Merc Question I'm looking to get an A2 Holy Defiance Merc for my sorc. Would it be better to get a normal merc and level him up or get a hell merc and level him only a little? I've heard that mercs from normal have better stats in the end compared to the higher difficulty mercs. I just need a little clarification on this matter. ~VTbbman
I'm using a normal Act2 Defiance myself and I believe Norm mercs do have better stats because I was able to equip weapons on my merc at a lower level than my other nightmare Act2 HF mercs. However, leveling a normal merc from level 12 is quite painstaking, but worth it in my opinion.
If at all possible get the normal one and level him up. He will have extra defense and resistances over his hell counterpart.
plus a few stat points extra. but they're meager and usually don't count for a whole lot more damage or attack rating.
Normal Act 2 when fully leveled has + 1 more defiance and NM. If equiped properly from teh get go, and equipmnet upgraded as he levels, he should thrive and give you a nice tanking partner.
Hey Just for the record and i know a lot of peeps ask the stat points for a Nightmare Act 2 holy Freeze merc. (Non ladder) You dont state which. No tomb reaver or reapers available here folks At level 89 Strength = 193 Therefore with shako (eth preferably) he gets to use bonehew with a strength req of 195 at level 89 I also use Gladiators bane for Cannot be frozen for Meffi and he pretty much rocks As for normal mercs yep you end up with a couple of extra stat points
Cool, thanks for all of the advice people. I hope my merc works out well. Peace out. ~VTbbman P.S. - I'm playing ladder at the moment.
Holy freeze and Might Merc can ONLY be bought in Nightmare Difficulty, so no lvl up until lvl 25 (from where lvl merc is easier) is required, unless you get Act2 Nightmare before you are lvl25 yourself Good weapons: Reapers Toll Bonehew Tombreaver Armors: Shaftstop (possibly upgraded version) Gladiators Bane Duriels Shell (+15 str lotsa resists, possibly upgraded version 1,4k+ def) Helm: Vampire gaze Rockstopper Steelskull Shako
A setup I sometimes use is Guardian Angel + Kira's Guardian, to give the merc 90% resist all and CBF plus some FHR...it's a really nice setup for those areas where most damage you're facing is elemental damage. Also Hone Sundan is a solid merc weapon with it's 45% CB and 3 sockets...nicely upgradable too.
I have also heard some people use Viperfork on their Merc. Guardian Angel and Kira's Guardian sounds nice too
We also forgot to mention Kelpie snare, the weapon of choice for Boss killing for people who already pack CB. 75% slowing coupled with HF makes most anything slower than snail glued to the ground.
I've takent he time to level up my NM act 2 holy freeze merc, now that he's got duriels shell / Reapers Toll / and Vamp gaze, he's tanking packs of cows and baals minions. He's awesome btw.. What's the runes to upgrade shaft or duriels again?? Lem + ko? And if I have both shaftstop and duriels.. Which is the better one to upgrade and use for the long run?
I think it does not really matter which of those you take. Shaft has DR and Duriel has Res, so i think for a Merc those are equal. I upgraded Duriels with LEM+KO and have a 1,4k Def armor for my Merc that way, +he has nearly max-res! Using Vampgaze/Reapers/Duriel's upg. myself aswell :teeth:
Since now i'm a act 5 merc convert (for sorcs), I'm gonna suggest it =D Benefits are: More life (i think) Quicker life regeneration (about 3 times faster then all other mercs) Nice stunning hit My merc equiped with: Crainte vomir (35%slow, 10%DR, 50%IAS, FRW!) Blackhorns mask (20%slow, lightning absorb) Shaftstop (30%DR, Life) Is a real durable tank... And he has 0 percent life leach... lol. His life regeneration is so great, he hardly dies unless he's poisoned... (which i admit, happens often, but just give him some healing pots, and he's cool) If i could upgrade his gear, and maybe amn his sword, then maybe he would be indestructable. I primarily use the merc for MF runs (Mephisto and countess) and he hardly ever dies. brag: He tanked hell madawc and talic while I orbed them to death, and survived with full life... lol. damn... I'm really so happy with this merc. Much more effective compared to my defiance merc i used earlier (same gear, except weapon was kelpie's snare)
