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I was responding to this :
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The only real benefit that outweighs the extra hp on the enemy is the explosions.
And this :
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Kingmaker's +50% crit multi is Ok but far from the amount of damage you need to overcome 50% more life.
There are a lot of benefits that outweighs the extra hp. You can have much more than 50% more damage and get a whole bunch of defensive benefits.
I never said explosions from Sanguimancer were not good or suggested another merc was better. I even made sure I mostly listed things that could be used on the Sanguimancer.
Objectively speaking, there is no reason to remove your merc on bossing. Just equip it with good enough gear that it'll get you more than 50% more damage and it's strictly better than no merc if it survives. Plus, you can even get a merc tailored for bossing and switch.
Saying "the only thing that is good enough to justify the +50% health is explosions" is not accurate. You can get more damage than that by building the merc correctly. That is what I was answering to, no more, no less.
Fair enough. Although I still don't see the "much more than 50% more damage" part. I would say that you can get about as much damage as the boss gets extra life. Which indeed justifies having a merc.
I wasn't sure if they would reliably survive (as opposed to giving the boss +50% hp, dying and taking away your benefits). But after testing it last night I can say for sure that the merc can be truly immortal with a proper setup.
