How is melee merc doing nowadays?

[Osk0]

I haven’t played in a good long time now but I check the news every once in a while to see how things change. I’ve heard multiple times over the years that melee merc is one of if not the worst way to play the game. Now I love playing warrior in games and seeing the new lvl 13 talent called blood frenzy is exactly the kind of stuff that makes me love the simple straightforward violence of melee merc. To get to the point is merc still the worst of the bunch with everything that’s been changed or added over time or has the tide turned at some point for the unga bunga build? Even if it is still the worst is that just a problem in comparison to other classes or does it actually struggle more with the games enemies and bosses to the point that it feels like a hard mode?

 

[Theron]

I was playing a Melee Merc, and I didn't find it too bad, but I think a Melee-primary switch hitter is the best Merc build right now.

Spoiler: Perks

Spoiler: Level 2

Bloodthirsty: Decent quality-of-life perk, though Second Wind makes it somewhat redundant. Power Potions can now be carried in the Inventory and stack to 10, also devaluing it. Doesn't apply to Power Strike/Vaulting Strike. Second Attack & Cleave don't increase Energy restored.

Armor Piercing: Ignores Defense = Level (+0-2). Applies to all Ranged attacks. Not a lot of enemies have enough Defense to meaningfully out-scale it.

I take Armor Piercing here. I think it's the better long-term investment.
Bloodthirsty is decent if you don't want to think too much about using Second Wind/Power Potions just to restore Energy.
I don't think it makes too much difference.

Spoiler: Level 3

Power Strike: 2x damage, 2.7x with Second Attack and 3x if you also have Specialized Combatant. Can Critically Hit. An extremely good way to detonate Deep Freeze.

Rapid Fire: Most of the physical Bonus Hit Rate weapons also have Cannot Crit. Probably because of this.

I take Power Strike. Sturm and Drang (Level 11) is Just Better than Rapid Fire (most of the time).

Spoiler: Level 4

Riposte: Always have effectively +15 Evasion, so long as you're making basic attacks. Lets you have up to -15 Evasion from equipment without taking more damage. Does not break the Evasion cap (if you somehow got 36+).

Take Cover: Only works vs Ranged attacks, but is a separate check with Evasion.

I take Riposte.

Spoiler: Level 5

Carpet Grenades: Cleave will make this redundant.

Detonation Charge: Single-target damage, which Merc doesn't struggle with.

The only Merc abilities that scale with Intelligence. I actually think this row is pretty much useless with my build.
I'd actually skip it, except the Codex button is highlighted if you haven't taken all your Perks.

Spoiler: Level 6

Cleave: Extremely handy when it comes up, useless when it doesn't.

Concentrate Fire: Always applies. Interestingly, Melee attacks can continue the combo, but can't start.

I actually go Cleave here. It can make group fights extremely easy with a Stun Chance weapon, and I find I don't really need the bonus damage from Concentrate Fire.

Spoiler: Level 7

Low Tech Solutions vs Heavy Weapons

I'm going Heavy Weapons because all the Melee weapons I want to use are Energy weapons, but there are some very good non-Energy Ranged weapons.
The bonus damage only applies to the base weapon damage, so it's not as much as you might think.

Spoiler: Level 8

Second Attack. The extra Power Strike damage is handy.

Spoiler: Level 9

Rending Attacks: (Power Strike) Sunder isn't very good. Only a handful of enemies have enough Defense that halving is noticeable.
(Rapid Fire): Stagger is much better. Makes the target easier to hit, easier to land Status attacks on, less likely to hit and do less damage when they do.

Giant Slayer: When I went and checked, more enemies than I thought qualified, but I'm not really a fan of conditionals like this.

Rending Attacks. You'll get both effects, eventually.

Spoiler: Level 10

Lunge: You can hit Flying enemies with the Light Jetpack or Wings (or the Arctic Nurse Rescue Outfit), but activating them takes a turn (and you may not want to spend an equipment slot). Stagger Chance vs Grounded enemies is good, too

Bigger Guns: Incentivizes ignoring Physique on the class that most wants Physique.
1. Headbutt's Stun Chance is Physique-based, and Mercs don't have another in-class disable.
2. Mercs don't have an alternate way to escape Grapples.
3. Physique is used as a defensive stat to resist certain effects (mostly Stuns). Aim is never a defensive stat.
4. Free bonus Will for high Physique.
5. Sturm and Drang is much less effective with low Physique.

Lunge all the way. Flight is still valuable (it makes you immune to a lot of Trips and basic melee attacks), but Lunge saves you a turn when you don't need it for other reasons. Basic Melee isn't used very often, but auto-evading can be valuable when it comes up.

Spoiler: Level 11

Vaulting Strike: 3.5x damage, does not scale with other Perks. 'Mini-Crits' (1.5x) on a Flying or Tripped target. Can get normal Crits, but Min-Crits take priority. Applies Sunder if you have Rending Attacks. Largely redundant with Power Strike. Lunge means you don't have trouble with Flying enemies, and Mercs have no in-class way to Trip.

Sturm and Drang: Make a Melee attack, then 3 Ranged attacks (4 with Second Shot/Second Striker). Fails if the Melee attack misses (or blocked by Counters Melee). Follow-up attacks have +25% Crit chance (40% minimum: 5+10+25). +25% Accuracy is effectively meaningless. Applies Stagger with Rending Attacks.

Sturm and Drang. This skill is why I think Melee-primary is better:
1. Much more interesting synergies. The most basic is Stun Weapon + anything. If the Stun lands, all follow-up attacks will, too. If the target has Shields, Headbutt first.

Crushing + Freeze Chance. Deep Freeze causes the next Crushing attack to do double damage and remove the status. Can Crit for another doubling. Even better, a Crit from the Freeze Chance weapon bypasses the check and automatically applies it. If it activated, you can either S&D again or Power Strike for 2.7*2 base damage, minimum.

Light Savicite Maul + Heavy Slut Ray: 5 attacks of Psionic Lust damage, all of which can Stun. Almost useless vs Lust immune enemies, hilarious otherwise.

Plasma Katana + Grenade Launcher (Incendiary): Now that Burn DoT scales & stacks making 5 attacks that all have a chance to apply it is really good. Like Deep Freeze, a Critical always applies it (and Plasma Katana has +15).

2. Benefits hugely from high Physique. A low Physique opener is much more likely to miss and negate the whole thing. 'Flurry' attacks have a flat 45% chance to miss, regardless of Accuracy. Attacks vs an Incapacitated (Stun/Paralyzed/Grappled) target always hit. High-Physique Headbutt or Stun Chance weapon can all but guarantee a Stun.

Spoiler: Level 12

Second Striker: Gives S&D a 4th attack, gives you decent damage output vs enemies that Counter Melee (thankfully rare).

Specialized Combatant: Stun Chance on good Melee weapons makes this less useful for Melee. Also doesn't apply to the extra Rapid Fire attacks.

Spoiler: Level 13

Blood Frenzy: You could heal for 25% of the damage you deal, or you could use the Hirudo and heal for 50% damage of 4 attacks (and have a 40% chance to Crit).

Tracer Rounds: Sometimes I think they forgot about the miss chance. +10 is not going to help Rapid Fire very much.

Spoiler: Equipment

Weapons
Stun Chance is really good, and Melee has a much better selection. Lightning Rod, Custom Shock Gear and Magma Crusher. Normally, you'd do some damage to non-primary targets with Cleave, but Stun means you can potentially 'remove' them from the fight for 2 turns.
(X Chance cannot apply if the target isn't taking HP or Lust damage. They also have a lower chance than Class-based abilities.)

Sleet Shaft is geared toward Kineticists but is really good for a Merc. It can detonate it's own Deep Freeze. If you can reliably Deep Freeze a target, it will take constant double damage (+Crits). More, if you're willing to Power Strike it.

Hirudo Devourer/NaN Deonstructor: Heal for 1/2 HP damage you deal. Good in general and should make you functionally immortal with Sturm and Drang. Counts for Heavy Weapons. Corrosive is a rarely resisted damage type, too.

Cryolizer: Cheapest decent Deep Freeze weapon. Entropy and Ice Lance only do 1 more damage. They mostly scale with Accuracy.
Grenade Launcher: Found during the Train Dungeon on Phaedra. Not an Energy Weapon, so Heavy Weapons applies. Can do multiple types of damage. -10 Accuracy doesn't matter if the target is Stunned and has +5 Evasion, which is always nice.

Armor
Paragon Hazard: +125 Shields is the best in the game, Airtight will protect against Irradiated tiles on Phaedra and Second Skin makes the Evasion penalty -4. (Further negated with Riposte.)
Chameleon: +100 Shields.
Zaika-Style Gown: +10 Accuracy cancels out Grenade Launcher's penalty. +75 Shields & 15 Evasion doesn't hurt.
Witch's Robe is actually really good, especially if you're relying on Burn or Freeze Chance.

Accessories
Tika: Heal 1/2 Shields and Health 1/combat (separately, cannot heal HP through Airtight) and free, unlimited out-of-combat healing? She's always worth keeping in the inventory, at least.
Signet of Bravery: +5 Physique/Aim and 25 HP doesn't sound like much, but it's actually +12.5% chance to Headbutt Stun and X Chance weapon flags. Second Wind scales off of your max HP, too, so it's actually +37.5. And +1 Will, because Iron Will.
Reaper's Cloak: If you really want to go all-in on Crits. I've heard effective chance caps at 50%, but I don't know if that's true.
Santa Hat: +75 HP for Mercs, though if you're running Hirudo, you shouldn't need it.
Vintage Zaika Purse: +70 Shields, +1 Evasion, +2 Sexiness & +1 Inventory Slot. Wear it with the Paragon Hazard to be fashionable in Power Armor.
Shield Aug Bracers: If Zaika Purse doesn't fit your Aesthetics, and you want more Shields.
Hardlight Bracelets: Good if you already have Defense and Resistances. Paragon Hazard (with Merc bonuese) would have 23 Defense, 15% Kinetic, 25% Burning, 15% Freezing resists.

Cybernetics
Steroidal Muscle Augment: +10 Physique, -5 Will. You still have more Will than anyone else, even a Kineticist that installed Sensory Dampener. Iron Will causes it to refund 2 Will, so you're only down 3. With Signet of Bravery, you and up with 80 Physique (& 70 Aim). Anything with less than 60 Physique is auto-Stunned by Headbutt. Anything less than 50 is auto-Stunned with Stun Chance.

Muscular Stabilization System: +10 Aim, -5 Physique. This is the other reason. Low Physique actually hurts the 2nd Ranged special.

TL;DR
Grab a Stun Chance weapon, max Physique and you'll do fine.
The Level 11 'Ranged' special is arguably better for Melee than Ranged.