Mercenaries are trustworthy companions in your journey to cease evil in Diablo 2: Resurrected. They can help out with damage and can often take some aggro from monsters. In Diablo 2, the Act 2 mercenaries are the most popular, as they activate one of Paladin's auras.
Best Merc Armor D2
The best body armor for your mercenary is the Runeword item Fortitude, no questions asked. More damage means more life steal, so it can help your mercenary survive by a big margin. Additionally, the Chilling Armor effect can grant even more defense, and it also has 25-30 all resist. Find a 4-socket elite ethereal armor with a high defense and insert El+Sol+Dol+Lo runes to make it.
Updated December 19, 2021, by Sid Natividad: Several months after the release of Diablo 2: Resurrected, a lot of players are probably geared up well already. That's no excuse to be complacent. Evil still lurks in every corner, and who knows, a new ladder announcement might be lurking as well. That's why it's high time to familiarize oneself again with the Diablo 2 best armor runewords.
Because one never knows when a fresh new economy via ladder will begin. Besides, there's more to the Diablo 2 armor endgame than Enigma or Chains of Honor. Some of the best armor runewords, after all, are dark horse ones that perform unexpectedly well. So take a look again at some of the best armor runewords Diablo 2, there's more of them here.
Forget about Fortitude, Treachery is the best Mercenary armor in the game. At least that's according to some of the math whizzes in the Diablo 2 community. It was made for an Assassin but its most valuable stat is the Attack Speed increase. On a Mercenary with a Life Leech weapon, it's phenomenal and makes them borderline immortal.
The Fade is also astonishingly useful for the Mercenary. If not, then players can use it on their characters and enjoy the Fade procs or the rapid attack speed. For Assassins? Well, it's best-in-slot until Enigma comes along. The best part is that it's incredibly cheap.
It's expansive alright and not exactly ideal for those aiming for Enigma since Sur and Lo are quite close to Jah and Ber, but Dragon has its place niche Paladin builds. Auradins or Holy Fire Paladins will love this armor. Two of these (the other one in the shield) and the Holy Fire Aura comes in at Level 28.
In any case, that whopping +45 to all Resistances solves a lot of problems. The defense bonus is also great, making it a good candidate for usage among top armor types. Meanwhile, the Dim Vision trigger cast can be a lifesaver especially in areas like Worldstone Keep.
Still, the rune requirements are too cheap and it would be a shame to skip this one if an armor with a plus to skill levels isn't present yet. Besides, Sorceresses are the most common class in the game due to Teleport and the opportunity to forego Enigma. That leaves them with an flexible armor slot and this one works well for Nightmare difficulty.
Looking for a good armor for that Nightmare difficulty run in a solo self-found and untweaked character? Then Stone might be a good option, especially for melee characters. Its rune requirements are relatively cheap and the benefits are impressive on a defensive scale.
An armor's purpose is protection, meaning using the item slot to boost damage is a little counterproductive and turns a character into a glass cannon. The Lionheart runeword wants none of that pitfall.
Out of all the class-specific armor runewords, Bone for the Necromancer is the most generous with its encompassing resistance bonus. The runeword's defensive and stat focus also makes it a must-have for any Necromancer build. So, throw these necromancers a Bone. They deserve it.
Speaking of class-specific armor runewords, Peace for the Amazon doesn't quite match up to the resistance bonus of the Bone runeword. However, players can obtain it as early as Normal difficulty for their Amazon, making it more appealing.
When it comes to plugging some holes that Hell difficulty is sure to enlarge or further damage, the Smoke runeword armor is among the best in the affordable category. Nef and Lum are dirt cheap and players might even find others who just give them for free if they beg enough.
In any case, that jaw-dropping +50 to resistances ensures that players are always ready for Hell difficulty. Only a handful of other armor can grant that amount and they're usually more expensive or rarer.
Speaking of another affordable armor that grants an all-star serving of defense stats, Fortitude is a runeword that lives up to its name. The resistance bonus is spot-on but the main attraction here is the Life increase.
Ber runes are some of the rarest and most elusive drops in the game but the gear they produce is more than worth it. Chains of Honor is no exception. It's quite possibly the second-best piece of runeword armor in the game after a certain one that turns everyone into zippy teleporters.
What we have here is every low-level player's favorite runeword. Stealth and its runewords will sneakily make their way into every player's stash. More often than not, players probably have runes for several Stealth armors without their knowledge.
What makes such a ubiquitous runeword still top-tier? Well, apart from its low-level requirement (level 17), Stealth comes with the trifecta of Faster everything. Cast Rate makes it great for budget Hammerdins or other casters; Faster Run/Walk is always good; Faster Hit Recovery is a lovely defensive option. Overall, it's a must-have armor for speedrunning until players are ready to graduate their builds.
If your using Act1/3 mercs, Treachery is probably a cheaper alternative, but if you want to use Act2 one, Fortitude is a better option (or something which has way more def like Eth Duriel shell that is upped).
Which is a completely valid point. I was just more focused on dispelling the notion that using a Lo rune to make fortitude for a merc is a waste, and that Treachery is somehow better for a merc than Fortitude is.
Really depends on his breakpoints. A smite din with fanaticism would disable the benefit of treachery aspd on merc. In that regard duriel, fortitide or max res armor(that always forget the name) are better choices.
Defiance aura, reapers toll, lifesteal helm and duriel you can have merc managing travincal, halls(without vipers), cows with some perks and other contents. While if you leave him alone he most likely will die on cows, mine can go well on trav and halls. Trav he only are at risk if he stop attacking foes by the map layout.
If you consider that merc often uses jab and does around 2-4 hits per sec those leech stacks really well. On top of that decrepify reducing 50% the physical resist, damage and speed the lifesteal gets even better. 2ff7e9595c
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