How to keep my merc alive

[rimmi]

How to keep my merc alive

I am lvl 92 blizz sorc with all very good gear. MY problem is that my sorc still can't do trav or any act4/5 bosses because of the time either she or the merc chickens.

My merc has a Infinity giant thresher with treachery armor (max resist with fade) and andriel's face (w/ Ral). Act 2 Holy freeze merc. I was wondering what can i do to keep him alive. I have a few lo's...will making fortitude help?

 

[Bronx]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

I am lvl 92 blizz sorc with all very good gear. MY problem is that my sorc still can't do trav or any act4/5 bosses because of the time either she or the merc chickens.

My merc has a Infinity giant thresher with treachery armor (max resist with fade) and andriel's face (w/ Ral). Act 2 Holy freeze merc. I was wondering what can i do to keep him alive. I have a few lo's...will making fortitude help?

Seems Council Member Hydras deal extra high damage to minions, that is the problem there. Fire Absorb and Magic Damage Reduce items can help.
Maybe try a Mal'd Gladiators Bane though I am not sure it is enough to keep him alive.
Best way is to tele him out every time he takes massive Hydra fire.
Against bosses just tele away him if he takes heavy damage.

 

[PsycheNoob]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

Afaik, this setup will let your merc tank pretty much everything including travi, but you may lose some dmg:
Eth Reapers Toll
(Eth) Shaftshop armor
(Eth) Vamp Gaze
I haven't tried this myself, but heard it's pretty good.

 

[raveharu]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

You just have to tele about to avoid the hydras from hitting your merc.

Afaik, this setup will let your merc tank pretty much everything including travi, but you may lose some dmg:
Eth Reapers Toll
(Eth) Shaftshop armor
(Eth) Vamp Gaze
I haven't tried this myself, but heard it's pretty good.

I doubt this will help at all because his problem is with the hydras, DR equipment won't help at all.

 

[Gorny]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

...give it mouth to mouth...

 

[krischan]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

I am lvl 92 blizz sorc with all very good gear. MY problem is that my sorc still can't do trav or any act4/5 bosses because of the time either she or the merc chickens.

My merc has a Infinity giant thresher with treachery armor (max resist with fade) and andriel's face (w/ Ral). Act 2 Holy freeze merc. I was wondering what can i do to keep him alive. I have a few lo's...will making fortitude help?

You merc is probably killed because of hydras and because he's in hit recovery for too long.

If you exchange Treachery for Fort, your merc will suffer more damage from the hydras, the extra leech from added damage won't compensate it. Maxed resists (or at least maxed fire res) are an absolute must for a merc.

You could try an armor with FHR and res. Duress looks good.

Regarding hydras, mercs suffer more damage from them than characters and if it's more than he can leech back (like in Travincal), it's more effective to let your sorc tank the hydras and use up less potions to compensate it... or wear a Rising Sun amulet, the hydras will heal her then!

 

[PsycheNoob]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

I remember somewhere in these forums there was a guide, which mentioned Steel Shade helm, for fire absorb against the Hydras. Again not sure how efficient it is, but it may be worth to try out and Guardian Angel armor would be a possibility too.

 

[TurbulentTurtle]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

...give it mouth to mouth...

Leharas is looking pretty sexy, but I don't want to cheat on Durga.

 

[nurman]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

Don't treat him like he is Hercules' little brother.

 

[Goths]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

What aura are you using? And do you have a normal or a hell merc?

After i realised that Normal merc have more stats and higher res i instantly changed from Nightmare cold aura to normal def aura. He rarely gets hit at all by bosses because of the def. I like using GA for the extreme resist and the okish def. Using ums helps a lot a usually 1 should be enough.

I dont think any pike is better than Infini for your merc see you are a sorc. Like others say teleport when damage is in coming. using your rejuvo potions on your merc als helps A LOT (shift + belthotkeys).

good luck

 

[flamingchen]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

Keeping the merc alive in trav is very tough, especially for a sorc because there is always going to be an immune. The easiest solution is not to run it, as there are better builds to run trav. Still, if you insist, I think you putting on some fire absorb gear and trying to tank would be the best result.

 

[JsTc]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

surviving trav shouldn't be that hard, Hydras casted by the councils are the cause of most merc deaths there, hydras do roughly 40~50 fire damage per fire bolt. Give your merc 30 or more mdr + max resist, and he can probably stand in the middle of hydras as if nothing is happening. MDR gears: Gladiator's Bane gives up to 20mdr, or up to 27mdr if socketed with a Mal rune, Prudence runeword gives 17mdr, Vampire Gaze can give up to 15mdr or 22 with Mal rune.

 

[krischan]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

I would use Guardian Angel + Um and get MDR from Vampire Gaze then. You will have to get FHR and res from the weapon then. In that case I recommend the often underestimated Obedience runeword, it also comes with 40% CB and a whopping 370%ed.

 

[TerraNova]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

I am lvl 92 blizz sorc with all very good gear. MY problem is that my sorc still can't do trav or any act4/5 bosses because of the time either she or the merc chickens.

Uninstall your bot, and play manually. With a bit of teleporting around you will have no trouble running Travincal or CS. Problem solved

P.S. And Infinity is a waste on a cold sorceress.

 

[krischan]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

TerraNova made two really good points. Unfortunately I overlooked the part about using hacks.

Rimmi, in case you intend to trade here, it's not allowed for users of hacks. Should you ever trade here anyway, no matter if now or at any time in the future, it will lead to a permanent ban.

 

[xNamastex]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

I would use Guardian Angel + Um and get MDR from Vampire Gaze then. You will have to get FHR and res from the weapon then. In that case I recommend the often underestimated Obedience runeword, it also comes with 40% CB and a whopping 370%ed.

Totally agree. I always put a GA (or eth GA) on my merc if I plan to take on council frequently (trav, durance 3 or 3rd baal wave). Gaze helm and Obedience in a nice eth GPA is exactly what I use as well. Your merc will kick butt for you. Also, I would go Holy Freeze as well.

 

[Togakure]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

If you're only concerned about fire/hydras, Vex in Guardian Angel raises max FR to 95% (maxed). Vampire Gaze can be Um'd, and then a weapon with enough res to hit the max would be needed depending on the merc's level. Obedience and Tomb Reaver are what I have used. You can do this for Lightning using Lo instead of Vex, or both (one in Gangel, one in Gaze) for 95% Fire/Lightning resistance. This latter option requires a weapon with a lot of res on it to hit the max though, and a high-level merc. And of course, the ability to acquire the high runes.

Edit: gah, missed the bot reference too. Not one who tends to advise those who degrade my gaming experience with those damn things.

 

[Goths]

Re: How to keep my merc alive

:xNamastex: said
Your merc will kick butt for you. Also, I would go Holy Freeze as well.

If you use BLizz on your sorc this is an absolute waste as blizz freezes them already. After a lot of testing i found the Normal def merc the best. 10K Def is easily reached even without an ETH armor making it very hard for mobs to even hit him. Cold make them hit slower but they hit a lot more often .