Ethereal Bonehew or Tomb Reaver?

[Arrinao]

DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that I'm just deciding between these two. No need to suggest me Reaper's Toll or something .

I'd like to replace the eth Bonehew on my Merc (who has Andariel's visage with Ral rune socketed and Shaftstop) with Tomb Reaver. Bonehew does 157-813 dmg with Shael and Amn socketed. The Tomb Reaver has 2 empty sockets right now and does 116-531 dmg.
Normally this decision would be a no-brainer for me especially given the fact that my merc was dying a lot in Arcane Sanctuary from concentrated firewalls. He has 49 resist all (TR has +50 resist all mod this would actually free up a socket on the Andariel's Visage). However the damage lost is a bigger deal than I expected - from 664-2733 to 536-1853.

Is it worth replacing? Truth is that as a bonemancer I do need the damage a lot. Didn't anticipate so many magic resistant monsters to be honest and on /players 8 a 2700 dmg bonespear is quite poor.

 

[Crudesash]

Well, Decrepify increases damage taken by 50%, which boosts the damage of the Tomby, but as you’re a necro your curses are more reliable, and I’d think you’d want lower resist up more than decrepify except maybe on bosses. So in that regard Bonehew might ge a better choice; TR is almost a default for any non Necro build.
But the LL will keep him alive a lot longer...not sure if that is worth the constant curse overwrite.

 

[Arrinao]

Come on now. What more can I do to stop people from recommending me Reaper's Toll than write a specific disclaimer for that? Or was this a joke?

 

[saracen85]

Personally, Bonehew wins for me for the raw damage. Allows you to get that 1st corpse to explode if you choose that route.

With bone wall/prison, you shouldn't be having survivability problems imo. However, if you still need temporary meatshields, Tomby is the way to go.

 

[Crudesash]

Come on now. What more can I do to stop people from recommending me Reaper's Toll than write a specific disclaimer for that? Or was this a joke?

I was erroneously looking at the Reapers mods, so please ignore my previous post.

 

[LouB]

Don't forget those two empty sockets in the TR. dump in some ED jewels and the damage difference isn't a big deal. I'm trying to decide what to put in my merc's Tomb Reaver and I'm think primarily ED jewels

 

[d2lover]

TR can steal corpses, so if you don't want that for CE, I suggest Bonehew

 

[SirName]

Some stuff to consider:
- The added damage to undead from TR is not visible in the numbers you listed!
- Some faster hit recovery might do wonders for your merc (he has 0)
- Decrepifying enemies helps merc survivability
- The Amn in bonehew might not be necessary with Andy's & decrep, switch to fire res jewel?

 

[Miron]

I'm leaning towards Bonehew if you keep your helm & armor but I would test different setups to see if I can better results.

Based on IAS calculator you need 63 IAS for Bonehew, so you can change shael for IAS jewel (if you have a good one in stash). IAS/30@ FR is best and can open up several options.

Tomb Reaver also need IAS jewel (89 IAS for next breakpoint) so it's still leaves you with 2 free sockets. Not much room for customization in my opinion.

If it's possible to change armor&helm then Tomb Reaver allow some very interesting options (try to reach 89 IAS):
- Vamp Gaze with 4 socket armor (up to 160% ED ~ half fortitude)*
- 3 socket helm (up to 120 ED)* with a different armor (Treachery, Gladiator's Bane, Peace)
- G-face for critical hit/FHR/CB

* Not sure which option is better - ED or Min/Max jewels