Mercenary (RoR2)

Mercenary
Description	A "Mercenary"
Unlock
Unlocked by completing the challenge "True Respite" (Obliterate yourself at the Obelisk.)
Health
140 HP (+42 HP/LVL)
Artifact
190 HP
140 HP

The Mercenary is a returning transgender (FtM) character in Risk of Rain 2. They are a high-skill, high-mobility melee character who can have issues dealing with large groups of flying, ranged enemies and dead naming him.

Abilities 

Cybernetic Enhancements	The Mercenary can jump twice.
Laser Sword	Slice in front for 130% damage. Every 3rd hit strikes in a greater area for 300% damage.
Whirlwind	Quickly slice horizontally twice, dealing 2x200% damage. If airborne, slice vertically instead.
Blinding Assault	Dash forward, stunning enemies for 200% damage. If you hit an enemy, you can dash again, up to 3 total.
Eviscerate	Target the nearest enemy, attacking them for 110% damage repeatedly. You cannot be hit for the duration.

Notes

• Laser Sword can be swung while sprinting and while using any of Mercenary's abilities without resetting the three-strike cycle. It pairs seamlessly with Whirlwind, but is impractical to attempt to use in any particular accordance with Blinding Assault or Eviscerate due to the restrictive timings.
  • The cycle does reset if manually stopped, meaning that a third strike cannot be "stored" by only swinging twice, it can only be executed as a part of the three-strike combo. However, the two preceding swings need not hit anything in order to output the greater third strike, allowing for the two strikes to be cycled preemptively while approaching an enemy so that the greater third strike can be front-loaded upon engagement. This tactic is particularly useful in early game where there's a lot of running around with base movement speed, especially because using it doesn't slow the player down.
  • It should be noted that while cycling Laser Sword doesn't interrupt sprinting, all of Mercenary's other abilities do, though sprinting can be manually resumed once the animations are complete.
• Laser Sword combos are not interrupted by non-Primary skills, sprinting, or jumping, allowing it to slash simultaneously while using Whirlwind, Blinding Assault, and Eviscerate. A Laser Sword combo will, however, only start when the player is not in the middle of using another skill.
• As before, Whirlwind has a short cooldown and can be used as another jump. Great for staying airborne whilst fighting larger bosses.
• Blinding Assault dashes in the exact direction the player aims, so it can be used to dash up to attack airborne targets. It's the Mercenary's most reliable way to engage flying opponents without using Eviscerate.
  • The Mercenary can also use their second jump to cancel fall damage that they might otherwise incur from using Blinding Assault to get too high up.
  • Some flying enemies are large enough to stand on, most notably the Wandering Vagrant. They allow the Mercenary to regain their jumps mid-air.
• As in classic Risk of Rain, Eviscerate's invulnerability whilst attacking is one of its greatest strengths. By managing all their abilities carefully, the Mercenary can be almost untouchable even when surrounded by swarms of enemies.

Trivia

• The mercenary has multiple traits associated with samurai. Some are obvious, such as his katana-esque laser blade, some more subtle, such as the shoulder guards(sode) and the shoes(kogake).
• Found through extreme data mining, the Mercenary's Cybernetic enhancements required him to undergo Hormone replacement therapy (FtM), unknown to many he previously was known as the Huntress. He does not like to be dead named.