How to prepare a character for Merc Lab?

As title says.
Im trying to figure out when I should attempt the merc version of the labyrinth.
Do note that this is for completion (ie.ascension points) and not for "I can waltz through and farm this easily".

The things Im trying to work out are...
> How do I mitigate trap damage? I understand that spikes are a (phys hit + bleed) and lava ground is a fire degen. The ones I struggle with are with the other trap types.
- Darts are presumably chaos, however the damage they do seems to vary wildly and I can't seem to figure out why.
- Saws I assume are phys degen? I can't seem to notice a damage difference between more phys resistant characters and those who are not however.

> Whats a good amount of damage/life/es to kill Izaro? So far Ive only fully ascended my older characters, ie. those that are massively over-geared for the content. Im not sure when as a new character I should attempt merc lab.
So far, Ive noticed that 3-4k life with an eva character seems very, very risky (most of his attack are almost 1-shots, overlapped attacks most definitely will be)

Lastly Id like to note that Im a returning player and did not play during the ascension expansion.
So forgive me if my question seems like it should be common knowledge by now.

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> How do I mitigate trap damage? I understand that spikes are a (phys hit + bleed) and lava ground is a fire degen. The ones I struggle with are with the other trap types.

The most powerful defense against traps is figuring out their patterns and finding out how to avoid them completely (that is, each trap completely - not too many people take 0 damage per lab). This generally involves stacking movement speed and having a good movement skill available:

Whirling Blades + Faster Attacks
Leap Slam + Faster Attacks
Lightning Warp + Less Duration + Faster Casting
Flame Dash + Faster Casting
Blink Arrow + Faster Projectiles

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- Darts are presumably chaos, however the damage they do seems to vary wildly and I can't seem to figure out why.

I know for sure darts can be Blocked, which implies they can also be Evaded. They still slow you when you Block them.

The darts deal Poison damage, but the base hit seems Physical, as my 28,000 Armour 8 EC 0% block juggernaut seemed to never have problems with darts.

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- Saws I assume are phys degen? I can't seem to notice a damage difference between more phys resistant characters and those who are not however.

The fact that you mentioned phys degen implies you already know this, but I'll say it again for good measure. Armour does NOTHING to mitigate Damage over Time; Armour only applies to Hits. The only way Armour can mitigate DoTs is indirectly by reducing Physical Hit when the Hit is derived damage (Bleeding, Poison). Saws and Pole Dancers of Doom do not seem to deal any Hits, so Armour does nothing against him.

You'll need Endurance Charges, Chaos Golem, Soul of Steel and such things to defend against spinny physical death

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> Whats a good amount of damage/life/es to kill Izaro? So far Ive only fully ascended my older characters, ie. those that are massively over-geared for the content. Im not sure when as a new character I should attempt merc lab.
So far, Ive noticed that 3-4k life with an eva character seems very, very risky (most of his attack are almost 1-shots, overlapped attacks most definitely will be)

aye

"

Lastly Id like to note that Im a returning player and did not play during the ascension expansion.
So forgive me if my question seems like it should be common knowledge by now.

These are the questions I love to answer, as they actually ask about mechanics. All this "here's my skill tree, how can I be better" are difficult for me to even look at when I'm on mobile phone. Thus, I, personally, prefer these types of questions. Ask away!

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The most powerful defense against traps is figuring out their patterns and finding out how to avoid them completely (that is, each trap completely - not too many people take 0 damage per lab). This generally involves stacking movement speed and having a good movement skill available:

Definitely understand that the best defense is to not get hit, though feasibly mistakes will happen.
I think the one that worries me the most is being cornered by the spinning blade-tower.

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The fact that you mentioned phys degen implies you already know this, but I'll say it again for good measure. Armour does NOTHING to mitigate Damage over Time; Armour only applies to Hits. The only way Armour can mitigate DoTs is indirectly by reducing Physical Hit when the Hit is derived damage (Bleeding, Poison). Saws and Pole Dancers of Doom do not seem to deal any Hits, so Armour does nothing against him.

You'll need Endurance Charges, Chaos Golem, Soul of Steel and such things to defend against spinny physical death

Wasn't aware chaos golem helped with that; thanks.

"

These are the questions I love to answer, as they actually ask about mechanics. All this "here's my skill tree, how can I be better" are difficult for me to even look at when I'm on mobile phone. Thus, I, personally, prefer these types of questions. Ask away!

Thanks!