Necro merc... a Rogue works just fine

[lpblasch]

Necro merc... a Rogue works just fine

My Hardcore Fishymancer is in Normal, now level 29, and instead of using the recommended Act 2 merc for his aura I kept the Rogue from Act 1. She has lousy gear, as do I, but it turns out that she helped tremendously in Act 2 in Maggot and Arcane, where the skellie army always blocks the melee merc. She also did very well in Act 3 in tight spaces like the Spider Cave, Flayer Dungeon, etc.

It could very well be that in Nightmare and beyond the Act 2 aura is valuable, but for now I recommend the ranged merc for necros who summon lots of supporters because she can attack through the horde and stays back out of trouble so she seldom dies.

 

[Arreat_mercenary]

I think it's a great idea lpblasch, but a might aura is almost invaluable for Fishymancer, it increases your army damage by an impressive amount, making NM a breeze (in hell you'll use almost exclusively Corpse Explosion).

Anyway, a Fishy is a very safe char, as for the maggot lair, teleport charges help a lot to advance or put your army directly to the enemy

 

[bladejj]

You probably could even keep your Rogue all the whole through normal and then switch it out for a might merc in nightmare. I never really liked Rogue's, although I haven't played with them past act 2 normal. Decently suited and being well protected by all your skellies, I could see her inflicting some pain through normal.

 

[VCrow]

My Hardcore Fishymancer is in Normal, now level 29, and instead of using the recommended Act 2 merc for his aura I kept the Rogue from Act 1. She has lousy gear, as do I, but it turns out that she helped tremendously in Act 2 in Maggot and Arcane, where the skellie army always blocks the melee merc. She also did very well in Act 3 in tight spaces like the Spider Cave, Flayer Dungeon, etc.

It could very well be that in Nightmare and beyond the Act 2 aura is valuable, but for now I recommend the ranged merc for necros who summon lots of supporters because she can attack through the horde and stays back out of trouble so she seldom dies.

The normal difficulty act 2 mercenaries aren't very useful, but in nightmare and hell difficulty, a might mercenary is still the best option. The might aura is not capped, so it continues to increase at 10/32 * merc's level. Also, ranged weapons get a penalty to crushing blow, and your merc's crushing blow is your primary way of damaging Baal.

 

[Corrupted]

The normal difficulty act 2 mercenaries aren't very useful, but in nightmare and hell difficulty, a might mercenary is still the best option. The might aura is not capped, so it continues to increase at 10/32 * merc's level. Also, ranged weapons get a penalty to crushing blow, and your merc's crushing blow is your primary way of damaging Baal.

It's capped at level 20 actually - hits at level 64.

 

[DIIRob]

It's capped at level 20 actually - hits at level 64.

Nah, it hits at about level 97 in 1.10+. Maybe not 97, but it's somewhere in the late 90s.

 

[VCrow]

The Merc's aura is dependant on the difficulty you get them from. The Merc auras all have level restrictions with the exception of the Might Merc aura. The formula for calculating the level of an aura is:

10/32 of a level per level of the hirling (hlvl). So a level 98 might merc aura would be 10/32*98 = level 30 might aura.​

The level caps for the aura's are dependant on the difficulty from which you hire them and can be seen below:
Normal Difficulty
Combat Prayer (hlvl 9 = alvl 3, max. alvl = 18)
Defensive Defiance (hlvl 9 = alvl 3, max. alvl = 18)
Offensive Blessed Aim (hlvl 9 = alvl 3, max. alvl = 18)
Nightmare Difficulty
Combat Thorns (hlvl 31 = alvl 9, max. alvl = 17)
Defensive Holy Freeze (hlvl 31 = alvl 9, max. alvl = 17)
Offensive Might (hlvl 31 = alvl 8, There is no cap on Might level )
Hell Difficulty
Combat Prayer (hlvl 55 = alvl 18, max. alvl = 16)*
Defensive Defiance (hlvl 55 = alvl 18, max. alvl = 16)*
Offensive Blessed Aim (hlvl 55 = alvl 18, max. alvl = 15)*
The figures for hell diff show that where the same merc hired from normal diff, they would have an aura level (alvl) of 18 when they reached hlvl 55 but the max aura a Hell diff merc can have is 16. Hence if you want a higher lvl aura, hire a merc from a lower difficulty.

As far as I know, this guide is still mostly accurate for 1.11. The only thing more effective than a might mercenary is a might mercenary wielding Pride. ^_^

 

[pancakeman]

I, too, use a Rogue instead of an Act 2 merc. On p8, in Act 5, she is still my main source of damage, and functions well when my skellies block off a narrow pass and she can rain death down from behind them. I don't know the statistics, but this definitely seems to be working better than the Act 2 my b.net fishy uses.