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General

Mercenary Guide

Complete guide to mercenaries in Diablo 2: Resurrected. Covers all merc types, best auras, recommended gear for each act, and how to keep your merc alive.

Overview

Mercenaries (mercs) are hireable NPC followers that fight alongside you. A well-geared merc is essential for most builds — they provide auras, deal damage, and tank hits. The Act 2 mercenary is by far the most popular due to its powerful auras.

ActTypeWeaponSpecial AbilityBest For
Act 1Rogue (Bow)BowsFire Arrow / Cold ArrowNiche use with Faith runeword (Fanaticism aura)
Act 2Town Guard (Polearm)Polearms / SpearsAuras (varies by type)Best overall — most popular choice for nearly every build
Act 3Iron Wolf (Sword + Shield)SwordsElemental spellsRarely used — low damage, fragile
Act 5Barbarian (Sword)Swords (1H or 2H)Bash / StunTank option, can dual-wield. Niche use with Lawbringer (Sanctuary aura)

The Act 2 merc's aura depends on the type you hire. Prior to patch 2.4, certain auras were locked to specific difficulties, but now all six auras are available at all difficulties:

TypeNormalNightmareHell
CombatPrayerThornsPrayer
DefensiveDefianceHoly FreezeDefiance
OffensiveBlessed AimMightBlessed Aim

The most popular choices are:

  • Nightmare Offensive (Might): Best for physical damage builds — the Might aura boosts your damage too.
  • Nightmare Defensive (Holy Freeze): Slows all nearby enemies. Great for safety and crowd control. Popular with casters.
  • Nightmare Combat (Thorns): Rarely used since Thorns damage is low at high levels.

Weapon (Polearm)

ItemNotes
Infinity (Ber Mal Ber Ist)Best-in-slot for most caster builds. Conviction aura breaks immunities and boosts elemental damage.
Insight (Ral Tir Tal Sol)Meditation aura gives massive mana regeneration. Best budget option and essential for mana-hungry builds.
Obedience (Hel Ko Thul Eth Fal)Huge damage, 40% Crushing Blow. Great budget merc damage weapon.
Reaper's TollUnique Thresher. Casts Decrepify on hit — amazing for physical builds as it removes physical immunity and slows enemies.
The Rift (Hel Ko Lem Gul)Niche — gives Frozen Orb proc for crowd control.

Armor

ItemNotes
Fortitude (El Sol Dol Lo)Best damage armor. 300% ED, life, resistances. Makes your merc hit like a truck.
Treachery (Shael Thul Lem)Best budget armor. 45% IAS + Fade proc (60% res, 15% DR). Keeps your merc alive cheaply.
Chains of Honor (Dol Um Ber Ist)+2 skills (boosts aura level), 65% all res, 8% DR. Balanced option.
Ethereal Gladiator's BaneCBF, damage reduction, no durability loss when eth. Niche tank option.

Helmet

ItemNotes
Andariel's VisageBest overall merc helm. 20% IAS, +2 skills, 8-10% life leech. Socket with Ral rune to offset the fire res penalty.
Guillaume's Face35% Crushing Blow, 15% DS. Great for physical damage and Ubers.
Vampire GazeDual leech, damage reduction. Solid survivability helm.
Tal Rasha's Horadric CrestDual leech, all res, life/mana. Good budget option.
Crown of ThievesHigh life leech, fire res. Budget option.
  • Life leech is essential. Your merc needs at least 8-10% life leech to sustain. Andariel's Visage + weapon leech usually covers this.
  • Resistances matter. A merc with low res will die to elemental damage constantly. Treachery's Fade proc helps enormously.
  • Feed potions. Hold Shift and press a potion key (1-4) to give it to your merc. Keep them topped up in dangerous areas.
  • Ethereal gear is ideal. Mercs don't lose durability, so ethereal items give 50% more defense (armor) or damage (weapons) for free.
  • Don't neglect merc gear. A poorly geared merc dies constantly and costs gold to resurrect. A well-geared merc can solo-clear areas.
  • You can re-hire a merc of the same type at any time to reset their stats. Higher difficulty mercs have better base stats — any difficulty works for Act 2 since patch 2.4 — all auras are available everywhere.
  • Your merc's level matches yours, so they never fall behind in levels.
  • If your merc dies in a dangerous area, resurrect them somewhere safe so they don't immediately die again.
  • Ethereal bugged armor (armor that retains ethereal defense bonus through cube socketing) is the ideal merc armor base.
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