'Game of Thrones: Kingsroad' features a Mercenary class that applies a unique 'Shock' effect to targets. Once you stack Shock six times, it transforms into 'Destruction', signaling the start of a proper offensive. Enemies afflicted with Destruction suffer a massive increase in incoming damage and groggy damage.

Shock can be stacked via skills or combos boosted by Masteries. So, which combinations and Masteries should you be running? To solve this, KookminTree has broken down the recommended combos and Masteries.

The Mercenary primarily utilizes the number 1 Heavy Attack combo.

Compared to other classes, the Mercenary has rather lengthy attack animations. To compensate, investing in Masteries grants 'Stagger Immunity' during combo execution. Note that this immunity doesn't apply to basic attacks; it only kicks in when you commit to a Heavy Attack. Thus, it’s best to stick to the shorter number 1 combo.

※ The names in brackets refer to the Mastery for each combo.

Recommendation 1: Stacking Shock with Heavy Attack combos.

To apply Shock via Heavy Attack combos, both the Axe and Gauntlet should invest in [Shock], [Heavy Power], and [Crush]. First, [Shock] grants Stagger Immunity during the combo and provides damage reduction. It also applies a Shock stack to any target hit. [Heavy Power] prevents enemies from dodging or parrying your combo while boosting your damage output.

[Crush] restores extra Rage every time the combo lands. As a bonus, it applies a Shock stack on the final hit; when combined with the aforementioned [Shock], you can land three Shock stacks in a single combo rotation. Effectively, two uses of the number 1 combo will put your target into the Destruction state.

There is a downside, however. For a Mercenary to dish out explosive damage, you need to dump your skills while the target is in the Destruction state rather than just Shock. You must keep a close eye on the target's status and the remaining duration of Destruction. If the state expires mid-skill, your damage output will drop off a cliff.

Early in a fight, predicting when Destruction triggers is easy. But as the battle drags on, timing becomes tricky because Shock doesn't stack on an enemy already in the Destruction state. Furthermore, in co-op content like World Bosses or Raids, poor UI visibility makes it difficult to track these states intuitively.

Recommendation 2: Critical Hit Rate buff + Cooldown reduction.

Simply swap the final Mastery of the Gauntlet combo 1 from [Crush] to [Strike]. It boasts powerful effects like skill cooldown reduction and increased Critical Hit rate, but the condition is demanding: the final hit of the combo must land as a Critical Hit. Therefore, this is only effective once you’ve secured a decent amount of Critical Hit rating.

Bonus: Axe Heavy Attack combo 2 for crowd control.

'Game of Thrones: Kingsroad' is packed with content featuring multiple enemies. 'Faction Hideouts' scattered across the field are prime examples, and 'Raid Defenses' that trigger periodically also throw waves of enemies at you. The [Lethargy] Mastery on the final hit of the Axe Heavy Attack combo 2 shines here.

Investing in this Mastery allows the final hit of the Axe Heavy Attack combo 2 to knock enemies down. The horizontal axe-swinging motion covers a wide area, hitting multiple targets. You can then immediately follow up with a 'Powerful Strike' on the downed foes. You are invulnerable during the Powerful Strike animation, making for a safe engagement. If you also invest in 'Veteran Strike' from the 'Attack Attribute Tree', you can even recover health.