Vengance Questions

[Malachi]

I was never that good in math, and some of these damage formula's are a bit much for me to figure out.

I would like to make an Avenger with a rather low dmg one handed weapon (griswolds) and I am looking into ways to boost the final damage. This leads to a couple of questions:

1. Does %ED only increase the vengence damage (as stated in some posts) when applied in the weapon ?

2. Does a physical damage boost from a Might Aura (mercenary) impact the elemental damage done by vengence.

Any input appreciated.

[Phaeax]

1. Yes, that statement is correct.

2. Might will increase you physical damage with vengeance.

First the weapon damage is calculated from the base weapon type, along with on-weapon %ED and + to min/max damage.

The final damage is increased by a percentage based on the vengeance bonus, strength, off-weapon %ED, and any other bonuses like auras. Basically, the % bonus that vengeance adds is elemental damage, but all the other bonuses enhance physical damage.

For an avenger, your base weapon damage is very important to the total elemental and physical damage you do. Addition of a might aura will add more physical damage and may help you leech back more life and mana.

[Malachi]

Thanks a lot for clearing that up Phaeax.

Its still a hard decision because a Holy Freeze merc sure has its benefits as well, but your explanation allows me to make a better decision.

What level aura does a mercenary get ? Is it calculated from his level somehow ?

[Phaeax]

For info on mercs, I'd recommend checking out this comprehensive thread...
http://forums.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=127314

The basics are that the merc's aura level depends on his level. Another thing to note is that mercs hired in Normal will have better aura levels than mercs at the same level hired in Hell.

[Phaeax]

Oh... and on a side note, from my experiences with my Avenger, I never really needed my merc anyway. The Avenger is one of the few builds that can kill anything in the game (quite easily too) and my merc was relegated to "backup singer" almost all of the time.

[Malachi]

Thanks a lot again !

Let me get some coffee and read that guide :)

[Malachi]

Oh... and on a side note, from my experiences with my Avenger, I never really needed my merc anyway. The Avenger is one of the few builds that can kill anything in the game (quite easily too) and my merc was relegated to "backup singer" almost all of the time.

Since the weapon damage wont be that huge on griswold I am looking into ways to make the build more viable. Probably 2 shael and 2 ED jewels in the weapon for a boost, and reading the guide on mercs helps but its a tough decision.

Might merc does not have a cap on the aura so the mercs damage would be high and it will boost my leech (for the griswold build I will go with low vengence and maxed Resist Lightning and Resist Fire since I get no max resist boost from Guardian Angel and such). However the slow effect of a Holy Freeze merc is very tempting too. An Avenger could use some 'crowd control' that way and I end up solo'ing most parts of the game. If I gave my merc a Reapers Toll and some crushing blow from Duress and Guillaume's Face (SP?) even with lower physical damage a Holy Freeze merc would help me a lot since Griswold lacks CB.

I got myself rushed to nm act 2 and I am still lvl 1 so I can train my merc from scratch giving him the best stats. Just need to make a good decision but thats the hard part.

[Malachi]

Wierd wierd. I got me a lvl 1 merc and trained him up to lvl 15 while my char was going up in levels too. I noticed he died quite a lot and the wierd thing is, my act 2 nightmare merc lvl 15 has 40 life still. Something seems wrong on this and it looks like a bug ?

Anyone got more info on this ?

I went back to NM and checked the mercs I can buy now (I am lvl 20) and they all have 40 life and 0 defense at their level 20. It may have to do with the minimum lvl on the mercs being:

Desert Warrior: (N) 9-13 (NM) 31-34 (H) 55-58

Anyone else encountered this and will it be ok if the merc passes lvl 34 ? It seems those numbers are off too for 1.10 because I am sure I bought Act 2 NM mercs a lot higher in 1.10.

[Malachi]

I sticked with my little merc and just some numbers for the people interested.

The Act 2 Nightmare Holy Freeze merc bought at lvl 1 has life problems till lvl 22 where suddenly the 40 base life went to 42 base life.

Here is a short table

lvl, life, str/dex, def
19, 40, 71/51, 12
20, 40, 73/53, 13
21, 40, 75/54, 13
22, 42, 77/56, 14
23, 67, 78/57, 14
24, 92, 80/59, 30

I checked shops when I was lvl 24 and the lvl 24 mercs I could buy had 92 life as well, but only 16 def which probably has to do with higher dex/str.

I cannot compare base str/dex yet with a merc that was bought at higher level but when I can I will post comparable numbers.

At least his life is normal now, a bit odd how it stayed at 40 so long. I guess 40 is the minimum cap somehow, not sure.

[JoJeck]

The Amazon Basin site has a complete list of merc stats with level posted in their technical archives. That could save you a lot of effort. Your merc sees to be developing pretty much as expected according to their data. I don't think I'm allowed to post a link to their site... which is supremely annoying :(

[Malachi]

I know where to look, thanks for the hint. It was just a surprise to me he had this horrible low life for so long. At lvl 27 he switched on his Aura and he started to kill more then me, the prick. :)

I just kept the numbers in case his life would not recover properly, but its all fine. Just a very weak merc for 20 lvls or so.

[Baltrek]

The basics are that the merc's aura level depends on his level. Another thing to note is that mercs hired in Normal will have better aura levels than mercs at the same level hired in Hell.


You are mistaken. Hell mercs will get better level auras than Normal, they max at 20+, normal stops at like 16 or something. Normal mercs, however, will have better attributes and more life if raised to the same level.