HC Druid Summoner

[Zyr]

So what makes an ilvl 26 sword purchased from an A1 or A2 normal vendor different?

The Normal vendors have ilvl caps; you'll never buy a white item > ilvl 20 from any of them.

A four socket sword will never drop in Normal, even if its ilvl is high enough. White swords of ilvl >= 26 can drop in Normal, and Larzuk will give them four sockets. I'd link to the Tankazon Resource area level table, but Marduke seems to be down right now (it's an epidemic!:o).

I frequently find four socket Long Swords in NM Act I. Four socket Broad Swords are less common, but still occur often enough for me that I prefer to save Larzuk's talents for less common items. However, a Spirit sword is IMO the best possible weapon for a Summoner Druid, so I would not argue against using a socket quest reward to obtain one as early as possible.