Re: The most useless unique out there
I am not saying that it is the only possible approach, but it is quite useful.
(For the curious, the setup is "Lawbringer" Crystal Sword, Steel Shade, Gladiator's Bane (Sol), Moser's Blessed Circle (2x PDiamond).)
Steel Shade is pretty weak for an elite, but I do remember a CS runner making good use of it on an A3 merc for the fire absorb at some point in the SPF.
Not for the application in question. My CS runner uses an A3 merc (clvl91) with Steel Shade. This mercenary has exactly two jobs: carry the "sanctuary" aura and survive (he sometimes gets lucky and fires a useful glacial spike, too). I can think of no helms, unique or otherwise, that help him with the first task. The helm slot, then, is dedicated to the second. As you might imagine, it is not hard to have maxed resistances with an A3 merc, given the luxury of a shield slot. Even maximum resistances, however, are often insufficient in the face of Diablo's fire attacks (and they are more infrequently insufficient in the face of balrog breath). With mere resistance, I would be forced to resurrect my mercenary between runs on a regular basis. Steel Shade changes that completely. Wearing it, my mercenary almost always survives CS runs (and what few deaths he experiences are typically due to his poor AI and my negligent babysitting around hard-hitting oblivion packs).For Steel Shade, I'm not saying it CAN'T be used. I'm just saying that it's pretty much the last option I'd go with for what it provides (really just mana leech and fire absorb - no one cares about 18 life regen in Hell diff), at the level you can equip it. [...] As for the fire absorb, I'd argue that you'd be better off with one of the unique helms that provide a big boost to fire resistance. Kira's, Rock Stopper, heck, even a 3 Ral mask would get you 90% fire resist.
I am not saying that it is the only possible approach, but it is quite useful.
(For the curious, the setup is "Lawbringer" Crystal Sword, Steel Shade, Gladiator's Bane (Sol), Moser's Blessed Circle (2x PDiamond).)