Presenting: The Summoner Barb!

So After some more thought I think we have even more options here.

If we wanted to really max out our merc’s damage we could go with a Pride Iron Golem, equip a Beast Axe and duel wield an Oath for the level 16 Heart of Wolverine. Then all the warcry buffs... you’d miss out on the Valkyrie but you could still cast some wolves to draw the fire away from Iron Golem... meh he’ll be bo’d

Plus you could equip a Last Wish and Lawbringer or Grief on an act 5 merc, really max out the auras and damage

I can’t do that for a while, though, I can’t afford a Beast, Pride or Last Wish yet...or maybe ever

But at this point it stops being a summoner barb and becomes a max merc build. Which even though technically could be done by anyone, the barb would be the best option because he can most efficiently clear alongside the maxed merc ... as a bear! (The tank’s tank)

I think that might be a separate build in itself, a max bear merc barb build?

Nate wrote: 4 years ago

the barb would be the best option because he can most efficiently clear alongside the maxed merc ... as a bear! (The tank’s tank)

I'd disagree.

Barb would likely be the best option defensively because the massive BO + Shout significantly bump up your merc's base survivability. But in terms of clear speed, I dare say a pally adding a real high lvl dmg aura on top of his own zealing or whatever you spec him for or even a druid with high lvl HoW would probably do better (just a gut feeling, admittedly).

Either way, it defeats the purpose of a "summoner".

Oh snap! You can proc the Valkyrie from Peace armour then swap it out to something else and the Valkyrie stays! This frees up the weapons slots and allows for other skills! Although you’d lose out on the revives...

Hmm

More testing is needed!