Merc questions for bowazon - uber trist and mini bosses

[denverpoker]

Well. I'm back and my merc isin't quite tough enough when dealing with bosses. I've fought uber Duriel twice and he is getting smacked down to much. I'm disappointed because I tried to buff him up as much as possible.

All bowazons use a might merc. I know I do and I think it's standard practice.

My merc is lvl 89. I have him equiped with Reapers Toll 15 LL socketed with a shael, A 186 Rockstopper with 26 cr, 28 lr, and fr 33. This maxes out all his resists in hell except for poison. The uber grear that I consider him having is etheral shaftstop. The armor has been upped and socketed with a pul. This gives it a defense of 2227 on the armor. His total defense with everything is 3829.

Is this high enough or worth anything?

I primarily run cows, pits, pindle, shenk, eldridge, and occassionaly Baal WSK. I'm amazed at how well this guy stands up and handles the cows. I'm trying to get my zon to do the mini bosses to get parts for tristam and eventually tristam.

Duriel smacked this guy so good it wasn't even funny.
I fought it twice and second time seemed to do much worse.

That's the goal. Now the questions

1) Defense - Does this just determine how much damage is done to the merc, or is it the amount of damage it receives?

2) How do auras stack on merc. I'm looking at several pieces of equipment for doing these bosses. How does it work if I have might merc and a polearm or helm that gives an aura. If they both work great, if not makes the choice tricky.

3) My one gear switch option right now. I just traded for an eth gaze with 16 dr 6/7 leech. No matter what set up I use I will try to get an eth rockstopper and socket it, if I go that direction. I also plan on upping them. Hate the cost though. Is this helm good enough to be upped or should I wait for 20 and higher LL. What appealed to me about helm was the higher defense, and the LL, because of potential equip switch. Think I will socket it with 'um' to get resists. Other potential option is shael for fhr. Which helm to use?

4) I think reapers is absolutely the best weapon, because it makes killing PI's easy and possible. With my merc dying so quickly I was thinking about a couple of new weapons. Switching to the runewords I was looking for two special things
a) an aura
b) A time bomb / kamakizee merc, I copyright the phrase as I've never seen it.

Weapon choices - I'm going with and Act 2 merc - different weapons would let me potentially switch auras from might, to either defiance or holy freeze.

I got the term kamikaze merc (deliberately spelled different in case one is right) If he is going to die in one hit from boss no matter what you do then lets have him do some damage.

These weapons are uber expensive, and I'm not close to getting one yet, but I'm thinking it might be what I need.

DESTRUCTION - 100% chance to cast Meteor when you die. Surely this would make a dent on the bosses. Also has 20% cb, and itd.

DOOM - The holy freeze aura. I keep my might and hopefully can deal with minions in uber trist better.

HAND OF JUSTICE - 100 % to cast lvl 48 meteor when you die. Also lvl 16 holy fire, might be useful. ITD. -20% to enemy fire resistance. The only reason this really intrigues me is I use Hellfire torch. Would this make a big difference in damage, especially against the big ubers. Like maybe the differece between hurting and not hurting them.

OBEDIENCE - 30% chance to cast enchant when you kill an enemy. I'm mostly interested in would this effect work on my zon. If merc kills something and it triggers would it be cast on me? Like the all res 25-30, -25 fire resistances. 40% CB. If I went this way I could shael vampgaze instead of uming it.

PRIDE - Love the concentration aura. If I go aura weapon I think this is it. Love the huge damage. I love to party with paly and high concentration. My LCS, (lying character screen) hits 7,000 at times with strafe on a Windforce. If I used this weapon it also allow me to get rid of my might zon. I think I would then switch to a defiance merc at that point. It would hopefully keep the merc alive longer. No matter what aura or skill it does no good if he's dead.

I orginally looked at switching out gear because the bad part of reapers. When fighting the ubers I'm convinced drac's are the gloves. You have got to have lifetap on. It sucks when lifetap goes on and then mercs decrepify overrides it. Lot of times when overridden the merc dies.

Any comments from more experienced players appreciated.

*denverpoker

[citybird]

I was thinking of a kamikazie merc too using dual Light Die Facets. But this idea was shot down because the CTC stacks and not the level of the attack. So If I put a light die and a cold die facet into a 2 socet helm it would be more effective than 2x light dies.

[denverpoker]

I was thinking of a kamikazie merc too using dual Light Die Facets. But this idea was shot down because the CTC stacks and not the level of the attack. So If I put a light die and a cold die facet into a 2 socet helm it would be more effective than 2x light dies.

I think that's an interesting way as well. I think I would use fire and cold though. The main reason is I think Blizzard and Meteor would be better for clearing bosses. CL is nice in a group, but for single bosses I think other direction would work better.

Thanks for the die facet idea. I bet 3/3 dies are cheap. If I wanted to do this in the extreme I guess I could socket 3os helm.

I think I'd like the effect of poison nova, but so many monsters are immune.

Keep the thoughts coming people.

*denverpoker

[Leohappy]

Well. I'm back and my merc isin't quite tough enough when dealing with bosses. I've fought uber Duriel twice and he is getting smacked down to much. I'm disappointed because I tried to buff him up as much as possible.

>> For any kind of boss monster you need lifetap cast on it (50% life leech and works on bosses). Lifetap wand can provide this.

1) Defense - Does this just determine how much damage is done to the merc, or is it the amount of damage it receives?

>> Defense just makes merc harder to hit, but bosses have veryhigh attack ratings so it almots doesn't matter, 95% of the time the merc will get hit. For a pure boss runner I'd try to reach the 50%dr cap instead, it'd cut the phsy. dmg done to merc by 50%.

2) How do auras stack on merc. I'm looking at several pieces of equipment for doing these bosses. How does it work if I have might merc and a polearm or helm that gives an aura. If they both work great, if not makes the choice tricky.

>> Auras stack on merc, but he can only have one of each aura active at a time. So you can have might merc with Pride. But if two of the same type of auras activate at any time, only higher one is used (for example if you use Pride on merc and team up with pala who has lvl 30 conc only his conc will work for you as long as you're in his aura range).

3) My one gear switch option right now. I just traded for an eth gaze with 16 dr 6/7 leech. No matter what set up I use I will try to get an eth rockstopper and socket it, if I go that direction. I also plan on upping them. Hate the cost though. Is this helm good enough to be upped or should I wait for 20 and higher LL. What appealed to me about helm was the higher defense, and the LL, because of potential equip switch. Think I will socket it with 'um' to get resists. Other potential option is shael for fhr. Which helm to use?

>> 20dr gaze would be nice, esp if you use shaft as well. Whether to soket um or not depends on what kind of wpn and armor u use. Defnately you need at least 15all res on merc so he reaches decent % res (65+). Other options include soketing 15% ias jewel depending on wpn type used. I think it's only worth upgrading vhigh stats armors and helms.

4) I think reapers is absolutely the best weapon, because it makes killing PI's easy and possible. With my merc dying so quickly I was thinking about a couple of new weapons. Switching to the runewords I was looking for two special things

>> I'd definitely take Pride, for the dmg. The rw itself actually does prety bad dmg, but you get the aurabonus which is 285-345% extra ed, same or better as wearing another Forti.

[denverpoker]

Well. I'm back and my merc isin't quite tough enough when dealing with bosses. I've fought uber Duriel twice and he is getting smacked down to much. I'm disappointed because I tried to buff him up as much as possible.

>> For any kind of boss monster you need lifetap cast on it (50% life leech and works on bosses). Lifetap wand can provide this.

1) Defense - Does this just determine how much damage is done to the merc, or is it the amount of damage it receives?

>> Defense just makes merc harder to hit, but bosses have veryhigh attack ratings so it almots doesn't matter, 95% of the time the merc will get hit. For a pure boss runner I'd try to reach the 50%dr cap instead, it'd cut the phsy. dmg done to merc by 50%.

2) How do auras stack on merc. I'm looking at several pieces of equipment for doing these bosses. How does it work if I have might merc and a polearm or helm that gives an aura. If they both work great, if not makes the choice tricky.

>> Auras stack on merc, but he can only have one of each aura active at a time. So you can have might merc with Pride. But if two of the same type of auras activate at any time, only higher one is used (for example if you use Pride on merc and team up with pala who has lvl 30 conc only his conc will work for you as long as you're in his aura range).

3) My one gear switch option right now. I just traded for an eth gaze with 16 dr 6/7 leech. No matter what set up I use I will try to get an eth rockstopper and socket it, if I go that direction. I also plan on upping them. Hate the cost though. Is this helm good enough to be upped or should I wait for 20 and higher LL. What appealed to me about helm was the higher defense, and the LL, because of potential equip switch. Think I will socket it with 'um' to get resists. Other potential option is shael for fhr. Which helm to use?

>> 20dr gaze would be nice, esp if you use shaft as well. Whether to soket um or not depends on what kind of wpn and armor u use. Defnately you need at least 15all res on merc so he reaches decent % res (65+). Other options include soketing 15% ias jewel depending on wpn type used. I think it's only worth upgrading vhigh stats armors and helms.

4) I think reapers is absolutely the best weapon, because it makes killing PI's easy and possible. With my merc dying so quickly I was thinking about a couple of new weapons. Switching to the runewords I was looking for two special things

>> I'd definitely take Pride, for the dmg. The rw itself actually does prety bad dmg, but you get the aurabonus which is 285-345% extra ed, same or better as wearing another Forti.

Would you upgrade the vamp gaze. With shaft I'll have 46 dr. It's eth so its pretty good anyway. If it makes the difference between being hit and not being hit. It seems worth it.

The runewords. I like the pride as well. I really wish it had some dying effect though.

What I'm trying to figure out is if the merc is going to always die in one or two hits, would it be better to get RW that would cast a lvl 45 ish meteor on boss. Would that hurt these guys at all?

*denverpoker

[Omikron8]

If a boss is walking around with 500k+ hitpoints a pathetic level 40+ unsynergized meteor or any other facet spell for that matter won't even dent their lifebar

Stick with reaper's toll and get a source of lifetap like a wand so your merc doesn't die instantly due to their 10x damage bonus against him

[denverpoker]

If a boss is walking around with 500k+ hitpoints a pathetic level 40+ unsynergized meteor or any other facet spell for that matter won't even dent their lifebar

Stick with reaper's toll and get a source of lifetap like a wand so your merc doesn't die instantly due to their 10x damage bonus against him

Thanks for comment on about denting them. I was really hoping it would do some good to have them blow up.

My sorce of lifetap. Currently when I fight the bosses I uses dracs to get my lifetap. One of my biggest concerns about the Reapers is that it would override the lifetap. Which was my inital reason for switching. If reapers which goes off 33% of lifetap then the merc seems to die right away.

The lifetap wand. Very scary idea for me. My biggest concern is have it on switch. Right now I use a Windforce with Harmony on switch. I like the harmony for those time when I end up all alone. Merc, decoy, and valk have died. I use the Harmony for prebuffing the Valk. If I'm all alone with Harmony I've got a chance to run and recast valk.

Would a lvl 45 unsynergized Meteor handle killing the minions of Trist?

Thanks for help.

[Omikron8]

I don't know the hitpoints in a one player hell game for uber tristram minions so i can't be exactly certain

but i bet that once again a level 45 unsynergized meteor won't matter

even if it does the dead summons don't leave a corpse and are pretty much re-summoned almost instantly

summons like the quintuple-immune balrogs won't even be affected

[denverpoker]

I don't know the hitpoints in a one player hell game for uber tristram minions so i can't be exactly certain

but i bet that once again a level 45 unsynergized meteor won't matter

even if it does the dead summons don't leave a corpse and are pretty much re-summoned almost instantly

summons like the quintuple-immune balrogs won't even be affected


Well i just found one, and I thought let me see how this would work. I went to switch to put weapon on. It stated that it was only for necros. Do I need to be looking for a special wand?

I'm still not sure this is a good idea though.

[Evrae Altana]

Well i just found one, and I thought let me see how this would work. I went to switch to put weapon on. It stated that it was only for necros. Do I need to be looking for a special wand?

I'm still not sure this is a good idea though.
By Life Tap wand, it's a wand with Life Tap charges, not a wand with +Life Tap.

[belonker]

I also don't see how a meteor from a die facet would do anything to an uber's health, but I was always interested to see how it would work in PvP. It would be funny to watch someone's merc explode in a shower of flames, ice shards, and lightning.

Question though: An Act 3 merc can have the most amount of sockets possible (6 sword + 3 helm + 4 armor + 4 shield = 17!!!). What I want to know is if you put 17 fire die facets on your merc, will it drop 17 meteors when it dies? That would be just... untouchable :worship:

[Leohappy]

Question though: An Act 3 merc can have the most amount of sockets possible (6 sword + 3 helm + 4 armor + 4 shield = 17!!!). What I want to know is if you put 17 fire die facets on your merc, will it drop 17 meteors when it dies? That would be just... untouchable :worship:No it's not possible, facet chances stack, but one facet allready has 100% so further facets are useless, since 200% = 100%. You can use 1 of each type of facet at most.

And yeh, it's a lot of fun in pvp when you ask some1 to kill your merc and he dies in merc's death explosion (would be esp. fun in HC).

[denverpoker]

No it's not possible, facet chances stack, but one facet allready has 100% so further facets are useless, since 200% = 100%. You can use 1 of each type of facet at most.

And yeh, it's a lot of fun in pvp when you ask some1 to kill your merc and he dies in merc's death explosion (would be esp. fun in HC).

What I was potentially thinking of making was the merc exploding helm. Get a 3os helm and put on die facet of fire, cold, and poison. All three would go off correct? Would this dent the health of the ubers?

What I ended up doing. I finally got my Faith made. Been testing it out a little and its kicking ***. I also made the Runeword Pride, on the advice of someone in this forum. Here is the wierd part.

The damage it shows on the character screen. My damage on the Windforce bow is 35-516. On normal strafe the max damage is 3784. My normal Faith is 60-309. The max strafe is 3257. When my merc has Pride on Faith max is 4577. Windforce is 5895. With just normal might merc Windforce is 4653 and Faith is 3801.

Any idea what combination will kill the fastest?

[Leohappy]

Faith shoots faster and has better min. dmg. If you want to make any kind of calculations for dmg you need to take into account average dmg not min/max. And of course, speed is dmg by itself, and Faith has lots of speed.

Generall if you want to use Faith then Pride merc is best. If you want to abuse WF's crazy dmg then I'd go with Act1 rogue merc w/Faith. This is also a good combo for a pure bowzon CS-runner since you won't have problem with IM.

[Omikron8]

You want to fork out 50k every few seconds on something that will almost certainly be negated as soon as the ubers regen 16k per second? Your choice but you're wasting your gold