Mercenary Help

Hey all. I'm playing a level 83 lightning javazon, and I'm not doing too bad in hell. I can't quite solo it yet, but I'm not dying often playing in parties. One of the things I'm having a hard time with is keeping my merc alive. He's using Insight and it's really helpful. I'm just looking for suggestions on ways to keep him alive in hell. I'm looking for suggestions on ways to keep him alive, be it strategies or any suggestions for armors that might make him able to take a hit.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I'm using an Act 2 Defiancee Merc|||- You could switch to a prayer merc, due to the synergy of prayer and the insight aura the merc (and you) will get double healing.

- You need some form of life leech on you merc, the more the better. This is usually done in the helm slot. Cheap option is a crafted blood helm, or unique helms with leech on them (from cheap to expensive: undead crown, stealskull, crown of thieves, vampire gaze).

- armour is most for topping off resists and and getting some form of %DR, lots of runewords fit this slot quite nicely.|||One word: Delirium. Unless you party with someone whe relies heavily on curses.|||Tal's helm is the super cheap, super powerful option for mercs. 10LL is the most of any helm, plus 15 resists and a little bonus +life give you just about everything you could want for a basic merc. And its available for practically nothing on ladder.

Tal's + Treachery ebugged armor with an elite polearm unique/runeword of any kind will keep your merc comfortably alive through almost all of Hell.

Shaftstop and Duriel's receive honorable mentions for intro-level merc armor, but you really can't beat the mods on Treachery when Fade triggers.|||Thanks for your insight guys. I've switched to a prayer merc and it's definitely helping.

droid- I've just gotten back into the game after years off, and I'm not really sure what an "ebugged" armor is. I looked up the fade armor, and I have all of those runes, but I'm not really sure what makes it so great. Would you mind explaining a little bit?|||The "great" things about Treachery are the "5% chance to cast lvl15 Fade when struck" (Assassin skill granting +60 resist all and 15% damage reduction), as well as the 45IAS. When Fade trigger's he'll tank like a pro, and the IAS will greatly increase his damage output, which conesequently also boosts his leeching ability. All in all, probably the single best merc armor runeword as far as mods vs price goes.

"Ebugged" means using the Cube recipe to add sockets to any ethereal armor and boosting its defense. The "bug" comes from the ethereal +50%ED bonus being applied a second time, effectively giving armor with a final enhanced defense of +125%. Since Treachery itself has no built-in ED, ebugged armor is a nice way to bump it up a notch.