Faster Merc Clearer?

[noal]

for shockwave ranger, you'd have to use the Xis-Sol version as the regular one has proc with too low level to kill in destruction

Level 16 punisher deals 14355 avg /s without energy factor or spell damage.

A1 mercs have 750 energy at level 120.

I haven't checked but iirc they something like 500 str = 125 energy factor = +203% spell base damage bonus.

14355*3.03 = 43.5k /s = 87k /s with -100 res.

Multiply that by 1+spell damage and then quadruple it to get total damage over whole duration.

So the problem really isn't damage.

Where do you get all those info on skill damage and merc info (like, how 1 str = 1 ewd and 500 str = 125 energy factor)? That would be so much helpful

[cowking]

Merc info is listed in docs under characters -> hirelings.

For skill damage you need a L120 char since spell damage scales with level. Even the slightest amount of energy will give you a spell damage bonus from energy factor, so you have to divide the damage with your energy factor bonus and spell damage. You can see the EF bonus when you hover your mouse over any skill that deals spell damage, or you can calculate it manually.

So if you have listed skill damage at 10k, your EF bonus is +125%, and you have +200% spell damage = 10000/2.25/3 = 1481 base. The reason EF bonus and spell damage are divided separately is because energy factor modifies base spell damage, which is then multiplied by spell damage. Some skills also work like EF, such as witchblood, vengeful power and bacchanalia.

I was gonna make a list of all proc damage but the coming database will make that useless.

[Gekko64]

cowking what's base duration of lvl 19 punisher? can you think of any better gear choices than the one I provided for shockwave ranger?

[oztor]

Any advice on a bloodmage gear ?

[cowking]

cowking what's base duration of lvl 19 punisher? can you think of any better gear choices than the one I provided for shockwave ranger?

It's always 2 sec. I would use T6 studded over cathedral RW, it gives 57% EWD / 87% SD, if you add 6x sol runes and MO poison spell damage you get 132 poison spell damage from that alone (plus party buff).

-100 res already doubles duration of poison and the dps of punisher is high enough (with enough spell damage) that it doesn't really need durational boost unless you're in a multiplayer game. DPS will also protect your merc since the faster mobs die, the less time they have to attack him.

If playing untwinked all other item slots seem very crap so crafts all around (except maybe deadfall). Maybe try reanimates (5% on amu, zomg crafts) to give survivability to your merc.

The real problem is A1 mercs are super squishy and have low damage, so they only work well for some builds.

[Gekko64]

I didn't know about -enemy poison increasing poison duration, that's very interesting

I've read an interesting article here http://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/test-results-enemy-poison-resistance-and-its-effect-on-poison-damage.277202/

it states that the effect is caused by the item modifier, so if you were to use for example Euphoria it would only increase poison damage but not duration

[cowking]

That's probably why I never noticed this on my necro (jinns). I just read about it here and confirmed in bloodmoor by testing. Could do so some further experimentation in bloodmoor with -200 poison res.