Twinking Insight Options

[smloeffelholz]

Since my drops have been a little dry lately, I have been doing some experimenting with lower level equipment for twinking. I am trying to figure out which is a better option for a L27 Insight. My two top options right now are an ethereal battle scythe and ethereal partizan.

The first thing that I want to get out of the way is this. It doesn't actually matter which one you use. With a good roll, both are so beastly at L27 that quibbling between them is almost a waste of time. Still, I wanted to see if anyone else had an opinion on the two options.

Battle scythe: The low requirements mean that it can be equipped on an L27 merc without any special equipment. The damage is high enough that most creatures are one hit kills even on P8, so the increased attack speed is nice. It also allows customization of the merc's other gear to match your playstyle.

Partizan: The damage boost is huge for this base, so it can easily last until your merc can equip an elite base insight. The strength requirement is still pretty high, so you will need some kind of strength boosting equipment to use it. The Face of Horror is an easy option, but I despise the chance for monsters to run. Lionheart is another great option, but that means I will be looking for an ebug templar coat to go along with it.

Does anyone have a preference between these bases, or have other options that I haven't thought about?

 

[ioupain]

Lionheart requires HelLumFal (min rlvl 41), so at level 27 it is not an option...

EDIT: With zero stat bonuses, a merc can use an Eth Bill from level 25 (hired in Normal) or level 27 (hired in NM). All other exceptional polearm bases require some stat bonuses to either Str, Dex or sometimes both.

EDIT 2: On second reading of your post, I realised your whole post probably wasn't just talking about level 27...sorry!

EDIT 3: Here are some tables I made for myself, the 'True Level' rows are the levels the mercenary needs so that his base stats meet the requirements of the weapon.

[HIGHLIGHT]Act II Mercenary Polearm Tables[/HIGHLIGHT]

Act II Mercenary - Town Guard
                                                     NORMAL                                   EXCEPTIONAL                                                  ELITE                                             
                              Weapon                 Voulge Scythe Poleaxe Halberd War Scythe Bill        Battle Scythe Partizan Bec-de-Corbin Grim Scythe Colossus Voulge Thresher Cryptic Axe Great Poleaxe Giant Thresher
                              Weapon Speed           0      -10    10      0       -10        0           -10           10       0             -10         10              -10      10          0             -10
Non-Eth                       Strength Req           50     41     62      75      80         95          82            113      133           140         210             152      165         179           188
Non-Eth                       Dexterity Req          0      41     0       47      80         0           82            67       91            140         55              118      103         99            140
Non-Eth                       Level Req              1      1      1       1       1          25          25            25       25            25          48              53       59          63            66
Non-Eth                       True Level (NORMAL)    5      10     12      20      36         31          37            41       53            76          97              63       71          79            84
Non-Eth                       True Level (NIGHTMARE) 7      13     14      22      39         33          40            43       55            79          99              66       73          81            86
                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Ethereal                      Strength Req           40     31     52      65      70         85          72            103      123           130         200             142      155         169           178
Ethereal                      Dexterity Req          0      31     0       37      70         0           72            57       81            130         45              108      93          89            130
Ethereal                      Level Req              1      1      1       1       1          25          25            25       25            25          48              53       59          63            66
Ethereal                      True Level (NORMAL)    1      3      7       14      29         25          31            36       47            69          91              58       65          73            78
Ethereal                      True Level (NIGHTMARE) 2      6      9       16      32         27          33            38       49            72          93              60       67          75            81
                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                     Voulge Scythe Poleaxe Halberd War Scythe Bill        Battle Scythe Partizan Bec-de-Corbin Grim Scythe Colossus Voulge Thresher Cryptic Axe Great Poleaxe Giant Thresher
Attack speed [ticks]          Attacks per second     IAS    IAS    IAS     IAS     IAS        IAS         IAS           IAS      IAS           IAS         IAS             IAS      IAS         IAS           IAS
8                             2.77                                 0                                                    0                                  0                        0                         
7.5                           2.94                                 5                                                    5                                  5                        5                         
7                             3.12                   0             11      0                  0                         11       0                         11                       11          0             
6.5                           3.33                   9      0      22      9       0          9           0             22       9             0           22              0        22          9             0
6                             3.57                   20     8      35      20      8          20          8             35       20            8           35              8        35          20            8
5.5                           3.84                   37     22     56      37      22         37          22            56       37            22          56              22       56          37            22
5                             4.16                   63     42     89      63      42         63          42            89       63            42          89              42       89          63            42
4.5                           4.54                   105    75     147     105     75         105         75            147      105           75          147             75       147         105           75
4                             5                      200    142    292     200     142        200         142           292      200           142         292             142      292         200           142

 

[krischan]

Why not more than one? For leveling, I'm having Insight in an eth bill, partizan and thresher and the final one is a CV .

Act 2 merc gear plan:

At first, eth pike with +damage and %ed jewels and a cold and poison damage source, some armor and helm. Sigon's armor and helm as soon as the str reqs are met. At L27, Insight bill. Partizan when his str is high enough. L41: Vampire Gaze and Duriel's Shell. Griswold's armor with pamethysts as soon as its +50 str will make him meet the next better weapon. Crown of Thieves at L49, followed by Tal's helm at L63 because resists are more important for mercs than %DR.

It doesn't matter much though. Nightmare is usually finished easily, so I'm not always bothered with resurrecting the merc or changing his gear. If he's lagging behind level-wise from being dead all the time, I simply hire a new one - after stripping the old one of his gear, of course.

 

[smloeffelholz]

I completely forgot that the Merc was wearing Twitchthroe and a gemmed helm to equip the scythe at L27. I will keep my eye out for an ethereal 4os bill, so I can add that to my collection.

 

[T72on1]

Twitchthroe and Duskdeep at level 15. Changed for Treachery and Vamp Gaze whenever they meet the reqs. Then usually Fortitude, although @krischan's tip, Griswold's with perfect amethysts is a very good one, as it takes a long while before the merc has enough str for my Infinity for example.

But yes, while leveling it usually doesn't matter too much except for his Meditation aura, and even without it a MPK usually does the job just fine .

 

[ioupain]

Twitchthroe and Duskdeep at level 15.

I'm guessing you put these in the stash at level 15 and then use them at levels 16 and 17 respectively when they are able to be worn?

 

[T72on1]

Sorry yes. Was too lazy to look it up.

 

[zemaj]

Or just ATMA/GoMule them on, and wait until merc grows into them...

 

[helvete1]

Get your base for insight in 1.07 for even more imbaness.

I'm thinking of twinking a cleric/priest build (for the lols at the multiple meanings of the word twink). Eth insights in 1.07 bases from the moment he can equip them, with my character shooting "holy bolts" aka dubious white stuff on him. Pretty far down the todo list, however, and still need 1.07 eth sup pike with no sockets to drop, so he can rule even before insights.

 

[teddeeboy]

Also sometimes those rare helms can drop with 2os, some resists and life which are usable at clvl 18 .Perfect for stuffing 2 pamethysts and good for twinked play before rockstopper or gaze.

 

[D2DC]

I use Tancred's Helm/Armor with Amethyst to reach the Partizan's 103? str requirement right at lvl 27.

 

[smloeffelholz]

I have an eth Face of Horror which has plenty of strength to let you use an eth partizan. I just don't like the chance for monsters to run. I think I am just going to add an eth bill to my insight collection. That should fix the strength/dex problems without restricting the other equipment as much. It will also pack a pretty good punch until the merc can upgrade to the partizan.

 

[ioupain]

I think I am just going to add an eth bill to my insight collection.

I have changed one person's mind at least!

In any case, at level 27, especially with twinked casters who wield a Spirit sword, Wall of the Eyeless and The Eye of Etlich, the player is doing much more of the killing and the merc is merely a walking aura. So I don't think that damage numbers are all that important until later on. Of course the higher damage does help with life steal assuming he is wearing some on his other gear.

 

[T72on1]

Agreed. Insight Scythe ftw.

 

[krischan]

At L27, a merc will meet the reqs for an eth bill anyway, so why not using that one? Just pick up all grey billss until you have an ethereal one. Larzuk will add 4 sockets to it BTW, except those with an ilvl of 25 or less. More damage also means more leech (like 10% from Sigon's helm and armor) which will make him dies much less.

 

[smloeffelholz]

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for grey bills while I am questing with my bone necro. He is in A1 NM, so he should be in the prime areas for bills to be dropping.