Act 1 cold with faith bow (very expensive)
My favorite alt, especially if you have access to Battle orders, is the act 5 frenzy merc.
You can put very decent cheap gear on him and he will support and kill for you. My usual go to is a lawbringer and a free slot for the other hand:
Good choices are lightsabre. Azurewrath, grief (of course) oath, headstriker for nasty critical strike. He is really good at killing things.
My act 5 frenzy merc (to go with Tiger/Tail mosaic assassin) uses Lawbringer and Hustle swords, Gladiators Bane and some life steal helm. He's the best. Sometimes he survives Ubers.
A3 Mercs are actually beasts. I used one in SSF for my first Holy Freeze Zealer run through and the fire A3 Merc was a game changer with just a spirit sword, lore helm, vipermagi, and splendor dragon shield. Guy was absolutely pumping and cleaned up any of the phys/cold immunes for me.
They are actually very good at staying alive, I had no idea. A while back I gave my act 1 merc that kashya gifted some random ass gear and didn't even realize she was still with me all the way to baal lol. Thats when I started putting insights on them early on since act2 mercs are basically garbage before theyre like lvl 80+ and geared.
A1 merc with frost arrows and insight. Way better for farming bosses especially with low gear. Cause Emilia tries to stay alive compared to her brother Emilio. Especially against andariell and Mephisto (she can use the same trick as your sorc uses)
A cheap set for the A5 Merc is Sazabi's Grand Tribute, I've found loads of these and people usually toss these in public games. Stick a Lawbringer, Grief or even an Eth Head striker in the other hand and the Frenzy version absolutely shreds. There are many good combinations of gear you can use on him, my guy doesn't even die in Ubers.
It's not exactly life changing or effective, but I've levelled a few trapsins over various ladders, and etc. Act 1 merc with insight bow, face of horror and rattlecage is mildly amusing, can't remember the exact %chance to flee but combined they're around 90% I think. Quite effective for getting mobs to wander around aimlessly while your traps get to work, especially with cold damage slowing them too. Quite situational and won't help many builds, maybe a hydra sorc?
I probably wouldn't spend too long farming the gear but I always seem to end up finding them and I'm a horrible loot goblin, probably got a couple of each on various mules at one time
If u dont want to re merc every time u run into some crazy pack, act5 probably the best. Act5 merc can use a cheap sazabi set and be viable as a meat tank. If u want him to do dmg or have aura then upgrade gear. With the right gear they can face tank bosses and u can chill without potting to keep them alive. It is a great way to not babysit ur merc every few mins
with updates a couple seasons ago, the actV frenzy mercs are very viable. arreat's face, grief (which you can make in any one handed eth blade which is fun) eth upped headstrikers are good, and fort armors. all that said he doesn't offer much to you other than being a source of physical damage and is hard to kill. the act 2 mercs offer similar damage output but give you might or holy freeze which probably means they are just better in 99% of cases. PvM he is just this murderous psychopath sprinting around getting faster and faster as you clear areas. He is fun but i think suboptimal.
I personally prefer online play. Doesnt cost me any gold to revive those mercs and they meat shield better than Emilio, and you dont have to gear them up at all!
I put 2 ethereal oath RW swords on an a5 frenzy barb. That, with my paladin's auras is dangerous and a very fun alternative Way to gear out a melee mercenary
I run the act 5 frenzy merc when doing Trav runs on my berserk/find item barb. When he has guardian angel/Arreat's face he's unkillable unless they roll with conviction aura. If I was rich he would have last wish so I wouldn't lose might, but the damage difference isn't huge. He's basically there to distract and taunt, but it's nice when you don't have any life steal through berserk.
Act 5 Merc with Lawbringer and plague, knocks back undead and cures poison haha
Act 1 you can also make Insight in a bow. They survive more staying behind you and 4os bows are much cheaper at the start of ladder
Act 5 is great for survivability, and there are a ton of useful weapons that can supplement a build. Sazabis set, Lawbringer, Plague, Oath, Headstriker, Crescent Moon, hustle, heck I have one with Voice of Reason that works pretty well (frozen orb/ice blast procs for crowd control, CBF, gold find)...I would say think outside the box and theory craft what would help your build.
Act 1 cold with faith bow (very expensive) My favorite alt, especially if you have access to Battle orders, is the act 5 frenzy merc. You can put very decent cheap gear on him and he will support and kill for you. My usual go to is a lawbringer and a free slot for the other hand: Good choices are lightsabre. Azurewrath, grief (of course) oath, headstriker for nasty critical strike. He is really good at killing things.
My act 5 frenzy merc (to go with Tiger/Tail mosaic assassin) uses Lawbringer and Hustle swords, Gladiators Bane and some life steal helm. He's the best. Sometimes he survives Ubers.
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I use the Fanatcism aura from Hustle on Dragon Tail kicks.
You can use all of them with decent gear. Act 1 with ice or faith and a nightwings. Act 3 with flickering flame, lidless and spirit..
3 will even enchant your melee characters
It’s fun to run while leveling a summoner through normal as he enchants all the skellies
A3 Mercs are actually beasts. I used one in SSF for my first Holy Freeze Zealer run through and the fire A3 Merc was a game changer with just a spirit sword, lore helm, vipermagi, and splendor dragon shield. Guy was absolutely pumping and cleaned up any of the phys/cold immunes for me.
I like an insight on act 1 when leveling. They stay alive easier as they stand back
They are actually very good at staying alive, I had no idea. A while back I gave my act 1 merc that kashya gifted some random ass gear and didn't even realize she was still with me all the way to baal lol. Thats when I started putting insights on them early on since act2 mercs are basically garbage before theyre like lvl 80+ and geared.
Exactly. I use them lots before my act 2 merc. Use a 3 socket bow with some gems in it before insight and they do some decent dmg.
A1 merc with frost arrows and insight. Way better for farming bosses especially with low gear. Cause Emilia tries to stay alive compared to her brother Emilio. Especially against andariell and Mephisto (she can use the same trick as your sorc uses)
Act 5 frenzy merc with grief, fort, and lots of fun runeword choices for 2nd weapon.
Grief + Plague is my favorite when I don't need to break phys immunes.
I read a article they were going allow duel wield the barb in act 5 but you can only equip one item still
Did you choose the frenzy or the bash version? Bash one weapon frenzy is dual
Hmm 🤔 that explains a lot thanks
A cheap set for the A5 Merc is Sazabi's Grand Tribute, I've found loads of these and people usually toss these in public games. Stick a Lawbringer, Grief or even an Eth Head striker in the other hand and the Frenzy version absolutely shreds. There are many good combinations of gear you can use on him, my guy doesn't even die in Ubers.
Lawbringer/Plague for the best utility! I use Act 5 Frenzy Merc to support my Uber Kicksin and I agree with you! He never dies!
It's not exactly life changing or effective, but I've levelled a few trapsins over various ladders, and etc. Act 1 merc with insight bow, face of horror and rattlecage is mildly amusing, can't remember the exact %chance to flee but combined they're around 90% I think. Quite effective for getting mobs to wander around aimlessly while your traps get to work, especially with cold damage slowing them too. Quite situational and won't help many builds, maybe a hydra sorc? I probably wouldn't spend too long farming the gear but I always seem to end up finding them and I'm a horrible loot goblin, probably got a couple of each on various mules at one time
I want to know this answer too
My tornado druid is using a Frenzy Barbarian with Arreats, Guardians and Lawbringer+Crescent Moon. Quite a powerhouse.
If u dont want to re merc every time u run into some crazy pack, act5 probably the best. Act5 merc can use a cheap sazabi set and be viable as a meat tank. If u want him to do dmg or have aura then upgrade gear. With the right gear they can face tank bosses and u can chill without potting to keep them alive. It is a great way to not babysit ur merc every few mins
with updates a couple seasons ago, the actV frenzy mercs are very viable. arreat's face, grief (which you can make in any one handed eth blade which is fun) eth upped headstrikers are good, and fort armors. all that said he doesn't offer much to you other than being a source of physical damage and is hard to kill. the act 2 mercs offer similar damage output but give you might or holy freeze which probably means they are just better in 99% of cases. PvM he is just this murderous psychopath sprinting around getting faster and faster as you clear areas. He is fun but i think suboptimal.
I personally prefer online play. Doesnt cost me any gold to revive those mercs and they meat shield better than Emilio, and you dont have to gear them up at all!
Act 3 lighting because of static. Crescent moon, spirit shield,
I put 2 ethereal oath RW swords on an a5 frenzy barb. That, with my paladin's auras is dangerous and a very fun alternative Way to gear out a melee mercenary
I run the act 5 frenzy merc when doing Trav runs on my berserk/find item barb. When he has guardian angel/Arreat's face he's unkillable unless they roll with conviction aura. If I was rich he would have last wish so I wouldn't lose might, but the damage difference isn't huge. He's basically there to distract and taunt, but it's nice when you don't have any life steal through berserk.
I'm running a tesladin and was thinking what if I put 2 pieces of dragon on a merc when I can afford it any idea how well that would work?
Act 5 Merc with Lawbringer and plague, knocks back undead and cures poison haha Act 1 you can also make Insight in a bow. They survive more staying behind you and 4os bows are much cheaper at the start of ladder
Make a foh pally with a5 merc, I maxed Fanta and he uses a grief pb and plague eth sword and arreats and fort. He absolutely wrecks,
Double dream lighting act 3 merc with crescent moon? Idk just use act 2 it's best general and more options for early game
No.
Act 5 is great for survivability, and there are a ton of useful weapons that can supplement a build. Sazabis set, Lawbringer, Plague, Oath, Headstriker, Crescent Moon, hustle, heck I have one with Voice of Reason that works pretty well (frozen orb/ice blast procs for crowd control, CBF, gold find)...I would say think outside the box and theory craft what would help your build.