Mercenary vs Witch
vs
The Mercenary is a Strength/Dexterity class (11/11/7 Str/Dex/Int) that starts with a Makeshift Crossbow; the Witch is an Intelligence class (7/7/15) that starts with a Withered Wand and a Rattling Sceptre. They begin at different points of the passive tree. Across their ascendancies the biggest differences are life (0 vs 25 nodes), energy shield (0 vs 11 nodes) and mana (0 vs 11 nodes). Patch 0.5.5, from the game files.
Side by side
| Mercenary | Witch | |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Str11 Dex11 Int7 | Str7 Dex7 Int15 |
| Trait | Totems remain for longer | Natural resilience to Chaos |
| Starts with |  Makeshift Crossbow |  Withered Wand Rattling Sceptre |
| First skill gem |  Fragmentation Rounds |  Unearth |
| Gems that need its weapon | 28 (crossbow) | 0 (wand, sceptre) |
| Ascendancies |  Tactician Witchhunter Gemling Legionnaire |  Infernalist Blood Mage Lich |
Their ascendancies' nodes by theme
| Nodes about… | Mercenary | Witch |
|---|---|---|
| Minions | 2 | 2 |
| Spells | – | 10 |
| Projectiles | 3 | – |
| Attack speed | 2 | – |
| Critical hits | 1 | 7 |
| Fire | 1 | 2 |
| Chaos | – | 1 |
| Physical | 1 | 1 |
| Elemental | – | 2 |
| Ignite | – | 3 |
| Bleeding | – | 2 |
| Curses | – | 7 |
| Totems | 4 | – |
| Life | – | 25 |
| Energy shield | – | 11 |
| Mana | – | 11 |
| Armour | 7 | – |
| Evasion | 7 | – |
| Resistances | 1 | – |
| Spirit | 2 | 1 |
| Charges | – | 2 |
| Flasks and charms | – | 2 |
| Area of effect | 3 | 2 |
| Movement speed | 1 | – |
| Cooldowns | 3 | – |
| Leech | – | 2 |
| Shapeshifting | – | 1 |
| 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.
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
Witch ascendancies
- Infernalistlife 11, spells 4 and mana 4
- Blood Magelife 10, critical hits 5 and spells 4
- Lichenergy shield 7, mana 6 and curses 4
Blood Mage vs Infernalist · Infernalist vs Lich · Blood Mage vs Lich
More class comparisons: Druid vs Mercenary · Druid vs Witch · Huntress vs Mercenary · Huntress vs Witch · Mercenary vs Monk · Mercenary vs Ranger · Mercenary vs Sorceress · Mercenary vs Warrior · Monk vs Witch · Ranger vs Witch · Sorceress vs Witch · Warrior vs Witch.