using one dwarf and GA atm so 89 FR. so just the phys doing the most dmg. i guess dual dwarf keeps me healed by hydras?

skill issue

ebotd warpike
coh
andys

you with grief

he wont die

if budget, yes, he will die

This post was edited by DevilPK on May 28 2026 04:40am

this or flickering flame

tomb reaver or reapers toll also helps

if budget, treachery kiras eth reaper's toll should keep him alive (high leech + CBF + high res)
you don't care about cold damage and shattering corpses since you're hdin, not hork barb
also don't let your merc soak up all the dmg, help him eat some hydra bolts too
just be careful of physical immunes and conviction combos, those you should kill for him

GA + Um'd crown of thieves. You get the fire res and Leach

Think kira treach might be better considering conviction will rek merc

cheapest and most effective build is non eth reaper "shael" , Kira (preferebly as high as poss) , Guardian Angel. As other people said he can ONLY die if council has conviction aura. This is the cheapest and best merc build for what you want to achieve.

Flickering Flame is the answer to all your problems for Travincal hydras. Treachery/COH are preferably but not necessary. You can use a Guardian Angel, Duriels, whatever really. Weapon doesn't matter as long as it's elite. Decrep increases survivability so reaper's toll is good for that, but you can use insight and it's fine tbh. The problem is the fire damage he takes from hydras is too much to overcome, and you need to counter that specifically. Though if the enemies have conviction, kill that guy quick or he might die anyway.

the answer is steel shade armet and always has been

a merc with guardian angel + steel shade can stand afk in an unlimited number of hydras and is just getting healed by them. Even without g-angel it wipes out most of the dps.
they have different hydra skill levels but gelebs is the highest at 135-164 per shot, reduced to 17% by pvp penalty when hitting players and doesn't scale with playercount
That 149.5 avg damage is reduced to 37 after 75% fire resist, and 15 after 90% fire resist, and the +11 fire absorb on steel shade negates/heals 22 fire damage after resists- so without g-angel or vex rune it blocks about 60% of the damage, but with g-angel it makes hydras heal your merc for about 7 hp each on average



2x dwarf star negates all hydra damage and not because of absorb, because of the MDR
after pvp penalty that hydra damage is reduced to ~23-28
the up to 30 MDR on 2x dwarf fully negates it, doesn't matter what your resists are at that point
and if you wear a rising sun amulet they also heal you, and actually heal you more if you have negative fire resist since you can have far higher fire sorb than their damage

This post was edited by Goomshill on May 28 2026 12:06pm