Which of the following is the best tank?

[:1]- A merc from act 1

- A merc from act 2

- A merc from act 3

- A merc from act 5|||Ultimate merc guide

The ranged mercs are definately the easiest to keep alive on a budget.

With the non-ranged there are several strategies to keep them alive:

• High defence (Stone)


• High damage reduction (Vampire Gaze + Shaftstop)


• High integer damage reduction (Gladiator Bane)


• Life leech (very effective in normal + nm but there are many non-leechables in hell)

If you play PvM, either of the 3 topmost choices combined with a little life-leech is generally enough to keep the merc alive in most places.

Having a freeze aura, a weapon with decrepify triggering, a weapon with slow etc. are of course other viable choices to make him take less damage.|||There isn't a single best answer but is a function of the character that the merc is for. Ideally, the merc is good at tanking/killing things that character has a hard time with. If there are monsters that are dangerous for the merc but the character kills them quickly, that isn't so bad.

Other options for keeping the merc alive:

teleport and feed them potions!

Drac's or charges of Life Tap will cope with unleechables.

Delirium's CtC Confuse takes the heat off of the merc and the character alike.|||Quote:








- A merc from act 1

- A merc from act 2

- A merc from act 3

- A merc from act 5




A2 merc .|||If when you say tank you mean taking the aggro and survive my best tank is a high PDR act 2 merc with good leech and a decreep stick.

I have no real experience with act 5 mercs tho but they do have a godly amount of health regen.|||If tank means "absorb the most damage" A5 merc is the answer. Unfortunately that's about all they're good for.

When in doubt, A2 merc is almost always the right choice. Prayr merc (double activated from insight) or defiance merc will stay alive pretty well. Holy freeze will stay alive pretty well. Holy freeze is my go-to choice, unless there's a specific reason to get something else (IE might for fishymancer, etc)|||Quote:








If when you say tank you mean taking the aggro and survive my best tank is a high PDR act 2 merc with good leech and a decreep stick.

I have no real experience with act 5 mercs tho but they do have a godly amount of health regen.




PDR is useless against monsters that are actually dangerous though. like seis pack and minons of destruction.|||PDR is quite useful against packs of witches and some other ranged attackers, which sometimes can be trouble for a merc who relies upon leech for health. But big PDR is indeed overwhelmed by single hard hits.|||Quote:








PDR is useless against monsters that are actually dangerous though. like seis pack and minons of destruction.




Melee foes would be decreepified and thus no real problem.|||That's correct for an average monster mob, but it's the exceptional mobs which kill mercs. Bosses can have a fanaticism aura (de Seis always has it, at L11) and be extra fast.