What merc for a frenzy barb?

[Vash]

My current take on the mercs:

Act III cold mage - My current merc. Even at level 98 his glacial spike will be at a measley level 9 so he's not here to do damage. However, he's the only merc that will actually freeze enemies (instead of just slow or chill). But then again, the merc's AI usually causes him to fire repeatedly at one enemy. I'm hoping that he'll be able to freeze multiple enemies. The AI also causes him to run around like a headless chicken and not attack enemies if my character does not stand still. Though he tries to stay out of trouble, he sometimes ends up in the middle of the fray.

Act I cold rogue - can only chill enemies. Does decent damage if given a good bow. Like the mage, I believe a rogue will usually attack one enemy. From my experience she seems to stay out of trouble better than the mage.

Act II holy freeze - a pretty good choice...but to keep him alive I'd have to give him a good spear/polearm with life leech. I'd also need to give him good armor to keep him alive (the only Shaftstop I have is going on the Frenzy Barb).

Act II Blessed Aim - I'm considering this one because I forsee AR problems with the barb. I might get away with it by using Battle Cry.

Act II Might - I might have damage problems, I'm not sure so this option is still open.

Anybody have any ideas?

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

I rather appreciate an Act 2 Defiance merc with my own Frenetics.

Frenzy's boost to landspeed allows you to walk (at a roadrunner pace) everywhere, thus maintaining your defensive numbers. Since the nature of Frenzy nixes any blocking percentages from a shield, a nice boost to your DR wouldn't be a bad thing. When you couple a high effective defense with the damage reduction from things such as your Shaftstop... well, sounds fun. After all, as the Barbarian, YOU'RE the weapon out there; your merc is secondary and supportive.

With decent investment, seeing a DR topping 10k is not out of the realm of possibility. Having the Frenzytaurs of Hell down to a 30%ish chance isn't too shabby.

One thought, hardly the only.

*tips helm*

[Vamp.Goth]

Im iwht nicodemus on this one. The skill frenzy + weapon mastery will yeild an insane amount of attack rating if you add in something like a raven frosts {around +250}.

If you are an iron~man build, defenatly go with the defiance ones {act 2 norm/nm deffensive}.

Or another idea would go with the might one {act 2 nm offensive i think}.

Reallly, you dont need a ranged offensive merc. With a barbarian tanking & dealing already massive damage {unless you suck...} there is no way any ranged merc will help you as much as one that has an aura.

[Vash]

Yeah the thought of going high defense crossed my mind and it seems like a good one...just forgot to put it in the post =).

How much of an investment would I have to make to go high def?

There are certain elements of my equipment that are already set. They include Shaftstop, String of Ears, and a relatively low def Barb helm. That leaves boots and gloves to go all out with def. <sarcasm>Whoopee</sarcasm>

If I cannot achieve high def with my equip (even with defiance merc) I'd have to invest in iron skin/shout. But unless I play the character till like level 85, I won't be able to max Axe Mastery, Frenzy, Battle Orders, and Shout.

[Guest]

I would go with defiance.

DONT go with holy freeze.

It ends up the freeze pulse have a hard time keeping up with you often(I have one :/ ).

[Vash]

I would go with defiance.

DONT go with holy freeze.

It ends up the freeze pulse have a hard time keeping up with you often(I have one :/ ).

Yes, I've noticed that with my other characters.

[whereagles]

I had a frenzy babo on single-player (untwinked). The merc was defiance and it was pretty good. Never had any problem. It was just whack, whack, run like hell to next pack, whack whack. Really entretaining.

Merc died a time or two to lightning monsters and council hydras. Babo never died, not even to hell Nihlathak. Ancients was easy. Babo had 120 dex for his swords, so I got him a tower shield of deflection and with that he had 75% block. Berserk level 1 did the rest :)

[Swarmalicious]

I guess what they say about great minds... :P

I was planning on a making a 1.10 frenz (you guys are my "frenz" too... herherherherhee hee... yeah) with a defiance merc, and here I see its been (almost unanimously) done. Oh well... still new for me.

I was thinking that, since my guy will be HC, I would have to find a way to avoid spending points in anything except vitality, since "the monsters being much faster" sounds like it might be dangerous. This led me to thinking about war hammers...

Remember when ibmued war hammers were the end all? :) Anyway I figure the speed (aka the "Great Molasses Swipe") for hammers can be countered by using frenz, and dexterity investments can be avoided. I also favor the whacking/clunk sound of blunt weapons over the woosh woosh of blades...

I'm wondering though about high def & life vs. dex & shield wielding - which one surfaces as the most sturdy?

[Occhidiangela]

War Hammers and Battle Hammers and such are still neato weapons, particularly with that IAs and 40% Crushing Blow feature. On a frenzy/mace Barbarian . . . a pair of those would be lovely. :)

[kier]

Depends how good you are with mercs. Heres a guide that i think is about right.
1-a god with mercs
4-they seem to die on act1 fighting zombies :P

1. act2 (allthough there damage is good, and auras help, they arent that tough, and are better for elite players)

2. act5 (a good choice for a sorc, just make sure he doesnt die and the monsters attack you)

3. act3 (tend to stay alive, but ive met goldfish with better ai, and arent that helpfull

4. act1 (attack closest enemy, and have good damage, and stay out of trouble. If you are having a hard time in cows, give this merc a bow with 4 Dol runes ;) )

[Guest]

I myself got an 85frenzy barb on west SC, and although I haven't spent much on a merc, I'd know where to go.

Question first is, what kind of items do you wear on your head and body?

If you where a shaftstop and/or vampgaze, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't need much protection in cows/blood runs or anywhere where you go because most the damage you're receiving is going straight into that shaft/gaze.
So in this case, I would suggest one of either:

Act II NM might mercenary:
This will increase your damage and efficiency so you can kill faster and more done in less time.

Act 1 Rogue:
Equip WF or any good bow on this rogue and it'll be helping you out totally wherever you go. I personally have never tried this before and wouldn't know how effective it could be.
Act 5 Barb:
Again, find yourself the best Sword you can get and hook your merc up with that, and he'll be owning almost as much as you, depending on the weapon used.

Overall, I would end up using the might merc because if you can get a good enough polearm, he can be as strong as the other 2 mercenaries, but ontop that, he also has might aura which is totally beneficial for killing enemies in hell difficulty.


--
--

On the other hand, if you're like me and enjoy to MF, than you'll be wearing lots of MF items like tal rasha body armor or skullders, along with the highest % MF Stealskull you can find :D

Characters like this are aimed towards Act Bosses and SUs (Run around act V for SUs and you'll be surprised at what you can find!!!).

Protection can be vital in this area. So this is where I leave it all up to you.
Personally, I would go for a might merc, considering you won't be doing much cow runs (And when you do, you can throw on that shaft and gaze).
Cold would be an alright way to go, but frenzy is an attacking skills and you should always be pumping on the offense.
know the quote: The best defense you can have is a good offense?
This is totally true here in this case.

I'd expirement for a bit to see what you like best. Copy your character onto single player and test the diferent mercenaries out there and see which one(s) fit you best.

Also consider what items you got on your mules at this time. If you got that cruel giant thresher of carnage (or a good suffix), than by all means, go for an act 2 Merc.
Use up them items on a mule, rather than let them go to waste for 3 months straight :/


Eh, how is this for a first post all? rad! :D

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

A Windforce on a Rogue... or a Cruel Giant Thresher of *fill in the blank* on a Greizman...

Yeah. Those just grow on trees, don't they. :blink:

Why do I feel I've just read an advertisement for "Dupers'R'Us"?

[Archon_Wing]

*Climbs up a tree* Damn!

I prefer my merc playing a defensive role. Since a Barb can do too much damage, overkill is redundant.

[LavCat]

A Windforce on a Rogue... or a Cruel Giant Thresher of *fill in the blank* on a Greizman...

Yeah.&nbsp; Those just grow on trees, don't they.&nbsp; :blink:

Why do I feel I've just read an advertisement for "Dupers'R'Us"?

Nicodemus, why is this gear so outlandish? Larzuk will happily sell you a cruel giant thresher, or (thinking of the Count's live off the land barbarian) you can find a giant thresher on the ground and cube it (if it is blue). I have cubed them. I also have shocking, condensing, and grandmaster's. Personally I prefer condensing with a good suffix. Larzuk also once sold me a perfect 300% war pike.

Admittedly I have never seen a windforce (at least in D2), but why not put your best stuff on a hireling? My sorceress has an act 5 hireling who uses lightsabre and gladiator's bane, both found by the hirer herself.

Back to the topic at hand -- for my frenzy barbarian I chose an act three fire merc. Particularly good against physical immune bosses with mana burn.

[whereagles]

Just one little comment. If you can get shaft/gaze/cruel weap on the merc, then might merc is better than defiance since the merc'll hardly die.

But, if you're untwinked, the merc will go down pretty quick unless he has high defense, and this is why defiance > might for starters.

[Fragbait]

Hail whereagles,

Sorry for being a bit off-topic here, but I have one short question here:

Playing a paladin with defiance, do the auras stack and add both if I hire a Defiance Act 2 Merc ?

Would be pretty neat...

Greetings, Fragbait

[Vash]

I'm pretty sure that two copies of any aura (no matter who it's from) NEVER stack. I think how it works out in every situation is the last aura to become active will be the dominant one.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Nicodemus, why is this gear so outlandish?

Admittedly I have never seen a windforce (at least in D2)

You just answered your own question.

but why not put your best stuff on a hireling? My sorceress has an act 5 hireling who uses lightsabre and gladiator's bane, both found by the hirer herself.

Forgive me if I find that amazingly wasteful. Surely a Lightsabre would better suit another actual CHARACTER instead of a mere merc? Start a paladin. Try a 'Zon battlemaiden. ANYTHING would be more worthwhile than slapping it on "the deputy"? If you ever DID find a Windforce, wouldn't you be moved to actually have a PC Amazon to use it, instead of hiring a rogue? I can't identify with your thinking, here. :blink:

On the other hand, I've NEVER seen Larzuk offer a Giant Thresher. I suppose I'll make a concerted effort to see if I can find one according to your claims. After 3ish years of constant playing, it's possible that I've overlooked those. Improbable, but possible.

*Edit: Just tried a shopping run. It took me all of 10 minutes to get Larzuk to offer me a Giant Thresher. I stand happily corrected. *tips helm to Lavcat**

[LavCat]

Nicodemus, why is this gear so outlandish?

Admittedly I have never seen a windforce (at least in D2)

You just answered your own question.

True I've not seen a windforce, but last week I found a third baranar's star. I'm waiting for the new cube recipe: three baranar's stars, one unique jewel (any type) -> three socket windforce.

Forgive me if I find that amazingly wasteful.&nbsp; Surely a Lightsabre would better suit another actual CHARACTER instead of a mere merc?&nbsp; Start a paladin.&nbsp; Try a 'Zon battlemaiden.&nbsp; ANYTHING would be more worthwhile than slapping it on "the deputy"?&nbsp; If you ever DID find a Windforce, wouldn't you be moved to actually have a PC Amazon to use it, instead of hiring a rogue?&nbsp; I can't identify with your thinking, here.&nbsp; :blink:

Arreat says "Give your Hireling good equipment." Emund always tells me he'll put it to good use. If I find a windforce I think I would first give it to my amazon. As it happens, my paladin tried the lightsabre but it did not do much for him.

On the other hand, I've NEVER seen Larzuk offer a Giant Thresher.&nbsp; I suppose I'll make a concerted effort to see if I can find one according to your claims.&nbsp;&nbsp; After 3ish years of constant playing, it's possible that I've overlooked those.&nbsp; Improbable, but possible.

*Edit:&nbsp; Just tried a shopping run.&nbsp; It took me all of 10 minutes to get Larzuk to offer me a Giant Thresher.&nbsp; I stand happily corrected. *tips helm to Lavcat**

You are welcome. Thank Larzuk!

Edit: I hit the wrong button trying to get quotes to work.

[Swarmalicious]

...I always forget the runewords. :P

That will definitely make it to my 'need to find' list once I start this bad-boy.
Thanks