After extensive and highly scientific testing (watching my merc delete everything), I can confirm that Dread Fang with 2x Protector Stone is definitely “just okay” and not absurdly strong at all.

K
Keep me posted

Incredible.

I mean there's no reason why a 2H sword merc should be any good lol
Bash just sucks so fucking bad

You didn't even touch on how he just constantly overrides the amp with the battle cry lol it's completely pointless

We talked about this before, but I don’t see Battle Cry overriding Amp as a pure negative on an Act 5 merc. Battle Cry reduces enemy damage and defense, which directly improves survivability and hit chance. That means the merc stays alive longer in dense packs and actually lands more hits, which in turn helps re-proc Amp Damage.

In a perfect scenario, sure, permanent Amp uptime would be ideal for raw DPS. But the cycling between Amp and Battle Cry is more of a defensive offensive loop than a downgrade. When Battle Cry is active, enemies deal less damage and are easier to hit, so both you and the merc are safer. Then when Amp procs again, you capitalize with full damage.

So instead of viewing it as one curse “ruining” the other, it’s better to see it as a cycle of two strong effects: Battle Cry for control, safety, and consistency, and Amp for burst damage. For a melee setup where the merc is standing inside packs, that tradeoff is not a negative at all.

Disagree with you sensei. No battle cry would be much better for both you and Merc. Amped = enemies die 2x faster = safer. I guess it is not the worst thing in the world but logically it is pretty trash. He should have some kind of ias buff similar to frenzy merc to make him relevant. Or give him whirlwind lol that'd be sick

Honestly dread on a frenzy Merc would be op. Probably why they didn’t make it happen

Not really. They don't get a free aura like A2 Merc, and their attack rating sucks ass. I think it would actually put them on par and make it somewhat useful. Doesn't matter now though with bound demon constant amp damage. Warlock is the only physical class worth playing

This post was edited by BdizzleD2 on Mar 2 2026 02:17pm

I don’t agree see sig. I play barb only !

If you could use dread on act 5 Merc for frenz I would use last wish for might aura one hand and other hand dread for amp. Cure for cleanse and coh for godly stats.

This post was edited by Anilator(A) on Mar 2 2026 02:20pm