The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

[Romasm]

The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Maybe i want to try these dudes out. Lets say i dont really need anything a other merc can offer, would these mercs be viable in hell? If i gave him a Eth upped Viper/ Eth bugged Spirit Monarch/ Eth Shako/ Spirit sword (better options?). Could it give decent damage? I want it to kill things. In hell.

 

[phool]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

If you made a pure foher it'd probably kill a fair bit faster than you... when playing something like an untwinked barb I sometimes used to like a cold one just for the freeze. Light do the best damage but it's still pretty pathetic.

 

[helvete1]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Maybe i want to try these dudes out. Lets say i dont really need anything a other merc can offer, would these mercs be viable in hell? If i gave him a Eth upped Viper/ Eth bugged Spirit Monarch/ Eth Shako/ Spirit sword (better options?). Could it give decent damage? I want it to kill things. In hell.

For him to carry an eth monarch, he still need substantial strength from other gear. Switch out shako with Andyface, or give him an enigma

 

[struikje]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

give him lawbringer (or azurewrath) as wepon, take a cold one, and that is a very handy merc for in cs. I've seen some people use them, but they were more used to kb those undead, and to freeze other monsters. I doubt they'll do much dmg though.

Struikje

 

[EquiLa]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

give him lawbringer (or azurewrath) as wepon, take a cold one, and that is a very handy merc for in cs. I've seen some people use them, but they were more used to kb those undead, and to freeze other monsters. I doubt they'll do much dmg though.

Indeed you've seen someone using it :wink3:

I use it on my zeal/dreamer for the undeads. The "minor" freeze is just a bonus.

You might aswell use the A5 Barbs for Lawbringer but since its mostly for the aura, a3 is the superior ones since they next to never die.

For him to carry an eth monarch, he still need substantial strength from other gear. Switch out shako with Andyface, or give him an enigma

But you have a potential jewel/rune spot in viper aswell. At ~90 something you're just some points low to use it.

Lawbringer/ Eth Spirit / Eth Viper / Delirium is the way to go
/Equila

(Lawbringer: Higher Aura / GF / 'Dex' / Def vs Azurewrath: Stats / +1 Skill ,if you lean towards azure check the dex req first)

 

[Solbaer]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

I tried lot of build up whit my act 3 merc...

pref lawbringer Eth kira, Eth Ga sokcet vex, Stormshield socket ber

 

[NASE]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

can anyone remind me, I know sanctuary ignors physical res on undead, though does that work for party members - i.e. me if my merc uses azurewrath? And thus making my damage larger versus undead?

 

[helvete1]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

can anyone remind me, I know sanctuary ignors physical res on undead, though does that work for party members - i.e. me if my merc uses azurewrath? And thus making my damage larger versus undead?

Only works for melee attacks IIRC. And definately only for the owner of the aura.

 

[krischan]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

I tried lot of build up whit my act 3 merc...

pref lawbringer Eth kira, Eth Ga sokcet vex, Stormshield socket ber

That gear doesn't add str to equip the Stormshield. At which level does your act 3 merc have enough str for that ? I don't have the link with merc stats at hand atm, but it's somewhere in the upper 90s IIRC. At that level, Kira's adds far more res than needed, even though maxres is at 90% (95% for fire). Stormshield already adds cold and lightning res, so a Rockstopper+Tal (or a poison res/-req jewel in an upgraded one... str reqs will be lower than for the Stormshield then) will most probably do a better job, as its fhr and DR are very useful.

 

[EquiLa]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

That gear doesn't add str to equip the Stormshield. At which level does your act 3 merc have enough str for that ? I don't have the link with merc stats at hand atm, but it's somewhere in the upper 90s IIRC. At that level, Kira's adds far more res than needed, even though maxres is at 90% (95% for fire). Stormshield already adds cold and lightning res, so a Rockstopper+Tal (or a poison res/-req jewel in an upgraded one... str reqs will be lower than for the Stormshield then) will most probably do a better job, as its fhr and DR are very useful.

Since it's about endgame I don't see a levelreq of 90+ as that much of an issue.

Rockstopper isn't such a bad idea at all.
I still think delirium is the way to go. The 'On Struck' properties (+confuse on my char) are great for crowd control and proccs(WoW-only word?) more then needed to keep the guy alive.

Tal as in Tal-Rasha chest? Can't come up with anything..

Wonder how good a PDR equip works in conjunction with Stormshield Ber. Eth Gladiators Bane Sol + random helm is probably quite nice aswell.

Still: Delirum / Viper / Spirit gives you Ress / +5 all / ~70 FCR / CTC probably adds the most to his killing capabilities.
/Equila

A3 Cold Stats:
Lvl Str
90 143
95 149
98 153

(SS can't spawn eth since it has the indestruct property right?)

 

[McCain123]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Stormshield gives 30 str itself, so after using a 3 PAme mask to equip it, you can put on Kira´s helm.

Solbaer´s equipment is one of the most viable ( if not the most viable ) for CS mercs. Some however change the Stormshield for Phoenix, although not everyone ( especially in HC ) likes the idea of your merc using your precious corpeses.

[Edit] Socketing Vexes is uncommon though. Ums or 15% all res jewels, with nice second mod are more common to keep res at 90% even with lower res on.

 

[krischan]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Since it's about endgame I don't see a levelreq of 90+ as that much of an issue.

I wrote "upper 90s", that's quite a difference :tongue:

Tal as in Tal-Rasha chest? Can't come up with anything..

No, I meant a Tal rune, to add poison res. Mercs die easily from poison - visit Andy and you will see. They also won't stop losing life when being down to 1 life and they can even die from it in town.

A3 Cold Stats:
Lvl Str
90 143
95 149
98 153

(SS can't spawn eth since it has the indestruct property right?)

If these numbers are right, an act 3 merc needs +str gear to be a be to equip a Stormshield (str req 156) or a hel/-req jewel in it. A Stormshield cannot be ethereal.

Stormshield gives 30 str itself, so after using a 3 PAme mask to equip it, you can put on Kira´s helm.

I knew somebody would suggest that :azn:

There is no str bug for mercs, so that won't work.

 

[helvete1]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

There is no str bug for mercs, so that won't work.

Yes there is. In singleplayer, I sometimes need to re-equip my mercs Insight CV in ATMA because without the 5 str from the weapon itself, he can't use it.

About a DR/MDR merc, that doesn't sound too bad. I imagine the following setup:

Eth Gerkes Sanctuary "Sol" (30/16/18 is perfect)
Eth Gladiator's Bane "Sol" (20/20/200 would be ideal of course...)
Artisan's Tiara of Life Everlasting "SolSolSol"
Lawbringer (for the aura and rather occational decrep)

Adds up to 96(!) DR, 38 MDR, 30 all resist, good block and defense and even cannot be frozen.

I think I'm going to have to try this after I get the motivation to play my b.net hammerdin again.

 

[EquiLa]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

No, I meant a Tal rune, to add poison res. Mercs die easily from poison - visit Andy and you will see. They also won't stop losing life when being down to 1 life and they can even die from it in town.

Ok, too easy I guess See your point but I can't see why I would use a Tal instead of a decent (and very cheap) whatever/ PR jewel instead. Anything is better then some plain ress.

Socketing Vexes is uncommon though. Ums or 15% all res jewels, with nice second mod are more common to keep res at 90% even with lower res on.

The ress from kiras is more then needed imo. Adding even more is just adding frosting under the cake

Sol/Mal in Kira/GA isn't such a bad choice if you want some serious mitigation.

If these numbers are right, an act 3 merc needs +str gear to be a be to equip a Stormshield (str req 156) or a hel/-req jewel in it. A Stormshield cannot be ethereal.

The numbers was taken here. (Not sure if it's updated but looked ok when I checked my merc)
/Equila

 

[krischan]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Yes there is. In singleplayer, I sometimes need to re-equip my mercs Insight CV in ATMA because without the 5 str from the weapon itself, he can't use it.

Might it be the case that you think it's not working because the aura isn't activated after he died or after you changed something else from his gear ? That would be a different bug with mercs, it's not str related and it's solved by removing and putting on the runeword again.

Also, you can probably trick ATMA into bypassing the usual checks for merc gear, I'm not denying that. If you need ATMA to achieve something you cannot achieve otherwise (let's consider muling an exception :azn, you are cheating :tongue:

Ok, too easy I guess See your point but I can't see why I would use a Tal instead of a decent (and very cheap) whatever/ PR jewel instead. Anything is better then some plain ress.

Yes, I mentioned a poison res/something jewel as well :tongue:

 

[In The Name of Zod]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

can anyone remind me, I know sanctuary ignors physical res on undead, though does that work for party members - i.e. me if my merc uses azurewrath? And thus making my damage larger versus undead?

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/paladin-offense.shtml
Companions do benefit from it as it will literally remove the 'physical immune' property off an undead whilst playing (done it myself). The aura based knockback effect should help keep the merc alive a little longer too

More info here:

• 
  [*]This Skill works on super unique Undead Monsters (Griswold, Radament etc.) but not on bosses.
  [*]Steal Life/Mana items work well with Sanctuary against immune to physical undead monsters; as long as they have positive drain effectiveness. (See Monsters Section.) Sanctuary does significant damage against undead compared to other auras, because it ignores the %50 Damage resistance which nearly all undead monsters have in Hell diffuculty. (Level 1 Sanctuary %150. Level 20 Fanaticism 373/2=186.5)

 

[Solbaer]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

That gear doesn't add str to equip the Stormshield. At which level does your act 3 merc have enough str for that ? I don't have the link with merc stats at hand atm, but it's somewhere in the upper 90s IIRC. At that level, Kira's adds far more res than needed, even though maxres is at 90% (95% for fire). Stormshield already adds cold and lightning res, so a Rockstopper+Tal (or a poison res/-req jewel in an upgraded one... str reqs will be lower than for the Stormshield then) will most probably do a better job, as its fhr and DR are very useful.

But the kira is socket whit a rare jool str dex an hes also high lvl 96 the ga & kira are both upped.
An i havent tried others helms, only armors an shields.
You have right that he have more resist then needed, but it is kind of cool that Conviction cant break hes resist only fire goes from 95 to 80.
Btw i made a new merc yesterday act2 still miss the knockback

 

[helvete1]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Might it be the case that you think it's not working because the aura isn't activated after he died or after you changed something else from his gear ? That would be a different bug with mercs, it's not str related and it's solved by removing and putting on the runeword again.

Also, you can probably trick ATMA into bypassing the usual checks for merc gear, I'm not denying that. If you need ATMA to achieve something you cannot achieve otherwise (let's consider muling an exception :azn, you are cheating :tongue:

That aura is reactivated by reviving merc, exiting, and create a new game anyway. What I meant was that IF I was to take his insight off, then I wouldn't be able to equip it right away again. Not without giving him 5 str from somewhere else.

ATMA doesn't bypass any gear check (well, you can equip 2 shields, dual-wield with non-barbs, equip class specific on wrong class, etc, but you can't put anything in a slot which couldn't normally go there, so no swords on act2 mercs or stuff like that) except for str, lvl, dex and class requirements.

What I'm saying is that you CAN "float" an item on a merc. It won't turn red as long as total str on merc is greater than the highest str req on an item.

....and btw... if you try to save a character with something "wrong" equipped, it gets deleted. (Equipping two shields IS possible, but only ONE can be saved with the character).

 

[phool]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

Str bugging on mercs is basically the same as on players in 1.11. You can't have an item equipped relying only on +str from itself, only if there is something else with +str equipped.

 

[Dad Daniel]

Re: The act 3 merc. Is it so useless?

good block and defense and even cannot be frozen.

As far as i know the block doesn't work on Act 3 mercs..