Why do people dislike Dirge of Arkovia?

[gienekman]

I've been reading forums in transit and i saw people saying dirge of arkovia is just soso and i'm seriously curious why.

My cabalist is running with one right now and i got a lucky +18% total speed on it. It's almost like running with a second manipulation and after the patch total speed is very sparse on devotion tree so i think it's amazing.
Faster pets = safer owner

What am i not seeing that's missing from this relic? Even without the skeletal servant it's still amazing.

[Neit]

I like Dirge of Arkovia, it's great relic for that level and I keep one around in shared stash and use it when leveling pet Necro builds. Stats are okay, especially for vitality builds, it's usefulness is a bit lower as of 1.2.1 because it changed flat -> % damage, but it's still very nice. And servant is just cool, it's powerful enough stat-wise and looks great for Necro-themed builds, since it fits the arsenal nicely.

Mogdrogen's Ardor is insanely powerful and universal relic for any pet-based build, thanks to nice pet bonuses (including the Total Speed you've mentioned) and +1 all skills, which is exceedingly rare stat.

Bysmiel's Domination is the another popular choice, especially pre-1.2.1, Physical Resist boost it provided was often too good to pass and it was a nice piece of gear that made you almost immortal. And it also provides Total Speed bonus, although this time only within proc. And overall the bonuses are again quite nice.

So compared to Dirge of Arkovia, these two might just be better and more universal options, while Dirge remains situational, as it's vitality Necro oriented and therefore not-that-great for most of the builds. And even with vitality Necro, you might simply find other stats more useful than what Dirge can provide.