Character Spotlight: Mercer
Mercer is the character spotlight for November. Mercer is one of the least popular characters according to the popularity poll, but he was also newly added to the poll, so he could be more liked than it shows. Mercer is The Lonely Mirror poster child for side quests and Gaiden maps, so an Amanda spotlight followed by Mercer aligns well with the recent 3.0 update.
Background:
Mercer is an eccentric merchant who runs Mercer’s Secret Shop, which is a direct competitor to the secret shop run by Anna. He claims to be the “original” secret shop, it was his idea, and that he is destined for success because merchant is in his name- MERChant, MERCer.
Mercer takes an interest in the White Lions throughout their journey as part of his business model to sell products to mercenaries, which he calls “mercer’aries.” He sells valuable items to visiting White Lion members for a low price. If the White Lions continue to support Mercer’s business, he will join in their cause as a way to give back to them and explore a new calling as a mercer’ary.
On the hardest difficulty, Mercer will abandon his secret shop to become a mercer’ary earlier if the White Lions do not support his secret shop during one of his first two meetings. He can be encountered enroute to Ametona after resolution in Burga. Mercer will declare to Boone that he hopes to be a competitor of the White Lions one day, but he also admits he might be way in over his head and needs formal training. He offers his services to the White Lions for a low price of 3000 gold.
Mercer is always looking for new and inspiring ideas as he tries new business models such as a pet shop with Grant or starting a tavern with Silvan. Mercer cares more about making his customers happy rather than turning a profit but is the type of guy who always tries and tries after he fails.
Appearance:
Mercer has short purple hair that tapers into a close buzz around the side of his head. While Mercer is in his merchant attire, he wears a dark blue tunic with purple and yellow accent. Mercer puts on golden armor over the tunic when he decides to rebrand as a mercer’ary. Additionally, Mercer sports a gold pendant necklace and multiple ear piercings.
Growth Rates:
| HP | Pow | Skl | Spe | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 45% | 45% | 50% | 70% | 10% | 25% |
Unit Analysis:
Mercer is considered a growth unit and has all around solid base stats with incredible growth potential in HP and Luck as well as solid growths in Power, Skill, and Speed. His only weaker stats are Defense and Resistance, but neither stat is unsalvageable, and thanks to Mercer’s high HP and avoid, he can face most threats after he is leveled.
While Mercer joins with an E rank in swords in the mid or late game, which is uninviting, he is gifted with a very strong personal weapon, Merciless. Using Merciless allows Mercer to level up weapon rank very fast to the point where it is feasible to reach A rank in one chapter. Additionally, Merciless has 60 uses and a whopping 45 critical hit modifier with reliable hit rate, which allows the weapon to even stay relevant late into the game despite its poor power modifier. Merciless allows Mercer to achieve the highest reliable critical hit rate in the game, only losing out to Irina with the Ruin tome, which has no hit rate.
Mercer is the only character in the game with three possible final promotion options, which makes him the most customizable unit in the game. He has access to Hero, Swordmaster, and Assassin (only if his secret shop is not supported by Myles in Ch15). While Hero is a great well-rounded class and offers Mercer a consistent 1-2 range option in axes, Swordmaster and Assassin are the two classes that allow Mercer to utilities the strength of his personal weapon. Swordmaster is an incredible class for Mercer and it allows him to be a good solution to pesky, speedy units like other Assassins and Swordmasters as well as Wind Sages and Mauthe Doogs, enabling him to one-shot kill with possibily over 80% critical hit rate. As an Assassin, Mercer can have the highest possible silencer activation in the game, which while not a reliable strategy, it is a nice bonus thought to the added weapon support of knives and bows.
Mercer’s main weakness as a unit is his relatively late to extremely late join time, and never being a specifically useful character to deploy on any map near his joining chapter. Mercer does require some effort to get going, but he does snowball real, real fast. If Mercer joins in Chapter 18x, he makes a great candidate for the Dreamcatch found in Chapter 18.
Overall, Mercer is a great addition to a team if looking to train a unit to make the end game chapters easier; however, he may require feeding kills to get going – especially with his late join. A trained Mercer will not disappoint and offers to be a solution to many problematic enemies found in the later chapters. Mercer’s three promotion options allow him to fill a greater diversity of roles in the endgame. He is also one of the only four characters in the game capable of using Nevermore, the S-ranked knife, which is arguably one of the better weapons in the game. His access to great weapons, versatility, and a possible counter to problematic enemies makes Mercer one of the better mid to late game characters to feed EXP.
Support Options:
Mercer’s affinity is Thunder, which provides very nice boosts to Mercer all around. As defense and resistance tend to be Mercer’s weaker areas, the added defense boost that Thunder provides gives him that extra survivability that pairs well with his high HP. The extra boosts to avoid also pairs wells with his high speed and luck, and makes Mercer very hard to hit. Thunder also boosts critical hit rate, which is the most important bonus for Mercer given his role on the team. Mercer has a nice spread of support options that are eccentrically, wholesome:
- Caspian - Light
- Silvan - Anima
- Benji - Wind
- Atticus - Ice
- Grant - Dark
- Pepper - Ice
- Irina - Light
Caspian is most likely the best support option for Mercer, because the Light affinity provides max bonuses to both critical hit and defense, while also giving an appreciated boost to power and hit rate. Thunder is also very beneficial for Caspian to improve bulk as a frontline fighter. It should be noted that Mercer can form a support square with powerful frontline fighters: Caspian, Silvan, and Boone.
Silvan is actually a really great support option for Mercer in the right context. While Anima does not provide the coveted boost to critical hit, it will provide max bonus to defense, avoid, and critical avoid, while also providing a nice bonus to power. Anima is a great support option for Mercer to focus more on Mercer’s ability to dodge tank while also boosting his offensive power. Thunder is also one of the better support affinities for Silvan, especially if using him as a Berserker.
Irina also shares Light affinity, and therefore, is a very good support option for Mercer for similar reasons as Caspian. Irina and Mercer also join on the same chapter if not playing on the hardest difficulty, so they can immediately pair up if intending to use them. Irina is ranked lower than Caspian due to her late join time, and her possibly not being as feasible of a support option when factoring in Mercer’s earlier join time on the highest difficulty.
Mercer appreciates the boost to power and critical hit most from Benji’s Wind affinity, and if Light is not available, Wind is Mercer’s next best offensive support option to consider. Benji also values any support option that boosts his horrendous critical avoid, so Thunder has him covered.
Grant’s Dark affinity is a great option for Mercer if he has leveled well in power. Dark boosts both critical hit rate and avoid and works well if looking to boost Mercer’s dodge tanking ability while also increase offense in the form of critical hits. Mercer’s Thunder is also a solid choice for Grant to improve his tanking ability. Grant also may join the chapter after Mercer if he is recruited at his earlier join.
Atticus and Pepper’s Ice affinity are the worst support option for Mercer. While Ice further improves Mercer’s defensive capabilities, it does so without contributing to either power or critical hit rate.
Popularity Poll:
My current plan is to share 4 more character spotlights on FE Universe. There will be two more male characters and two more female characters coming. Vote for your favorite characters and tell me why you like them, or feel free to request any too.