1: Creep helps spread our damage which is especially important in places with many ranged enemies like fauzt. both VoR and path only deal damage directly around us. Hive helps with this a little but doesn't proc clouds THAT often. Couple trinity novas in a row will clear a good-sized dunc pack in a pretty wide radius. Switching to VoJ instead of VoR endgame is something i've considered for this purpose too but haven't tried yet.
2: for sewers I make sure to keep summons up and just telestomp packs. too dangerous to run around in here
you can use RoL too, especially early game. It's not the best sewers farmer, but it works well enough to get us the 12 sk1 we need for creep and 6x fire armor without too much frustration.
I wouldn't use ssu buckler. 20% all ele absorb from tu shield > 75% magic damage, especially since it's so easy to cap VoR's damage endgame.