NM Act2 merc gear... help!!!

[Stefo]

Well, my hireling wears a Leviathan, Bonehew and a random helm, but I wander which is the best gear for skelliemancer's merc!
Starting with the polearm... Pride or Infinity?!
Then the Body armor... Duress or Fortitude?
And finally the helm; Andariel's Visage, Giant Skull, Crown of Thieves, Guillaume's Face or a good crafted Blood Armet?

Thanks for help!!!

[blissfullslayer]

general consensus is infinity/insight (insight more for the mana for ce) i personally like fort as it makes him a tank, and anything that does plus to skillz for the helm as it boost his aruas, or even something with good resistances.

[Hello Jim]

Aura Merc:
Helm: Dream
Armor: Bramble
Wep: Infinity/Pride (Infinity only if you maxed mages. Pride IMO and in general is better)

For "the best" merc:
Helm: Andy
Armor: Fort in eth bugged arm
Wep: Everything. I like eth Bonehew.

- Everything, of course, should be eth
- Insight, IMO, should be made in an Iron Golem. But making one for your merc in an eth CV/CA is great too because of the very nice ED.

[lumpor]

I think pride should be made in golem and infinity on merc, since infinity is better as a weapon. Bramble can be the armor, and for the helm a +3 offensive aura circlet with leeching suffix or some other suffix.

[mephiztophelez]

my merc:
crown of thieves (leech)
g-bane (dr & cbf)
e-insight poker (hits hard, unlimited mana for me :)

[LonghornRob]

my merc:
crown of thieves (leech)
g-bane (dr & cbf)
e-insight poker (hits hard, unlimited mana for me :)

Is unlimited mana necessary, though? I'm at lvl 61, have put 0 points into energy, and I only have to suck down a blue pot whenever I go nuts with CE. I never have problems with finding those blue pots, either.

[Stefo]

I have 8 mana potions in my belt, but I use them only when I have to raise my army or against Nihlathak... to make every corpse disappear in a cloud of burning blood and bones ^^'
Btw, I'm quite happy about the (mid-low level) gear my merc's wearing (Leviathan and Bonehew, unfortunately none is ethereal), just waiting to have the hrs for Pride-Infinity (I have maxed mages too, but I think I prefer Infinity for merc because of the ed and the awesome 40% Chance of Crushing Blow), Fortitude and my Enigma ^^
So now I can afford just a semi-final helm!
Maybe I should try to find a Giant Skull for now (crashing blow...) since I don't need Life leech (I can put 2 Amns in the bonhew) and an Andariel Visage for Infinity time? Or is Andy always recommended?

Thank you!!!

[Zelator]

Andy's face /w 15 IAS, 30 FR jewel
E-bugged Fortitude Sacred Armor
E-Infinity CV//CA

Pride golem

You: Beast

I've heard thats the best setup, but I've never had an superduperuber necro before either.

[LonghornRob]

It would probably be better if you completely skipped Nihlathak. This way, you can keep the portal open and have a nice graveyard of corpses available whenever you need them.

[Stefo]

I know, now... but I didn't when I killed him for the first time ^^
Well, Guillaume face is good too (I just found it ^^), isn't it? Btw, I'm quite happy now, so I'll wait just to have the hrs for runewords and an Ethereal Andy ^^

Thank you!

[NumtyDoo]

It is pretty universally agreed upon that Infinity is better than pride on your merc.

Without ED on pride, your going to have a 200 damage weapon versus a 900 damage weapon with infinity.

So not only is your merc's damage nerfed with pride, pride freezes target, which means popped bodies, which means no CE, without CE your killing speed is really going to slow down.

Infinity has 40% CB which really helps you get that 1st body faster for your CE chain, also infinity's aura boosts CE damage, which means faster killing speed, and less CE's needed to get the job done, which means more mana in your blue bowl. As you can see, even without mages, infinity is better than pride.

I actually even prefer insight over pride on my merc, as the damage is higher and gets that 1st body faster, the unlimited mana is nice too.

The only way I recomend pride is in an iron golem, but that is too rich for my blood, cause they poof sometimes.

[Bauer]

Not trying to hijack but why is etheral better?

[lumpor]

If you want to raise your skeleton army performance, then +3 offensive aura circlet is the best helm

[Arkansaw]

If you want to raise your skeleton army performance, then +3 offensive aura circlet is the best helm

I thought only +all skill items work on mercs?

[lumpor]

Oh, they do? Didn't know that.

[Mad Mantis]

Not trying to hijack but why is etheral better?

The +%XX mods are higher on ethereal stuff and Mercs don't use durability.

[Thirteenth]

Id go with aura items, so id take Might merc with Pride for conc aura and probably a bramble armour for thorns.

Helmet something with nice leech such as CoA or Vamp gaze?

[NumtyDoo]

Don't use pride on your merc, infinity/obedience/insight are all better options, if you feel the need to have conc aura, do it with an iron golem.

[LonghornRob]

What about the Woestave for the merc? I figure I don't need him as a killing machine, so why not equip him with something that will cripple monsters instead. I also have a Hone Sundan, which may be useful on bosses b/c of its CB. Plus it has 3 sockets, although I wouldn't know what to put in them.

[mephiztophelez]

What about the Woestave for the merc? I figure I don't need him as a killing machine, so why not equip him with something that will cripple monsters instead..

it can work. but a Kelpie Snare is t3h sex for screwing over bosses.

ever seen how slow big D is when whacked by a Kelpie Snare, clay golem and a holy freeze aura?

you could make a cup of coffee between when he starts a melee swing and when he finishes it.

[NumtyDoo]

I figure I don't need him as a killing machine, Your merc is by far your best/fastest killer. You want to give him the best items possible. Let Clay Golem/Decrep/Cold Mage do the slowing. Give your merc a high damage stick, life leach, and CB.