Am I the only one who thinks they got the melee Merciless Watcher and the Watcher Chieftan the wrong way around. As the one wielding the cleaver has more health in my experience and is more dangerous and has unique gear compared to the other 2.

Just discovered these guys can be poisoned as well. Took 3 poison knives to do it.

Also, the transformed version of the Hunter Axe R2 will stagger them...in Lower Pthumeru, where you fight them in a small room w 4 pillars, this was useful for me a BL4 cheers

This guys are tough in Lower Pthumeru dun, the room is comparatively small and they'll easily crowd you and pound you to death. Not to mention the article exaggerate their slowness because they are nowhere that slow especially when crowded even that slow attacks will be your death.

I always get the 2 melees to follow me around pillars where the gunman can't hit you, charge the transformed Rifle Spear before they start their attack animation, and the hit stuns the one you hit and sometimes hits the second one. Then just spear charge the gunner, because his shots miss if you're close (as you should be when you stab him in the gut), and when he pulls out his club just do the same thing as you did with the two melees.

An upgraded Flamesprayer can take these guys out very, very quick. Haven't died once in any encounter with them using it.

I think that those guys have the same health as the enemie version

It's also very easy to interrupt their attacks with a firearm to open them up for a visceral, it only takes two viscerals on regular NG to kill each one
Of course on the one with the blunderbuss it doesn't work as easily, but the physical attacks are very easy to interrupt

Use charge attack burial blade... easy