Mercs equipment

[super_gray]

Ive got my Act2 Defensive merc upto lvl 70 atm (Was actually quite easy in cow runs :x) but i dont know if the equipment is decent enough.

Ive got a Stormshield which i dont use (Frenzy barb) so when he gets to lvl73 i may try an give it him, but im not sure if the merc can actually use shields? And if he has a shield what weapon should i give him? Im thinking this Act2 Merc is of Paladin class, so should i give him one which would maybe benefit Paladins?

Also, he has Tal Rasha's Mask, and Hwanins Refuge as armour

[Fercil]

He can't use a shield. Tal's Mask is pretty nice for the big life leech it gives, for a weapon try to find best possible polearm/spear class weapon for him, that's the weapon type act2 mercs use. Although act2 mercs use paladin auras they're not paladins and won't benefit from items with +paladin skills. If I remember it correctly only +all skills work nowadays with any merc.

[xOSERx]

Actually, act 5 mercs can use barbarian class equipment.

And Fercil is right about the weapon. You pretty much want your merc to do a ton of damage. Most people go with bonehew, though I like Arioc's Needle (as it can have +4 to all skills, which is nice with my might merc).

One important thing to get for your merc is resists, especially on Hell difficulty. It seems like every monster in Hell diff has an elemental boost to their attack. So decent damage reduction and resists will help your merc live a lot longer.

And, of course, the life leech helps, except against bosses and undead. =P

-Oser

[Oscuro]

Though I'm unaware of a good reason to, Act II mercs can also use javelin class weapons.

I find that "cannot be frozen" is an important mod to have somewhere on your merc's gear, along with resists and damage reduction as Oser mentioned. I've had good luck using both Duriel's Shell / Vampire Gaze and Shaftstop / Kira's combinations.

[krischan]

Tal's helm is a top choice for an act 2 merc. An alternative is a Crown of Thieves.

The best weapon for him is Reaper's Toll (needs you merc to be L75), except it's a merc for a necro. In that case I would prefer an upped Kelpie Snare.

I would select an armor with decent defense rating sockets and nice other mods, like Black Hades or (not because of its skill bonuses) Gris armor, filled with IAS jewels. The advantage of Black Hades is that it can be ethereal.

With that equipment your merc can e.g. kill Pindle, his minions and all the guys in the garden on his own most of the time. He will survive in hell cows if you take a little care of him.

Alternative setups (but not that good with respect to survival IMO):

Damage reduction: Gaze, Shaft, Bonehew (just an example weapon)

MF: Stealskull PT, Skullders PT, Tomb Reaver with some combination of Shael and Amn.

Ethereal items are preferred, as they won't lose durability when used by a merc. Set items can't be ethereal, btw.

[PelletBomber]

If you can't get a bonehew, like me, here is my alternative:

Honor Cryptic Axe (ethereal)
Damage: 18x - 59x
Build in 7% Life leach.
Since it's ethereal, the strength requirement is much lower than a bonehew(some people need a hel in their bonehew for their merc, at least before they have enough strength), but the damage is similar, only slower.
The best thing is it's made of extreme common runes: sol, amn, tir, ith, el

[super_gray]

Hmm i was looking thru some of my old Mules to see if i by chance picked up a Unique pike on one of my many MF runs, unfortunatly i didnt (grr :/) but i did see a nice... nice Mask which im maybe contemplating putting on.

Blackhorns Death Mask
Defense 261
Prevent Monster Heal
Slow target by 20%
200% Enhanced Defence
15% Lightning resist
20% Lightning absorb
Attacker takes 25 Lightning damage

Reason it stuck out to me was because of firstly the lightning, but also the PMH. I will be (once i get my merc upto around lvl 80) be looking to take on Diablo clone using my barb. Altho ive never bared witness to him, or fought of him, i wanna feel prepared for it.

I heard that DC regenerates his life quickly, so maybe with my merc slowing him down with his aura, then with the 20% extra, and his lightning resist (That should bring him upto max res in hell) he should be fairing OK (In theory)

Blackhorn or Tals? mmm?

[fat_mans_revenge]

im personally a fan of ariocs needle, my necro's merc uses eth ariocs needle, skullders, and a crown of thieves. good combo for just about any situation in the game, he is a skele merc though so that may make a difference in your choice of weapon.

[alainpp66]

Gray, Sorry to tell you but PMH doesn't work with Mercs.

If you plan on making use of it when going for the Clone, just switch it in quickly against him, get in your shot, then switch back to your normal helm.

[super_gray]

Ah well... dampens that idea, now my other question...

I was looking on AS, thru some runewords after i found a 4 (or 5?) socket Halbred (I think) which made me wonder about a few things...

Would maybe equipping these types of Runwords be a good idea? -- Doom / Eternity / Call to Arms. Equipping of course in a Polearm/Spear class.

My other question is rather just a general one, heard people talking about Enigma, what if a person put one on a Merc? Would he be able to teleport or his AI not smart enough? :p

Aaand last but not least... uhh... memory block... shoot :/

Remembered! Now, someone showed me a "Before" version of the BotD. It was a normal Col sword. Then he showed me it "after". The damage (Like were it said 80-200 or somethin) shot upto 150-450. Does that happen during most Runeword changes?

[Fercil]

Ah well... dampens that idea, now my other question...

I was looking on AS, thru some runewords after i found a 4 (or 5?) socket Halbred (I think) which made me wonder about a few things...

Would maybe equipping these types of Runwords be a good idea? -- Doom / Eternity / Call to Arms. Equipping of course in a Polearm/Spear class.
Doom is an excellent choice for merc, eternity is very nice but CoA is probably better used by yourself since act2 merc can't use the +single skills on it, prevent monster heal doesn't work with mercs so half of the mods would be wasted. It's not bad but not exactly a weapon designed for merc.

My other question is rather just a general one, heard people talking about Enigma, what if a person put one on a Merc? Would he be able to teleport or his AI not smart enough? :p
He won't teleport as far as I've understood. Would be rather horrible if he did knowing the AI.

Remembered! Now, someone showed me a "Before" version of the BotD. It was a normal Col sword. Then he showed me it "after". The damage (Like were it said 80-200 or somethin) shot upto 150-450. Does that happen during most Runeword changes?
A plain normal (or clean socketed) Colossus sword would have a damage 61 to 121 as two handed weapon, that is the base damage of that sword. When BotD is inserted the damage would be maximum of 305 to 605 [(1+(400%/100))*base damage] and a minimum of 274 to 544 [(1+(350%/100))*base damage] as the enhanced damage of BotD varies between 350% and 400%. So if the the runeword has a modifier like +xx% enhanced damage or +xx max/min damage the effect is calculated immediately on the damage that is shown when you hover your cursor over the weapon.

[super_gray]

grr, i finally got myself a Bonehew for the Merc from trading, my merc was lvl 84 and had 190(ish) points in Str. He was close to lvling to 85 so i thought "ah great! he can wear this after he lvls up" (2million/billion exp to go) and he lvls up.

He puts 4 into Str, leaving him with 194. I almost cried :/. Now this Bonehew has 2sockets, filled with "AmnAmn". Anyone know the recipe for deleting the runes already in? I think i migt go forward and put a Hel rune in it (That takes the requirements down yea?)

===

/edit

AAARRRGH you just cant win can you?

"1 Hel Rune + Scroll of Town Portal + Any Socketed Item = Unsocket that item
Warning: This will destroy any gems, runes, or jewels you have socketed. This is useful if you are not happy with the gems you have socketed and you want to socket the item in another way."

Im gonna.. ARGH! :/ (For those who dont know, i only have 1 Hel rune, which i just intended to use in that weapon..) Think i might go do the Hell Hellforge quest :/ and hope. Or do Countess runs... grr.. then again it prob would be quicker lvling up the merc (cept he has to get like 5million/billion exp now :/)

[DelcorTheHero]

I am almost positive PMH does work on Mercs. I was able to kill DClone with my IK WW Barb (no pmh) using a level 2 Conc 3 times with my mercs Bonehew. I returned to town several times to resurrect him and each time I got back DC was still hurt.

[blu3l1ghtn1ng]

Instead of wasting a hel rune into it, socket it with a -15% req jewel, and look for some other good mods. I think someone on these forums have one with ED. So remove runes with hel, and socket with jewel =)

[Dodgydave]

I am almost positive PMH does work on Mercs. I was able to kill DClone with my IK WW Barb (no pmh) using a level 2 Conc 3 times with my mercs Bonehew. I returned to town several times to resurrect him and each time I got back DC was still hurt.

I'm afraid PMH doesn't work on mercs, by the way if you're in need of strength for your merc Super_gray have you looked at a Guillames (SP?) Face, +15 to strength + crushing blow which is great on mercs and shouldn't be to hard to get hold of.