Merc for MF Sorc...

[Glass Jar]

Merc for MF Sorc...

Alright, I need some help thinking of a merc to use with my MF Sorc. She's a Fire Baller with Frozen Orb support. I plan on making the merc strong and not really emphasis on adding to MF. I mainly desire to keep my MF between 200-300 if possible. I also don't use MF charms since I think they're a complete waste of space unless they have either stat, life, or resist mod with it. Was just wondering what kind of stuff you guys have tried out with your MF Sorcs.

I was thinking of using an Act 2 Defense, Act 2 Offense, or an Act 5 merc.

 

[Eilo Rytyj]

Personally, I have an Act 2 Normal Combat merc, the Prayer aura, with an Insight polearm. Very nice mana and life regen, and a decent tank.

Otherwise, go with an Act 2 Nightmare Defensive, Holy Freeze, with whatever weapon you have for him. Obedience is a great, cheap runeword that works wonders on dual Cold/Fire immunes. Some people use an Insight weapon on a Holy Freeze merc, but I don't think it's as good as it is on a Prayer merc.

Act 3 merc's aren't as good, you'll want your merc to tank for you, and Act 3 mercs do anything but that.

 

[Glass Jar]

Shouldn't be Act 3, should be act 5. Sorry about that. I'm not going to use a Prayer merc. Those aren't necessary for MFing IMO. Meditation alone would be enough to boost Life/Mana without the need for Prayer. Even then, I wouldn't use Insight anyway since this Sorc will have so much Mana Regen % that Meditation would just be rather pointless anyway. The merc I'm going for is more of a power-house tank that just simply owns things that aren't getting hit by Fire Ball and Frozen Orb and that are Fire and Cold Immune. So Insight and Prayer don't really fit for that kind of goal. Although, it's an idea and it isn't like I can't redo a Merc whenever I feel like it. =P

I could go with Infinity, Dream, with Fortitude armor and make it a Defiance or Holy Freeze merc. Then again I could run an Act 5 Stun merc that uses Last Wish Eth CBlade/BOTH Eth CBlade/Death Eth CBlade, Fortitude armor, with a Cham'd and Pul'd Giant Skull.

I think that would be some good power-house mercs that can fight for themself while I'm picking crap up and looking at stuff while monsters are moving around. The only two mercs I like are Act 2 and 5.

 

[Eilo Rytyj]

Shouldn't be Act 3, should be act 5. Sorry about that. I'm not going to use a Prayer merc. Those aren't necessary for MFing IMO. Meditation alone would be enough to boost Life/Mana without the need for Prayer. Even then, I wouldn't use Insight anyway since this Sorc will have so much Mana Regen % that Meditation would just be rather pointless anyway. The merc I'm going for is more of a power-house tank that just simply owns things that aren't getting hit by Fire Ball and Frozen Orb and that are Fire and Cold Immune. So Insight and Prayer don't really fit for that kind of goal. Although, it's an idea and it isn't like I can't redo a Merc whenever I feel like it. =P

I could go with Infinity, Dream, with Fortitude armor and make it a Defiance or Holy Freeze merc. Then again I could run an Act 5 Stun merc that uses Last Wish Eth CBlade/BOTH Eth CBlade/Death Eth CBlade, Fortitude armor, with a Cham'd and Pul'd Giant Skull.

I think that would be some good power-house mercs that can fight for themself while I'm picking crap up and looking at stuff while monsters are moving around. The only two mercs I like are Act 2 and 5.

Firstly: Insight doesn't regen life on it's own. It synergises with the merc's natural Prayer aura, effectively providing twice the normal regen.

Even with 1 point in Warmth, +mana items and Magefists, and no points in Energy, you're going to run out of mana fairly quickly spamming Fire Balls at 105% FCR (8 frames). Insight makes you almost immune to mana burn, allowing you to teleport to safety if you're surrounded.

It's also a pretty decent whack-stick on it's own. The only dual Cold/Fire immunes you'll come across are Bosses, and even then their minions aren't dual immune, you can clear them, then use Static then Telekinesis while your merc kills the remaining boss.

An Act 5 merc doesn't need Giant Skull, he's already got knockback in the form of Bash. Even then, knockback messes with your FB aiming, which aint a good thing. If it's a dual immune, then Telekinesis provides enough knockback to keep them in place. Pul is possibly the worst thing you could socket it with, the small defense bonus is negligable on a helm.

Andariel's Visage fits a merc better than a GSkull does. You'll want some leech on your merc, Andy's has up to 10%, as well as other great mods for mercs.

If you can afford it, then Infinity, Fortitude and Andy's Visage on a Holy Freeze merc will probably serve you best. Don't bother with Dream, I don't know why people suggest it as a merc helm, it's a very average merc hat. Leave Dream for the Pallys/Sorcs.

 

[Glass Jar]

You should take note that I mentioned the Act 5 merc would be using Stun and not Bash. I'm not going to be shooting what my merc is going to be attacking with Fire Ball anyway. He'll be able to handle whatever he's attacking on his own most likely, unless it's a major boss like Andy.

I guess I'll have to get the items and try some combinations out to really see what you're getting at.

 

[Eilo Rytyj]

You should take note that I mentioned the Act 5 merc would be using Stun and not Bash.

You can't choose what attack he uses, he will use both whenever he wants. All Act 5 mercs have both Stun and Bash, and an equal chance to use both skills at any given time. As he gains in levels, his frequency with Bash and Stun will increase over his normal attack frequency, meaning his AI will choose those skills more often over normal attack.

His Bash skill caps out at slvl 21 for a Normal hired merc. His Stun skill caps at slvl 17. This happens at level 80. As a result of a "feature" (bug?), Bash and Stun will synergise with each other, and those synergies increase with +skill items.

Also, you probably didn't know that the Act 5 mercs hit twice with their normal attack. If you had knockback on him, he'd hit the first hit, then miss the second hit because the monster is out of range.

EDIT: Andy has -50% Fire resist. With any luck, your merc wont reach her before she's toast to 5 Fire Balls.

 

[Tankmobile]

nice would be act2 defiance merc with doom polearm for safety to yourself. the insight///dream////forti setup would be nice on holy freeze merc (i swear by them)
however, if you dont want support auras from your merc, and just want a pure tank go for an act5 merc with the eBotDcb (NOT last wish, lower damage, less leach therefore less surviaval and might aint exactly useful to a sorc) etheral bugged forti and sod the giant skull!!!!!! the massive advantage is he can use an ethereal chammed arreats-dont pass it up.

 

[KremBanan]

As always I reccomend A5 mercs. He doesnt have auras, but he is a pure killingmachine and its rare to use him ( arent you bored with all the A2 mercs?). Give him a Eth Upped Arreats 'shael', Eth Fortitude and a eBOTD Colossus Blade. Pure power and killspeed. Even Andariel has a problem with him.