So far, making hardlight weapons gives no real bonuses for mercenary characters. If i'm a tec specialist, a kinetisist, or a smuggler, it's a very significant boost. If I make a weapon that only boost things like kinetic damage, defense, and stagger, can it not count as just a non energy weapon so I could benefit from the low-tech solutions sskill?
1. Low Tech Solutions is specifically +20% of the weapon's damage, not total damage. It's not as much as it seems.
2, It's currently the only way to get Vampiric on a Melee weapon.
3. If I recorded my tests correctly, it's possible to get 24 Defense and Vampiric on Knuckles. With
Paragon Hazard Armor and
Hardlight Bracelets, you can have 47 Defense and heal for half the damage you deal. It's possible to go higher, but I don't know if it's worth it.
Or you can trade 12 Def for 70 HP.
4. If you want to see Big Numbers, Deep Freeze + Crit is really juicy on a Merc because of the 2x-3x Power Strike multiplier. (3.5x Vaulting Strike). Just be sure you don't over invest in +Crit (non-damage stats compete with damage when creating weapons). You only need +35 to max out.
You can change perks if Cheats are enabled. I went Heavy Weapons specifically because a lot of the best Melee weapons are Energy, but Grenade Launcher is not.