Act 3 Merc Gear

What's the best gear setup for an act 3 iron wolf hireling? I would want to build him to optimize his ability to support a party rather than maximize his own damage.

Yes I know that act 3 mercenaries may not be as "meta" as the others, but I still want to use one.

How does Sanctuary Aura from items work on a mercenary? Will it allow player characters to bypass physical resistance on undead if sanctuary is coming from a merc? Does it allow you to bypass all physical resistances > 0, or does it only work on undead with complete physical immunity (>=100% resistance)?

Sanctuary is an aura. It will work even if the item is on your merc.
It will remove the Physical Resistances (immunity or not) of only Undead Monsters.

Sean wrote: 4 years ago

act 3 iron wolf hireling

more like 'act 3 braindead hireling'

As far as I know, there is no gear combo that is able to keep those mercs alive. Since they are casters and dont benefit from Life steal - they cannot keep themselves alive and there are hardly any players willing to make it a job for themselves.

I could be very wrong, but have never seen anybody sport an Act 3 merc in all my years in D2. ( will not share how many they are cuz its depressing)

chokapyy wrote: 4 years ago

As far as I know, there is no gear combo that is able to keep those mercs alive. Since they are casters and dont benefit from Life steal - they cannot keep themselves alive and there are hardly any players willing to make it a job for themselves.

I could be very wrong, but have never seen anybody sport an Act 3 merc in all my years in D2. ( will not share how many they are cuz its depressing)

You're right about them not being able to keep themselves alive. Even with 4k max health from Battle Orders. Poison damage is particularly bad, because there's not much to do other than keep feeding him potions.

About gear.

I used to use an Act 3 Fire as support.
The Enchant was useful and Lawbringer helped me againt mana burn undead minions from Uber Baals.
But he was almost always killed by Venom Lord from Uber Diablo.

A setup that could work is :
+ Eth Griffon and -5 facet
+ Crescent Moon
+ Eth Monarch Spirit
+ Eth Skin of the Vipermagi and -5 facet
You will have 60-65 to Enemy Lightning Resistance.

I have an perfect 35 AllRes Eth SotV and HolyFire Paladin on ladder.
But giffon is on non-ladder.
Maybe I could do a test once season 1 is ended.

mockingbirdreal wrote: 4 years ago

I used to use an Act 3 Fire as support.
The Enchant was useful and Lawbringer helped me againt mana burn undead minions from Uber Baals.
But he was almost always killed by Venom Lord from Uber Diablo.

A setup that could work is :
+ Eth Griffon and -5 facet
+ Crescent Moon
+ Eth Monarch Spirit
+ Eth Skin of the Vipermagi and -5 facet
You will have 60-65 to Enemy Lightning Resistance.

I have an perfect 35 AllRes Eth SotV and HolyFire Paladin on ladder.
But giffon is on non-ladder.
Maybe I could do a test once season 1 is ended.

Act 3 fire for Enchant was exactly what I was thinking, with either Lawbringer or Azurewrath to give him Sanctuary. Azurewrath might require too much dexterity though.

The reason why I like act 1 and 3 mercs is that the ai generally tries to avoid enemies. I've had trouble keeping act 2 and 5 mercs alive in the past, because they will usually engage anything they see in melee combat.

Sean wrote: 4 years ago

Act 3 fire for Enchant was exactly what I was thinking, with either Lawbringer or Azurewrath to give him Sanctuary. Azurewrath might require too much dexterity though.

The reason why I like act 1 and 3 mercs is that the ai generally tries to avoid enemies. I've had trouble keeping act 2 and 5 mercs alive in the past, because they will usually engage anything they see in melee combat.

You can give The Reaper's Toll or Lawbringer to them.
Decrepify makes them hard to die.

I saw the following build on Reddit, to pair with a horker running Travincal:

Act 3 Mercenary (Fire)
Flickering Flame
Plague
Upped, ethereal Guardian Angel w/ Hel rune
Stormshield w/ Hel rune

What do you guys think?

Ikarugamesh wrote: 4 years ago

I saw the following build on Reddit, to pair with a horker running Travincal:

Act 3 Mercenary (Fire)
Flickering Flame
Plague
Upped, ethereal Guardian Angel w/ Hel rune
Stormshield w/ Hel rune

What do you guys think?

I don't see how it would help in Travincal. This setup seems to be designed to just keep the merc alive (or just give him a chance to stay alive), but I can't see how that merc would contribute anything to a trav run other than just staying not dead somewhere behind you.

IMO act3 mercs are useless at the moment. The ones with Static - before they actually use Static usually the boss is below 50% HP already. Enchant - you can substitute them with a Demon Limb and use better merc instead. Lawbringer ? Act 5 merc can use those also and can have Grief + Frenzy + life leech also.

The only thing I am curious about with Act 3 merc is giving them Phoenix shield to check if that would help with Nihlathak runs (to remove bodies). But even this I doubt Just Nature's Peace seems like a better option here?

If they were reworked had inherent effect of some kind of unique "minus to enemy res" aura (kind of like having an Infinity, but weaker, getting better with levels - not Conviction, just for the element they are using) I think they would be ok to consider. I think that would perfectly match their sorc/support role. Just an idea

My ACT 3 Mercenary build for my Lightning Assa:
Weapon is Lightsabre
Shield is either Spirit or Lidless Wall or Wall of the Eyeless
Helmet is either Griffon's Eye (Ethereal is cheap in comparison) or Kira's Guardian
And finally Body Armor is an Ormus' Robe with either +3 Charged Bolt or +3 Lightning (is added) and 15% Lightning Skill DMG.
This for ACT 3 Lightning ( Static Field) Mercenary.
Altogether not a Tank or Supporter but additional Lightning Damager for the Lightning Sentry Assassin.
If Dexterity is too low add Runes with +Dex to the Uniques...
Spirit is actually Impossible.
If you are rich enough you can try Dual Dream Runeword as an alternative. But is useless for Assassin.
When using Enigma the +3 Charged Bolt Bonus of Ormus' Robe is better than a +3 Lightning one Imho.

I am still working on a solution.

Lightsabre? Why? Almost all of its affixes, except lightning absorb, work with weapon attacks only. Give him Spirit in a Crystal Sword instead. Or maybe Crescent Moon, but remember that -enemy res works only for the wearer, your sin won't inherit that.
Dual Dream is useless without synergies. It works only on a Paladin (with Resist Lightning and Salvation) or a Sorceress (with Lightning Mastery).

I Like it as overall weapon. It has Mana Leech +1-200 Lightning Damage and 5% Chance to cast Chain Lightning.
Dream is useless I agree.
Maybe a six socketed Phase Blade with Lightning Damage Jewels could Work?
I mean 6 Rainbows with +5% Lightning Damage
Edit: True Mana Leech does no effect.

Phalanx wrote: 3 years ago

I Like it as overall weapon. It has Mana Leech +1-200 Lightning Damage and 5% Chance to cast Chain Lightning.
Dream is useless I agree.
Maybe a six socketed Phase Blade with Lightning Damage Jewels could Work?
I mean 6 Rainbows with +5% Lightning Damage

its a caster can use mana leech the act 3 merc doesnt hit only cast like a sorc so he benefits from fcr etc attack sped life mana leech Attack rating are useless to him Crescent Moon Spirit sword Lawbringer azurwrath are good option

I don't like Sanctuary because I want to give good damage in Duels. I know it dies but still...

Back in D2 the common Act 3 Merc looked like this:
Type: Cold
Helm: Kira's Guardian
Armor: Guardian Angel, Shaftstop
Shield: Stormshield, Phoenix Monarch
Weapon: Lawbringer, Azurewrath

but I am not sure if this is usable in D2R.

If your looking for party support we played around with the fire guy a while back: forums/act-3-fire-merc-actually-amazing-t1013134.html

Might be worth a read