There's a reason why Blizzard has changed up Plague's stats slightly. Plague's order is now Cham + Shael and diablo II resurrected items Um, which is which is a significant cost, but also an exciting new way to use the under-utilized Cham rune. The Plague that's been updated Plague is a strange new build with an extremely specific usage. Everyone is trying their best to determine what the reasons to choose Plague in lieu of Hoto perhaps even potent melee weapon such as Grief or Breath of the Dying.
The most significant change is that Plague uses socketed 3 swords instead of general weapons. Another change is that -1 is added for All Skills, and the removal of the +strength attribute since Fal has been ceased to be in use. In addition, enhanced damage was added to the game, which is a huge bonus for raw damage. The other stats are basically the same.
Plague was odd at beginning, but it also had some uses, maybe for casters. YouTuber Drunski125 notes the fact that Plague is restricted to swords is a mistake.
"If you had the option of using it in the form of scepters. For example, imagine having a 3-point Fist of the Heavens Scepter you roll Plague in, gives you cleansing aura and additional skill point, which is an incentive for something other than Hoto. Let's say that for a trapsin you receive the +3 light sentry and +3 claw of death, you could roll Plagueand get +4 to cheap d2r items trapsand cleansing aura--again, more reason to try something other than Hoto. "Blizzard hasn't announced the date Diablo 2 Resurrect's v2.4 will be released.