Kelpie Snare vs Spire of Honor

[KinesongPayaso]

Kelpie Snare vs Spire of Honor

why do some people prefer kelpie snare as opposed to Spire of Honor?

the only advantage to the kelpie snare is the Slow target by 75% and +1 Life Based on Character Level

The Spire of Honor has 94 to 345 Damage, as opposed to Kelpie's 80-145
+20 replenish Life
20% faster hit recovery
25% AR
100% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)

 

[Cormallon]

The slow target mod is why. Bosses will do MUCH less damage when slowed. Baal for example doesn't cast his clone and other magic attacks that often. Various slow effects stack, and a Kelpie on a HF merc makes most targets almost motionless.

 

[saracen85]

that "slow target by 75%" actually renders single monsters almost immobile.
i questioned its usefulness before, until i saw baal being so helpless when poked with the stick. an ethereal + upped + Amn-ed=gg merc weapon.

as for spire of honor..slow, no crushing blow, no life steal, no meditation aura etc.. just pure damage, where imo a bonehew is preferred=)

just my 2cents=)

 

[Arfurala]

A merc gets killed way too fast when facing bosses, so if you need a merc to do most of the tanking for you, Kelpie snare really serves very well in keeping him safe. If you use an HF merc and cast decerp on the boss, it will make it nothing more than a sitting duck.

 

[Joosh]

Well I finally up'd my eth kelpie today for my new baal runner, In my honest opinion this weapon is far far far underrated.

Kelpie Snare
Stygian Pike
Two-Hand Damage: 137 to 590
Durability: 31 of 35
Required Dexterity: 87
Required Strength: 158
Required Level: 56
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xc502566e
+10 to Strength
+150% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +50%
Required Level +7
Slows Target by 75%
+108 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Using this I find that hell baal is a joke, he doesn't cast clone, he barely casts his nova, his mana drain spell seems to be far less efficient and his ice wedge seems to not affect me. GG. You have to see it for yourself to understand the true potential of this weapon.

On the other hand i've never used a spire of honor, so I can't really judge that.

[hijack]
Also could anyone suggest whether I should socket it with a amn or a shael? My Merc's other gear is Vamp Gaze and Shafstop.
[/hijack] :laugh:

Joosh :thumbsup:

 

[KinesongPayaso]

oh. I see. thanks
but with kelpie's normal speed, and low damage, i would need a much higher source of lifeleech than Tal Rasha's headgear(10% LL, 15 all resist).. or a crown of thieves(12% LL)

my HF merc has a spire of honor, crown of thieves and shaftstop
i thought the high but slow damage of Spire (high dmg, high LL = good)is a good combination against MSLE monsters... as those are the ones I cant fight (phoenix strike, low def, low HP sin)
and yeah, my HF merc dies really quickly against baal and diablo... and he dropped dead(and me too) against a leap attack from the ancient




So, if I went baal hunting, I should use Spire of Honor on him, to make him survive better against packs of monsters(colenzo, bartuc, lister, etc)? while I do the killing with 2phoenix?

and then switch to kelpie when we're facing diablo by ourselves?


is there a way/trick to make my mercenary to target multiple enemies without killing them?
think of it like a poison attack. you want to hit a lot, but not kill them, and let the poison do it's work for you.

how long is the 75% slow monster speed duration?

 

[Nerigazh]

Keeping a Kelpie in the cube is common practice for Baal runners. The rest of the time you can have your merc's main weapon be something like Reaper's Toll.

 

[o1d_dude]

Here's mine...

Kelpie Snare
Stygian Pike
Two-Hand Damage: 145 to 628
Durability: 28 of 35
Required Dexterity: 87
Required Strength: 158
Required Level: 56
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xde4ea9c8
+10 to Strength
+168% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +50%
Required Level +7
Slows Target by 75%
+1 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

Spire of Honor
War Pike
'Shael'
Two-Hand Damage: 161 to 811
Durability: 13 of 25
Required Dexterity: 96
Required Strength: 155
Required Level: 73
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x1b49276b
+25% Enhanced Defense
+189% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+40 to Maximum Damage
Replenish Life +20
+3 to Light Radius
Required Level +7
20% Increased Attack Speed
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Bonus to Attack Rating
+3 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)
139% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

The long and the short of it is that The Reaper's Toll is better than both of these in that my merc doesn't die as often. As long as he's alive, he is in their face and they leave my character alone.

Now finding an ethereal TRT is another matter.

 

[Arfurala]

Suchas this one?:wink:

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two-Hand Damage: 58 to 687
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 79
Required Strength: 104
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe2628482
+226% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 1 seconds
15% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

I think Kelpie still serves the purpose of freezing Baal into a sitting duck better. Decerpify alone can't prevent him from casting clone and appendages, which are really annoying.

 

[AJK]

[hijack]
Also could anyone suggest whether I should socket it with a amn or a shael? My Merc's other gear is Vamp Gaze and Shafstop.
[/hijack] :laugh:

Neither. Socket it with an 'Eth' rune. Baal has a huge defense rating, and since your merc needs to pierce it to apply the slow, the 25% off his armor rating helps better than a (slightly) higher attack speed. The 'Amn' isn't needed as well, since the damage of your upped stick is high enough for the leech on the vamp. gaze.

 

[Joosh]

Fantastic suggestion AJK, kudos to you for your wonderous fountain of knowledge.

Well I'm Off to eth my eth kelpie :undecided::azn:

Joosh :thumbsup:

 

[Darkflight]

Suchas this one?:wink:

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two-Hand Damage: 58 to 687
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 79
Required Strength: 104
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe2628482
+226% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 1 seconds
15% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

I think Kelpie still serves the purpose of freezing Baal into a sitting duck better. Decerpify alone can't prevent him from casting clone and appendages, which are really annoying.

That and Decrepify lasts for 5 sexonds or something, while "slows target by x%) lasts for 30 seconds.

 

[KinesongPayaso]

That and Decrepify lasts for 5 sexonds or something, while "slows target by x%) lasts for 30 seconds.

thanks for the answer

 

[KinesongPayaso]

I thought I'd ask for better feedback

my SIN is a phoenix striker. so my base damage really doesnt matter, as I just use the meteors to stack on baal

anyway, I found an etheral Spire of Honor, so I tried to outfit my merc with it, as opposed to using kelpie snare (I already tried kelpie on him)

so, I just used Pompeii's Wrath
4% chance to cast lvl 8 volcano on striking, 50% slow, Knockback
me using pompeii's wrath + PStrike, and my merc's Eth Spire... i think this combo works better, killing speed wise




Spire of Honor
Lance
Two-Hand Damage: 138 to 537
Durability: 13 of 13
Required Dexterity: 88
Required Strength: 110
Required Level: 39
Spear Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xd416a905
+25% Enhanced Defense
+189% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+40 to Maximum Damage
Replenish Life +20
+3 to Light Radius
20% Faster Hit Recovery
25% Bonus to Attack Rating
+3 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)
1% Damage to Demons (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)


my alternative is using bartucs, and constant TSrike + Cobra... but my martial arts are just all lvl 1, +11 from all skills. so I would just have a lvl 12 Tstrike coupled with a bartucs

which would be faster?

 

[KyosoWK]

Small slightly related hijack.. I see Spire has enhanced damage Vs demons.. Do the Act bosses count as demons for that? (I would figure yes, and that would make that seem like a very desirable mod for a starting boss runner like myself)

 

[KinesongPayaso]

yes. All Act Bosses are demons

that's why Laying of Hands are very popular back then, for burizons I think. 350% dmg to demons, 20% IAS

 

[bill_n_opus1]

Suchas this one?:wink:

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two-Hand Damage: 58 to 687
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Dexterity: 79
Required Strength: 104
Required Level: 75
Polearm Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xe2628482
+226% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 1 seconds
15% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)

I think Kelpie still serves the purpose of freezing Baal into a sitting duck better. Decerpify alone can't prevent him from casting clone and appendages, which are really annoying.

Nice eth TRT. I've yet to find another one since my restart awhile ago.

Anyways, just wanted to say that IIRC i've noticed that through experience:

- decrep and clay golem (slow effect) is more effective than ...
- merc with kelpie and clay golem ... on Baal.

I've tried these combos with my summoner/exploder and that's what i've found doing Baal runs. I wanted a way to cast amp damage and still get a ton of slow on Baal ... IIRC, maybe I got spoiled with decrep/clay golem but it seems more effective than kelpie/clay golem in terms of slowing Baal down.

I think this has been discussed before in either this or the necro forum a couple of years ago ... can't exactly remember why this is ... probably because of the different ways the slow is applied(?).

 

[Insane Wayne]

maybe I got spoiled with decrep/clay golem but it seems more effective than kelpie/clay golem in terms of slowing Baal down.

... probably because of the different ways the slow is applied(?).

Kelpie and clay golem are the same type of monster slow, therefore they will overwrite each other. This is a bad thing if your golem is a low level with very little slowing%. Baal might teleport away until the merc tracked him down and scored a hit, and this could happen over and over.

Only different types of monster slow will stack. Cold damage, HF, Decrep, and regular slowing%.

edit: regular monster slow% will stack if it's from the same individual (e.g. merc using Woestave + Blackhorn's = 70%). But if you were to hit Baal wearing Cleglaw's gloves, you'd cause the overwrite problem again.