Why Do People Let Mercenaries Hold Infinity Weapons?

[MaStAViC]

Hi, Everyone,
How are you? I am currently looking at Infinity weapons, but it looks like most such weapons being traded are for mercenaries to hold. I have been told many times that it is much more beneficial for the Sorceress herself to hold the Infinity weapon, but I am still a bit confused. Looking at over a dozen threads, the following is some of what I have gathered:

Note about the "-enemy lightning resistance" mod:
- it only helps your damage output if you weild the 'Infinity' yourself (not your Merc)
- it can never break immunities (only the Conviction aura itself can)

killian27 would much rather to hold the Infinity himself or herself because he or she does not "like having to rely on the merc to be alive though.. especially in chaos."

Many people, such as Xenon[XoA] in his or her Infinity ~ Nova Guide, stated that "whatever you do, don't use Merc infinities," but do not fully explain the statement.

Please clarify all this for me once and for all. Thank you,
Victor Ly

[Delreich]

Many people, such as Xenon[XoA] in his or her Infinity ~ Nova Guide, stated that "whatever you do, don't use Merc infinities," but do not fully explain the statement.
This one is fairly easy: he/she just means that if you're going to hold the infinity
yourself you shouldn't use one intended for mercs, as those have way to high
requirements.


As for the rest, if you hold it yourself you get the -elr mod and won't have to
worry about the merc dying. If you give it to the merc, you can use stuff with
fcr and +skills etc.

[DayDream]

Exactly what he said. :3
You'll have more fcr, resist, skills and would still have the the infinity conviction from merc. You'll kill faster like this too.

[MaStAViC]

This one is fairly easy: he/she just means that if you're going to hold the infinity
yourself you shouldn't use one intended for mercs, as those have way to high
requirements.
Ah, okay, thank you.

As for the rest, if you hold it yourself you get the -elr mod and won't have to
worry about the merc dying. If you give it to the merc, you can use stuff with
fcr and +skills etc.
I believe this is what I am confused about. If the "-enemy lightning resistance" mod of the Infinity weapon does not work when a mercenary is wielding the weapon, then what is the point of giving a mercenary an Infinity weapon at all?

Thank you,
Victor Ly

[peterpaulrubens]

If the "-enemy lightning resistance" mod of the Infinity weapon does not work when a mercenary is wielding the weapon, then what is the point of giving a mercenary an Infinity weapon at all?


Because the Conviction aura still breaks immunity and/or lowers resistance of the critters around your merc. You can go with other gear and still get the biggest benefit of the Infinity, which is the breaking of immunities.

[AlabasterFilth]

Here are the mods on Infinity:
50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill An Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
+255-325% Enhanced Damage (varies)
-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resistance (varies)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
0.5-49.5 To Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30 Charges)

Infinity is so good for lightning sorcs mainly because of the lvl 12 conviction aura, which gives a massive -85% to enemy resistances. the -lightning resist is just extremely delicious icing on the cake. The thing is, polearms are 2-handed weapons, which means you lose out on using a 1-handed weapon + shield.

Let me give you an example scenario: Let's say you were using dual-spirit sword/shield, then decide to wield the Infinity yourself. You get a massive -125%-135% on enemy lightning resist, and a small amount of magic find. The other Infinity mods are negligible for a lightning sorc. Now let's take a look at what you gave up to use the infinity:
∙+4 to all skills
∙50%-75% faster cast rate (critical for a light sorc!)
∙+110% faster hit recovery (huge bonus!)
∙+35% cold/light/fire resist(critical for any sorc!)
∙178-224 additional mana (huge bonus for light sorc!)
most of the other spirit mods are negligible for a light sorc, and the vitality boost for dual spirit is about the same as using infinity.

As you can see, in this example, you're giving up a lot to use the infinity yourself. Lastly, if you are using infinity, that means your merc is not (unless you BOTH have infinity o_O) and you are wasting such great Infinity mods as:
∙255-325% Enhanced Damage
∙40% Chance of Crushing Blow
∙Prevent Monster Heal
You could argue that in this scenario, you would in fact be giving your merc a much better melee weapon than Infinity to suit your needs (i.e. "well I'll use Infinity and give my merc instead an ethereal BerBerBer Tomb Reaver!"), but the fact remains that you won't be swinging the Infinity weapon you have, whereas the merc could be.

The case stands pretty strong here: basically wielding the infinity yourself instead of giving it to your merc gives you an additional -45%-55% to enemy lightning resist, an ungodly amount; but you are giving up so much, that you end up losing both killing speed AND survivability, making the decision a rather poor one (IMO).

[loserbunghole]

Personally, I'd rather give it to the merc and hold a crescent moon.

[ruvae]

Merc infinity:
+Kill non-lit immunes faster
+Opens up weapon + shield slots for some very nice items
-Must keep merc alive to keep the aura around
-No insight = mana pots are your friend

Self infinity:
+Kill lit immunes broken by conviction faster
+No merc dependence
+Very nice -lit res mod
-Not as much raw damage
-No possibility of blocking
-Conviction aura centered around sorc instead of merc, need to get closer to lit immunes for conviction to take effect

My current setup is self infinity, with insight+prayer merc. This sorc can go anywhere and kill everything at a consistent pace, and never need to go back to town. Infinite mana and fast health regen, almost never drink a potion or slow down for an immunity. Insight is a great merc weapon also.

On the other hand, I'm only at 80 FCR, need charms to hit max resists, and my listed damage is only 15k lightning with no lit skillers. Holding infinity is a personal preference, but lit sorcs are very viable either way.

[Leohappy]

-Must keep merc alive to keep the aura around
-No insight = mana pots are your friend

if you make an ES/light build you never need to drink mana potions, because you have a huge mana pool+huge regeneration

and keeping merc alive is not really a big issue except in chaos sanctuary...

so i'd rather say it like this:

Merc infinity:
+Kill non-lit immunes faster
+Opens up weapon + shield slots for some very nice items
-Cannot play in Chaos Sanctuary

:P

[loserbunghole]

That's only if you're lazy and you don't want to keep your merc from combat when he's cursed with IM

[Socialism]

Personally, I'd rather give it to the merc and hold a crescent moon.

Ladies and germs, I give you WISDOM. Quoted for brilliance.