Guide to understanding mercenaries for
Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction for Version 1.12.
Applies to all versions 1.1x
By: rking
0) Keyword System [000KeyWd]
1) Introduction [001Intro]
2) Abbreviations & Useful Terms [002Abbre]
-Useful Terms [002Terms]
3) General Information [003GenIn]
-Hiring and Firing [003GenHf]
-Mercenary Choices [003GenMc]
-Mercenary Statistics [003GenSt]
-Behavior [003GenBe]
-Maintenance [003GenMa]
4) Equipment Choices [004Equip]
-Helmets [004EqHat]
-Armor [004EqArm]
-Shields [004EqShl]
-Weapons [004EqWep]
-Socket Fillers [004EqHol]
-Summary [004EqSum]
5) Adding it all up [005AddUp]
-Casters [005AddCa]
-Melee [005AddMe]
-Rogues and Wolves [005AddRw]
-Curses! [005AddCu]
6) Sample Setups [006Sampl]
7) Character/Mercenary Pairs [007Pairs]
8) Frequently Asked Questions [008Faqs!]
9) Everything that's left [009Left!]
Version History:
----------------
1.04 - Made edits to improve readability and to clarify
various sections.
1.03 - Added Iron Wolf equipment setup suggestions,
further expanded on mercenary equipment (Iron
Wolf suggestions), and note on /players 8.
1.02 - Corrected error regarding Iron Wolf attacking,
non-specific minor errors, expanded on mercenary
information and equipment suggestions.
1.00 - This guide, first release.
Keyword System:[000KeyWd]
-------------------------
By using CTRL + F you can search for these keywords and jump to the
appropriate section of this guide.
Introduction:[001Intro]
------------------------
The purpose of this guide is to get you better acquainted with the four
hireables in Diablo 2, the Rogue, Town Guard, Iron Wolf, and Barbarian.
There's really not that much that goes into them but with a bit of work it's
possible to end up with a nice companion for your character. This guide is
not intended to be a comprehensive tome of ultimate knowledge, but instead
perhaps a guide covering most concerns relating to the mercenary types.
I tried to think of a disclaimer regarding /players 8 and the strategies
listed in this guide. I failed, so with permission I borrowed one.
Quote: "this guide is written from the perspective of Single Player
gameplay, with the /players8 setting activated. For those unfamiliar with this
setting, it causes the game to behave as if it were a multiplayer game with 8
players present, treating the player as unpartied (the game increases several
variables: +50% experience yield, +50% monster life, +6.25% monster damage
per player beyond 1, so 8 players gives an additional 350% experience, 350%
life, and 43.75% damage to every monster you face). This is a substantial
difficulty increase, and in my opinion makes the game much more interesting,
so I play nothing else. Any advice I give for /players8 should also be valid
for lower player settings (although I must give a warning that doing so risks
extreme boredom)." - Explopyro
This guide was written in Courier New, 10pt Font, without Word Wrap, and
for the most part in the Notepad program that comes with Windows.
Abbreviations & Useful Terms:[002Abbre]
---------------------------------------
This guide uses some abbreviations, anyone assembling characters should be
familiar with them since they're the same as what you're using. For those who
aren't too familiar with them here's a list of what's used and what it means.
AR - Base Attack Rating
AR% - Attack Rating %
CB% - Crushing Blow
CBF - Cannot be frozen
CTC% - Chance to Cast
DR% - Damage reduced by X%, reduces damage by a percentage
DS% - Deadly Strike
ED% - Enhanced Damage
EDef% - Enhanced Defense
FCR% - Faster cast rate
HR - High Rune. Any rune higher than Vex, or any rune that will not drop
from the Hellforge. These runes are very uncommon.
OW% - Open Wounds
PDR - Damage reduced by X, reduces damage by a specific amount
PLR - Poison length reduced by X
Proc - Short for "programmed random occurrence"
*HR note* - This contains High Runes so it's here for theoretical discussion
and sake of completeness only.
Useful Terms:[002Terms]
-----------------------
In order to get the most out of either of the mercenaries available
we need to look at the basics. Every mercenary will need some balance of the
following in order to survive, how much of each will depend upon the specific
mercenary and party setup they find themselves in. What are we looking for in
each mercenary setup? These stats should look familiar, your characters use
them also. I'll try to add a short explanation of what each does, although
chances are you might have an idea already.
A) Resistance (resists). Resistance lowers the damage you receive from
elemental (Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison) attacks. The maximum amount of
resistance you'll normally have is 75%, however certain pieces of equipment
can raise this up to 90%.
Mercenaries gain resists as they level, so it might seem as if they have no
need for equipment with resists. Mercenaries will never max their resists
and will very likely end up starting Hell difficulty with low to very low
(20% - 40%) resists. Raising this stat can be quite helpful versus many
of the monsters you'll come across.
B) Defense. Defense reduces the chance a physical attack will hit you. The
more Defense you have the less chance you'll be struck. This can be a
desirable stat to increase although since the main piece of equipment used
to raise your mercenary's Defense is the body armor you may not be able to
focus on this stat as much as you like. The reason behind this would be
that few body armors have high Defense and IAS%. Sometimes you'll need to
decide between one or the other.
C) Increased Attack Speed (IAS%). Diablo 2 runs at 25 frames a second and
each action taken has a specific frame length. If you increase your IAS%
past certain breakpoints your attacks will take less frames to complete.
The goal here is to reach as many breakpoints as you possibly can without
sacrificing your mercenary's other stats. Breakpoints apply to FHR% and
FCR% as well.
D) Life Leech. Life leech returns a portion of the physical damage you
inflict on a target to yourself, healing yourself that amount in the
process. Example: You have 10% Life Leech, you do 1000 damage, you're
healed by 100 points. Life leech is reduced by 50% in Nightmare and by
66% in Hell. With this in mind, your effective Life leech would be 5% in
Nightmare and 3.33% in Hell You would recover 50 points and 33.3 points
respectively. Drain effectiveness still applies, if your mercenary is
attacking a monster with 0 Drain effectiveness he can attack until the
cows come home and not regain any life.
Why does your mercenary need this? Life Leech goes a long way toward
keeping your hired help standing, even if your mercenary is being healed 30
or 40 points with each hit he or she will be hitting 2-4 times a second.
This will add up fairly quickly. Pairing Life Leech with IAS% is a good
idea because it effectively increases the amount of life your mercenary
will regain over a period of time
E) Faster Hit Recovery (FHR%). Similar to IAS%, the game runs at 25 frames
a second and when you get hit the recovery animation lasts a certain amount
of frames. Increasing this stat will shorten that time. As with your
character, trying to keep this fairly low is a good idea.
Faster Cast Rate (FCR%). The same principles behind IAS% and FHR% apply,
however this time with spells. Increasing this stat will allow your
Iron Wolf to cast more spells in a given amount of time.
F) Physical Resistance, (DR%). DR% lowers the amount of physical damage you
take by a percentage. If you have 25% DR and you take 100 damage you'll lose
75 life. There is a cap at 50% DR, any more is pointless.
G) Straight Physical Resistance, (PDR). PDR lowers the amount of physical
damage you take by a specific amount. In large numbers this can almost
completely negate most physical damage. Unfortunately it is very difficult
to get a large number on your mercenary, so DR% would be more useful in
this situation.
H) Blocking. This only applies to your Iron Wolves since they're the only
ones that can equip a shield. Iron Wolves cannot block so giving them a
blocking shield such as Moser's or Stormshield would do no good as far as
his blocking stat was concerned.
General Information:[003GenIn]
------------------------------
This section will introduce each mercenary type and provide information about
their stats, skills, behavior, as well as ways to keep them running.
Hiring and Firing:[003GenHf]
----------------------------
Hiring mercenaries is pretty easy. The following is a list of who to talk to
and in what town to hire each mercenary type. There are four types of hireable
mercenaries: Rogues, Town Guards, Iron Wolves, and Barbarians.
Act 1 - Rogue Encampment - Kashya - Rogue Scouts
Act 2 - Lut Gholein - Greiz - Town Guards
Act 3 - Kurast Docks - Asheara - Iron Wolves
Act 4 - Pandemonium Fortress - Tyrael - Revives only
Act 5 - Harrogath - Qual-Kehk - Barbarians
You're required to complete a quest in order to hire mercenaries in Act 1 and
5 for the first time, in Act 1 you must kill Blood Raven and in Act 5 you must
rescue Barbarians from the Frigid Highlands. Once completed you'll be able to
enlist the services of those mercenaries.
Although you can hire as many mercenaries as you feel like you can only have
one at a time. Mercenaries will follow you from Act to Act, and if they die
you can have them revived at your nearest Mercenary salesman. You cannot
dismiss a mercenary, however if you hire a new one your old one will leave.
Please note that if you hire a new mercenary you must unequip your old one, if
you do not the equipment he or she was using will be lost. You can see your
mercenary's stats by pressing "O", here you can also equip or unequip your
mercenary.
Mercenary Choices:[003GenMc]
----------------------------
Act 1) Rogues. There are two types of Rogue, a Cold and a Fire. The Cold Rogue
uses the Amazon's Cold Arrow skill. The Fire Rogue uses the Amazon's Fire
Arrow skill. Each type uses the Amazon's Inner Sight and a normal attack
skill as well.
Act 2) Town Guards. Each one of these has a different aura (which are the same
as the Paladin skill auras) which will help you along the way. These are the
most common choice of mercenary. A quick list:
Normal Combat - Prayer. Heals life for your party over time, if paired with an
"Insight" this can be helpful.
Normal Offensive - Blessed Aim. Increases your party's AR by a percentage,
this adds with other sources of AR% you have. Builds with
low AR would be able to take advantage of this mercenary,
equip him as you would a Might mercenary for best effect.
Normal Defensive - Defiance. Increases your party's defense.
Nightmare Combat - Thorns. Useless due to the difference between monster life
and damage.
Nightmare Offensive - Might. Increases party damage, very helpful with
most physical builds.
Nightmare Defensive - Holy Freeze. Slows down monsters in a radius, depending
on your build and party this could be useful.
Each of these types also uses the Amazon's Jab skill, which will strike twice.
Act 3) Iron Wolves. These "rouge" mercenaries come in there flavors, Cold,
Fire, and Lightning. Each type casts Sorceress magic, which spells they cast
are listed below.
Cold: Glacial Spike, Ice Blast, and Frozen Armor
Fire: Inferno, Fireball
Lightning: Charged Bolt, Lightning
Act 5) Barbarians. These mercenaries use the Barbarian class skills Bash and
Stun skills, and attack twice per normal attack. This mercenary type also has
a 70% bonus to Poison resist in each difficulty.
Mercenary Statistics:[003GenSt]
-------------------------------
Each mercenary gains these stats at level up; Life, Defense, Strength,
Dexterity, Base AR, Minimum and Maximum Damage, Resists, and at certain levels
skill level improvement. These gains are fixed per level which means that you
don't need to level your mercenary from a low level in order for him/her to
reach their full potential. Please see the section, "Everything that's left"
for links to the following which will be useful in planning your setups.
-FHR% table
-FCR% table
-IAS% calculator
-Stat growth listings
Statistics do vary between difficulties, however. Mercenaries hired in
earlier difficulties have higher stats and skill levels than ones hired in
later difficulties. A Normal mercenary will have higher stats than one from
Nightmare or Hell, and one hired in Nightmare will have higher stats than one
from Hell. The only reason to hire a mercenary from anywhere other than Normal
would be to use a different aura granted by the Town Guards. Their auras are
the same in Normal and Hell, however the skill levels from the Normal Town
Guards will end up higher than the ones from Hell which are fixed.
Behavior:[003GenBe]
-------------------
Each mercenary type has a different AI, or more simply they behave different.
The following will provide a brief overview of each, as well as potential ways
to counter any negative behavior.
Rogues:
The Rogues have a habit of getting surrounded easily. If you run too far ahead
monsters will flock to her, cutting her off from you. If this happens your
Rogue is likely dead, she's typically incapable of fighting a large pack of
monsters solo. To deal with this just keep an eye on her, if she starts to get
surrounded move away from the area and she'll usually follow. If not, you'll
likely need to get involved by killing the attackers.
Town Guards:
Using one of these means you will never be attacked by a wall. I wish I wasn't
serious about this. These mercenaries have a habit of wandering away from
battle, trying to walk into a wall, and as they level their chances of using
their aura decrease so you'll find yourself wondering what to do with him.
Your Town Guard will activate his aura when he has to select an attack, so
if he isn't using it then you're killing too much. Step back and let him get a
few kills in. Being a melee unit, if properly equipped the Town Guard will be
able to stand against numerous monsters.
Iron Wolves:
Iron Wolves suffer from the same problem as Rogues, although not as bad. This
mercenary type is a bit more capable of running from danger. Iron Wolves don't
attack or block, so if one gets surrounded they are dead. Unlike a Rogue, these
guys can't leech Life to help. The same method of keeping the Rogue alive will
work here, if your Iron Wolf gets surrounded just start moving and he'll
follow.
Barbarians:
These guys are quite good at survival, Bash and Stun help keep monsters from
surrounding the Barbarian mercenary. Unfortunately, the Barbarian has a habit
of trying to get himself surrounded. You'll find these guys rushing head-first
into opposition without thinking (so to speak), although if properly equipped
the Barbarian requires little supervision. As with the Town Guard, these
mercenaries are quite capable of holding their own against the masses.
Maintenance:[003GenMa]
----------------------
Even the best equipped character needs some maintenance, mercenaries are no
exception. The following lists things to keep in mind, as well as tips on
keeping your mercenary standing through each battle.
-Mercenary equipment doesn't degrade, even an item with 1 Durability will last
forever when equipped on a mercenary. Due to this, Ethereal items are ideal
since they possess a 50% bonus to either Damage or Defense.
-Mercenaries regenerate life. Each mercenary except the Barbarian regenerates
at the same rate, 41 seconds, while the Barbarian mercenaries have a faster
regeneration time of 16.4 seconds.
-Equipment providing any of the following will not work. Vitality, Energy,
Mana, or Prevent Monster Heal.
-You can heal your mercenary by either dragging a potion onto his/her picture
in the upper left or by pressing Shift+1-4 (or your hotkeyed potion buttons).
Each potion does the same thing to them, Healing potions restoring life over
time and Rejuvenation potions healing instantly.
-Thawing potions and Antidote potions will work on your mercenary also. It is
important to remember this since your mercenary can die from Poison. They can
even die in town, so if he's poisoned work quickly to remedy the situation.
-Against Act bosses mercenaries are especially vulnerable. Mercenaries take
10 times the damage from Act bosses than they do from other monsters. As
well, they do 50% less damage to bosses in Normal, 65% less in Nightmare,
and 75% less in Hell. It is almost expected for your mercenary to have
difficulty surviving against bosses, so don't feel bad if you have to
run back to town to revive him.
Equipment Choices:[004Equip]
----------------------------
In order to protect your hired friend you'll need to equip him/her.
There may be countless ways to do this, some more effective than others.
Below are some of the more common equipment choices you'll hear about or come
across.
Since these items are all going on mercenaries you should, if possible, make
your runewords in ethereal items. For weapons you'll get 50% extra damage and
for armor you'll get 50% more Defense (125% if ebugged, see the FAQ section
for details). Using Ethereal uniques if possible will provide the same
benefits. Set items cannot be Ethereal.
Some of the items and runewords mentioned are "Ladder Only". Items that are
"Ladder Only" cannot be found off of Ladder online, however they can be found
in Single Player. Runewords that are "Ladder Only" cannot be made off of
Ladder online or in Single Player. Those playing Single Player can use a mod
called Runeword Mod (http://www.d2offline.info/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=334) to
make these runewords.
Following the list of what each mercenary type can equip is a list of some
common items that get equipped on a mercenary. I have decided only to list the
key stats of each item. If you need to check the full stats of an item you can
visit Arreat Summit for details on these. The link to the Arreat Summit is in
the "Everything that's Left" section.
Each mercenary can equip the following types of equipment:
Rogue - Bows (excluding Crossbows and Amazon specific bows)
Helmets
Body armor
Town Guard - Polearms, Spears, Javelins (excluding Amazon specific)
Helmets
Body armor
Iron Wolves - Swords *
- Helmets
- Body armor
- Shields (cannot block)
Barbarians - Swords
- Helmets (including Barbarian specific)
- Body armor
*Iron Wolves have been reported to swing their sword, at an amount equal to
10% of the time. Although I have never witnessed this happen that doesn't
mean it doesn't happen. For all intents and purposes the Iron Wolf will be
treated as a Caster in this guide.
If a piece of equipment appears as this, "Item Name", it is a runeword. If
the name of the item is not in quotes it is a Unique item unless specifically
noted. The term Helmet applies to all types, including the Circlet class.
Helmets: [004EqHat]
-------------------
"Delirium". This helmet offers very little to a mercenary, although it does
have a 11% CTC Confuse on Striking which will go off often with your mercenary
attacking. This can be a nice asset to some builds, although you would have to
think carefully before using this helmet. If your build requires a curse such
as Decrepify or Life Tap this would constantly overwrite your curses.
"Dream". *HR note* This helmet has variable resists (5%-20%) and variable
FHR% (20%-30%) which are alright but most people using this would be using it
for the Holy Shock aura. An unsynergized Level 15 Holy Shock aura will do
1-108 damage on the pulse and add 1-648 damage to your mercenary's attack.
Many monsters in Hell have well over 10k life, so this little bit of damage
would most likely be less than the monsters' regen. One nasty side effect of
Holy ??? auras is to attract monsters from all over the place, and this
usually ends badly.
Andariel's Visage. This helmet has a very wide assortment of mods that your
mercenary would enjoy including 8%-10% Life leech, 20% IAS, +2 skills, 20-30
Strength, and 70% Poison resist. The only drawback is that it has -30% Fire
resist. A Ral rune or Ruby jewel (fire resist type) will easily fix this, and
if you could find a Ruby jewel with a nice mod even better.
Crown of Thieves. 33% Fire resist, 50 Life, 25 Dexterity, and 9%-12% Life
leech make this a very nice choice for a mercenary helmet. Mid range, but
this helmet would work very well for a final choice.
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest. This is a solid choice which has 15$ resist all,
60 Life, and 10% Life Leech. Another nice midrange helmet with the potential
to stick with your mercenary for the long haul. This is a Set piece item from
the Tal Rasha's Wrappings set.
Vampire Gaze. This helmet has a bit lower Life leech than the previous ones
with 6%-8% but it offers a little Cold damage and 15%-20% DR, this can go a
long way toward keeping your mercenary standing. Do not up this item to its
Elite version as it may lose Defense.
Guillaume's Face. This might be your best bet for pure offense. This helmet
offers 30% FHR, 15% DS, 35% CB, and 15 Strength. It lacks Life leech but the
mods on this helmet make up for it. This is a Set piece item from the Orphan's
Call set.
Armors: [004EqArm]
------------------
"Treachery". This armor has the potential to be the best choice you can make
for your mercenary. The rune cost is reasonably low but the benefits are
amazing. You get 20% FHR, 30% Cold resist, 5% CTC Level 15 Fade when Struck
(which grants 60% resist all and 15% DR), 5% CTC Level 15 Venom on Striking,
and last but not least 45% (yes, forty five percent) IAS. This is very huge
and is near impossible to match from an armor. Not bad for a simple Lem rune,
huh?
"Stone". This armor provides a very large increase to Defense, 250%-290% Edef,
60% FHR, 15% resist all, and 16 Strength. There are probably better choices
but this armor will provide excellent protection to your mercenary.
"Duress". This armor provides 150%-200% EDef, 40% FHR, 15% resist all/45%
Cold resist, Cold damage, 15% CB, 33% OW, and 10%-20% ED%. For an offensive
based mercenary this armor will serve well.
"Fortitude". *HR note* This armor is quite impressive, although it lacks FHR%
(which may be difficult to gain elsewhere) it has many mods that make this
armor worth the runes. A 300% increase to ED%, 200% Edef, variable Life per
level, 20%-30% resists, and a 25% CTC Level 15 Chilling Armor when Struck
which will provide even more Defense.
"Chains of Honor" *HR note* This is an interesting choice for armor, although
it may be a bit "expensive" to give to a mercenary. It offers 65% resist all,
8% DR, 20 Strength, 70% Edef, 8% Life leech and +2 to all skills. A sound
choice however a character would benefit much more from this armor.
Duriel's Shell. This armor is pretty easy to come across and offers some nice
mods to help your mercenary stay alive. It has 20% resist all/50% cold resist,
Life per level, 15 Strength, and 160%-200% Defense. This armor also has CBF
which can be helpful in some situations. For most cases this can be considered
a budget choice.
Shaftstop. Another budget choice, Shaftstop offers 60 Life, 30 DR%, and 180%-
220% Edef.
The Gladiator's Bane. This might work nicely on your mercenary, it has 30%
FHR, 50% PLR, 15-20 PDR, 150%-200% Edef and CBF. This carries a steep
required level of 85 though.
Leviathan: This armor has 15%-25% DR, 40-50 Strength, and 170%-200% EDef%.
Not much to look at but this is a very nice armor.
Skin of the Vipermagi. This may seem out of place but it works well on an Iron
Wolf mercenary. The 30% FCR and 20%-35% resist all are quite helpful, as is
the +1 skill it offers.
Que-Hegan's Wisdom. Another possible choice for the Iron Wolves, this provides
+1 skill, 20% FCR and 20% FHR.
Guardian Angel. People use this, but it rarely helps their mercenaries. The
+15% to maximum resists only work if your mercenary already has resists past
75%. You'll need to equip your mercenary with plenty of resist all equipment
to make use of this, and typically it isn't worth the effort.
Shields:[004EqShl]
------------------
Note, the following suggestions apply only to the Iron Wolves. As well, since
FCR% is needed for your mercenary to get his spells out faster "Spirit" and
Lidless Wall will be recommended.
"Spirit" (shield). This does the same thing as the "Spirit" runeword listed,
in the Weapons section, however the shield offers 35% Cold, Lightning, and
Poison resists.
"Ancient's Pledge". 48% resist all/43% Cold resist, although not much else.
This is a good choice for a low to mid level shield that's given to you
three times during your quest.
"Sanctuary". This shield offers 50%-70% resist all, 130%-160% Edef, and 20%
FHR. This shield also has 20% Faster Block Rate which is wasted on this
mercenary type and requires 2 Mal runes. For simple resists there are much
better choices.
"Dragon". *HR note* the only thing this offers that an Iron Wolf could use and
still be worth something is the fact that it occupies an equipment slot. The
Level 14 Holy Fire aura will do the same thing as any other Holy Fire aura
discussed previously, it will do no damage and get your mercenary killed.
"Dream". *HR note* Does the same thing as when made into a helmet, however
this time it also offers 50 Life. If you equip both this and the helmet you
get a Level 30 Holy Shock aura which will do 1-1668 damage. This might tickle
some of the lower monsters in Hell, but this setup occupies two equipment
slots that could be used for something else.
Lidless Wall. 20% FCR and +1 all skills, not much but the FCR% can help.
Stormshield. 60% Cold resist, 25% Lightning resist, and 35% DR are all this
shield offers that could be of any use. Your mercenary won't be coming under
fire enough for the 35% DR to matter and if he does get surrounded it won't
save him. Still, if you are planning to use something like "Lawbringer" on
your mercenary to help you through anywhere where there's both Oblivion
Knights and other highly physically damaging monsters this may be a decent
choice.
The Ward. 30%-50% resist all is the only thing this shield really offers, if
for some reason you don't have the runes for "Ancient's Pledge" this would
do fine.
Medusa's Gaze. 219 Strength, which is impossible no matter how you cut it. If
you're determined to do this, a Hel rune in the shield and items everywhere
else with Strength should let you do this at very high levels, 90 or higher.
The 10% CTC Level 7 Lower Resist when Struck might look interesting but it
requires a fragile mercenary to get hit often. This doesn't work as well in
practice as it would seem.
Weapons:[004EqWep]
------------------
Rogues:
"Harmony". This bow offers 200%-275% ED, Fire/Cold/Lightning damage, and
provides a Level 10 Vigor aura when equipped. This bow can help your Rogue
slowly pick away at any Physical immunes you may come across.
"Faith". *HR note* Offers 330% ED, 300% AR, 15% resist all, and +1-2 skills.
This bow also provides a Level 12-15 Fanaticism aura which will make any
physical character or mercenary happy.
"Ice". *HR note* Offering 140%-210% ED, 7% Life Leech, 20% DS, and 20% IAS,
this bow also offers a Level 18 Holy Freeze aura which will slow the
surrounding monsters down. An interesting choice, especially if you'd prefer
the aura without the lack of intelligence of the Town Guard.
"Edge". 35% IAS, 320%-380% damage to Demons, 280% damage to Undead, and 7%
Life leech. Unfortunately this bow lacks ED% so against monsters that aren't
Demons or Undead it won't do as much. This bow also provides a Level 15
Thorns aura. Since there are a large number of both Demon and Undead types
this may not be that bad of a choice, especially considering the low rune
cost to assemble.
Witchwild String. This bow has 150%-170% ED, two sockets, 40% resist all and a
2% CTC Amplify Damage proc which doesn't go off very often but might be worth
using with some IAS% equipment.
Riphook. This bow has 180%-220% ED, 30% OW, 30% IAS, 7%-10% Life leech, and
attacks very fast. It also has Slows Target by 30% which can cause problems.
Please see the notes in the FAQ section below.
Eaglehorn. Has 200% ED, variable maximum damage per level, and variable AR per
level. A bit slow but a solid choice.
Windforce. 250% ED, a large variable maximum damage per level, and 20% IAS
make this a fine choice if you're hoping for some extra damage out of your
Rogue.
Town Guards:
Unless noted, each of these weapons is a Polearm class weapon.
"Insight". This weapon provides some nice bonuses and is practically a steal
for its cost. Providing 200%-260% ED, 180%-250% AR, a Critical Strike oskill,
and a Level 12-17 Meditation Aura, this weapon will be useful to any caster.
"Obedience". Almost nothing on this runeword is wasted and every mod on this
weapon helps it do one thing: kill stuff. 370% ED which compares to "Breath of
the Dying", 40% FHR, -25% Target Defense, Cold damage, 40% CB, 200-300
Defense, and 20%-30% resist all make this one very powerful weapon. It lacks
Life leech and IAS% but each is easily made up elsewhere.
"Infinity". *HR note* This weapon provides 255%-325% ED, 35% FRW, and 40% CB,
however this isn't the reason we like this. "Infinity" provides a Level 12
Conviction aura which is useful to both elemental casters for extra damage and
melee characters for lowered monster Defense.
"Pride". *HR note* Offers 20% DS and 260%-300% AR. Neither is useful since
this weapon lacks ED%. The only thing this weapon does is offer a Level 16-20
Concentration aura. With a Freezes Target mod your mercenary may end up
shattering monsters when he kills them, an undesirable effect when paired with
a Summon Necromancer.
"Doom". *HR note* IAS%, Offers +2 Skills, 45% IAS, 330%-370% ED, 20% DS, 25%
OW, and a Freezes Target mod. This also provides a Level 12 Holy Freeze aura.
This contains many HRs but could be worth the cost, assuming anyone lives long
enough to obtain the runes.
"Crescent Moon" 180%-220% ED, 20% IAS, and 25% OW make this a sub-par weapon
if you're looking for pure damage, what makes "Crescent Moon" special is the
7% CTC Level 13 Static Field on Striking. This will go off often, quickly
lowering the life of most of the monsters that surround your mercenary. A
fun choice.
The Reaper's Toll. This is a very powerful weapon, providing 190%-240% ED%,
33% DS, 11%-15% Life leech, and a 33% CTC Level 1 Decrepify on Striking which
will be of great help to many melee characters.
Kelpie Snare. Offers 140%-180% ED, variable life per level, 50% Fire resist,
10 Strength, and Slows Target by 75%. Paired with a Holy Freeze aura your
mercenary would slow many things to a crawl. Please see the Slows Target note
in the FAQs section. This is a Spear class weapon.
Tomb Reaver. This is an interesting weapon, it provides 200%-280% ED, 30%-50%
resist all, 60% IAS, 1-3 sockets, and has a chance to revive a monster it
kills. The revived monster does nothing but it's still quite funny.
Bonehew. A decent choice, this weapon offers 270%-320% ED, 30% IAS, 2 sockets,
and a 50% CTC Level 16 Bone Spear on Striking. This does nothing but is very
cool to watch.
Steel Pillar. Another nice weapon choice, although a bit slow. It has 25% CB,
-20% Target Defense, 25% IAS, 210%-260% ED, and 50%-80% Edef. The Edef% on
this weapon can be helpful depending on other equipment selected.
Iron Wolves:
"Spirit". These guys rely on FCR% the same as any other caster, and "Spirit"
is the only sword out there that provides it. Along with the 55% FCR,
"Spirit" boasts a very large 55% FHR, 25%-35% FCR and +2 skills.
"Last Wish". *HR note* This would be a bit too expensive for a mercenary but
I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't offer some insight. This weapon seems
out of place but it provides a 6% CTC Level 11 Fade when Struck which would
provide 11% DR and 56% resist all. This weapon also grants a Level 17 Might
aura, which would benefit any melee characters. One might note that it'd be
practically impossible to get any of the runes used by legit means, let alone
all of them, but the runeword exists...
"Hand of Justice" *HR note*. No, just no. Seriously, no. Alright? This offers
a Level 16 Holy Fire aura which will do 12.5-14.5 damage per pulse. As I
discussed in the helmet secton with "Dream", all this will do is bring all the
monsters in the neighborhood to you where they'll rip you limb from limb.
Moving on...
"Lawbringer". An interesting choice, although it really won't do much. This
will provide some protection from the undead by knocking them back somewhat
due to the Level 16-18 Sanctuary aura, however there are better choices
(Azurewrath comes to mind). Equipping this on your Iron Wolf will make areas
with Oblivion Knights, Chaos Sanctuary and Worldstone Keep, noticeably easier
if paired with a melee character.
"Crescent Moon". The same weapon listed in the Town Guard section above, you
can also make this in a Sword class weapon. Your Barbarian mercenary will
benefit just the same.
Azurewrath. +1 skill, 5-10 all stats, and a Level 10-13 Sanctuary aura that
could knock back the undeads. Not a great choice, but it's better than
"Lawbringer". One note on this is that even with a Hel rune socketed into
this your mercenary, if hired in Normal, will not be able to equip this until
Level 84.
Hexfire. For a Fire variety this offers +3 to Fire skills as well as 25%
Fire resist.
6 faceted sword of varying flavors. I'm actually not sure how this would work
but I expect it'd just be a waste of 6 facets.
Barbarians:
"Lawbringer". This runeword, if made in a fast base sword (Legend Sword,
Champion Sword), will allow your mercenary to spread a Level 15 Decrepify
very quickly (20% CTC on Striking). The Sanctuary aura will help a bit
against undead monsters, and this sword has 7% Life leech and some Fire
and Cold damage.
"Oath". This sword hits hard and fast. 50% IAS and 210%-340% ED will help
your mercenary do a lot of damage quickly. It also has a 30% CTC Level 20
Bone Spirit on Striking, this doesn't do much but it's fun to watch.
"Voice of Reason". This is a nice choice, this weapon lacks ED% but the 15%
CTC Frozen Orb and 18% CTC Level 20 Ice Blast on Striking will help with
crowd control. This also offers -24% enemy Cold resistance, some Cold
damage, and CBF.
"Grief". *HR note* This weapon does a lot of physical damage, it provides
30%-40% IAS, 35% CTC Level 15 Venom on Striking, 20%-25% enemy Poison
resistance, 20% DS, -25% Target defense, and +340-400 damage. If you have one
of these it'd probably go better on a character who'd be able to get more out
of the +Damage.
"Death". *HR note* A slow weapon, "Death" may not be the best choice if you're
looking for a fast attacking mercenary. It makes up for this with 300%-385%
ED, 50% CB, 25% CTC Level 18 Glacial Spike on Attack, and a DS% per level.
"Kingslayer". This is a nice choice, although it might be a bit expensive for
what you get. "Kingslayer" provides 30% IAS, 230%-270% ED, 33% CB, and 50% OW.
These mods make for a solid melee weapon although since this requires 3 fairly
high mid runes you may wish to look elsewhere.
"Breath of the Dying". *HR note* Some people love their mercenaries, others
have more runes than they know what to do with. Either way, I know someone who
could make this and I doubt he'd put it on a mercenary. Regardless, it exists
so I have to address it. BotD offers 60% IAS, 350%-400% ED, -25% Target
defense, 12%-15% Life leech and 30 to all stats. The plus side is since you'd
put this in an Ethereal weapon anyway if you decided to make a sword you
could try it on your mercenary.
"Last Wish". *HR note* We return to this weapon, but now we add a 10% CTC Life
Tap, 330%-375% ED, and 60%-70% CB. It's still impossible to make this but you
could use this weapon for this purpose.
Azurewrath. This sword doesn't hit very hard, doing 230%-270% ED of a Phase
Blade, but the high Magic and Cold damage and 30% IAS would make this a nice
choice if you need a different way to go about handling Physical immunes.
The Grandfather. Although the 150%-200% ED isn't special, this sword's
maximum damage goes up each level. It also offers 80 Life, 20 to all stats,
and 50% AR.
There are other quality items, including some nice Rares you may come across,
that have been left out. Listing all of them would require a lot more time and
a much larger guide. The runeword "Silence" *HR note* may also be a nice
choice for your Rogue, Town Guard, or Barbarian mercenary when made in the
appropriate weapon base. This weapon has decent ED%, IAS%, FHR%, +2 skills,
and 75% resist all, and has a Hits Blinds Targets mod that blinds most
monsters.
Socket Fillers:[004EqHol]
-------------------------
Most any piece of equipment can be socketed, exceptions being things that
already are or runewords. Here is a list of things you could fill those holes
with that will benefit your mercenary. This is not a complete list, but it
should give you an idea of the more common choices.
Weapons:
-Eth rune. -25% Target Defense goes a long way toward helping your mercenary
hit monsters, and since Ignore Target Defense doesn't work on monsters that
are higher than Champion an Eth rune will go a long way toward ensuring your
mercenary's hits connect.
-Shael rune. 20% IAS per rune may help you reach an IAS% breakpoint, the more
of these you hit the faster your mercenary attacks, and the more damge over
time he does.
-Amn rune. 7% Life leech per rune, this can help supplement your mercenary's
existing Life leech or provide him some to start with.
-Lo rune. *HR note* Provides 20% Deadly Strike, a waste of a HR but it does
work.
-Ber rune. *HR note* Provides 20% Crushing Blow, a waste of an even rarer rune
but one could theoretically do it.
Armor:
-Tal, Ral, Ort, Thul runes. Each provides 30% Poison, Fire, Lightning, or Cold
resist (respectively).
-Um rune. Provides 15% all resists. A Scintilatting jewel can provide the same
effect while being much cheaper.
-P.Rubies. Each provides 38 Life, most mercenaries end up with plenty of Life
but you may find it helps.
-Shael rune. In armor this provides 20% FHR, in some cases this is the only
way to get FHR% into your mercenary setup.
-Ber rune. *HR note* Gives 8% DR. Very minor and plenty of other items offer
much more DR%. Again, someone could do this.
-Jah rune. *HR note* Provides a 5% increase in life. Most likely a P.Ruby will
offer similar life, and it will be much less costly.
-Cham rune. *HR note* Provides CBF, which really isn't essential. This would
be a very large waste for your mercenary, both of a rune and an open socket.
Shields:
-Tal, Ral, Ort, Thul runes. Each provides 35% Poison, Fire, Lightning, or Cold
resist (respectively) in shields.
-Um rune. Provides 22% resist all in shields, wasteful but it can be done.
-P.Diamond. Provides 19% resist all in shields, only 3% less than an Um.
-Ber rune. *HR note* Same effect as in armor, still not worth it.
-Cham rune. *HR note* Same affect as in armor.
-Shael and Eld runes are not effective as your Iron Wolf cannot block.
Jewels:
Rare and magical jewels can have numerous properties, up to 2 on a Magical and
even more on a Rare. A good jewel can offer your mercenary setup a lot, it all
depends on what's on the jewel.
Facets are an interesting choice, they won't do much for your elemental based
mercenaries but the Death variety can have your mercenary cast a high level
spell upon death. Doesn't do much but it's cool to watch.
Summary:[004EqSum]
------------------
To sum this all up, each mercenary setup (excluding Iron Wolves) should try to
contain as many of the following as possible:
-ED%
-Defense/EDef%
-FHR%
-IAS%
-Life leech
-Resists (with Fire and Lightning taking priority)
Desirable mods that aren't absolutely necessary would include:
-CB%, DS%, and/or OW%
-DR% or PDR
-Curse procs
-Life
-CBF
- -% Target Defense
-Ignore Target Defense
Iron Wolves would be looking primarily for the following:
-FCR%
-Defense/EDef%
-FHR%
-Resists
Desirable mods for this type of mercenary include:
-DR% or PDR
-Life
-CBF
Adding it all up:[005Addup]
---------------------------
In order to ensure your mercenary works well with your character you'll need
to consider any weaknesses in your build as well as ways to improve upon your
character's strengths. This section will offer some insight into some of the
strengths and weaknesses of various build types and offer suggestions on how
to improve on each.
Casters:[005AddCa]
------------------
Caster builds fall into two categories, mana intensive and self-sufficient.
Those that are fairly self-sufficient, such as Wind Druids and various
Sorceress builds, will rarely need the assistance of Meditation so their
mercenary choices are more open. Those that are mana intensive, such as Bone
Necromancers or Freezing Arrow Amazons (who technically aren't casters, but
play like them) will find a Town Guard wielding an "Insight" quite helpful or
even necessary to keep up with mana consumption.
In either case, Caster builds generally tend to have lower Defense, low to no
blocking, and Life totals less than their Melee counterparts. The Town Guard
and Barbarian mercenaries work well with Casters as they will work their way
between you and the monsters, keeping you safe from many attacks.
Melee:[005AddMe]
----------------
Melee builds aren't as easy to separate. Almost any melee build could benefit
from a Might Town Guard, however they aren't really necessary all the time.
Builds with high ED% such as Zealots, Werewolves, and Berserk Barbarians or
ones that rely on heavy elemental damage and low physical damage such as Holy
Freeze/Shock Zealots or Wolf Barbarians would probably do just fine with other
mercenary types that are able to fill other holes in your setup.
Rogues and Wolves:[005AddRw]
----------------------------
Whenever your character is capable of functioning without forms of assistance
like a tank or an aura generator you might consider using a Rogue or Iron Wolf
mercenary. While neither of these are capable of offering your character an
enhancement each brings something useful to the field.
Rogues cast Inner Sight which lowers monster Defense. At higher levels this
can drop many monsters' Defense by 1/3 to 1/2. This would result in more of
your attacks landing successfully. Iron Wolves, specifically the Cold variety,
freeze things. Frozen monsters won't attack. Anything that isn't attacking you
would be quite welcome.
Curses!:[005AddRw]
------------------
As anyone who's played a Necromancer knows, only one curse can be active at a
time. Take a moment to think about whether your character is depending on one
curse for optimal function before sticking an item that procs a curse on your
mercenary. If you and your mercenary are casting two different curses then
neither is going to be working effectively.
Sample Setups:[006Sampl]
------------------------
Now that we know our mercenaries and have a good idea of what type of
equipment that's available to them, how do we go about putting them together?
Below are some suggestions for mercenary setups and what type of character
build they would go well with. Following these sample setups I'll cover some
basic guidelines for setting up your mercenary to fit your build and/or party.
Suggestions using HRs have been left out due to the rarity of them, although
if you'd like to use an item containing HRs there's no reason why you
couldn't.
Rogue, equipped with:
-Witchwild String, socketed with 2 Shael runes
-"Treachery"
-Any leech helmet, preferably socketed with an IAS% jewel
This mercenary has a high IAS% total which will enable her to attack quickly,
and due to this she'll end up with more chances over a specific amount of time
to trigger her CTC% Amplify Damage proc from her Witchwild String. This will
unfortunately not be enough to rely on, but for any melee build that doesn't
require outside help this mercenary could be helpful.
Rogue, equipped with:
-Goldstrike Arch, upped if possible, socketed with an Amn rune
-"Treachery"
-"Delirium"
Emphasis again on IAS%, this setup will trigger the Confuse proc from
"Delirium" often which will keep the field confused almost constantly. This
can be helpful when dealing with large packs of annoying monsters or even
running Cows.
Town Guard (Prayer), equipped with:
-"Insight"
-"Stone", "Treachery", or personal preference
-Any leech helmet
Prayer provides healing, Meditation provides mana regeneration. You get a nice
result if you combine these two. Meditation has a synergy that causes it to
apply healing at the same level as the user's level of prayer. In other words
you get double healing this way. This only works with units that have mana,
so mercenaries and summoned creatures will only receive the healing from the
Prayer aura itself.
Town Guard (Defiance), equipped with:
-"Obedience"
-"Stone"
-Andariel's Visage or Crown of Thieves
Defiance increases Defense, while equipped with items such as these your
mercenary's base defense will be quite high. While running Defiance he may end
up with more than 15k Defense. "Obedience" offers some Defense which will be
increased as well. With this much Defense it'll be hard for most monsters to
hit your mercenary which will make him a nice distraction. It will also allow
him to kill reasonably well.
Town Guard (Might), equipped with:
-The Reaper's Toll, socketed with an Eth rune
-"Duress"
-Guillaume's Face
This setup has plenty of CB%, OW%, DS%, FHR%, Defense, damage, and procs
Decrepify. There is almost nothing this setup can't kill and his Defense is
reasonably high as well. Pairing this with single element caster builds works
well since he'll be able to handle your immunes fairly well.
Town Guard (Holy Freeze), equipped with:
-Kelpie Snare, socketed with an Amn rune
-"Treachery"
-Andariel's Visage
Holy Freeze will slow down anything that gets too close to your mercenary, and
anything your mercenary attacks will be slowed even further. The purpose for
the Amn rune is that even when upped your Kelpie Snare will have fairly low
damage, you'll need more Life leech to offset this.
Town Guard (Any), equipped with:
-The Reaper's Toll, socketed with Eth or Shael rune
-Kira's Guardian
-Guardian Angel, upped if possible
Your mercenary will have 90% all resists and CBF, making most elemental damage
do very little to him. Reaper's Toll has a high amount of built in Life leech
and does nice damage. Socket a Shael rune in his weapon if it would help him
reach an IAS% breakpoint.
Iron Wolf, any, equipped with:
-"Spirit" sword (28% FCR or higher)
-"Spirit" shield (28% FCR or higher)
-Harlequin Crest, socketed with P.Amethyst
-Vipermagi, socketed with P.Amethyst
This setup will meet the highest possible FCR breakpoint of 86%, offer +7
to all skills, 110% FHR, and plenty of resists. The P.Amethysts are used to
help get the 156 (146 if ethereal) Strength for the Monarch.
Iron Wolf, any, equipped with:
-"Spirit" sword (33% FCR or higher)
-"Spirit" shield (33% FCR or higher)
-Harlequin Crest, socketed with P.Amethyst
-Ormus' Robes (of appropriate skill), Socketed with P.Amethyst
You'll meet the 86% FCR breakpoint with this setup as well, as a tradeoff
from the 20%-35% resist all from Vipermagi you'll gain +3 (+2 net) to one
of your mercenary's skills.
* For the previous two setups, if your mercenary is at a high enough level to
equip the Monarch shield without the assistance of either of the P.Amethysts,
feel free to socket the helmet or armor with whichever socket filler you
feel most helpful.
Iron Wolf, Cold, equipped with:
-"Lawbringer"
-Stormshield, socketed with Hel rune
-Rockstopper
-"Stone", ebugged if possible
For running areas such as Worldstone Keep or Chaos Sanctuary this setup will
offer a lot of protection. 45% DR, 90% FHR, plenty of resists, and when your
mercenary activates Frozen Armor it wouldn't be unheard of for him to end up
with higher than 15k Defense which will further reduce the chances that he'll
end up dead. This wandering wall will be providing a Sanctuary aura that'll
be knocking the Oblivion Knights back, making your journey much easier.
One note I'd like to make is on two helmets, Nightwing's Veil and Griffon's
Eye. Equipping one of these on your Cold or Lightning mercenary, respectively,
will increase their damage output.
Barbarian equipped with:
-"Lawbringer"
-"Treachery"
-Andariel's Visage, socketed with IAS% jewel (preferably a Fire resist/IAS%)
This mercenary will almost constantly Decrepify large mobs, as well as stay
alive long enough for you to kill them. This setup pairs exceptionally well
with Wind Druids, however he'll also go nicely with any build that doesn't
need a Might aura.
Barbarian equipped with:
-"Oath"
-"Duress"
-Andariel's Visage, Crown of Thieves, or your preference
This setup would work well as a second sword to any build that either doesn't
need a Might aura or produces its own damage aura. Although it'd be unlikely
to see this setup solo Hell, it should work well as a secondary damage source.
Barbarian equipped with:
-"Voice of Reason"
-"Treachery"
-Andariel's Visage, Crown of Thieves, or personal preference
This setup will fire Frozen Orbs off fairly often, keeping packs of monsters
slowed until you can reach them. Perhaps not as effective as a "Lawbringer"
setup, this will work just fine and will likely be more fun to watch.
Character/Mercenary Pairs:[007Pairs]
------------------------------------
If you're interested in what mercenary setups go well with some of the more
common character builds, here's a list of what I would consider good pairs.
This is by no means a complete list, however it should offer an idea of what
to look for in a pair. I have left out anything that contains High Runes,
as you never "need" those.
Assassin:
Traps:
-Town Guard (Holy Freeze or Prayer) with "Insight"
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Martial Arts/Kicks:
-Town Guard (Might or Blessed Aim)
-Iron Wolf (Cold)
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Amazon:
Physical Bow skills:
-Town Guard (Might or Blessed Aim) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Cold Bow skills:
-Town Guard (Might, Blessed Aim or Holy Freeze) with "Insight"
Lightning Javelin skills
-Town Guard (Blessed Aim, Holy Freeze, or Prayer) with "Insight"
Poison Javelin skills
-Town Guard (Holy Freeze or Prayer)
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Barbarian:
Whirlwind:
-Town Guard (Might) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Berserk:
-Town Guard (Prayer) with "Insight"
-Town Guard (Might)
Frenzy/Double Swing:
-Town Guard (Might or Blessed Aim) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Concentrate:
-Town Guard (Might) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Druid:
Wereforms:
-Rogue (Either)
-Town Guard (Might or Blessed Aim) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Elemental builds: (Tornado is Physical damage, Volcano is 1/2 Physical)
-Town Guard (Might, Holy Freeze or Prayer) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Summoning:
-Town Guard (Might) with Reaper's Toll
Necromancer:
Summoning:
-Town Guard (Might) with "Obedience"
Bone skills:
-Town Guard (Holy Freeze or Prayer) with "Insight"
Poison skills:
-Town Guard (Holy Freeze or Prayer) with "Insight"
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Paladin:
Blessed Hammer:
-Town Guard (Holy Freeze or Prayer) with "Insight"
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Zeal:
-Rogue (Either)
-Town Guard (Might or Blessed Aim) with Reaper's Toll
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Smite:
-Town Guard (Might)
Sorceress:
Any single element:
-Town Guard (Might), Reaper's Toll
Multi-elemental builds:
-Town Guard (Holy Freeze or Prayer) with "Insight"
-Barbarian with "Lawbringer"
Frequently Asked Questions:[008Faqs!]
-------------------------------------
1) Do you accept questions?
A - No, so stop asking! Seriously, if you have a question please email it. My
contact information is at the bottom.
2) What is Ebugging?
A - Ebugging, or Ethereal bugging is something done with a Horadric Cube, an
ethereal armor, and some socketable items. Ethereal armor has 50% enhanced
Defense. By using the cube socket recipe on one (Tal, Thul, P.Topaz) the
ethereal bonus is applied again. 1.5x x 1.5x = 2.25x the base defense of
a non-ethereal armor. As with everything there's a catch, the sockets are
randomly assigned to the armor. Helmets, body armor, and shields can be
Ebugged, however weapons cannot.
3) Why is there a note on Slows Target by X?
A - The problem isn't with an individual source of this mod, but with multiple
sources of it. If a target is hit with this mod and another source hits
the same target with a different value the speed is changed on the server
but not the client. This causes monsters to not be where they appear and
is very undesirable as this could lead to unwanted character deaths.
4) Why did you mark certain things with *HR note*? What's wrong with HRs?
A - Nothing really. Well, except for the fact that a majority of the players
out there will never see one and except for a very small few most people
will never see the multiple High Runes needed to make some runewords.
5) Did that monster just eat my mercenary?!
A - Not likely. Apparently in older versions it was possible for a Corpulent
type monster to eat your mercenary's corpse, items and all. This doesn't
happen in 1.1x.
6) Will training my mercenary make him stronger?
A - No. As addressed in the Statistics section mercenaries have fixed stats
per level. In older versions if you were to hire a mercenary at a lower
level he would end up with higher stats than one hired at a level closer
to your own. This is not the case in 1.1x.
7) My mercenary is a nudist, help!
A - This isn't a question but I'll address it anyway. Mercenaries cannot
equip anything in Classic, so the equipment sections here don't apply.
8) My mercenary is gone, was he abducted by aliens?
A - It's not likely, but one can never completely rule anything out these
days. Sometimes a mercenary can get hung up on an environmental object
such as a tree, pit, or prison cage. Unfortunately they aren't smart
enough to walk around so they get stuck there. Using a Town Portal to
go to town or simply using the Teleport skill will reunite you with
your long lost friend.
9) My mercenary does less damage in Hell!
A - The 50% physical damage penalty in Hell hasn't existed since 1.09. What's
likely happening is that you and your mercenary are fighting a monster who
has higher Physical resistance. There are a number of these, but not every
monster has a high amount of Physical resistance.
10) What's up with the rouge comments?
A - It's a joke, people keep misspelling "Rogue" (the Act 1 mercenary) as
"Rouge", which is a red color. Iron Wolves wear red. 1+1=2 in this
situation.
Everything that's Left:[009Left!]
---------------------------------
This section contains anything that doesn't fit in the above sections and
includes links to helpful resources, credits, as well as contact and legal
information.
Resources:
- http://diablo3.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english
This is an IAS% calculator you can use for figuring out the speed of
your mercenary's attacks.
- http://www.classic.battle.net/diablo2exp)
The Arreat Summit, which has a large assembly of item and skill stats.
- http://www.mannm.org/d2library/faqtoids/stattab_eng.html#fhr
Lists a table of FHR% for each class and mercenary.
- http://www.mannm.org/d2library/faqtoids/stattab.html#fcr
Lists a table of FCR%, in German?, but easy enough to figure out. Iron Wolf
table is at the far right.
- http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=63404
A very detailed list of stat growth separated by mercenary type and the
difficulty they were hired in.
Credits:
-Explopyro, Lucas, Kel, and everyone else at http://www.d2offline.info for
their suggestions and support.
-The Amazon Basin (http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?), for
all the hard work they do in an attempt to understand everything that happens
in Diablo 2, as well as everyone there who was so kind to review my guide
and point out suggestions and errors. Thank you, all.
-The Arreat Summit (http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp), for a wealth of
knowledge I've looked over countless times, as well as equipment stats.
-GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com), for showing me that anyone can write a
guide if they try hard enough.
Contact me:
If you wish to, you can contact me at [email protected]. Things that are
alright to send to me include:
-Constructive criticism, this is my first attempt so any bit should help.
-Suggestions, if I missed something useful or obvious and you think it belongs
let me know so I can add it.
-Corrections, I'd hate to be offering incorrect or incomplete so if I did
either of these please let me know.
-Advice, this is my first guide so any help would be welcome.
You can keep the following to yourself, as any of this does no good to anyone.
-Hateful comments, I have feelings too.
-Requests to be in the credits section, if you want in then contribute!
-Criticism that serves no purpose other than "trolling", if you didn't like
this guide that's your right and I'd actually like to know why. Telling me I
wasted X amount of your life reading it or saying anybody could do better
will not go over well and you'll likely be permanently ignored by me.
-Spam, I get enough of this as it is so you can keep your share.
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Original content and format copyright 2009 Royce King
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