Merc gets me killed vs Nihlathak

[Vesticle]

Don't know if any of you have this problem, but I wanted to see if anyone has ideas or advice...

When I go to Nihlathak I wear a Nature's Peace, since the obvious problem you encounter is the CE he uses (barring a NP I'd have redemption or use a Necro to CE first, or have a lot of FE, etc.) Now, the problem I run into is that my merc kills things, and then Nihlathak CE's the bodies and kills us both. Is there any way to deal with this other than to kill my merc? I'd rather keep my merc alive, if possible, because he makes the other runs I do at the same time a lot easier.

Thanks,

David

[Orphan]

Is unequipping the merc of his weapon an option for you, or is part of the reason you want the merc alive is because of his weapon?

[Vesticle]

Well, the insight is useful, but once I actually get to Nihl not necessary, I can just drink pots. It's mainly equipped for the aura when I'm teleporting to wherever I'm going. Otherwise, he's mainly there to sponge bullets while my character (usually a sorc or pally) kills so I don't get stunned/block locked.

[yongming]

just tele directly to nihlathak and kill him(make sure to equip the rising sun),ignore the minios.If you are a blizzsor, it would be tough,cuz many times he's cold IM,sometimes fire IM(AFAIK).

[krischan]

Stay away from the merc and if you can attack from afar (e.g. if you are a sorc), kill stuff before he kills it. If you take away the weapon from the merc or if you give him a low damage weapon, he will probably die from lack of leech.