O
old.Hendrick
Guest
Hendrick's mercenary guide V 1.2
After posting it on Prydwen/Alb I thought I might as well put it in here, where it may help more people. I will try to keep this updated and react to replies, so keep checking the version number.
Race
Totally up to you, any race will do, be it Briton, Highlander or Saracen. Saracen should go for thrust, Briton and Highlander can choose any weapon they like (yes, Highlander are as good as Saracens with thrust!). I personally would go for Saracen thrust now, and put 10 points in strenght, con and quickness (for faster hitting), but that's just me and whatever you do will be ok, as long as you don't invest in charisma
weapon choosing
Any line is good, given you know how to use it. The only thing slash users will like: You get special crafted weapons. The jambiya is the only craftable special weapon that is usable in left hand, and it is slash. I am using two now, and they are pretty cool. Still, go for thrust or crush if you like.
I always use two weapons of the exact same speed, as this seems to be the optimal way of maximizing your damage output. I tried using bigger weapons in the main hand and a faster one in the offhand, but it just does not feel the same. I tend to be much slower in doing damage, and I dont like that. Constant flow of fast mean nasty little stings is what we do, not hit big, hard and slow. This can be a problem in RvR though, as people wielding two-handed weapons will blast you to bits in far less hits, and you cant parry their styles. I have yet to face off against a yellow con warrior, thane or hero, but once I tried soloing an orange dwarf thane, he killed me pretty easy (had half hits left after I died). Must say that I wore crap armor and rings etc. at that time.
Thrust? Crush? Slash?
Basically, each kind of weapon has a difference in damage-bonus.
Thrust is good against chainmail (standard middie armor)
Crush is good against plate
Slash is good against leather
Also, the styles of the different lines are different. You may want to check the different styles here.
Different skills also mean different weapons available. Crush is rather slow, thrust is fast, slash is inbetween. It seems that drops for slash weapons are most common, but a good crafter can always make you something nice, so I would not worry too much about that. Go for what you like.
Speccing
A consequent dual wield template:
Weapon (in my case slash) 50
Dual Wield 50
Parry 27
Shield 10 (mainly because it seems I will miss one spec point to bring parry up to 28)
Another interesting variation is to lower weapon and dual wield for a high shield spec (42). This allows for the "slam" shield-style, which stuns your opponent for a long time, allowing you to slay him without much defense. You may be able to find bonus items for weapon and dual wield, and get bonus from realm rank, so speccing it too high is not always necessary.
Use this very nice character builder to check out different specs for different levels.
I brought both slash and dual wield up quite evenly, but always saved some points up to lvl 17, so I could get a good parry skill right from the start. That will save your hide many times in PvE, and will also parry the odd swipe from that big ugly troll. The rest is fairly straightforward. You have exactly 2 skills that need speccing, and whenever you fell like it you can dump some in Parry. I brought shield to 7 (or was it 9?) for engage in RvR, if you go for above mentioned shield-template, I'd recommend doing that later in the game, when you have both weapon and dual wield at a good level. The problem with shields: You have to carry a shield all the time. You have to switch your weapons from the inventory as the shield sits in your left hand slot, this takes time and leaves you open to enemy attack. Still it can save your hide from the occasional arrow, and slam sounds nice.
The Basics
1. Killtasks
Go to named guard, say "task", kill enemy, return to guard, receive experience and money. Best done on the Salisbury plains, you can get tasks from the guards at West Downs and Prydwen Bridge.
2. Good equipment
Always wear minimum yellow armor and weapons, maybe even orange con. Red con is acceptable if you can't find better and it is good quality, though you may have to pay a lot for repairing the item. Buy weapons and armor from crafters, they sell cheaper and better stuff than merchants. You can find crafters at the forge in Camelot and at Cornwall Station. Generally, High Level crafters will be in Cornwall, lower level crafters will be in Camelot. Ask them to advise you considering good equipment. If you have the gold, buy stuff that is a few levels higher than you. That will last you quite a while. Dual wield people can be in trouble here sometimes, as the gap between the dual wield weapons is about 5 levels wide. Always have your weapons and armor enchanted. Anything made of steel or better can be enchanted, which gives you a bonus to hit/defend, making your life a lot easier. Enchanters can be found in the magic shop in Camelot, or in Adribards retreat. If you just can't find a crafter, check here.
Repairs are necessary to keep your equipment going. I personally always do repairs at about 95% condition. You may want to ask a crafter to repair your weapon or armor for you. At later levels, this can be a real moneysaver.
3. Groups
You gain a lot faster in groups, though killtasking is always an option until lvl 20. Use the group-flag system to better find people.
How to do it
You will deal a lot of damage, often more than an armsman, but with less protection (still as good as any middie though). Your evade is nice but not very effective. You will find that you can solo yellows with ease, and even the occasional orange. For levels up to 20, the standard solo tactic of grove nymph genocide works well, as you can pull with you shortbow and execute them pretty easy with superior weapon skill. After that, you have to go get groups and learn to play the role of "support tank". As a merc, this requires:
1. Positioning
2. Detaunt
Most good dual wield skills and chains are position based, often executed from behind or at the side of the enemy. Use /stick on foe, then strafe in position with "q" and "w". You will now hit pretty hard and often outdamage an armsman. If you have aggro, detaunt immediately, so the plate guy can get aggro back. Oh, and don't forget you too have protect and intercept.
Keep in mind that your normal attacks give constant damage output and are much faster than an armsmans. You dont need to style all the time, especially if you are doing it solo. When soloing, I like to wait for the rare evade to happen and then use the evil "dark tendrils" style.
The dirty trick
This can be a real life saver. You get this ability at lvl 20. If you cast it, the enemy will fumble a lot. Depending on the level of the enemy, this trick will last longer or shorter. (I used the dirty trick on above mentioned orange thane, didnt help much ). Should help a lot when fighting yellow enemies though, and it should be used in PvE as well. When soloing, this can help you test the strength of never before fought enemies. When grouping, it may turn the tide if a pygmy pull goes wrong. Do not hesitate to use the ability, but keep in mind that it runs on a 30 minute timer.
That's basically it, any more questions, feel free to PM me or /send ingame. Comments are always welcome, just post in here.
After posting it on Prydwen/Alb I thought I might as well put it in here, where it may help more people. I will try to keep this updated and react to replies, so keep checking the version number.
Race
Totally up to you, any race will do, be it Briton, Highlander or Saracen. Saracen should go for thrust, Briton and Highlander can choose any weapon they like (yes, Highlander are as good as Saracens with thrust!). I personally would go for Saracen thrust now, and put 10 points in strenght, con and quickness (for faster hitting), but that's just me and whatever you do will be ok, as long as you don't invest in charisma
weapon choosing
Any line is good, given you know how to use it. The only thing slash users will like: You get special crafted weapons. The jambiya is the only craftable special weapon that is usable in left hand, and it is slash. I am using two now, and they are pretty cool. Still, go for thrust or crush if you like.
I always use two weapons of the exact same speed, as this seems to be the optimal way of maximizing your damage output. I tried using bigger weapons in the main hand and a faster one in the offhand, but it just does not feel the same. I tend to be much slower in doing damage, and I dont like that. Constant flow of fast mean nasty little stings is what we do, not hit big, hard and slow. This can be a problem in RvR though, as people wielding two-handed weapons will blast you to bits in far less hits, and you cant parry their styles. I have yet to face off against a yellow con warrior, thane or hero, but once I tried soloing an orange dwarf thane, he killed me pretty easy (had half hits left after I died). Must say that I wore crap armor and rings etc. at that time.
Thrust? Crush? Slash?
Basically, each kind of weapon has a difference in damage-bonus.
Thrust is good against chainmail (standard middie armor)
Crush is good against plate
Slash is good against leather
Also, the styles of the different lines are different. You may want to check the different styles here.
Different skills also mean different weapons available. Crush is rather slow, thrust is fast, slash is inbetween. It seems that drops for slash weapons are most common, but a good crafter can always make you something nice, so I would not worry too much about that. Go for what you like.
Speccing
A consequent dual wield template:
Weapon (in my case slash) 50
Dual Wield 50
Parry 27
Shield 10 (mainly because it seems I will miss one spec point to bring parry up to 28)
Another interesting variation is to lower weapon and dual wield for a high shield spec (42). This allows for the "slam" shield-style, which stuns your opponent for a long time, allowing you to slay him without much defense. You may be able to find bonus items for weapon and dual wield, and get bonus from realm rank, so speccing it too high is not always necessary.
Use this very nice character builder to check out different specs for different levels.
I brought both slash and dual wield up quite evenly, but always saved some points up to lvl 17, so I could get a good parry skill right from the start. That will save your hide many times in PvE, and will also parry the odd swipe from that big ugly troll. The rest is fairly straightforward. You have exactly 2 skills that need speccing, and whenever you fell like it you can dump some in Parry. I brought shield to 7 (or was it 9?) for engage in RvR, if you go for above mentioned shield-template, I'd recommend doing that later in the game, when you have both weapon and dual wield at a good level. The problem with shields: You have to carry a shield all the time. You have to switch your weapons from the inventory as the shield sits in your left hand slot, this takes time and leaves you open to enemy attack. Still it can save your hide from the occasional arrow, and slam sounds nice.
The Basics
1. Killtasks
Go to named guard, say "task", kill enemy, return to guard, receive experience and money. Best done on the Salisbury plains, you can get tasks from the guards at West Downs and Prydwen Bridge.
2. Good equipment
Always wear minimum yellow armor and weapons, maybe even orange con. Red con is acceptable if you can't find better and it is good quality, though you may have to pay a lot for repairing the item. Buy weapons and armor from crafters, they sell cheaper and better stuff than merchants. You can find crafters at the forge in Camelot and at Cornwall Station. Generally, High Level crafters will be in Cornwall, lower level crafters will be in Camelot. Ask them to advise you considering good equipment. If you have the gold, buy stuff that is a few levels higher than you. That will last you quite a while. Dual wield people can be in trouble here sometimes, as the gap between the dual wield weapons is about 5 levels wide. Always have your weapons and armor enchanted. Anything made of steel or better can be enchanted, which gives you a bonus to hit/defend, making your life a lot easier. Enchanters can be found in the magic shop in Camelot, or in Adribards retreat. If you just can't find a crafter, check here.
Repairs are necessary to keep your equipment going. I personally always do repairs at about 95% condition. You may want to ask a crafter to repair your weapon or armor for you. At later levels, this can be a real moneysaver.
3. Groups
You gain a lot faster in groups, though killtasking is always an option until lvl 20. Use the group-flag system to better find people.
How to do it
You will deal a lot of damage, often more than an armsman, but with less protection (still as good as any middie though). Your evade is nice but not very effective. You will find that you can solo yellows with ease, and even the occasional orange. For levels up to 20, the standard solo tactic of grove nymph genocide works well, as you can pull with you shortbow and execute them pretty easy with superior weapon skill. After that, you have to go get groups and learn to play the role of "support tank". As a merc, this requires:
1. Positioning
2. Detaunt
Most good dual wield skills and chains are position based, often executed from behind or at the side of the enemy. Use /stick on foe, then strafe in position with "q" and "w". You will now hit pretty hard and often outdamage an armsman. If you have aggro, detaunt immediately, so the plate guy can get aggro back. Oh, and don't forget you too have protect and intercept.
Keep in mind that your normal attacks give constant damage output and are much faster than an armsmans. You dont need to style all the time, especially if you are doing it solo. When soloing, I like to wait for the rare evade to happen and then use the evil "dark tendrils" style.
The dirty trick
This can be a real life saver. You get this ability at lvl 20. If you cast it, the enemy will fumble a lot. Depending on the level of the enemy, this trick will last longer or shorter. (I used the dirty trick on above mentioned orange thane, didnt help much ). Should help a lot when fighting yellow enemies though, and it should be used in PvE as well. When soloing, this can help you test the strength of never before fought enemies. When grouping, it may turn the tide if a pygmy pull goes wrong. Do not hesitate to use the ability, but keep in mind that it runs on a 30 minute timer.
That's basically it, any more questions, feel free to PM me or /send ingame. Comments are always welcome, just post in here.
uke: