I am level 71 and I can visit terror zones in Nightmare which are also level 71, or I can progress with the story line in Hell, Act 1, which is, more or less, early 70s.
As I am a bit undergeared, I am looking for a Exceptional Polearm and a 3 socket good helmet for my merc (Bulkwark), and a Pul rune to make ENlightment for myself.
I must have levelled over 10-15 levels, and have only come across 3-4 exceptional polearms, and sadly did not manage to get 4 sockets on any of them. And I have only found one helmet, a Death Mask, but was looking for a grand crown if possible, not to mention ethereal.
As Hell is too hard for me, for lack of gear, resistances etc, my question would be, is it better to be looking for the items I need in the terror zones, or in act I Hell? For reference for the exceptional polearms I need area level greater than 50-ish, and for the helmet, again 55 or over, so in therory both terror zones in NM or Hell act I will do, except it goes MUCH faster in NM terror zones than in Hell Act I.
While Hell is great for opening up access to higher end drops, more body count in the same timeframe is what is important for decreasing the time needed to acquire the items you’re after. And if you’re just after stepping stone gear, which a lot of that can be found in NM, then keep rolling with NM TZ’s. You’ll eventually drop a Partizan and a 3 socket helm for your merc (hopefully eth), perhaps even a Pul rune.
Don’t forget that you can use the cube socket recipes on plain non superior items (can be ethereal) for a chance to get the socket count you’re after.
Yes but I have been unlucky so far…
I will stay in NM then. Suspiciously, I have noticed that there are FEWER monsters in the terror zones than same zones but non terror, perhaps it is my imagination…
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That’s just RNG testing your patience… 
As long as you keep after it, you’ll eventually get what you’re looking for.
Unfortunately, by the time you may find what you need, you have already gone 20 levels past it. In other words, the campaign is a hard slog, and does require a lot of time grinding, in order to be able to progress to the next level in a semi-decent form. Not blitzing through, but at the same time, not making each “zombie” into a boss fight.
Levelling up your next character ought to be easier, if you pass on gear from your high level toons, but that also kind of defeats the purpose of SSF.
For D2… Easy enough. 
“think” about it…
RaR.
Lel:
My Terror Zones are level 71 (I am level 74). If Mephisto is in the terror zone, is he now level 71? Otherwise the zone is level 55. If he is level 71 does he drop better stuff?
In your case, Mephisto is level 74 (3 levels above TZ, like all elite monsters you’ll encounter there).
I think Baal would be level 75, because his level without TZ is 75, above the elite TZ level, and in that case they take the highest of the two.
PS : You’ll notice that exceptional and elite version of weapons and armors drop a lot less than their normal counterparts, no matter where you fight.
OK, but does that mean he can now drop items of higher quality level?
Go underground in aact 5 nm for exceptional eth gear eg., the mountain and Halls of Anguish and Pain.
Nightmare Cows are a solid place to farm too, as are Hell Act 1 Pits provided you’re able to kill Cows and anything that is FCL immune relatively easily. Also remember that on Hell Difficulty, A1 is a nice area to farm if you’re short on gear. Countess keys/runes, Spike Fiends have higher odds for runes, as do Ghosts and Nightmare Cows will drop Hell quality items(like Monarch shields and other Elite bases, not to mention runes).