"Insight" vs Reaper's Toll

[dmg1]

So, I haven't played in a while and it seems that an eth elite "Insight" is the merc weapon de jour. I've always been a huge fan of Reaper's Toll becuase of decent dmg+15% ll+decrepify pwns faces en mass. Meditation aura is nice, but doesn't really affect dmg output if you can manage your mana. Is "Insight" just a cheap starter merc weapon or is there something else I'm missing here?

[sirpoopsalot]

Well, Insight can get pretty decent damage too. And since sorcs do ~98% of the killing (as opposed to their merc), having a constant mana supply from the Insight is often helpful to keeping your progress rolling along (or if you just feel like being lazy and not bothering with the occasional potion - and let's face it, most of us like being lazy). You can also put Insight on a Prayer merc and get ~60 hitpoints per second regeneration, which is quite nice for melee and nova sorcs - not to mention the great mana regeneration that Insight provides for any sorc using EnergyShield.

Also, it's very easy to get the runes to make an Insight, and if it's in a low-end polearm it's a great early-game weapon. I have one in an ethereal Halberd that kicks butt all through Normal, and another in a Partizan that's very solid through Nightmare too.


Reaper's is still a very nice weapon though, especially if you need crowd control more than mana.

[MYK]

I like the RT on ES builds as they generally need a nice weapon to kill immunes. And it just so happens that RT is one of the better weapons in the game that make your mercenary a super tank.

However, as Sirpoops points out, it's effects are diminished on multi elemental builds, as you do the lion's share of the killing.

[dmg1]

The sorc's merc that RT is on is a pure blizz build, so I want him to be able to tank packs of cold immunes. @ lvl 85 I guess I really don't run into any mana issues except when I'm teleporting and I still have yet to score a shako.

Also, I just remembered last night that decrep negates physical immunity. Decrep also makes Meph and Baal tankable for mercs.

I just had a Stormspire drop last night while clearing WSK, so I might try that on him for a little bit though...just for poops'n'chuckles.

[KTang]

I use eth reapers on my merc and I must say, its SO good.

I'm waiting for some mana pumping sojs/hoto etc before I use it, but the few times I've tried it on Mephisto and Minions, honestly, hes a God. With upg eth duriels and Andy face, he never dies because hes pumping out some great damage with some high defiance capability.

Decripify is so great. Mephisto/baal = mince meat :)

KT