Suggest Gear Setup for Merc with Ethereal Bonehew?

[MaStAViC]

Hi, I hope you are doing well.
I equipped my girlfriend's Bow Amazon Act2 Might Mercenary with an Ethereal Bonehew Ogre Axe, and am trying to figure out what other items he should use in order to stay alive and fight beside her level 83 Amazon and her Valkyrie. Currently, he is wearing Shaftstop and Guillaume's Face Winged Helm, though I may switch the Guillaume's Face to a Tal Rasha's Helm for 10% Life Leech and other mods.

I am trying to figure out the mercenary's attack speed using Bonehew, which is a 0 base speed weapon that has 30%IAS. The weapon comes with two nifty sockets and I would like recommendations of what to socket the weapon with, as well as what to socket the armor and helmet with. Any gear change recommendations would also be appreciated.

Thank you,
Victor Ly
*mastavic

[Darkflight]

Hi, I hope you are doing well.
I equipped my girlfriend's Bow Amazon Act2 Might Mercenary with an Ethereal Bonehew Ogre Axe, and am trying to figure out what other items he should use in order to stay alive and fight beside her level 83 Amazon and her Valkyrie. Currently, he is wearing Shaftstop and Guillaume's Face Winged Helm, though I may switch the Guillaume's Face to a Tal Rasha's Helm for 10% Life Leech and other mods.

I am trying to figure out the mercenary's attack speed using Bonehew, which is a 0 base speed weapon that has 30%IAS. The weapon comes with two nifty sockets and I would like recommendations of what to socket the weapon with, as well as what to socket the armor and helmet with. Any gear change recommendations would also be appreciated.

Thank you,
Victor Ly
*mastavic

You have a decent setup for your mercenary there. Here are some suggestions:

Vampire Gaze as main helm, can be switched to Guilaumes when you fight act bosses. If you can't get it, I would suggest using the Tal Rashas instead. Guilaumes Face is a good mercenary helm when fighting bosses, but doesn't cut it against normal monsters since the Crushing Blow will be kind of wasted.

Shaftstop is a good choice for armor, and will increase survivability considarably.

I usually socket Bonehew with Shael and Amn.

[MaStAViC]

Hi, Darkflight, thank you for the prompt reply. Will a SHAEL rune in Bonehew bring it to the next frame of attack speed for a Might Mercenary? I was thinking about ditching Guillaume Face for a Tal Rasha's because I was not sure if I should socket the Bonehew with any AMN runes (I'll think about Vampire Gaze, but don't think I can afford it at the moment). Thanks again!

I would appreciate any other suggestions,
*mastavic

[samithedood]

if u socket it with an amn i would keep the gulls face on your gf's merc will die vs act bosses, but saying that there will be a valk tanking as well so i dunno, bosses don't provide leech in hell s ur only choice is lifetap if u want leech or just ignore it and let him die. tals helm is a nice helm though ut has resists and lifeleech if u don't get leech elsewhere use this helm.

[krischan]

It depends on the amazon build and her equipment.

If she's a strafer with a way to trigger Amp (e.g. from Atma's Scarab which I highly recommend for PvM), she will be able to deal with nearly anything on her own if she's left alone, so you won't need the merc for killing, but just for tanking and providing auras. In that case you won't need any CB at all, except you want to kill Baal. Better boost damage, IAS, leech, res and fhr, so he will survive as long as possible.

The only act boss a strafer needs help with is Baal because it takes so awfully long to kill him without any CB. He would be the only monster where Guillaume's will provide significant help, I guess.

[MrKaxe]

Courtesy of RTB:


Act 2 Merc Normal Attack WSM 0 ActionFrame
IAS ActionFrame
0 12
11 11
26 10
48 9
86 8
180 7

With a Shael and an Amn as Darkflight says, you get a respectable 9 frame attack with your merc...stick with that and the Shaft for %dmg reduction and Tal's Mask for Life, Res and huge leech

dk

[MaStAViC]

if u socket it with an amn i would keep the gulls face on your gf's merc will die vs act bosses, but saying that there will be a valk tanking as well so i dunno, bosses don't provide leech in hell s ur only choice is lifetap if u want leech or just ignore it and let him die. tals helm is a nice helm though ut has resists and lifeleech if u don't get leech elsewhere use this helm.
Thanks for the suggestions.

It depends on the amazon build and her equipment.

If she's a strafer with a way to trigger Amp (e.g. from Atma's Scarab which I highly recommend for PvM), she will be able to deal with nearly anything on her own if she's left alone, so you won't need the merc for killing, but just for tanking and providing auras. In that case you won't need any CB at all, except you want to kill Baal. Better boost damage, IAS, leech, res and fhr, so he will survive as long as possible.

The only act boss a strafer needs help with is Baal because it takes so awfully long to kill him without any CB. He would be the only monster where Guillaume's will provide significant help, I guess.
Thanks for the reply and information. With your suggestion that Baal "would be the only monster where Guillaume's will provide significant help," I have decided to use Tal Rasha's Mask instead. As for Amplify Damage, the Amazon is using a upgraded 166%ED Witchwild String socketed with a SHAEL and an IAS jewel with a second mod. Her amulet is a Cat's Eye so she can reach a certain attack speed frame.

Courtesy of RTB:


Act 2 Merc Normal Attack WSM 0 ActionFrame
IAS ActionFrame
0 12
11 11
26 10
48 9
86 8
180 7

With a Shael and an Amn as Darkflight says, you get a respectable 9 frame attack with your merc...stick with that and the Shaft for %dmg reduction and Tal's Mask for Life, Res and huge leech

dk
Thank you very much for the attack speed frames. I've decided to socket the Bonehew with an AMN rune and a SHAEL rune.

Any ideas as to what I should socket the Tal Rasha's Mask and Shaftstop with? Would perfect rubies be a good idea?

Thank you!
Victor Ly
*mastavic

[MrKaxe]

You are welcome Vic, pRubies would be a good idea if you have some spare socket quests to burn, your merc will love you for them!

[PrkChopXpress]

Courtesy of RTB:


Act 2 Merc Normal Attack WSM 0 ActionFrame
IAS ActionFrame
0 12
11 11
26 10
48 9
86 8
180 7

With a Shael and an Amn as Darkflight says, you get a respectable 9 frame attack with your merc...stick with that and the Shaft for %dmg reduction and Tal's Mask for Life, Res and huge leech

dk

I'm glad I popped in this thread, as I was just about to ask for this info. Would you happen to know if WSM and IAS are just cumulative for an A2 merc? So if I've got a -10 WSM weapon, I'd just subtract 10 from each of those bp's?

[MrKaxe]

I'm glad I popped in this thread, as I was just about to ask for this info. Would you happen to know if WSM and IAS are just cumulative for an A2 merc? So if I've got a -10 WSM weapon, I'd just subtract 10 from each of those bp's?


Act 2 Merc Normal Attack WSM -10 ActionFrame
IAS ActionFrame
0 11
13 10
30 9
60 8
129 7


There you go my good sir...courtesy of MageChick (thread) and RTB (extensive knowledge!)

[yongming]

Bonehew with shael/amn is nice.with tal's helm's 10%leech,your merc should survive through a tough battle.and seems no need to sock tal's helm,unless you have no other useful stuffs to sock.
for the armor i have different opinion.for bosses like duriel or meph,shaftstop and gull's face should work well.but for other situations,i suggest gladiator's(ethereal if possible),cuz of the CBF,FHR,and magic damage reduce...