https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=89989790&f=53

this amp stick fux em up
dunno why anyone would mess around with gavel when barbs can zerk anyway..

/e also lacerators are best source of amp
F*** gavel

This post was edited by BOO_MAN on Nov 23 2021 07:40pm

I'm just here to let Emilio make corpses. Shout, shout, let it all out.

exactly when you get the that god tier merc weapon. Zerk on the switch is bis if you know how to build and play

why fight when I can just pop corpses

when you have other skills points to use up. Berserk build is good with grief 1 hand and demonlimb on the hand

you can kill a conviction council member without blinking. dies nearly instantly. You arent going to kill everything just the ones that are annoying. Easily takes care for physical immune, holyfreeze, and conviction ones when they show up.


Question for you know, what do you do with your other skill points?

This post was edited by Competitive on Nov 23 2021 07:49pm

I know. Ran Pitzerker for longer than I ran Goldfind

I like the idea of being able to offhand Demon Limb at least.

other combos for you,

demon limb on 1 hand and 2os mana, 20 fcr, lifetap charge necro wand (extremely hard to come by)

https://d2.maxroll.gg/d2planner/dp0106zf#14

So is this the optimal merc build now? I don't remember seeing this.

I've been running Andy's, eth Fort and Eth BOTD War pike. It's been good so far.

I wouldn't worry about it. "Optimal" here means a lot of things, depending on how you run things. One thing for sure though: you want to clear before the game timer starts over & you want to do it with a Merc that doesn't die. Some Merc deaths are attributable to bad playstyle/bad risk evaluation, etc. Some players prefer eBOTD to Arioc's because of the extra life leech, but they're both fine. Some people prefer Fort to CoH for the extra damage, but they can both clear p8. I recommend about 2 sources of life leech once you're at the point where your setup wipes the floor with Trav, and eBOTD/Andy has that. Some people go a step further & even use CoH, reaching up to 33%LL.

The A5 Merc setup is solid anyway. It can suffer a tiny bit from life leech issues because of inconsistent hits at times, but it's almost inconsequential. I still prefer Act 2 Merc in general, as it doesn't go on knockback sprees playing ping-pong with the Council, but that doesn't mean the A5 Headstriker Merc is bad.

The perks of the A5 merc have more to do with the lack of FHR animation and chonky hits on Headstriker for burst. What sucks is when the Merc doesn't just attack mega-fast but starts spamming abilities.

A5 Merc can require a bit more babysitting vs. Holy Freeze, and there aren't any great weapon alternatives (besides a GG rare sword) to an Eth Upgraded Headstriker.

Feel free to try it! Just park your A2 Merc gear in the stash, hire a Normal A5 Merc & put on an Eth Upgraded Headstriker to check.
I'm a fan of Cham in Andy's + 15IAS on Headstriker for A5 Merc because he already has a tendency to miss, and being frozen while that happens REALLY sucks.

I initially intended the guide to be about A5 Merc just to score hipster points, but kinda gave up on it because the Merc went full potato occasionally & the only real weapon was Headstriker.
Note that the A5 Mercenary benefits a lot from extra AR/Defense Reduction like Demon Limb's Enchant or level 26 Battle Cry, because his base attack rating is so goddamn bad (compared to A2 Merc's built-in Jab AR bonus).

The important IAS breakpoints for the Merc are 14, 22, 31, 42.
An 8% Life leech 3os tiara is great for the A5 Merc, with 2x15IAS jewels + a Cham Rune, then you put a 15IAS jewel in the weapon and hit the 42IAS breakpoint, while keeping your life leech.
Similarly you can use a 3os of Wealth for the goldfind & jam 2x15IAS and a Cham + a 15IAS in the Weapon.

Andy's lets you break past 31 with just a single 15IAS & has life leech built in.
3os tiaras let you break 42 and have a spare rune for utility (Amn in weapon, Pul for the damage/AR, Cham for the CBF, etc).
Remember that if you go for a 3os Wealth Tiara with no Amn Rune in the sword, you will need CoH for the life leech.

A5 Headstriker Merc isn't bad, just different. He feels a lot like an eBOTD War Pike A2 Merc in a lot of ways.

At the end of the day, with the 80-90s timer Blizzard added to game remakes, clearing under 1 minute is a lot less important, and all these setups become interchangeable.
If and when that changes or gets removed, maybe a new way to goldfind comes up with sub-30 second clears from traditional DPS Barb setups.

Since they increased the timers I've been messing with an 80%Goldfind/3os Tiara on the Mercs, with 3x 40ED/30Goldfind jewels to squeeze more gold out of each run while keeping the DPS high.
It's like a DIY CoT, with damage instead of life leech.

This post was edited by Exokek on Nov 24 2021 03:40am

Pretty sure I put that in the guide somewhere, but I might've forgotten?

At 91, with +8 from Circlet/Amulet/Torch/Anni, and +4 WC from GCs (don't need more to reach lvl 33 Find Item breakpoint)

Battle Cry at 26 vs. annoying Stone Skin to put defense at 0.
Natural Resistance at 25 for 70% for 250% Resist overcap vs. Conviction.
Dump the rest into Increased Speed.

At level 99 I'd probably end up with lvl 20 Increased Speed/27 Natural Resist.

I replaced 3 Skiller GCs with 40GF/12MF, because why not. Can also run without them to make picking up good Magics/Rares easier.

This post was edited by Exokek on Nov 24 2021 04:08am