I’m debating on making a beast don’t know if I should do it in a Z and respec for more dex or just use a double axe. Also for my a2 merc insee a lot of people using infinity not sure why wouldn’t a ebotd paired with fant, might aura and fort do more damage?

you are never going to hit monsters with yout weapon, so you dont need a BA. only problem with DA or other low bases is that you might have problems selling it if you ever are going to part with your necro
infinity lowers the defense of enemy monsters by ~80% (bosses by 40%), so your skellies/merc will connect a lot more hits. i personally use pride on my merc since i dont want to use infinity on every single build, but the argument is absolutely valid. furthermore the conviction aura also lets you inflict more fire dmg via corpse explosion

I think beast isn't necessary for normal play, but is for ubers.
That said if you have the money and want to min/max, I think it's highest DPS. Otherwise I believe a higher fcr bp with hoto is better quality of life.

I don't play summoner, but I do play novamanver, and 125fcr is a must for me there. Yes bone armor and minions are great but what I also really want is faster tele frames and 75 doesn't cut it

Hoto does same dmg as beast it's been calculated times before.
Get the Merc hooked up with infinity to lower fire Res of mobs since C/E deals 50% phys and 50% fire dmg.