Variation : Apocalypse 7/7 or Manticore 7/7 + 1 Ultimate Plate + Apocalypse accesories ( Diff sets ) + FD / Attk Power / STR plates. 657 FD + ? FD from plates.

Conclusion of build : Non-critical build. FD build.

8th Variation : Apocalypse 7/7 +1 Ultimate Plate + Juggling of items; Apo accesories, VIT plates, STR plates.

Conclusion of build : STR/VIT build for tank + DPS.

Things to take note : [ For critical builds and maybe some other builds ]

If you want to build FD and you're a critical build. Try to keep your critical rate above 80~85%.
Accesories like Wind or Bear accesories, Fatal or Destruction accesories soley depends on whether you have enough critical.
Armor suffix to choose; Wind or Bear also depends if you've enough critical. I highly recommend Bear suffix as critical can be achieved by other means.
Plates with 3rd stat can be choosen if you want FD, Critical, STR, Attk Power. Again, it soley depends if you need the critical. [ I noticed I've said crit plates BUT, it's quite obvious that you can always sub out if you've enough crit ]
Do note that Apocalypse set is very viable if you're going vit/hp build up as the effect of 2k++ hp will increase even more and be of a useful help.
To go a little of tank, switch to Healthy Necklace and Earrings for the VIT/HP boost.
STR, AGI, HP for armor / necklace / earrings is the best potential if you don't have enough critical.
STR, VIT, HP for armors is the best potential if you don't need critical, the VIT potential helps on survivabilty.

I basically spoon-fed you on what items you can go for, so good luck on building your character!

Item(s) suffix;

Weapon Suffix!

Gauntlet :

Destruction - Questions like why destruction and not bear? Simple, if you take into account of 1 STR = 1 attack power ( after potentials etc. ). Destruction growth of damage is higher than Bear growth of damage. Likewise, it's the same applying to all suffix for secondary wep. That's why most people prefer destruction / magic power ( for magic users ) as an secondary weapon suffix.

Axe :

As for main weapons, destruction is obviously not a wise choice to go. Why so? Obviously a Bear or Wind suffix would win it in terms of growth of damage, just like how INT > Magic Power for main weapons. Honestly, the choice to choose which craft to put on your weapon is yours to make. I chose harsh because I don't need wind, wind effect is currently bugged ( also at cDN ) meaning the only possible use is the growth of damage. Why do I not choose Bear? The harsh damage compared to bear is about the same, I don't like the effect of bear as it's useless to me. So, I'm left with harsh.

However, when the Lv50 cap comes.. I'll be going for Bear / Wind. Most probably Wind to help out with the critical + the effect of reducing critical resist. Why so? In terms of growth of damage, at Lv50 there will be Wind II and Bear II, comparing it to harsh and destruction, the growth is obviously higher and the wind effect obviously beats harsh effect, but that's only for Lv50.

Wind - Can help you with the lack of critical + critical resist on monsters ( wind suffix effect ). Choose this if you're a crit build. [ Highly Recommended ]
Bear - For DPS. Note that your suffix will be close to useless unless you're a full damage build ( not critical ). Still so, I feel that it's useless. Choose this if you're not a crit build.
Harsh - For DPS. The growth in damage compared to Bear is nearly the same. I prefer this compared to Bear as the effect is not useless. After the suffix was fixed, it was still working fine for me. You got to learn how to use it well and proc your bleeding damage at 700 and higher if possible!

Armor Suffix!

4 Bear + 1 HP [ HP on gloves ] - Brings out the best DPS. However, bear suffix is kinda useless except for the growth in damage.
4 Wind 1 + HP [ HP on gloves ] - If you don't have enough critical. However, wind suffix is kinda useless except for the growth in damage / critical.
4 HP + 1 Bear / Wind / Mana [ Bear / Wind / Mana on helmet ] - Shall elaborate more on this. After the new suffix patch, HP is deemed as one of the most imba suffix. Why? The effect stacks thus allowing you to keep on healing when attacked. Effect > all wind and bear effects as the bear and wind ones are pretty useless. They're only used to up your stats. Advantages of having this set of suffix : Able to use in PVP well as the effect is useful unlike bear / wind effects + preparation for SDN as SDN is about survivability and difficult nests. Disadvatanges : Lower DPS as compared to having wind or bear.

[ Opinions of item suffixes and builds ]

Honestly, I would aim for FD and having my critical around 90%. Would get the best of both worlds, I feel that critical should be prioritized no matter what. With the Mercenary Transformation, it is now so much easier to obtain higher critical.

Suffixes wise, I really like the 4 Bear +1 HP one because I love the DPS growth. HP suffix is also awesome, especially for ladder. HP suffix can help a little also at the upcoming SDN. It's depends on what you really like! I like myself being a cookie-cutter so I'm going for 4 Bear +1 HP suffix and high critical + FD item build.

Potentials wise, I prefer STR+VIT+HP.. I prefer having VIT instead of AGI because VIT can help me in survivabilty and especially when I switch to Healthy accesories to tank. Obviously, having AGI pot will help in critical but if I've enough critical already then I wouldn't need it. However, STR+AGI+HP is certainly still viable.

Questions on usefulness of FD + Critical.. I'm a critical build to start with, I get full Manticore Set and make use of an Ultimate plate to obtain 535 FD to get a 36% damage boost. Yes, so I've decided to lower my critical as having 90% critical is fine as to obtain extra damage ( I've upgraded and now near crit-capped ). So why didn't I go full FD build? Well, going critical build will help me on the path to Lv50. Most likely, merc transformation should come soon and thus, we'll have a permanent battle howl. So it's even possible to have like 14k~15k critical easily with Battle Howl ( assuming you have 10k critical already ). Meaning, I wouldn't need to worry much about troubles of DPS. However, if I went for full FD build now... It's expensive, it's not Lv50 yet, I wouldn't want to spend on Lv32 3rd stat FD plates and remove them ( Lv50 will be out soon ). Another is that, FD damage boost will go down by alot when you hit Lv50 monsters. So.. Obviously, I wouldn't want to spend so much on this level cap.

Lv50; I'll be going for FD build and a suitable critical rate which allows me to be around the critical cap with the use of Battle Howl ( once it's patched, permanent battle howl ). FD is important at Lv50, especially for nests like SDN and GDN because they have high critical resist and FD will give a more stable damage and an awesome damage boost.

Guys, please read the above parts and it would help you understand more about the builds! Amongst all the builds, there's no good or bad. It's what you like the most, if you want to become a DPS or survivability build.. I like cookie-cutter build! !

Lastly, my past set-ups and current stats ( below );

( Past ) 1st set-up : 4264 damage, 10185 critical ( 95% critical chance ), 413 Final Damage ( 20.5% damage boost ).

( Past ) 2nd set-up : 4003 damage, 9367 critical ( 92% critical chance ), 535 Final Damage ( 36.2% damage boost ).

( Past ) 3rd set-up : 3993 damage, 9820 critical ( 94% critical chance ), 535 FD ( 36.2% damage boost ).

***( Current ) 4th set-up : 4330 damage, 8345 critical ( 80%+ critical chance ), 657 FD ( 56.9% damage boost ).

Note : I might even use this for SDN set-up, I've 67000 HP wow.

*** SDN Set-up : 78906 HP, 4342 damage, 535 FD ( 36.2 % damage boost ).

And my items;

Reviews;

Again with the irony, I've touched my items once again because Lv50 / SDN was taking too long and I got bored with this game. Quite a major update on my items though, so take your time to read the review. Let's start with the rings, as you've seen I've changed them to Apocalypse rings with critical stats.. Mainly, because I wanted the FD, I'm now sitting at 657 FD and I can see a damage increase once again! With the new Mercenary Transformation, my critical is at a decent base. With Battle Howl, I hit the max critical cap and will do just fine!

Going on ahead with the armors.. I've enhanced them as you can see and my HP rose and it's quite nice now! I can even do SDN without changing to Healthy accesories if I can promise myself I'll dodge lika baws! And as for the gauntlet.. I changed my gauntlet to Knight suffix mainly just for Compensation Off PVP as it's pretty fun. However, Destruction suffix is still the way to go if you're into DPS!

I'm sure I can still gain a little more DPS if my pet is Lv20 but, I'm too lazy to train it. Getting a cash Face Decal would also increase my DPS by a little. And.. as for the critical to get back to 90% critical chance, that can wait..! It's probably the last item I can pump up besides enhancing my items.

In regards of the items, my mercenary is pretty much done for this level cap.

Still so, I'll still add in the part " things I could've changed " to help people get a better view on what to get.

Upgrade my weapons.
Lv40 Plates with FD to switch with the ones without critical ( Lv40 so I don't need to change them when I'm Lv50, will be a huge waste of money ).
Pet.
Cash Face Decal.

Feels like I'm missing out something at my item build post, will fill it up once I notice. Be sure to leave me your opinions and whatsoever.

Useful Links :

Final Damage Calculation : http://forum.mmosite.com/thread/2/217/20110427/Final_Damage_Calculation_Mechanics-4db81690693703e13-1.html
My favourite Mercenary at cDN ( Awesome merc, most of y'all know him ) : http://forum.mmosite.com/thread/2/217/20110829/Koinzells_DPS_Barbarian_PVE_Build-4e5bae6751467f013-1.html

Credits :

BiteMeeeee and Belfry - Awesome brothers that helps me understand merc more for PVP.
Specialist - Good friend of mine that shares his knowledge.
broccoli - My guild leader whom encouraged me to make a guide.
Leciel aka Koinzell - Inspired me to work up on my mercenary and info that I needed.
Ymint - Info on almost whatever stuff I never knew about, he hails from cDN / DN tw. I've forgotten.
Jishii aka oOoJNoOo
Xeptimus
Nawk

P.S As for Jishii, Xeptimus, Nawk. Not only are they good friends of mine which I spend time in-game with and enjoy but they've helped me fund some of my items which I'm not shy to share about. Real awesome people.

I apologize if I've missed out anyone on the credits!

That would be about it and a round-up to everything you need to know about Mercenary. Feel free to ask me questions if you're not clear about them or give me a holla if I've missed out something important. This shall also act as a Mercenary sharing thread! Do help to bump my thread to keep my thread going hehe.

Cheers to the people out there and thanks for the support!

Springwood - Insanely