Act 2 Merc ?

joe05 · Post by **joe05** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:20 pm

I'm Back

I have a question pertaining to "how to best equip your Act 2 Merc".
It seems I use him in every build, so I'm trying to figure how best to equip him.
As best I can tell, DAMAGE, DEFENSE and RESISTS are the categories I can affect via gear.

I have a clue on Helms(... I usually go MF till someting superb pops up) and Armor(... give him whatever Gold armor I'm not using).
But, on weapons(Spear-Polearm) I get confused.
Some(... ones I've found in Normal difficulty) have extremely high damage(Partizan); one has 100% Deadly Strike(War Syche); one has blinds target + freezes target + slows target + reduces target defense + prevent monster heal(Halbred).

I hope this isn't another dumb question

I thought I'd give you guys a break ... almost made it thru the Meteorb-Sorc without bothering you guys
BTW, the build is solid ... kudos to whomever posted it

Maybe someone can post a sticky on Act 2 Mercs

Seems the defacto Merc of choice in the builds I'm using.

Any info on what is good gear for this Merc would be appreciated.
Especially info on, "what weapon modifiers work best with an Act 2 Merc".
Is there a pecking order of the most beneficial modifiers ?
If there are no general rules of thumb, well I'll just wing it

----------
On the Necro-Summoner thread ... I'm physically disabled and a poor gamer, yet Moltovir's guide was one of the easiest for me to play. So, if it works for me, those without limitations should really have a blast. My trouble is keeping up with my "pack of wild dogs/skels", to Amp Dam or Dim Vis the creatures.

---------
On Dotties post Venom-Asssassin.
Please Dottie, don't put more ideas in my head

I liked the trapper build, but I guess I'll have to now check out Moltovir's links.

You guys are killing me, but in a good way

I'm sure I confused some with my ramblings.
So, just answer what you can dicipher

I just don't want to toss any good items my Act 2 Merc should use ... I don't know who said it, as so many have helped me(... and I thank you all), but someone said: "Joe, remember, you don't fight alone". True, so true !

Noober · Post by **Noober** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:03 am

Well I'm only really familiar with the more high-end equipment (the worst item I use for my mercs are Arioc's Needle/Shaftstop/Guillaume's).

What you are looking for is CRUSHING BLOW, LEECH, damage and damage reduction. Resistance isn't of too high priority due to natural merc res. Ethereal stuff is also nice since items don't lose durability on mercs. Things that work with aura's are also nice like Arioc's to increase aura level. Some reasonable items I can think of are:

Weapons:
Arioc's Needle
Reaper's Toll
Tomb Reaver

Armour:
Shaftstop
Stone RW
Galdiator's Bane?

Helms:
Vampire Gaze
Tal Rasha set Helm
Andariel's Viseage
Crown of Thieves
Guillaume's Face

joe05 · Post by **joe05** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:33 pm

Noober - thanks for the listings.
I can see you really mean high-end.
I haven't progressed far enough to pickup any of those items.

I'm glad I kept the Grim Reaper(War Syche - Deadly Strike).
I'll test it vs Woestave(Halbred - with all those modifiers)

I just did about 8hrs of Diablo runs = seems the Woestave worked better
Think the freezing/blinding helped.

I'll try the Deadly Strike weapon vs normal monsters.

Thanks for your help.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 5:55 pm

Hello again Joe!

Yes, it will be a while until you find the items Noober has listed. I can only agree with his recommenations for mods too look for. Weapons with high Enhanced Damage and/or ethereal weapons and armour. Ethereal items have a special bonus so armour has higher defense and weapons have higher damage than normal items. The good thing is that your Merc can use ethereal items forever, they don't wear out. Other than that, there are also some lower end unique weapons you can look out for:

Kelpie Snare - slows target 75%
Hone Sundan - 45% chance of crushing blow, 3 sockets
Spire on Honor - good damage

Best is of course if you can find them in ethereal version!

For armour, many of the relatively common set helms and armours are useful for your merc.

Some helmets:

Duskdeep - resists
Rockstopper - resists, damage reduced by 10%, 30 faster hit recovery
Undead Crown, Stealskull - life leach (a merc should have life leach)

joe05 · Post by **joe05** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:15 pm

C Elegans - hi.
Thanks for the additional items.
This helps clarify what I'll be looking for and what to keep.
I'm two characters from nightmare. By then, I should have a good idea how to set up my character + my merc.
I see the "average person equipment" and the "godly" equipment in the builds, but I don't know when I'll come across them. So, knowing what to look for in the meantime will help.
I'm sure I'm being too precise/picky on the equipment, but I think my best bet is to have as good as gear as possible.
Losing 100% per resist in Hell has me a bit worried

Guess I'll have to sacrafise my MF gear to add resists. Like a double edged sword :-(

Thanks for your help.

I noticed Kelpie Snare ... that was mentioned before
My current weapon(Woestave ?) has 50% slows target plus all those mods. Guess I'll use that one over the 100% Deadly Strike War Syche (Grim Reaper ?).

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:36 pm

Woestave and Grim Reaper are about equivalent. With a Meteorb sorc, you will mostly use Frozen Orb through Nightmare Act 1-4. In Act 5, many monsters get Cold Immune.

If you have got yourself a 3PD-shield (socketed with 3 perfect diamonds), you should be able to play most of Nightmare without sacrificing your MF equipment. As soon as you can start doing Nightmare Meph runs, you will find better equipment quite easily!