1 T2 AA = 1.5 Mercy
1 Inty = 0.21 Mercy
1 T1 Radar = 0.21 Mercy

What am i going to do with it with Mecry? It’s a question a lot of us are pondering on right about now. I know i am. Being a Cybran fanboy i can’t help but tremble at the power of Mercy, the new cruise missile custom build for Aeon. It is not based on any t1 or t3 design and is unique to Aeon faction.

First Impressions:
Awesome. Simply awesome power and versatility i was hoping to always have from Tactical Missile Launchers. Its fast, has great range and damage output. It took me few minutes to realize the Mercy didn’t actually land at the rally point. I only noticed that after i saw two or three fall to the ground crashing. I wasn’t sure why id did that until i went in for a closer look and noticed they only hovered over the rally point using up the fuel. I did not get them to refuel so i guess the mechanics of Mercy are pretty simple: use it or loose it. I didn’t check exactly but looks like the fuel lasts for about 2 minutes.

Real World Use:
So far i only tested it in few sandbox games against several tech AIs. Normal games don’t last enough to test new units properly. Keep in mind i’m more or (mostly) less an average player with few games a week behind my belt so you hardcore players may have a very different reaction to all new incoming units but especially Mercy because it’s so different from a t2 bomber remaining factions received. My evaluation of Mercy is mixed. I was both surprised by its effectiveness, micromanagement and east to be shot down. It has its plusses and minuses but i’ll start with the latter.
I have read all kinds of posts complaining about a need to build AAA ASAP in game and all over the base. to protect it and i have to say it’s a load of donkey manure. After few games with extensive use of Mercy in variety of situations i have to say that it’s extremely easy to kill, even with t1 AAA. Only t2 mobile AAA was able to hit it thought, t1 mobile was as always ineffective. Posting few t2 AAA simply stopped 90% of all my incoming Mercy wings. Yes i said wings. Single shot from t2 AAA killed 8 Mercies. Reason? T2 AAA has area of effect and Mercy is so weak it only takes one close shot to kill it. The only way i was able to slip by was to spread out few Mercies prior to attack to spread them out a bit. This provided some variety to the angle of attack for each mercy so AAA would only kill one at a time. Still out of 8 only 2 got through. Oddly it was bit easier to use them once everyone upgraded to SAMS. Without area of effect i did not have to worry about spreading out Mercies, only to pump enough of them out. Still with few more SAMS and little shielding they became pretty useless. That’s when i switched my targets and the real power of Mercy shined. Out of base targets of opportunity simply have no chance with only small or few AAA defenses. Killing Mass Extractors, distant engies, unit groupings was pure joy. Single Mercy can destroy few t2 units or any small to medium structure (varies slightly). So use it wisely, use it well and spam, spam, spam. I can finally see a great alternative to firebase buildup.
What? No, i didn’t forget. It’s my favorite unit in game!! Soul Reaper has finally met his match. It’s frightening but it’s a fact. Mercy simply is a very effective way to stop/soften up the Reaper. There is no escaping from it. It does a much better job than SAMS in my opinion and is a much more cost efficient. I didn’t count how many it took to bring Reaper down (yes i can do the math but i’m talking about real battle conditions) but it wasn’t many. On Fields of Isis i was able to shoot down two of three Reapers heading for my measly defended base. I do believe Mercy will receive the heavies use as a defensive tool against experimentals.

Conclusion:
I welcome our new alien overlords… Ehm. (Simpsons movie was awesome) I mean Mercy is a welcome addition to Aeon arsenal. It can be used as purely offensive or purely defensive weapon depending on a stage of the game. It varies wildly from any existing unit and that can never be wrong. Some players have issues with it being overpowered but i believe it’s only a first impression. Once they get to know it as i have they will realize it’s not hard to stop Mercies with little planning. They are not game enders or super units. They are very useful but up to a point. Overall i give Mercy four out of five Mass Fabs and my stamp of approval. I wish i could say the same for donkey shit shooting T2 Cybran bomber…..

The problem is simply that the mass to ring your base with flak is far greater than the mass that the Aeon need to spend on a T2 Air Factory