which is the infinity merc?

[Delvian]

Can someone tell me which is the infinity merc?

[Fro Do]

The one you give Ber+Mal+Ber+Ist polearm to. :D

Infinity
4 Socket Polearms
Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist
50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill An Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
+255-325% Enhanced Damage (varies)
-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resistance (varies)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
0.5-49.5 To Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30 Charges)

No, really, there's no merc who has conviction aura by default. A 2 hirelings have following auras:
Combat (Normal): Prayer
Combat (Nightmare): Thorns
Combat (Hell): Prayer
Defense (Normal): Defiance
Defense (Nightmare): Holy Freeze
Defense (Hell): Defiance
Offense (Normal): Blessed Aim
Offense (Nightmare): Might
Offense (Hell): Blessed Aim

[Delvian]

The one you give Ber+Mal+Ber+Ist polearm to. :D

Infinity
4 Socket Polearms
Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist
50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill An Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
+255-325% Enhanced Damage (varies)
-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resistance (varies)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
0.5-49.5 To Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30 Charges)

No, really, there's no merc who has conviction aura by default. A 2 hirelings have following auras:
Combat (Normal): Prayer
Combat (Nightmare): Thorns
Combat (Hell): Prayer
Defense (Normal): Defiance
Defense (Nightmare): Holy Freeze
Defense (Hell): Defiance
Offense (Normal): Blessed Aim
Offense (Nightmare): Might
Offense (Hell): Blessed Aim

doh :o ... thanks :D ... what merc do you think is best for a cold sorc..... and which do you think is best for a lightening sorc

[HardyTarget]

doh :o ... thanks :D ... what merc do you think is best for a cold sorc..... and which do you think is best for a lightening sorc

Infinity merc is the best for them both, as it removes immunities and allows you to damage all enemies.

[Big Boss]

I prefer to have a defiance merc (normal or hell defensive) for my sorc's. You get a nice defense bonus from them, and your merc will last longer if he has weak armor or low life. Holy freeze merc's are not a bad choice either, but I don't think you would need one if you were a cold sorc.

[Luckymofo]

Infinity merc is the best for them both, as it removes immunities and allows you to damage all enemies.

Actually...for immunities, the -res will work at 1/5 power, therefore, there will still be some enemies with immunities with conviction aura on. You can lower their res more with a lower resist charge item, at least a bit. If their immunity is still there, just let the merc take care of them slowly...one at a time...

[Masas]

I take a Might merc if my sorc is well equipped and uses just a single element. Just give your merc a big pointy stick and he will handle most lonely immunes easily.

[IAmTacoSalad]

I have a question about those enemies that don't get their immunitites removed. Is it because they have a high base like 180 res and then the conviction won't take it lower then 100?

[Omikron8]

Conviction level 12 on infinity has a -85% res penalty to enemies

to break an immunity this penalty is reduced to 85/5 = -17%

if the enemy has AT LEAST 117% resistance to a particular element and you try to apply that level 12 conviction to him from infinity runeword it will NOT break that particular elemental immunity because he will still be at 100% resistance to that particular element (and 100% resistance means immunity)

[IAmTacoSalad]

Conviction level 12 on infinity has a -85% res penalty to enemies

to break an immunity this penalty is reduced to 85/5 = -17%

if the enemy has AT LEAST 117% resistance to a particular element and you try to apply that level 12 conviction to him from infinity runeword it will NOT break that particular elemental immunity because he will still be at 100% resistance to that particular element (and 100% resistance means immunity)

If you have -enemy res gear will this be added along with conviction or only after conviction is applied? Say the same example as above but I have a death fathom.

[omgwtfbbqpwned]

If you have -enemy res gear will this be added along with conviction or only after conviction is applied? Say the same example as above but I have a death fathom.

It will be added after Conviction is applied. If the particular monster's Resistance to that particular element remains 100+ after Conviction/Lower Resist, then any -Monster Resistance gear will have no effect.

[IAmTacoSalad]

It will be added after Conviction is applied. If the particular monster's Resistance to that particular element remains 100+ after Conviction/Lower Resist, then any -Monster Resistance gear will have no effect.

Thanks much. :thumbsup:

[HardyTarget]

Actually...for immunities, the -res will work at 1/5 power, therefore, there will still be some enemies with immunities with conviction aura on. You can lower their res more with a lower resist charge item, at least a bit. If their immunity is still there, just let the merc take care of them slowly...one at a time...

It removes immunities for cold and lightning, completely.
I know because I've tested it myself.

[IAmTacoSalad]

It removes immunities for cold and lightning, completely.
I know because I've tested it myself.

Well I've heard other people say different and I quite frankly don't really believe you. You probably didn't test it on enemies that have 150+% res... but cold immunes you should try in the chaos sanctuary because don't oblivion knights have something like 180+% cold res?

[Omikron8]

It removes immunities for cold and lightning, completely.
I know because I've tested it myself.

Only if the monster had less than 117% cold or light res BEFORE conviction

conviction on infinity is actually VERY crappy for cold sorcs

monsters that are cold immune tend to have much more than 100 cold res so a measly level 12 conviction won't even bring them to 100%

[ZasinZebra]

On my Lightning Amazon My Infinity Merc is wonderful only superuniques are immune to lightning after they have the conviction green glow under their feet, the immune to "whatever" almost always disappears before my eyes once conviction hits them.

I have a question though when the chain lightning that is always branching out hits the other monsters does it make all their resistances (-45%~-55%) reduce, does that count as a hit?

[heavenhell]

Infinity?For rich men only.... :(

[HardyTarget]

Er, I'm not 100% sure how infinity works for a cold sorceress but doesn't she have a huge load of -%cold res (cold mastery) already?

On a lightning sorceress it removes all immunities, of course this might exclude some one or two super unique monsters.

If the merc does good enough damage, insight is the way to go.

[purplelocust]

Er, I'm not 100% sure how infinity works for a cold sorceress but doesn't she have a huge load of -%cold res (cold mastery) already?

The sorc's cold mastery doesn't apply until the resistance is brought down to below 100% by either Conviction (from an Infinity-weilding player or merc or from a player with the Conviction aura on right-click) or by Lower Resist. Both of those work at 1/5 efficiency until they reach 100%, at which point they work at normal rates. Having Lower Resist charges on a wand or dagger is very useful for breaking immunities in this situation where a cold immune monster is still immune after a Conviction aura is applied.

Here is an example to consider- say you run into a Hell Pit Viper. According to the Arreat Summit page:

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act2-clawviper.shtml

it has 130% resistance to cold (and is thus cold-immune.) If your merc has a level 12 Conviction aura from Infinity, that gives -85% to resistances, as seen here:

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/paladin-offense.shtml

Since the Pit Viper is cold immune, Conviction functions at 1/5 efficiency meaning that it subtracts 85/5 = 17%, which brings it down to 113% resistance, so it is still Cold Immune. The little label on the Pit Viper will still indicate cold immunity. Now, suppose a Necro in your party casts a level 20 Lower Resist curse on the monster- that would normally lower the resistance 62%, but again since it is immune, it lowers it 12% and the monster remains immune. Oh well, your cold skills would do no damage, even if you have level 20 Cold Mastery, which lowers resistances by 115% but does not apply here because the monsters are still immune.

For the Hell Claw Vipers, which have 120% cold resistance, if we do the same computation, we get:

120%-17% conviction = 103%, still immune

103%-12% lower resist will break the immunity, so what we have is that the first 3% to break the immunity occurs with 1/5 efficiency (which takes 15% of the 62%) to give 47% remaining. So the monsters will have 100%-47%= 53% cold resistance after Conviction + Lower Resist and are now no longer cold immune. Now since the immunity is gone, Cold Mastery applies and we have 53%- 115%= -62% cold resistance, and cold spells will be very effective against the Claw Vipers now, causing more than half again the damage listed in your character information screen.

There are plenty of monsters in the Arreat Summit listings such as Hell Oblivion Knights with high cold resistances (180% for example). Conviction doesn't increas the drop in resistances beyond 200% at level 25, so against immunes with 140% or more it will not be effective. Lower Resist reduces resistances by 65% at level 30, so it alone will not be effective against monsters with resistances at 113% or more. Even with both a L25 Conviction and L30 Lower Resist, monsters with resistances 153% or greater will be unaffected and will remain cold immune. So there are plenty of monsters against which you have no chance of breaking immunities (Hell Sirens, Hell Hell Witches, Hell Frozen Horrors, etc...)

[HardyTarget]

Thanks for clearing it up, purplelocust.
I guess I was pretty ignorant about the cold sorceress part.
The comments I threw here were from my own experiences.

Cheers.

[purplelocust]

Thanks for clearing it up, purplelocust.

No problem, glad to help.

It is worth noticing that if you browse the Arreat Summit, the resistances of fire immune and especially lightning immune monsters are generally not nearly as high as the cold resistances, so Conviction and Lower Resist are much more effective at removing immunities on those, in general. You can get level 3 lower resist charges on a wand on switch which can lower resistances by 41%, meaning monsters of resistance 108% and lower will be no longer immune.