What's the ideal Unique weapon for an Act 2 merc?

[DeeBye]

I am running around in the current ladder with a summoning Necro, accompanied by an Act 2 Might merc. I've had some really good luck finding the Unique Elite Polearms/Spears doing solo Hell Baal crawls, so now I am wondering which one is best.

I know that the uber runewords kick the arses of any of the Uniques, but the highest rune I've found so far is a lowly Io. I'm going to be sticking to Uniques until I get a few more lucky rune drops.

So far I have found Bonehew, Reaper's Toll, Arioc's Needle, and Steel Pillar. My merc was using Reaper's Toll until I found the Steel Pillar, but the Crushing Blow was just too much to pass up. It cut my Hell Baal killing time by 2/3rds. My merc is presently equipped with the Steel Pillar.

Since the only thing that slows a summoning Necro down is act bosses, would it be worth my while to trade for/find an ethereal Hone Sundan and upgrade it to a Ghost Spear? I can get more Crushing Blow and three sockets for Amns and Shaels.

[Occhidiangela]

an ethereal Hone Sundan and upgrade it to a Ghost Spear?  I can get more Crushing Blow and three sockets for Amns and Shaels.
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Oh yes, that would be lovely. I have a unique ogre axe on a pre 1.11 merc, the one that shoots bone spears every few jabs. Wish it were ethereal.

Handy.

Occhi

[DeeBye]

Oh yes, that would be lovely.  I have a unique ogre axe on a pre 1.11 merc, the one that shoots bone spears every few jabs. Wish it were ethereal.

Handy.

Occhi
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I was looking at an attack speed calculator, and I was assuming than an Act 2 merc was using a Yari/Ghost Spear. I noticed a negligible difference between 0% IAS and 60% IAS (1, 2, or 3 Shaels). I am almost tempted to put three Amns in a Hone Sundan and use a Guillaume's Face for an additional 35% Crushing Blow. That would make mincemeat out of any Act boss, and 21% life leech would keep my merc happy.

[Doc]

I was looking at an attack speed calculator, and I was assuming than an Act 2 merc was using a Yari/Ghost Spear.  I noticed a negligible difference between 0% IAS and 60% IAS (1, 2, or 3 Shaels).  I am almost tempted to put three Amns in a Hone Sundan and use a Guillaume's Face for an additional 35% Crushing Blow.  That would make mincemeat out of any Act boss, and 21% life leech would keep my merc happy.
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Also makes your merc darn near immortal.

[whathuh]

Also makes your merc darn near immortal.
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not with lame AI and undead and 5% of your normal leech off of hell monsters. But maybe I just have bad luck with my mercs.

[DeeBye]

Also makes your merc darn near immortal.
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This is the stuff that I like to hear :)

[DeeBye]

Well, I found a Hone Sundan and upgraded it to a Ghost Spear. It has a dex req of 163 and my lvl 86 merc only had 151, so I had to use a -15% req jewel to be able to equip it. I used Amns in the last two slots.

Here's a screenshot.



The damage is kinda low, but the Crushing Blow more than makes up for it. I still wish it was ethereal though. My merc does 668-2895 damage using it (with might aura activated).

His other equipment is a non-eth Duriel's Shell and a non-eth Guillaume's Face. Resists are 70/75/70/70.

He fares okay in Hell/ActV. 14% life leech keeps him alive nicely. He outright SHINES versus Hell Baal though. With a Clay Golem and a dose of Decrepify to keep Baal moving slowly, my merc can stand toe to toe with him indefinitely. 45% + 35% Crushing Blow takes huge chunks off of his life in short order. The fight is over in less than 30 seconds, with my lowly skeletons pitching in.

I can definitely see a lot of room for improvement, but I am convinced that this is the way to go with a Summoning Necro's mercenary.