What kind of weapon for an Act 3 freezing merc

[plip]

Hi !
Second thread today ;) Hope it will be useful to other people...

The question is in the subject : I give him weapons with resists (rares), but apart from that, I don't know what would be useful, as he casts spells. Maybe a increase casting speed sorc/necro stick?
Thanks for your replies !

[NASE]

the only use for an act 3 cold merc is the freezing ability. No other use, the damage is low, well not in the beginning but in the end it will get less and less. So all you need is increased casting speed.

Get your merc a spirit sword. The other equipment can be made in the same perspectieve. I currently use skin of the viper magi, cheap as hell and it has res and ICS. And lidless wall as shield. Don't know the price but he is holding up perfectly.

[NASE]

the only use for an act 3 cold merc is the freezing ability. No other use, the damage is low, well not in the beginning but in the end it will get less and less. So all you need is increased casting speed.

Get your merc a spirit sword. The other equipment can be made in the same perspectieve. I currently use skin of the viper magi, cheap as hell and it has res and ICS. And lidless wall as shield. Don't know the price but he is holding up perfectly.

[edit]

f*** no delete option.

[crawlingdeadman]

i'm not too sure if his cast is ias based (like mage skellies) or fcr based or just static. i know that +skills add to his damage so go with spirit sword imo.

oops just looked at this (http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=551) and see that he's fcr based so give him as much as you can. looks like he has fcr bps at 10, 15, 30, 40, 60, 90, and 140. i'm not sure really if there's a better weapon for him than spirit sword.

it's been a while since i used one of them since i never got into the whole gmerc thing.

[SSoG]

Spirit is the only weapon you should even consider for A3 mercs. Nothing else can even come close. If you're really worried about his resists, get a 3-socket Large Shield and stuff it full of PDiamonds for 57% resist-all.

[plip]

@all : thanks for your efforts!

@ SSoG : I had the appropriate runes, so Spirit was build and given to my merc. The +250 vs missiles is good for his health to ;)
The Large shield socketed with PDiams is a good idea (3 is the max?), but I also noticed that Spirit also existed for shields.
Combined with a Vipermagi, that should give him approx 90 % FCR. I think I'll be useful for a moment then.
So, what do you think for the shield?

[crawlingdeadman]

i'm not sure that he'll have enough str for spirit shield. eth monarch would be lightest. you may have to put some str type gear on him. i think moser is good for a shield (2pdiamond) for him.

[zrk]

lawbringer is a decent option for an act 3 merc. the sanctuary aura knocks undead back which is useful for cs runs. with delirium and lawbringer he can help out and hes not affected by iron maiden either.

[SSoG]

@all : thanks for your efforts!

@ SSoG : I had the appropriate runes, so Spirit was build and given to my merc. The +250 vs missiles is good for his health to ;)
The Large shield socketed with PDiams is a good idea (3 is the max?), but I also noticed that Spirit also existed for shields.
Combined with a Vipermagi, that should give him approx 90 % FCR. I think I'll be useful for a moment then.
So, what do you think for the shield?

Deadman has it right- shields can get 4 sockets, but the lightest 4-socket shield requires 156 strength (146 if it's ethereal), and A3 Mercs can't get that kind of strength values until they're in their 80's and/or unless they pack on some extre +Str gear. For baby A3 Mercs, a 3-socket Large Shield is cheap, lightweight, and usable immediately. Stuff it with PDiamonds and his resists will be maxed all the way through Hell (no need for a fourth PDiamond). When you get him to a high enough level, you could always upgrade to a Spirit, but I never really bother- almost every A3 Merc I ever hire gets a Spirit Sword, a Stealth armor (the FR/W on Stealth makes it better than Viper, imo), a 3PDiamond Large Shield, and a gambled circlet with either FCR or FR/W. All of the gear is insanely cheap, equippable almost immediately, and it's such a powerful gear rig that I almost never even other changing a single piece of it for the rest of the game.