Mercenary vs Warrior
vs
The Mercenary is a Strength/Dexterity class (11/11/7 Str/Dex/Int) that starts with a Makeshift Crossbow; the Warrior is a Strength class (15/7/7) that starts with a Wooden Club and a Splintered Tower Shield. They begin at different points of the passive tree. Across their ascendancies the biggest differences are melee (0 vs 9 nodes), evasion (7 vs 0 nodes) and life (0 vs 5 nodes). Patch 0.5.5, from the game files.
Side by side
| Mercenary | Warrior | |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Str11 Dex11 Int7 | Str15 Dex7 Int7 |
| Trait | Totems remain for longer | Knockback opponents when attacking |
| Starts with |  Makeshift Crossbow |  Wooden Club Splintered Tower Shield |
| First skill gem |  Fragmentation Rounds |  Rolling Slam |
| Gems that need its weapon | 28 (crossbow) | 20 (one hand mace, shield) |
| Ascendancies |  Tactician Witchhunter Gemling Legionnaire |  Titan Warbringer Smith of Kitava |
Their ascendancies' nodes by theme
| Nodes about… | Mercenary | Warrior |
|---|---|---|
| Minions | 2 | 1 |
| Companions | – | 1 |
| Spells | – | 1 |
| Melee | – | 9 |
| Projectiles | 3 | – |
| Attack speed | 2 | – |
| Critical hits | 1 | – |
| Fire | 1 | 2 |
| Physical | 1 | 1 |
| Totems | 4 | 4 |
| Block and shields | – | 4 |
| Life | – | 5 |
| Armour | 7 | 9 |
| Evasion | 7 | – |
| Resistances | 1 | 5 |
| Spirit | 2 | 1 |
| Stun | – | 3 |
| Area of effect | 3 | 2 |
| Movement speed | 1 | – |
| Cooldowns | 3 | 1 |
| Warcries | – | 2 |
| Strength stacking | 1 | 4 |
| Dexterity stacking | 1 | – |
| Intelligence stacking | 1 | – |
Nodes of all the class's ascendancies added up; each ascendancy's own counts are on its page.
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
Warrior ascendancies
- Titanmelee 5, stun 3 and life 2
- Warbringertotems 4, block and shields 4 and armour 4
- Smith of Kitavaresistances 5, melee 4 and armour 3
Titan vs Warbringer · Smith of Kitava vs Titan · Smith of Kitava vs Warbringer
More class comparisons: Druid vs Mercenary · Druid vs Warrior · Huntress vs Mercenary · Huntress vs Warrior · Mercenary vs Monk · Mercenary vs Ranger · Mercenary vs Sorceress · Mercenary vs Witch · Monk vs Warrior · Ranger vs Warrior · Sorceress vs Warrior · Warrior vs Witch.