mercs: normal vs hell

mercs: normal vs hell

i dont know how many times ive heard someone say that normal mercs are better in the end than hell mercs. i recently rebuild my 94 hammerdin, and i decided that since defiance is also available in normal, now would be the perfect time to do an experiment and post the results to the community (since ive sure never seen anyone say exactly how different they are).

so, here are 2 screen shots, and yes, this is technically apples to oranges, since they are not yet the same lvl, but i think when i get to 94 it will be more than obvious.

http://www.dfwlp.com/~jhorne/pics/diablo/screenshots/merc-hell-defiance-lvl94.jpg
http://www.dfwlp.com/~jhorne/pics/diablo/screenshots/merc-norm-defiance-lvl90.jpg

 

The norm merc also has a better aura (which is something your screenshots probably don't show).

 

even comparing 2 lvl 90 mercs... what would the difference in auras be?

 

A normal defiance merc at level 90 will have a level 18 defiance and lvl 24 jab.
A hell defiance merc at level 90 will have a level 16 defiance and lvl 22 jab.

Both are maxed already, so no improvement in the skills as they level further.

Blessed aim mercs use the same values, btw.

 

Also of note is that normal merc will actually level up faster. You can check out the Mercenary Guide http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=580 for more information on that and other merc related stuff.

If you want all the stat points, skill levels, defence, resists, attack frequencies, etc. Check out this post http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=36551. I downloaded them all in an excel file however I don't remember where I got that from now.