I'd never stray from using CoH as it's the only thing that keeps the merc alive vs conviction. I'm also not a fan of stacking goldfind % on the merc as I prefer just having him as godly as possible. That said I think you either want:

Standard:
Headstriker (40/10 Min dmg) - To take advantage of the dmg multiplier on weapon.
Jewelers of Lamprey (2x 40/15IAS + Rare ED% Jewel/2os Visionary)
COH

OR

Lol Conviction does nothing mode:
Headstriker 40/15 IAS
Arreats 40/15IAS
COH

For a budget setups Arreats/Black Hades with ED Jewels/Headstriker seems like the best option out of all the mercs though. Note that you should probably have a ED MAX/MIN dmg in the headstriker and IAS jewel in the Hades for this setup to get the on weapon multiplier. Either way I think the 30% IAS breakpoint is ideal.

This post was edited by Footspeedy on Nov 27 2021 03:26am

Yep, 30%IAS is a super sweet spot.
I agree about CoH, although I guess technically we could run Black Hades with 3x 15@/30GF in there to get a DIY "Wealth of Honor"

I think A2 Merc is still superior, but it's been great fun messing around with it.

This post was edited by Exokek on Nov 27 2021 04:26am

Just added to the list of erratas, since I just glossed over it during the Nightmare setup, but Hone Sundan is a viable Hell Weapon with Demon Limb.
Just need to make sure you have a source of life leech somewhere (Andy's, Lamprey 3os Tiara, Chains of Honor, Amn Rune x1, etc.)

This post was edited by Exokek on Nov 27 2021 02:21pm

Just wondering, why is Andy preferred over COT or hell even Tal's Mask with 15 IAS in your merc setup

COT or Tals with 15 ias also hits the 44 ias breakpoint for needle but COT has extra FR and EG while Tals can help with res on merc

Im specially talking about

Level 90, High Mercenary Setup
Level 90+, Very High Mercenary Setup


Because I think most players will stop at this setup so yea

This post was edited by xbankx1 on Nov 27 2021 02:41pm

If you use Andariel's with Arioc's you should be putting IAS in both Arioc's & the Andy's to hit yet another breakpoint. The killspeed difference is pretty big.

Arioc's (15IAS socketed) with Tal's/CoT is great (you need to shore up Lightning Resist elsewhere vs. Lightning Enchanted).

I totally understand. Specially talking about the

Level 90, High Mercenary Setup
Level 90+, Very High Mercenary Setup


in your guide with Glad bane(which I feel like most player who want to try this build will stop at these 2). I can afford fort/coh but generally I love to min-max mid level builds for fun.

If you go 15 ias on both needle and mask, is 10ll enough to sustain hell trav? I figure you need at least 18-20I

Like my lvl 88 act 2 merc has about 54 res I think in hell. He gets to high 60s with 15@ jewel in glad bane(as specificed in your guide)

If you're using Arioc's with Andy's on the way to higher setups (eBOTD or Arioc's/CoH) you can use Um Runes in both Andy and Glad's Bane, or Ral in Andy's + Um in Glad's.
The reason Glad's Bane works is because the Magic Absorb mitigates a metric boatload ton of Hydra damage all on its own.

I am a bit more proactive gameplay-wise maybe than most, but I'm running Hell Trav with 7LL from an Amn Rune in an Upped Hone Sundan right now, with unmaxed resists due to a lower level Merc.
Just requires you to pay a lot of attention!

At some point the build opens up into a million little bits of modularity, and you figure out what works best for you, and how much risk you're happy to keep monitoring actively.
I can't stand playing and just waiting for shit to die while I watch Netflix, so I tweak the "optimal" builds I present into higher risk versions with a tiny bit more goldfind.

For people who want to chill & collect their gold, the setup I've recommended before is a 33% life leech setup with eBOTD War Pike + Andariel's Visage + Chains of Honor. Overcaps resists, massive life leech, etc. It's pretty unreal sustain-wise.

One of the things that changed since I made the guide is that the timer increased to 80s, so that's a lot more "dead time" between runs if you go full speed.
I slowed down my DPS and added some extra goldfind since that change, but the general concept remains solid.

You can see all sorts of build templates by browsing the bottom left list in the planner: https://d2.maxroll.gg/d2planner/dp0106zf#1



These are the builds of my personal goldfind Barb: https://d2.maxroll.gg/d2planner/fq0106r3#1

I unfortunately can't make direct edits to the second post of this guide, due to so much time having passed since I published it.

This post was edited by Exokek on Nov 27 2021 03:04pm

Got it. Thanks for the convo.

If it's any use, as an example of the lower resists Hone Sundan. I can try and record any setup you'd like me to, if it helps contextualize things.

Hondon is a new one. Whats the advantage vs disadvantage vs needle?