Best Merc bases

As the title states what are the best bases for mercenaries. Specifically A2 mercs. I have an

Eth Sup

Balrog Skin with over 800 def I'm thinking of socketing and making a Fort out of as I'm tired of swapping merc gear.

Also, most specifically, I'm looking to make a Flickering Flame for my merc but not sure what

Helm bases are considered good to use outside of

Bone Visage.

Thanks in advance.

Get the highest he can wear.

To me it doesn't really matter if the armor is

Eth or not. It's not like a few hundred points more defense really makes a difference for the monsters hit chance. If you want to keep your Merc safe, best thing is to level up (LVL difference factors into chance to hit)

There is one exception though and that being Fortitude. That

Chilling Armor nets a nice chunk of extra defense. In fact so much so, that that really makes a difference (double checked and it doesn't seem to make such a big difference in the end....)

So if you have a 4os

Eth

Sacred Armor. I'd put forti into that one

For weapons it's basically either

Giant Thresher or

Thresher

If your merc is wearing Flickering Flame, you can't run

Sacred Armor, shadow plates, etc. because of the strength req. In my opinion, anything over 800 defense is fine relative to the investment of a

Lo rune

For the

Helm, a

Corona can get you slightly higher defense, but I don't think it matters much considering the small enhanced defense bonus on Flickering Flame

General/global:
For helmets avoid only

Spired Helm since it's 192 str req, at least that's my motto (because then you can transfer that particular one to some other char/Merc and use it there as well if needed). Ofc unless you really like the look of it, then go for it (mini note: gear models don't change look of your Merc in any case). And yes,

Sacred Armor (on Act 2 and 5 Merc only) is the best for chest but only if you are using Andi's for head (or anything else that gives +str) otherwise your Merc won't be able to wear it (with perf str roll on

Andariel's Visage and w/o any other +str from gear Act 2 Merc can wear it only just from lvl 92). Unlike you, you don't have to worry about Merc's running speed so even the most heavy armors work the same. Since Merc gear doesn't need repairing you aim for ethereal and superior ones which boost dmg/armor and ethereal also lower req (ofc if it's gonna be Merc gear purposely). As someone stated above 800+ armor is just fine. And yes, you can build it in

Balrog Skin although that's not that popular base so if you end up trading it you might lose on a price a bit here.

Act 1 Merc:
She uses mostly dex and have a very low str and she is pretty much a glass cannon so no use of getting much into elite stuff (she can easily use

Demonhead or

Bone Visage tho) here (for example lvl 90 will have base of 144 str and 219 dex).
Note: Can use Amazon bows, so Matriarchal with +3 skills is the best ig. Bows also can't spawn ethereal.

Act 2 Merc:
He is the most balanced one in reliance of stats (attributes) by using a little bit more str than dex.
My suggestion is to never use

Thresher for any expensive runeword,

Giant Thresher (more reliable dmg and has range of 5 in comparison to 2 of

Thresher and 3 of CV with still decently low str req) is way better than anything else and also if you can get ethereal

Colossus Voulge (biggest dps, you can use it sooner [theoretically] and it can have max 4 slots => ez socketing with

Larzuk but non ethereal version has painful str req). Plain

Thresher is only used for leveling purposes and not as the end game gear (IMHO from experience).
Note: Cannot use Amazon only spears which deletes some possibilities for off meta builds. Avoid spears (they are generally slow and useless aka much lower dmg and can't build most runewords).

Act 3 Merc:
I think nobody uses this merc on meta builds; on non meta or 4fun ones you can use him as passive aura beacon and give him something like a Last Wish (even in a

Crystal Sword can work) or for some other runeword that goes to swords exclusively (and not other Merc's weapons like Polearms). He is also a caster and not melee so no need to use exceptional or elites at all (unless restricted by number of sockets). Relies on dex so avoid bases that req much str.
Note: He still can't use Paladin shields (so this gives him even less possibilities).

Act 5 Merc:
Since he relies heavily on str, you can freely use all the best bases here as in the ones with most dmg/def (those Mercs can get REALLY tanky and hard hitting). Note:

Frenzy (don't know if other one can) can't use 1H-2H weapons as 1Hs like barb can tho only ones that are specifically one handers for all classes (for example can't wear 2x

Colossus Sword).
Note: Can use barb only gear like barb helmets which can improve his skills even further.

A2 merc :

Eth is significantly better if available for high end stuff, especially for the weapon.

The most standard is Fortitude /

Andariel Visage /

Shael-ed Reaper's Toll OR Insight OR Infinity OR Obedience, the three latter being usually in a Polearm (but now spears can be used for some but not all - not sure for that case.

Andariel pretty much needs to add a fire resist jewel (or a

Ral rune as temp) if you don't want your merc to get melted at

Travincal, especially if your Fort rolled low on resists.

The best possible jewel then is +15 ias / 25+ fire res, but these are very expensive.

If you can't afford it, do as I did i.e. add a 25+ fire res / ED rare jewel or +min or +max damage, they are usually cheaper.

If you managed to get IAS / fres jewel, then it's worth taking

Eth

Thresher or

Giant Thresher.

If you are using no ias jewel, then T and GT do not gain a frame, so go for

Great Poleaxe (I think

Cryptic Axe works too), they are cheaper and the most consistent for damage. And as for myself, I love the GPA look ^^

The thing about Threshers and Giant Threshers is their attack speed. You can get to 9 frames by using Infinity / Insight with Andys (with IAS Jewel) and Treachery on every Character. In Terms of DPS this definitely blows a CV out of the water. Additionally

Fade from Treachery pretty much negates the Problems with Andys - Fire Res and the quite expensive Jewels.

To me the downside to this build is the lack of cnbf. On Characters with

Teleport this isn't all that problematic but not everyone uses an Eni on every Character. It's kind of Pick your poison there.

Travincal still gives headaches because

Fade won't proc before the merc gets melted by the Hydras. But for Traviruns i have a

Crown of Thieves in Stash. Not very pretty i admit but gets the job done (Swapping out the

Helm isn't so much of a Problem to me when i have an hour Travi TZ in front of me).

For everything else you'd have to get unlucky for

Fade not being more than enough (and despite, it's not like you'll have negative Fire Res when using Andy's, it's just not maxed)

Necrarch wrote: 1 year ago

Eth is significantly better if available for high end stuff, especially for the weapon.

I strongly have to disagree with that. At least for Body and Head.

If you're using the "Standard Build" with Andy's and Treachery the difference is probably not even noticable (in terms of protection, the lower requirements sure are nice)

Just did the math on my merc:

On LvL 93 with Insight,

Eth Perf Andy's and

Eth Treachery in 15% ED

Sacred Armor he sits at 3189 def (54% chance to get hit)
On LvL 93 with Insight, Perf Andy's and Treachery in 15% ED

Sacred Armor he sits at 2651 def (58% chance to get hit)

those few % are no justification for absurd price you'd have to pay for said

Eth equipment. If you have those laying around, yeah use them but i sure as hell won't go scouting for

Eth Armors. And even if i had them laying around i'd probably trade them away and just use non

Eth Stuff

As i've said initially: The only where there is a "big" difference is when you're using Forti as Merc Armor

Same setup as above but Forti instead of Treachery:

LvL 93, Insight, Perf

Eth Andy's, Forti in 15%ED

Eth

Sacred Armor: 14,317 Def (21% Chance to get hit)
LvL 93, Insight, Perf Andy's, Forti in 15%ED

Sacred Armor: 11,062 Def (25% Chance to get hit)

The difference in Defense sure looks significant but again: Just 4% difference in effectiveness and that again at a very hefty price.

And while i've initially stated that LvL do matter, this doesn't seem to hold true for the merc (upping his lvl to 98 does nothing for the ctgh)


But here's the real kicker:

Merc DPS with Insight, Treachery and 15IAS Jewel Andy: 43,992
Merc DPS with Insight, Fortitude and 15IAS Jewel Andy: 44,622

So with all that my general take on that situation:

If you're using Eni:

Thresher / Giant Threaser with Andy's and Treachery and you're good

If you're not using Eni:

Get something with cnbf. Be it

Helm (Kira's,

Cham in another

Helm) or Armor (

Duriel's). No amount of ED% or IAS could even begin to make up for a frozen merc regarding the DPS.

No DPS = no Leech = no Merc


(all Calcs done with my Hammerdin's Merc: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/b601doe1)


Adendum:

This of course only holds true if you don't get Attack Speed from another Source. Throw Fana into the mix and Forti can maybe make up for the loss of IAS from Treachery but this is dependant on so many factors.

I still can't decide what i'll be ultimately ending up on on with my

Zeal but as stressless and cheap as his Merc's non

Eth,

Ral Andy's /

Duriel's won't be possible.

After giving a lot of thought into this i'm heavily leaning into Reapear's / Andy's

Cham / Forti and just accept the -Fire Res in exchange for a certified killing machine (should top up at around 60k DPS with

Decrepify proced)

Flippy wrote: 1 year ago

For weapons it's basically either

Giant Thresher or

Thresher

For a 35ias Infinity merc, I'd def consider

Mancatcher

TheDoo wrote: 1 year ago

My suggestion is to never use

Thresher for any expensive runeword,

Giant Thresher (more reliable dmg and has range of 5 in comparison to 2 of

Thresher and 3 of CV with still decently low str req)

Mercs don't have a rangeadder from the weapon, so

Thresher\gt difference is very minor

Necrarch wrote: 1 year ago

If you are using no ias jewel, then T and GT do not gain a frame, so go for

Great Poleaxe (I think

Cryptic Axe works too), they are cheaper and the most consistent for damage.

Indeed with 20ias GPA,

Stygian Pike and

Ghost Spear are the best options (they are as fast as a CV\CA with 35ias).

For the original question:

Demonhead,

Bone Visage,

Spired Helm,

Corona can reach very similar defense at the end and all wearable with a reasonble high lvl merc (

Eth

Spired Helm has the highest req, 182 str, so your merc needs to be at least lvl81 to be able to wear it without any other source of str).

Btw, where will your merc have leech with fort + ff ?

uuee wrote: 1 year ago

Btw, where will your merc have leech with fort + ff ?

Not every Merc needs a leech. That is my opinion but I'm sticking with it (from my own experience). On the other hand, what Flippy said you definitely need DPS otherwise "no Merc" or, I would have to add, much of other support utilities so it pays off for you (example being Act 1 Merc, often with Faith or even that three-in-one Act 2 with

Prayer). But without leech, Mercs can survive too, you just need to manage them a little better and with any tele build that ends up being trivial. I prefer and use Act 5 Mercs very, very often (

Frenzy one) and I can tell you he is a Beast even without any LL from gear. If you work a bit more on his def values and/or physical dmg reduction, he can become your mega tank who you can always heal occasionally with a full rejuv if needed (and full rejuvs are really not an issue). The only thing he cannot do is Ubers I guess.

Don't know for which build OP wants to go with Flickering Flame, but I would strongly suggest them to try out Act 1 Fire Merc with it, she is decently good and survives much more/longer than any other aggressive/melee one does on average (which means you get that sweet fire res all the time + she gets the most benefits from FF in general).

Note (again): If you decide to go with Act 1 Merc, even on max level and without any other +str sources from gear she cannot wear any head armor above

Giant Conch def-wise (which is also max 2os) => which means no

Spired Helm or

Corona.

TheDoo wrote: 1 year ago

Unlike you, you don't have to worry about Merc's running speed so even the most heavy armors work the same.

Are you sure? Amazon Basin disagrees.

Amazon Basin wrote:

Medium and Heavy armors do slow down the movement speed of mercenaries.

It's true that Armor affects running speed but with Enigma present this isn't a problem where it's applicable

And sadly I think that with the Mercs exceptionally well designed pathfinding you're probably won't notice it either if you have a lighter armor while not teleporting around.

The Merc will still run in the wrong direction, only faster

But that's a presumption I've never tested that for real

Even if there is it's not noticeable, also Mercs tele to you when you get far enough away from them anyways... I think I watched someone talking about the pathfinding being changed in comparison to before (in one of the patches maybe in 2.4?) to "more suit their roles" as in if you have a ranged Merc they will usually try to run away from combat, and for example Act 2 (defense ones) are more likely to be in some neutral area not too far away yet not rushing into combat heads on. The biggest issue with it are twisty hallways especially ones with doors -- those can

Confuse Merc's AI a lot (IIRC their pathing "tries" to go in a straight line to catch up which definitely doesn't work when you leave them in another room).