Critique my K/T please

I just recently started playing again, and I wanted some opinions on my gear to see if any upgrades were available or just general opinions on anything.

Helm: Guillame's Face

Amulet: 20 res Mara's

Weapon: Stormlash with a Shael Rune

Armor: Chains of Honor Great Hauberk

Shield: Stormshield

Gloves: Dracul's Grasp

Belt: Verdungo's but I realized I'm over DR cap with this, so I plan to use Tgod's

Boots: Upgraded Gore Riders

Ring: Raven Frost

Ring: Manald Heal

0 Venom

1 Shadow Master

Rest is cookie cutter with excess points dumped into LS synergy

I believe my resists with BOS are around 40 for fire and poison, and I am capped at 75 for lightning and cold in hell.

I am leaving most of my gear unsocketed atm until I finish my setup and decide on what would be the best sockets

I had a really tough time deciding on which armor to use, because I won't be able to hit 7/3 with COH and stormlash, but I really like the +2 skills and massive resistances. I could see Duress being a viable alternative and it would allow me to hit the 7/3 frame

I would like to remove the Shael Rune and socket the Stormlash with something else(maybe a ber eventaully to get more CB), but I'm unsure of how to figure out if I'm at 9/3 or 8/3 because the ias tables only calculate for 7/3?

What charms would you recommend? I've heard lightning damage small charms are great, as well as trap skill grand charms.

Also what armor and helm would you recommend for a Mercenary? Infinity is the obvious best choice for a weapon but we'll work on that:P

I basically want the ability to PvM any part of the game as best as possible

Again I welcome any critique or opinions from people that are more experienced with this variant class to help me build the best char possible

Thanks|||The gear's pretty solid.

For sockets in helm or shield, probably res/ias. It'll help vs conviction packs, lower res and almost gets you to 7/3 on kicks.

To actually hit 7/3, you'll need a Shael in the stormlash, 2x IAS jewels and either highlords amulet or a different armor so you can socket another IAS jewel.

IMO, it's too much hassle to get the last frame. You're good with 8/3.



To find the speed, you would need to convert your IAS to what the game uses--EIAS.


Code:

EIAS --> IAS conversion formula:
EIAS = (120*IAS)/(120+IAS)

Once we have that figure, we add in how WSM interacts with it. We'd take the value from the Arreat Summit (-10 for a scourge), multiply it by -1 and add it to the EIAS.

The IAS from BoS isn't regular item IAS, but is direct EIAS, and is added to it.

An example:

Stormlash no Shael

(120*30)/(120+30)

24 (add in the 10 from the WSM) + 10 = 34 EIAS.

The second post of the IAS Tables has the list of EIAS.

[quote]

Dragon Talon Initial Kick EIAS Table:


Code:

EIAS Fpa
-30 18
-27 17
-23 16
-18 15
-13 14
-7 13
0 12
9 11
19 10
31 9
45 8
63 7

Dragon Talon Follow-Up Kick EIAS Table:


Code:

EIAS Fpa
-30 6
-19 5
0 4
34 3

Plain, it hits 9/3.

With a Shael, the IAS is 50, so use the above and we get 45 EIAS, which is 8/3.



To get 7/3, a -10 WSM weapon needs 95 IAS. Stormlash covers 30% by itself, and Shael is another 20, but you need 45 IAS. It's just not worth the 1 extra frame.





Armor and Helm...I'd say fort + vampire gaze. Plenty of damage, dr, leech and defense.



And this build is capable of doing all areas. With a little more res focus, it can do UT as well.|||Thanks, your ias explanation really helped a lot.

I guess I can unsocket the shael and stick a ias/res jewel in my helm since 5% of the shael's ias is wasted. Guess Um in the Stormshield for more resists? What would be a good socket for the Stormlash at that point. Ber would be great, but that's a little impractical atm.

Would an ethereal shaftstop be better than the fortitude for the DR on the merc? or do the pros of fortitude just outweigh the DR?|||You don't need more CB. Jah or Eth would work well.

You can use shaftstop. The merc's armor usually doesn't matter much. I just used those two items since they're common.|||Levi's has always worked for me for merc armour. Even better if its eth. (15-25%dr and 40-50 str) While the helm depends on what you want it to do. If you depend on him for physical damage, then a Guliarmes would probably be the best while an Andys or Vamp gaze would increase his survivability. On that note, a good idea to free up your weapon socket, get your hands on an Andys, which gives you 20% ias (as well as 2 all skills and a bunch of strength).|||i don't believe levi can spawn ethereal cause it has the indestructible mod

and yeah, i thought about andy's helm, but the -fr bothered me, and guillame's is just too sexy|||Thats why almost every andys you see has a ral in it, though you can add an um or something else and make up with a few 10% fire res/20 life sc's. Guliarmes is indeed damn sexy, but lacks the IAS and skills, as well as the max poison res that I love about andys.|||Andy's also misses CB, which you need a Ber to make up for it. You don't need the speed, and it's mostly CB vs + skill.|||a socket quest on g-face is not a waste... nice kicker, i like mine to have venom though.|||Yeah, I will prolly end up picking 1 point in Venom next level and let +skills boost it.

I don't really think maxing it is optimal though since repeated kicks dont stack the damage