Mistfall Hunter - Sword and Shield Mercenary Build

In this guide, we’re going to be talking about Mistfall Hunter, the latest dark fantasy extraction ARPG released from a new studio, Bellring Games. The game features six different classes players can choose from, each having their own unique strengths and weaknesses thanks to the different skills and talents available in each’s arsenal. Here, we’re going to be checking out a Mercenary build.

Key Takeaways

• Sword & Shield Merc excels as a frontline tank, using blocks to build Shield Pressure and cast Shockwave
• Key talents: Shield Buildup, Perfect Defense, Sturdy Shield, Fearless dash, Bounce and Raging Earth Shake
• Grab Seeker, Bulwark, Aegis or Strife affixes; balance movement, block power and defense; time Perfect Blocks

Mercenary Sword and Shield Build Guide

Mercenaries are a common sight on battlefields across the continent, known for their robust physical condition and combat skills. They frequently engage enemies up close, utilizing their proficiency in weapons like Hammer, Sword and Shield. Their exceptional abilities in head-on fights make them a versatile force, equally effective in solo battles or as part of a team. If you are looking for a class that is easy to use with the potential for great performance later on in the game, the Mercenary class is a great option.

Weapons

The main playstyle of the Mercenary is to be at the frontline, tanking enemy hits while hitting hard. The two weapon types available are the Two-Handed Greathammer and the Sword and Shield, with each giving the Mercenary the ability to fill the role of a hard-hitting frontliner. For this beginner’s guide, we will be using the Sword and Shield weapon type as it provides defensive options as well as great damaging potential.

Skills and Combos

Skills and combos can totally change the way you play, for better or for worse. Here are some skills you should consider using if you're running the Sword and Shield Mercenary.

Impalement

The Sword and Shield comes with three basic skills in addition to the light strikes. Holding your light strike attack will use Impalement, which is a skill that thrusts forward with your sword, dealing damage and gaining two stacks of Sword Tip. While the distance of Impalement will be increased while you have the Blade Edge or Strong Edge state, we will not be focusing on the Sword but instead on the Shield.

Block

Next, instead of heavy strikes, you can raise the shield to block attacks from the front. You can hold to maintain the Shield stance, allowing movement while the Shield is raised. Keep in mind that while you are blocking attacks, you are not negating all incoming damage, and it will consume your Energy whenever you block an attack. So, while it can reduce a large portion of incoming damage, you cannot keep the Shield up all the time. You have to focus on creating a balance between blocking and attacking.

Shockwave Strike

For the third skill, the Mercenary class has an ability that relies on stacking up either Sword Tip or Shield Pressure, depending on the talent you are using and for our build. We will be focusing more on using the Shield and it's Shockwave Strike. This can only be cast while you are in the Momentum state, and it will bash your shield to release a shockwave that deals physical damage and reduces the cooldown of other skills.

Whirling Cut

The Sword and Shield has two skill slots and one of the starting skills, Whirling Cut, is one of the most useful attacks of the weapon. In its base form, the attack will dash forward and then perform two spinning slashes, dealing physical damage. This skill travels some distance and is a very useful tool when you’re trying to chase down enemy players while also dealing decent damage.

Shield Slam

For the second skill slot, using the Shield Slam will give you another method to help chase down opponents. On casting, you will jump with your Shield raised and smash it into the ground, dealing physical damage and reducing enemy movement speed for a period of time. While jumping with the Shield, you can block frontal attacks and gain Super Armor, giving you some defense as you are lunging towards your target.

You can use both weapons and switch between them during a fight as you become more familiar with the class, but it is better to focus on using one weapon type as a beginner.

Talents

Next, we will be taking a look at the combination of talents that will help with the overall effectiveness of using our skills.

Shield Buildup

First, nodes from the Sword and Shield: Weapon Mastery group will determine the focus of the weapon. The left path focuses more on using the Sword and the right path focuses more on the Shield. For our build, we will be taking the right path, starting with Shield Buildup. This will change the stacks we earn from landing our light strikes and skills from Sword Tip to Shield Pressure and change the basic skill to Shockwave Strike.

While the name is changed, the way the mechanic works isn’t altered, and you will still be building up stacks simply by attacking an enemy. Upon reaching six stacks of Shield Pressure, you will gain one stack of Momentum which you can use to cast Shockwave Strike. You can stack up to two charges of Momentum, making it possible to use the skill twice in succession if you have the full stack built up.

Perfect Defense

The Perfect Defense talent node will grant your regular blocks the ability to trigger Perfect Blocks at the cost of more Energy. Successfully performing a Perfect Block will allow you to gain Momentum immediately without building up Shield Pressure, making it possible to cast Shockwave Strike more often. Additionally, this talent will allow you to use Block for a short duration during Breakaway, but just note that you cannot hold up your Shield while you are dodging using Breakaway.

Block Damage Boost

Lastly from this group, the Block Damage Boost talent will make it so that all Perfect Blocks grant you Shield, as well as increased movement speed and damage dealt for a short time. This allows you to take advantage of your defensive capabilities to boost your offensive strength, making the Sword and Shield stronger overall.

Fearless

Next, we will upgrade one of our skills by taking talents from the Whirling Cut Enhancement group. Similar to the previous group, this one also has two paths with the left side focusing more on offense with the right side focusing on defense. We will be taking the left upgrade path with the Fearless talent, which makes Whirling Cut a Dash skill. This will make this skill a two-staged one by adding a dash component, allowing you to cover more distance. The second stage of the skill is the original two-slash spinning attack and must be cast within a short time after the first stage before the skill goes on cooldown.

Sturdy Shield

Another group of talents you will want to focus on to increase your effectiveness with the Shield is the Block Mastery group. The Sturdy Shield talent will give all your successful blocks and perfect blocks the ability to add one stack of Indomitable Will which increases your physical resistance for a short duration. This buff can be stacked up to 10 times and will grant you significant physical damage reduction at the max stacks simply through blocking attacks.

Opportunist

The Opportunist talent will give a boost to your movement speed while you are blocking attacks in the Shield stance. This allows you to re-position better to block attacks or launch your strike without having to let down your guard. While this doesn’t provide direct defensive value, the extra mobility provides a boost to your overall effectiveness during fights, especially against other players.

Bounce

Finally, we will be taking talents to upgrade our second skill, through the Shield Slam Enhancement group. The Bounce talent will allow you to cast the skill directly from the Shield Raised stance, shortening its start up and giving you a chance to catch enemy players off guard while they are on the offense.

Raging Earth Shake

Then, the Raging Earth Shake talent node will increase the slow effect of the Shield Slam and make it so that enemies directly hit by the Shield are stunned. This allows the Mercenary to open up an opponent for powerful strikes, and you can unleash all your high damage attacks immediately after stunning another player, giving them no choice but to take the full brunt of your strike.

Affixes

Another source that affects how well you perform comes in the form of affixes and there are two sources from which you can obtain them. The first is from Sigrid, the Tavernwoman, who can prepare a variety of Victory Wine that you can take before each match or expedition to give various affixes of your choice. There are different tiers, with each providing a greater number of affixes you can earn, but only the basic one, the Mortal Tonic, can be received for free. The higher tiers require you to upgrade the Tavern and resources to brew them.

Being a melee class with limited range, movement speed affixes can give you an edge in combat. This will help you catch ranged attackers whose aim will be to keep their distance from you and their ranged advantage will be neglected if you are fast enough to easily close the distance between you and them.

Seeker

The first affix you can look for the bonus movement speed is Seeker, which will increase your movement speed for three seconds when you hit an enemy. The speed you gain depends on the level of the affix and at higher levels, the bonus can stack twice letting you become even faster as you strike your enemies.

Bulwark

For the second affix, we recommend going for the Bulwark since the build relies on blocking attacks using the Shield. This affix will increase the Block Damage Reduction Rate and, if you get it to at least level four, it will also reduce the Energy Cost of blocking, allowing you to rely on the Shield even more. The higher level you can get the Bulwark affix to, the more powerful your blocking will be and sometimes, the best offense is a strong defense that will wear down your opponent.

Another source of affixes is through the gear which comes with random affixes and the different gem slots available on them. There are four different types of gems: Agate, Amethyst, Moonstone and Peridot, with each having one of the affixes from the specific pools they have. You can forge the gear and gems yourself, which will grant four gems with random affixes or look for one with the particular affix you want in the Auction House.

Being a melee class, it is inevitable that you will be taking some hits. While focusing on offensive affixes will definitely help with your damage output, it can easily lead to you becoming a glass cannon who gets taken down before you can even reach your opponent. As such, bolstering yourself with defensive affixes will help make sure you have a balanced character that has both a strong offense and defense.

Aegis

One of the Defense affixes that helps is Aegis which will simply increase your Defense value with the amount provided going up as the affix level rises. If the affix reaches level five, it will also grant you physical resistance, increasing your survivability even further.

Strife

The Strife affix is another one that benefits this melee-focused class as it increases melee weapon damage. If the affix reaches at least level five, it will increase your melee damage even more, scaling with the number of enemies around you up to three stacks.

Final Tips

The Mercenary Class embodies the straight-forward warrior archetype, relying on blocking attacks with the Sword and Shield if you lean towards a more defensive playstyle, or the Greathammer if you want to go all out on the offense. While the Sword and Shield offer a relatively slower-paced approach to combat, it is better for beginners because of the myriad of defensive options the weapons provide. While blocking will not negate all incoming damage, a 70% damage reduction without any additional effect from affixes is still a high amount and will give you more chances to learn the moveset of enemies and take more hits from other players.

While the offensive options of the Sword do not provide special effects like other classes, it is still relatively quick and mobile and can reliably take down most enemies through its simple moveset and combo. When using the Sword and Shield, while not a necessity, learning the timing of Perfect Blocks as you grow more familiar with using the weapon will increase your chance of success as it can make you untouchable.

While the Sword and Shield is not as Energy intensive as using the Greathammer or other melee classes, blocking a lot of attacks can go through your Energy reserves quickly, so you do want to be mindful of your Energy bar when you’re blocking incoming attacks to make sure you can strike back with attacks of your own once you see an opening.