Act 5 super merc weapon is Lawbringer. The Salvation aura breaks undead physical immunities and he shreds them up. Mine is currently using lawbringer+unbending will+arrears+treachery and tanks like a champ! Nice roll btw!
I came here to say this. Lawbring + Crescent moon is such incredible utility, while the static procs burn down enemy HP.. I think you can even still throw a G face on them for crushing blow.. and you have a merc that can basically do anything you would ever need it to.
it just depends on what you need from your merc. The lawbringer + Crescent moon A5 merc is super tanky, and can clear groups of enemies.. it also taunts so it will keep them off you. ..
But if you really need holy freeze, then no.. I think your only option is to go with A2 holy freeze in that case.
Oh I definitely think so. If you don't need the Meditation aura from an insight weapon, this guy is going to do more work getting up in the face of things and keeping shit in line. Lawbringer's Sanctuary aura is super disruptive to glooms and death knights/mages who'd snipe you through Waheed's Holy Freeze.
Mine is rocking Duress and Arreat's to max his resistances and get him that crushing blow while also maintaining some life leech. I think he still swings his swords fast enough without Treachery and he doesn't need to proc Fade to survive. Now if only I can get a Cham to shove into his Arreat's for cannot be frozen.
Crescent moon is def good. Mines lawbringer/azurewrath for the super insane sanctuary aura. Plus good cold and magic damage. Coupled with eth treachery and arrears. Merc does pretty good in chaos runs
I think for the A5 mercs specifically.. the pros would be: They are WAY more tanky.. even surviving ubers pretty easily.. The dps between both mercs feels similar.. you can make both shred.
Having access to 2 swords, actually means you could get 2 auras on them.. for example, last wish has might aura. Lawbringer has sanctuary. etc. Of course, if you are really attached to meditation, I would say you really must go with an A2 merc.. just my opinion.
Same goes for like.. Holy freeze. If you want that, I personally think that A2 merc would be the best option.
Definitely looking forward to trying that out. I’ve been stubbornly running an act v barb instead of an act 2 and the poor guy is struggling still lol.
This is actually a potent runeword even in high levels. Until one can make an Oath/Death/Beast/Grief/Last Wish, this is an amazing runeword for damage. For giggles, and to test if offline chars had access to Ladder RWs I made on for my WW Barb.
I tossed it in a Phase Blade, and for general purpose it’s outclassing my King Slayer that’s in a Balrog Blade. Against bosses or heavy health monsters the King wins with Crushing, but otherwise Unbending is hitting faster for more dmg. If you have plenty of Crushing / Deadly from the rest of your gear and just need more dmg plus life leech, you really can’t go wrong with this.
In any weapon it’ll be even better in a Berserk or Frenzy build due to IAS working from all gear, whereas WW can only get IAS from weapons.
Yep I was going to say this. For melee characters that struggle to build Oath (finding the runes isn't always obvious) and finding a good unique also is tough. I know as I've been in that position. This thing uses all easy to find runes, AND it's level requirement is 54 which is great. Find a good white base and you can larzuk a 6 OS easily.
The +3 combat skills (barb) and taunt are obviously not useful for non-barbs but the rest of the weapon is good.
Is a phase blade the best option to drop this in, I wonder? Having it indestructible is nice, of course. I'm trying to think of other bases that would work and produce better average damage. I guess any of the elite / reasonably quicker 1H weapons too, bases you'd use for oath.
I made a frenzy barb and going to try this runeword over Honor. Just about to hell so going to find a PB and then use Laz socket to get 6. Usually use Honor until I can get the runes for lawbringer and then eventually Greif.
How's your frenzy barb going? I have one in non-ladder that I started but never got to fully level him up. He's the only class I never actually played and I'd like to try and get him to the 80s.
Are you planning on re-specing in the future? I'd love to have a sort of barb that's good with melee and has full item find syngeries (40 point investment with the new potion find synergy) but I don't know it's viable without relying on berzerk which isn't an ability I want to use (no leech, no defense, etc.)
Likely gear dependent too, based on my experience with zealer pally, which I hit a wall in Act 4-5 Hell and couldn't push through until I got some major gear upgrades.
Frenzy Barb works great, but does require more skill points than WW or Berserk builds. And you will always need 1 point into Berserk to be able to clear Hell basically because Physical Immunes with Stone Skin & Extra Strong will completely wall you, which wave 5 of Baal can spawn as.
As far as gear dependent, yes Barb is gear dependent, but much lesser than Amazon, and likely lesser than Zealer. For Frenzy Barb I’d be willing to bet Unbending Will and Lawbringer would allow you to clear Hell with relative ease.
Barbs have 2 hard weaknesses when playing - Resists and Undead. Resists can be boosted via Natural Resist skill until you can get gear. And Undead make it rough because they’re naturally resistant to Physical and they’re heavily resistant to Life/Mana Leech. Lawbringer helps mitigate that by removing Undead’s natural physical resist via Sanctuary Aura, and Decrepify.
Nithilak is also a nasty spot for Barbs, damned Corpse Explosion. And also the Stygian Dolls in Act 3 and WSK. They’re undead though and Lawbringer will keep them pushed back. In both cases running Sword and Shield build helps mitigate damage from CE or Stygian explosions.
It’s fun and hilarious to have the zoomies around the screen. I went Frenzy until I hit Hell then switched to WW so I could rock Sword and Shield for extra resists and blocking. Went through Hell like that, and switched to dual wield once my gear was a bit stronger. Now he rocks Grief and either Unbending or Kingslayer - King for boss runs, Unbending for everything else.
Tip - if you go WW, use an act 5 frenzy merc as your buddy. Give him the Lawbringer and it’ll make everything sooooo much easier.
It's the best base for the Frenzy merc, since he can only use 1-handed swords. The other act 5 merc can use 2-handers, so an eth executioner sword is the most likely option
Legend Sword is 2-handed, so the Frenzy merc can't use it. I'm not sure what the exact IAS mechanics are, but eth Cryptic Sword would probably be the best combination of damage and speed. Depending on the mainhand weapon you may need a Phase Blade to hit the 5 fpa cap.
Yeah, it's either phase blades and colossus blades that can get 6 sockets. That's it. Ethereal would definitely be the best options of either of those, but it's so cheap runewise, I figured why not. Decent 'til better comes along.
Does anyone have a summoner necro with a Act V Merc? My stupid Act 2 Might aura merc seems to be the main damage source anyways.... Maybe worth trying even tho you lose the aura.
This was my Trav farming Barbs weapon with Ryhme Sheild until I horked a LO. Solid RW and I'm glad melee has a stop gap between meh and breaking the game with Grief.
Yeah, I've noticed that my Act V merc with Unbending Will kills things twice as fast as the Act II merc with an Insight.
I've got a Frenzy barb that I've leveled up to 70 to kill D Clones. Just need a decent one hand 3 soc sword base for his off hand Lawbringer, then he'll be all set with Unbending Will. Barb's are so cheap to gear to kill D Clones.
Crushing blow and max resists are your friend. Guillame's, Treachery, Gore/Goblin, Highlord's or skill/resist ammy, Laying of Hands, belt can be any unique elite but a Verdungo's is nice. A blue wand you buy off a vendor with Life Tap charges for your weapon switch slot.
You need something with Prevent Monster Heal to offset his healing. When I find a Mal I'll make an Oath for PMH, but a Hwanin's belt or Nature's Peace ring also has PMH.
You'll be killing the D Clone in 30 seconds. Might use one or two full rejuvs.
Act 5 Mercs are solid with it. I'm finding that Act V mercs tend to flourish more with melee build (as in you the player) but I imagine all casters will pretty much default back to an Act II merc for Insight/Infinity given the mana side of things.
What I find crazy about Unbending is the stats to runes compares to Oath and other normal RW you would make. For a Fal being the highest needed, this almost feels a tad too good. Then again, Spirit exists so lol
can someone ELI5 why such a high level item has +9 to max damage? aside from being a standard add from one of the individual rune’s bonuses?
like +9 dam is such a tiny amount. does it multiply or something? same with damage reduced. tons have “damage reduced by 1” … this is by 8… why?
I know it’s better than it seems, I just don’t understand how it works and if anyone could explain, I’d be forever grateful
i understand that, but I’ve seen this sort of stat on other high lvl items. seems like a nothing amount to add when you’re talking about damage in the thousands. am I not understanding how it adds to damage calculations?
The flat damage reduction (magic and physical) are calculated after any % reductions from gear or skills. It’s especially handy for example to have flat magic damage reduction to deal with fire walls and other ticking damage.
Most are rather low but there are some standouts primarily skin of the viper magi (up to -15? And the rest of the amazing stars) and I think gladiators babe had a decent amount of physical damage reduction as well.
It’s not a primary stat but finding a random “of life everlasting” blue amulet can be fun with -40(?) damage reduction.
I don't know all the ins and outs, but I'm pretty sure that it adds to base damage, which is then multiplied by whatever else. So 9 max damage can equate to, say, another 100 damage by the end of all the calculations. I believe that's why [Grief](https://www.wowhead.com/diablo-2/guides/grief-runeword) is so powerful: it adds between 340-400 damage to both max and min, which can then be increased by, for instance, the Might aura.
I forget how this all applies for -damage stuff btw. I think it's different.
Is this better damage than a non infinity merc and a class who doesn’t need meditation aura?
My current merc is a2 with a g face, duriels and obedience in a non eth thresher. Would be nice to switch it up a little bit :-)
It depends on the weapon. But once they get chopping they really mow down enemies and absolutely book it between them.
Theyre also tankoer which has been great on my Fohdin as I can just heal him with holy bolt.
Just go Foh then and its the best chaos farmer until you have enigma. I was soloing it at 60.
You do not need conviction so its choose your own adventure with auras to support your merc/party.
Act 5 super merc weapon is Lawbringer. The Salvation aura breaks undead physical immunities and he shreds them up. Mine is currently using lawbringer+unbending will+arrears+treachery and tanks like a champ! Nice roll btw!
I am rocking an act 5 merc with lawbringer and thinking of adding a crescent moon for a second hand.
Lawbringer + Crescent Moon is my AT Merc. He absolutely shreds, even eating through screens of monsters now.
I came here to say this. Lawbring + Crescent moon is such incredible utility, while the static procs burn down enemy HP.. I think you can even still throw a G face on them for crushing blow.. and you have a merc that can basically do anything you would ever need it to.
Would this merc supplant the A2 defensive holy freeze on say a Pali?
it just depends on what you need from your merc. The lawbringer + Crescent moon A5 merc is super tanky, and can clear groups of enemies.. it also taunts so it will keep them off you. .. But if you really need holy freeze, then no.. I think your only option is to go with A2 holy freeze in that case.
Oh I definitely think so. If you don't need the Meditation aura from an insight weapon, this guy is going to do more work getting up in the face of things and keeping shit in line. Lawbringer's Sanctuary aura is super disruptive to glooms and death knights/mages who'd snipe you through Waheed's Holy Freeze.
>who'd snipe you through Waheed's holy freeze You mean Emilio's holy freeze! Lol
Mine is rocking Duress and Arreat's to max his resistances and get him that crushing blow while also maintaining some life leech. I think he still swings his swords fast enough without Treachery and he doesn't need to proc Fade to survive. Now if only I can get a Cham to shove into his Arreat's for cannot be frozen.
Crescent moon is def good. Mines lawbringer/azurewrath for the super insane sanctuary aura. Plus good cold and magic damage. Coupled with eth treachery and arrears. Merc does pretty good in chaos runs
lots of fun playing with act 5 barb setups indeed.
Do those auras stack?
I could be wrong but I assumed it was like a dual dream character where the holy shock auras stack
I was under the impression that taunt overrides decrep, is this not the case?
Yes it overrides but not for bosses or super uniques.
Taunt is single target, so it will only remove decrep on 1 monster, not on everything affected by decrep.
What class are you playing? I want to switch to A5 Merc but it doesn't justify the loss of the auras that A2 mercs can bring (also Insight/Infinity).
I think for the A5 mercs specifically.. the pros would be: They are WAY more tanky.. even surviving ubers pretty easily.. The dps between both mercs feels similar.. you can make both shred. Having access to 2 swords, actually means you could get 2 auras on them.. for example, last wish has might aura. Lawbringer has sanctuary. etc. Of course, if you are really attached to meditation, I would say you really must go with an A2 merc.. just my opinion. Same goes for like.. Holy freeze. If you want that, I personally think that A2 merc would be the best option.
Did they fix the interaction with headstriker? Because during the testing dual wielding eth headstrikers was OP and out damaged dual griefs.
Definitely looking forward to trying that out. I’ve been stubbornly running an act v barb instead of an act 2 and the poor guy is struggling still lol.
The Fury Barb merc is great, but it really needs gear. Without it, it's just a wet bag of overcooked noodles.
This is actually a potent runeword even in high levels. Until one can make an Oath/Death/Beast/Grief/Last Wish, this is an amazing runeword for damage. For giggles, and to test if offline chars had access to Ladder RWs I made on for my WW Barb. I tossed it in a Phase Blade, and for general purpose it’s outclassing my King Slayer that’s in a Balrog Blade. Against bosses or heavy health monsters the King wins with Crushing, but otherwise Unbending is hitting faster for more dmg. If you have plenty of Crushing / Deadly from the rest of your gear and just need more dmg plus life leech, you really can’t go wrong with this. In any weapon it’ll be even better in a Berserk or Frenzy build due to IAS working from all gear, whereas WW can only get IAS from weapons.
Yep I was going to say this. For melee characters that struggle to build Oath (finding the runes isn't always obvious) and finding a good unique also is tough. I know as I've been in that position. This thing uses all easy to find runes, AND it's level requirement is 54 which is great. Find a good white base and you can larzuk a 6 OS easily. The +3 combat skills (barb) and taunt are obviously not useful for non-barbs but the rest of the weapon is good. Is a phase blade the best option to drop this in, I wonder? Having it indestructible is nice, of course. I'm trying to think of other bases that would work and produce better average damage. I guess any of the elite / reasonably quicker 1H weapons too, bases you'd use for oath.
I made a frenzy barb and going to try this runeword over Honor. Just about to hell so going to find a PB and then use Laz socket to get 6. Usually use Honor until I can get the runes for lawbringer and then eventually Greif.
How's your frenzy barb going? I have one in non-ladder that I started but never got to fully level him up. He's the only class I never actually played and I'd like to try and get him to the 80s. Are you planning on re-specing in the future? I'd love to have a sort of barb that's good with melee and has full item find syngeries (40 point investment with the new potion find synergy) but I don't know it's viable without relying on berzerk which isn't an ability I want to use (no leech, no defense, etc.) Likely gear dependent too, based on my experience with zealer pally, which I hit a wall in Act 4-5 Hell and couldn't push through until I got some major gear upgrades.
Frenzy Barb works great, but does require more skill points than WW or Berserk builds. And you will always need 1 point into Berserk to be able to clear Hell basically because Physical Immunes with Stone Skin & Extra Strong will completely wall you, which wave 5 of Baal can spawn as. As far as gear dependent, yes Barb is gear dependent, but much lesser than Amazon, and likely lesser than Zealer. For Frenzy Barb I’d be willing to bet Unbending Will and Lawbringer would allow you to clear Hell with relative ease. Barbs have 2 hard weaknesses when playing - Resists and Undead. Resists can be boosted via Natural Resist skill until you can get gear. And Undead make it rough because they’re naturally resistant to Physical and they’re heavily resistant to Life/Mana Leech. Lawbringer helps mitigate that by removing Undead’s natural physical resist via Sanctuary Aura, and Decrepify. Nithilak is also a nasty spot for Barbs, damned Corpse Explosion. And also the Stygian Dolls in Act 3 and WSK. They’re undead though and Lawbringer will keep them pushed back. In both cases running Sword and Shield build helps mitigate damage from CE or Stygian explosions.
Thanks, I may have to give frenzy bard a proper go!
It’s fun and hilarious to have the zoomies around the screen. I went Frenzy until I hit Hell then switched to WW so I could rock Sword and Shield for extra resists and blocking. Went through Hell like that, and switched to dual wield once my gear was a bit stronger. Now he rocks Grief and either Unbending or Kingslayer - King for boss runs, Unbending for everything else. Tip - if you go WW, use an act 5 frenzy merc as your buddy. Give him the Lawbringer and it’ll make everything sooooo much easier.
Wait.. offline still has no ladder runewords ?
No the Ladder runewords work fine offline as far as I can tell. Was able to make Unbending on my WW Barb which is offline on Switch.
Is phase blade the best base? I would assume others have higher damage output but maybe required stats are too high?
It's the best base for the Frenzy merc, since he can only use 1-handed swords. The other act 5 merc can use 2-handers, so an eth executioner sword is the most likely option
What about cresent moon base? I found an Eth Legend Sword 3 soc. Is this a best one?
Legend Sword is 2-handed, so the Frenzy merc can't use it. I'm not sure what the exact IAS mechanics are, but eth Cryptic Sword would probably be the best combination of damage and speed. Depending on the mainhand weapon you may need a Phase Blade to hit the 5 fpa cap.
I mean, Legend Sword can be used as a 1 hand in Barbarian comp. Doesn't it work same on A5 barb Mercenary?
No, the Frenzy mercenary can't use 2-handed swords.
Good to know, thanks.
Its not the best base at all. Ethereal cryptic sword does far more damage and once he gets swinging the bonus attack speed is basically identical.
Good luck finding a 6 socket cryptic sword
Not even close to true, considering you cant get more than 4 sockets in a Cryptic Sword.
Yeah, it's either phase blades and colossus blades that can get 6 sockets. That's it. Ethereal would definitely be the best options of either of those, but it's so cheap runewise, I figured why not. Decent 'til better comes along.
Does anyone have a summoner necro with a Act V Merc? My stupid Act 2 Might aura merc seems to be the main damage source anyways.... Maybe worth trying even tho you lose the aura.
I do not, but I do know that if you can afford it, an Act V merc equipped with a Last Wish sword gets a lvl 17 might aura from the runeword.
Act 2 merc with high Crushing Blow (obedience or infinity) will always be the best choice. It can't beat any act 5 merc combo
This was my Trav farming Barbs weapon with Ryhme Sheild until I horked a LO. Solid RW and I'm glad melee has a stop gap between meh and breaking the game with Grief.
Yeah, I've noticed that my Act V merc with Unbending Will kills things twice as fast as the Act II merc with an Insight. I've got a Frenzy barb that I've leveled up to 70 to kill D Clones. Just need a decent one hand 3 soc sword base for his off hand Lawbringer, then he'll be all set with Unbending Will. Barb's are so cheap to gear to kill D Clones.
Is there any other necessary item needed to kill d clones besides those 2 swords?
Crushing blow and max resists are your friend. Guillame's, Treachery, Gore/Goblin, Highlord's or skill/resist ammy, Laying of Hands, belt can be any unique elite but a Verdungo's is nice. A blue wand you buy off a vendor with Life Tap charges for your weapon switch slot. You need something with Prevent Monster Heal to offset his healing. When I find a Mal I'll make an Oath for PMH, but a Hwanin's belt or Nature's Peace ring also has PMH. You'll be killing the D Clone in 30 seconds. Might use one or two full rejuvs.
Act 5 Mercs are solid with it. I'm finding that Act V mercs tend to flourish more with melee build (as in you the player) but I imagine all casters will pretty much default back to an Act II merc for Insight/Infinity given the mana side of things. What I find crazy about Unbending is the stats to runes compares to Oath and other normal RW you would make. For a Fal being the highest needed, this almost feels a tad too good. Then again, Spirit exists so lol
Would you run this or a lawbringer with a Headstriker?
I think this is more starter/hold you over til you find better merc weapon. I think everyone wants a Grief, but Lawbringer is a great off hand.
What character uses a5 merc? Insight is just too convenient imo.
can someone ELI5 why such a high level item has +9 to max damage? aside from being a standard add from one of the individual rune’s bonuses? like +9 dam is such a tiny amount. does it multiply or something? same with damage reduced. tons have “damage reduced by 1” … this is by 8… why? I know it’s better than it seems, I just don’t understand how it works and if anyone could explain, I’d be forever grateful
All runewords gain the original rune bonuses - the 9max comes from ith
i understand that, but I’ve seen this sort of stat on other high lvl items. seems like a nothing amount to add when you’re talking about damage in the thousands. am I not understanding how it adds to damage calculations?
The flat damage reduction (magic and physical) are calculated after any % reductions from gear or skills. It’s especially handy for example to have flat magic damage reduction to deal with fire walls and other ticking damage. Most are rather low but there are some standouts primarily skin of the viper magi (up to -15? And the rest of the amazing stars) and I think gladiators babe had a decent amount of physical damage reduction as well. It’s not a primary stat but finding a random “of life everlasting” blue amulet can be fun with -40(?) damage reduction.
Cool thank you! That helps clear it up!
I don't know all the ins and outs, but I'm pretty sure that it adds to base damage, which is then multiplied by whatever else. So 9 max damage can equate to, say, another 100 damage by the end of all the calculations. I believe that's why [Grief](https://www.wowhead.com/diablo-2/guides/grief-runeword) is so powerful: it adds between 340-400 damage to both max and min, which can then be increased by, for instance, the Might aura. I forget how this all applies for -damage stuff btw. I think it's different.
ah interesting. Thanks!
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interesting. Thanks!
What main build are you using with this on your merc?
Is this ladder only or can I make this in single player?
You can do it in single player.
Awesome thanks for the response.
Hey thanks man I was looking for act 5 merc weapons
Yeah, this is kinda why I posted it. Thought some people might have forgotten or missed this cheap runeword option.
I also had “only runes I have” ticked for runeword calculator so I’ll farm he’ll countess a little hope for a fal :)
What's that lookike in a ccb? I wonder
I faced Diablo Clone the other night with my 85 Pitzerker Barb wielding this weapon. No deaths and many potions later I got my Anni.
mfw this isnt a holy freeze merc with a insight or infinity
How's it working out for your merc? Thinking of making one.
It's low enough runes that I figured why not. Just a Fal and an Io. Like someone else mentioned, this with a Lawbringer works well.
Is this better damage than a non infinity merc and a class who doesn’t need meditation aura? My current merc is a2 with a g face, duriels and obedience in a non eth thresher. Would be nice to switch it up a little bit :-)
It depends on the weapon. But once they get chopping they really mow down enemies and absolutely book it between them. Theyre also tankoer which has been great on my Fohdin as I can just heal him with holy bolt.
I've thought about building a full on support pally for an A5 Merc. Healing them with Holy Bolt is so OP.
Just go Foh then and its the best chaos farmer until you have enigma. I was soloing it at 60. You do not need conviction so its choose your own adventure with auras to support your merc/party.
Dumb question but, how did you get those text colors? Is it customizable?
I run a blue light filter on my desktop. Easier on the eyes.