Merc levels?

[Aranoch]

I heard that if you get a merc early on and level him you get a much stronger merc. Now im a lightning sorceress so i wanted a nightmare defensive merc for his slow aura. But when i rushed and got to nightmare at level 21 i found out the merc only has 40 life. Now i assume its some sort of defence mechanism so people dont abuse stronger mercs in lower difficulties and i can only get a NM decent merc when im a higher level. What level do i need to be to get a decent merc from nightmare?

[Frosty_The_Snowman]

This issue has been patched in 1.11.

Before that, I was always hiring a normal merc (when I didn't need a NM merc of course), and it was always a looong trip to level them up :laugh:.

Now, you just have to hire a merc when you want, it doesn't matter anymore regarding to the merc's stats :grin:.

[zeskelnec]

AFAIR, it is true only for NM act 2 when you need a specific aura (Thorn, Holy freeze or Might).
You can hire a merc close to your level at any time, as said Frosty, no need to painfully level him up, however, a merc hired in Normal will have more stats and +skill than one hired in Hell.
Clearly, if you are level 80 and want a defiance Merc, better go to Normal to hire him.

[thegiantturtle]

In addition to what everyone else said, there are some quirks about hiring mercs from later difficulties at low levels. Their life, defense, and other stats do not increase linearly. Your merc may have to hit a certain level before he starts improving and turns on his aura. Do not worry about this. It's normal.