A Quick/Easy Way to Fix Act 3 Mercs (Make Them Slightly Viable)

General Discussion
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The main issue with Act 3 Mercs is the following.
Little damage (compared to others).
Little survivability (compared to others).
Little stats (compared to others).

Little Damage
As far as damage goes, I believe just adding masteries solves this problem a bit. It can still use different spells for some of the class archtypes, but a more immediate quicker fix that doesn’t need much testing is just adding masteries on them (cold, light, fire).

Little Survivability
I will pair this hand in hand with a little Damage. In order for you to increase the damage of your merc, and made it viable, you need to sacrifice high survivability gear for high defense gear. That’s not the same as act 2 or act 5 mercs, where you can stack them with high suvivability gear thats also really good for them offensively.

At level 86, the merc has 63 resist all, which is actually quite bad because you need to sacrifice potentially damage that he doesn’t really have to begin with in order to build up the resists.

I think that the Act 3 Merc alone should natively have high base resistances and they should cap at 85 instead of 75. This should also be achievable to have 85 resist all at like level 85 or even level 90. It should be a strength of theirs where their resist is just naturally high. They still will suffer defensively from physical, but against magic they should excel and that should be one of the strengths.

Little Stats
At level 85, the merc had like 136 strength.
I tried to beef up the damage of my merc by providing him with a Eth Grypphons, Eth Ormus with +3 charged bolt, and Spirit Sword. I was shocked that I couldn’t actually equip a Spirit Shield.

It’s kind of like the most basic shield that you would use for a merc, and it seems odd that even at level 99 he wouldn’t be able to equip it without socketing like Fal runes for stength, again sacrificing potential damage/survivability.

All in all, the following easy 3 things should drastically improve the act 3 merc, not so much where it becomes meta because act 2 is still always best, but at least to the point where its not just a waste of time entirely.

1. Increase Base Str by like 30-40.
2. Increase Base Resistances by 15 and allow it to overcap to 85 resist all instead of 75.
3. Added Fire/Cold/Lightning Mastery to the skill Trees.

These 3 additions (which can hopefully come in an update during this ladder) would be GREATLY appreciated. It also wouldn’t do anything to the viability of the merc because act 2 and 5 are always going to be better options, but it will at least be a quick good change that will help significantly.

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Little Damage
As far as damage goes, I believe just adding masteries solves this problem a bit. It can still use different spells for some of the class archtypes, but a more immediate quicker fix that doesn’t need much testing is just adding masteries on them (cold, light, fire).

a level 1 mastery (which should only come to effect at lvl 30, which is exactly when his effectiveness starts to fade. he is actually quite good on normal difficulty) would probably already be enough to make him viable. with all the +gear you should be at around lvl 11 for fire (hexfire, spirit, +2 armor, flickering flame) and a bit lower for the both other ones. that would be around a +100% dmg for fire and 146% for lightning.

I was shocked that I couldn’t actually equip a Spirit Shield.

you have to use an etheral spirit base. but even then he he will need to be like level 93 or so, unless you sacrifice dmg for str.

survivability: i suggested having the merc being able to use block. that would open up a bit more variety for gear too, since you can decide if you want to go for maxblock or +skill gear. though i doubt they have animations for him blocking.

1. Increase Base Str by like 30-40.

i would have rather said 10%-20%. eth monarch has 146 str req.

2. Increase Base Resistances by 15 and allow it to overcap to 85 resist all instead of 75.

not sure if that would be a bit overkill. the base resistance i get, but the higher maxcap im suspicious of.

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We shouldn’t need to sacrifice everything to and get a Ethereal Monarch in order to help make this build do anything relevant damage wise.

It won’t even after adding all this stuff, but a level 85+ merc should be able to equip a monarch non eth without a problem. Its just something they probably didn’t see.

In terms of the resistances. Lets call it what it is. This merc is nowhere near as viable as act 2 and 5 mercs. His physical defenses are terrible, and you don’t want him to necessarily be “tanky” because then you’d pick a different merc. You want him to be damage dealer and ranged. He’s still susceptible to physical alot but his magical resistances should be much much higher than the rest.

A random charged bolt shooting out of a mob shouldn’t just destroy him. Give us a reason to actually use him. Even if that reason is just for the luls. At least make it not absolute garbage.

Adding max resistance cap of 85, and higher base resistances and higher base STR, and cold/light/fire mastery should definitely be things that should and could be added relatively easily and quickly.

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i dont really get that point. i am well in favour of a str buff. i advocated for it 6 months ago, when people were discussing what merc changes we needed. having an eth monarch as target gear in regards to str requirement gives it more value. the def buff is not relevant for a3 mercs. a 20% buff should set him at around 153 str at lvl 85. i think 40 str points buff is a bit too much. but after all thats fine tuning. not gonna go splitting hairs over 10 str points.

A random charged bolt shooting out of a mob shouldn’t just destroy him. Give us a reason to actually use him. Even if that reason is just for the luls. At least make it not absolute garbage.

i agree. thats why i im well in favour of getting a bit more bas res to compensate for caster gear difference. just saying im suspicious of raising res cap. none of us have tested 85 res cap v 75 res cap in a mod. besides that i don’t really know the technicalities if its possible without much coding. a variation could also be to allow a raised cap only for their element.

In terms of the resistances. Lets call it what it is. This merc is nowhere near as viable as act 2 and 5 mercs.

sure, a1 and a3 fall mostly in the same category, just with a bit different utility skills. being tanky is not a thing they are supposed to be. but my suggestion of blockchance translates in a 23% blockchance for a lvl 85 character with a spirit shield. i dont think that is overpowered, and it might be enough to make him more sturdy. corrupted rogue archers and others deal physical dmg too. with the base res raised that could be enough to make his survivability viable. and give a bit more options for shield gear

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act3 fire merc starts to cast enchant a lot in combat. but doesn’t enchant at all outside of combat. he also has to stop every time he cast enchant. so when you got lots of minions to enchant he can’t get into position quickly to cast fire ball. blizz should allow this merc to move while casting spells. and enchant when new minions are summoned. and give it energy shield for survivability.

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this has mainly to do with how merc choose a attack. its a chance % they assign to it when they spot an enemy. like 25% to use static, 25% for charged bolt, 50% for lightning. IIRC it is something like 25% for enchant, once he spots enemy. and i think there is a trigger on it, sothat he does not recast it as long as it is still active, similar to the frozen armor the a3 cold merc uses. i dont really see a way how he can cast it outside of combat.