Since Arabinose kindly helped me grab my hands on a couple of socket quests… I wanna complete my Merc setup…
From what I’ve been reading, due to breakpoints and whatnot - an optimal setup is:
- ETH Thresher Infinity
- ETH Sacred Armor Fortitude
- ETH Andy’s (sktd with a 15IAS/30% FR Jewel)
At level 94, Emilio has already maxed all his resists, even without the helm.
What helm (and Jewel) do you think would be good to pair the following setup?
- ETH Cryptic Axe Infinity
- ETH AP Fortitude
He’s just currently rocking a regular cheapie Vampire Gaze; interested to see what you think would be GG?
I was thinking something like this:
- ETH Andy’s (the extra IAS might be a waste on my setup though right?)
- ETH Vampire Gaze (sktd w/ 40% ED and min/max Damage)
- Another ETH Helm?
Cheers!
1 Like
Assuming you’re a javazon, the whole point of your merc is to stay alive so he can provide the conviction aura so you can kill all non-lightning immunes as quick as possible. In order to accomplish that, he needs life leech, defense (to avoid getting hit) and as fast attack as possible.
This is why Andy’s is great in that it provides all 3 and fort in as high as possible armor is desirable (even more so if you have enigma as the heavier armor won’t be an issue).
The thresher makes reaching the breakpoints all the easier so you might find using a CA infinity will make it more harder for him to life leech sufficient based on incoming damage.
Here are the different Jab IAS breakpoints with a Thresher so you can customize your setup:
CodeIAS — FPA — Attacks/sec.
0% — 6.5 — 3.33
8% — 6 — 3.57
22% — 5.5 — 3.84
42% — 5 — 4.16
75% — 4.5 — 4.54
142% — 4 — 5
Using other commonly used polearms:
Colossus Voulge/Cryptic Axe
CodeIAS — FPA — Attacks/sec.
0 — 8 — 2.77
5 — 7.5 — 2.94
11 — 7 — 3.12
22 — 6.5 — 3.33
35 — 6 —3.57
56 — 5.5 — 3.84
89 — 5 — 4.16
147 — 4.5 — 4.54
292 — 4 — 5
My merc (lvl 97) is sporting the optimal setup you listed above so has 45 ias from the helm (30 + 15 ias/FR jewel) which with my eth thresher infinity gives him 4.16 attacks/sec.
If you don’t have an ias jewel in your vamp gaze, then he has zero ias so he’s only attacking 2.77 times per second which is a huge difference.
2 Likes
Andy’s helm with jewel can only give you 35 ias (20+15), so only 3.84 aps…not sure where you get the extra 10% ias from.
But I agree with Buddha…get the best Andy’s you can find, does not even need to be ethereal. Stats on str and life leech are more important.
1 Like
Yeah I read it wrong on his char sheet (it’s only 35). Probably because I mistakenly got stuck on the fact that the thresher is (-10) faster than the CA.
1 Like
Will be able to run more socket quests if you need tomorrow, for now off to bed for me back to the grind tomorrow 
1 Like
The above picture should give you an a good idea what to aim for. There is no one true best setup (which makes this game a gem)
The idea is getting to the highest FPJ(jab) break point as you can, as the merc performs more jabs (3 jabs in a row) as he levels up.
No the most popular opinion: Fortitude + Andy combo is more like a beginner setup, as both are quite affordable and easy to acquire. But as you gain more wealth, there are much better options such as for helm:
- Artisans Diadem of the lamprey 8% LL + 3 sockets
- Blood Helm 3% LL + 2 sockets + 10% Deadly Strike
for chest, I’m rocking an Elite Jeweler’s Armor of stability (4OS + 24 FHR), the 4 sockets i can tailor to my needs ie: resistance, attack speed.
Setting up an Infinity is harder compared to Reaper’s Toll since you’ll need a source of LifeLeach and also Uniques have a socket you can tailor to for IAS or more ED.
2 Likes
Yes this really depends on your main char setup as well. I’m running treachery, pride, and cornw of thieves but my fanat is 14 on faith which only requires 45 ias for max BP. He stays alive and never dies after that setup. Before I I was using fort and andys and wasn’t reaching the BP and the merc died almost instantly before getting hits in to get leech.
1 Like
Thanks for helping with the explanation fellas!!
So if I keep my existing ETH CA Infinity… any recommendation on which helm (and jewel) I should be going for?
Emilio does a pretty solid job of staying alive right now with just his 7% LL, 20 DR and 11MDR
Do you play mostly single player (even on bnet)? Then any helm will likely do as your char will likely kill anything before he is even tanking anything.
I’d recommend finding a non-eth Andys (probably cost between mal and ist) and stick a Ral rune in it. Then take him out to 8 player cows/chaos to see if he holds up with it or just your normal vamp gaze.
It also depends on what you can afford and/or will to spend/grind for.
1 Like
Mostly Single Player on BNet (hate ppl stealing my loot lol)… but I can handle solo P8 runs in Public Pickup games now since I upgraded from Shako to Griffs 
9/142/29 1os Eth Andy’s - Jah
Xxccxxccxxcc