06-13-2006, 02:51 AM
>I've recently just picked up a might merc to help out my damage output. I felt like I had enough control with my war cry that I didn't need my ice mercenary from act 3. Do you think this is a mistake? Will my one handed swords have enough damage to be efficient with might, or should I stick with more control for hell. Also, is the cold aura from the merc in Act 2 better than the Act 3 Ice Mercenary for control?
Iirc, the desert merc holy freeze aura won't have any effect on certain monsters, some of the minotaur class if my memory isn't completely shot. Frenzytaurs I think. But the slow effect is pretty good, as long as you're ok with the risk of the pulse activating more monsters. The Ice mage can chill\freeze most things, but cold immunes will be a problem. Overall the act 2 Cold merc is usually more efficient imo, considering he can also jab things to death with a decent polearm\spear, vs the cold mage who is purely elemental. (I've heard he can swing the sword occasionally, but it's so rare and I've yet to see it for myself that it might as well not exist for most practical purposes.) It doesn't mean act 2 mercs are the absolute best bar none, it just means he's versatile and can be a good fit for a lot of characters and builds. But since you're playing the latest patch, switching mercs if you don't like your current one shouldn't be a big problem.
My 2 cents on 1.10+ Barbarians, while it's still possible to do some insane physical\magical damage, raw damage dealing is no longer his strongest skill. Melee combat in general is more dangerous. To me in 1.10+ the Barb is less the typical head crushing-melee enforcer, but more of a riot police officer, what with his crowd control\dispersal skills. The reason I brought it up is I was curious when I read this:
>(1) - Howl (Not Using)
Unless you're under a self imposed restriction\rule, I recommend trying it out. Howl, along with Taunt and Battle Cry 1 point wonders you listed are the most useful crowd skills for almost all the 1.10+ Barbarians I've played. Even with a high damage, high defense setup getting mobbed (especially in Hell mode) or plinked with ranged elemental attacks is usually deadly. War Cry is very useful for stunning, but at high skill level the mana cost can be fairly high for a Barbarian (especially a barb whose not an exclusive Singer) to keep up for long. You can and most likely have done the War cry, leach some mana back and whack stunned critters with Conc, WCry again, etc. Or having an Echoing or +Mana weapons on the switch, then switch back to Conc\Berserk, but there are times where a lower mana Howl or Taunt will be needed instead.
In any case, good luck and bring on the updates and experiences of your Concentrator.