merc+travincal

[muthu]

merc+travincal

Hi,
im running hell travincal with my hammerdin, but seems such a waste. My merc always dies there and so any gold i collect i use to revive him!
My merc got 75 resists, except cold is 49. Hes using insight polearm, vamp gaze helm and black hades armor with resist runes.
I usually sprint to councils and start casting hammers, i dont loose my hp much but merc dies within seconds there.
Can you suggest better strategy?
oh and its act2 hoyl freeze, and we both l85.

 

[NASE]

Re: merc+travincal

Hydra's are bugged. They do more damage to mercs then they should. Your only option is to increase his max fire resistance, give him absorb or increase his life leech - life tap is golden.

 

[SeCKSEgai]

Re: merc+travincal

Hydra's are bugged. They do more damage to mercs then they should. Your only option is to increase his max fire resistance, give him absorb or increase his life leech - life tap is golden.

That's not the only option.

Really it depends on your wealth. Being that you're using a black hades, that's problem one, its not all that great, even socketed. There are better options in runewords, some far more expensive than others. But I'd take a duriel's shell over a black hades.

Battle Orders is another great way of improving their survival. Since you're not a barbarian, the only way to get it is through the call to arms runeword. It helps keep my mercs alive in any act, and anywhere short of uberland.

A lifetap wand/weapon on switch is also an idea that may work, depending on if your merc can take a few hits or dies instantly. Assuming he doesn't just die as you get there, casting lifetap on the council should help keep him alive (unless he's attacking a phys immune)

 

[AnimeCraze]

Re: merc+travincal

One last method. Tank the hydras yourself and eat their bolts.

 

[MichelRPG]

Re: merc+travincal

or.... get a Guardian Angel Templar Coat armor. My merc wears one and boy is he glad with his 85 allres . Vampires Gaze should give him enough lifeleech. Hell, your merc wears the same setup as mine save for the armor.

You have a few strategies available to you

1) take a risk and lure out the council members a few at a time. Heal merc when needed.

2) Rush towards the council, enter the durance, then come back and stay put. Council will all (the ones nearby anyway) cast Hydra around you. Since your merc walks towards them automatically the hydras will attack you mainly. Walk towards the council a little, enough for the hammers to hit them. The problem with this strategy is that you WILL be taking a large brunt of all the hits (corpse explode, frost nova, hydra). And if ANY unique nearby has any kind of aura you might end up royally screwed.

3) get more gold-find items. Do runs on the council alone. You're a hammerdin, the merc is a bonus you dont even need (or opt to give him a stronger weapon with more lifeleech)

 

[Hrus]

Re: merc+travincal

Really, Guardian Angel and maxed fire resist (90) is enough for tanking council easily.

 

[hoi]

Re: merc+travincal

Don't bother. Apart from council only being good for charms and gold it's freaking irritating fighting against a bug. Hydras do 4x dmg to mercs meaning that even by getting 90% with Guardian (a completely useless armor as far as DPS is concerned) you aren't making a big change.

Skip them entirely or do them mercless. It's just too much hassle teleporting away to save your merc or feeding him potions.

 

[MichelRPG]

Re: merc+travincal

Depends on your class. If its you and the merc, you're screwed. If you're a druid with summons, a necro with minions, or a valk/assassin with a valkyrie/shadow warrior you could try it. They take away a large portion of the hydra fireballs afterall.

Also, dont underestimate the council rune drops. Since it's so many of them you have a good chance of finding mid-to-high runes every now and then.