Merc question

[ironpaw]

Hey all,

My single player hybrid-lightning-zon is level 55. I've been using the Normal Act 2 Defiance Merc all along. He is now level 54, with 830 base HP's.

I'm in Act 2 Nightmare now...should I bother hiring a new Might/HF merc? Problem is...all the mercs avail only have around 500 ish HP's? Is it worth getting a new aura for less tankage?

[Dacar92]

He'll build up those HP's. Get a might merc if you want more damage.

[Prr]

I will ninja this thread.

I'm lvl 76 now, gonna do Baals to lvl 80 and then hit Hell.
I've always soloed, no Merc since first act (the freebie).

I think I'm pretty much done in with my Lightning, 20 LF 20 LS 20 CS. 1 in prereq.
I have 1 Crit, 1 Penetrate, 1 Pierce.

My question is now: Should I put 1 in prereq for Valk and put 17 points there? Or should I go down the bow tree?

If I have a valk, can I skip a merc? (im poor, so cant kit a merc)

I want to know what's the best choice for me, to beat Hell without too many tears.

Thanks

[Dacar92]

Probably should have made your own thread. However, since you're here, you'll need some kind of physical attack for the LI's. Or some form of - to enemy lit resist. Might want to get higher pierce. Valk can help you tank and will keep baddies off of you. It is up to you. Keep the merc and go valk or try to run hell with strafe, however, you'll need a decent bow. Can you get your hands on a WWS?

BTW, how much damage does that merc do for you and what bow do you have on her?

[Prr]

You misunderstood me. I got no merc. I only had the freebie one, and she died at the hands of Griswald.

I'm poor. I don't have a good bow. I don't even have good Java gear :D


EDIT: I'm planning on getting 10ish hard-points in Pierce.

[Dacar92]

You can't resurrect her? It's only about 50k gold. Pick up a few things and sell them. Then get your merc back.

[Plinko]

Having a valk and a merc is quite handy, especially if you have an act2 merc and plan to use Enigma.

With the valk+merc combo you won't be targeted as much when teleporting allowing you to safely go where you please 90% of the time. Since our teleport speed is slow this is a pretty big benefit, more so if you have low HP.

The valk is also handy for spawning her inside knight packs in chaos sanct. This will save your act2 merc from IM if you're able to kill them fast enough. The decoy can also serve this purpose, but if you have the valk for teleporting it doesn't hurt to have 1 more temporary meat shield. 1 point is good enough IMO.