That’s not entirely true, as Act 2 mercenaries use Amazon’s Jab skill. But they are based on the concept of being the Diablo 1 classes, so a holy shield wouldn’t really fit with the Vizjerei theme they are based on (or the mercenary theme either).
Almost everyone does. It does require some forethought about what kind of space it is, how many charms you should be able to use, and how easily you should be able to change charms, which is most likely why it will probably never be implemented.
Multiple Shot definitely isn’t too powerful. I guess you could replace Strafe with either Guided Arrow, Slow Missiles or Critical Strike.
I get ya, however doing no damage at all to 1/3 of the monsters still knd of stinks
You’ve quoted the wrong guy… I was only pointing out that it’s currently technically impossible to use two class equivalents on one merc simultaneusly… I wasn’t discussing the holy shield idea… which was not mine btw… however given i’m drawn into this… yeah fantasy wise giving holy shield to a3 merc is a bad idea…
I’m telling you agin it’s not the bloody foothils model 1:1 You want to use. the new merc would need to be assembled from compatible existing model parts. especially one of the hands needs to be replaced with axe model ( it exists, however it’s not currently present in live game anywhere as a used model.)
btw Charles did you know the barb merc has two extra head models? not only fulll helm equipped but also a winged helm equipped and naked head?
I think Iron Wolves would be greatly improved if the devs simply gave them masteries for their respective elements and a big bump to strength to be able to equip Monarch for Spirit. C’mon Blizzard, please make these elemental sorcerers are a solid companion for next Season.
i knew that. im really not sure on this one, but did the act 3 merc not used to have a crown head model and a weapon sorc orb (unused weapon)? somehow i really thought they had, but i didnt find them anywhere, either it is my mind playing tricks on me or it was only in d2 classic? I remeber stumbling over that as a kid while checking out the art files…
A3 merc had a two shield animations, and two head animations.
the head was a naked head and helmed head ( i doubt there was a crown)
as for the shield there was the standard buckler, and an unused kite shield animation that had an egyptian ankh symbol on it ( a.k.a heavy armor sorceror model from Diablo1 had this shield).
Unfortuneatly none of those models made it through to D2Resurected.
there was a decision VV made a pool about to ask the players about skipping of porting some of the unused models so that the game would be developed faster.
Unfortuneatly impatient players picked the option to cut development in favour of a faster release. I think a3 merc go hit by this as a part of the decision made.
Definetly no orb animation, although if i remember correctly there may have been two alternative sword animations in LoD for a3 merc, a short sword and a long sword. But i never managed to confirm the visual difference. although a3 merc wields a sword like weapon when setting either of those two in monstats2.txt in LoD.
And another book made by Vicarious Visions on what has actually been ported to D2R…
as i said above some things werent pulled through, due to development rush.
act5 merc, heavy pauldrons ( ones never seend in the vanilla game) weren’t ported to D2R either, thanks to the decision made which is a huge shame as those looked cool.
Please check out this page (and sub-pages). Quite a lot of content was cut!
This is truly disappointing. Unlike re-enabling currently disabled items/affixes/monster variants, which can be done by switching flags in text files, missing graphics mean that those features will never make a comeback. It also means that most advanced mods, like Median XL, won’t be ported to D2R because of the missing graphics used by those mods in D2.
That’s why a developer should NEVER rely on players’ opinion for important decisions. Feedback is OK, but only as a suggestion to be considered by competent dev team members. Most of the time it’s the vocal minority that gives harmful feedback (“dOnT nErF eNiGmA, iTs bAlanCeD”), and even the majority knows too little about game design to make good suggestions.
The nice thing about Beast and Fanaticism is it doesnt give a huge damage bonus to anyone other than aura owner. So with 2X Beast on an Act 5 merc, it should be comparable to Might in DPS with added IAS. So expanding axes to a Frenzy Barb variant shouldn’t be a problem.
I think the fantasy of the Iron Wolves as elemental sorcerers is the most interesting lore wise, it just sucks they’re still medicore companions. Blizzard, please consider improving these mercs for next Season!
2 x Beasts = Level 18 Fanaticism = 339% ED(169 to Party), 34% Skill IAS, 125% Attack Rating
1 x Beast = Level 9 Fanaticism = 186/90, 29% Skill IAS, 80% Attack Rating
1 x Last Wish = Level 17 Might = 200% ED, increased to 370% ED with 2
If Beast was limited to just one for the aura, you’d be correct. Dual-wielding Beast though would be quite strong. However, you’d be foregoing curses for PI opponents unless you have a counter for that on your main character. Granted I don’t think people would care too much if they can get Fanaticsm on a A5 Mercenary.
Thing is wouldn’t this change make A1 Mercenaries all but worthless outside of Harmony for Vigor Aura? I mean I know Pride is expensive for Concentration on A2 but I’d get that + Might whereas Mist on A1 only yields Concentration(no Might Aura) while A1 can also yield Fanaticism via Faith(presently the only way to get it via Merc). You give A5 Axes and A1 Mercenary might as well be oblivious like A3 Mercenaries are right now because the Mercenary landscape would be between A2 and A5 and nothing else.
A2: Dominant Merc due to Auras
A5: New Fanaticism holder thanks to Axe change
A1: Relegated to Harmony…
A3: Who are you again?
Eh I didn’t mean to say it but its the honest truth. Thing is you add Axes to A5 and you relegate A1 to mediocre status too. Its kind of amazing that we’ve relegated Mercenaries to Aura sources but that’s just the plain truth:
Act 2 yields a host of combinations: Conviction(Infinity) + Holy Freeze being incredibly popular. Defiance, Might and Prayer are also popular and even Blessed Aim sees use from time to time. Thorns is about the only one that doesn’t(yet its one aura that scales really well).
Act 5 got new life after the dual-wield addition. You give it axes and it’ll take the place of A1 for Fanaticism via Beast as its cheaper to make than Faith while having way better survivability too(Skill IAS on a Frenzy Barb… may Diablo covet his Soulstone).
Act 1 is presently relegated for Faith(if needed) or Vigor Aura(via Harmony) since while Concentration aura from Pride is expensive, A2 yields an extra aura that A1 cannot so Mist has little value. It’s also a Mercenary that loves to die quickly so yeah…
Act 3 is presently the Mercenary Black Sheep because it doesn’t even do what its meant to do(dealing Elemental Damage) well while being squishy and lacking a recovery mechanism that the other 3 Mercenaries can tap into(Life Leech). Act 3 needs an Offensive, Defensive and Utility buff. Offensive is buffing overall Elemental Damage(Mastery Skill would do this). Defensive could be adding Shield Block(they have Shields… so why aren’t they?) and Utility could be giving it a Shield Runeword that grants Prayer Aura that would yield them passive Life Regeneration(something that they’d primarily benefit from).
Outside of adding Infinity to Bows(which would help their Elemental Arrow Damage a ton), I’m not sure how you can make A1 remotely relevant if you give A5 Axes. Even then… A1 durability is a massive issue unless they could Dodge/Avoid/Evade like Amazons.
Agreed. I’m proposing a new shield runeword for Iron Wolves that gives them masteries for damage, prayer aura for life regen and FCR to meet breakpoints. To discourge players from using, minus mana is included as Iron Wolves don’t use mana (it also doesnt have all resists).
True argument, but not sure if that would make A1 obsolete (your forgot an Ice Frost Maiden, what is actually very viable for CC as well). I could imagine, that the lvl 18 fana on a dual beast would be really good for P8 farming and with a lot of minions. But not sure how that would be on low playercounts or solo. Dual beast on a barb is not a huge thing as far as I remember and the overall dmg of beast is substanially lower then on a dual grief or grief/last wish/plague.
So I would not expect seeing dual beasts chars without many minions? I this assumation would be true, then we would not have an issue here I guess. Or?
A2 HF beats A1 Ice Frost Maidens and I don’t have to make an Ice to get it either. The aura is stronger on Ice, as is the Elemental Damage but the purpose of having Holy Freeze isn’t for the Cold Damage but for the Slow/Crowd Control and Act 2 does a much better job while having a secondary aura to go with it(generally Infinity which is BIS).
As for dual Beasts, Beasts are generally not made in Ethereal bases as its not indestructible. If Act 5 gets Axes, Ethereal Beasts would be highly sought after but the one thing that helps is that Beast has relatively low %Enhanced Damage. That being said… Beast on A5 pretty much makes A1 way less desirable to use.
On another note… could you imagine A5 Mercenary going full Werebear? rofl
Good point and I´m with you.
But still, would that be really a bad thing? A1 is already less desireable (although I like the Ice-Maiden a lot ). I´m not sure if this addition will change any meta drasticially. Just added a another viable option to the table imho.
And those two eth superior axes with 5 OS will need to be found before you would have fun with it. I guess a 4 OS +3 GMB is easier to obtain…
All you need is Ethereal Ettin Axes for Merc Beasts since they natively roll 5 sockets via Larzuk or have the best odds if you use Socket recipe(although that requires no Superior modifier). One Beast is all you need since you’ll likely want Lawbringer, Oath or something to deal with Physical Immunes on the other weapon slot unless you already have that covered on main character. Dual-wield Beast would be rather strong and cost more than a single Faith on A1 Merc but comes with better Fanaticism and consequently a Mercenary that survives far better. My point regarding A1 is giving it purpose. You take Faith Mercenaries away and they’ll fall into obscurity like Act 3 presently enjoys and we’re trying to prevent that from happening.
Granted the only class that really benefits from A1 Faith mercenaries are Avengers(since they roll Conviction), Spearzons(Impale primarily) and Barbarians. Every other class uses A2 or A5. A3 is an afterthought save for maybe the Fire variant on Summoners since that Enchant is pretty nice to have for the minions. You give Fanaticism to A5, who’s going to use A1 if that option for A5 exists? That’s the point I’m trying to make. If anything, the point you’re making is that A1 durability is still not good enough but the only thing that comes to mind that would give them a chance would be Dodge/Avoid/Evade perks that Amazons enjoy(and I don’t even feel right suggesting that).
). I´m not sure if this addition will change any meta drasticially. Just added a another viable option to the table imho.