Mercs

[Connor Mc.]

I'm not complaining, but I did have a bit of an eye opening experience today against a double Mercury Gun Pyramidean. It was very hard for me to counter as I'm not very used to fighting those types of load outs and got annihilated, so, I was wondering, how do you guys usually maneuver when faced with this situation?

[N-Sunderland]

I'm usually the one with the mercs, so I don't have to worry

The best thing to do is move up and down and make them miss some shots. Once you get close, remember that their arc isn't very wide. Mercs aren't very good at short range.

[Piemanlives]

They are after all the sniper rifle of GoI

[Morblitz]

Yeah but, the issue I see with that is:

In most games sniper rifles become completely useless once you start moving.
In Icarus, a dual pyramidion can have the reverse throttle cranked, and be actively fleeing from a pursuing ship while still dishing out some amazing damage. I remember my days as the main sniper on the Lucky Duck, landing shot after shot while the Duck was on the move. So a pyramidion with mercs on the side can still move and fire fairly effectively, too.

It's not that easy to get up close to a sniping ship that knows what they're doing. Especially if he has a buddy doing the same thing.

As long as the ship isn't actively turning, it's incredibly difficult to not hit a ship with the merc and wreck people that approach you. It's kind of bananas.

[Captain Smollett]

Hah, you shoulda seen what the merc used to be like. Mercs take a long time to get a kill now.

I actually find the merc to be very well balanced since close range weapons are much more effective than the merc once in range.

On every map other than dunes, you can use terrain to block the ranged shots of your opponent and change altitude rapidly as you close the final distance to your target.

If your on dunes, you'll need some chutzpah, a buffing hammer on board and some moonshine but you'll be in their face before they know it. Don't forget how fast a squid can close, it can be on top of a sniper before they know what hit em (In tournaments I'll out snipe but in pub matches the squid is my preferred approach).

[Queso]

But that's just the problem. It's counter is A) Counter sniping B) a highly specific squid build.

[Pickle]

Depends how many dual-sniper Pyras you're up against on Dune.

I'll wager that against two sniper-Pyras, a single brawler-sniper Pyra with a Squid as spotter darting in and out the wreckage could do quite well from a position hidden behind clouds in a long drawn out game.  The options the opposing pair of snipers are left with are coming in to a close and facing the flak-chain brawler front armament with a harassing Squid dashing around them at the same time, or splitting up so that they can spot for each other.

[Moriarty]

4 mercs (two pyra's) on something like dunes is a nightmare. i mean you can try to close but they'll prolly get a kill if they target the same ship then its  2v1 and you've got some disadvantageous spawning happening.

[RearAdmiralZill]

I think dunes needs moving clouds. I dont think its an issue with the gun so much as the map. But ill leave that for thought and get on with mercs.

You really have only two options with merc sniping pyra's. Close extremely quickly or out-snipe them. People who run those builds usually find a nice open area and sit. Staying low will present them a harder shot around your balloon as you charge in. If you can make them split up their fire, thats a big boon to you. Once youre in close the mercs get real useless due to the arcs, so avoid their backup guns and there you have it.

[Connor Mc.]

4 mercs (two pyra's) on something like dunes is a nightmare. i mean you can try to close but they'll prolly get a kill if they target the same ship then its  2v1 and you've got some disadvantageous spawning happening.

Yeah that's where I was, and the Pyra just kept backing up and taking out my forward gun (Goldfish).

[MasX]

I thought u were a beta player  mercs are nothing like they use to be

[Morblitz]

They're still devastating weapons.

[Connor Mc.]

I thought u were a beta player  mercs are nothing like they use to be

I am a beta player, but I joined a week before the end I believe. I do remember the Mercs being very powerful but it's been awhile since I've been up against a double merc pyra

[JaegerDelta]

i find the issue with the merc's isnt so much with the mercs themselves. its when they are set up on a pyra.

you can set them up on the side and turn at the start of a match and blast holes in everything. and if they close you just turn and use your front guns and fight a mid to close range battle.

its the only ship that can go from fully sniper to fully mid/close assault and it does it with good health, easy repair set up, and good speed.  its just a silly ship and the mercs really point that out. 

[HamsterIV]

I joined after Beta, but I started taking up the double Merc Pyra recently after the reduction in explosive armor breaking made the heavy flack a less dominant weapon. I normally mount them on the side of the Pyra so I can use the front guns for close in work where I have to exert more control of the distance.

I use them under certain conditions, such as:
If an ally is getting double teamed and I don't think they will survive long enough to rush to their aid.
If I am on a capture point and want to cause damage without leaving it.
If I am waiting for a the capture point swap on Crazy King and want to weaken the other team from the 1/2 way point to the new capture point.

Unless the other ship has incompetent engineers I don't expect the mercs to kill the other ship, but they will keep the engineers distracted and annoy the captain.

@ JaegerDelta
You can also do that with a junker, but the junker isn't as good at brawling as the Pyramidion is. Since you have flown both with me and against me in the past few days while I was fielding the ship setup you discribe, I will assume you are referring to the "Mo Dakka Dakka Dakka." In which case thank you, I do try for silly whenever I can.