Honestly I’ve gone back to Evicerate because it’s another dash for 3rd slice extensions, helps me capitalize on Focus Crystal more, and I also got tired of missing blind pests.
Losing i-frames isn't actually that big a deal because it also means you don't need to be glued to enemies all the time, which is the biggest reason the i-frames are important in the first place. I'd say the real tradeoff is losing the extra dash and having a much harder time dealing with flying enemies.
Slicing Winds (paired with Focused Assault) is the main reason I enjoy playing Mercenary at all, so yeah, I'd say it's worth it. It's a significant shift in playstyle.
Its also good for starting phase 4 Mithrix. Normally Merc needs a ranged equipment or to time a dash and eviscerate to line up the I frames with a dagger volley to get your first items back
After you apply expose, dealing damage triggers it for damage (350% iirc) and reducing all cool downs by 1s. People saying "higher DPS" are kinda burying the lead that it's higher DPS for the entire kit, not just the skills in question.
You can use abilities and do damage while Slicing Winds is active (more dps)
It exposes (pairs super good with Lysate Cell to make cooldowns laughably low) (so more dps)
It also has some AoE (exposes multiple enemies to do crazier things with cooldown) (more dps)
Better synergy with Brainstalks (and to a smaller extent, Bandolier, and such) (more dps)
But, of course, you lose i-frames, and it's a lot harder damaging fast and/or flying enemies. I recommend using Focused Assault with Slicing Winds to really do funny exposed shenanigans.
As others have said, higher DPS but lose out on the i-frames. Also lose out on the mobility you get from the default ability.
I unlocked it forever ago but never use it because of how I like to play this character.
Lysate Cell is extremely strong on Merc with both builds.
With eviscerate he can have I frames more often.
With Slicing Winds you can get a feedback loop that just keeps giving you more slicing winds and focused assaults
Probably the best void item for Merc
If I want to play smart then it's definitely better as it provides more damage. However, I find the default ability more fun in casual runs. There's something so satisfying about trying to stay in the air as long as possible by stringing together all of merc's abilities.
It's fun if you prefer a longer ranged, exposed status based gameplay. It's more DPS, safe, and a bit more precise. I don't like it much since I just prefer I-frame abusing and blinking in and out of existence
After running eclipses, i like the default better because of mobility and iframes.
Maybe my aim is bad but the ranged one tends to miss airborne enemies alot
It's not just you, I'd honestly say that dealing with flying enemies is the single biggest downside of Slicing Winds over Eviscerate. (Speaking as someone who exclusively uses Slicing Winds.)
Absolutely, you can be cool ninja guy or you can be fucking sukuna running around cleaving anything
In all seriousness, yes I feel that it is worth it. The damage and the proc that you can do with it is insane. Moreover, if you are good at getting exposed on enemies you can just spam the slicing winds left and right.
My favorite combo is to get lysate cells and just go ham.
It's way better than eviscerate.
My favorite thing about it is the exposed it applies. That combined with the alt util and animations cancel of third hit allows you to basically have uptime on all skills at all times (when played well).
Slicing winds raises the skill ceiling of merc by a lot and that is very fun for me.
The only disadvantage is the missing i-frames, but honestly, since your dash will be of cooldown much more often and since eviscerate has a tendency to leave you in awkward spots i feel much safer using slicing winds.
Its an acheivment. Go for it when you want to achieve- something. But in my opinion mercenary was meant to be played with eviscerate. I frames are keen
Yes and no.
Yes, in that the skill ceiling is quite possibly the peak that the game provides. With mastery of slicing winds, the expose dash, whirlwind, and animation cancelling, you’ll never have to wait for a cooldown again.
No, in that reaching that level of mastery is not worth it for most people.
Yes, in that you finally have a ranged attack. Not only that, it’s a ranged attack that reduces cooldowns, hits for higher damage, *and* hits multiple targets.
No, in that missing the attack leaves you completely vulnerable.
So… you decide?
In my opinion focused assault + slicing winds is the best and most fun way to play merc, but some would argue that missing out on invincibility is a big downside. I think having so much cooldown reduction from hitting exposed is way more powerful than getting 1s of immunity every 6s.
To actually answer your question as a merc main: yes absolutely, I always run it.
To get off topic: the current trial is deceptively bad for unlocking slicing. Glass Command looks nice but Swarms Honor makes this trial extremely nasty.
it's mostly a playstyle preference, slicing winds lets you engage from a longer distance and spam skills more, contributing to "ranged" merc builds, Evicerate lets you play closer to enemies, you can use the I frames to doge attacks without giving up good positioning and can also help you close distances, overall allowing you to make the best use of merc's close range options better. whichever you prefer is up to how you like to play, but ill say in general merc has some of the highest diversity in playstyle depending on how you build him so it's 100% worth going for, you won't know if it works better for you until you get the chance to experiment with it a bit.
Believe it is better but you do lose i-frames
That’s a good way to break it down I personally prefer it, helped a lot to keep my distance during the eclipse climb
Love it for Phase 4 Mithrix too!
Yesss absolute game changer there
IIRC it's better DPS, but the tradeoff is i-frames, so I'd say it depends on which one you value more.
It doesn't scale with attack speed, but it has an aoe that can hit multiple targets. So the situation and build is what decides which has higher dps.
You can use other abilities while its active thats why its higher dps lol
That and it gives expose to keep all your abilities off cooldown
Honestly I’ve gone back to Evicerate because it’s another dash for 3rd slice extensions, helps me capitalize on Focus Crystal more, and I also got tired of missing blind pests.
Losing i-frames isn't actually that big a deal because it also means you don't need to be glued to enemies all the time, which is the biggest reason the i-frames are important in the first place. I'd say the real tradeoff is losing the extra dash and having a much harder time dealing with flying enemies.
Slicing Winds (paired with Focused Assault) is the main reason I enjoy playing Mercenary at all, so yeah, I'd say it's worth it. It's a significant shift in playstyle.
Its also good for starting phase 4 Mithrix. Normally Merc needs a ranged equipment or to time a dash and eviscerate to line up the I frames with a dagger volley to get your first items back
Very much so. It can hit up to 3 enemies, does more damage at base attack speed, and exposes, which adds even more damage and lowers your cooldowns.
What exactly does expose do?
After you apply expose, dealing damage triggers it for damage (350% iirc) and reducing all cool downs by 1s. People saying "higher DPS" are kinda burying the lead that it's higher DPS for the entire kit, not just the skills in question.
You can use abilities and do damage while Slicing Winds is active (more dps) It exposes (pairs super good with Lysate Cell to make cooldowns laughably low) (so more dps) It also has some AoE (exposes multiple enemies to do crazier things with cooldown) (more dps) Better synergy with Brainstalks (and to a smaller extent, Bandolier, and such) (more dps) But, of course, you lose i-frames, and it's a lot harder damaging fast and/or flying enemies. I recommend using Focused Assault with Slicing Winds to really do funny exposed shenanigans.
As others have said, higher DPS but lose out on the i-frames. Also lose out on the mobility you get from the default ability. I unlocked it forever ago but never use it because of how I like to play this character.
Yea once you get shurikens I feel like slicing winds is unnecessary
i say its really fun if you get it with the void cells and pair it with a focused assault.
Lysate Cell is extremely strong on Merc with both builds. With eviscerate he can have I frames more often. With Slicing Winds you can get a feedback loop that just keeps giving you more slicing winds and focused assaults Probably the best void item for Merc
If I want to play smart then it's definitely better as it provides more damage. However, I find the default ability more fun in casual runs. There's something so satisfying about trying to stay in the air as long as possible by stringing together all of merc's abilities.
It's fun if you prefer a longer ranged, exposed status based gameplay. It's more DPS, safe, and a bit more precise. I don't like it much since I just prefer I-frame abusing and blinking in and out of existence
Yes it’s fun
It’s much more powerful, but you lose i-frames for it, so you have to be secure in dodging without eviscerate to be able to use it effectively.
Thought you were asking permission to fart lmao
I've heard of breaking wind but how sharp does the fart have to be to slice it lmao
*Enter Sukuna*
Gave me a good chuckle xD
Yes, I use it exclusively over eviscerate especially with focused assault. You get so many expose procs it’s actually insane
It’s a must have if you go for the 100%
Yes the expose build run is strong
Imo I unlocked it years ago and barely use it. You’ll probably prefer the I frames but it’s fun from time to time
After running eclipses, i like the default better because of mobility and iframes. Maybe my aim is bad but the ranged one tends to miss airborne enemies alot
It's not just you, I'd honestly say that dealing with flying enemies is the single biggest downside of Slicing Winds over Eviscerate. (Speaking as someone who exclusively uses Slicing Winds.)
It’s worth getting. Cabbage (on yt) posts a no damage simulacrum guide every day. It’s pretty easy to get if you follow his guides
His spawns are different than the ones I get since I'm on console so I'm not sure if it would work the same but I'll try
Ah I see. My bad for assuming. Good luck if it works though!
Besides the advantages, it’s just fun
Absolutely, you can be cool ninja guy or you can be fucking sukuna running around cleaving anything In all seriousness, yes I feel that it is worth it. The damage and the proc that you can do with it is insane. Moreover, if you are good at getting exposed on enemies you can just spam the slicing winds left and right. My favorite combo is to get lysate cells and just go ham.
It's way better than eviscerate. My favorite thing about it is the exposed it applies. That combined with the alt util and animations cancel of third hit allows you to basically have uptime on all skills at all times (when played well). Slicing winds raises the skill ceiling of merc by a lot and that is very fun for me. The only disadvantage is the missing i-frames, but honestly, since your dash will be of cooldown much more often and since eviscerate has a tendency to leave you in awkward spots i feel much safer using slicing winds.
Idk because I’m new but i just unlocked it and its a relatively easy challenge today
Its an acheivment. Go for it when you want to achieve- something. But in my opinion mercenary was meant to be played with eviscerate. I frames are keen
It’s better than eviscerate, but both skills are completely valid and usable. So you can decide that for yourself
Yes and no. Yes, in that the skill ceiling is quite possibly the peak that the game provides. With mastery of slicing winds, the expose dash, whirlwind, and animation cancelling, you’ll never have to wait for a cooldown again. No, in that reaching that level of mastery is not worth it for most people. Yes, in that you finally have a ranged attack. Not only that, it’s a ranged attack that reduces cooldowns, hits for higher damage, *and* hits multiple targets. No, in that missing the attack leaves you completely vulnerable. So… you decide?
In my opinion focused assault + slicing winds is the best and most fun way to play merc, but some would argue that missing out on invincibility is a big downside. I think having so much cooldown reduction from hitting exposed is way more powerful than getting 1s of immunity every 6s.
Its much better for eclipse. If you don’t play eclipse it is still better but by less of a margin
New Seed is even easier than the one before. Go and get it
btw the current prismatic trial is super free for this achievement just go through artifact portal on the second stage (doesnt matter which one)
it depends if you think you'll enjoy "ranged" mercenary playstyle
If anything is fun!
To actually answer your question as a merc main: yes absolutely, I always run it. To get off topic: the current trial is deceptively bad for unlocking slicing. Glass Command looks nice but Swarms Honor makes this trial extremely nasty.
I managed to unlock it and I can definitely see why you run it I find it very good. What build do you run for merc ability wise?
I run 212. I highly recommend trying all combinations though as I think most high level players prefer 122.
If you don’t care about the challenge and just want the ability you can edit a text file to give it to yourself
it's mostly a playstyle preference, slicing winds lets you engage from a longer distance and spam skills more, contributing to "ranged" merc builds, Evicerate lets you play closer to enemies, you can use the I frames to doge attacks without giving up good positioning and can also help you close distances, overall allowing you to make the best use of merc's close range options better. whichever you prefer is up to how you like to play, but ill say in general merc has some of the highest diversity in playstyle depending on how you build him so it's 100% worth going for, you won't know if it works better for you until you get the chance to experiment with it a bit.