Armor strategies... need advice.

[Knarlfist]

Like many, I'm an old veteran returning after many years, drawn by the hype of D3 coming soon. I'm slowly but surely getting back the knowledge, not making simple leveling mistakes, learning the new jargon brought on by latest patch changes, etc.

One aspect of the new changes I have yet to enjoy experiencing, is the ability to "Up" uniques. But as it stands, I am currently having problems keeping my merc alive on MF Boss runs.... he does fine in mob packs, yet is suffering from a lack of good gear to withstand the penalties/higher dmg taken when facing Diablo/Baal.


Now on to my dilemma: I know in the old days, there would be no question. You would plop a Vamp Gaze, Shaftstop, and some high dmg/leech weapon on your merc and be done. But I don't have the experience from having made all the mistakes under these new patches..... it seems lately that my merc's problems stem more from elemental dmg, and since "Up'ing" now brings many more equipment combos into the mix, I find myself wondering if upgrading a Guardian Angel armor might not work better than doing a Shaftstop.

I could use some theory crafting here. I don't mind tweaking around the other gear to make one work over the other if it's smarter in the long run (a big plus to re-useability for my other chars). So would a combo of leech, high dmg, and an Up'd Guardian Angel do better on boss runs, or will it be a waste of the runes and just concentrate on dmg reduction?

Thx in advance for any help :)

[sirpoopsalot]

For me, it depends on the area/boss I'm running. So I like to customize my gear for my target(s).

For example, in Countess runs physical damage is more dangerous - by far - than elemental, so Shaftstop+VampGaze remains a fantastic choice. But if you're doing Baal runs, you have to worry about Burning Souls, Dark Lords, the 3rd wave (that casts Hydra), and other elemental attackers... etc.


Overall & generally though, having reasonable amounts of Life Leech (and a big-damage weapon) remains the most proven way to keep your merc alive. After that, resists tend to be about as important as damage reduction nowadays. And after those, IAS and FHR are nice to have too, as well as 'cannot be frozen'. Generally, you'll want to balance all of these as much as reasonably possible, with the only mod that you absolutely "need" being leech, with a big-damage weapon being very close to "required" too.

If you're focusing on bosses, it's also very helpful to the merc if you have him equipped with "slows target" equipment... Blackhorn's Face (helm) and/or KelpieSnare (weapon) can do wonders for your mercs survivability against an act boss... I think slowing is capped at 50% though, so more might not be better. Crushing Blow will help him too, since it can really speed up a battle against a high-life enemy (like a boss).


Currently my favourite 'cure-all' merc setup is a Prayer mercenary from Act2, wielding an Insight polearm. That alone gives decent hitpoint regeneration for your character, as well as fantastic mana regeneration. I equip him with Fortitude armour (resists & enhanced damage) and VampGaze socketed with an IAS jewel (life leech and damage reduction).

The things he's missing are Crushing Blow, FHR and Cannot Be Frozen, but none of those are essential anyways. And the rest of the setup provides a nice boost to his offense & defense, as well as helping keep my character's lifebulb and manabulb full.

[Knarlfist]

Thx for the opinion.

For starters I was thinking an UP'd Guardian, and perhaps even upgrading an Ethereal Kelpie Snare, which would leave me with either a leech helm or a Vamp Gaze for the last piece (Holy Freeze Merc). I know it's not perfect, but it would give me a nice blend of survivability on both mobs AND bosses.

Or I could do as you are suggesting: make 2 sets, and swap out depending on if I'm downing bosses or just roaming zones. I'm sure it'd be cheaper that way, but in some way I need to try upgrading something soon.... it's one of the new patch things that I'm really dieing with excitement to see in action. I guess some people would just tell me I'm wasting the runes tho =p

[LastZodiac]

Heh.. I got a better answer, as long as your merc isnt getting 1 shot:

Have a lifetap charges weapon on your switch.

[Knarlfist]

Do I even need to upgrade an Eth Kelpie? Or is it wiser to keep it low dmg, to combat exploding Dolls (it's a big problem for me when playing my Sorc)?

I think the slow could help a lot with keeping him alive against bosses, and then I could use your Lifetap suggestion along with some life leech from gear. I'm just so addicted to his Insight polearm... I shudder to give up my crutch :(

And where can I pick up a lifetap weapon the easiest? Keep in mind I'm only on Act1 Hell so far... I've been staying in NM for MF runs until I can find some major upgrades to our gear, and I'm not sure of which vendor to visit to look for lifetap. Thx guys.

[sirpoopsalot]

You should be able to purchase wands from vendors with LifeTap charges by now (assuming you're over level ~60 or thereabouts :p)... Malah in Act5 is usually my preferred vendor for wands, but I can't remember if the guy in Act2 carries them too. If he does sell wands, spawn a map (in Nightmare) with the town exit next to him and run in-&-out shopping... you should have your wand in a few minutes (hopefully).


For the Kelpie, you could always socket an Amn rune in it... cheap, easy, and moderately effective. If upgraded, your merc will have decent leech with just the Amn, freeing up your helm-slot for a non-leeching item. And, I do recommend that upgrade... it'll add quite a bit of damage to your merc.

With Guardian Angel on a merc and the Amn'ed-eth Kelpie, I used to use a Kira's Guardian (unique Tiara)... this will max his resists easily, and the Kira's comes with 'cannot-be-frozen' and some FHR. You can always socket the armour & helm with other things too (I'd probably pick IAS jewels).

Without socketing an Amn in the Kelpie (but using it) and equipping the Guardian Angel, I'd probably use Tal's Mask for the helm (boosts resists 15% and has 10% life leech). A VampGaze isn't a bad choice either, but that means your resists really won't get much advantage of the benefits from the Guardian Angel (until you get the merc to a moderately high level).


I'm not sure what to tell you about the exploding Dolls; they're always dangerous for sorcs... If your sorc has a skill like Nova or Frost Nova, you might be able to use those to help keep them at a long range. Otherwise, I usually just use teleport to back-off, then run in the opposite direction from what the merc runs after the teleporting. Often you can put enough space between you and the dolls to not get hit when the merc kills them (and the Dolls will hopefully tank the merc, and not your sorc). :p

[Knarlfist]

welp... for now I took off the MF gear, gave him an Undead Crown and a Bonehew w/Amn. He hits damn hard now, but I'm not liking the loss of Insight.

I'm sitting at 74 Sorc right now.. looks like I might have to either get to Act5 Hell and start searching for an Elite 4socket polearm to make a better Insight in, or maybe trade for one. I know it sounds really lazy, but I spent my Sorc points around the decision to use Insight.

Thankfully I can always pass on the sweet Bonehew to another char's merc.

[Trakiel]

My standard setup for Act 2 mercs is a Reaper's Toll, Shaftstop, and Tal's Mask. I really think the Reaper's Toll is about the best unique merc weapon out there, since it has lots of life leach and ctc Decreptify. The Decreptify is a huge lifesaver, since the monsters attacking him attack slower and do a less damage per attack. The Mask and Shaftstop give a pretty good mix of defense and resists.

[Blood_And_Iron]

First, it would help a lot if you give us some more information about your status, realm or SP? MF progression? It sounds like you've been back for a while if you have eth Kelpie and the resources to up a Guardian Angel.

For bosses runs, the keys are Snare + Resists + Leech + Crushing Blow, in that order.

Without going into the runeword combinations, Reaper's Toll is best. Eth Kelpie is great for act bosses, but Reaper's Toll is better, in all practical ways. There are a few alternatives if you want more damage, just look in the elite polearm/spear sections. Kelpie snare for me was always the dirt cheap solution to boss runs while my sorc does damage. I never bothered up'ing any.

Always max your resists if you can. It is more important than DR. I tried Shaft a long time ago and it sucked until I went resists instead. Max in this order, Fire, Lightning, Cold and Poison. For cheap solutions, I use Tal's Mask and usually RalOrtThul'd Girswald's Heart or Black Hades. Both armors have high defense, drop often and are completely useless otherwise. I use RalOrtTal for Hell Meph only runners. Guardian Angel does not provide resists.

Guillame's Face is the best merc helm for bosses. With the very cheap combo of Reaper's + Guillame's + resist armor, there's no sense using anything fancier.

Once your merc's resists are max'd for the difficulty by leveling, you can switch to the armor of your choice.

Insight is fine. Yes, I'm also looking for higher damage polearm :) Make sure you have leech on your helm, like Tal's mask, there shouldn't be any problems.

Of course, for boss running, I prefer Reaper's. It makes the process extremely simple to the point of boredom.

Better setups exists when you're using runewords. I won't go into them here :)