I never really used mercs back in the day and unsure of an efficient strat for them considering my character. I've read some stuff and an act 2 merc is the way to go for a sorc as I understand it.
I've heard people saying that the act 2 mercs have auras. How come I've never seen it activate on my merc? How do you get it to take effect?
As I have nothing at this point, do I just start equipping with him whatever I can find? What should I be aiming to having him outfitted with?
I always run out of mana, but I heard that this merc refills my mana?? How does that work, does he have to be wearing a certain item?
I use the act 2 merc all through normal. Then I hire a new act 2 merc in nightmare? Then when I get to hell, I hire yet another merc from that difficulty right? What if I decide to go back to nightmare or normal... will the one from hell follow me or what?
Should I not be hiring one if I don't have good equip for him?
If I'm soloing or am in a game without many allies, do I gotta have one? And if I'm having mana problems, I probably gotta have one.... and he can fix that problem somehow?
Any help would be very appreciated, thanks!
|||Dear Clutchcity,
Q u o t e:
I'm starting to play D2 again after a 8-year hiatus, so I don't really have much equipment at all. My first character is gonna be a lightening sorceress. I ran into some nice guys and they hooked me up with some gear for a light sorc and additionally some sorc MF gear. So with that said, my equip is limited until I find a bunch of stuff while MFing.
I never really used mercs back in the day and unsure of an efficient strat for them considering my character. I've read some stuff and an act 2 merc is the way to go for a sorc as I understand it.
I've heard people saying that the act 2 mercs have auras. How come I've never seen it activate on my merc? How do you get it to take effect?
As I have nothing at this point, do I just start equipping with him whatever I can find? What should I be aiming to having him outfitted with?
I always run out of mana, but I heard that this merc refills my mana?? How does that work, does he have to be wearing a certain item?
I use the act 2 merc all through normal. Then I hire a new act 2 merc in nightmare? Then when I get to hell, I hire yet another merc from that difficulty right? What if I decide to go back to nightmare or normal... will the one from hell follow me or what?
Should I not be hiring one if I don't have good equip for him?
If I'm soloing or am in a game without many allies, do I gotta have one? And if I'm having mana problems, I probably gotta have one.... and he can fix that problem somehow?
Any help would be very appreciated, thanks!
________________
Questions:
________________
1. What level is your character?
2. What equipment did they give you?
3. Which bosses do you plan on MFing?
4. What spells are you using?
5. What is your stat point arrangement?
________________
Answers:
________________
Q u o t e:
I never really used mercs back in the day and unsure of an efficient strat for them considering my character. I've read some stuff and an act 2 merc is the way to go for a sorc as I understand it.
1. The mercenary you want is from Act II (Lut Gholein) and is in this list:
- a. Combat (Normal): Prayer Aura
b. Defense (Nightmare): Holy Freeze Aura
c. Offense (Nightmare): Might Aura
The Defense (Nightmare): Holy Freeze Aura Mercenary is probably the most common out of all of them. I've seen a few people with the other two.
Q u o t e:
I've heard people saying that the act 2 mercs have auras. How come I've never seen it activate on my merc? How do you get it to take effect?
2. The reason your mercenary's aura isn't activating might be the fact that he is not a high enough level. Your mercenary has to be the level that the aura requires. Basically the same thing for the Paladin.
- a. Combat (Normal): Prayer Aura {Required Level 1}
b. Defensive (Nightmare): Holy Freeze Aura {Required Level 18}
c. Offensive (Nightmare): Might Aura {Required Level 1}
Q u o t e:
As I have nothing at this point, do I just start equipping with him whatever I can find? What should I be aiming to having him outfitted with?
3. For now, you can just put whatever you want on your mercenary. But here are some suggestions for his gear:
[HELM]
- a. Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Death Mask cheap (Tal Helm)
b. Andariel's Visage Demonhead preffered ethereal with Ral Rune in it (Andy's + Ral)
c. Vampire Gaze Grim Helm preferred ethereal with IAS Jewel (Vamp Gaze)
[ARMOR]
- a. Chains of Honor Runeword Archon Plate/Dusk Shroud preferred ethereal (CoH)
b. Fortitude Runeword Archon Plate/Dusk Shroud preferred ethereal (Fort)
c. Treachery Runeword Armor preferred ethereal (Treachery)
d. Leviathan Kraken Shell (Levi)
e. Shaftstop Mesh Armor (Shaft)
f. Duriel's Shell Cuirass cheap (Duriel's Shell)
[WEAPON]
- a. Insight Runeword Polearm preferred ethereal cheap (Insight)
b. Infinity Runeword Colossus Voulge preferred ethereal (Infin/Infinity)
c. Infinity Runeword Cryptic Axe preferred ethereal (Infin/Infinity)
The most popular combination of all three is probaby "Vampire Gaze Grim Helm + Fortitude Runeword Archon Plate/Dusk Shroud + Infinity Runeword Colossus Voulge/Cryptic Axe"
Q u o t e:
I always run out of mana
4. You run out of mana because you:
- a. haven't put enough stat points into Energy
b. haven't put enough skill points into Warmth (Fire Spells)
c. are not using the Insight Runeword (Gives Meditation Aura)
{Continued...}
~Hazzar|||{Continued...}
Q u o t e:
, but I heard that this merc refills my mana?? How does that work, does he have to be wearing a certain item?
5. The only mercenary that would refill your mana is one with the Insight Runeword Polearm.
Q u o t e:
I use the act 2 merc all through normal. Then I hire a new act 2 merc in nightmare? Then when I get to hell, I hire yet another merc from that difficulty right? What if I decide to go back to nightmare or normal... will the one from hell follow me or what?
6. Any mercenary that you hire from any difficulty will follow you throughout all difficulties.
Q u o t e:
Should I not be hiring one if I don't have good equip for him?
7. Do not keep on resurrecting your mercenary if he keeps dying. You're wasting gold pieces. Just wait until you have the right gear for him.
Q u o t e:
If I'm soloing or am in a game without many allies, do I gotta have one? And if I'm having mana problems, I probably gotta have one.... and he can fix that problem somehow?
8. Just because you are alone in a game doesn't mean that you have more mana. If you need the mercenary for mana, then use him no matter how many people are in the game. And when there are more people in the game you probably want to hire one so that he can help you kill monsters.
~Hazzar|||1. What level is your character?
early 80s at the moment
2. What equipment did they give you?
Right now my one char is basically just a MFer, so I can get a bunch of stuff... then start some more guys.... so basically, i have over 500 in mf gear along with a shako, a call to arms, a spirit monarch shield, 3 pieces of tal's, hellfire torch charm, anni charm
3. Which bosses do you plan on MFing?
I'm not sure of where to go these days... I've been doing a bunch of solo mephs... iirc baal only drops a few more items than meph? I've been doing baal a bunch with others; I can't do it alone cuz there's a dude whose light resistant :/.... where else should I go? (has gotta be a place that doesn't have light resistant monsters
4. What spells are you using?
lightening mostly, some chain light... that's all that's needed pretty much...
5. What is your stat point arrangement?
I've really been confused and asking a bunch of questions about that. I probably need a stat reset. I put nearly 150 into str (I know it's a ton) but both of my shields require 156 str. One is the spirit, the other is a 4 ist'ed 100 MF shield.
I'm starting to think I should probably find somewhere else to put MF into and just say screw those shields. I should probably try and sell the spirit for something? Or I could get a bunch of strength charms? str charms probably a waste though...
I'd love to hear what my stat points should be (after a reset).
1. The mercenary you want is....
Okay, so next thing I'm gonna do is go to nightmare and hire the holy freeze merc.
edit: THANK YOU to Luciferrus667 as well! Made it nice and clear for me.... I'll work on getting that insight.
2. The reason your mercenary's aura isn't activating....
I probably just hadn't given it enough time. I think it's working now... Only reason I'm not 100% sure is because I'm always using my CTA to activate the 2 barb battlecries, so I don't see it/notice it
3. For now, you can just put whatever you want on your mercenary. But here are some suggestions for his gear:
wow thanks so much for listing 3 items for each, that is sooooo helpful, I really appreciate that. I'll be continually referring back to your list believe me... haha ironically, it turns I put a tal rasha mask on him, as it's one of the first items that's dropped in my mf runs. I don't know anything about runewords really; I'm gonna have to go and do some reading up on them clearly as well as keep my eye out for good runes.
4. You run out of mana because you:
mana hasn't been as much of a problem lately since I made the OP because I've leveled up 20+ times.
however my stats are 126/25/294/35 BEFORE items/charms
and 166/75/356/65 AFTER all of the add-ons.
[quote]{Continue
5. The only mercenary that would refill your mana is one with the Insight Runeword Polearm.
I've heard that mentioned; I really needa get that somehow... is it expensive? I have no idea what prices are these days... as I understand it, 1 soj = 2 hr's... and there's like 5 or 6 hr's? that's the extent of my trade knowledge, lol fml
6. Any mercenary that you hire from any difficulty will follow you throughout all difficulties.
I read somewhere that the "Might" merc might be good, but holy freeze seems like the best choice.
7. Do not keep on resurrecting your mercenary if he keeps dying. You're wasting gold pieces. Just wait until you have the right gear for him.
he's been doing well... only had a bit of a problem when I solo meph in hell
|||continued...
Thank you again so much, Hazzar. You're so awesome for answering all of my questions and working with me.
I have some more questions about other stuff if you don't mind.
What's with all of the bots doing hell baal runs? I thought all of the advertising spam bots were bad, but I think that's even worse. It's just not right. I went to the trading channels, and there's no one there anymore. Both of these factors just make me feel like the game is dead. D2 world has changed too much for the worse imo. blah blah whatever... I guess that wasn't much of a question lol but...
how could they possibly program those bots to do the baal runs? lotta smart dudes out there.... and what's the point of them doing all of those runs anyway, lot of the time they're by themselves, I just don't like it
anyyyyywayyy. one guy told me his lightening sorc does 40k dmg!! like wtf mine only does 14k, but he has 9 more + lightening skill charms than I do. Who drops those skills charms the most often? I assume they have good trade value?
How can I figure out what's good these days and what prices are, are there any recent links?
I was reading arreat summit and they have "orignal runewords" "1.10" and "1.11". Is it out of date or has there just not been more added since 1.11? iirc some runewords can only be created by ladder characters? I'm playing non-ladder, how do I know which ones I can make? I wish there was an up to date list somwhere. I wish I knew which ones were good, I mean in relative value compared to the non-runeword alternative players could be using. I guess I'll just have to get experience again and make judgements for myself on prices.
One of the great things about this game is all of the helpful people there are out there. It makes the gaming experience so much better. thank you thank you thank you if someone answers even one of these new questions.
|||also of interest for a merc: act 2 defensive from normal with a defiance aura. the added defence can really help your merc get hit a lot less, if you're finding your merc dying more than you'd like it might be a switch worth considering.
where to find skill charms:
plain:
earliest location is great marsh/flayer jungle in nightmare.
anywhere after then they could drop. fastest place to find charms in my experience is nightmare cows, lots of charm drops, and lots of flawless gems to make pgems for rerolling. It could take quite a few rerolls before you get a +1 skill tab charm, and if you want ones with second mods they're even rarer.
if you want the highest life affix available what you'll want is a grand charm dropped from hell baal and then reroll it using 3 pgems in your cube, it's ilvl will stay at 99, keeping the highest vit affix available. a grand charm from a lvl 77 or higher area (most places in hell) will be capable of up to +40 life. a baal charm up to +45 life. charms from nm capable of generating +1 skill tab will be able to get up to either +30 or +35 life.
ladder only runewords are found on the 1.10 runewords page, in the bottom half. above the divide you can make nonladder. There are no new runewords since 1.11. The runewords currently makeable are up to date, it's all of the ones on original+1.10+1.11.|||
Q u o t e:
also of interest for a merc: act 2 defensive from normal with a defiance aura. the added defence can really help your merc get hit a lot less, if you're finding your merc dying more than you'd like it might be a switch worth considering.
where to find skill charms:
plain:
earliest location is great marsh/flayer jungle in nightmare.
anywhere after then they could drop. fastest place to find charms in my experience is nightmare cows, lots of charm drops, and lots of flawless gems to make pgems for rerolling. It could take quite a few rerolls before you get a +1 skill tab charm, and if you want ones with second mods they're even rarer.
if you want the highest life affix available what you'll want is a grand charm dropped from hell baal and then reroll it using 3 pgems in your cube, it's ilvl will stay at 99, keeping the highest vit affix available. a grand charm from a lvl 77 or higher area (most places in hell) will be capable of up to +40 life. a baal charm up to +45 life. charms from nm capable of generating +1 skill tab will be able to get up to either +30 or +35 life.
ladder only runewords are found on the 1.10 runewords page, in the bottom half. above the divide you can make nonladder. There are no new runewords since 1.11. The runewords currently makeable are up to date, it's all of the ones on original+1.10+1.11.
man this game gets complicated lol....I've never tried rolling, I'll look into that...
my merc is such a @*##!, he dies on nearly every hell meph run... I probably should switch or hurry up and get that Insight.|||Insight will not save your merc, merely give you more mana while he lives. Furthermore, you cannot make an insight(or for that matter any of the good polearm rws) yourself since you said you were on nonladder, you'll have to find one to trade for.|||Okay thanks guys, I'll keep all of that in mind.
Are Hammerdins the best/strongest character now? The speed at which those bots crush baal is insane. I remember back in the day it used to take several real players a long time and a lot of teamwork to beat the whole throne of destruction level.
How would you rank the top few--several characters?|||
Q u o t e:
Are Hammerdins the best/strongest character now?
Most would say so.
Q u o t e:
How would you rank the top few--several characters?
It depends on who you are and what orientation (PvM / PvP / Both / Other). But I would say that the Blessed Hammer Paladin is the most prominent.
P.S. Sorry for taking five days, to answer.
~Hazzar|||Some great info in here.. thanks Hazzar!|||This should be stickied. Excellent info, Hazzar
I also want to add for the OP that if you are playing a sorc who is developed enough to integrate teleport into the playstyle, then using tele to constantly reposition self and merc is more than half the battle in merc management (as well as effective battle tactics). In this scenario, with my sorc, she uses Insight. Please forgive me if it has already been mentioned; I did read through and don't remember seeing it.
Insight and Spirit are two very cheap runewords that let sorcs fly. You can self-find the runes very early and plentifully, so not only can you make it, but you can make it repeatedly to try getting better variable mods.
|||
Q u o t e:
Originally posted by Clutchcity
Thank you again so much, Hazzar. You're so awesome for answering all of my questions and working with me.
Q u o t e:
Originally posted by Miotkem
Some great info in here.. thanks Hazzar!
Q u o t e:
Originally posted by 4thdimension
This should be stickied. Excellent info, Hazzar
No problem :P.
~Hazzar|||A sorc's best friend is an Act 2 merc with Insight (infinite mana) or Infinity (lower resist aura)
Insight will carry the sorc through all of Nightmare difficulty. (and its a cheap runeword... use a socket quest on a poleaxe)
Infinity is Ber MalBer Ist So it may be a while tioll you can make it. Preferably an etheral elite 4-socet polearm (hard to find) so your merc can kill the enemies when the infinity doesn't break down the immunities.
By the time you have an infinity you should have enough +skills that 1 point in Warmth has your mana regnerate as fast as you can use your spells.
Generally I choose the Norm difficulty Combat Act 2 merc for the heal aura.
Shaftstop (or better.. with damage reduction) on your merc is a good idea (if you have one). 30% damage reduction. The merc lives a lot longer. My lev 87 merc is surviving hell baal minions in solo games.|||
Q u o t e:
A sorc's best friend is an Act 2 merc with Insight (infinite mana) or Infinity (lower resist aura)
Insight will carry the sorc through all of Nightmare difficulty. (and its a cheap runeword... use a socket quest on a poleaxe)
Infinity is Ber MalBer Ist So it may be a while tioll you can make it. Preferably an etheral elite 4-socet polearm (hard to find) so your merc can kill the enemies when the infinity doesn't break down the immunities.
By the time you have an infinity you should have enough +skills that 1 point in Warmth has your mana regnerate as fast as you can use your spells.
Generally I choose the Norm difficulty Combat Act 2 merc for the heal aura.
Shaftstop (or better.. with damage reduction) on your merc is a good idea (if you have one). 30% damage reduction. The merc lives a lot longer. My lev 87 merc is surviving hell baal minions in solo games.
But remember that both of those are Ladder-Only Runewords, so it will be a little but more difficult to retrieve those.
~Hazzar|||
Q u o t e:
also of interest for a merc: act 2 defensive from normal with a defiance aura. the added defence can really help your merc get hit a lot less, if you're finding your merc dying more than you'd like it might be a switch worth considering.
Defiance merc is good for fire/frost sorceresses, who don't have the skill points in energy shield. Which, if you plan on mf'ing in Hell, is what I would suggest going as. Cap fireball, meteor, frozen orb, and ice bolt, one point in any relevant skills (warmth, fire mastery etc.). As pure lightning you'll have an issue of coming across monsters immune to your damage.|||I personally prefer Hydra over Meteor/fireball.
Fire and forget and it shoots around corners.
Your aim doesn't have to be good The hydras aim for you
Yyou can run and gun hydras circling Diablo so he keeps getting pounded by fireballs... while you stay out of range of his breath.
(very good tactic when you have poor equipment)
A sorc that is set up (stat/skill placements) and run well can survive in Hell difficulty solo games (aside from Duriel and Baal) naked, even without a merc.
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