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Bluesky81
12-13-2007, 12:20 AM
In reference to Act II mercs and the various polearms they might wear such as:

Insight........meditation aura

Infinity....... conviction aura

Doom.........holy freeze aura


We know that these polearm pally skill attributes, as well as other pally skills inherent to the merc's character (such as the normal level defensive merc's defiance) ,...are shared by, and convey to the playing character, if the playing character is within the effective radius of the aura so as to acquire it at "his" feet, ......... or alternatively, ..... if the aura , such as conviction, is placed upon a monster,.. who now has a green aura at his feet, the playing character, within range, can avail himself of that monsters altered condition! Even necro curses, like life tap,..... whether on a players dracs or a barb merc's last wish, once discharged, and placed over a monster's head,..affects the monster,... and has a clear and definite graphic indicating its activation and presence.

But.........what of the other polearm attributes such as:

Infinity's ........ reduction in enemy lightening resistance

Doom's ....... reduction in enemy cold resistance

A merc wearing such a polearm no doubt avails himself of those attributes , however, ( and correct me if I'm wrong) , there appears to be no aura, colorful light display or any other kind of representative graphic to indicate that the playing character is also indeed capitalizing on that condtion at any given time. And if he is, ....is there a radius associated with the ' enemy reduced resistance condition"?

The assumption and concensus is that if a monster or group of monsters have had thier resistance reduced by such a merc's equipped item non-aura attribute ( not to be confused with such skills as conviction),...
that any character within attack range could then simultaneously benefit from that condition. Likewise, one could assume that my merc, ...in turn, ... also benefits from the reduced enemy lightening resistance provided me by the Griffins Eye helm I am wearing, regardless of how far away in distance I might be from my merc at any time, two or three screens, sometimes, as he wanders aimlessly lost in the carnage.

OK...........Now comes a couple of related final questions:

First.......What other significant, if any , "non-aura" mercenary equipped item attributes could transfer to and benefit a char? I have heard conjecture through the years that many different item skills tansfer, however, logic and common sense would suggest that most all non-aura item skills are specific to only the entity actually wearing the item.

Secondly:....though a somewhat unrelated matter:....Do mercs in general, by thier design, actually possess all of the same character traits that any any one of the seven chars do?
I have been told they are identical.

Obviously, thier character charts are not as elaborate as ours excluding such statistics as attack rating and chance toi hit. Certainly they leech, but do they respond to such item attributes as hit recovery and life replenish?

An easier question to answer might be: Are there any character traits, stats, attributes or features found in the game that a merc doe not possess or cannot recognize?

Last question,.....though unrelated to the forgoing issue:
Though I have previously opened Uber Tristam portals with my frenzy barb, on occasion the game won't let me,...telling me in a recorded verbal message,..." I cannot do this yet!" Does anyone know what this is about and how I can correct it?

Jammer74
12-13-2007, 01:23 AM
Really quickly,if you look at the character building section,and look at the merc building forum within,you will find the answers to most of your questions.But I can let you know a few things,like the fact that -resistance only works for the equipped character or mercenary,not for the party or minions.Hence doom polearm and a nightwings veil w/cold die facet(both items being on act 2 merc) only affects the merc,and not the cold sorc (or any other character for that matter)that hired the merc.Almost Everthing works with mercenaries,except mana steal,vitality stat points,dtm(damage to mana),and anything else to do with mana,as mercs dont use or need the stuff.Directly from arreat summit).......

Find better and better equipment for your Hirelings. Find resistance equipment to give to them to keep them alive longer. Find high Defense Armor to protect them.
Hirelings start with basic equipment that is not shown on the Hireling Equipment page. You can replace the equipment with new equipment, but if you remove all of the equipment on the Hireling Equipment page, they will still have their basic equipment. You can't for example take away the Rogue's Bow. She will always have a basic bow.
You can try different things to discover what kinds of equipment a Hireling will accept. If they can't wear it, they will let you know. The appearance of a Hireling will remain unchanged when adding new weapons, armor and helms.
Hirelings can use almost all Magical Bonuses including + Skills Items.
Good Items
Replenish Life items can help keep your Hirelings healed. Hirelings can take advantage of Ethereal Items because their items do not lose Durability. Give your Hirelings Uniques, Rares or whatever else they can wear. Try to build up their resistances as well if possible.
Bad Items
Hirelings have no need for +Mana/Energy Items or Items that Steal % Mana. +Vitality Items also do not work.

Bluesky81
12-13-2007, 02:20 AM
Thank you for the very enlightening response. It seems I am only one of many misinformed d2 fans who had believed -enemy resistance on a merc(non-aura skill) benefitted the player as well. By what you say, basically only auras transfer. That makes sense and was my first impression.

I believe what you say about a mercs inability to use vitality but I am assuming "life" itself, provided by a merc equipped item is an exception and would benefit him just as does LL.

My apologies for not first doing a forum search for articles in the 'building section' or elsewhere on this this topic but I didn't recall ever seeing it discussed.

Jammer74
12-13-2007, 01:18 PM
My pleasure,bluesky,I like to help whenever possible.And yes you are correct in your assumption that"life" itself,as well as life by level benefits the merc,as well as lifeleach.