Act 2 Infinity vs Act 5 dual Plagues?

For Javazon w/ lightning sunder charm - Anyone ever use Act 5

Frenzy merc with 2xPlagues instead of Act 2 Infinity Merc? Also, does the

Lower Resist proc stack, meaning 2xPlagues= Level 24 LR ?

Currently running an 84 Javazon with lightning sunder + Act 2 Infinity merc and it seems to melt almost everything on P7-P8 on single player but some of the lightning immune mobs are still a heavy grind. Not really a huge deal, just curious if anyone's tried.

BigD wrote: 8 months ago

Also, does the

Lower Resist proc stack, meaning 2xPlagues= Level 24 LR ?

The levels never stack. The proc chance does stack making it 40% 36% chance to cast when struck. Proc chances will be summed if they have the same trigger type (attack/striking/death/levelup), trigger the same skill, and the same skill level. If they have different skill levels they don't sum, they are calculated separately and can thus both go off individually. Ctc when struck also seems to follow that rule (calculated separately instead of summing chances).

Also, when it comes to on striking/attack effects for weapons (not the case you're asking about), proc chances never stack since on striking/attack is only relevant when you strike/attack with the weapon that has the proc. So the offhand's strike/attack proc is irrelevant when swinging with the main hand weapon, and vice versa.

See this excellent explanation from Schnorki:
post3109533.html#p3109533

EDIT: This post initially said the chances were summed to 40%, but upon further investigation, it seems the proc chances when struck don't sum, they are calculated indvidually. So both weapons provide 20%, so they can both go off, neither can go off, or either one can go off. The chance for at least one going off is (1 - (1 - 0.20) * (1 - 0.20)) = 0.36 = 36%. I have updated above accordingly.

I only saw/read people using dual Plague merc for poison builds (as

Conviction do not affect poison resist) or, sometimes, against Ubers (as

Uber Mephisto's

Conviction nullify Infinity 's

Conviction)

I use Act 5 dual Plagues merc for

Fire Claws druid and prefer it over Infinity on this build. Mainly because of double

Cleansing aura. Wolf doesn't have

Teleport and must rely on FRW and attack speed. The double

Cleansing aura helps quickly remove curses and maintain constant attack speed, which is critically important for this build.
Additionally, without

Teleport, the wolf cannot reposition an Infinity merc effectively, whereas the Act 5 merc is faster and more aggressive, especially with Hustle armor.

For Javazon, Act 5 dual Plagues merc is worse than Infinity merc because:

a) You have to wait for

Lower Resist proc, while Infinity gives instant enemy resistance reduction
b) Javazon is a ranged char and doesn't get cursed as often, so the benefit of the

Cleansing aura isn't as noticeable

For most elemental builds, Infinity is superior.

I would use one or dual Plague for:

-Dragondin/Tesladin: Has its own

Conviction aura and LR adds some -res for fire immunes.

-Lightning Strike Amazon: Is using self wield Infinity and LR adds some -res for lightning immunes.

-Rabies Druid/Poison Amazon: LR reduces Poison resistance.

-Fire/Cold Ironwolf mercenary: Really good weapon if you can't afford a facet sword. Lightning variant has Crescent Moon Runeword, which is way cheaper.

And any other build who wants the real nice high level

Cleansing aura. Made in an etheral mythical/cryptic sword it deals good damage as well.

I used it for a while on a frostzon/strafezon hybrid, together with a Last Wish, worked very well. My trapsin used a dual Plague barb until she got her Infinity merc.

Main advantage of a barb merc over a desert guy is his speed. Once

Frenzy kicks in, this guy zooms. If you are using Enigma, you can reposition the merc by yourself.

BigD wrote: 8 months ago

Currently running an 84 Javazon with lightning sunder + Act 2 Infinity merc and it seems to melt almost everything on P7-P8 on single player but some of the lightning immune mobs are still a heavy grind. Not really a huge deal, just curious if anyone's tried.

Against immunes, both

Conviction and

Lower Resist only work at 1/5 effectiveness. So if you are attacking a sundered mob, his resistance is 95-17 (from

Conviction)=78. You are dealing only 22% of your lightning damage to him.

Lower Resist from Plague is even weaker!

-Resistance from items is applied 100%, so you should get your hands on a

Griffon's Eye and/or

Thunderstroke, which are, if you are playing solo, hard to come by of course.

DasNarf wrote: 8 months ago

For most elemental builds, Infinity is superior.

I would use one or dual Plague for:

-Dragondin/Tesladin: Has its own

Conviction aura and LR adds some -res for fire immunes.

-Lightning Strike Amazon: Is using self wield Infinity and LR adds some -res for lightning immunes.

-Rabies Druid/Poison Amazon: LR reduces Poison resistance.

-Fire/Cold Ironwolf mercenary: Really good weapon if you can't afford a facet sword. Lightning variant has Crescent Moon Runeword, which is way cheaper.

And any other build who wants the real nice high level

Cleansing aura. Made in an etheral mythical/cryptic sword it deals good damage as well.

I used it for a while on a frostzon/strafezon hybrid, together with a Last Wish, worked very well. My trapsin used a dual Plague barb until she got her Infinity merc.

Main advantage of a barb merc over a desert guy is his speed. Once

Frenzy kicks in, this guy zooms. If you are using Enigma, you can reposition the merc by yourself.

BigD wrote: 8 months ago

Currently running an 84 Javazon with lightning sunder + Act 2 Infinity merc and it seems to melt almost everything on P7-P8 on single player but some of the lightning immune mobs are still a heavy grind. Not really a huge deal, just curious if anyone's tried.

Against immunes, both

Conviction and

Lower Resist only work at 1/5 effectiveness. So if you are attacking a sundered mob, his resistance is 95-17 (from

Conviction)=78. You are dealing only 22% of your lightning damage to him.

Lower Resist from Plague is even weaker!

-Resistance from items is applied 100%, so you should get your hands on a

Griffon's Eye and/or

Thunderstroke, which are, if you are playing solo, hard to come by of course.

I am playing solo, yes. Don't have

Thunderstroke or Griffons eye yet, lol I wish.

Currently running Titans Revenge+

Stormshield w/

Um on main and CTA phaseblade+Spirit

Monarch on swap. and "Ground"

Spired Helm (with a perfect 60/15 roll to counter my lightning sunder which is a -89, lol). Lucky enough to have a bunch of Amber Charms w/ other affixes too.

Also have TGods and

Razortail which are nice. Oh well, thanks for the info.