Rogue Merc Testing

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Solfege
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Everyone knows A5 mercs are amazing, but Rogues need love too. :D So I thought I'd test some different setups to see how well they might handle themselves.

Here, I'll upload some demo videos of my Rogue Ranger using different gear combinations (mostly, just stuff I have on hand). She'll be taking the lead here, clearing areas herself, with my Sorc only providing backup via Familiars, Ice Elementals, and Firedance. The testing grounds will most likely be D-Cows, but I may move on to more difficult areas depending on how well she does (Fauzt, anyone?).

Also, please note that I'm not claiming anything here as my own original idea. Considering how long this mod has been out, and the number of people who've been playing it over the years, it stands to reason that all this has been tested to death. So consider these more as demonstration videos than anything (h/t UncleGrimjerk for pointing this out). Now let's get to it.

D-Cows Trials:
Clear the level as fast as possible.

Fauztinville Trials:
Clear the way to Alpha as fast as possible. Put on hold indefinitely. Fauzt is just way too laggy and recording videos for it is boring af.



Poison
► D-Cows


► Fauztinville



Fire
► D-Cows



Ice
► D-Cows



Lightning
► D-Cows



Tri-Element
► D-Cows



Physical
► D-Cows
Edited by Solfege 6 years.
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Taem
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That song, lol +1

Lilly Allen is the shit. I would have never though to of pair it with a d2 video, but strangely, it works well.
UncleGrimjerk
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Nice demonstration, though it is a well known setup that works well while it works.
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Solfege
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UncleGrimjerk wrote:Nice demonstration, though it is a well known setup that works well while it works.


:oops: Ah, I see. I shoulda known. Nothing new under the sun, and all that. Thanks for letting me know so I don't make an even bigger fool of myself. :D
UncleGrimjerk
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Well, it is at least well known to the old timers. Never hurts to bring old chestnuts out into the light.

A more defensive Rogue setup is a Rogue with a T6 Webspinner. Her spore shot pretty much guarantees that everything will be miasmaed pretty much continuously.
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void
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ty new video
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Crash
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Use the new Chaos Gloves or gtfo. Punisher when slain because you can never have enough. Nice video and exploration. Curious to see more.
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Heathen
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I've considered making a guide to mercs for about a year now. Just haven't sat down to do it. But i'll be the first to tell you, while barb merc may be strong, his AI will be his downfall.

You gear an Abjurer to the teeth, with buff/ debuff duration, lightning damage/ enemy res stacked, and the sorcs +skill aura from summons, he can easily outperform the barb in certain areas. And he's the only merc i've ever had who could solo Dest Baal.
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Solfege
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Do it. Seriously. I'd love to see a full-on merc guide, and I guarantee I'm not the only one. Even better if you can show how an A3 merc can be great, since--outside a few builds that use him just for LC1--IDK if anyone really uses them.

It seems like if ppl are using mercs, it's almost always an A2 or A5. I've always used Rogues, but I tried an A5 this ladder and you're right about him being dumb as a box of rocks. :-D
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Crash
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Heathen wrote:I've considered making a guide to mercs for about a year now. Just haven't sat down to do it. But i'll be the first to tell you, while barb merc may be strong, his AI will be his downfall.

You gear an Abjurer to the teeth, with buff/ debuff duration, lightning damage/ enemy res stacked, and the sorcs +skill aura from summons, he can easily outperform the barb in certain areas. And he's the only merc i've ever had who could solo Dest Baal.


Used to do this merc with double mo'd
Herr Donner
Herr Donner
Long Sword (4)

One-Hand Damage: 8 to 9
Required Level: 8
Required Strength:
58 to 72
Item Level: 19
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
+1 to All Skills
+(6 to 10)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(11 to 20) to Energy
Physical Resist 1%
1% Reanimate as: Random Monster
(1 to 5)% Magic Find
Requirements -(1 to 20)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: 17 to 19
Required Level: 26
Required Strength:
77 to 97
Item Level: 36
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
+(16 to 20)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(21 to 30) to Energy
Physical Resist 2%
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
(6 to 10)% Magic Find
Requirements -(11 to 30)%
Socketed (4)
One-Hand Damage: 28 to 33
Required Level: 45
Required Strength:
140 to 181
Item Level: 59
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
+2 to All Skills
+(21 to 25)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(31 to 40) to Energy
Physical Resist 3%
3% Reanimate as: Random Monster
(11 to 15)% Magic Find
Requirements -(16 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
One-Hand Damage: 33 to 39
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
256 to 337
Item Level: 85
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
+3 to All Skills
+(31 to 35)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(41 to 50) to Energy
Physical Resist 4%
4% Reanimate as: Random Monster
(16 to 20)% Magic Find
Requirements -(21 to 40)%
Socketed (6)
,
Robe of Steel
Robe of Steel
Full Plate Mail (Sacred)

Defense: (6692 - 7471) to (8202 - 9156)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength:
469
Item Level: 105
+(11 to 20)% Bonus to Spell Focus
25% Cast Speed
+(21 to 30)% to Spell Damage
+(115 to 140)% Enhanced Defense
+100 to Strength
+100 to Energy
Elemental Resists +20%
+250 Life after each Demon Kill
50% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -33%
Socketed (6)
, some other shit that I can't remember now. Super tanky, super strong, especially in superbeast form. Back when I didn't know a whole lot about crafting, it was really nice, and I'm sure even better with crafts than honorifics and shit gear. His Forked Lightning used to clear Tran no problem for me, and 3-shot DBaal, along with clearing shardspawns at the same time. People make the case for Bloodmage because of pyroblast and how absurdly strong that is, but I always preferred the Abjurer because superbeast, piercing spells, and singularity is very strong too, since he can cast it at a target point, unlike the sin skill which casts at your feet. (plz sigma fix that, maybe?)

Edit: Not to mention, there's quite a few items that boost Lightning and Phys/Magic spell damage together, so you won't need different items to cover both aspects.