lvling merc from a certain lvl!

[Holy-Avenger]

lvling merc from a certain lvl!

I bought my merc at level 44 (he was lvl 44) because of the 5 lvl merc thing that was introduced into the new patch. Is this an okay level from him to start off so that he'll have max res. etc in hell.

 

[krischan]

As soon as he can wear Gaze, Gris armor and Insight in an exceptional polearm, Pierre Tombale Couant or Kelpie Snare, it's time to level him up to L75 with nm Baal minion runs, then exchange the weapon for a better one, e.g. Reaper's Toll. At least that's how I do that.

 

[helvete]

Why level the merc? Just buy a new one when he needs more levels....

 

[krischan]

The level of fresh act 2 nightmare mercs is capped somewhere in the upper 40s. I haven't checked if it's still like that in 1.11, however.

 

[phool]

1/2 an hour ago I just bought another merc, nm defensive, lvl 82... lving up mercs is now a waste of time as far as i know.

 

[krischan]

Now that's great news !

 

[Leohappy]

In 1.11 you can buy mercs 1-5 levels lower than your level, and their stats only depend on difficulty level. So actually leveling act2 nm hf merc from lvl 40-85 is no better than simply buying the same type of merc at lvl 86.

So yes, leveling a merc is now a waste of time. If he lags more than 2 levels behind your level, just buy a new one of the same type at the same diff. I really like this change since it allows me to experiment with mercs much more than before (should my sorc use act2 or act5 merc? let's try it out!).

And I'm pretty sure buying hell mercs is now a waste of cash. Norm mercs have the same abilities but use a different (better) stat table.

 

[Holy-Avenger]

Thx for the replies everyone! My merc is currently level 58 which is the same lvl as me. I'd rather just lvl him with me instead buying one 5 levels lower than me at lets say... level 85. Much less expensive and my merc levels hella fast.

 

[krischan]

I would feel better if people say "hire" instead of "buy" :lol:

 

[Myrakh-2]

The 1.11 change is somewhat interesting. Ignoring the A2 nightmare mercs (which are different from their norm/hell counterparts), you've always had to choose between tediously (for most players) levelling your norm merc to get a better one, or buying one at high level in nm/hell which would give you a weaker merc.

With the 1.11 change, there is no reason to ever buy a merc in hell anymore --- so essentially, the hell mercs are just for the newbies who don't know the details. This is *not* a good things to do, IMHO --- while I like the fact that I don't have to level a merc anymore, I think Blizzard *should* have changed the stats of the nightmare/hell mercs to be the same as the norm mercs. Diablo-2 has far to many undocumented dependencies and features already... no need to keep this useless pitfall in the game now.