So I recently built a GF Barb to start doing trav runs with and got a Merc from A2 NM, offensive Merc to be exact, he's equipped with pride, stone and a Ral'd Andys. After Bo and Shout he hass 3k+ life and 18K Defense, but he dies within the first few seconds of doing any Trav run unless I stop in the middle of it and Juv him. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions on what can keep him alive or if this is just normal. He is only lvl 84, but I figured that would be ok with 3k+ life and 18k+ defense, I am doing the killing just need his conc for faster killing. Could his fire res being only 65 be my main problem?

Hydra really owns mercenaries even with 75% fire res which is why usually only Leap barb or War Cry barb builds use a mercenary for GF barb runs. A fighter barb really doesn't need a mercenary for Trav and it just slows him down.

Why pride? Probably the worst weapon choice for gf barb merc. Get ebotd

This post was edited by chips456 on Mar 20 2018 08:44am

if you're worried try baiting out only a few to the area beneath the steps. kill them then move on to the rest. u can also use the durance entrance as a quick way to remove him from battle and pot up.

but yes as bel said leap/war cry prevents all the excess hydra casts which is what's killing your merc. perhaps try skilling WC and stunning the white mobs inbetween kills.

leveling up a bit will help but hydra always hurts.



the freezes target is bad but the merc doesnt do much if any damage on its own. im not sure if a frozen target from the merc can still be shattered by the barb that kills it, if so that's even worse.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Mar 20 2018 08:45am

what do you mean "unless I stop in the middle of it and Juv him." ? please don't tell me you sit there clicking your belt and dragging it to his portrait when you can shift+1 to give him pots.
fire always destroys mercs, so if you're set on having a merc, either you need to keep up with the juvs or just use leap to knock them back so they can't do any damage.

This post was edited by tehtwitchy on Mar 20 2018 09:21am

You have to tank hydras (with +30mdr from dwarfs) u should be okay

Ebotd WP is one of best weapons for gold find merc

Lmao for real? I'm still kinda new to this Xpac thing. But yes that's what I do, but thanks for the replies, everything y'all are saying makes sense. Guess I don't really need the Merc, but would it be ok for using him with chaos runs? I tank alot myself as it is, just wondering if using conc is really worth using at this point..