Shaft vs Stone on merc

[Proxyi]

So..im meteorb and using now eth upped shaft on merc...but thinking on it, with stone he become more def...WHat should i do?

With stone his def:17 k
With shaft his def:11 k

But shaft give 30% dmr

So, does 6 k more def worth, that i use stone on merc...or 30% dmr worth more?

[TheBe]

with meteorb i believe that only he neds to do, is stay alive. rarely kill those double immunes, but he can kill them with lower dmg. I recommend eth insight or infinity (i use cv), so dmg wont be too low without shaft. If u got static field, he wont have problems.

[dave]

he is not talking about merc dmg - he's talking about merc defense.

Well its a tough pick and personally i would just test it ingame, trying both armors for a while and see what works best. Afterall you can calculate all you want but it is ingame performance that counts :thumbsup:

[xNamastex]

Personally I'd go Eth Upped Ummed GA - My merc seems to get hit with more elemental damage than physical.

[MageChick]

gotta love the 60% hit recovery from stone. That's what I use. Close call though.

[sirpoopsalot]

IMO, it depends somewhat on where you're running and the other equipment your merc has, and sometimes I consider the type of merc too.

Generally, if I'm using a Defiance merc I go with Stone for the huge defense, but HF/Might mercs it depends somewhat on where I'm running...

For example, one of my all-time favorite merc setups is to combine a Kira's Guardian with a Guardian Angel for 90 resist all, and CBF - especially in high-elemental damage areas like the WSK. If it's a physical-damage area (like the pits or Countess) I'd go with the Shaftstop, but if it's somewhere like act3 with those annoying, fast little turds that swarm you from all directions, I'd take the Stone (for the FHR).


Neither is a bad choice, and as davidskp suggested, perhaps try them in-game.

[Clay bizzle]

I think Shaft with the 30% DR is a bit better. Yours has really high defense, so I don't think an eth Stone has much more to offer. I say that because he's going to be taking some hits with any amount of defense, so if they do 30% less damage that is better since Stone is not going to get your merc hit 30% less. Eth Fort and Eth Gaze is actually my favorite combination for Act2 mercs right now.