Need suggestions for A2 Might merc

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Hey all,

Well, my lvl 89 SkelliMF'er is pretty comfortable now with this setup:

blue ammy - +3 summoning + 24% MF!
Ptopaz Harlequin Crest
Pdiamond Homunculus
Ptopaz ViperMagi (have Wealth but I'm more comfortable with the Res boost)
blue wand with +3 to summoning and +1 to Revive
Goldwrap
Dual Nagel's, 28% + 18%
Infernostride (need the FR for those damn Ghoul Lords in the Durance)

My merc has:

Blackhorn's (or Tal Rasha's?)
Duriel's Shell
double Amn'ed BoneHew (14% LL enough?)

I'd love to run Hell Baal permanently but my merc just doesn't have the
killing power to do it quickly. Baal seems to get nastier as I get older
and unfortunately, I haven't found anything, gear or rune-wise, that I think
will really help.

The highest rune I've found so far is Fal, but I don't know of any RuneWord
that will give me the CB my merc needs. I can make Honor, but the only
decent 5-socket polearm I've found so far is a Lance (damage: 27-114) which
doesn't seem worthwhile.

Should I just keep spankin' Hell Meph and be patient or is there something I
can do now?

Dave S.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

In article <dE7Fe.4218$0C.1445@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
David Simmons <xenobuzz@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Hey all,
>
>Well, my lvl 89 SkelliMF'er is pretty comfortable now with this setup:
>
>blue ammy - +3 summoning + 24% MF!
>Ptopaz Harlequin Crest
>Pdiamond Homunculus
>Ptopaz ViperMagi (have Wealth but I'm more comfortable with the Res boost)
>blue wand with +3 to summoning and +1 to Revive
>Goldwrap
>Dual Nagel's, 28% + 18%
>Infernostride (need the FR for those damn Ghoul Lords in the Durance)

This is a ragtag mix of items. But it shows again a skelliemancer is
not really dependent on super-gear to be succesful.

>My merc has:
>
>Blackhorn's (or Tal Rasha's?)
>Duriel's Shell
>double Amn'ed BoneHew (14% LL enough?)
>
>I'd love to run Hell Baal permanently but my merc just doesn't have the
>killing power to do it quickly. Baal seems to get nastier as I get older
>and unfortunately, I haven't found anything, gear or rune-wise, that I think
>will really help.

If your single target is to run Hell baal, your merc needs Crushing Blow,
and lots of it.

One relatively 'cheap' upgrade you can certainly do is to exchange the
Duriels for a Duress armor, that alone adds 15% CB.

Try to get a Guillaume's Face (set item, Winged Helmet or something). That
adds another 35%CB. You will notice the effect of that on Hell Baals
health bar soon enough.

For more CB, you could consider another polearm. Obedience is relatively
cheap, and has 40% CB and loads of other goodies. However, with Obedience,
you have no more Life Leech. Another option would be Hone Sundan (unique
Yari), but a non ethereal one does relatively little damge, though it has
45%CB. I've used an ethereal upgraded 199% Hone Sundan for a while (does
100-733 dmg on the stick alone), filled with Amn-Shael-Shael. Worked quite
nice for Hell Baal.

However, my current setup is Guillaume's Face, Fortitude Great Hauberk and
an ethereal Insighted Colossus Voulge. No Life Leech, but some Crushing
Blow, and an endless supply of mana for my necro to CE/Bone Spirit all
day.

>The highest rune I've found so far is Fal, but I don't know of any RuneWord
>that will give me the CB my merc needs. I can make Honor, but the only
>decent 5-socket polearm I've found so far is a Lance (damage: 27-114) which
>doesn't seem worthwhile.

Err, be careful there: I don't have the Arreat Summit on-screen, but I
think a Lance is not a polearm, but a Spear. So be careful before you
start putting runes for a polearm specific runeword in there. You wouldn't
be the first to try and make Obedience in a 5 socket ethereal Ghost Spear.


>Should I just keep spankin' Hell Meph and be patient or is there something I
>can do now?

See above. Also, don't forget to take a bunch of revives with you to Hell
Baal. When defeating the 5 waves, you should Revive guys from wave 3 and 4
to help you with wave 5, and go to Baal quickly thereafter, so they can
help beat down Baal.

Also, try to get teleport from somewhere (amulet, on a stave or
something), and teleport on top of Baal.

Hope the above gives you some ideas...

Regards,

Patrick.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

David Simmons wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> Infernostride (need the FR for those damn Ghoul Lords in the Durance)

Laying of Hand gloves free up your boots slot for War Traveler, if you
have both items. Watch for rare items, they can be very useful.

> My merc has:
>
> Blackhorn's (or Tal Rasha's?)
> Duriel's Shell
> double Amn'ed BoneHew (14% LL enough?)

Yes, 14% LL is enough. If he has Tal Rasha on, it means 24% LL.

> I'd love to run Hell Baal permanently but my merc just doesn't have the
> killing power to do it quickly. Baal seems to get nastier as I get older

Watch for items with teleport charges, such as Naj's Puzzler (set elder
staff) and Spellsteel (unique bearded axe). I think teleport charges
can also spawn on magical/rare staffs. They can definitely spawn on
amulets and tiaras, but switching either is not as easy as weapon.
Teleporting right on top of Baal (or anyone) will make your minions
converge into a single pile and will make a short work of that
particular monster.

When you run Baal, it can also be fruituous clearing the World Stone
Keep.

> The highest rune I've found so far is Fal, but I don't know of any RuneWord
> that will give me the CB my merc needs. I can make Honor, but the only

Obedience is a nice runeword that offers high CB and is relatively
cheap. Other items to consider include Guillame Face (set winged helm)
and unique gothic armor. Duress runeword is of course an excellent
choice once you obtain the necessary ingredients.

> Should I just keep spankin' Hell Meph and be patient or is there something I
> can do now?

Variety is the spice of life.

> Dave S.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Obedience, Duress and Andariels Visage is a nice setup aswell.. That's what
my sorcs merc uses..


--
Jake Mysterio - The Mysterious One of Nothingness.


"Patrick Vervoorn" <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl> wrote in
message news:bc830$42e5112e$82a1d3bf$10660@news2.tudelft.nl...
> In article <dE7Fe.4218$0C.1445@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
> David Simmons <xenobuzz@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>Hey all,
>>
>>Well, my lvl 89 SkelliMF'er is pretty comfortable now with this setup:
>>
>>blue ammy - +3 summoning + 24% MF!
>>Ptopaz Harlequin Crest
>>Pdiamond Homunculus
>>Ptopaz ViperMagi (have Wealth but I'm more comfortable with the Res boost)
>>blue wand with +3 to summoning and +1 to Revive
>>Goldwrap
>>Dual Nagel's, 28% + 18%
>>Infernostride (need the FR for those damn Ghoul Lords in the Durance)
>
> This is a ragtag mix of items. But it shows again a skelliemancer is
> not really dependent on super-gear to be succesful.
>
>>My merc has:
>>
>>Blackhorn's (or Tal Rasha's?)
>>Duriel's Shell
>>double Amn'ed BoneHew (14% LL enough?)
>>
>>I'd love to run Hell Baal permanently but my merc just doesn't have the
>>killing power to do it quickly. Baal seems to get nastier as I get older
>>and unfortunately, I haven't found anything, gear or rune-wise, that I
>>think
>>will really help.
>
> If your single target is to run Hell baal, your merc needs Crushing Blow,
> and lots of it.
>
> One relatively 'cheap' upgrade you can certainly do is to exchange the
> Duriels for a Duress armor, that alone adds 15% CB.
>
> Try to get a Guillaume's Face (set item, Winged Helmet or something). That
> adds another 35%CB. You will notice the effect of that on Hell Baals
> health bar soon enough.
>
> For more CB, you could consider another polearm. Obedience is relatively
> cheap, and has 40% CB and loads of other goodies. However, with Obedience,
> you have no more Life Leech. Another option would be Hone Sundan (unique
> Yari), but a non ethereal one does relatively little damge, though it has
> 45%CB. I've used an ethereal upgraded 199% Hone Sundan for a while (does
> 100-733 dmg on the stick alone), filled with Amn-Shael-Shael. Worked quite
> nice for Hell Baal.
>
> However, my current setup is Guillaume's Face, Fortitude Great Hauberk and
> an ethereal Insighted Colossus Voulge. No Life Leech, but some Crushing
> Blow, and an endless supply of mana for my necro to CE/Bone Spirit all
> day.
>
>>The highest rune I've found so far is Fal, but I don't know of any
>>RuneWord
>>that will give me the CB my merc needs. I can make Honor, but the only
>>decent 5-socket polearm I've found so far is a Lance (damage: 27-114)
>>which
>>doesn't seem worthwhile.
>
> Err, be careful there: I don't have the Arreat Summit on-screen, but I
> think a Lance is not a polearm, but a Spear. So be careful before you
> start putting runes for a polearm specific runeword in there. You wouldn't
> be the first to try and make Obedience in a 5 socket ethereal Ghost Spear.
>
>
>>Should I just keep spankin' Hell Meph and be patient or is there something
>>I
>>can do now?
>
> See above. Also, don't forget to take a bunch of revives with you to Hell
> Baal. When defeating the 5 waves, you should Revive guys from wave 3 and 4
> to help you with wave 5, and go to Baal quickly thereafter, so they can
> help beat down Baal.
>
> Also, try to get teleport from somewhere (amulet, on a stave or
> something), and teleport on top of Baal.
>
> Hope the above gives you some ideas...
>
> Regards,
>
> Patrick.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

~misfit~ wrote:
> Jake Mysterio wrote:
> > Obedience, Duress and Andariels Visage is a nice setup aswell..
> > That's what my sorcs merc uses..
>
> Ditto for my SC necro's merc. Obedience in an eth thresher, (84-991 damage,
> 30% CTC level 21 enchant with -25% enemy fire resitance. 40% crushing
> blow, -25% target's defence, all resistances +30%. *And* useable at level
> 53!!) Naj's puzzler on switch on necro, revive a few of the guys just before
> Lister's bunch and teleport right on top of Baal after casting decrep, then
> walk a short distance away and keep firing decrep. Baal lasts less than a
> minute in a players 4+ game. It's a walk in the park, the revives have a
> fire attack and Obedience has -25% enemy fire resist. (I think that works
> together, even if it doesn't, it's still damn fast.)

Unfortunately not. Only the Fire damage from the Merc will get the
-resist bonus. But I seem to recall that you had a chantress so giving
the merc a real chant would errrr pwn.

Although I actually prefer Hone Sundan, Duress, G-Face. YMMV.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

In article <1122416860.654612.12920@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
chaliban <chaliban@hotmail.com> wrote:
>~misfit~ wrote:

[some snippage]

>> minute in a players 4+ game. It's a walk in the park, the revives have a
>> fire attack and Obedience has -25% enemy fire resist. (I think that works
>> together, even if it doesn't, it's still damn fast.)
>
>Unfortunately not. Only the Fire damage from the Merc will get the
>-resist bonus. But I seem to recall that you had a chantress so giving
>the merc a real chant would errrr pwn.

Yes, that would certainly help. But will the Sorc-inflicted Enchant not be
overruled when Obedience's Enchant kicks in?

Related: I recently got the idea in my head to try and equip my CL/FO sorc
with some item (weapon, or runeword I think) which is not really a
sorc-specific one, but which does have a lot of -enemy lighting res on it.
I can't however recall if there is such and item, and what it's name is,
and I haven't had the time to browse around on the Arreat Summit.

Looking at Cold Mastery's effectiveness on the Cold spells, I'm wondering
what such an item would do for the lightning spells. It won't, of course,
break any immunities, but it will probably increased dealt-out lightning
damage by more than +skills/etc on a sorc orb might add...

>Although I actually prefer Hone Sundan, Duress, G-Face. YMMV.

For taking down the big bosses, total agreement. The 95% Crushing Blow
(it's capped at that BTW) will make sure the life bar goes down pretty
fast. Make the Hone Sundan ethereal and upgrade it, and the raw damage
will also take down that last part of the life bar more quickly.

Though I'm also willing to give a Fortitude armor more effect than Duress,
if only for the massive added physical dmg vs the 15% less CB.

Still, I'm more or less addicted to the endless mana supply I get by
replacing the Hone Sundan with an Insight stick... But then, I also run
a select few lvl85 areas with my Skelliemancer, and in there, the time
saved but not having to collect mana runes and/or trips to town, more than
outweighs the damage done by the ethereal upped Hone Sundan.

Regards,

Patrick.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Jake Mysterio wrote:
> Obedience, Duress and Andariels Visage is a nice setup aswell..
> That's what my sorcs merc uses..

Ditto for my SC necro's merc. Obedience in an eth thresher, (84-991 damage,
30% CTC level 21 enchant with -25% enemy fire resitance. 40% crushing
blow, -25% target's defence, all resistances +30%. *And* useable at level
53!!) Naj's puzzler on switch on necro, revive a few of the guys just before
Lister's bunch and teleport right on top of Baal after casting decrep, then
walk a short distance away and keep firing decrep. Baal lasts less than a
minute in a players 4+ game. It's a walk in the park, the revives have a
fire attack and Obedience has -25% enemy fire resist. (I think that works
together, even if it doesn't, it's still damn fast.) Makes me regret all
that time I wasted waiting for my Bonehew-equiped merc to kill him. That
could run into the 5+ minute range, longer than it took to find the
throneroom.
--
~misfit~

> "Patrick Vervoorn" <patrick.vervoorn@NOSPAM.perihelion.demon.nl>
> wrote in message
> news:bc830$42e5112e$82a1d3bf$10660@news2.tudelft.nl...
>> In article <dE7Fe.4218$0C.1445@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
>> David Simmons <xenobuzz@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> Hey all,
>>>
>>> Well, my lvl 89 SkelliMF'er is pretty comfortable now with this
>>> setup: blue ammy - +3 summoning + 24% MF!
>>> Ptopaz Harlequin Crest
>>> Pdiamond Homunculus
>>> Ptopaz ViperMagi (have Wealth but I'm more comfortable with the Res
>>> boost) blue wand with +3 to summoning and +1 to Revive
>>> Goldwrap
>>> Dual Nagel's, 28% + 18%
>>> Infernostride (need the FR for those damn Ghoul Lords in the
>>> Durance)
>>
>> This is a ragtag mix of items. But it shows again a skelliemancer
>> is not really dependent on super-gear to be succesful.
>>
>>> My merc has:
>>>
>>> Blackhorn's (or Tal Rasha's?)
>>> Duriel's Shell
>>> double Amn'ed BoneHew (14% LL enough?)
>>>
>>> I'd love to run Hell Baal permanently but my merc just doesn't have
>>> the killing power to do it quickly. Baal seems to get nastier as I
>>> get older and unfortunately, I haven't found anything, gear or
>>> rune-wise, that I think
>>> will really help.
>>
>> If your single target is to run Hell baal, your merc needs Crushing
>> Blow, and lots of it.
>>
>> One relatively 'cheap' upgrade you can certainly do is to exchange
>> the Duriels for a Duress armor, that alone adds 15% CB.
>>
>> Try to get a Guillaume's Face (set item, Winged Helmet or
>> something). That adds another 35%CB. You will notice the effect of
>> that on Hell Baals health bar soon enough.
>>
>> For more CB, you could consider another polearm. Obedience is
>> relatively cheap, and has 40% CB and loads of other goodies.
>> However, with Obedience, you have no more Life Leech. Another option
>> would be Hone Sundan (unique Yari), but a non ethereal one does
>> relatively little damge, though it has 45%CB. I've used an ethereal
>> upgraded 199% Hone Sundan for a while (does 100-733 dmg on the stick
>> alone), filled with Amn-Shael-Shael. Worked quite nice for Hell Baal.
>>
>> However, my current setup is Guillaume's Face, Fortitude Great
>> Hauberk and an ethereal Insighted Colossus Voulge. No Life Leech,
>> but some Crushing Blow, and an endless supply of mana for my necro
>> to CE/Bone Spirit all day.
>>
>>> The highest rune I've found so far is Fal, but I don't know of any
>>> RuneWord
>>> that will give me the CB my merc needs. I can make Honor, but the
>>> only decent 5-socket polearm I've found so far is a Lance (damage:
>>> 27-114) which
>>> doesn't seem worthwhile.
>>
>> Err, be careful there: I don't have the Arreat Summit on-screen, but
>> I think a Lance is not a polearm, but a Spear. So be careful before
>> you start putting runes for a polearm specific runeword in there.
>> You wouldn't be the first to try and make Obedience in a 5 socket
>> ethereal Ghost Spear.
>>
>>> Should I just keep spankin' Hell Meph and be patient or is there
>>> something I
>>> can do now?
>>
>> See above. Also, don't forget to take a bunch of revives with you to
>> Hell Baal. When defeating the 5 waves, you should Revive guys from
>> wave 3 and 4 to help you with wave 5, and go to Baal quickly
>> thereafter, so they can help beat down Baal.
>>
>> Also, try to get teleport from somewhere (amulet, on a stave or
>> something), and teleport on top of Baal.
>>
>> Hope the above gives you some ideas...
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Patrick.