Which class is better: Juggernauts or Mercenaries?
Which class is better: Juggernauts or Mercenaries?
Good topic. 1 Mercenary and 1 Juggernaut is better than two Juggernauts or Mercenaries. But Juggernauts are slightly better. Their weapon Defriender, though maybe worse than some of Mercenary's weapons, is already so at the top of it's game that the difference is negligible. On average, utility is worse than offensive, but if you get quick respawn, it's one of the best traits in the game for a classes with super high offense or defense. (Sniper, Elite, Juggernaut, Mercenary). So it's the same there.
And then there is the 50 health advantage lvl 30 Juggernauts have over Mercenaries. This is important because the only good Juggernauts and Mercenaries have Healthy, Nanobots and Iron will. And with the recovery rate being proportional to health+ +15% stats, it amounts to a great bonus. So Juggernaut.
Both classes benefit from Drum Mag + Scavenger combo (never reload, practically infinite ammo).
The Mercenary has better weapons - Bennett's Doom and Dragon's Breath, with the above combo, have maximum range and deal a lot of damage, though you should be careful not to kill yourself accidentally.
The Juggernaut has two good choices - the Defriender (long range but not maximum, 1-2 shot kills on average) and Boomstick 2.0/DB12 (half the range of the Defriender, but with the DM+S combo obliterates everyone inside that radius).
The Merc wins in offense, but the Juggernaut really dominates defensively - he always has 2 defense and 1 utility upgrade (if it is Scavenger, which is crucial, you get a free Equipment slot for an extra defensive item). Tower the unique Hero has 3 defensive upgrades but can be outclassed by random recruits with a better upgrade pool (for example I have Tron, who has Healthy, Repair Bots and a harmless flaw). The best defensive upgrades are Healthy, Repair Bots, Adrenaline, Iron Will. The Jugg has 50 more health than the Merc, and more maximum armor, which gets filled every 5 kills in both killstreaks.
So both classes can murder quickly anyone, but the Juggernaut can finish matches more easily without ever dying.
Drum Mag doesn't cause infinite ammo (unless it's a glitch or bug). Drum Mag makes the clip huge, but spare ammo would not be there and once the clip runs out, it runs out.
Juggernauts are better at tanking (tanking and close quarter combat is my favorite playstyle so Juggernauts are my favorite character), and Mercs are better at annihilation at medium-far range.
Calculating best-possible upgrade, strongest-possible equipment, and weakest-possible flaws, Juggernaut has a health advantage over Merc, combined with the Merc's possibility of killing himself and his teammates accidentally with Explosive Weapons, and with the Juggernaut's added advantage that is Flame Armor/"I'm The Juggernaut," adding armor and making the Juggernaut even tankier and deadlier, Juggernaut wins overall, but it is very close.
I was talking about the effect of DM+S combo, not those on their own. It is Scavenger that allows infinite ammo (unless you fail to kill anyone before running dry), and that could be a bug, since the description states "10% ammo per kill", not 100%. But scavenger is really the key here. If you are very lucky, your Hero gets it as an Utility Upgrade, freeing your Equipment slot for something else. Otherwise it can only be won at the Slot Machine, not bought (I'm sure you know this, but other readers might like to be aware of it).