S & T's FAQ Sticky: Guides, Statistics, Etc. (READ THIS NOW!)

[Jason]

The information contained in the following post should still apply to the v1.10 release version. I have checked hireling.txt and there is no difference in the data contained therein.

Looking for guidance with merc selection, I decided to compile some information on v1.10 hirelings and see how they have changed. The table below will list some stats for level 98 mercs. There are a couple things to keep in mind before you proceed though:

1): Base defense values listed below include a +1 defense per 4 dexterity bonus. This is the same bonus that players normally receive too.

2): Base AR values include a +5 AR per 1 dexterity bonus to match what players would normally receive. This conversion factor is an educated guess and has not been confirmed in game.

Edit: Changed conversion factor from 4 to 5.

3): The MinD and MaxD values can be regarded as normal +min/max damage modifiers on weapons. Simply add them to a weapon's displayed damage and apply the proper strength, dexterity, or skill bonus to derive the actual damage output of a merc. Rogues receive +1% damage per dexterity, and all the other mercs get +1% damage per strength.

4): The "Max" column shows at what merc level the corresponding skill will be maxed at. An A1 Rogue will finally obtain L31 Inner Sight at level 96 for example.

Act__Type_HP___Def__Str_Dex_AR___MinD_MaxD_Res_Sk1 __Lvl_Max_Sk2__Lvl_Max_Sk3_Lvl_Max
1____Fire_1830_1484_154_235_3441_48___50___159_IS_ __31__96__FA___31__96__________
1____Cold_1830_1484_154_235_3441_48___50___159_IS_ __31__96__CA___31__96__________
1 NM_Fire_1796_1455_151_230_3375_47___49___156_IS___ 30__96__FA___30__96__________
1 NM_Cold_1796_1455_151_230_3375_47___49___156_IS___ 30__96__CA___30__96__________
1 H__Fire_1709_1382_148_225_3239_46___48___153_IS___ 29__96__FA___29__96__________
1 H__Cold_1709_1382_148_225_3239_46___48___153_IS___ 29__96__CA___29__96__________
2____Cmbt_2350_1714_213_173_2889_71___78___165_Jab __31__98__Pryr_18__75__________
2____Def__2350_1714_213_173_2889_71___78___165_Jab __24__75__Def__18__75__________
2____Off__2350_1714_213_173_2889_71___78___165_Jab __24__75__BA___18__75__________
2 NM_Cmbt_2287_1671_209_169_2826_69___76___162_Jab__ 30__98__Thrn_15__75__________
2 NM_Def__2287_1671_209_169_2826_69___76___162_Jab__ 23__75__HF___16__75__________
2 NM_Off__2287_1671_209_169_2826_69___76___162_Jab__ 23__75__Mght_20__96__________
2 H__Cmbt_2150_1572_205_165_2691_67___74___159_Jab__ 29__98__Pryr_16__75__________
2 H__Def__2150_1572_205_165_2691_67___74___159_Jab__ 22__75__Def__16__75__________
2 H__Off__2150_1572_205_165_2691_67___74___159_Jab__ 22__75__BA___16__75__________
3____Fire_1519_1145_153_123_2442_42___48___166_Inf __32__95__FB___30__95__________
3____Cold_1519_1145_153_123_2442_42___48___157_GS_ __14__95__FA___28__95__IB__32__95
3____Ltng_1519_1145_153_123_2442_42___48___157_CB_ __17__95__Ltng_29__95__________
3 NM_Fire_1472_1119_149_119_2380_40___46___154_Inf__ 31__95__FB___29__95__________
3 NM_Cold_1472_1119_149_119_2380_40___46___154_GS___ 13__95__FA___27__95__IB__31__95
3 NM_Ltng_1472_1119_149_119_2380_40___46___154_CB___ 16__95__Ltng_28__95__________
3 H__Fire_1376_1057_145_115_2250_38___44___151_Inf__ 30__95__FB___28__95__________
3 H__Cold_1376_1057_145_115_2250_38___44___151_GS___ 12__95__FA___26__95__IB__30__95
3 H__Ltng_1376_1057_145_115_2250_38___45___151_CB___ 15__95__Ltng_27__95__________
5____Barb_2232_2187_233_151_3085_79___83___166_Bas h_21__80__Stun_17__80__________
5 NM_Barb_2149_2138_230_146_2985_77___81___163_Bash_ 20__80__Stun_16__80__________
5 H__Barb_2015_2017_227_141_2816_75___79___160_Bash_ 19__80__Stun_15__80__________

Some points of interest are:

- A1 Rogues can get impressively high levels of Inner Sight and Fire/Cold Arrow. L31 Inner Sight will lower enemy defenses by 1715 points, although it could take a while before they decide to cast it.

- A2 desert mercs can only use L20 Might instead of the L29 they had in v1.09d.

- The A3 Iron Wolves don't look so wimpy now, but A1 Rogues are still a better source for Fire and Cold damage. L32 Inferno can be quite a show though. I don't think Iron Wolves receive synergy bonuses between their skills, but someone will have to confirm this in game.

- A5 Barbarians will no longer have maxed resists in Hell, so you will have to make other arrangements.

- Rogues have a threat level of 10, whereas all other mercs have a threat level of 11.

- Barbarians have DamageRegen=10 (heals fully in 16.4 seconds), whereas all other mercs have DamageRegen=4 (heals fully in 41 seconds). In contrast to this, Valkyries and Decoys have DamageRegen=12 (heals fully in 13.7 seconds) and 14 (heals fully in 11.7 seconds) respectively.

- The Barbarian merc's entry in monstats.txt mentions a universal 70% resistance to poison. This seems to be applied as a straight bonus to the base resistance of the Barbarian.

Edit 1: Fixed table, AR/Dex info, and added more stuff. Barbarian poison resistance updated too. (Nov 5th)

Edit 2: Yes, the normal difficulty Fire mage does have slightly higher resistances. It's probably the result of a typo in the MPQs, but that's how it is. (Nov 22nd)

This post has been created by Zath on Nov 23, 2003 @ This forum.