Upp'ed Shaftstop vs Stone for Hammerdin Insight Prayer Merc at Hellforge

[UberB]

Right now my Prayer merc wears Andy's, Insight Thresher and Upped Eth GA. The armor is the most overrated piece of s*** and my merc likes to die a lot. He just got wasted by a conviction mob which really ticked me off. So I want to change to either Stone or Shaftstop. They both give high defense, Stone with lots of defense and some resists which ends up 75 res all. Shaftstop gives a life bonus and a massive 30 DR. Which do you guys think is better for Hellforge?

My hammerdin is a non tele 125 FCR hammerdin. I use him to do hellforge for my mules. A nice hammer field generally keeps Hephasto in stunlock, but of course my merc needs to survive. Prayer greatly enhances my survival rate so I'm loathe to change to another aura. (prove me wrong though).

Shako
Mara
Hoto
Viper
Spirit Sacred Targe
Frostburns
Arach's
BK + Raven
Treks

Pally torch. 10k hammers. No CTA.

My Stone base: eth 4 socket Wire fleece, eth bug 1072 defense.

[Scudstorm]

I use him to do hellforge for my mules.

You may want to try another character if it's his only use. A summon necro would cost you nothing at all and wouldn't need a very tough merc (only needed for first kill).

That's really an expensive setup for such a poor use...

Concerning the armor, since you seem rich enough, Um'd Shaftstop may be a good idea. If he got resist problems, swap Andy's for an Um'd Tal Mask, which is overkill for resists.

[ProfessionalBerg]

You can use Stone and keep your merc stoned all the time :wink2: Just kidding.

Anyway, if you REALLY need a mercenary, something with PDR like Shaftstop or Leviathan is very viable. However, I found that most of the times, as a hammerdin, I don't need no merc (except when rushing and teleporting alot). I just used redemption. Such a lovely skill.

[UberB]

You may want to try another character if it's his only use. A summon necro would cost you nothing at all and wouldn't need a very tough merc (only needed for first kill).

That's really an expensive setup for such a poor use...

Concerning the armor, since you seem rich enough, Um'd Shaftstop may be a good idea. If he got resist problems, swap Andy's for an Um'd Tal Mask, which is overkill for resists.

I use him for other things, but out of all my chars right now to do River of Flame, hammerdin works the best. I think eth Shaftstop would be better since you can get the 15 res all with an Um, and still maintain similar defense (upped anyway) while getting massive 30 DR.

[AnimeCraze]

I like shaft better, but that's because I am also using it so that my hammer doesn't kill himself from IM. I know some people who swear by fort though, for the chilling armor + extra damage (ie. more leech).

[DiabloLikesMMA]

I've always liked using an act 2 holy freeze merc and a Reapers Toll, holy freeze plus decrep means no one is moving and just waiting for the hammers. I recently made the mistake of making a Fort in a Sacred Armor for him and he can't use it even with an Andys helm.

I would usually use Reapers, Andys and eth Fort. He's got decent resist and very nice LL.