Act 1 Merc - Best Bow

[Drandimere]

Act 1 Merc - Best Bow

Like most folks I've used Act 2 mercs nearly all the time. However, as my playing days wear on I find myself doing builds outside of the usual cookie cutters.

I want to use an Act 1 merc all the way through Hell. Probably not on players 8 - but maybe up to players 4. I'd like her to be able to do some type of effective damage. So, does anyone have any bow suggestions that will allow her to be somewhat effective?

FYI - I'm very familiar with the Merc Guide by Darkness, but I know that it doesn't recommend specific equipment for mercs. Plus, I'm not sure if the + skills information is still the same for v1.10 since that guide was written during 1.09b.

Thanks for any comments!

 

[Kaysaar]

Well, as much as you probably don't' want to hear this, the best bow is Windforce. However, since not everybody has one that they can spare on a merc, other notable bows are upgraded witchwild string, eaglehorn... drat... I can think of any more

 

[Jude]

Like most folks I've used Act 2 mercs nearly all the time. However, as my playing days wear on I find myself doing builds outside of the usual cookie cutters.

I want to use an Act 1 merc all the way through Hell. Probably not on players 8 - but maybe up to players 4. I'd like her to be able to do some type of effective damage. So, does anyone have any bow suggestions that will allow her to be somewhat effective?

FYI - I'm very familiar with the Merc Guide by Darkness, but I know that it doesn't recommend specific equipment for mercs. Plus, I'm not sure if the + skills information is still the same for v1.10 since that guide was written during 1.09b.

Thanks for any comments!

That's funny, I usually keep the Rogue Merc from Act 1 all the way through. It's just so helpful to have some long-ranged help. Anyway, for starting out, I usually get the best bow I can find that has extra damage & three sockets. Then I put the rune that adds damage to the undead in one socket, a skull for life steal in another, and in the third, I put a perfect emerald for tons of poison damage. Then I give her good armor with 3 sockets and fill the sockets with jewels that add damage. For a helmet, I try to find one that has fire & poison resistance, but sometimes I just get one with 2 sockets and fill them with jewels to add more damage.
Jude

 

[Drandimere]

Well, as much as you probably don't' want to hear this, the best bow is Windforce. However, since not everybody has one that they can spare on a merc, other notable bows are upgraded witchwild string, eaglehorn... drat... I can think of any more

Thanks... due to my terrible MF/Grail habit, the only unique/set bow that I DON'T have is a Widowmaker EU Ward Bow... I have all the others, so a Windy wouldn't be a problem whenever she can gets high enough to use it.

Maybe I should rephrase my question. What I really want to know is this - Characters have many skills that allow us to turn your everyday weapon into something pretty deadly. Merc don't have that luxury. They get a helm, armor, and weapon, some increased stats when they level up and a bit of boost from + skills. So, with just a bow (no slvl 20+ skills to pump it up), can an Merc 1 be viable running through hell.

 

[Rizzo]

So, with just a bow (no slvl 20+ skills to pump it up), can an Merc 1 be viable running through hell.

Oh yeah. Give her a windy and watch her rain death upon your enemies...

 

[factotum]

Believe it or not, my Bonemancer Osseous used a Rogue all the way through the game, and even in Hell she was equipped with a nonupgraded Skystrike. Since she was my only means of killing Magic Immunes she did surprisingly well, with a little help from Amp Damage; OK, I always run Hell at /players 1, but even so she generally managed to kill off the MIs I trapped before the 24-second duration on Bone Prison wore off!

 

[Dave in the basement]

Some early alternatives are Goldstrike and Kuko Shakukalo (horribly misspelled, no doubt.) Good luck! My assassin loves her Windforce-wielding mercenary!

Dave :teeth:

 

[moo-cow]

early game there aren't many choices. toward the middle, skystrike, kuko if she's fire, riphook are nice. GSA is nice, eagle i've heard is good.

make sure she has lots of ias, and fr/w also helps because she likes to run around a lot.

 

[nethervoid]

Give her 3 pieces of the Mavina set. lol Although I think it's 4 pieces to get that awesome magic damage from the bow.

 

[Uzziah]

Humph I always liked the rogue wielding the "rogue bow". she is extremely fast with that one. Kuko is a bit odd When the merc fires her normal shot the explosive damage is added when she fires her special shot it's not added.

HOJ is kind of impressive if you can get it on a rogue. Not only do they fire holy fire aura'ed arrows they also have an aura that goes off and hits enemies nearby (too bad its a really weak aura without synergies).

I always liked the ctc merc these are the 3 uniques with ctc:
Skystrike
witchwild string
Goldstrike arch

to start always go with the 3 socket hunters bow with chippies in it. Then you can use uniques or stronger socket bows with rune/gems in them. Speed really increases with rogues so IAS is a blessing to any bow you throw on them.

that my thoughts on act 1

 

[Haida_Bear]

Does anyone know if they've removed the bug/enhancemnt from the Rogue where if you give here items that addup to +3 skills she shoots lighting from her bow?

Haida Bear

 

[Dave in the basement]

Does anyone know if they've removed the bug/enhancemnt from the Rogue where if you give here items that addup to +3 skills she shoots lighting from her bow?

Haida Bear

That no longer works in 1.10 (but I am not sure about the beta). I used to love that!

Dave :teeth:

 

[factotum]

Give her 3 pieces of the Mavina set. lol Although I think it's 4 pieces to get that awesome magic damage from the bow.

Actually it would only be 2 items, but it's a moot point because the Rogue is not an Amazon and cannot equip an Amazon-specific bow like the one in M'avina's set.

 

[Malachi]

It is sad that they removed the +skill effects on rogue mercs. Its not like they were the most used mercs in 1.09 or anything.

I sometimes use Rogue mercs through normal or starts of NM. They do well with little gear really but I just dont like them moving so much around before they finally shoot.

 

[jiansonz]

They do well with little gear really but I just dont like them moving so much around before they finally shoot.

There is a trick (or rather, D2 handiwork) to make her a lot more effective. Rogue´s don´t like company... :lol:


I´ll do my best to explain:

Whenever there is a monster within 1-2 steps from her, she gets stingy. She takes a few shots, moves, takes a shot, etc. This is the behaviour Malachi describes above. I don´t like that either.

What you want is a situation where she has some distance to the monsters and she has the little time she needs to start firing. If you manage to create such a situation, she will be firmly planted to the spot until she can no longer see an enemy, or until you pull her away. I remember my Mojomancer taking out Hell Mephisto with the rogue´s damage alone. I used the "moat trick" and placed her in the ideal postion where Mephisto tries to walk closer but is stopped by the lava, yet he is not close enough to throw any attacks. It took her almost 30 minutes to off Mephy, but she never moved during this time.

What often happens if you have a melee character (with any character, for that matter) is this: You move along and the rogue trails behind you. You encounter a monster pack and start to fight them. The rogue still has "old speed" left and she will often either 1.) bump into your character, which means she is close to monsters (and starts behaving in the way you don´t want) or 2.) walk past you and attract a new pack of monsters. If they are meleers, she will almost certainly be stuck in an unfavourable situation (and use her "bad" behaviour here as well).


Instead, what you should do when you first spot those monsters is to stop and stand in the rogue´s way (you may have to do a little sidestep if she is on the verge of moving past your character). This stops her and forces her into the "look for the nearest monster" routine. She sees the monster pack and starts to fire. NOW is the time to move closer and tank them! However, you should use small measures, not move so far towards them so you pull the rogue with you. If you do it right, you will now have nice artillery support against that entire pack.

Once you get the hang of it, it quickly becomes second nature.


More advanced tactics include:

* On retreat (or when you just want to thin out a pursuing pack). Stand in the rogue´s way, take three steps towards the pursuers and engage them.

* Since you can pull her with you in any direction you want, you can actually place her on the exact square yard you want, if you have some skill. That´s useful in those cases where there is only a small area that will give her a clear shot (e.g. through doorways, through destroyed imp tower passages, through holes in the wall in the RoF bonus areas in act 5, etc.)

 

[Kremtok]

I've always given her Kuko Shakaku as her end-game bow. It works very well for a fire Rogue...does anybody know if she benefits from any synergies using this weapon?

 

[NSXdreamer]

I've always given her Kuko Shakaku as her end-game bow. It works very well for a fire Rogue...does anybody know if she benefits from any synergies using this weapon?

You do know that the explosion arrow on it dosen't actually work on merc, right? The graphic does play, but it does no splash damage at all.

 

[GooberGrape1]

Riphook has LL, IAS, OW, and 30% slowwwww...awesome mods.

I'd up it and socket a rez jewel in there.


GG

 

[Sartok]

I have seen a HOJ bow work well with a nice sorc who has enchant... works wonders in fact.


:xfrosty: