Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

[AlexanderM]

Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

I'm almost through Act II nightmare, and figured I ought to figure out which mercenary I'm going to use. I'm pretty much set on an Act II mercenary (aura-stacking rocks), but I'm don't know which one would work best. Blessed Aim is a bit pointless, as having -85% or more from enemy defense effectively keeps my attack rating sky high, defiance and holy shield could work well together to keep me safe in the fray. Might benefits my damage slightly (comparing listed damage for Vengeance before and after), but it only helps physical damage, which I'm not that big on.

Any thoughts?

 

[Poppis]

Re: Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

I'd say Holy freeze for slow(to counter your slow attack speed) or Might to help you leech.

Or go for the style points and get Act 3 merc.

 

[Luthor]

Re: Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

If you can get the runes, why not an Act 1 Rogue with a Faith Runeword bow (Lvl 12-15 Fanaticism Aura, that's at least +95% Attack rating, +31% Attack Speed and +220% Physical Damage)? That's what I'm planning on going with for my Avenger. So far I've managed to get the Eld rune, so I'm not quite there yet.
As Poppis says, Might will help with leech, and you're guaranteed a might aura whereas the runes for Faith might just never drop. A lvl 60 Merc will have a lvl 11 Might aura, which will give you a 140% bonus to your physical damage, effectively turning a 3% leech into a 7% leech. Using Lvl 28 Vengeance (10.7 mana)with an EBotD Berserker Axe (859 average Physical Damage at Str 138) means you need only 2% mana leech and 63% accuracy to completely cover the mana costs. In Hell, the 50% Physical resist and 1/3 leech efficiency means that you'll be needing 6% for every 1% you would otherwise need, so 2% becomes 12%, or put another way, somewhere between 5%/lvl 60 Merc (lvl 11 Might), and 4%/lvl 95 Merc (lvl 20 Might).
Personally, I'm sticking with the rogue and hoping for the rune drops.

 

[AlexanderM]

Re: Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

Ah, if I could get those runes, lol. In single player I'd likely use the Ohm, Jah, or Lem before I ever got the whole set, and using them on a merc would be blasphemy (I've got two hardcore characters and one other softcore character just getting to hell). I've got a holy freeze mercenary right now, and he's doing pretty well for himself, just got an ethereal battlebranch too (not the best, but certainly not bad for early nightmare).

EDIT: Strange thought, I have all the runes required for a Harmony Bow, which is fairly elemental-damage heavy. Would that work pretty well, or should I just hand on to my Sol and Ko for now?

 

[Luthor]

Re: Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

That's interesting, you could potentially have another minion to help you out/hold them back while you escape(assuming that equipping the bow, casting Valkryie, then handing the bow to your merc wouldn't dispel the Valkyrie). I'd go for it, but I usually party with a friend of mine and we pool resources like runes, so we've currently got 2 Sols and 3 Kos (the Kos all dropped to me over a week or so in I think early nightmare). Also had a Fal rune drop to me last week in Act 5 NM.

 

[Tacothedeep]

Re: Best Mercenary for an Avenger?

That's interesting, you could potentially have another minion to help you out/hold them back while you escape(assuming that equipping the bow, casting Valkryie, then handing the bow to your merc wouldn't dispel the Valkyrie). I'd go for it, but I usually party with a friend of mine and we pool resources like runes, so we've currently got 2 Sols and 3 Kos (the Kos all dropped to me over a week or so in I think early nightmare). Also had a Fal rune drop to me last week in Act 5 NM.

The valk would not stay if you switch weapons, fyi.
I just played through hell with a relatively poorly equipped conviction zealot who used voice of reason. Not exactly the same build as yours I would imagine, but the concept is similar. For a while I was using the act 1 merc, but the a2 holy freeze is really just too good for a melee character, especially one with poor gear. melee pallys really only have trouble in big groups, and holy freeze essentially IS defiance... that is, it gives the same relative protection by slowing every monster around you down, so you only receive half as many incoming attacks (which is actually stronger than defiance, since defiance lowers the sheer number of attacks you receive by a much lower percentage). Defiance, however, only helps against physical damage. Holy Freeze halves the number of attacks you receive from every enemy, along with giving you more time to whack away at enemys before you get surrounded.
Basically, as sick as I am of hearing that holy freeze is the best merc... it is.