merc changing malus

[phaedi]

i have 2 questions:


the less important:

i´m recently using a defiance merc.
i got a pala (shocker/avengerdin) with about, 1600 base defense, when im used holy shield, i get about 4000, if my palas aura s on, im on about 8000

is it good to change to holy frost?


the more important:

im now at lvl 78, my merc is it, too.
when i change my merc right now, how much loose of
a) char attributes
B) merc aura skilllevels
would that be?

i think, it was earlier, that a merc had lvl 1 aura when u hired him and then got
one skilllvl each 3 lvls he went up.

this beeing the case, it would be utter folly to change mercs. anyone knows about it?

[whathuh]

im now at lvl 78, my merc is it, too.
when i change my merc right now, how much loose of
a) char attributes
B) merc aura skilllevels
would that be?
[right][snapback]68133[/snapback][/right]

Mercs have their own level system, so you wouldn't technically lose anything. However, Holy freeze can be bought in nightmare, resulting in less than perfect level 98s. There isn't much of a difference here, only like 100 life I think, some ar and res and other stuff. But you get a better aura for it, so its you're choice.

If you like to run alot, dump the defiance merc. If you are rich enough to have doom, consider that instead of getting a new merc. You will have to re-level the nightmare merc, but its fairly easy to do. Normal and nightmare cows do the trick rather nicely, but so do baal runs in normal and nightmare. Generally speaking, all mercs should be bought in normal unless you know what you are doing or unless you want a nightmare aura. If you are lazy, you can get a hell merc, but know that their skills never increase, only their life and stats.

[Chameleon]

i have 2 questions:
the less important:

i´m recently using a defiance merc.
i got a pala (shocker/avengerdin) with about, 1600 base defense, when im used holy shield, i get about 4000, if my palas aura s on, im on about 8000

is it good to change to holy frost?
the more important:

im now at lvl 78, my merc is it, too.
when i change my merc right now, how much loose of
a) char attributes
B) merc aura skilllevels
would that be?

i think, it was earlier, that a merc had lvl 1 aura when u hired him and then got
one skilllvl each 3 lvls he went up.

this beeing the case, it would be utter folly to change mercs. anyone knows about it?
[right][snapback]68133[/snapback][/right]

You don't have to look far for correct information.
Spirea's Diablo II Resource

As for merc equipment to make him something more than fast fodder in hell.
Body armor with 1200+ DR and fhr.
Helm: I use Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest on nearly every merc, dr, 15resis all, 10 life leech
Weapon: Only use Hyperion spear, Mancatcher, Thresher or Great Thresher; -10 base speed, the faster you merc attacks, the longer he will live. Honor and Insight are great cheap runewords that give high enough damage to keep him going.

As always with merc item, Ethereal is gold for a merc.

[adeyke]

You don't have to look far for correct information.
Spirea's Diablo II Resource
[right][snapback]68277[/snapback][/right]

You mean "hopelessly outdated information," I take it?

For the correct stats, look here (warning: takes a long time to load).

[Chameleon]

Ah, good. New information, and hey A3 mercs don't suck so much anymore.

[whathuh]

Ah, good. New information, and hey A3 mercs don't suck so much anymore.
[right][snapback]68348[/snapback][/right]

Also, if you aren't against exploiting a well known bug to make them more useful, the marrowalk bug should work on act 3 fire mercs. If you can find a circlet or sword with firebolt charges, this should add 6 points of synergy to his fireball. I haven't tested this, but I do know for a fact that synergies work on mercenaries. My prayer merc when equipped with insight heals me (half of the value of prayer actually) even without prayer on.

I haven't tested this yet, but it should work. And anyway, act 3 mercs really need a boost to be more useful. They are severly lacking in the damage department because they rely completely on their skills, which aren't that great. It would be cool if fire mercs could put a few points into fire mastery, meteor, and/or hydra. I can see a lightning merc with thunderstorm and energy shield. After all, the cold mercs get THREE skills!