Mercury

***"With its superior movement ability, MERCURY can be used to avoid direct confrontation, quickly ambush enemies, or reach strategic points on the map before any other Battleships."***

**Mercury** is a unique ship that can Teleport to waypoints instead of moving directly. Along with Zeus and Athena it is obtained by opening Battleship Blueprint Artifacts, as opposed to through normal progression. Many players consider Mercury to be the most difficult ship to use in the game, due to its inferior turret arrangement and small HP. However, if used correctly, it can be an extremely fearsome ship capable of deploying massive attacks and quickly evading combat.

Mercury's four Turrets are positioned poorly, leaving its midsection and stern undefended. There is also little overlap between Turrets, meaning that enemy Fighters may quickly overwhelm Mercury. This does not mean that Mercury's turrets cannot be utilized effectively, as its movement abilities can position a strong Turret with devastating effect.

## Commander Ability: Teleport

***"Mercury has the option to Teleport to its destination, consuming 2x the regular movement Hydrogen cost. The Teleport Delay does not depend on the distance travelled."***
Instead of moving between two points on the map directly, Mercury teleports over a fixed duration that decreases with level, regardless of the distance. Teleporting allows Mercury to bypass armies of fighters launched by the enemy in order to directly attack a target, or reach key positions (such as Relics) on the map before other battleships can reach them. Because Mercury is unable to travel directly between points on the map, it is often better to Teleport in long "hops" than short ones. Mercury cannot passively generate hydrogen while teleporting, but is able to receive any hydrogen generated by Hydrogen Factories built by the player. Consequently, Mercury requires a significant amount of hydrogen to use - the benefit of upgrading the ship is both a reduction in the teleport delay and the amount of time without passive hydrogen generation.

## Strategy

### Playing with Mercury

* Budget Mercury's hydrogen to ensure enough is available to protect the ship during its Teleport period
* Plan a couple moves ahead when Teleporting
* Bring Area Shield and swarm counters such as Decay to help buy time while Teleporting
* Use small hops to turn Mercury's front to face battleships
* Equip heavy-hitting modules such as Destroyer or Titan, or swarms such as Firefly Squad, and drop them upon landing
* Mercury is best used in Relic Capture where its superior movement ability shines
* Mercury is best when used very aggressively. Engage your opponent directly when they spend a significant amount of hydrogen, such as on a Hydrogen Factory.
* As Mercury, you can turn any opening into an all-in. You lose battles of attrition due to your low HP, expensive short moves, and mediocre turret slots, so your win condition is to take an opening and use it to kill your opponent
* Mercury plays differently than the other battleships; when the enemy makes a play, you should not only think about how to counter it, but also if and how you can use that play against them to end the game
* Make sure you teleport with a plan. Teleporting without sufficient hydrogen will almost certainly get you killed
* The "Destroyer Drop" strategy involves teleporting directly onto the enemy battleship and playing a Destroyer to, well, destroy them. After playing a destroyer, you can either play more units, begin teleporting away (use Area Shield to tank if needed), or both
* Consider using high single-shot damage turrets on the front of Mercury. A powerful enough turret can sometimes kill an enemy battleship all by itself, assuming they don't have the hydrogen to counter

### Playing against Mercury

* Use EMP to stop Mercury from Teleporting away from combat. EMP the Mercury WHILE it's teleporting to deny it hydrogen at the same time - it can't generate any until it finishes its teleport
* Keep Ion Blast or a Wisp variant handy to destroy Mercury's Hydrogen Factories
* Use attacks that deal large amounts of damage over short periods of time, or effects such as Ares' War Rage
* Drop strong fighters around Mercury's Teleport destination to damage it upon landing
* Move in small increments to allow sudden changes in direction
* If matched against a Mercury, always check their turrets. If they have 5-star turrets, they can easily kill you by jumping on you
* Manage your hydrogen carefully. Make sure you have enough hydrogen to counter an attack - a Mercury can jump on you at any time
* If the enemy Mercury is saving hydrogen, you should do the same. If a Mercury catches you without hydrogen to counter its attack, it will likely kill you
* If the enemy Mercury is attempting to cheese you with meme turrets, move directly on top of its destination to prevent it from shooting you

## Video

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## History

* 28/06/2021:
	+ Teleport move cost decreased to +60% (from +100%).
* 18/06/2021:
	+ Hitpoints increased to 4500 (from 3500).
	+ Teleport is now optional and may be activated at double the move cost.
	+ Move speed set to 800.
* 06/05/2021:
	+ Fixed teleport counter not reset after respawn.
* 30/04/2021:
	+ Hitpoints increased.
* 22/04/2021:
	+ Projectiles targeting Mercury will now be destroyed if Mercury teleports.
* 26/03/2021:
	+ Mercury released alongside Zeus and Athena.