Messed with some of the announced changes in Single Player using Hero Editor and it feels as crappy as i thought it would.
Do not give the Barbarian mercs offensive shouts if they don’t stack with curses, you’re actually ruining their only use.
This is a huge oversight.
Same thing with the Throwbarb, the Grim Ward change was such a fun synergy for it but Lacerator being the only decent end game throwing weapon option means its voided entirely (Lacerator has a 33% chance to proc Amp Damage).
Yep, my Uber Zealot, who obviously doesn’t particularly need a Merc, went with Barb specifically because he wouldn’t override Lifetap. But now that functionality will be gone (and with it, my use for upped Crainte Vomir doing 35% slow on enemies). It’s a bit sad, like sure it’s a “buff” to Barb mercs, but not really/only sometimes. They really didn’t think it through very well. Guess I’ll just have to swap to no Merc or Act 1 or Act 3 Merc now. Goodbye, sweet Sigemund
use other merc ??? act 2
asking to a barb to dont be a barb 
Barb mercs need Battle Orders.
That would buff weak builds in the beginning and offer an alternative to CTA. The 2nd weapon slot can then be used for MF, life tap wands, tele staff, etc
Something like warcry might be good for an option instead of the debuff warcries. An aoe stun with some damage without the debuff spot taken.
Yup. Barbs need battle orders. I didn’t actually know grim ward prevented/overrode curses, too.
It’s more like asking a necromancer to please stop spamming bone wall, it ain’t helping.
i understand you , but not agree with the comparaison ,
is just the synergies dont match your play style , act 1 and act2 act 3 merc will bring other stuff on the table
battle cry will help a lot poor under gear melee that have poor attack rating , compare spell that dont miss
i think act5 merc is good for melee at the start of the season
and maybe i will drop Angelic Halo ring with that merc
They definitely do NOT need battle orders. That would be excessive and overpowered on a merc. Either play a Barbarian or get yourself a CTA. I will say that is isn’t good that the warcry debuffs aren’t good when you’re in a party with a necromancer or if you’re a necromancer yourself. But then I could easily argue that you can choose another merc! There are options.
They’re trying to make the a5 be a tank minion like d3, its honestly pathetic.
np i have something for you
I always wondered why there were only one option whit A5 merc, while A1 has 2, A2 has 6 and A3 has 3. Now it would’ve been a good time to have optional A5 merc, whit different warcries. One whit Shout, one whit Battle Cry, one whit Battle Orders and one whit Battle Command. There now you can choose the Battle Command merc all the time. (JK choose what ever you like XD)
Honestly what they should have done (imo) is take the act 2 auras and split them up. Holy freeze goes to Act 3 merc, blessed aim to rogue merc, might/defiance to barb merc and i guess act 2 can have thorns and prayer (am i forgetting any auras?). I think this would have been best because A. all mercs get an aura, plain and simple, there is no “losing out” like we do now because only act 2 merc has aura built in. and B. it fits thematically, of course blessed aim aura should always have been on rogue merc. of course act 3 merc should have had holy freeze, of course barb merc should have had might/defiance, and of course act 2 merc should be left with thorns (lol) and prayer (actually okay especially with insight).
Alas, they went with whatever they went with and I guess we’ll see how it works out. I’m not even sure I like my idea much better but it is what I always thought should have been the way to balance out the mercs
Nah, that’s just lazy. All act merc should have a distinctive flavour, and they should stand on their own. We should appreshiate A1 for being a ranged attaker and now haveing AoE. A3 for it elemental casting buffing and debuffing, A5 for their tankyness and CC. Runewords that have auras, that are widely used on A2 merc is what makes them so good, because it’s restricted to the weapon only they can equip. Haveing Insigt on missle weapons also, is a step into the right direction, to make A1 merc more apealing. Imagine if Infinity could also be made into a sword? A lot of people would not use A2 merc anymore, because they got bored whit it, might aura or no might aura by default. Atleast I know I would, because I just fedup whit that there’s no other option.
Then dont use merc barb if you want to use curses.
I think they are saying, it shouldn’t be forced, like maybe there could be another option or at least a “barb without battle cry” option, I’ve really grown to love A5 merc on certain characters and it’s a shame I won’t be able to use them anymore because of this “buff”. Just at least give the option, that’s all I ask, personally
allow them to dual wield 1 handed weps they could use beast and lastwish
It wouldn’t be overpowered as long as their version of battle orders wasn’t affected by plus skills. It would be like a lesser version of a CTA until players can acquire materials for a real cta. In that design it would be the more defensive merc option.
If you need so many exceptions (skill level cap, so it wouldn’t be BO20 at Merc level 90, no +skills etc) you might as well just not add it in the first place.
I think, that a5 merc shouldnt have any warcry. Knockback is also annoying. Instead it should have posibility to wear two weapons + also ulock the axes for him. With this solution it can also bo exact good like a2 merc with two auras.