Maxed Skeleton damage?

[Naja]

How much damage would a single Skeleton do at 40 Raise Skeleton and 40 Mastery; paired with Amplify Damage, the Might Aura from those Might mercenaries in Act 2 Nightmare, and the 92% increase you get from level 9 Fanaticism? In Hell difficulty.

If you would be so kind, would you please include the base amount (40 RS + 40 SM in Hell difficulty), and the level of Might that those Act 2 Nightmare guys have? Thanks.

[Myrakh-2]

and the level of Might that those Act 2 Nightmare guys have?

Their Might level is (clvl-15)/4. +Skills go on top of that, of course.

[Mad Mantis]

Assuming a maxed level Merc the stats are:


Level 40/40 RS/SM:

Damage: 599 - 603 (ø601)
% Damage Bonus: +259
Base Damage: 166-167
Attack Rating: 1206
Defense: 1206
Hit Points: 7059

Level 20 Might: 230%
Level 9 Fanaticism: 93%
Level 9 Fanaticism IAS: 29%

Total Damage without Amp: 1132-1138.
Total Attack Speed: 14 Frames per Attack.

The damage with Amp depends on the Physical Resistance of the target.

[JustChrono]

ok so you get to 40/40 with a ton of + summoning skill charms that i understand but i'm wondering how many skeletons you get for just having 20 points in raise skeleton and do you get more through + skill equipment and charms?

[chubbypuppy]

how many skeletons you get for just having 20 points in raise skeleton

I believe 8.
how many skeletons you get for just having 20 points in raise skeleton and do you get more through + skill equipment and charms?

Yes you do get more skellies. I believe the progression is:

21 gives 9.
24 gives 10.
27 gives 11.
30 gives 12.
etc

[xXDonVonXx]

Their Might level is (clvl-15)/4. +Skills go on top of that, of course.

Does that apply to all the act 2 mercs? Or is there a seperate way to calculate each different aura?

[Mad Mantis]

Does that apply to all the act 2 mercs? Or is there a seperate way to calculate each different aura?

There is. Alternatively you could just take a look at this guide (http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=580). It tells you everything about Mercenaries and it has an Excel sheet with all Merc info.

[RTB]

Total Attack Speed: 14 Frames per Attack.
It might be a good idea to add in AI delay (which is 15 frames) to their attack speed, as monsters and minions just aren't capable of continuous attack.

[Naja]

Hmmm. I got a very different calculation, Mad Mantis.

If the base damage is 599-603, then the added Fanaticism Aura alone would make it 1156-1163. (599 * .93) + 599 = 1156, (603 * .93) + 603 = 1163

The Might Aura alone would make it 1976-1989. (599 * 2.3) + 599 = 1976, (603 * 2.3) + 603 = 1989

So, added together, a 40/40 Skeleton with a Beast Fanaticism aura and a level 20 Might aura without Amplify Damage would do 2533-2550 damage. (599 * 3.23) + 599 = 2533, (603 * 3.23) + 603 = 2550

3.23, just for clarification, is simply the added percentage of the two auras. 230% plus 93%, basically.

And if you really wanna go hogwild with this, that isn't even taking account of an Infinity polearm weapon on your Merc giving him level 12 Conviction - i.e. - 83% enemy defense rating. :D

[RTB]

If the base damage is 599-603<snip>
The base is 166-167 in this case.

[Pherdnut]

Raise skeletons enhances both base damage and gives its own enhanced damage% rating so the actual base being increased is much lower than you would expect just looking at their damage without any auras or spirits. Still, a horde of critters doing 1K+ damage per hit is nothing to scoff at.

Unless they are immune to physical, physical resists rarely get over 50% in Hell so you can guess roughly 50% more damage for most critters and those with no resists at all will have that damage doubled.

Do a search on Pride and Infinity. Skeletons ability to hit is one of the more important things you are going to want to improve as you work your way up in the game. I think I've seen threads elsewhere saying that Blessed Aim mercs are more effective than might mercs when fighting monsters higher or roughly at your character level (which is part of your skeletons to-hit equation). Now that you can switch mercs without having to level them back up more than five levels it may be more effective to hold on to that Blessed Aim Merc for a while longer and take Might when you're around 90.

I'm too afraid to do the math though because every time I try to I look like a moron. :D

[Naja]

The base is 166-167 in this case.

Are you sure that that is Hell difficulty statistic?

Level 40/40 RS/SM:

Damage: 599 - 603 (ø601)
% Damage Bonus: +259
Base Damage: 166-167
Attack Rating: 1206
Defense: 1206
Hit Points: 7059

It just seemed that Mad Mantis said that "Damage" was the base, Damage being 599-603.

[Sszark]

So the base is smaller than it looks? It would be sweet if Might was running level 31 off a 500 base damage. Too bad.

[Pherdnut]

I think this is probably the best skellie calc that I've seen and will help give you an idea of what's going on ever time you level up. Preapologies if it's not cool to link to that.

[Link broke. NM]

All in a nice downloadable excel sheet format.

If anybody wants it I can e-mail it to you. Just write me at pherdnut@gmail.com

[chubbypuppy]

Dont forget, usually you have amp dmg on the monsters too, so ur skelles are doing more than the damage the posts have indicated so far.

[Mad Mantis]

It just seemed that Mad Mantis said that "Damage" was the base, Damage being 599-603.

That is why I added the line Base Damage. :p

[Naja]

:scratch:

Or that...

[bladesyz]

What would be better though, level 18 concentration or level 9 fanaticism?

[Naja]

Oooh. Definately Concentration, at level 18. That would be + 315% damage and a 20% chance at an uninterruptable hit! Why do you ask? Is there a weapon or runeword that gives level 18 Concentration?

[Myrakh-2]

So the base is smaller than it looks? It would be sweet if Might was running level 31 off a 500 base damage. Too bad.

You can't get a lvl 31 might from a merc, AFAIK. Highest merc level is 98, at which point his Might will be at lvl 20. Give him a +2 skills helmet, a +2 skills armor and a +4 skills Ariocs, and you get a lvl 28 might. Add another +1 from a barbs battle command for a temporary lvl 29 --- so unless I'm forgetting some gear choice with more +skills this is as high as you get.

[cassurai]

Oooh. Definately Concentration, at level 18. That would be + 315% damage and a 20% chance at an uninterruptable hit! Why do you ask? Is there a weapon or runeword that gives level 18 Concentration?

I agree with you. And Pride gives that aura. Needs 3 high runes though. Will take ages to get on the new ladder if you don't already have one from last season. I say ages because obviously you would want to get Enigma and other gear for yourself first before bothering about your Merc. Best alternative is just play with a Hammerdin. It ain't hard to find one these days.

How do you even get SLvl 40 RS and SM if you use Beast and not Leoric? 9 Summoning charms + Arachnid's + Spirit + Enigma + Mara's + Shako + 2 SOJs? Wow.

[Myrakh-2]

How do you even get SLvl 40 RS and SM if you use Beast and not Leoric?

I don't know how often I had to post this already, but with LoD (I think) Blizzard introduced a weapon switch --- you can have 2 sets of weapon/shield combos, and toggle between them with a keypress.

[cassurai]

I don't know how often I had to post this already, but with LoD (I think) Blizzard introduced a weapon switch --- you can have 2 sets of weapon/shield combos, and toggle between them with a keypress.

Yes I obviously know that. Just that I thought Summoning spells aren't like Barb warcries where you can just switch to CTA and cast BO and switch back with the BO effect still there. From my impression, if you cast say 13 skeletons using Leoric then switching to Beast or any other weapon, the extra skellies you get from the extra skill points Leoric grants you, collapses and disappears.

Now I'm confused. :(

[Myrakh-2]

The Skeletons do collapse, but skeletons aren't just numbers, they also have stats. The remaining skeletons will have stats according to the level they were created at.

It takes a little getting-used-to, but since higher level skeletons hardly ever die it's not a problem to weaponswitch to the wand to create them, and weaponswitch to whatever-else at other times (I used Gull on switch, but Beast is certainly better...).

[cassurai]

The remaining skeletons will have stats according to the level they were created at.

Ah. This fact I never knew. Thanks.

[Pherdnut]

I agree with you. And Pride gives that aura. Needs 3 high runes though. Will take ages to get on the new ladder if you don't already have one from last season. I say ages because obviously you would want to get Enigma and other gear for yourself first before bothering about your Merc. Best alternative is just play with a Hammerdin. It ain't hard to find one these days.

How do you even get SLvl 40 RS and SM if you use Beast and not Leoric? 9 Summoning charms + Arachnid's + Spirit + Enigma + Mara's + Shako + 2 SOJs? Wow.

There are problems with Pride though. It has a freeze mod that greatly reduces your CE opportunities (your merc shatters everything) and Infinity's Conviction aura is much more ideal since your skeletons will typically hit twice as often, doubling all of your damage (not just the base). Fanaticism also cranks up attack rate and speed so I'd probably go with Beast first since it's so much cheaper and probably nearly as effective. I suspect I will never have Ber, Mal, Ber, Ist so I'll be perfectly happy when I get my hands on a Beast.