Ninjas vs. Mercs Question

[WaywardRonin]

Hi Everyone, 

 

I wanted to make sure I'm understanding the new abilities with these two sets and figured I should ask if I was understanding correctly or not.

 

For Mercs using Burst, Slug, and/or M30 you get:

• Each of these attacks applies a Focused Fire tag on the target for 30s.
• Each power's tag will increase Mercenary ranged damage by 3.33%, up to a maximum of 10s

 

For Ninjas using Snap/Aimed Shot and/or Fist Full of Arrows you get:

 

• Each of these attacks now grants a 3% chance for henchmen to crit for 30s.
• The chance does not stack from the same power but each power can stack together, for up to +9% chance if all powers are used.

 

For Ninjas - they seem to get the crit increase for any/all targets, not just the one I hit with my Snap or Aimed shot.  With the "the target" for Mercs, I wasn't sure if the extra damage was only to the one target you hit with the Burst or Slug or if they get the increase in damage to all targets for 30 seconds?

 

Thanks so much for your time!

[StrikerFox]

It looks like the damage boost is only on the target the MM is hitting. I'm surprised at that but looking at the pet buffs, there's no symbol indicating a +3.33% damage buff after using the MM attacks. The Ninja's get a buff symbol for each crit bonus from MM attacks.

I went to RWZ, had the 2 Soldiers attack a Gunslinger boss while I used an MM attack on lieuts/minions. Their damage did not increase. But as soon as I hit the Gunslinger himself, their attack went up +3.33%. From 13.39 damage per tick to 13.84. It seems more like a -3.33% res debuff benefiting Merc pets only. Slotted damage procs did not increase.

I only used Soldiers (No Medic), no upgrades so they only used Quick Burst. No Achilles' Heel, removed the Souldbound BU proc and Reactive Interface just so the Soldier damage numbers are always consistent VS the same target. Set to follow my pets so that they were always in Supremacy range.

Don't have M30 Grenade so that is untested but it might apply the +3.33% to all targets within it's 15' radius. Something to consider if only running with one MM attack.

According to the description, all Merc pets get the buff regardless of which Merc MM applies it. That's kind of neat.  

[WaywardRonin]

Thanks Striker, I appreciate it. 

[Player-1]

Hi there! The Focus Fire mechanic on Mercenaries is a bit different compared to other damage buffs or resistance debuffs as it affects the base damage of your henchmen's attacks.

 

In short, each application of Focus Fire from a Mastermind on a target will increase the base damage of their henchmen by 3.33% before damage buffs or resistance debuffs take effect. A 20 damage burst from a Soldier will become 22 damage if a target has 3 applications of Focus Fire on them, and then that will be boosted by enhancements, supremacy, and debuffs on the target. Its a seperate layer of damage boost which is a bit unique!