My merc keeps dieing inn Cs!

[freakytah]

So, i have a orb/lighning sorc with many flawes.. but this shouldn¨.t really matter for the merc..?

she is a lvl 88 sorc with a cta1

the merc has forti with 2850ish def
infy
and tal helm for the life leech ( this is the only thing i can see that needs to change )

I think its the lower resist spell that gets him, but i dont see many ways to uppen his resist ?

[Noodle]

Noodle would like to inquire whether it is in fact Iron Maiden that the aforementioned mercenary fellow is being cursed with. That would not surprise Noodle one bit, no matter how small, as Iron Maiden casting Oblivion Knights run rampant through the halls of the Chaos Sanctuary.

Coming to you live from the Noodle Compound, this has been Noodle posting on behalf of Noodle.

[freakytah]

noodle is probarbly right... but does he have a solution ? and what is this iron maiden?

[freakytah]

ok i found out what it is by my self ( :O )

but the question still remains... is there any solution ? Or should i just not let him tag along ?

[jeremyrx]

You have three possible solutions, in order of desirability:

1. You can equip him with a low damage (read normal quality) poke stick.
2. You can throw on a shaftstop and vamp gaze to get 50% damage reduced and watch him like a hawk so after the first one or two hits you give him a big purple.
3. Use an Act 1 or Act 3 merc.

EDIT: I'm dumb :( Of course you cant damage or curse ally's :facepalm:

[lAmebAdger]

can you curse your own merc? how that?

oh, and i would suggest high elemental damage pokeystick or low phys. damage open wounds stick...

[Noodle]

Noodle would like to mention that Oblivion Knights are a sissy bunch, and will invariably cast Decrepify once a threat looms large. Judicial use of teleport to reposition your paid killing moron so that the unfortunate iron Maiden curse is overwritten has passed stringent tests in the Noodle Laboratories by trained professionals.

Noodle would also like to mention that an alternate option is simply to let the pointy stick wielding desert chap remain peacefully dead (no zombie talk here) whilst you clear the neighborhood of offending opponents. The chap may be resurrected once the coast is clear, for assistance in convincing Diablo of the error of his ways.

[krischan]

It's pretty normal that melee mercs will die in the CS, because of the mentioned IM curse. The only alternative is using an act 1 or act 3 merc or taking away his weapon (less damage obviously leads to less returned damage), but that would lead to death from a lack of leech. As act 1/3 mercs are not that useful for a sorc (IMO), she will have to live without a merc in the CS, respectively avoid that area.

I use an orb/lightning sorc for gathering T/H/D keys, she is superb at that, while I'm doing CS clears with my bowazon, using a valk instead of a merc.

[Agre]

your paid killing moron


bwahaha :worship:

[Bob The Barbarian]

Iron Maiden is indeed the offending item being discussed. Iron Maiden causes damage done by melee type characters to be returned to them, killing them in short order, and has all of us melee type players hiding in terror. Iron Maiden will not affect your sorceress as you probably don't use her to actually hit anything. IM does not affect ranged attacks.

If you are using your merc for the meditation aura (to maintain a mana supply) consider having your sorc borrow it for CS. Let the merc die and kill all of the oblivion knights (note: doom knights do not cast anything). Only open the seal at the top center since this one releases a unique boss who is an oblivion knight. Leave the rest until all minions are dead and then retieve your merc. Open the other seals and kill off the pit lords on the right side of the area and the mana leeching minions on the left side. Diablo will spawn and you can now deal with him in (relative) safety. BTW, be sure to have good fire and lightning resistance as he deals awesome damage in these areas. I also seem to remember that if your mana capacity is larger than your life, Diablo will cast a bone prison on you which can be tough to get out of (teleport out of it if you have that skill)

[lAmebAdger]

can't a bone prison be destroyed with a simple casting of lightning/orb or something? do you have to melee your way out?

[krischan]

Yes, but that might take enough time for Diablo to catch your character with his lightning hose or firestorm. You can usually fight yourself out quickly enough if you can kill Diablo as well, but if your lightning or fire resists aren't maxed, it might become a problem and you might have to (I hate that !) use potions to survive. Better teleport out if you can.

[SnickerSnack]

Here's what I did when I leveled my sorc with hell baal runs.

1. Keep an insight voulge (lowest damage possible) in your stash
2. When you get to an area with OKs, swap the voulge for whatever he was wielding.
3. Now, he can't one-hit-kill himself. So, if he gets IMed, just teleport away and approach again. Alternate tele-orb-tele-orb to take out the doom knights and keep your merc away from them.

It might be easier to go mercless, but by the time I was leveling to 90 (this was also my 5th or 6th sorc to finish the game), I was good enough with the tele that this wasn't a pain to do. In fact, it was a nice break from flying through the Throne of Destruction every time.

[Bladewind]

I made my insight in a bill, he still kills himself in 2 or 3 hits. Bleh. I should go even lower the polearm chain. :p

Good news about being a Hybrid Zon is, that usually the enemy dies before he get IMed. MS range >>> curse range. Just stand around and spam some arrows, Meditation keeps that mana bulb wonderfully full with even just a little mana leech.

[krischan]

Act 2 or 5 mercs are of no help there, you cannot do anything about it. The sooner you get used to that fact, the better. Either he will die from IM or (if you gave him a low damage weapon) from a lack of leech. Just let him kill himself and do the job without a merc. If your character cannot do that, go elsewhere, like to the Pits, Tunnels, River of Flame, WSK 1-3, Travincal or whatever. If you character isn't good at anything, start a new one who is designed more carefully ;).

[Tp Plz]

If you get cursed by Iron Maiden or any other curse that you deem dangerous to continue playing, just use a town portal scroll and talk to Jamella. This will quickly remove the curse, without the hazards of teleporting around to hopefully let another curse override the Iron Maiden. If you don’t want to do that, then your other option is to let the Iron Maiden curse wear off, but believe me it’s much quicker just to head back into town.

Respectively, you can talk to these characters to remove any curses, cure poison, chilling effects and get a refill on your life and mana at any time :smug:

Act 1: Akara
Act 2: Drognan
Act 3: Ormus
Act 4: Jamella
Act 5: Malah

Also, you can do what the other people have said. I.E making the Insight out of a lower damage polearm, but it is often not worth it (though this is open to some dispute). I’m very dependant upon my infinity merc, and he helps take out the unbreakable lightning immunes… And IIRC the only places you have to worry about Iron Maiden is the CS, WSK and the Throne Room. I personally find I don’t get effected by Iron Maiden that much so long as you make Oblivion Knights your first priority and take them out.

Hope this helps. :thumbup:

*Edit* I forgot to mention that you will find Oblivion Knights in the Furnace of Pain too. I find that these Oblivion Knights are more inclined to using Iron Maiden, but this just might be a freak coincidence. They are notably harder to kill too. Whether this information is relevant or not, I don’t know.

[krischan]

Drognan doesn't heal you or removes curses. It's Fara instead, the paladin smith next to the stash. Atma will heal you as well BTW and she is nearer to the town portals.

[Tp Plz]

Drognan doesn't heal you or removes curses. It's Fara instead, the paladin smith next to the stash. Atma will heal you as well BTW and she is nearer to the town portals.

Ah, I figured I'd have got one of those wrong. Can't say that I ever speak to anyone in act 2 to find out, since the only time I use NPC’s to heal is when I’ve been affected by Iron Maiden but thanks for pointing that out Krischan.

[freakytah]

so people basicly have different chars for different runs ?
all the time i put inn to my sorc, and all she is good for is key runs :(

[Bladewind]

Baal = Hammerdins
Ubers = most paladins (most will have smite anyway for Holy Shield)
Pando diablo = most paladins.

Chaos = Hybrid Zons (charged bolt to kill big D)
Cows = Zons
Pits = Zons

Meph = ideally Blizz Sorc
Andy = ideally Fireball sorc
3 act 5 minibosses (shenk, pindle and eldritch) = Light sorcs with infinity

Key Running = Hammerdins / Windies / Sorcs anyone who can tele fast.


of course these are the few popular ones....

[jeremyrx]

so people basicly have different chars for different runs ?
all the time i put inn to my sorc, and all she is good for is key runs :(

Typically people create builds to run specific areas more efficiently.

I pretty much gave away all me gear save for 2 characters with which I can MF an entire game with. These guys are pretty decked out, and not all the runs I do are possible in a timely fashion without good gear, but it could be done.

A typical MF run for me starts with my Meteorb: Countess, Andy, Ancient Tunnels, Summoner, Mephy, Pindle, Nihlathak, and then I go get Wirt's leg and drop it in town. Then I log in with my Lightning Fury Zon and go to Cow's, then the Pit, then Trav, River of Flame, Chaos, Eldritch + Shenk, WSK 2, 3 +Throne and Baal. It takes me a decent amount of time to MF a game, but it is way more fun than just running the same area over and over and over....

[freakytah]

i was unsure but now i know, im starting a lightning fury ama tomorrow :)

another question, it doesn't really belog here, but since you mentioned it jeremyx, how come the portal to pindel is gone when i play ?

thanks

[jeremyrx]

Whoops, I went overboard and forgot I haven't been doing Pindle.

You can't get to Pindle if you activate the Waypoint in the Halls of Pain. I don't do Pindle as I do Nihlathak for keys.

Actually now that you brought that to my attention I think I'll start my runs with my Amazon and use her to kill Pindle (since she hasn't done the Nihlathak quest) then bring in my Sorceress to take out Nihlathak.

[Rice_Farmer3]

Keep an eye out, and as soon as you see the swirling red comet things above your merc's head (HORRIBLE description, I know. You know what IM looks like). Start teleporting nonstop around the oblivion knights until you get cursed with something else. He's probably safe then.

[krischan]

You can't get to Pindle if you activate the Waypoint in the Halls of Pain.

Actually the portal only closes if you have solved the Nihlathak quest in addition to that.

[Dizzymjewu]

I'm rocking a Shaftstop + Vampire Gaze + normal polearm on my Mercenary and he keeps alive long enough, though if i do nothing about it he will die eventually :)

[freakytah]

Dizzy: So you only bring ur merc with you to keep the deamons and beasts busy?
I sort of need him for the infy aura.. i could make an infy inn the lowest polearm
there is though.. but would be such a waste.. :P

[lAmebAdger]

infinity cracked bardiche *drool*

[krischan]

I wouldn't keep an extra set of merc gear just for the CS, that's simply ineffective.