Act 2 merc need to stay alive !

[allistaken]

Hi.

ok.. here goes.

My act 2 merc need to stay alive. He dies quit often in hell... wich is pretty anoing !

Anyone have some suggestens to an armor and a weapon.

The only think he needs, is to stay alive. killing is not importent.

...and if it is some insanly runeword. Is it worth spending on a merc ?

Well... thanks in advance.

Regards

allistaken

[Evrae Altana]

Get him some damage reduce, resist, and leech. Gaze and Shaftstop are popular merc equipment.

[PuNKaSS4_20]

Hi.

ok.. here goes.

My act 2 merc need to stay alive. He dies quit often in hell... wich is pretty anoing !

Anyone have some suggestens to an armor and a weapon.

The only think he needs, is to stay alive. killing is not importent.

...and if it is some insanly runeword. Is it worth spending on a merc ?

Well... thanks in advance.

Regards

allistaken

It depends on what kind of char you are. either you need a tank, a back up, a distraction, or a significant helper. And what level did you buy 'em at? I'm going to assume that it's an act 2 might merc, please correct me if i'm wrong, Dude should be alright with something like duriels shell or somekind of sharktooth/bone armor. give em a cruel weapon, and a nice helm. my act 2 might merc wears durial's shell, some weird amazon helm that gives plus two to him and it's over 300 defense, helm, it's nice. he's got some bunk weapon that hits at about 450 max, but with synergies, he's stabbing at 5k. so i guess it's up to you. He/she/it should be at you level. if there's a big differnce. level it up.

[AnimeCraze]

You need a few things:

Leech (mercs needs leech bad)
Damage (more damage = more leech + kills faster)
CBF (slowed merc = less attacks = less leech = dead merc)
DR (less phy damage taken)
Resist (less elemental damage taken)

Just remember that there are some enemies in the game that you cannot leech from, like Meph and skeles.

As for insanely runeword, it depends on which one.

Obedience is good for cheap. An eth thresher/cryptic axe is good for that (5 sockets from Larzuk). It has absolutely huge damage, and rather cheap (the weapon itself is not that cheap, but the runes are).

Pride = conc aura = loads of damage for you and merc, nothing needs to be said. People says it works well for summonner (other than the fact that it might shatter corpses).

Infinity = conviction = -resist and -defence, which will help you and him kill very fast (if you are a sorc or light zon). It also breaks immunities.

Insight. Decent damage, and dead cheap (except for the weapon itself if you use eth one). What makes this ungodly is the meditation aura it gives.

Be warned that an eth CV has 200 str requirement, so you NEED duriel's shell or andy's face (or some other +str equips, but I found those 2 to be the best). This applies to infinity and insight the most since you might want to get a CV and get it punched with 4 sockets.

Some cheap solutions would be insight/obedience partizan/thresher/eth CV + Duriel's/shaft + gaze/tal's mask/andy's

[Gorny]

Act 2 merc huh ?

I suggest a Guardian Angel (perferably eth) or some other armor that offers enhanced def and decent resists.

For a weapon try one of the following :

Bonehew (preferably eth) with 2 X AMN.
Reapers Toll (eth)
Doom runeworded polearm of somekind

Helm :
Tals for life leech. mana leech isn't needed for mercs, or any other helm with life leech. Harley Crest (or a shako as they are called) may also be used.

[McCain123]

One of the safest and cheapest combinations for a merc is the following:

Tals Mask ( Allres Jewel )
Upgraded Shaftstop ( Shael )
Reapors Toll ( Shael )

Put that on an Holy Freeze Merc and there is very little, that can kill him.

The % resistance of the jewel, determines the level, your merc has to reach for maxed resistance. Without it, he would be finished at Level 96. If you socket a jewel with 8% resistance to all, he will be finished at level 88 ( 96-8 ).

Your merc will have
- 75% resistance to all
- 30% damage reduction
- 10% life leech
- 4 frames faster hitrecovery

and he will
- freeze his opponents
- slow them even more with "Decryptify"
- attack fast
- do decent damage

This works for most builds.

[allistaken]

thx for all the answers :)

[krischan]

Act 2 merc huh ?

I suggest a Guardian Angel (perferably eth) or some other armor that offers enhanced def and decent resists.

For a weapon try one of the following :

Bonehew (preferably eth) with 2 X AMN.
Reapers Toll (eth)
Doom runeworded polearm of somekind

Helm :
Tals for life leech. mana leech isn't needed for mercs, or any other helm with life leech. Harley Crest (or a shako as they are called) may also be used.
GA improves maximum resists, so you still need something which actually adds to resists, like Um runes or allres jewels. IMO leech and speed will suffer too much then.

A merc needs tons of leech, else he won't survive when fighting monsters like frenzytaur boss backs. Tal's mask alone might not be enough. IMO you need 20-25% when using a weapon that deals as much damage as Reaper's Toll, else you have to get him resurrected too often, assuming you are not just visiting the boring parts of the game.

Helm: IMO Andy's Visage beats them all and the ugly thing won't change the looks of your merc anyway :lol: IAS, +skills, leech, high defense, 25-30 to strength and massive poison res/+maxres. The only drawback is that the socket has to be used for compensating the fire res penalty, e.g. with a Ral rune or, if you can afford it with a fireres/x jewel. You have to admit that a shako can't even remotely compete with it. Other good helms are Tal's helm. 10%LL and Vampire Gaze if it has good LL and DR. A shako is not as useful as these helms IMO - and much more expensive.

Armor: Treachery adds 45% IAS and chance to cast fade. However, Stone is probably quite good as well, as it simply makes your merc hard to hit. That decision might be a matter of taste and which places you want to visit. I for myself prefer Treachery. If you can't get a decent Treachery armor, you can also use Griswold's armor or Black Hades with 3 IAS jewels. That's what my mercs wore before the 1.11 runewords came out BTW and I don't know any better things to do with all those IAS jewels anyway.

Weapon: Reaper's Toll is still the best IMO. Casters might prefer Insight because of the aura, but the merc will die more often then or you have to care for him a little more than usual. Characters who cast curses (necros, wearers of Dracul's Grasp or Atma's Scarab) might prefer a different weapon. There are lots of useful polearm runewords.

Assuming the merc has a high enough level, I suggest using Reaper's Tall, Andy's Visage and a Treachery armor, with Amn in the weapon and Ral in the helm. The more ethereal items, the better, of course.

[Gorny]

Most of my knowledge is 1.10 base and back, since I don't play anymore...I should have mentioned socketing the GA with an UM rune. I did the same thing...when your merc is high enough of a level (80 +) you can upgrade the GA for added def.

Be warned that the STR req. will go up, that's why I suggest waiting till your merc has enough str.

If I remember right its in the upper 170's or 108 odd str req.

For me, leech and speed were less of a problem, at the time my act 2 merc was a HF merc and I was a Hammerdin, who brought on the hurt.