Best merc for hammerdin

[cawcan]

currently an 88 hammerdin wondering which merc is the best pvm. Ive seen debates against holy freeze and might mercs just need to see others opinions.

[RaoulDuke]

I use an Act2 Defiance merc. The added defense seems to work better at keeping him alive, especially against act bosses. An Insight weapon is also mandatory.

Might would only help his damage, it would do nothing for your hammers.

[Melbourne]

I would go with Nm act 2 defensive. Imo its the only way to go for a hammerdin. As your hammers are going to do some pretty decent damage there's no point in getting might because everything will be dead before he gets a chance. Holy freeze is great for slowing (duh ;) ), especially those bloody souls

A really great trick is to give him a reapers and go play with baal. He's almost frozen :clap:

[Vaylor]

I like the holy freeze merc myself. He seemes to stay alive better than the defiance ones, and holy freeze helps me out more than defiance as well. Mine uses an eth reapers toll with amn for more ll(decrepify proc is very nice), stone armor 4500 def, and tals helm for another 10%ll and stays alive rather well. You shouldn't need insight as a hammerdin because of redemption aura.

[RetroStar]

Holy Freeze with Insight
Defiance with Insight/Doom

[Wimpus_Maximus]

Why not just try a holy freeze AND a defiance merc. Its soooo easy to level them to your level now that there's really no need to worry about this much. I'd start with a defiance merc with whatever you prefer (and can afford) to give him, and then try out a holy freeze merc. It'll only cost you money and a little time to try them both out, and then you will really know which one works best for YOUR playing style.


P.S. I like the defiance one the best myself.

[gorash]

with ur lvl they should also be a pretty high lvl when u even hire em even back in nm. i just went to nm to try to hire a merc with my lvl 75 smiter and all the mercs there were lvl 71+ so with ur lvl at 88 or so, they're surely be able to wear what u plan on them to wear

btw nm def merc pwns with insight for a hammerdin.

[twelvebagger]

I would still have to recommend holy freeze for a hammerdin, over defiance.

Looking at it logically, you aren’t going to need defiance for yourself because your defense should already be well over 10K with holy shield on….Defense should be a non issue (PVM).

Holy freeze on the other hand, serves a few purposes. It makes the merc survive longer because he gets hit less frequently due to mobs having a slower attack rate, and more importantly it slows the mobs down so they get hit more frequently and more easily (they move slower so it’s easier to position yourself correctly) by your hammers.