Mercenary and/or Armsman Questions/thoughts/ideas

HEY ALL.
As the topic states, I have a few things to bounce around.

Couple of things are obvious and used to be in my head since the good ol' days... But now family and years gone by occupy slot of that space, so some information has been lost.

First off:
I'm into going Saracen, both arms and Merc.
- Thrust spec ofc.
? Is it viable to go thrust Vs current setups?
? What are the go-to specs?

Secondly:
Are armsmen being utilized in groups?
- playstyle defensive/blockbot
? Are caster heavy groups in favour?
? What would be the RA goal for a defensive blockbot

Third and last:
What would a typical setup look like?
Hybrid or tanky? Or is it sos-stacked caster?

Peace out, hope this project will prosper!

Mon 7 Jan 2019 2:22 AM by dankcik09

id like to hear some thoughts on this as well.

this concerns me. Or should it not?

Mercenary
- Dual-wield defense penetration now 25% bonus instead of 50%.

Mon 7 Jan 2019 2:32 AM by Gohanssj

Merc saracen thurst is the way to go. 50 thrust, 42 shield and whatever we that leaves, like 40 I think.

Thurst is the best damage type as it's neutral to all hib and strong v mid support.

Pole arms is still the way forward both for damage and utility (crippling blow and slam still make them the best peel tank imo) thurst is still the best dmg type but pole is 100% str so I'd go HO or highlander.

50 pole 42 shield and 39 thrust

Both are viable and most grps will run at least one of each, if they run 3 tanks usually it would be 2 mercs 1 arms.

Re: defence bonus, I wouldn't worry too much as you'll be aiming to kill things with no defence anyway, leave the tanks to your peeler to control and casters to eventually kill

Mon 7 Jan 2019 4:37 AM by dankcik09

what about merc strength as a DW? why Shield only for slam?

Mon 7 Jan 2019 10:59 AM by Gohanssj

Shield just for slam yes, an I realise I put the spec the wrong way round for mercs, 50 DW 40 thrust I think it should be.

Thrust is 50/50 str and dex, so while a HO technically makes just as good a thrust merc (both 130 combined str dex) they have 20 less quickness. Plus the dude wanted to be a Saracen

Tue 8 Jan 2019 1:16 AM by Aftu

MERCENARY Opinion
You have missed a really important details. What is your goal ? Objective ?

IMO any specs are good but it all depends on what you would like to accomplish.

If you want to hardcore RVR, then a HalfOgre Crush/Slash 50/50DW is probably the way to go. As for RAs Det9, some AoM and MoP. You will do butload of Dam and everything will bounce off of you.

42 Shield spec ONLY ONLY if you plan/going to peel or interrupt. if you are going MA then 50/50. As far as I know, I would go MA, so many class are just better at it (peel/interrupt) then a Merc !!!

If you are going to solo mostly, then Saracen is great choice with 50 DW / 39 T / Rest Parry. Many other specs available and all good too.

Remember, set yourself an objective first then build on it.

Hope this helps. GL !

Tue 8 Jan 2019 1:47 AM by Dimir

Aftu wrote: ↑
Tue 8 Jan 2019 1:16 AM
MERCENARY Opinion
You have missed a really important details. What is your goal ? Objective ?

IMO any specs are good but it all depends on what you would like to accomplish.

If you want to hardcore RVR, then a HalfOgre Crush/Slash 50/50DW is probably the way to go. As for RAs Det9, some AoM and MoP. You will do butload of Dam and everything will bounce off of you.

42 Shield spec ONLY ONLY if you plan/going to peel or interrupt. if you are going MA then 50/50. As far as I know, I would go MA, so many class are just better at it (peel/interrupt) then a Merc !!!

If you are going to solo mostly, then Saracen is great choice with 50 DW / 39 T / Rest Parry. Many other specs available and all good too.

Remember, set yourself an objective first then build on it.

Hope this helps. GL !

Unless you are using non-DW styles (and you might) you gain _nothing_ from going past 52 composite in your baseline weapon spec. Thus, 42 shield so that you can 9 second stun the target you intend to kill. This isn't different if you're a MA, you still want to be able to do that. The only argument you could make is that you could instead put all that shield into parry to make yourself harder to peel but that's pretty silly since anyone trying to peel you will just do it from behind.

Tue 8 Jan 2019 3:32 AM by Aftu

Dimir wrote: ↑
Tue 8 Jan 2019 1:47 AM
Aftu wrote: ↑
Tue 8 Jan 2019 1:16 AM
MERCENARY Opinion
You have missed a really important details. What is your goal ? Objective ?

IMO any specs are good but it all depends on what you would like to accomplish.

If you want to hardcore RVR, then a HalfOgre Crush/Slash 50/50DW is probably the way to go. As for RAs Det9, some AoM and MoP. You will do butload of Dam and everything will bounce off of you.

42 Shield spec ONLY ONLY if you plan/going to peel or interrupt. if you are going MA then 50/50. As far as I know, I would go MA, so many class are just better at it (peel/interrupt) then a Merc !!!

If you are going to solo mostly, then Saracen is great choice with 50 DW / 39 T / Rest Parry. Many other specs available and all good too.

Remember, set yourself an objective first then build on it.

Hope this helps. GL !

Unless you are using non-DW styles (and you might) you gain _nothing_ from going past 52 composite in your baseline weapon spec. Thus, 42 shield so that you can 9 second stun the target you intend to kill. This isn't different if you're a MA, you still want to be able to do that. The only argument you could make is that you could instead put all that shield into parry to make yourself harder to peel but that's pretty silly since anyone trying to peel you will just do it from behind.

More DW you get better chance your ofhand will hit even at 50....

But yet you say exactly what Im saying it all depends on what you would like to accomplish. RVR group and MA or Solo ganking/dueling. Could also spec 50 T to get DragonFang and choosing a Saracen with a better Dex bonus. You will end up with a Pal. a Arms, a reaver or hell a scout with Slam

Again thats my opinion, I respect yours.

Tue 8 Jan 2019 3:38 AM by daocgod

Don't roll a merc, you won't get a group outside of Alb tanker because GM's want to force Paladins on everyone

Tue 8 Jan 2019 5:09 AM by Dimir

Aftu wrote: ↑
Tue 8 Jan 2019 3:32 AM
More DW you get better chance your ofhand will hit even at 50....

But yet you say exactly what Im saying it all depends on what you would like to accomplish. RVR group and MA or Solo ganking/dueling. Could also spec 50 T to get DragonFang and choosing a Saracen with a better Dex bonus. You will end up with a Pal. a Arms, a reaver or hell a scout with Slam Again thats my opinion, I respect yours.

I think you misunderstood me

You definitely want 50 spec in DW, the baseline weapon (thrust/slash/crush) doesn't deal any extra damage past 52 composite, unless you are using a thrust/slash/crush style. So if you are only using DW styles, it makes zero sense to spec more into one of the baselines. But as you said, if you want to use a baseline style, there is an argument to not spec shield, so I'll give you that. I just don't think there are, especially if your focus is damage (one could argue for 44 thrust for the long snare, but then you'd be purposely positioning yourself to be a peeler).

Tue 8 Jan 2019 8:03 PM by Aftu

Dimir wrote: ↑
Tue 8 Jan 2019 5:09 AM
I think you misunderstood me You definitely want 50 spec in DW

Yes

Thu 10 Jan 2019 4:09 PM by diminish

Is there any real advantages to a Saracen Merc or is it mostly just personal preference? The class race combo is interesting but I'd of figured their base str was too low, even tho 50% of thrust is Dex based, I take it they gain more avoidance as a trade off for damage?

Fri 11 Jan 2019 3:38 AM by Cadebrennus

diminish wrote: ↑
Thu 10 Jan 2019 4:09 PM
Is there any real advantages to a Saracen Merc or is it mostly just personal preference? The class race combo is interesting but I'd of figured their base str was too low, even tho 50% of thrust is Dex based, I take it they gain more avoidance as a trade off for damage?

Also better with a Shield.

Mon 14 Jan 2019 10:56 AM by semiafk

dont spec 50dw if you are going thrust, 44 thrust is a 2 part anytime snare with an insane duration, its albs best 1h peel by far- so you end up with something like 44thrust 42shield 46dw- losing out on dual shadows is not that big of a deal and the damage increase from 46-50 is pretty negligable, this also lets you fill for arms in albs more popular 4 caster 2 tank setups (where the 'tanks' are slambot and minstrel)

armsman is generally >>> merc in most situations though- the RA package is too good

edit: its also worth having a fast thrust 1h to swap into for landing said chain, think they go as low as 2.7speed