|
|
The Armory
Diablo II Strategy and Tactics
The forum for strategy questions and answers, strategy guides, and tactics discussion for Diablo II.
Questions? Read the Forum FAQ and please obey the Forum Rules.
davcol
Member since 11-Mar-02
|
21-Nov-02, 06:56 PM (GMT) |
    |
"Using only a merc"
| |
Has anyone had any experience beating the game using only a merc? What I mean is designing a char that uses the merc as the only damage
dealing offensive weapon. If you've done it do you have any suggestions for char/merc combos? I'm thinking of trying it and it seems to me a paladin/act 2 merc
combo might be possible. davcol |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly page | Top |
|
|
Epi
Charter Member
|
21-Nov-02, 08:35 PM (GMT) |
|
|
2. "Rogue+paladin"
In response to message #0
| |
Well, I didn't make a goal to "beat the game", but for the most parts paladin with rogue (act 1) merc seems to be very powerfull combo. As WarBlade said, you'll still have problems with end-act bosses, but all others are pretty easy. Just flash Fanat + Conc for most parts, and Redemption after the battle (your paladin will have to tank a lot, and without life leech he'll need some way to recover life). Act 2 mercs, IMHO, are worse - the first group of monsters with stunning attack (Urdars, Abominables in Act 5) will kill them, most likely. Rogues, at least, try to stay out of melee range (not like they always succeed, though  ). -Epi. |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly page | Top |
|
|
 |
WarBlade
Charter Member
|
22-Nov-02, 00:36 AM (GMT) |
 |
3. "Waitaminute!!!"
In response to message #2
| |
The idea of tanking for the merc hadn't occured to me earlier and now that I consider it, how's this? Werebear with maxed HoW, a Carrion Vine and possibly a heavy investment in Cyclone Armor. The Rogue does all the work and your minions offer some protection without attacking. Add a shield and club combination for gear with as much high defence and resistance gear as you can pack on. ==========================================
Heed the Song of Battle and Unsheath the Blades of War |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly page | Top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gnollguy
Member since 11-Jan-03
|
22-Nov-02, 08:33 PM (GMT) |
|
|
5. "RE: Waitaminute!!!"
In response to message #4
| |
>You got it.
>
>Also, don't forget shockwave for stunning monsters while the
>merc(Act 2 Might merc with NASTY polearm) kills them. You
>can complete almost any section of the game with this method
>although as previously mentioned the unfair boss vs minions
>damage multiplier will cost you some gold.
>
>Also as a werebear you will have TONS of life and can tank
>like nobody's business.
By the rules laid out, shockwave would not be allowed as it does damage.
I was going to suggest a tank-a-zon but I think a wearbear with a maxed Oak Sage would do you better. The bear will get hit, and with no leach, the extra life will help (and the life will be very high, even without good gear). It will also help the wee little rogue out for when things get ugly, 1500+ HP rogues can actually take hits from the bosses and survive. The advantage of the tank-a-zon is with a good shield and the high passives is that you won't be getting hit. I have a tank-a-zon that wasn't really planned out, and she can sit a pack of hell cows for quite some time. She does have the advantage of a 1.08 Gerke's which gives 240 HP now that she is L80 and nice damage reduction, but she doesn't get hit much. You don't need to really worry about D with a tank-a-zon either, and you will have slow missiles to keep the LE bolts off the rogue, since the slow shortens the distance the bolts travel (assuming you can deal with getting hit by a few), you would also have a decoy. I wouldn't think using a valk would be all that unfair either because they don't do any damage to anything, OK they do, but I don't think I have seen a valk kill anything except a normal fallen, and by the time you have her, it those won't be around. But decoy alone would help you tank for the rogue as well. The other option, if you can get good flee gear is to get a teleport sorc and a rogue. You can bounce around (the rogue pretty much shoots as soon as you phase in) for the stuff she can't make run. A face of Horror, rattlecage, and kuko (for the explosion radius to make more flee) will keep you both pretty safe, though killing speed would be a lot slower with this combo because of the low damage on kuko, but you could kill physical immune without swapping the mercs weapon in combat. I think it might be doable, but I certainly wouldn't have the patience to do it. Just a few ideas. ----------
That's it there is nothing more to see here. |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly page | Top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
davcol
Member since 11-Mar-02
|
12-Dec-02, 06:35 PM (GMT) |
|
|
10. "RE: Using only a merc"
In response to message #0
| |
In case anyone is interested in how this turned out..... I decided to try using a werebear druid with maxed oak sage and a rogue.
I got lucky and found gear for Basanti (the rogue) that gave her
+3 skills rather early in nmare. We kicked a** well into act2 hell,
though things were going a little more slowly than they had been in
nmare. Then I sort of ran out of places to put skill points, so I got a bear
and started actually doing a little damage myself. But the rogue is
still the main damage - we completed hell rather easily I thought. She has ~1450 life and rarely dies. My next thought is to try a char which only uses skills provided by
charged items - I think this one is going to be tough.  Does anyone know it there is any way at all to raise the skill level
of a skill provided by a charged item? I'm pretty sure that these
skills are not affected by plus to skills gear. davcol |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly page | Top |
|
|
|
OrpheusPrime
Member since 28-Nov-02
|
13-Dec-02, 01:26 AM (GMT) |
|
|
12. "RE: Using only a merc"
In response to message #10
 |
I wish I had some screenies of my attempts at this. My Defiant tank pally using no weapon and relying on his merc entirly beat hell baal at lvl 69, hardcore, it was an act1 merc with using a selection of bows: Silence Crusader mostly, Eaglehorn for bosses (more dmg), and wore, shaft and Tal's Helm with Pruby. My pally tanked with max defiance, holy shield, and high defense gear.. had several points in salvation for places like Chaos Sancuary and such.. and huge life. Only had 3 near death experiences: first in act4 nm Chaos, Diablo almost killed me with the flame wave skill. I had to remember to engage him point-blant to discourage that... 2nd in act2 Hell, the bastage Duriel kept ignoring me and killing my merc but eventually he got the idea and focused on me long enough to die. Finally, Hell baal almost did me in with an un characteristic spam of his knockback spell that owned my merc in 2 hits... It was a lot of fun tho, I suggest it to anyone who hasnt tried it before. Act1 merc work best IMO if you have good gear but if you dont, Id say go with an act2 might merc or an act5 merc.. make sure to shop for new weapons for them often.. a cheap but VARY effective weapon for an act2 merc is the Unique Yari "Hone Sundan" with its 3 Sockets you can get 21% Life leech for your merc (3 Amn runes) and it is effective all the way through hell with its great damage and 45% crushing blow. |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly page | Top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Printer-friendly copy
Email this topic to a friend
