what merc to get at the start? my main is axe?

richiemd

hey am new at the game and dont know what merc to start off with my main is an axe

Gravarg

Most common build is to work on your front line mercenaries first.  This means swordsmen and spearmen.  I recommend either 2 swordsmen or a swordsmen and a spearmen

 

Your formation would look something like this:

 

X / Sword / Sword or Spear

X / X / X

X / Axe(main) / Archer or Gunner

 

At level 10 you can move the archer or gunner up to the second row and put a shaman in it's place.

At level 20 you can use your viking marble you should've gotten from doing quests, and leave him in the second row until you get him in a full set of Rakshasa (level 25 armor) or good set of Ocean (level 15 armor, +1 or better)

After you get the Viking that armor, you can move him to the middle of  your formation.  At 30 you can choose between several different mercenaries and the variety and diversity of builds starts here.  I would suggest Monk, because Awakening and Holy Guard are awesome spells to have in mid to late game (I hate being stunned/poisoned).

At 30 you'll have a formation like this:

Sword / Viking / Sword or Spear

X / X / X

Monk / Axe(main) / Shaman

 

I tend to keep Monk on the strong side (behind the highest defense/health mercenary, aka sword for now).  Mobs tend to attack either the column that the monk or the main is in (IT ISN'T RANDOM).  The AI for the game has several different variations.  In one fight the mobs might all focus fire, while in another they spread out their damage, it's random which AI you get, but the attacks and moves they make are not random.  By level 30 you should have the hang of the game and at 40 and 50 you can diversify your build even more.

 

I hope this helped you and gave you some ideas.  Really there isn't any one single build that works best.  Alot of it has to do with the situation and how you want to play.  Enjoy!

 

Edit: I have done some minor testing with the AI and I've mixed my formation around, but it seems that if you put a weak mercenary up front and a monk in the back row, that column will be attacked almost 50% of the time .  A Strong mercenary (Lady Knight in my testing) and monk in the back row was around 38% of the time .  The majority of the time if you have a 'utility' mercenary behind a weak mercenary upfront, mobs will focus fire on that column.  By utility I mean mercenaries like Monk, Prophet, Princess, Exorcist, etc.