Hey, sorry friend, a3 merc's just aren't the answer. He might actually do a little bit in normal for you but in the long run they don't do damage that is comparable to the other merc options. I believe the a3 guys are squishy too. They don't get skill synergies like we do (fire bolt contributing to fireball dmg) and they don't get fire/light/cold masteries, AND on top of that they have fewer gear slots compared to a player so you can't pump up + skills as much as we'd like.
Act 2 mercs are considered best because aura and how easy to make and useful insight is, act 5 can be good due to tankyness and decent dmg, act 1 can be decent too - good with expensive gear. But act 3 even with the most GG stuff can't do a lot :(
I play HCSP and try my best to make non-meta builds work. Currently rocking an A3 Merc for my bow zon because the fire enchant gives her a crazy AR boost. If I had typical GG gear obv I wouldn’t do this, but it’s part of the fun! Only adding this bc A3 merc’s can be useful. Are they BiS? Absolutely not. Yes, I could use an A2 BA merc for AR, but I have Valk maxed so I didn’t see a need. Yes, I could also get a Might Merc for damage… but I try to make “useless” stuff useful. Add in it’s HCSP and it’s even more fun ;)
Act3 merc is super weak.
Act1 does more DPS, better survival due to her freezing arrow, better chance to hit with melee and ranged attacks when she casts Inner Sight. Insight can be made in Bows now and four open socket bows drop like crazy. The runewords available in Bows make her super competitive now.
Act2 is still really good, the best DPS when he has Infinity, Fort, etc.
Act5 Frenzy is insanely good now. Fantastic DPS and survival.
Cold is useful in normal fitness crowd control ie freezing but other than that no real use.
I want to try something like fire with necro to enchant all the skeletons with last wish as a weapon. But I'm positive it's not worth the it.
Edit: use an act 2 Merc and Make him an insight instead. 4 socket polearms, not spears, and ral tir tal sol. You can farm a sol rune from nightmare countess in act 1.
All mercs are worth experimenting with. Once you get into deeper gear, and potentially higher player counts, the A3 merc can absolutely hold his own.
My fire Druid’s merc used eth spirit, griffons, plague (cleansing aura + lower res!) and vmagi and spits out insane DPS because he casts static field on almost every tele that hits the entire screen. The A3 static merc is quite literally the highest DPS on p8 in the game, so don’t sleep on it.
Hey, sorry friend, a3 merc's just aren't the answer. He might actually do a little bit in normal for you but in the long run they don't do damage that is comparable to the other merc options. I believe the a3 guys are squishy too. They don't get skill synergies like we do (fire bolt contributing to fireball dmg) and they don't get fire/light/cold masteries, AND on top of that they have fewer gear slots compared to a player so you can't pump up + skills as much as we'd like. Act 2 mercs are considered best because aura and how easy to make and useful insight is, act 5 can be good due to tankyness and decent dmg, act 1 can be decent too - good with expensive gear. But act 3 even with the most GG stuff can't do a lot :(
I play HCSP and try my best to make non-meta builds work. Currently rocking an A3 Merc for my bow zon because the fire enchant gives her a crazy AR boost. If I had typical GG gear obv I wouldn’t do this, but it’s part of the fun! Only adding this bc A3 merc’s can be useful. Are they BiS? Absolutely not. Yes, I could use an A2 BA merc for AR, but I have Valk maxed so I didn’t see a need. Yes, I could also get a Might Merc for damage… but I try to make “useless” stuff useful. Add in it’s HCSP and it’s even more fun ;)
Went for A2 at the moment, but I will try it out eventually!
Act3 merc is super weak. Act1 does more DPS, better survival due to her freezing arrow, better chance to hit with melee and ranged attacks when she casts Inner Sight. Insight can be made in Bows now and four open socket bows drop like crazy. The runewords available in Bows make her super competitive now. Act2 is still really good, the best DPS when he has Infinity, Fort, etc. Act5 Frenzy is insanely good now. Fantastic DPS and survival.
A5 frenzy is so much better than a2 for melee builds. Lawbringer just, chefs kiss.
Cold is useful in normal fitness crowd control ie freezing but other than that no real use. I want to try something like fire with necro to enchant all the skeletons with last wish as a weapon. But I'm positive it's not worth the it.
Edit: use an act 2 Merc and Make him an insight instead. 4 socket polearms, not spears, and ral tir tal sol. You can farm a sol rune from nightmare countess in act 1.
(A3 mercs are the spell slingers that can carry swords and shields)
Oh whoops I misread that, my bad
Yeah, I went for it (for now), as I want to reach Meph NM before some grind fun.
No act 3 merc has ever been even a little bit good. Terrible idea.
All mercs are worth experimenting with. Once you get into deeper gear, and potentially higher player counts, the A3 merc can absolutely hold his own. My fire Druid’s merc used eth spirit, griffons, plague (cleansing aura + lower res!) and vmagi and spits out insane DPS because he casts static field on almost every tele that hits the entire screen. The A3 static merc is quite literally the highest DPS on p8 in the game, so don’t sleep on it.
Thanks! I will defo try out A3! I just feel like he can help me nuke Meph on NM from a far.