Mercenary

Mercenary

The Mercenary is a high skill melee survivor that uses his many dodges to weave in and out of combat.
Health	110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen	1/s (+0.2 per level)
Damage	12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed	7 m/s
Armor	20
Unlock	True Respite

Umbra Title
Hired Blade
Ending Phrase
..and so he left, with terrible power in shaking hands.

Mercenary is a playable character in Risk of Rain 2.

Skills[edit | edit source]

Passive

Cybernetic Enhancements

	Type	Passive
	Description	The Mercenary can jump twice.

Primary

Laser Sword

	Type	Primary
	Proc Coefficient	1
	Description	Agile [ Agile ] The skill can be used while sprinting. . Slice in front for 130% damage. Every 3rd hit strikes in a greater area and Exposes [ Expose ] Hitting Exposed enemies reduces all skill cooldowns by 1.0s and deals an additional +350% damage. enemies.
Notes
The base swing speed is 0.42s per swing, with a 0.64s recovery window after the third swing which artificially reduces the base swing speed. Any bonus attack speed will decrease the time spent in the recovery animation, but will not remove / negate it.

Secondary

Whirlwind

	Type	Secondary
	Cooldown	2.5s
	Proc Coefficient	1
	Description	Quickly slice horizontally twice, dealing 2x200% damage. If airborne, slice vertically instead.
Notes
The animation speed is improved with attack speed, which also reduces the time taken to cast other skills.

Rising Thunder

	Type	Secondary
	Cooldown	2.5s
	Proc Coefficient	1
	Description	Unleash a slicing uppercut, dealing 450% damage and sending you airborne.
Notes
Unlocked via the Mercenary: Demon of the Skies Challenge. (As Mercenary, don't touch the ground for 30 seconds.) Correction: Rising Thunder actually does 550% damage.

Utility

Blinding Assault

	Type	Utility
	Cooldown	8s
	Proc Coefficient	1
	Description	Stunning [ Stunning ] Interrupts enemies and briefly stuns them. . Dash forward, dealing 300% damage. If you hit an enemy, you can dash again, up to 3 total.
Notes
The color of the icon will change depending on how many uses the skill has before going on cooldown; Blue for three, Yellow for two, Red for one. The animation speed and total distance traveled is improved by attack speed bonuses. The player has 2.66 seconds to use this ability again after striking an enemy (while a charge is available).

Special

Eviscerate

	Type	Special
	Cooldown	6s
	Proc Coefficient	1 per hit
	Description	Target the nearest enemy, attacking them for 110% damage repeatedly. You cannot be hit for the duration.
Notes
Lasts for 1.3s after casting. Deals 7 damage ticks on cast, the amount of damage ticks is improved by attack speed without affecting its duration. Invincible for 0.6s after Eviscerate ends. Performs a dash and no other effects if it does not target an enemy.

Slicing Winds

	Type	Special
	Cooldown	6s
	Proc Coefficient	1 per hit
	Description	Fire a wind of blades that attack up to 3 enemies for 8x100% damage. The last hit Exposes [ Expose ] Hitting Exposed enemies reduces all skill cooldowns by 1.0s and deals an additional +350% damage. enemies.
Notes
Unlocked via the Mercenary: Ethereal Challenge. (As Mercenary, complete a Prismatic Trial without falling below 100% health.)

Tips[edit | edit source]

Whirlwind can be used on slanted edges / ramps that you can walk up to launch the player vertically.
Whirlwind when used on the ground dashes you forward, when used in the air it acts like a double jump. Use it in the air to stay airborne, but use it on the ground to be evasive as it covers more distance faster.
There is a short delay before attacking again after the third hit in the Laser Sword combo. Activating Whirlwind immediately after the hit connects can cancel this delay.
When fighting bosses, Mercenary can stay safely in the air above their heads for a very long time by chaining together Whirlwind->Eviscerate->Whirlwind along with laser sword attacks and double jumps.
Your Blinding Assault cooldown reset leaves just enough time to use Laser Sword twice or combo Whirlwind + Laser Sword before you need to dash again. You have just enough time to Eviscerate between Blinding Assaults, if you do it immediately without any delay between dashes.
Your longest distance jump combo is Sprint-Jump-Whirlwind-Blinding Assault-Eviscerate-Double Jump-Whirlwind.^[Verify]
Prior to Build ID #3731106, Eviscerating directly into the ground when airborne would cause you to take heavy fall damage.
Some bosses have heads which act as solid platforms, which the Mercenary can stand on to resume attacking the boss without as much danger from the swarm of enemies below.
Wax Quail'sJumping while sprinting boosts you forward.
Jumping while sprinting boosts you forward by 10m (+10m per stack). boost applies for Mercenary's first two jumps, whereas other survivors can only receive the boost on their first jump, even with the Hopoo FeatherGain an extra jump.
Gain +1 (+1 per stack) maximum jump count.
Using your Primary attack on enemies such as the Wandering Vagrant while airborne also noticeably reduces your rate of descent.
With the right positioning, Blinding Assault can be used to position Mercenary inside of an enemy's hitbox. For flying enemies, this can be exploited, pushing them away at high speed. Enemies that are pushed will take huge damage when hitting a wall, which is very effective for dealing with flying bosses such as Wandering Vagrant and Alloy Worship Unit.
Blinding Assault can be canceled mid-dash by either Whirlwind or Rising Thunder in order to shorten the length of the dash.
Hitting enemies with either Whirlwind or Rising Thunder directly after the third strike of Laser Sword will apply Exposed (it will not apply Exposed if that same third strike already applied Exposed to that monster). This can be more difficult with Rising Thunder due to the cast time of the ability.
The two above tips can be combined in this order: Laser Sword (third hit)-Blinding Assault-Whirlwind or Laser Sword (third hit)-Blinding Assault-Rising Thunder in order to apply Exposed after using your dash.