05-21-2004, 10:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-21-2004, 10:44 PM by Obi2Kenobi.)
I'm sure there is. Maybe right here, now!
First off, merc experience. Mercenaries can only get 1/64 of the experience from their current level to the next (if level 2 is achieved at 100 exp, and level 3 is gotten at 164 experience, you would get (164-100)/64, aka a max of 1 experience point) per kill. If you/minions kill, they receive 1/3 of the experience they would normally have gotten. If party members do the killing, the merc leaves with nothing. I have no idea if/where experience shrines factor in, and I don't know if the 1/3 penalty is applied before or after the cap.
All mercenaries can use helms/armor, with a weapon determined by their type.
Mercenaries hired in Normal have the best stats. Nightmare is slightly lower, and Hell is slightly lower than that. The level you hire a mercenary at has no affect whatsoever on their stats. Mercenaries can't use skills if they are too low of a level (18 for a cold act 3 mercenary to get Glacial Spike, for instance), they must be leveled up first.
Prevent Monster Heal doesn't work on mercenaries. Does anyone know of any other stats that don't work with the portable little meatshields?
Act 1 (Rogues): They fire bows. Amazon only bows and crossbows do not work. They don't need arrows to fire. They get the skills Fire Arrow or Cold arrow, depending on their type. All can use Inner Sight. Their regeneration rate is "1" (don't ask me how much that is exactly, I'm only including this for comparison purposes). These girls are a good mix of elemental and physical damage. Many assassins seem to like these. They can be useful to stop regeneration if you equip them with a poison bow, to keep them poisoned at range.
Act 2 (Town Guards): These guys are most everyone's favorite, due to their extreme power. They can use Spears or Polearms, but can't use Amazon only spears. In normal and hell, Defensive get's the Defiance aura, Offensive gets Blessed Aim, and Combat gets Prayer. In Nightmare, Defensive is Holy Freeze, Offensive is Might, and Combat is thorns. They have a range of 3 no matter what weapon they are using. They use the attack jab. A normal prayer mercenary gets the highest level jab when maxed out (31, IIRC). No idea what their regen is. Most characters use these for the auras. If you aren't sure which mercenary to get, get one of these. Careful with holy freeze, though, as it can spark LEBs and wake up new monsters.
Act 3 (Iron Wolves): The can use Swords and shields. They rarely swing their swords, though. I remember seeing a list posted here about the relative frequencies of how often they swing, but I don't remember the numbers. Fire mercenaries use the skills Inferno and Fireball. Cold mercenaries use Ice Blast, Glacial Spike, and Freezing Armor. Lightning uses Lightning and Charged Bolt. These skills synergize each other. Regeneration rate of 1 (?). On the rare occasion they swing their swords, they have a range of 1. The damage listed in the screen is how much damage they do per swing, not per cast. This is for people in need of either pure elemental damage or someone who wants their enemies frozen (from cold mercenaries). I've taken these through hell nude without them dieing (in 1.09, haven't gotten through hell in 1.10 yet, my nude one is currently in act 2 of NM, still not dead).
Act 5 (Barbarians): They use swords. They can use one-handed or two-handed, but can't dual wield. They can use Barbarian only helms, and benefit from plus to skills on them (but can't use skills they couldn't normally use, like BO, but I'm not sure about passive skills). They have a range of 1. They have a regeneration rate of 10. These guys are raw tanks, as they gain plenty of life per level. They use the skills Bash and Stun.
First off, merc experience. Mercenaries can only get 1/64 of the experience from their current level to the next (if level 2 is achieved at 100 exp, and level 3 is gotten at 164 experience, you would get (164-100)/64, aka a max of 1 experience point) per kill. If you/minions kill, they receive 1/3 of the experience they would normally have gotten. If party members do the killing, the merc leaves with nothing. I have no idea if/where experience shrines factor in, and I don't know if the 1/3 penalty is applied before or after the cap.
All mercenaries can use helms/armor, with a weapon determined by their type.
Mercenaries hired in Normal have the best stats. Nightmare is slightly lower, and Hell is slightly lower than that. The level you hire a mercenary at has no affect whatsoever on their stats. Mercenaries can't use skills if they are too low of a level (18 for a cold act 3 mercenary to get Glacial Spike, for instance), they must be leveled up first.
Prevent Monster Heal doesn't work on mercenaries. Does anyone know of any other stats that don't work with the portable little meatshields?
Act 1 (Rogues): They fire bows. Amazon only bows and crossbows do not work. They don't need arrows to fire. They get the skills Fire Arrow or Cold arrow, depending on their type. All can use Inner Sight. Their regeneration rate is "1" (don't ask me how much that is exactly, I'm only including this for comparison purposes). These girls are a good mix of elemental and physical damage. Many assassins seem to like these. They can be useful to stop regeneration if you equip them with a poison bow, to keep them poisoned at range.
Act 2 (Town Guards): These guys are most everyone's favorite, due to their extreme power. They can use Spears or Polearms, but can't use Amazon only spears. In normal and hell, Defensive get's the Defiance aura, Offensive gets Blessed Aim, and Combat gets Prayer. In Nightmare, Defensive is Holy Freeze, Offensive is Might, and Combat is thorns. They have a range of 3 no matter what weapon they are using. They use the attack jab. A normal prayer mercenary gets the highest level jab when maxed out (31, IIRC). No idea what their regen is. Most characters use these for the auras. If you aren't sure which mercenary to get, get one of these. Careful with holy freeze, though, as it can spark LEBs and wake up new monsters.
Act 3 (Iron Wolves): The can use Swords and shields. They rarely swing their swords, though. I remember seeing a list posted here about the relative frequencies of how often they swing, but I don't remember the numbers. Fire mercenaries use the skills Inferno and Fireball. Cold mercenaries use Ice Blast, Glacial Spike, and Freezing Armor. Lightning uses Lightning and Charged Bolt. These skills synergize each other. Regeneration rate of 1 (?). On the rare occasion they swing their swords, they have a range of 1. The damage listed in the screen is how much damage they do per swing, not per cast. This is for people in need of either pure elemental damage or someone who wants their enemies frozen (from cold mercenaries). I've taken these through hell nude without them dieing (in 1.09, haven't gotten through hell in 1.10 yet, my nude one is currently in act 2 of NM, still not dead).
Act 5 (Barbarians): They use swords. They can use one-handed or two-handed, but can't dual wield. They can use Barbarian only helms, and benefit from plus to skills on them (but can't use skills they couldn't normally use, like BO, but I'm not sure about passive skills). They have a range of 1. They have a regeneration rate of 10. These guys are raw tanks, as they gain plenty of life per level. They use the skills Bash and Stun.