Wolfy/merc help?

[Drystan]

Wolfy/merc help?

So, got my HC wolf into hell, all good. Then, unlike normal, I could barely handle their health increase. My Butcher's Pupil wasn't effective anymore!
So, some stats:

Lvl 75
Str/Dex/Ene: Base
Vit: All
AR: Nearly 7K Fury; 9k Fury with Enchant; ~170k+ with an Attack Shrine :grin:

Somehow, I've managed (massive twinking) to be able to use an Ethereal Edge! The damage is great, but I've come to some weird problems.
My merc (A2 Might) is shocking, and I can literally no longer afford to raise him! I'm wondering which would be better, as my health drops pretty quickly too. Nearly 6k drops to half way too quickly (my lifeleach isn't working at all anymore.) My damage is fine, but my health and my mercs doesn't seem adequate. I think my damage should be fine if I lost the merc.
So, I'm wondering if maybe a Prayer or HF merc might be better?

The prayer for the constant rejuvenating health, as I need 4+ pots to get to
a reasonable amount of HP. The constant regen would be helpful, or do you think it won't be quick enough?

The HF to take less damage.

Merc Equip:
Peasant Crown: +20 Vit
Rockfleece: Dam reduced by 10%
Spire of Honour: Damage

I know he's got no lifeleach, but I seriously can't twink him anymore... I've used pretty much every thing I have on my wolfy, and my stash is full of life charms. Should I hunt for another Tal's helm or something with LL, or go with a different merc?
On that note, how the [I want my mummy] do people get 10k life? Seriously, my charms are all pretty good, I've gone mad with Vit points, and all I've got left is to socket things with perfect rubies. :smiley: Would it be worth adding 5-10 to strength, and dropping 1-2 charms? I don't have many Str charms, but I don't think I need them anymore.
What's the difference between putting 5 into strength, and using a large +life charm; compared to putting 5 into Vit and using a large +6 Str charm? (24 Lycantropy, 22 Oaksage - I think it's 8 hp per vit point or something, does anyone know this?)

If you want to see my items, I'll show them, but I don't think it's needed. If you want to know something (like %LL or %ED, etc) I'll calculate it.

I'm sure there was another question, but that'll do for now. :jig: Thanks for any tips, help, and opinions.

Danke :thumbsup:
Drystan.

 

[Spearthrower]

While you've gone a completely different way with your WW.... I was wondering why you seem stuck on an Act 2 merc?

For WW's I always prefered an Act 1 cold merc.

If you like the Act 2er.... I would suggest the HF one for a bit more crowd control. I definitely think the Prayer would be a waste of time. Then again, I would have thought the Might merc would be ok.... but then a Merc *needs* his life leech so perhaps untwinking something in favour of some leech might actually work out better.

 

[druidkid9]

go for the HF merc gain some croud controll

 

[nebux]

a wolf doesn't need life leech at all. every PvM wolf should have feral rage always on. no matter what
feral rage gives you life leech and FRW. as for crowd control cast your wolfes/bear near the monsters and stay behin them when attacking. every mec is good. put a buritza on and all the non CI monsters are frozen

 

[Spearthrower]

nebux.... I think he's talking about leech on his merc - not his wolf

*slaps with halibut* Wakey wakey!!!

 

[nebux]

(my lifeleach isn't working at all anymore.)

@Spearthrower yeah he is speaking about his merc.
*kick Spearthrower*

 

[Drystan]

Well, I love act2 mercs for the auras, but I'm not too fond of the might one with my wolf. After he dies, I can clear them out almost as fast. I also don't think I need crowd control, as I use oaksage to draw some away, and kill 2-3 very quickly at the same time, then cast oak again to lure some more away. Between that (and a merc if he's alive,) I can usually position myself to take them down fairly quickly.

@Nebux and Speary
The lifeleach was for both. My merc has none, thus dying very quickly, but even with Feral Rage spinning round me, I don't seem to leach enough(/any) either.
Also, no wolves/bear. 20 lycan/werewolf/fury/oaksage. Not sure what accessory(spling?) skill I should give him though.

I think I might try prayer, then HF to see which I like better. Prayer first as he may be able to keep my health from dropping so quickly as well.

Danke :thumbsup:
Drystan

 

[DeathMaster]

There are only couple of things I may offer.

You play HC right? So there is this one thing to remember: NF used to say "if you relay on LL to stay alive in HC, you are doing something wrong". There are a lot of things I don't agree with NF, but this is absolutely right, Leech is handy in HC, but never ever relay on it. Plan your battle, replan your strategies.

I'd suggest to stick with Might merc, give him some leech (tal's mask is common) and reasonable weapon, he can stay alive very well.

You have one point in summon bear, right? It can tank well, use it at your advantage.

If you loss HP so quickly, prayer merc will do nothing. I suspect you have strategic mistake. What is your usual play style? Charge into middle of battle or let merc/bear tank while you take few at a time?

 

[Drystan]

HC: Yes.
I don't rely on LL, but I would like it to keep my health up (a constant source of regen) instead of having potions. As I said, not even Feral Rage seems to work anymore. Life doesn't drop dramatically, but it drops steadily with each hit. I can damage them, but they can damage me as well.

My strat I think is fine, I'll go into it later in this post.
No bear.

The prayer merc is for the constant health. Not only a little during a battle, but as I move on to my next one as well. The constant regen I think could be useful. I will be testing it though.

Strat:

Without merc:

Situation: Something from today. Two unique pack of corrupted rogues (spearwomen might have been one of the groups) come in at the same time from say 8 o'clock and 10:30 o'clock.
I cast oaksage about half way between the two packs, allowing for most of them to target it. I let about 4-5 to aim for me. Usually they are attacking in a line ( | - ) formation, so I run to the outside of one, and attack it, forcing the rest to queue up behind it. My Sage is usually <50% health, so I'll recast if needed. I then kill 2 of the rogues, and move so that they queue up again.
Once they are done, I'll cast oak to the side of the pack, again dividing their army. I usually kill each one in at most 6 hits (average 3-4.) Rinse and repeat. Very quick and safe.

With merc:
Ditto, but let a bigger pack target me/my merc. Sometimes divide them into 3 groups. Still maintain the attack from side or behind my merc.

As I said, it's not a dramatic drop, but it's constant. Each battle, I somehow lose nearly 700+ hp, and end up drinking 4 potions between battles. It's not scary/OMGzorage, but the potion usage is unusual, even for me. Within a couple of major skirmishes, I'm down to half health, and I hate having a life bulb less than 80%. I don't even think I get hit too much, but I'll keep an eye on that.

Mostly what I want is a constant source of life regen. I can easily keep going with potions, but potions don't heal quickly enough when you have an ~6k life bulb. There has to be a better way. (?)

Danke :thumbsup:
Drystan

 

[nebux]

my wolf barelly needs to drink potions even in baal runs, gloams infested areas etc.
oak sage is good for your life, but he die in seconds.
try to level him more and put a point in bear. that should be your tank and not the oak. wolfes can't get hight defencebut they have insane LL and a good attack speed with fury. level 75 is a little under most monsters in hell.
one word pits.
post your gear, post your resist.
i had one year ago a fury wolf with most resists in red ( was n00b at that time) and he was doing fine until Hell act 4 when the damage he did was too low for survivability. ( hwakim bill). if you have buritza, shael it and put it on.

Remember buy arrowz no no i meant the other kind for BURIZZA !!!!!

shael you ETH edge for 5 fps atack with fury.

 

[DeathMaster]

Read from your build, you should really have no problem at all. The only thing really can improve his is getting the big bear.

my own wolf use normal fleshrender (shael) + SS (PD). No kidding, his damage is enough to kill reasonable in hell, and with only 298 vit, about little over 1k life (without OS), he had no problem on safety in general. I never had death (he is SC) with him, he also tanked 2x hell anceints in the only MP time he ever allowed (to help someone else on anceints).

 

[Drystan]

Ok, here are the items:

Raven Gorget
Amulet
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 73
Fingerprint: 0x4c37090f
+21 to Strength
+19 to Life
Fire Resist +25%
Lightning Resist +20%
Cold Resist +20%
Poison Resist +20%
Poison Length Reduced by 25%

Jalal's Mane
Totemic Mask
Defense: 271
Durability: 5 of 20
(Druid Only)
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x6179b4bf
+20 to Strength
+20 to Energy
+174% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +30
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+5 to Mana After Each Kill
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Immortal King's Forge
War Gauntlets
Defense: 112
Durability: 12 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x272a94
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+65 Defense
12% Chance to cast Level 4 Charged Bolt when struck

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xe56fe85
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+175 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Aldur's Advance
Battle Boots
Defense: 47
Required Strength: 95
Required Level: 45
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x4e59f0c5
+50 to Life
+180 to Maximum Stamina
Heal Stamina Plus 32%
Fire Resist +45%
40% Faster Run/Walk
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
Indestructible

Doom Eye
Ring
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x46d5029e
+16 to Strength
+40 to Life
+33 to Mana
+114 to Attack Rating
+3 to Maximum Damage
Poison Resist +9%

Immortal King's Detail
War Belt
Defense: 142
Durability: 14 of 24
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xafe28761
+25 to Strength
+36 Defense
Fire Resist +28%
Lightning Resist +31%

Lionheart
Ornate Plate
'HelLumFal'
Defense: 434
Durability: 25 of 60
Required Strength: 145
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x9cb7c2b0
+25 to Strength
+10 to Energy
+15 to Dexterity
+20 to Vitality
+50 to Life
+20% Enhanced Damage
All Resistances +30
Requirements -15%
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Demon Limb <-----------------Switch for Enchant
Tyrant Club
One-Hand Damage: 95 to 172
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Strength: 133
Required Level: 63
Mace Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xfac9869c
+198% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +16%
Adds 222-333 fire damage
11% Life stolen per hit
123% Damage to Demons
150% Damage to Undead
Level 23 Enchant (17/20 Charges)
Repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds

Ethereal Edge
Silver-edged Axe
Two-Hand Damage: 252 to 448
Required Dexterity: 55
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 74
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xa6d7a450
+172% Enhanced Damage
+288 to Attack Rating
25% Increased Attack Speed
185% Damage to Demons
+6 Life after each Demon Kill
+12 Fire Absorb
Indestructible
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Resists:
Fire 75+
Cold 18
Lightning 47
Poison 24

STR: 15 DEX: 20 VIT: 405 ENE: 20

@Nebus: Level 75 is low in hell? Mine normally kill Baal at level 80, mostly due to a few levels in act4/5. Oh well, guess he could do with some more levels. :grin:

Hmm... Wonder why he loses so much health in each battle. Oh well, he survives well enough, despite the health lose, so he should make it to Baal.

Thanks again.

Danke :thumbsup:
Drystan

EDIT: Items + inventory full of Vita charms. Most are +12-20 small charms of vita, etc. As a rule, I only use health charms which have +10 (or more)hp/inventory space.

EDIT2: Ok, just fought with those always lightning enchanted guys (Beetles) in act 2 hell, and this happened. Sure, I'm cursed, but does that affect the lightning sparks they shoot off? (47 light res) Anyway, merc died instantly, and my health just dropped in about 3-4 of my hits. No conviction, nor multi shot, but they were minions. Is that normal?

 

[DeathMaster]

EDIT2: Ok, just fought with those always lightning enchanted guys (Beetles) in act 2 hell, and this happened. Sure, I'm cursed, but does that affect the lightning sparks they shoot off? (47 light res) Anyway, merc died instantly, and my health just dropped in about 3-4 of my hits. No conviction, nor multi shot, but they were minions. Is that normal?

Depending on what mod the boss had. if the boss was FE/CE/LE, the lightning bolts will carry extra damage. If you are lucky, you might get hit by the bugged damage from boss (eg. FE/CE blast).

 

[Drystan]

Is bear really worth it? I just leveled to 77 to get the summon bear, and I've taken the advice to alter my strat a little, and that did help. My health still drops quickly, but I'm able to leach back most of it by keeping my Feral Rage at Full, (as opposed to just a small ball spinning.)
The bear also helps keep some of them off of me and my merc, but the bear loses health just as quickly as my merc and quicker than my oaksage. Half the time, my bear dies quicker than my oaksage when I tanked/decoyed with the oaksage. This could be due to the sage moving about and luring them around, instead of taking full damage, but I find I'm casting my oaksage at them to tank and leaving my bear do whatever it wants.
My merc also still dies in a few hits (3k hp,) and I doubt lifeleach will help him, he just dies that quickly.
It's really weird, because I've never seen anything do this much damage. It's gotten a great deal easier, but the damage they do is unbelievable! (And yes, I'm not comparing NM to Hell, but comparing past Guards in hell (1.10+) to the damage my wolfy takes (1.11).

Also, I thought the Corpse exploding/Fire enchanted damage bug was fixed/reduced in hell.

 

[Drystan]

I've got a new question, and wondered where to post it. :grin:

How do wolfies deal with PI's? Mostly, I ignore them, but in the Arcane Sanctuary, those Spectral Ghosts are PI, and it's difficult to ignore them. I already have a Demonlimb (enchant,) but since they mana burn, Fury's not effective, and I don't want to use Feral Rage for all of them. Are there any other possibilities (other than teleport, which I use WAY too often :grin

Also, the bear is a terrible tank! For me (at least) he can't even tank 2 zombie guys in act 2. What level does he need to be to be effective?

Danke,
Drystan.

 

[nebux]

your level is low for act 2 zombies.
for PI. a fury wolf should always wear atma's scarab and merc reaper's tool.
for mana burn monsters drink mana potions not full rejuv.
my wolfbarb don't have mana leech at all and even to werewolf has a 3% ML enought to keep fury going

 

[bill_n_opus]

Do you have a 5 socket ethereal polearm in your stash? Hopefully you have the runes to make the HONOR runeword. amn, el, ith, tir, sol. You should have found those runes by now I would imagine. It's got natively 7% LL on it and good damage for Hell.

I know it would make a decent merc stick even for Hell on low players settings until you find something better, like a ethereal Reaper's Toll. The Spire would be decent for early Hell if it was ethereal ... I know because I used one for awhile twinking my merc ... but it would run out of steam by Hell.

Have you socketed your Spire with an Amn rune for leech? How about your Peasant Crown? What about the Rockfleece?

Honestly, your merc equipment - even for HC - is kinda lacking. I'm surprised that you haven't found anything else better. I would imagine that you should be also able to make a decent runeword armor for your merc by now. Something like a Lionheart is possible for sure. Just run Countess for awhile on players1 and you get some nice runes plus items and XP.

I would also recommend to consider doing Hell Pit runs on players1. You should be tearing through the Pits even on HC on that setting and you'll eventually get some great gear plus a ton of XP, gold, gems, better charms and stuff. It will boost your char to the mid-80's and then you can move on comfortably.

Lemme see ... what else.

If your merc is getting smoked by a lack of resists how about ... the SMOKE runeword for the +50 resists among other mods?

If you run Countess enough you should be able to scrounge up Shael, Um, Thul for DURESS for your merc. Awesome merc armor! That's assuming you do RWM.

Speaking of RWM, how about an Insight ethereal polearm or something? Good to better damage and then you can get leech from your helm as your merc is killing things in the Pits. Or killing the Countess.

Hope this helps. Of course, if you are playing by strict rules of no MF running etc ... then forget anything I said.

 

[PyroStock]

The prayer merc is for the constant health.

The problem with the prayer merc is he heals real slow in very small quantities and you're a wolf with a HUGE life force so his healing is insignificant. Tiny health regen isn't anywhere near as good as 50%slow vs. most monsters.

Might Merc or Cold Rogue are ok, but I prefer the Act2 HolyFreeze. Since the %Dmg from your STR and Fury is so high the extra damage from a Might isn't as important as say a Bowazon or Whirlwind Barb... as you mentioned damage isn't the problem. Rogues are safer, but do less damage and means you end up taking far more damage without a melee merc tanking at your side... it also probably means WitchWild instead of a much better Reaper'sToll. 50% HF slow means your Merc, you and your wolves take 50% less damage & can survive better... especially if/when you find a Reaper's Toll. My HolyFreeze Merc has over 5000 life with OakSage and no has problems (except for IronMaiden where the Cold Rogue would be best). And if you're spending less time casting OakSage for crowd control then you're spending more time killing. I'm sure Might and Cold Rogues are fine, but if you're Hardcore you should get HolyFreeze IMO.

Ethereal Edge
Silver-edged Axe
Two-Hand Damage: 252 to 448
Required Dexterity: 55
Required Strength: 156
Required Level: 74
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed

You really should put a shael in this as suggested earlier if you don't have anything else.

Resists:
Lightning 47

You really should raise this to 75 or higher. Not only for the Beetles, but Glooms and Diablo.

How do wolfies deal with PI's?

I use the IK Maul + 2-3 IK pieces combined with an Amp Dmg rare on my Merc. Lacerator on weapon switch can work too if you cannot find a Reapers Toll for your Merc.

but since they mana burn, Fury's not effective,

I don't jump in head first into a mana burn pack. Even with a mere range 2 weapon I can fight behind my 3 maxed dire wolves so while they're hit with mana burn attacks I can safely do the fury killing behind them. If one does get through or I get sloppy I drink a mana & reposition... actually I only have 4 rows of full rejuvs now... I'm not sure what you're doing with 2 rows of red in Hardcore since red for werewolves heal practically nothing. Mana burn archers? Cast some dogs or a bear in their pack so they waste their shots on them then go in and slaughter... they survive longer than casting OakSage as a decoy & will stay to fight rather than float off drunk like OaKSage. And that worked fine even before I gambled this...

Doom Wing
Amulet
Required Level: 73
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 91
Fingerprint: 0xdb34139b
+3 to Minimum Damage
Fire Resist +16%
Lightning Resist +37%
Cold Resist +16%
Poison Resist +16%
6% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
+2 to Shape-Shifting Skills (Druid Only)

Also, the bear is a terrible tank! For me (at least) he can't even tank 2 zombie guys in act 2. What level does he need to be to be effective?

I maxed DireWolves so combined with my maxed OakSage my Bear is an immortal tank. The bear is best for act bosses (Hell Baal, Ancients, etc) and the few very nasty bosses. I find 3 maxed DireWolves keep my Merc & OakSage surviving much better since there are 3 wolf targets to act as decoys rather than just the 1 bear. 3 wolves can tank far more than 2 zombie guys too and eat corpses to prevent annoying resurrections. If I wasn't hardcore I would have maxed the bear instead of the wolves.

I don't seem to leach enough(/any) either.

FeralRage's LifeLeech should be plenty even in Hell, but remember you cannot leech anything off most undead and some Act Bosses.

 

[Drystan]

Nebux - I don't think level 80'ish is too low for hell, seeing as most of my chars finish hell at level 79-81 (HC.)
Don't have either of the items you mentioned, and you can't leach of PI's, so kinda a pain. I will look for them though. Thanks :thumbsup:

BillNOpus - Thanks for the tips. I've got the runes easy, but the items I don't. I also prefer not to use the socket quest for my merc. Is there a recipe to socket unique/set/rare items?

Honestly, your merc equipment - even for HC

Don't you mean 'even for SC'? Yes I know, I did a cleanout of my mules, and got rid of most of my 'junk,' which included a 350+ damage rare polearm. My mistake, but I was making room and removing what I thought of as 'junk' at the time.

I don't think pit runs are that great. They're now easy (as is almost everything but those darn PI ghosts in the arcane) and the drops haven't been much at all. They seem to have a huge nodrop chance for me. :sad:
The AT runs I like though, but the merc and bear die too quickly there.

better charms

Hehehe. My inventory is full of +15 (or more) life small charms. My damage is ~4k, so I haven't gone for many +damage charms.

Mercs resists are about 44 to all, but a NefLum might help. I'll have to play around with his items though. I do RWM, but not too often.
I've recently made an Insight and it is awesome. I'll need another Collossus Volge though as my one is for my Sorc

Only one strict rule. This guys got major twinkage. His only rule is: NO dex or str points.

Thanks again. I'll play around with his items when I find some more. I'll do a few countess and pits, and check the XP.

Thanks! :thumbsup:
Drystan.

 

[Drystan]

EDIT: err, oops...