What andys would you choose?

It's my first ladder ever so bear with me.
I've found ethereal Andariel's Visage today for the first time. 9 ll, 26 str, 475 def. My current one is 10 ll, 30 str, 370 def (non Eth).
Would you replace it? Why or why not?
If it helps my merc already has Fortitude with ~2300 def.

You'll get far more out of trading the ethereal one. Like 6-15x more.

I've also never believed in giving the merc the most valuable gear if it doesn't also directly help you because he's still going to do something stupid to die anyway. In this case, your non-ethereal one has better offensive attributes in exchange for 105 defense which won't make a significant difference in your merc's chance to get hit.

Snakecharmed wrote: 3 years ago

You'll get far more out of trading the ethereal one. Like 6-15x more.

I've also never believed in giving the merc the most valuable gear if it doesn't also directly help you because he's still going to do something stupid to die anyway. In this case, your non-ethereal one has better offensive attributes in exchange for 105 defense which won't make a significant difference in your merc's chance to get hit.

But that’s the thing, ethereal one costs 7 times more but I don’t get why. Is this just a swag?

Short answer? Yes.
Long answer? Yes, with a small but.

All the Eth does over non- Eth is giving your merc extra defense which will get multiplied by Fortitude's Chilling Armor trigger. He/she will have a slightly better chance to not get hit. We are talking mostly 1% here.
Is this 1% worth Lo to Ber compared to Ist or Vex?

What I consider when getting an ethereal helmet is the socket. I wouldn't socket a non- Eth Andariel's Visage with a 15IAS/25+FR that costs Ohm to Ber because the base itself is kinda worthless. I feel better when I socket the Eth. And I wouldn't consider using an ethereal 8-9LL over non- Eth 10LL. Or 10/25 Eth over 10/30 Non- Eth.