Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (
More info?)
In article <k9wQd.115$Xc5.82@bignews2.bellsouth.net>,
"kylel4" <kylel4@nomail.net> wrote:
> "Kingston" <jjlowen@kingston.net> wrote in message
> news:11153s4brb6q4c0@corp.supernews.com...
> > I'm at Act 4, maybe I will wait to NM. I have all this Amazon stuff save
> > and
> > she can't level up fast enough to use it. So to make this clear, the Merc
> > has to make the kill to get the points? And Act 1 is the only place to get
> > an Amazon Merc.
> >
>
> no, either you or the merc has to make the kill, if you kill the merc gets a
> % of the exp(not sure the ratio), if he/she kills it gets more.. although
> usually your higher kill speed should outweigh this %, especially if you
> know the places to power lvl(cow,baal at appropriate lvls). and the act1
> mercs arent amazon, they are rogues... they cant use amazon only equipment..
> read:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/basics/hirelings.shtml
To keep the merc leveling at a decent rate, make sure that the mlvl /
alvl (monster level / area level) is no more than five greater than or
less than the merc's lvl. I find that 1-3 greater alvl than merc lvl
seems to give the best results....but that's my subjective view which I
haven't bothered checking details on.
Some areas that i use to give mercs levels in Normal incl:
Arcane Sanctuary (alvl 14)
Fake/Real Tal Rasha's Tombs (alvl 17)
First 3 primary areas of Act 3 (alvl 21-22)
Durance lvls 2&3 (alvl 25)
Normal Cows (alvl 28) - When I solo clear a one player Normal cows and
my mercs at least 23-24 lvl, they seem to gain one level/cow level
cleared until 28th lvl.
If I decide to keep an Act 1 or 2 merc from Normal, I usually play my
character deep into Act 5, which puts them at clvl 30+, then go back and
level the merc using the above areas as needed. I tend to do almost all
of the killing as it's much faster than having the merc kill things.
As someone else pointed out, once your merc gets into the upper 20s,
they seem to start to lvl at a good clip, providing you're actually
playing the game and not getting rushed. ;-)
One final trick I'll admit to having used on Battlenet....create a game
with a name that will attract rushers in order to boost the XPs my merc
gets from my kills. (note that kills made by other party members, while
giving you XPs, give zero XPs to your merc) Example: I want to run my
merc through the Arcane Sanctuary and the fake Tal Rasha tombs... create
a game named "Act 5 GO GO GO". Voila! Big party game....if the rushers
get annoying with the requests to join them...you can always squelch
them.
🙂 Don't fear them hostiling you either....rushers tend not to
find me in a fake tomb or the Great Marsh...."Where the &#^$&^ are you?"
they stupidly ask. heh.