I don;t care about my merc doing damage, if he can thats a bonus, but what is the absolute best and proven methed to keep an Act 2 merc from dying every 2 sec, what gear..which merc should I go after hell nm etc..

10fg for best advice given!

eth stone with andy and insight

stone in sa got like 5k def

Act 2 nm def
Gface 15ias/15@, efort, eReaper's toll 15ias/15@

Eth andies 15-30fr
Highest def armor or efort (I prefer fort)
E reapers 40-15

Act 2 def merc

I pick fort and holy freeze cuz defense will hit diminishing return and hf and decrefy is very crippling. Plus reapers has cold dmg which stacks with hf.

Treachery in high def ebugged armor
Reapers
I like tal mask over andariel's but eh. Might need andy for ias breakpoint for faster life leech.

Treach outdoes stone imo, although stone is still a decent option.

Reapers is nice, but a hone sundan with amns will do the trick as well as obediance in early ladder.

I think gaze is the best choice if going for pure tankiness. MDR/DR% with LL

Holy Freeze is ofc safest, lifetap on swap for especially dangerous encounters and he wont die. ive found the repair costs of charges vs. resing merc to be worth it if you're running hell andy and he dies most of the time.

Atk speed on merc is often overlooked which is why I always pick a dies over gaze. I only farm on p7-8 on sp and have found survivability increases significantly with faster atk for leech.

@op, reapers is hands down the safest. Test a few builds around it see what stands out for you. Every mod on reapers is helpful with merc survivability.

ETH Reapers
ETH Andy (15Ias/30Fr)
ETH Forti

Thats what Im using for years and my merc almost never dies .
OFC you can swap Reapers for Infinity (Sorc/Ama etc) or Insight but Eth Forti/Andy is a must for me

Andys is a wonderful choice, and better than gaze.

i just like using gaze for the old times, and stacked with lvl 15 fade the DR is good for tankiness. MDR is a really good stat as well to remain tanky.

id say with no budget concerns it comes down to Andy/treach/Reapers and Andy/Fort/Reapers. i've read the fort vs treach threads enough to know thats a tougher call than andys vs gaze.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Dec 15 2017 01:38pm

I think Va

I think Gaze is best on a CS barb act 1 merc
Eth Gaze + Sol Rune
Eth Forti
That merc does no dmg to mobs anyway