A2 Merc Helm Question

I rarely focus on CBF for my act2 mercs and it has never been an issue. For Helm I usually go with Crown of Thieves or Andariel's unless I have neither but happen to have a Tals until I get them. For me LL is the most important trait for A2 merc Helm.

Andariel's Visage
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest

Never expected this Wealth of information to land my way, thank you all. A lot to chew on! It kind of seems like I'm going overkill considering I'm playing offline and it will be a huge challenge to find a single Cham rune. Clearly there are (easily) farmable alternatives to get that mod. I would slightly disagree with the statement that the a2 merc is merely an aura stick. My sorceress never run out of mana so no use for Insight and I'm far too poor still for an Infinity. Thus I still require my merc to handle cold immunes. Agree with that comment end-game.

Hmm... you know exactly what is best for you.

May I suggest however an act 4 Frenzy Barbarian though if you are wanting a more combat oriented mercenary. Little less tanky mind you, however boy is it fast and hits like a truck with some fairly easy to acquire equipment.

Again, I think he is ugly myself. But incant deny that if I want something dead fast he does that with ease.

I'm guessing you are running a cold sorceress? Fun times. I like throwing double Voice of Reason on a Barb to have Frozen Orb spamming everywhere. Maybe even Crescent Moon so that there is Chain Lightning in the mix. It's absolutely hilarious. Not the most useful thing for a cold sorceress mind you having hat specific loadout. But it's merely an example. (Double crescent moons or hands of justice. Lmao.)

The reason people say a2 merc is a stat stick is that generally he is the one that can stack the most instances of useful auras I imagine. Well, who can say.

Oddly I find the act 5 merc ends up being a better sorcerer than an iron wolf.

Wish you the best of luck, happy hunting.

ghostpos wrote: 2 years ago

Never expected this Wealth of information to land my way, thank you all. A lot to chew on! It kind of seems like I'm going overkill considering I'm playing offline and it will be a huge challenge to find a single Cham rune. Clearly there are (easily) farmable alternatives to get that mod. I would slightly disagree with the statement that the a2 merc is merely an aura stick. My sorceress never run out of mana so no use for Insight and I'm far too poor still for an Infinity. Thus I still require my merc to handle cold immunes. Agree with that comment end-game.

Thanks @BoringTitle (and everyone else)!

I would hole punch in Gface because you van use it in other melee build.
Most uber melees use it for CB.
Many barbs use it because Raven Frost has cold dmg.
Never use andy's face on my main char because I use 3os magic Helm if I need ias.

mockingbirdreal wrote: 2 years ago

I would hole punch in Gface because you van use it in other melee build.
Most uber melees use it for CB.
Many barbs use it because Raven Frost has cold dmg.
Never use andy's face on my main char because I use 3os magic Helm if I need ias.

Yeah that's a great point Gface has a lot of versatility. From a barb/damage perspective is Arreat's Face always superior? +4 to combat skills, attack rating and strength.

ghostpos wrote: 2 years ago

Yeah that's a great point Gface has a lot of versatility. From a barb/damage perspective is
Arreat's Face always superior? +4 to combat skills, attack rating and strength.

Slightly more dmg with Gface because of 15%DS (CB is not counted yet)
Combat skill is not so useful that is why such skillers are cheap, people use max dmg, ar charms instead.