Merc can be a variety of setups depending on your barb's setup and your playstyle. Personally i like to run like this: You run to the temple and assess the members. If they all flock outside, run back and kite+stun+amp from gavel, kite merc from hydras as necessary. If members are flocked inside, let them flock to you just before running down the stairs. When you run up, cast amp from gavel quickly, let merc annihilate them. 90% of the time he will. 10% of the time he can be overwhelmed.
With that playstyle, you should be using treachery, kira's guardian and eth war pike breath of the dying. He will just masacre them when they are amp'd.
You -can- use war cry instead, especially if they are flocked. Most of the time it is safer, but it takes a bit longer, and many times, the members do scatter a bit, and you won't hit more than 40-50% of them, leaving the rest to harass and cast hydra on your merc. Which can put him in jeopardy of dying. Amp'ing them is usually best, merc just scythe them down in 3-4 hits.
One last detail is that you -can- use guardian angel -if- you have a high level merc, with um rune in both kira's and ga, he will have 90% fire res, thus almost immune to hydra fire, but dealing less damage through less ias. The members can also deal very high physical damage, so he can be overwhelmed by that too.
Keeping in mind i play hardcore, so i tend to play defensively. But i do use that first tactic even on hc, just be careful to stay away from the members and watch out for other boss packs as well. And of course certain auras.
This post was edited by Taurean on Jan 27 2025 09:02pm
D2:R