Is this good smite gear?

I have

Helm - Gface
Gloves - Laying of Hands
Boots - Goblin toes
Belt - String of Ears
Ammy - Mahim-Oak Curio
Rings - ravenfrost/ Dwarf Star
Weapon - Black Flail (want astreons iron Ward)
Shield - I don't have yet maybe HOZ
Armor - IDK yet (I have duriels shell, I've seen it recommended before but idk, and a Treachery)

I'm not rich so if you say "go with COH" please suggest a lower cost item to replace the GG gear.. it doesn't have to be the most budget items either..

Duress for Chest

Seems alright but you definitely need some draculs grasp or a Wand with Life Tap charges. The wands can be purchased from vendors like Drognan in a2 or Malah in a5. Duress is a great budget armor and also highlords when and if you can afford.

If you need I have a blood tap Wand and I would recommend a better amulet to. Even a Seraphs Hymn 2pally skills 1 def auras can also give you or Cresent moon 14% mana leech 3% life leech. I think I got some draws to if you need.

Blood Belt for open wounds if you don't use Dracul's Grasp

For cheap(ish) upgrades I agree with some of the already mentioned stuff above. Dracul’s Grasp is a borderline must for gloves to get that Life Tap going.

Duress is an awesome budget armor piece, I think it’s the most overlooked armor in the game. It’s very offensive so when I was in more budget mode I actually paired it with a Kira’s Guardian for a while. GFace is awesome for sure but I feel like it pairs better with a more all around armor piece.

You may want to look into getting the lightning resists up for Uber Meph too. A decent roll Wisp Projector isn’t too costly of a ring option and same with Thundergod’s Vigor at the Belt slot.

could use Salvation for Uber Mephisto. or swap to Wizardspike.

For Shield- highly recommend a 4 PDiamond Sacred Targe or Rondache with circa 40 base resist. This will give you nearly max resists on its own.

For armor, would recommend a Guardian Angel with a socket added and Um in it. This will add 15% to max resists which makes life alot easier.

With this setup, use level 21+ Conviction to deal with Mephisto, messing around with Treachery Fade proc is a waste of time...

Also yeah dracules are a little expensive but make life so freakin easy without worrying about lifetap Wand on switch - highly recommend when you can afford.

I choose Grief in the weapon slot, but used Astreon's ironward before - i did some testing (4 runs each) and realized the Tristram runs with Grief equipped came up about 25 seconds faster than with astreons - even if my astreons is only a +3 skill and mid +dmg. i wonder why it often not even mentioned in guides. Grief is clearly the better choice and can be used on other chars way better, but just to be able to do ubers- not worth the prize of a Lo in my opinion.

If running Uber then not good enough. You need max lightening resist at least or you may be killed instantly, EVEN after you cancel Uber Melphisto's Conviction aura.