Act 5 Mercs

[Darkkatgirl]

I've noticed alot of people (high levels 70+) online on CE Europe using ACT 5 mercs.  Are they good now?  Whats changed about them, does anyone know?

[DrowElf]

The Act5 Mercs have the Conviction Aura when from nightmare (lets rock) or hell (come get some) difficulty.

[Darkkatgirl]

Ahh so they are usefull now ^.^  now only if they could use Whirl Wind or Battle Orders....

[dareczek]

I think the ONLY usefull merc is rogue from act1. Thoses from act5 are being killed with a single monster hit on hell difficulty... And a rogue - sometimes I think she is immortal^^

[Phoenix]

All mercs are useful, in this mod. You should choose your merc depending on the aura you need and the character you play. If you use Battle Orders and equip your merc with a strong weapon and enough lifeleech he will only die on Iron Maiden ;)

[Olfmo]

yeah right the only useful merc is the rogue....

actually my act5 barbarian lived for about 15 complete cgs dungeon games until he died by iron maiden

it always depends on your character build which merc is the best one and even then everybody has a different opinion :)

[webwalker]

@ DarkKatGirl:  I scratch behind the ears, you purr?

Act 1 mercs are rather powerful, especially when you note that any merc can use any weapon that is not class-specific (and act-5 mercs can use barb-specific hats and belts).  This means that the rogue can wield a Doom rune-word Thunder Maul (after being made ethereal and made easier to use with Oil of Skill) so she can have a Holy Freeze aura.  Also she can use a Faith rune-word bow, so she has a Fanaticism aura.  Etc.  Act 1 mercs use a skill depending on the difficulty  they're in.  In Normal/PoC they always use fire/cold arrow.  In Nightmare/LR, they always use frozen/exploding arrow.  In Hell/CGS they always use freezing or immolation arrow.

By contrast, the act 2 merc uses the aura determined by the difficulty where you hire them.  Thus an offensive merc from hell always uses fanaticism.

Act 3 mercs have a set of spells that they use determined by their level (you're 24 and he's 23 then he won't use Blizzard yet.)

Act 5 mercs have a conviction aura, but it's fairly weak.

[Olfmo]

i beg to differ about the conviction aura

it may not be the highest but with a good equipment it's very useful if you can't use uber belt for having it on your own


offtopic question: what does "purr" mean? from the context i'd guess it's the sound a cat makes if you scratch it and it enjoys it?
i am just curious cause i never heard that word before :D

[webwalker]

You've agreed with me about the conviction aura: it needs a boost to become really significant?

Yes, "purr" is the soft-growl sound of a contented cat.

[Olfmo]

actually no i think the aura is strong enough

a high level conviction merc has a lvl 11 conv aura
with + skills from some items it is at about 20
would it be much higher i think it was too strong for a merc

[Darkkatgirl]

Here is a question not too far off topic that some of you CE gods can help me with (since I do not know all the new changes with the mod yet).  Is there anyway with Items/rune words to give a merc 2 or all 3 of these auras?

Paladin Freezing Aura
Paladin Might Aura
Paladin Fantaticism Aura

[Olfmo]

holy freeze aura: act 2 nightmare defensive merc, doom runeword, ring "chiad's halo", "mephisto's claw" gloves
might aura: act 2 nightmare offensive merc, last wish runeword
fana aura: act2 hell combat merc, faith runeword, beast runeword, prowess in battle runeword

that's some stuff to work on, there are more possibilities for auras on your merc, for more information look into the itemlist :)

[Darkkatgirl]

My goal was to get that those auras on a ACT 1 merc ^.^

Been looking, seen some possiblities for both oh her but one aura is really low level (with item).  I'll keep researching just picking the brains of the CE experts :-p  but ill definitely look into those combos.

[ZenPdH]

Imho might AND fana wouldn't be possible on a a1 merc if u don't want to have a lvl 1 might aura (from that low lvl ring, forgot the name), which would be nearly useless.

The combo fana merc (a2 hell combat), might weapon (last wish) and chaids halo would bring out the best result i think.
(But i don't know all the items to, so there might be a better combo)

[Phoenix]

The combo fana merc (a2 hell combat), might weapon (last wish) and chaids halo would bring out the best result i think.
(But i don't know all the items to, so there might be a better combo)

Might merc with fana weapon and chiads halo is a better combo :P
The damage bonus from might (10%/level) is higher than from fana (8,5%/level).