Merc lv in 1.11

[w-igor]

i know in 1.10 that was better to train your merc from low lv, and then he will have better stats, more life ect.
what about 1.11 ? is it still a good idea to lv up my merc from lv2 (cause i cant buy him on lv1) ? Or thats just a waste of time and i should lv myself to lv 90 and then just buy a merc?

[Cattleya]

All that matters for mercs (in 1.10 and 1.11) is the difficulty you hire them in. Normal mercs are best, then NM, then Hell.

In 1.10, the mercs you hired in normal were low level, so if you wanted the best mercs, you had to level them up from some rediculously low level.

Now in 1.11, the mercs in all difficulties are closer to your level, so you can buy one in normal (or NM for certain Act2 mercs) and not have to worry about leveling.

[moookie]

So will they still gain the exact stat/resist/life gain if i hire them instantly instead of leveling them?(for example,act 2 mercs gain 15 life per level if you level them manually,but only gain 7 life per level if you hire them at your level.)