This surely is an old topic but i havent found concrete answers with a quick google check… is there a merc that can easily, like always survive travinical and diablo? I am Running a poison necro with some skellies atm. I got a decent forti, andys not raled yet and insight. Or do i just have to manage with tele and potions? Thx in advance

Kira's guardian with um rune
Eth guardian angel
Ebotd war pike OR eth reaper's toll if you don't care about a few corpses shattering.

I find he can survive the hydras with this, but he can succumb to overwhelming physical damage.

From what i can find: Against bosses, they deal 2 x damage against mercs. Hell diablo deals on average 220 damage each physical hit, doubled to 400. All monsters and minions have 5% chance to deal critical damage. So that is why most mercs succumb to bosses so fast. The last setup can make him survive the elemental damage quite wel. Eth reaper's will most likely make him deal with diablo, at least survive a lot longer than normal. The decrepify is just so effective in slowing them down.

Since you are using necromancer, utilizing the clay golem's slow ability against bosses is something you may look into. That combined with decrepify is just extremely effective against bosses.

tyvm for this answer!!