Possibly the worst Merc in AO!

[Samwise93]

I'm almost positive that viking is the worst merc that's out at this time. You'll see why in a second.

Pros:
Freezing Axe, Yup everyone likes a good 3 man stun.

Cons:
Horrid Vitality (compared to BT)
Horrid Defense (compared to BT)
Extremely Horrid M-Defense (It's just that bad)

As you can see the drawbacks the viking largely outweigh the benefits. You could get a Beast Trainer that has Freezing Axe AND decent stats. Umm oops, pry sure i was high when I made this thread :p

[WildFury]

a BT has freezing axe?O_O

also i agree about the viking,was the main reason i swapped to a axe main :P

[Krullthor]

Well Princess gives a run for the Vikings money on the suckage department hehe, cause at least Viking has Freezing Axe that you can only have if you play an Axe main otherwise if you want freezing axe your stuck with a viking.

[StarElf]

Viking replaced by BT at around 50 sure, but up until then Viking is a godsend. Also, axe main is possibly the best main class as it has the one ability that cannot easily be replaced by better in the late game.

And NO, BT does not have freezing axe.

[Krullthor]

Yeah thats why axe mains are so popular, specially in Argos since its the new server but most of the players actually came from other servers and already have background info from the game its Axe Main Land hehe.

[Taikan]

true; viking is no good... and it looks like an uber tanj clad in nordic armor... too bad is a cardboard armor:vik:

[Kaiten]

Hah, cardboard armor it is, falling so fast to flame swords -.-

Yea...uh that comparison isn't entirely fair, sure it's the only other axe merc there is but that is a C grade merc where as viking is a D grade merc. As for D grade merc goes, yes it's pretty bad due to low def and lowest mdef, even the supposed higher health doesn't balance this fact. F-axe is awesome and brought me far into the game.

He's one of two axe users in game...but in future updates, we'll hopefully see more, possibly a B grade axe user. A Native American? Would fit the missing part of the world atm.

[Arietta]

I still dont understand why they put so many cons on the viking

low ap gain
semi low def
EXTREMELY low mdef
attack high? my BT does more and she doesnt suffer from all those drawbacks.

U can argue that its class D but theres a lot of class Ds that are kickass...

[Aura]

viking sux becoz axe main is too good
same for archer and archer main...
but still princess is the worse merc for now lol...
the buff skills are really useless

[Ironhart]

Axe and cannon are the only mains that outshine their respective mercs in every possible way. All other mains are weaker than their merc counterparts (not factoring main-only items).

Vik can still work at later levels as long as you dont frontline him. He has many cons because freezing axe IS that good, plus they have ridiculous amounts of hp. Axe mains dont suffer from those cons, which is why their so imbalanced and the favorite choice.

In terms of worst merc though, princess takes that title easily. Giving +def to mercs that arent meant to tank is possibly the stupidest idea ever. Swap prophet and princess buffs and youll start to see a LOT more diverse builds instead of the 2 billion mass melee builds out there.

[Arietta]

they should just offer the same buff for range/melee.

accuracy dmg and heal. thats just my opinion though

[FrozenFury]

Princess by far is the worst merc -- not the viking. The viking in fact is one of the most POWERFUL mercs around lvl 2x-4x (because of Freexing Axe) but he is DEFINITELY worse than the axe main.

And I agree with Ironhart. The effects of PO and Concentrate should be switched around. Concentrate gives melee units WAY too much of an advantage.

[Spydermage]

viking's freezing axe is already a huge advantange + the ability to hit one row. thus to balance the game, viking need to somehow be weaker at something else.

swordie has good defense and good attack, but limited to one target. spearman has good attack and mediocre def and acceptable damage for two in a row. so each merc has their weakness.

but, i agree that viking is a little too weak. i dun mind him having low mdef as a weakness but at least up his def more so that he can at least serve as a tank that a viking should be. :)

princess on the other hand.... till now i have to agree i don't know how to use her yet...

[Ironhart]

Made a post on concentrate & princess order in official forums if anyone is interested:

http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/center/ATForum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9697&posts=3#M83323

[cfk]

OK not try to put a hamper on your suggestion here, but something relevant to all these suggestions about crappy merc mechanics has been bugging me.

Since this game is one of many korean/asian imported games that is translated and relocalized, I'm making assumption that the major game changes/updates also flow along the same path: Changes in the Korean version...some span of time..then here.

Which means first off, all game dynamic suggestions made from US version here might taken with a grain of salt as "oh, they haven't seen the changes already on the korean server," or possibly just take a pretty long time through the Korean version first, then get introduced here.

Then again, not many korean game devs show up on US servers to pvp on a regular basis, and I'm not familiar with how different the US/KR versions are and if there's any unique game dynamic changes they already made for our version in the OB/CB.

Uh...yeah I just ate a ridiculous amount of food so I'm typing while digesting :o

[Samwise93]

I dunno when i said worst merc I was thinking melee but I guess I should have specified and yeah... definitly high but still holds true...

[crazynjay]

for me the worst merc is princess... why? coz am melee typ ^_^ axe main.

:swm::lak::bst:
:femalehero::spm::vik:
:mnk::pro::witc:

my line up... doing good for me...

[Aura]

Axe and cannon are the only mains that outshine their respective mercs in every possible way. All other mains are weaker than their merc counterparts (not factoring main-only items).

Vik can still work at later levels as long as you dont frontline him. He has many cons because freezing axe IS that good, plus they have ridiculous amounts of hp. Axe mains dont suffer from those cons, which is why their so imbalanced and the favorite choice.

In terms of worst merc though, princess takes that title easily. Giving +def to mercs that arent meant to tank is possibly the stupidest idea ever. Swap prophet and princess buffs and youll start to see a LOT more diverse builds instead of the 2 billion mass melee builds out there.

well agree with most points but 1...
the archer merc is no better than main archer XD...
it is really rare to see archer merc anymore in higher level....
mostly are placed by prophet + exo , or simply just an archer main

[Vrael]

i wouldn't say viking is the worse, it definitely has its uses. but maybe second worse, since princess takes the first place spot in my view

[Samwise93]

Yup it's official, Princess takes the cake on the crap heap mercs. But with most people rolling with an axe main viking is pretty much equally shoddy. You already have freezing axe and he folds easier then a cardboard BK crown.

[Arietta]

Yup it's official, Princess takes the cake on the crap heap mercs. But with most people rolling with an axe main viking is pretty much equally shoddy. You already have freezing axe and he folds easier then a cardboard BK crown.

well, we can all keep throwing down posts with either viking or princess as our vote.

people we get it

princess sucks
viking sucks a tiny bit less but still sucks.

that is all
(im still betting theres gonna be like 10+ more posts all saying either princess or viking for the same reasons already posted)

[Vrael]

well, we can all keep throwing down posts with either viking or princess as our vote.

people we get it

princess sucks
viking sucks a tiny bit less but still sucks.

that is all
(im still betting theres gonna be like 10+ more posts all saying either princess or viking for the same reasons already posted)

and 5 more posts like yours, kthx.

and viking can still be useful if you have an axe main, just dont keep him in the front line. having 2 freezing axes is very valuable

[Keats]

Viking can also be useful if you wanna do a tri-axe willed line

[Flexor]

another vote for princess,juz look at her market price! zz

[Spydermage]

i bought her at 930k T.T sob sob...

[AtsushiHayami]

Agree with you for me too the Viking is the worst gave him good Equip and he still dies like hell misses like hell,and the base stats aren't that good too so as a result the got his ass fired

[Ferishi]

Viking is TERRIBLE due to his stats, but he has a FANTASTIC ability (Freezing Axe). The Princess meanwhile... it's hard to find something for her to actually DO (her stats meanwhile are just typical staff user stats. Nothing special, although no one cares. The whole POINT of a staff user is to use powerful magic attacks, of which the princess has none. ...and the Viking has one! Ironically enough)

[MiaFLSurf]

When do you all suggest we dump our Viking> Im at 54 and I still use him

[Flexor]

Oh...princess is a staff user,mana seal anyone ;D

[Arietta]

I think the monk is the worst merc EVER

/discussandsarcasm

[crazynjay]

I think the monk is the worst merc EVER

/discussandsarcasm

if your opponent make a hole in your front line doble freezing axe GG..

[Ferishi]

Sheez, he even included the sarcasm tags and you still...

[Aura]

monk is crap!!
just spam scrolls lol....i saw like lv93 killed lv 100 by spaming scrolls all the time.....

[Marisa the Rainmaker]

It's notable, though, that AtCombat04 runs a princess on his team, and he does pretty decently in PvP. Princess doesn't really suck IMO; they are just a bit less utilitarian compared to her contemporaries - the prophet and exorcist - and lacking the same glaring weaknesses that the viking has.

[leawen]

I have to say as an art main I like my viking but then I am only lvl 66 ... course he does seem to stand up better then my witch who is lvl 58 but wearing ( at least was till I caught it ) full set of +4 spirit gear hehe

[HardcoreGamer]

Princess is good if you have a willed 3 gunner team... that would be hell but you would suffer in PVE.

[Locksley]

i bought her at 930k T.T sob sob...

In Macedon, its worse, I sold princess contract for 333k, and the lowest price I saw for princess contract on that server, 200k.

That price you pay, spydermage, is *overpriced*. SOB harder.

[HardcoreGamer]

Rather do it myself... the quest is short =/

[LostCause]

Wait till u get the princess and you might change your opinion on who is the worst merc. I had her for sometime now and still havnt found any strong point in her beside being able to multi hit but after a while of studying that it dont really seem to be multi hit. It seems when she start hitting comobs her dmg get reduce so tha at times when u see her hit 3-4x, the dmg is really about 2hit at most.

[Aura]

lol quick 2 hit from prince = 1 hit...
it is just one of the action model....
sometimes ppl got fooled by that XD

[methane]

Princess isn't good since it only buff range and since you need tankers you cannot include much range. Either want tanker or get range that will receive the useless buff from princess. Pick you choice

[HardcoreGamer]

The only way it could be really useful is 4 gunner build, including main or 4 archer build including main.

I saw such a build in Argos, Raifiki used it and he won the 30k mettle tourny.

Can't say it is the most useless.

[Taikan]

can u give more info on his build??? i need to improve my gunner build in every possible way xD

[Jimsta]

Vikings are good, you guys just don't know how to fully use them...

1st, Don't use them as a front row tank. Obviously they have low mdef, so what you do is put them in mid row. ;) You can use them as a second freezer, or seth will that 2nd row and watch their front row get demolished.

Their defense isn't that bad and can get the job done.

By far not the worst merc in the game.

[Aura]

lol ppl dunno how bad princess is until they really use her in their formation...
they will find viking pretty useful compared to princess XD

[LtKillroy]

My big problem with viking: Holy gaurd>Freezing Axe, therefore Monk>Viking. Since you get them at the same time, the choice is obvious. At least in PVP.

[Newell]

I really like the viking. With the freeze axe he is great, plus he attack is pretty damn good, granted BT is better, but duh he is c class.

Freeze axe can really muff some people up in pvp. Poke that hole and now that monk has a decision to make. Or if you poke a really deep hole, then whats to stop that freeze when you snag a monk?

If you cant keep your viking alive in mid row etc, then he is really worth it after a few kills.

[Spydermage]

viking is not the worse as many have concurred.

but i am more worried about princess. other than rangers formation, is she not useful at all? her debuffs are not useful?

[Xovian]

:vik: > (+1) :prn:

Period. Not even in a range group is she such an advantage that she is on the same ground as the Viking, even with his disadvantages (low MDef). Hopefully the upcoming update changes all this and puts many of the classes on a bit more equal footing.

Would probably do wonders to break up some of the current power formations at least, and allow for a bit more diversity.

As of right now, no matter how you look at it, she is currently the worst of any merc.

[HardcoreGamer]

can u give more info on his build??? i need to improve my gunner build in every possible way xD

He is using 4 archers by the way... But 4 gunners would be quite the same, just the added stun feature.

I think his build is like this:

:swm::swm::swm:
:arc::arc::vik:
:malehero::arc::mnk:

The main is an archer btw

[Ironhart]

He is using 4 archers by the way... But 4 gunners would be quite the same, just the added stun feature.

I think his build is like this:

:swm::swm::swm:
:arc::arc::vik:
:malehero::arc::mnk:

The main is an archer btw

Archer builds play completely different from gunner builds. Archer zerging simply does not work past a certain level because monk + oracle + good equips means you wont be able to inflict lethal damage to the opposing main as quickly as you would like, especially against axe/sword mains. Cira was running a pretty effective 5-archer formation on Sikyon and quit prolly because he couldnt beat all the axe mains out there.

Im amazed that guy on your server could win milestone with that formation, especially without a shaman to combo hellflame (extremely essential for archer zergs). Any weekly winner on Sikyon would destroy him.

[nothingxs]

Well Princess gives a run for the Vikings money on the suckage department hehe, cause at least Viking has Freezing Axe that you can only have if you play an Axe main otherwise if you want freezing axe your stuck with a viking.

Princess has its benefits. She's a clean counter to any formation that runs front row Witch, and a strong counter to gunner / cannon formations. She's also excellent in a formation along with a Cannoneer because of her combo, which actually does nice damage.

[HardcoreGamer]

Archer builds play completely different from gunner builds. Archer zerging simply does not work past a certain level because monk + oracle + good equips means you wont be able to inflict lethal damage to the opposing main as quickly as you would like, especially against axe/sword mains. Cira was running a pretty effective 5-archer formation on Sikyon and quit prolly because he couldnt beat all the axe mains out there.

Im amazed that guy on your server could win milestone with that formation, especially without a shaman to combo hellflame (extremely essential for archer zergs). Any weekly winner on Sikyon would destroy him.

Don't be amazed... It is a new server after all! Of course we can't compare with those on Sikyon.

[XaatXuun]

The :spt: is not that great, till you can use him :p

I started play not long ago . . and was shocked to see how low def the viking has, I was hoping that was a typo I read, till I started to play one, I find that I need to keep him in the best armor to keep the def up.

other then that (below par Def), the Viking is a great merc, but he surely is not Viking material, he may look the part, but he is not a Viking, Vikings should be able to tank, meaning better Def, I'd say the MDef is ok, I could live with that, but low def and Mdef, that does not seem right, as already mentioned, he may have a large HP, but it is useless/meaningless.

[Ironhart]

Don't be amazed... It is a new server after all! Of course we can't compare with those on Sikyon.

Just to further elaborate if anyone is actually crazy enough to follow that build:

Hellflame is essential because it lowers the target's max hp as well as causing significant DoT to them (esp on melee mains). If they holy guard it off they lose monk buffs (in addition to not being able to be healed) and that basically means a free win for the archer team. If they dont it makes them a lot softer and makes it actually possible to kill them with heavy focus fire even with heals.

Once oracle starts healing 3.5k+ though, it becomes meaningless.

[meloku2]

viking sux becoz axe main is too good
same for archer and archer main...
but still princess is the worse merc for now lol...
the buff skills are really useless
i donno i just found out that axe main has the same ap gain as viking T.T