Hireling dies immediately

Hello everyone,

I have quite a few problems with my mercenary and would like to know how you deal with them.
I'm currently at level 143 as a totem necro and am working my way through Scosglen. Only my soldier dies after 10 seconds when I leave the home city :cry:

I've already tried a Rogues Priest and Iron Wolves Necrolyte.
No matter how I equip them, they always die immediately against the easiest opponents.
Do you still use a mercenary in the endgame and if so, which one would you recommend for a totem necro or whirlwind barbarian?
I just want to avoid spending time optimizing the mercenary when it has become pointless in the endgame anyway.
Is there a limit to defense after an increase no longer brings any improvement?

Thanks al lot
greetings
Hgott

No. Merc is as of now, is outdated. It's limit is fautzinville and "white" labs.

thus the mercenary is useless. Can this be seen as my desired increase in difficulty?

It would be amazing if some tender love and care would be placed with mercs to actually make em viable in mid-late game where they could at least be useful but... unfortunately, it seems at the moment a waste of time. maybe prep some level 100 gear or something similar to help new chars kill things slightly faster before labs and just use hand me down gear for future char mercs?

TL'DR Hopefully changes will happen in 3.0 to make them useful without being OP, but defintiely not worth the investment atm

Let them make him even weaker but immortal. He could be used as a support with debuff items or buffs for you. In its current form it is useless, even with an extreme setup.

Immortal2563 wrote:Let them make him even weaker but immortal. He could be used as a support with debuff items or buffs for you. In its current form it is useless, even with an extreme setup.

This really is the answer right here!

It would be nice in 3.0 to make the mercs damage stupid weak or zero, make the merc non-blocking so enemies can pass through them and make the monsters not see them to not waste attacks. So the merc will function as buffing/debuffing exclusivly and the devs won't need to balance around an unkillable tank that also doles damage, but instead around buffs they can control. Just a thought

I think i would return to mxl if auras was a thing again. Just the optical sexiness of holy fire, conviction.. i like that mercenaries sort of ”carry” the build.

Taem wrote:
Immortal2563 wrote:Let them make him even weaker but immortal. He could be used as a support with debuff items or buffs for you. In its current form it is useless, even with an extreme setup.

This really is the answer right here!

It would be nice in 3.0 to make the mercs damage stupid weak or zero, make the merc non-blocking so enemies can pass through them and make the monsters not see them to not waste attacks. So the merc will function as buffing/debuffing exclusivly and the devs won't need to balance around an unkillable tank that also doles damage, but instead around buffs they can control. Just a thought

I don't agree. That would make mercs essential. A merc should be a helpful bonus at best. Just give mercs similar health as summons, so they dont get instakilled. Or make it so their defense buff they have is always on.

Isn't that like saying Bloodlust buff on weapon switch and specific Relic combinations are "fundamental" to every end-game build? No ones arguing those don't help, but exclaiming they're essential is a bit overkill. I don't moan when my friends Pali buff wears off on me, and I don't think its neccessary or essential for end game. At least, it doesn't have to be. I see what you're saying, if by design its built into the system, then the devs would have no choice but to balance around that for endgame. Huh... IDK then, thinking as I'm typing.

I just wish for the ability to buy back merc immediately when in rift. And increase the buy back cost by a huge number, so they can't be abused as meat shields.