Making my Frost Zealot uber-viable

[Ed from Russia]

Looking at my gear, I'm only 15 IAS short of reaching max attack speed, so I'd have to slot either my shield or helm with an IAS jewel. It would be great if I could slot my HoZ with a diamond instead of an IAS, and then slot the helm with an IAS. Maybe I could trade for a IAS + Resist All jewel?

I'm embarrassed to mention I never realized Meph's conviction aura drops you down 125%! Now I understand why everyone was worried about my resists. I can definitely add another 34 RA (diamond and 15 RA jewel) which would put me at -6C/29L/14F/64P after Meph's conviction. ........ That's pathetic.

Seems like Treachery is the answer. That's a whopping 60 RA, which would put me at 54C/89L/74F/124P. Any other more hassle-free methods of increasing my resists? I'd love to use my inventory for skill charms rather than RAs, but if that's my only option...

Treachery will give you IAS but you lose too much in other areas, mainly resists. I wouldn't go that way, and stick with CoH instead. If you only need 15% IAS you can get it elsewhere. A jewel with 15IAS/15res seems a good choice.

 

[Dokushinsha]

Oh, no, Treachery just as a pre-buff. Duration for the Fade via Treachery is 3.5 minutes, which hopefully is long enough to kill Meph.

 

[PailAil]

Lol, yeah, no one's suggesting to wear Treachery into Trist :laugh: I actually did that once by accident after prebuff; my CoH is AP and my Treach MP, so I didn't notice, and died... :undecided: then I was like WTF!? Noticed what I'd done, smacked myself, put CoH back on and busted back in Bruce Willis style to clean up :thumbsup:

I did find a better place to prebuff though!! Yesterday I was wandering around trying to find some close, consistently placed fire to stand in. If you go to the Frigid Highlands in ACT5, like you're doing a Shenk run, except when you run down the staircase, stay all the way to the left side of the screen. There are minimal minions, and if you keep going down a little you'll find a nice warm camp fire (no rocks around it) to stand in. ETA is about 10-15 seconds from WP; MUCH better than other suggestions I've seen, AND it's in ACT5, which is great for Uber runs :jig:

 

[maiku]

Reason being, you'll still hit the 4 fpa break point, keep the light absorb up, but you'll have an extra 30% slow on top of what your freeze aura will be doing. If you can slow everything down enough, you'll run circles around them and they'll be dead before they can turn to look at you. Maiku, what do u think on that?

I think that's very, very good. Slow Ubers = less damaging and threatening. It'll be like a Slowazon (to borrow the term from the Amazon forum and AB) but with a sword and shield. :smiley:

 

[maiku]

Looking at my gear, I'm only 15 IAS short of reaching max attack speed, so I'd have to slot either my shield or helm with an IAS jewel. It would be great if I could slot my HoZ with a diamond instead of an IAS, and then slot the helm with an IAS. Maybe I could trade for a IAS + Resist All jewel?

Resist all IAS jewel sounds like a good idea. Will cost $$ but it's well worth it, since it's so useful.

I'm embarrassed to mention I never realized Meph's conviction aura drops you down 125%! Now I understand why everyone was worried about my resists. I can definitely add another 34 RA (diamond and 15 RA jewel) which would put me at -6C/29L/14F/64P after Meph's conviction. ........ That's pathetic.

Yeah, I had to find out the hard way the first time I did a Trist run with my Tesladin. He had sort-of-okay resists in Hell but truly absymal (I think -60 to -80 on all) after I met Meph and his wonderful Conviction. I know this is a thread talking about Frost Zealots, but Meph and his Conviction (or any mini-boss and their stupid Conviction aura) are one of the reasons why I really like Conviction Zealots now. When I show up with Level 25 Conviction, theirs is automatically "broken" and theirs never takes effect, which means I never have my resists and defense lowered. I break their resists and defense with my Conviction, laughing at them the whole time. This should also be the case with Meph's Conviction, if you show up with a Level 21+ Conviction. You will break his, not suffer -125% to your resists, and he will suffer -150% to his resists, the poor SOB. Then you should proceed to Smite him to death while your resists remain maxed with minimal effort.

Seems like Treachery is the answer. That's a whopping 60 RA, which would put me at 54C/89L/74F/124P. Any other more hassle-free methods of increasing my resists? I'd love to use my inventory for skill charms rather than RAs, but if that's my only option...

Treachery is really nice. While the 15% DR from Fade won't do much, unless you get more %DR, the resists are really nice. Trigger Fade in a nice fire outside of the Harrogath gates. Takes 10-20 seconds. Put on other armour/gear as needed and proceed on rampage through Tristram. You can even wear a Treachery as normal armor (recommended in a 3os Archon, which can be found and made from a crude/crummy Archon repaired with cube recipe), but it requires *tweaking* other aspects of the build and stacking more %DR and straight DR so you can take a pounding without noticing.

 

[Lord Dingle Berry]

*Bump*

If sky's the limit on gear, could someone suggest a "perfect" setup for a frost zealot, with Ed from Russia's skill setup? ie. maxed Holy Freeze, but NO points in fanat. This would be geared towards making a frost zealot uber-viable.

Thanks.

I have not made one but i would suggest that u stack ur Frozen aura by using a doom zerker...

 

[skora]

Originally Posted by Lord Dingle Berry

I have not made one but i would suggest that u stack ur Frozen aura by using a doom zerker...

An item spawned aura won't stack with a player spawned aura. The -cold res is huge but a dream helm or shield with a cresent moon weapon will do more. But that gets away from a uber frost zealot.

Also to clear up another point, Conviction doesn't effect PSN res!!!!! So the idea of andy's further seems like a bad idea by hurting the fire res and stacking something that doesn't need to be stacked.

If you try the blackhorns/nof's, let me know how it goes. I'm very interested to see.

 

[PailAil]

I have not made one but i would suggest that u stack ur Frozen aura by using a doom zerker...

I had the same idea, but according to Orphan (http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5926092#post5926092), "Mercenary auras don't stack with item-based auras, no. The same principle applies as above, in that the higher level aura takes precendence."

Can anyone else confirm this?

 

[Dokushinsha]

Also to clear up another point, Conviction doesn't effect PSN res!!!!! So the idea of andy's further seems like a bad idea by hurting the fire res and stacking something that doesn't need to be stacked.

If you try the blackhorns/nof's, let me know how it goes. I'm very interested to see.

....... oh wtf?! lol, that's a good point about the poison, skora. The problem is now that I need to make up 20 IAS somewhere. ARGH!

Armor: Chains of Honor (65 RA)
Shield: HoZ (50 RA), slotted w/ 15 IAS 15 RA jewel
Gloves: Laying of Hands (20 IAS)
Boots: Gorerider
Rings: raven frost, wisp
Weapon: Last Wish
Belt: Nosferatu's Coil (10 IAS)
Amulet: Highlords (20 IAS, LR 35)
Helm: Blackhorn's (LR 15), slotted w/ 15 IAS 15 RA jewel
Charms: torch and anni (20 RA each)

115C/165L/115F/115P
-10C/40L/-10F/-10P (Uber Meph conviction)
46C/86L/46F/46P (w/ lvl 11 Fade = 56 RA)

I figured I'd be pessimistic, and assume the lvl 11 Fade on Last Wish would trigger even after I've cast the lvl 15 Fade via Treachery.

Does anyone feel I need to slap 2 RA grand charms into inventory to reach max resists?

It'll take a while to collect all of this, but I'm excited to try it out.

I hate to say something that might cause even more changes, but what about a Crown of Ages slotted with 2 IAS charms/runes? Is that a waste?

Also, I've never seen much discussion of Nightwing's Veil. What about using it for this build? Thoughts?

 

[skora]

Don't forget, you get a wooping +50 FR from Laying of Hands too, which will complete FR after meph also. The last res, SINCE PSN ISN'T EFFECTED BY CONVICTION, is the CR, and +29 CR off of 3 scs is cheap and very easy to get.

Even if you just prebuff with LW fade, it should be recast while in there, so going in, you'll have your res at max going right after Meph.

Now, for your IAS, you have +80 right now. With a Pb, zeals 4 fpa only needs 72 IAS and for smite at 6 fpa, you only need 65. So you are set for both!!!!

Night wings is nice, but the bulk of your damage isn't going to be cold based and you are fine on skill levels. I'd pass on that one. Most damage in Trist is elemental based, so the DR from CoA isn't used like it would be in a normal PvM situation and since all your bases are covered, why spend the extra wad on it?

Go with what you have, you are set!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again, make sure you have a mule to pick up the torch since you can only carry one.

PailAil - No, as I stated above, equipment based auras do not stack with player spawned auras.

 

[PailAil]

good points skora, and thnx for answering that question.

 

[Dokushinsha]

Good lord, sounds like I'm finally set for Tristram. It'll be interesting to see how things go with 30 percent to slow.

Thamks for everyone's help!

 

[skora]

Good lord, sounds like I'm finally set for Tristram. It'll be interesting to see how things go with 30 percent to slow.

Thamks for everyone's help!

Don't forget, you're slvl 29 Holy Freeze will slow by 55-56% by itself. So you're total slow will be in the 85%+ range.

No prob pailail.

 

[Cdnexpat]

I think the best weapon to use it Astreon's. When you stack enough slow it really screws with the ubers AI

Blackhorn's face
Metal grid
Astreon's
HOZ pdiamond
Chain's of honor dusk shroud
Draculs
24x 20dex Raven 2x
Nos coil
Gores

or

Giant skull
High lords
doom BA or ettin
Chains of honor
hoz pdiamond
draculs
TGods
2x raven
Gores
and run conviction. This set-up actually makes the ubers somewhat boring.



Skora

We will fight for bovine freedom
And hold our large heads high
We will run free with the Buffalo, or die

 

[Dokushinsha]

Hey all. Well... looks like I'm stuck in a rut at the moment, namely that I'm unable to obtain Last Wish. Haha! I don't think I realized how difficult it is to trade for a good one, and I also neglected to mention I play on softcore non-ladder. I'm still shooting to get a good LW, but in the meantime, my build is a bit fuxored.

So... I was gifted a near perfect Beast, and again, need some expert advise on building my guy.

Weapon: Beast (40ias, 20CB)
Helm: Guillaume's (35CB) + 15 ias/15 RA jewel (thank god I hadn't slotted this yet)
Armor: Chains of Honor (65RA)
Shield: HoZ (50RA) + 15 ias jewel
Gloves: Dracul's
Belt: Nosferatu's Coil (10ias)
Boots: Gores (15CB)
Amulet: ???
Ring1: Ravenfrost
Ring2: ???
Plus torch, anni, and treachery fade prebuff (100RA)

With this setup, I'm at max attack speed, 50 away from hitting max resists even after UberMeph, and have 70 crushing blow.

So, the question is what should I fill the 2 missing slots with? Namely, amulet and ring2?

Amulet seems obvious, as 50 resists are hard to make up otherwise. Seems like it comes down to Mara's or Metalgrid for Tristram, and maybe Seraph's for PvM? Thoughts?

Ring2... maybe Wisp's for Tristram and then Bul-Kathos for PvM?

This setup seems much more attainable, given my lack of gfg items to trade. I'd love any suggestions, corrections, glaring holes I've missed, etc. HELP please!!

 

[PailAil]

Nice set up so far. I'd put on Highlord's for ammy, lots of IAS & DS, +skills, and 35% light res. For ring 2 either Wisp or a gg rare, dual leech, +res, +str or +dex, etc.

Also, as long as you're using Beast's 40IAS, you could switch your belt to either an upped TGods, or Dungos. (the huge +vit helps survivability).

Only thing you gotta worry about now is Life Tap, since you don't have Exile or Last Wish. Your dracs will kick in eventually, but if you're having trouble try an LT wand, they're shopable.

 

[maiku]

Hmm, provided you find yourself leeching well enough, I recommend adding in a 2nd Ravenfrost for more AR, Dex, etc. and more cold absorb never hurt (so you don't die in one hit from Meph's icy ball of death). However, if you can find a very good resist ring or dual leech ring, consider those too. Highlord's Wrath amulet would be my pick, for the +1 skills, lightning resist, and Deadly Strike. More DS = more damage = more leech. Highlord's is my favorite amulet on most Zealot or melee paladin builds. Just too many useful mods to pass up.

 

[Dokushinsha]

As always, you guys are very helpful. I'm sold on Highlord's, but that does leave me at 50 resist all (and 85 lightning resist) after UberMeph's aura with this setup. I'd also be at 100 ias, with 75 ias needed to hit max fpa.

Weapon: Beast (40ias, 20CB)
Helm: Guillaume's (35CB) + 15 ias/15 RA jewel
Armor: Chains of Honor (65RA)
Shield: HoZ (50RA) + 15 ias jewel
Gloves: Dracul's
Belt: Nosferatu's Coil (10ias)
Boots: Gores (15CB)
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath (20ias, 35 lightning resist)
Ring1: Ravenfrost
Ring2: Ravenfrost or Wisp
Plus torch, anni, and treachery fade prebuff (100RA)

First off, is 50 resist all and 85 lightning resist with a Wisp good enough to survive UberMeph? Is the Wisp even necessary?

As PailAil suggested, I could replace the Nosferatu with Thundergods or Verdungos. What's the argument for either one, given my existing equip (especially Highlord's)? It seems like Tgods is very useful for Tristram, and Dungos for regular PvM. Is that accurate?

 

[Dokushinsha]

Err.... haha, not more than 2 hours after I posted that, I had a Verdungos drop for me. I guess my question as to what belt I'd be going with is answered.

 

[maiku]

I think you should be all right on resists. 85% LR is good enough for Ubers, IMO. Although maybe upping your fire resist a bit more via small charms of like 10-11% fire resist would help out. If going with extra Ravenfrost, don't worry about maxing cold resistance, as your cold absorb should take the punch out of any cold attacks. Just worry about fire and lightning.

Chains, Dracs, and Nosferatu's Coil should give you a lot of leech, and after LT fires, you will be very hard to kill when smiting or zealing. The important thing about resists is that they'll help you survive until LT procs.

Thundergod's Vigor gives generous boosts to Vitality and Strength (+20 to both, IIRC), in case you need them, ups your max LR, and has 20 or 25 lightning absorb on it. I have one on my Conviction Zealot, and Gloams heal him in Hell. The healing effect starts to happen when you have about 60 or 70% LR. Once Fade procs, he's pretty hard to kill. But against Ubers, you really won't be facing Gloam-deadly lightning attacks from what I remember. It's usually Meph's poison, painful physical attacks, and icy ball of death that cause some trouble. Thundergod's will add extra hp, though, in case you need it and make lightning worries a thing of the past.

Verdungo's offers +30-40 Vitality (and that adds up to a lot of hp), 10-15% PDR, 10% FHR, and some other minor mods. Basically it'll add even more hp than a Thundergod's will and make you a tougher cookie to crack if someone's beating on you. However, as far as resists go, it's lacking. Useful if you want to stack it with more items granting %PDR, like a nice Vampire Gaze, Stormshield, CoH, or even Fade's 15% PDR, I think, and your resists are good.

Some guys prefer Dungos, Thundergod's, etc. I usually like to test different setups which I think will benefit my builds, then make choices accordingly. I don't really favor one belt over the other. It depends on your needs and what you see as your playing and testing things. If you have more than enough life (1300+ hp) thanks to hefty Vitality, Dungos or Thundergod's may not add much to your build. If you don't, their hp boosts and other mods could be very useful.

Edit: Just saw your post after I wrote this response. It's quite all right to go with Dungos then, now that you have one at your disposal.