Hey everyone,
So I built my ideal Auradin, with 2 Dreams, Hand of Justice and Dragon. Quite fun, and I’m still leveling it, but I have hesitation on what to do for his Merc.
Current:
- Act 2 Holy Freeze Merc with Insight
While the insight is nice as I charge a lot to run around, it’s not that necessary, and so I was considering one of the following options:
- Act 2 Holy Freeze Merc with Pride (lvl 16-20 Concentration aura)
- Act 2 Might Merc with Doom (lvl 12 Holy Freeze aura)
The Pride merc seems to make more sense since the Holy Freeze aura of the merc will go higher than level 12 of Doom, and I think a lvl 16-20 concentration can be close in %dmg although slightly lower than a Might merc.
Rest of gear is Eth Fortitude and Ral Andy.
Thanks in advance for any input!
Well I went with option 1 thinking that worst-case scenario I could use Pride on the merc for my Necro Summoner, and I was right. The increase in dmg is really useless for the Dream/Dragon Auradin, it’s all about elemental dmg. I’m even thinking of switching to Defiance/Reaper’s Toll so at least the Aura serves a purpose to my pal.
Pride is the most useless runeword even for a necro (infinity is better). The only char who csn do anything with pride is bow ama. All the rest are better served with a reaper merc for crowd control and more damage.
Indeed! I passed on the Pride to my Phys Bowazon and it’s shredding! My Bowazon has Atma’s for amp dmg, so nothing can resist her now.
Anyway, stuck with Reaper on my Pal’s merc, he’s doing fine 
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To be honest, bumping Physical Damage isn’t going to help you all that much since the bulk of your damage is coming from Holy Fire/Shock that is then amplified by your Conviction. Therefore you have the following options as I see it:
Option#1: A2 Holy Freeze + Reaper’s Toll
Holy Freeze is a great crowd control aura, slows enemies and gives solid Cold damage. Reaper’s Toll adds Decrepify(further slow/reduced damage) that also lowers enemy Physical Resistance.
Option#2: A2 Defiance + Doom
Defiance aura will boost your Defense and although Paladins generally don’t need it with Holy Shield, it’s always nice to have an extra layer of Defense as they say. Doom grants Holy Freeze and +2 Skills for Jab/Defiance
Option#3 A5 Frenzy Barb
The new Act 5 Frenzy Barb is straight up bonkers. Grief + Plague(new runeword) will allow you to take advantage of Lower Resist curse while simultaneously making the Poison damage your Merc will be doing that much stronger.
Of the 3 options, only the first two are viable right now since Option#3 won’t be ready until the end of Season 1(aka Ladder). That being said, I find Option#3 to be the best choice since Lower Resist amplifies your Elemental Damage.
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Hey, thanks for the input.
Indeed, I found out the same, i.e. boosting physical dmg really doesn’t do much at all for this build, so I went with Option 1, it works fine, but is not the most original.
Actually, since this builds is quite tight on the skill points, my Holy Shield is quite low and I’m not too good on the defense/tanking side of things. I was thinking of trying out a Defiance merc, but you’re right, pairing it with Doom would make sense and keep the merc alive as well. Now I just need to make a Doom in a Great Poleaxe or something.
Hopefully I’ll get to try Option 3 eventually, but the lack of auras makes it a little less appealing.
Even though the Act 5 Frenzy Barb doesn’t come with an aura, that Frenzy is just… you have to experience it to note how insane he is moving from one target to the next. If he had Vigor aura, that Barb would be like the Roadrunner or Speedy Gonzales…
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Ahah, ok I see, I’ll have to give it a shot then 
Yeah… look on YTube for various videos on the Merc. DBrunski did several, including an Enchant-varaint: Are you sleeping on this MERCENARY SETUP? THE FLAME MERC - DIablo 2 Resurrected - Patch 2.4 - YouTube