A step by step guide to leveling any Mercenary ascendency, be it Tactician, Witch Hunter, or Gemling Legionnaire to fully clear the campaign and get into maps.
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Mercenary
Mercenary Leveling Guide
0.2 DotH
MercenaryStarter
Verified
FearlessDumb0
Build Overview
Build Variants
Acts 1-2
Act 3
Cruel Act 1-2
Cruel Act 3
Acts 1 and 2 you'll want to focus on continuous gear upgrades by searching vendors and occasionally gambling for Crossbows. Make sure after killing The King in the Mists that you acquire 30 spirit and enable 
Herald of Thunder
Acts 1-2 Variant
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Equipment
Gear Priority
Crossbows will almost always be your primary upgrade. Spend gold on merchants for these before anything else as more damage will infinitely improve your campaign experience. After that pick up Evasion and/or ES bases as you find them. Eventually this will be a hybrid Evasion/Energy Shield character though during Acts 1 and 2 the gear with the highest resistances will be your main first concern as better bases won't be available until later in campaign.
Crossbow
Stat priorities are, in this order:
- Flat Physical or Flat Lightning Damage
- Any other Flat Damage (Fire/Cold)
- %Increased Physical Damage
- %Attack Speed
- %Increased Elemental Damage to Attacks
Gear Affixes
Cold Resistance will be important for the Act 1 boss, Geonor. Grab a Freeze Charm as well before walking into the fight. Life and Resistances will be your best defense, followed by Evasion and Energy Shield.
Flat Damage on Rings / Gloves
If you see Flat Damage of any type (Physical/Lightning/Cold/Fire) on Rings or Gloves, or Attack Speed on gloves, those will be an automatic purchase. Flat damage is very rare, particularly in early campaign and it has an oversized impact on how well your campaign run will go.
Runes
In your weapons, use whatever flat damage or Iron Runes you are able to find. As with most campaign builds, your DPS will greatly impact how smooth the campaign feels. In your gear prioritize Resistances as you need them.
Acts 1-2 Variant
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Skill Gems
Support Gem Requirements:
Str 10
Dex 20
Int 5
High Velocity Rounds
Flash Grenade
Galvanic Shards
Explosive Grenade
Flame Wall
Herald of Thunder
Level 2
-
Fragmentation Rounds + Martial Tempo - Explosive Grenade
- Flame Wall
The early parts of leveling are fairly straight forward, you pick up Fragmentation Rounds off the ground on the beach and go from there. If you have an extra minute, it's worth creating a throw-away second character to get a second Level 1 Skill Gem to acquire Flame Wall. This skill adds Flat Fire Damage to projectiles that pass through it, dramatically smoothing your progression through the first few Acts.
Try to kite mobs around your Explosive Grenade while waiting on the fuse to blow and simultaneously shotgunning with Fragmentation Rounds and/or 
Crossbow Shot if you are low on Mana.
Level 6
- High Velocity Rounds + Scattershot + Double Barrel
- Flash Grenade + Overpower
- Flame Wall + Persistence
High Velocity Rounds will become your single-target preference once you get your first Level 3 Uncut Skill gem. Make sure you drop Flame Wall and continue to shoot through them for single target scenarios.
Flash Grenade will become an important part of the early campaign rotation as it provides crowd control and will temporarily stun enemies, giving you an opportunity to burn them down.
Level 14
- Galvanic Shards + Lightning Infusion + Pierce
- High Velocity Rounds + Scattershot + Double Barrel
- Flash Grenade + Overpower
- Flame Wall + Persistence
- Herald of Thunder - kill King in the Mists for this
Galvanic Shards will become your clear skill from here on out. It is exceptional at delivering screen-wide lightning damage to packs of mobs and when paired with Herald of Thunder pushes your early campaign clear. Galvanic Shards also benefits from Flame Wall and can continue to provide additional clear and single-target damage with Flash Grenade on deck for crowd control and priming single-target enemies.
Acts 1-2 Variant
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Passive Tree
main:
102
123
set 1:
20
20
set 2:
20
20
Tree Pathing Order
Remorseless
Ricochet
Adrenaline Rush
Instant Reload - Important for making Crossbow skills feel comfortable
Attributes
- Get as much Strength as you can
- Get as much Dexterity as you need to equip gear
