I'm not entirely sure how mercs actually work, in terms of what actually helps them. +skills, +attack speed (or even a weapon's attack speed in general), and life steal are the ones I'm not so sure about. Does anybody know if any of these actually help him out?

try www.diabloii.net ;) They have like everything

I don't like them, they banned me a lot :)

I guess I can check there anyway :P

http://www.diabloii.net/townsfolk/mercs3.shtml
--helped a bit, not much though. Only answered the part about +skills.

[quote author=iago link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg37650 date=1072821053]
I don't like them, they banned me a lot :)

I guess I can check there anyway :P
[/quote]

Explain ;D

[quote author=UserLoser. link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg37662 date=1072824772]
[quote author=iago link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg37650 date=1072821053]
I don't like them, they banned me a lot :)

I guess I can check there anyway :P
[/quote]

Explain ;D
[/quote]

Meh, old stuff.

[quote author=iago link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg37667 date=1072827300]
[quote author=UserLoser. link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg37662 date=1072824772]
[quote author=iago link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg37650 date=1072821053]
I don't like them, they banned me a lot :)

I guess I can check there anyway :P
[/quote]

Explain ;D
[/quote]

Meh, old stuff.
[/quote]

Aww, but we all want to hear it!

It was nothing exciting. Just me promoting PK'ing and my website (www.backstab.ca) a lot. They got sick of me and banned me :)

What do you want to know? I don't know anything concrete just what I've 'seen' happen...

+skills does alot for mercs, not so muhc a2 and a5 though. A1 merc with +3skills will get a lightning-type shot which is AMAZING for dueling, people say 4k+dmg with windforce. A3 mercs are completely dependant upon skills, so thats what you want to go for with them.

IAS does not seem to affect mercenaries attack speed, however equiping a weapon will make them attack faster. Their leach is normal, chance to cast is normal too.

Whatever they kill, the drop takes into account your mf and their mf, so it's good to let mercs kill bosses. Demon bosses do extra damage to mercs too, so you want to watch out for that.

Any other questions?

Oh yeah, does weapon damage or anything like that affect act 3 mercs?

No, as I said it's a skill that they do, so any + skills would help, but weapon damage isn't taken into account.

leech does work.

[quote author=Naem link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38038 date=1073062283]
leech does work.
[/quote]
*leach.

Nobody said it didn't work, except on act3 mercs.

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38083 date=1073081307]
[quote author=Naem link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38038 date=1073062283]
leech does work.
[/quote]
*leach.

Nobody said it didn't work, except on act3 mercs.
[/quote]
*leech.

I never said someone said it didn't work, iago asked if it did.

[quote author=Naem link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38145 date=1073113494]
[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38083 date=1073081307]
[quote author=Naem link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38038 date=1073062283]
leech does work.
[/quote]
*leach.

Nobody said it didn't work, except on act3 mercs.
[/quote]
*leech.

I never said someone said it didn't work, iago asked if it did.
[/quote]

That question was answered on diabloii.net, so I didn't persue it, but thanks nevertheless :)

[quote author=Naem link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38145 date=1073113494]
[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38083 date=1073081307]
[quote author=Naem link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=0#msg38038 date=1073062283]
leech does work.
[/quote]
*leach.

Nobody said it didn't work, except on act3 mercs.
[/quote]
*leech.

I never said someone said it didn't work, iago asked if it did.
[/quote]


http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=leech
[quote]
leech1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lch)
n.
1. Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, of which one species (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients and is now sometimes used as a temporary aid to circulation during surgical reattachment of a body part.
2. One that preys on or clings to another; a parasite.
3. Archaic. A physician.
[/quote]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=leach
[quote]
leach ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lch)
v. leached, leach·ing, leach·es
n.
1. The act or process of leaching.
2. A porous, perforated, or sievelike vessel that holds material to be leached.
3. The substance through which a liquid is leached.
[/quote]

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but they are LEACHING blood, not attaching a leech to their weapons to suck the enemy to death.

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=15#msg38166 date=1073135996]

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but they are LEACHING blood, not attaching a leech to their weapons to suck the enemy to death.
[/quote]

As far as I know, their weapons have the "of the leech" property, which means that they prey on the life of the monsters, supplying HP to the wielder of the weapon.

It might, it might not I haven't been abe to find anything argueing (sp?) over it in 20minutes... However it makes more sense to me that you would leach their blood (like a vampire), and not use a leech or have 'of the leech' property.

Maybe it's just me, I guess it can go both ways but in game everyone refers to it as 'leach' (although technically, it says 'x life/mana stolen per hit'.

In d2, the items are of the bat or of the locust, which doesn't help much. I think in d1, it was of the leech. Don't forget, leaches leech.

http://www.diabloii.net/items/modifiers-new/xsuffixes.shtml#life-leech

yeah, that's the animal. But what it DOES is it leaches life. leach is the verb the the noun leech does. So yeah. Who cares?

Leach could refer to either mana or hp... If you're using it because it generally means taking out something.

[quote]
Main Entry: 2leach
Function: verb
Etymology: leach vessel through which water is passed to extract lye
Date: 1796
transitive senses
1 : to dissolve out by the action of a percolating liquid <leach out alkali from ashes>
2 : to subject to the action of percolating liquid (as water) in order to separate the soluble components
3 a : to remove (nutritive or harmful elements) from soil by percolation b : to draw out or remove as if by percolation <all meaning has been leached from my life>
intransitive senses : to pass out or through by percolation
- leach·abil·i·ty /"lE-ch&-'bi-l&-tE/ noun
- leach·able /'lE-ch&-b&l/ adjective
- leach·er noun
[/quote]

If you want to use it in any other sense than that, it's also listed as a variant of the word leech, which would then be the preferred choice, since it's the one the game uses.

[quote]
Main Entry: 2leech
Function: verb
Date: 1828
transitive senses
1 : to bleed by the use of leeches
2 : to drain the substance of : EXHAUST
intransitive senses : to attach oneself to a person as a leech
[/quote]

[quote author=iago link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=15#msg38202 date=1073155293]
yeah, that's the animal. But what it DOES is it leaches life. leach is the verb the the noun leech does. So yeah. Who cares?
[/quote]

I don't think you're after the verb leach as in remove by percolation... Maybe you're after the verb leech?

People in D2 refer to it as 'leach', I have never ever seen anyone type 'life/mana leech' in game.

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=15#msg38231 date=1073166176]
People in D2 refer to it as 'leach', I have never ever seen anyone type 'life/mana leech' in game.
[/quote]

That's probably a sign of ignorance?


Google says: diablo leech = 18800 hits, diablo leach = 2440 hits, which would indicate that leech is more commonly used than leach? I mostly refer to it as life/mana steal though..

[quote]
That's probably a sign of ignorance?


Google says: diablo leech = 18800 hits, diablo leach = 2440 hits, which would indicate that leech is more commonly used than leach? I mostly refer to it as life/mana steal though..
[/quote]
Yes, I'm sure all 100 000+ people are ignorant and uninformed.

Anyways, both refer to diablo 2, obviously some people say it one way, others say it the other, and depending on the context both can be right. I say 'leach' because that is how I see it spelled everytime I see someone talking about it in game, and it to 'leach a liquid'(blood) is logical to me.

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=15#msg38238 date=1073169863]
[quote]
That's probably a sign of ignorance?


Google says: diablo leech = 18800 hits, diablo leach = 2440 hits, which would indicate that leech is more commonly used than leach? I mostly refer to it as life/mana steal though..
[/quote]

Yes, I'm sure all 100 000+ people are ignorant and uninformed.

[/quote]

What I'm saying is that probably about 9% of the people say leach, and the rest say leech. So yes, 9000+ people are probably ignorant and uninformed.

I don't understand how you figure 9%, when I have never (and I mean never, I would've gotten into this very argument with them) seen anyone say 'life/mana leech'.

I figure 9 % by comparing the number of google hits for the combination of diablo + leech vs diablo + leach?

[quote author=Adron link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=15#msg38246 date=1073176202]
I figure 9 % by comparing the number of google hits for the combination of diablo + leech vs diablo + leach?
[/quote]
That would imply that the kiddies that play diablo have some brains/interests, and that they would care to discuss the game they're playing and/or make a website using HTML (or even geocities... :-\).

You can't possibly use google hits as an argument! You denied that everybody in diablo 2 uses that word as evidence, saying they're ignorant, but then you present the fact that most people on the rest of the internet do it your way! Why can't they also be ignorant?

[quote author=iago link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38286 date=1073203192]
You can't possibly use google hits as an argument! You denied that everybody in diablo 2 uses that word as evidence, saying they're ignorant, but then you present the fact that most people on the rest of the internet do it your way! Why can't they also be ignorant?
[/quote]

Google hits was brought up as an argument against the comment that 100% of the people on b.net say leach. I find it unlikely that all those hits come from people who don't use b.net, considering that several mentioned b.net things.

For ignorance, see the reference to Blizzard's site describing the attributes of weapons, and also look up the words "leach" and "leech" at www.webster.com.

The 9% who use "leach" are most probably ignorant of the facts that "leech" is the word used by the majority (Google 91%), the word used by Blizzard (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic/suf.shtml) and the main word according to the dictionary (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=leach).

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=15#msg38238 date=1073169863]
Anyways, both refer to diablo 2, obviously some people say it one way, others say it the other, and depending on the context both can be right. I say 'leach' because that is how I see it spelled everytime I see someone talking about it in game, and it to 'leach a liquid'(blood) is logical to me.
[/quote]
Like I said 4 or 5 posts ago, it seems more logical(maybe just to me) that the weapon would leach blood from the target. I use dictionary.com for all of my definitions, and according to their definition it is right.

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38316 date=1073220847]
Like I said 4 or 5 posts ago, it seems more logical(maybe just to me) that the weapon would leach blood from the target. I use dictionary.com for all of my definitions, and according to their definition it is right.
[/quote]

According to dictionary.com, leach means:

[quote]
leach ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lch)
v. leached, leach·ing, leach·es
v. tr.
To remove soluble or other constituents from by the action of a percolating liquid.
To empty; drain: “a world leached of pleasure, voided of meaning” (Marilynne Robinson).

v. intr.
To be dissolved or passed out by a percolating liquid.

n.
The act or process of leaching.
A porous, perforated, or sievelike vessel that holds material to be leached.
The substance through which a liquid is leached.
[/quote]

That is, to remove a substance from a liquid by having it pass through a porous material or filter. This doesn't sound like it would apply at all to a life stealing weapon?

On the other hand, leech (at dictionary.com) is defined as:

[quote]
leech1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lch)
n.
Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, of which one species (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients and is now sometimes used as a temporary aid to circulation during surgical reattachment of a body part.
One that preys on or clings to another; a parasite.
Archaic. A physician.

v. leeched, leech·ing, leech·es
v. tr.
To bleed with leeches.
To drain the essence or exhaust the resources of.

v. intr.
To attach oneself to another in the manner of a leech.
[/quote]

Parasite on? Prey on? Drain the essence of? Exhaust the resources of? Bleed? Doesn't this sound much more like a life stealing weapon?

edit: spleling

[quote author=Adron link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38351 date=1073243840]
remove a substance from a liquid by having it pass through a porous material or filter. This doesn't sound like it would apply at all to a life stealing weapon?
[/quote]
Porous material or filter, sounds like skin to me.

[quote author=Adron link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38351 date=1073243840]
Parasite on? Prey on? Drain the essence of? Exhaust the resources of? Bleed? Doesn't this sound much more like a life stealing weapon?
[/quote]
No, it sounds alot more like you're hitting/killing something. Bleed is another aspect of diablo2 too.

[quote author=Adron link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38351 date=1073243840]
edit: spleling
[/quote]
Hope that was a joke :P

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38359 date=1073247190]
[quote author=Adron link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38351 date=1073243840]
remove a substance from a liquid by having it pass through a porous material or filter. This doesn't sound like it would apply at all to a life stealing weapon?
[/quote]
Porous material or filter, sounds like skin to me.
[/quote]

In that case, this would be having life stay inside the monster? Whatever substance you're extracting from the liquid stays in the filter...

What? The definition says it passes through a porous material or filter, correct me if I'm wrong but skin has pores.

[quote author=j0k3r link=board=3;threadid=4516;start=30#msg38399 date=1073271729]
What? The definition says it passes through a porous material or filter, correct me if I'm wrong but skin has pores.
[/quote]

It says you pass a liquid through a porous material or filter to extract something that can't pass through the porous material or filter.

I love this argument.