Huntress vs Mercenary
vs
The Huntress is a Dexterity class (7/15/7 Str/Dex/Int) that starts with a Hardwood Spear and a Leather Buckler; the Mercenary is a Strength/Dexterity class (11/11/7) that starts with a Makeshift Crossbow. They begin at different points of the passive tree. Across their ascendancies the biggest differences are life (9 vs 0 nodes), companions (7 vs 0 nodes) and armour (0 vs 7 nodes). Patch 0.5.5, from the game files.
Side by side
| Huntress | Mercenary | |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Str7 Dex15 Int7 | Str11 Dex11 Int7 |
| Trait | Trained to block incoming attacks | Totems remain for longer |
| Starts with |  Hardwood Spear Leather Buckler |  Makeshift Crossbow |
| First skill gem |  Whirling Slash |  Fragmentation Rounds |
| Gems that need its weapon | 24 (spear, buckler) | 28 (crossbow) |
| Ascendancies |  Amazon Spirit Walker Ritualist |  Tactician Witchhunter Gemling Legionnaire |
Their ascendancies' nodes by theme
| Nodes about… | Huntress | Mercenary |
|---|---|---|
| Minions | – | 2 |
| Companions | 7 | – |
| Melee | 2 | – |
| Projectiles | 3 | 3 |
| Attack speed | 3 | 2 |
| Critical hits | 3 | 1 |
| Fire | 1 | 1 |
| Cold and freeze | 1 | – |
| Lightning and shock | 4 | – |
| Physical | 3 | 1 |
| Elemental | 5 | – |
| Totems | – | 4 |
| Life | 9 | – |
| Mana | 4 | – |
| Armour | – | 7 |
| Evasion | 2 | 7 |
| Resistances | 2 | 1 |
| Spirit | 3 | 2 |
| Flasks and charms | 6 | – |
| Stun | 1 | – |
| Area of effect | 2 | 3 |
| Movement speed | 7 | 1 |
| Cooldowns | – | 3 |
| Leech | 3 | – |
| Strength stacking | – | 1 |
| Dexterity stacking | – | 1 |
| Intelligence stacking | – | 1 |
Nodes of all the class's ascendancies added up; each ascendancy's own counts are on its page.
Huntress ascendancies
- Amazonelemental 5, life 4 and attack speed 3
- Spirit Walkercompanions 7, movement speed 3 and projectiles 2
- Ritualistflasks and charms 4, life 3 and movement speed 3
Amazon vs Spirit Walker · Amazon vs Ritualist · Ritualist vs Spirit Walker
Mercenary ascendancies
- Tacticiantotems 4, armour 4 and evasion 4
- Witchhunterarmour 3, evasion 3 and cooldowns 3
- Gemling Legionnaireattack speed 1, critical hits 1 and resistances 1
Tactician vs Witchhunter · Gemling Legionnaire vs Tactician · Gemling Legionnaire vs Witchhunter
More class comparisons: Druid vs Huntress · Druid vs Mercenary · Huntress vs Monk · Huntress vs Ranger · Huntress vs Sorceress · Huntress vs Warrior · Huntress vs Witch · Mercenary vs Monk · Mercenary vs Ranger · Mercenary vs Sorceress · Mercenary vs Warrior · Mercenary vs Witch.