mercenary revamp

[nedamettin]

mercenaries are not that useful in most end-game content. they die to almost any end-game boss aoe ability and most melee attacks from inferno zones. most people use a3 merc because they have slightly higher chance to survive due not being targetted a lot.

i was thinking of a couple of ideas and this is what i came up with, for tanking part:

- mercenaries get a neutral resistance and max resistance boost (+50 AR, magic res and %10 max res), gets passive +10 avoid, dodge, evade and some life per hit. I guess bonusses may vary from merc types. from strongest to weakest: a5>a2>a3>a1. i still don't think any of these will make them sustainable in end-game contents including bosses.

- a mercenary specific item (like a charm) that makes them invulnerable. this is in diablo 3 and hurt no one. would be a world drop grand charm.


also their skills and offensive usefulness are very limited. my recommendations for each type would be:

act 1: specific elemental arrow, decoy, inner sight, slow missiles and multishot. may cast lower resist on striking.

act 2: fanaticism aura (offensive), vigor and blessed aim aura (combat), salvation and cleansing aura (defensive)

blessed aim aura can get a life per hit bonus maybe.

act 3: lightning: chain lightning, enchant (with full lightning synergy), static field, lightning mastery
cold: blizzard, enchant (with full cold synergy), shiver armor (can be used on allies), cold mastery
fire: meteor, enchant (with full fire synergy), fire golem (with conviction aura), fire mastery

act 5: bash, seismic leap, heart of the wolverine aura. may cast bloodlust and acid injection on striking.


i think these changes would make mercenaries an exciting way to build your character, since they'll benefit much more. right now they are aura carriers until they die, then maybe you revive them or not, %95 of the population doesn't bother reviving them.

[Bloop]

Idk I feel like mercs are fine. Maybe im biased because mine survives fairly well and is useful as hell even tho it uses pretty cheap and ez to get gear. One thing I do notice is alot of players just throw whatever gear on their merc and expect it to ultra tank which isnt going to happen here. you have to protect your merc and control what it does the best you can and provide it with a solid setup. If you just let it wander around and dont do anything about the mobs that are trying to kill it then its going to get wrecked. As far as bosses yes they can shit on a merc especially if you dont put effort into your mercs setup. I mean bosses can shit on players too, thats why they are bosses. However with all this being said I wouldnt be opposed to seeing mercs get some love, Maeko is the love of my life.

[sleezy2]

honestly i dont use them. when farming most content its just not worth the time to resurrect them. The only time i have really considered putting alot of elite gear on merc has been with sorc to keep some heat off her, but it didnt work at all. Unless i wanted to re summon constantly. Merc's only work well with heroes that have alot of valks/shadow warriers/pets/summons/skeles/fire golems. But for the heroes that need it the most. ie sorc, it dosnt work at all other than using h.o.h.

It would be cool to see a buff, but would rather see alex put his time into other projects.

[nedamettin]

my merc has 95 all res and about 10k hp with BO. i tried to put serpents armor on it aswell but it still dies occationally. a few other people said their mercs are doing fine aswell but idk.

[Lampogriz]

only act2 merc can be tanky, because he has 50% evade and high dps with life leech. My merc stays pretty good in lvl14 crucible, he can even solo pits.

[Scotty]

1

[Drlukifer]

I feel they don't need stat buffs, but maybe Merc specific gear could be made to make them just a little bit more survivable. They don't need tons of damage, but if you make them invincible people will just fill them with whatever auras they want without fear of their Merc dying.

I used a a1 for Merc for a long time with a faith now because she will strafe which will leech lots.

An a2 or a3 Merc is good with items that will add miss/dodge/evade/parry.

What I have wanted to see is a new a4 Merc though. Maybe an angel or something.

Skill ideas for angel?
Enchant (lvl 15-20 doesn't gotta be high)
Sanctuary aura
Fist of heaven's
Vengeance

[norak]

I feel they don't need stat buffs, but maybe Merc specific gear could be made to make them just a little bit more survivable. They don't need tons of damage, but if you make them invincible people will just fill them with whatever auras they want without fear of their Merc dying.

I used a a1 for Merc for a long time with a faith now because she will strafe which will leech lots.

An a2 or a3 Merc is good with items that will add miss/dodge/evade/parry.

What I have wanted to see is a new a4 Merc though. Maybe an angel or something.

Skill ideas for angel?
Enchant (lvl 15-20 doesn't gotta be high)
Sanctuary aura
Fist of heaven's
Vengeance

angel casts only holy bolt(100%pierce) ON YOU

hue hue :D non agressive merc healing you while undead recieve a little damage too

[Game]

Act 4 Merc not really possible, sorry to let anyone down :(

[Icehammer]

Act 4 Merc not really possible, sorry to let anyone down :(
But what about to make a new set items for each kind of mercenary?
Maybe could be a good idea too, and set bonus like the specific chararcter sets