Need advice Frost zealot.

[Talbadar]

Need advice Frost zealot.

Hey i'm a new player and as my first char i'm trying to build a frost zealot.
Now i have reached nightmare i noticed i start missing mobs and the ice effect doesnt procc wich is really annoying and lowers my output by a lot.

im trying to make him :

+20 holy freeze
+20 resist cold
+20 salvation
+5 zeal
+20 holy shield

Also for gear i don't really know what to aim for can someone guide me in the correct direction and wich merc to use?

 

[khuzgan]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

If you have problems hitting monsters, you should go for more than 5 hard points in zeal. I'd drop salvation in favour of zeal, since it adds alot less frost dmg than resist cold, and those last points means little unless you actually hit with the attacks.
You could also consider an eth-rune socketed weapon to hit more often.

What you want on a frost zealot to make it viable in hell and still keep it cheap is:
* Some crushing blow (more is better, but as low as 25-30% can work fine for starters). Crafted blood gloves will help a bit. Duress runeword is really good if you get an UM-rune to drop.
* A source of open wounds. Consider crafting a blood belt if nothing else is available for you.
* Cannot be frozen. Getting chilled is a pain on any melee character and could be lethal.
* Decent resists (75 light/fire, 50 cold) is desirable. With better gear and more hp, you can make it with lower values, but start safely if it's your first char ever (especially if HC).
* Max block. Try to get a shield with good base block to avoid spending too much dex.
* A fast weapon and some IAS to hit at least the 5 FPA zeal breakpoint. If you can hit the 4 FPA breakpoint, so much the better.

Also, some manaleech can be nice, but only if your weapon deals enough physical dmg to actually help you leech some. Same goes for lifeleech.

Regarding merc, one from act 2 will help you the most if new to the game, and since you are the crowd control with holy freeze, I'd suggest might. Defiance could be nice too, but you will not have that high a base defence on a budget anyways, so is maybe not as helpful. Equip him with a big hurtystick of whatever to help kill stuff, and some lifeleech for survival. Later on you can optimize his equipment (pretty much any zealot guide, or other guide for that matter, gives some tips on what to give him to help you out.)

 

[uh...ok]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

If you're having trouble hitting mobs... have you considered a Blessed Aim merc?

 

[Scoobydoo]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Now i have reached nightmare i noticed i start missing mobs and the ice effect doesnt procc wich is really annoying and lowers my output by a lot.

...

Also for gear i don't really know what to aim for can someone guide me in the correct direction and wich merc to use?

Not connecting our attacks does seem to be a constant pain when it comes to Holy Fire/Freeze/Shock aura users (I'm currently building a HolyShock Riftadin myself). My advice would be to seek out ITD (Ignore Target Defense) weapons as they will solve your problem with regular mobs. The Unique mobs and Bosses however will require us to have some real means to land our attacks to deliver our elemental dmg that comes from our aura. Switching to a 1point smite attack combined with some form of CB will help in this respect; since Smite will connect [strike]with[/strike] without the need for AR, but by actually having a decent amount of AR seems the most efficient means of dealing with the problem.

I agree with uh...ok's recommendation of hiring an act 2 merc with Blessed Aim aura to makeup for your shortcoming in the AR dept. You should also be looking at your choice of gear to attain a decent amount of AR. Some fairly to MF or trade gear includes the following; and the list goes on.

• Angelic Rings & Amulet combo (arguably the most popular choice)
• Hsarus Boots & Belt combo
• Rare or Unique Helms with Visionary mod (adds a % of AR based on your character level; level 50 gives a bonus of 50% to your AR)
• Lava Gout Gloves (for the Enchant proc to give 101%AR)
• Sander's Boots (40FRW, 100AR, 10dex, 5str)
• IK Boots (40FRW, 110AR, 44life) - additional pieces gives extra AR
• Etc.

im trying to make him :

+20 holy freeze
+20 resist cold
+20 salvation
+5 zeal
+20 holy shield

I rarely like to interfere with themed builds which I believe we derive the most fun playing, but here are some recommendations.

Your build seems like a straight-up Pure Cold build, not particularly optimal or advisable for Hell games since you will face Cold Immuned mobs. A slight tweak to your skill selection should compensate for this.

Defensive Aura
20 Resist Cold (remains unchanged)

Offensive Aura
1 Might (prerequisite)
1 Holy Fire (prerequisite)
20 Holy Freeze (remains unchanged)
** Blessed Aim ([strike]optimal[/strike] optional - every hard point invested here gives a passive 5%AR bonus)

Combat Skills
1+ Sacrifice (not advised if you do not have enough skill points to spare, and do not have a decent weapon to actually make full use of the dmg bonus it gives; remember your zeal dmg & sacrifice synergy is still based on your weapon of choice)
10+ or 20 Zeal (recommended - every level gives an additional 10%AR to your zeal attack & every beyond level 5 adds a little % boost to your dmg; this can be attained with +skill gear without hard investment)
1 Smite (prerequisite)
1 Holy Bolt (prerequisite)
1 Blessed Hammer (prerequisite)
10+ or 20 Holy Shield

By reallocating the skill points that you have originally invested into Salvation for the Holy Freeze synergy, and putting them into Zeal; you can boost your current AR and hopefully enough to not miss too often.

 

[uh...ok]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

It should be noted that even in the (perhaps outdated) guide for Frost Zealot, the "cold emphasis" build sinks 20 points into Zeal - and in fact recommends that you get 10-15 points into Zeal before pumping Resist Cold, and then to finish maxing out Zeal before Salvation. And you *shouldn't* need that many points into Holy Shield - additional points in Holy Shield beyond ~5-10 are mostly to compensate for lack of gear (a good shield or dex-boosting items) while still allowing you to invest a minimal number of points into dex.

http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Guide:Frost_Zealot_v1.10,_by_Kitriara#Emphasis_on_cold_damage

At least that's the guide I'm following.

 

[magicrectangle]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Duress runeword is really good if you get an UM-rune to drop.

If he gets an um it would be better spent in Crescent Moon PB for the ITD, CtC static, and speed. ITD is pretty essential for an elemental zealot without conviction.

But he's just starting nightmare so he's not to that point yet. Black in a Knout would be pretty good for him, no ITD but a bunch of AR, it is fast, and crushing blow.

Smoke in whatever 2os exceptional armor he can find will help survivability.

Voice of Reason is often cited as a good low level (43) frost zealot weapon, but the lack of ITD and ED turns me off. IMHO the best use of the lem rune if you get it is Treachery - the venom proc is outstanding, the fade proc is outstanding, the IAS is outstanding.

2 or 3 piece Sigon remains good even into nightmare, with big attack rating bonus on the hat and IAS on the gloves (shield optionally just for awesomeness).

And of course I'll echo what others have said, you need to max zeal, both to increase your physical damage for the cold immunes, and especially to increase your attack rating (even if you have ITD, it doesn't work against champions uniques and bosses).

 

[Scoobydoo]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

I'd been giving some thoughts on weapons for your Freezadin, and here are some easily to make and relatively cheap runeword based weapons that might help you if you are having a hard time MFing suitable ones.

1. Black (Thul + Io + Nef) 3 Socket Clubs/Hammers/Maces
   
   Huge stats for a cheap price; 40CB, 200AR, 15IAS, but the Knockback mod with zeal might need some getting used to.
   
   
2. Honor (Amn + El + Ith + Tir + Sol) 5 Socket Melee Weapons
   
   +1skill, 20DS, 250AR, 7LL, 10str, but no IAS (otherwise it would probably be the best mid level gear around)
   
   
3. Crescent Moon (Shael + Um + Tir) 3 Socket Axes/Swords/Polearms
   
   ITD, Static Proc, 20IAS, 20OW. Best made in Phase Blades to capitalize on it's speed and indestructibility.
   
   
4. Passion (Dol + Ort + Eld + Lem) 4 Socket Weapons
   
   "50-80% Bonus AR" !!! 25IAS, +1 Zeal, Lv3 Heart of Wolverine charges (for additional AR/Dmg). The 25% cause Monster To Flee mod might need some getting used to too, but shouldn't pose much of a problem.

 

[oOmpie]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

I used to play some frosties on hardcore and imho one of the best early/mid-lvl poor man's weapons for him is the Crushflange. Shael it and start knocking skulls.

Black as mentioned is neat as well if you've got the runes. It's annoying every now and then with the knockback thingy, but it turns out it's pretty decent crowd control on hardcore.

Basically you want to aim for big AR, IAS, Resists ans CB.
20 Zeal is a must, imho. Holy shield can be kept at 5 or so, salvation is your last skill to max out.
I usually ended up with a basic set of a shaeled 'flange, bloodfists or good crafted blood gloves, a spirit shield and since most of 'em were untwinked it varied from there.

Mostly resists on hat and ammy, ar/resists on rings.

 

[Necronium]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

I agree with voice of reason being a very nice weapon, but that kinda changes the build focus from holy freeze. I would go with a bstar, or an aldurs mace even for starting out. I find aldurs is pretty awesome for as cheap as it is. Lightsabers, ginthers rifts, heavens lights, butchers pupil, headstriker, are all some easily acquired weapons that are decent but not mind blowing. They will get the job done.

treachery is an awesome armor and is very friendly for new characters. The mods on it are all useful for a melee build.

I too recommend maxing zeal for the damage and AR purposes. If you have to make sacrifices for now, you can just not put points into salvation until you acquire some better gear.



NOW THIS IS PURELY AN IDEA FOR WHEN YOU HAVE AQUIRED SOME WEALTH

For later on why not go for a doomz for the weapon when you can afford it.

The cold aura can be boosted by synergies, and that will free up 20 hard points for something like conviction which will increase your cold damage, and also make up for any lack of Ar cause by a low level zeal.

Then you could go:

20-Zeal
20-Conviction
20-Salvation
20-Resist cold

this leaves some extra points to dump into sacrifice(for more damage) or holy shield which will help with blocking, defense, and smite damage if you ever need to go that route.

 

[Oldboy]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Hi there. I'm also a new player with a frost zealot as my first char. Currently L70 and coming towards the end of NM, it's been a lot of fun so far. Here's some things I have learned that might help you.

Like others have said you NEED max Zeal, you cant really skip that. 200% AR bonus is massive, especially when applied to items like Angelic ring/amulet or Hsarus belt/boots. At L70 I get base 840 AR from the ring/amulet, times 200% is 2,520 AR! From just 2 equipment slots. I have about 6,700 total AR at the moment and 90%+ chance to hit on most things.

I'm going for 20 Zeal, 20 Holy Freeze, 20 Resist Cold, 20 Sacrifice, 5 Holy Shield. Seems to me like that the additional physical damage and life leech from Sacrifice will be more useful than the minimal cold damage increase from Salvation. But I'm a noob so could well be wrong there Will probably pump Holy Shield more if I get further than that.

Weapons;

Black - I upgraded from a Steel flail to this shortly after starting NM because I found an Io rune and a 3 socket jagged star in the second area of act 1. I HATED it, knockback on a zealot is extremely irritating. Now I just have it on switch for act bosses and other high health monsters (it is very useful for that if you dont have Crushing Blow from anywhere else).

Honor - Highly recommended! Made this in a Knout that I found at the start of act 2. Any white knout you find will get 5 sockets from Lazruk. +1 skills and +250 AR will help your accuracy problems a bit. Yes, it doesn't have any IAS but you dont really need to worry much about that at this point. Imo. And just 10% IAS from any other slot will give you 6 fpa.

I'll probably still be using this weapon in early Hell, thinking of doing it again in a Scourge if I don't find something better.

Question: I see a lot of people that recommend ITD as a solution to accuracy problems. I don't get it. What's the point being able to hit normal monsters and whiffing on any champion/unique/boss? Am I missing something?

Armor;

I am using Smoke, mainly for the resistances. Recently found an Um in a random chest and am thinking of making Duress but will need to make up the resistances somewhere else (better shield hopefully).

Shield;

I used Rhyme for a long time, it's pretty nice. Now I have Spirit in a base +15 crown shield. Badly need to find a better base for that. Or a HoZ (haha).

Head;

Try to gamble a rare +paladin skill circlet. I got quite a nice one with +20 resist all, +9 dex.


Hope that helps!

 

[Scoobydoo]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

I'm going for 20 Zeal, 20 Holy Freeze, 20 Resist Cold, 20 Sacrifice, 5 Holy Shield. Seems to me like that the additional physical damage and life leech from Sacrifice will be more useful than the minimal cold damage increase from Salvation

Your skill breakdown is a viable balance by getting cold elemental dmg bonus from Holy Freeze and enhancement of your physical dmg gained by putting points into Sacrifice. However, adding points into Sacrifice is only worth doing if we have a semi-to-high dmg dealing weapon. Which technically isn't hard to get or make by that route in skill progression. I suppose it will depend on how lucky we are in getting a decent weapon.

Question: I see a lot of people that recommend ITD as a solution to accuracy problems. I don't get it. What's the point being able to hit normal monsters and whiffing on any champion/unique/boss? Am I missing something?

One of the benefits of using a ITD weapon is to allow us to land our attacks on majority of the mobs in the game, which we will encounter far more often than Champions and Bosses. I'm guessing that it is around 75% of the time (if not higher) for regular mobs and probably 25% of the time (or lower) encountering Champions and Bosses.

Coming back to Champions and Bosses, while it isn't efficient or practical depending on how you look at it, we can switch to a smite attack assuming we have a decent shield dmg and a little CB to bring them down. But you are right in saying that having a high enough AR to tackle both regular mobs and Champions/Bosses is a more efficient means of solving this problem. Since we're an all-naturale auradin build, our dmg is primarily based on delivering our elemental dmg given by our auras, and ITD helps in this regard (most of the time).

Having a Grief PB is probably the pinnacle of weapon choices IMO. Not only does it have ITD, the 136dex investment required to equip it isn't wasted since it also allows us to achieve a higher block rate with our shields, and also somewhat boosts our AR by having higher dex than usually required for other weapons. Plus it's +dmg mod allows it to be a high physical dmg dealing weapon to make full use of the skill investment into Sacrifice, and it also adds to our Smite dmg.

Personally, I prefer using the LLD unique weapon known as Skewer of Krintiz for leveling my aura-based paladins. But it's usefulness usually ends somewhere in early NM games, when I prefer switching to a shael'ed Hexfire if I was making a fire based auradin, or a shael'ed Zakarum's Hand scepter if I were to go with either Holy Freeze or Shock. I find these two mid-level weapons pretty sexy for our type of themed builds. For near end game unique choices, I kinda prefer using 1-2 shael'ed Heaven's Light scepter or The Redeemer scepter so I can save a couple of skill points and use it's inherent Redemption skill to gain back life/mana.

 

[magicrectangle]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Question: I see a lot of people that recommend ITD as a solution to accuracy problems. I don't get it. What's the point being able to hit normal monsters and whiffing on any champion/unique/boss? Am I missing something?

You need enough AR to get in the 75% chance to hit range on champs etc regardless, but with that amount of AR the ITD mod will give you 95% chance to hit normal monsters, which is what you spend most of your time killing. It helps, but it doesn't let you ignore AR as a stat.

I am using Smoke, mainly for the resistances. Recently found an Um in a random chest and am thinking of making Duress but will need to make up the resistances somewhere else (better shield hopefully).

I highly recommend using that um to make a crescent moon phase blade instead. It will increase your kill speed a lot more than 15% crushing and a little extra cold damage (plus you can keep your nice resists from smoke).

Keeping black on switch for bosses is a good idea for the crushing blow, crushing blow doesn't help much clearing zones (and ITD from crescent moon doesn't help vs bosses).

 

[Scoobydoo]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Well, I did a little testing of my own by restat'ing my Riftadin to a Freezadin since this thread did pique my interest and I simply had to try it out to see it's viability and how I would build it. The following is a breakdown of my Stats, Gear, and Skills in hopes that it might give you some insight.

Level 78 Character

Stats
Str: 163 (to equip double up'ed GoblinToe boots)
Dex: 136 (to equip Grief PB)
Vita: Everything else
Energy: None.

Gear
Helm: +19/-5 Nightwing's Veil (14 Cold dmg + 5/5 Die Cold Facet)
Armor: Chain of Honor Wyrmhide armor
Weapon 1: Grief PB
Weapon 2: Naj's Puzzler staff (found in act 3 hell and figured the teleport charges might come in handy)
Shield: Herald of Zakarum socketed with a 5/5 Lvl Cold Facet (don't ask me why, I simply had the facet laying around collecting dust and I figured it might do more good than a Pdiamond)
Gloves: Dracul's Grasp
Belt: ThunderGod's Vigor
Boots: Up'ed Goblin Toe
Amulet: Maras
Rings: Ravenfrost x 2

Defensive Auras
1 Prayer (prerequisite)
1 Defiance (prerequisite)
1 Cleansing (prerequisite)
1 Vigor (prerequisite)
1 Redemption (useful little skill to recover life/mana)
20 Resist Cold (Synergy)
1+ Salvation (Synergy)

Offensive Auras
1 Might (prerequisite)
1 Holy Fire (prerequisite)
1 Blessed Aim (prerequisite)
1 Concentration (prerequisite)
1 Fanaticism (Secondary Aura when facing Cold Immunes; with either zeal or smite)
20 Holy Freeze (Primary Aura)

Combat Skills
1 Sacrifice (prerequisite)
20 Zeal (Primary attack)
1 Smite (Secondary attack; useful against bosses to proc Lifetap from Dracs)
1 Charge (prerequisite)
1 Holy Bolt (prerequisite)
1 Blessed Hammer (prerequisite)
1 Holy Shield

Inventory
Couple of AR grandcharms & smallcharms
Couple of Life smallcharms
1 Ptorch
Cube
TP book
ID book
8 squares of free space for drops

My level 31 Holy Freeze does 1955-1979 cold dmg delivered by my zeal attack using Grief PB, and has a aura pulse of 485-490 cold dmg every 2 seconds slowing everything by 57% at 24 yards distance.

Zeals at 3619-3860 total dmg with Holy Freeze aura with Grief PB (3924-4185 dmg with Venom Proc)
Zeals at 685-902 total dmg with Fanaticism aura with Grief PB (990-1227 dmg with Venom Proc).

6606 AR with Holy Freeze aura vs Champions & Bosses.
7986 AR with Fanaticism aura vs Champions & Bosses.
95% chance to hit regular mobs with Grief's ITD mod.

2101 defense without Holy Shield.
7038 defense with Holy Shield (75% block rate)

Life: 1626 (without BO)
Mana: 262 (without BO)

Fire Resist: 75
Cold Resist: 79
Lightning Resist 75
Poison Resist 75

I allocated 3 skill points to attain Fanaticism aura that would otherwise have been put into Salvation for synergy; kinda figured the added dmg/speed from it might come in handy depending on the situation. Plus we get max'ed Zeal (not sure about smite) speed when using Grief PB with Fanaticism aura should we face cold immunes. Invested 1 pointers into both Vigor and Redemption, since they are useful utility skills, and I usually have them on any Paladin builds if I do not gain them from items.

So, we have here a pretty decent Freezadin with a 6.6k AR, slightly over 7k in defense with max block with (almost) max'ed out resist (really max'ed with 75/85/85/75 if I switch to Salvation aura if the situation calls for it), and a source of ITD to hit 95% of the time + delivery our elemental dmg using Zeal, and Smite with Fanaticism whenever necessary. Comes with 40% cold absorb from 2 ravenfrost rings & a little lightning absorb from Tgods.

Doing primarily Cold+Physical dmg with some Poison dmg (Venom proc), a little Fire dmg(Grief), some Lite dmg (Tgods) along the way. And in case anyone forgets, 25% Crushing Blow from Goblin Toes, 25% Open Wounds from Dracs.

This character was in act 1 hell when I restat him, and now he's in act 4 hell. Gameplay wise, I did die a couple of times, mostly before I reached the level req for Dracs. CB is pretty much a must for this kinda build, otherwise you will be relying on your cold+physical dmg to bring every single drop of your opponent's life down; CB simply speeds things up real quick. Smite with Fanaticism on duriel & meph was a breeze; they both went down as quickly as they would with a pure Fanaticism build, and I expect the same results from diablo and baal when I get to them.

 

[magicrectangle]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Smites at 142-198 total dmg with Fanaticism aura using HoZ.

Just a minor quibble but you actually smite a lot harder than that, grief damage is added but not displayed =/

 

[Scoobydoo]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Just a minor quibble but you actually smite a lot harder than that, grief damage is added but not displayed =/

My bad. I think I gave the wrong figures for that dmg. I kinda forgot to cast Holy Shield before taking the readings. It should be...

270-312 Smite dmg with Holy Freeze aura using HoZ.
390-468 Smite dmg with Fanaticism aura using HoZ.

Since Grief has a viable dmg of +340-400, it should come up to around 610-652 (using the lowest +340) and higher with Holy Freeze aura. I am not sure how Grief's +dmg works in conjunction with Fanaticism, so I am unable to give a rough figure. Some help here?

 

[magicrectangle]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Min Smite Damage = (Shield Min Damage + (Damage +x) + (Holy Shield Min Damage)) * (1 + (Strength + (+x% Enhanced Damage) / 100)))
Max Smite Damage = (Shield Max Damage + (Damage +x) + (Holy Shield Max Damage)) * (1 + (Strength + (+x% Enhanced Damage) / 100)))

In other words, it is treated just like the base damage on your shield, it gets enhanced by strength, enhanced by fanat, and enhanced by smite, that's why it is so godly for smiters.

 

[Oldboy]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

You need enough AR to get in the 75% chance to hit range on champs etc regardless, but with that amount of AR the ITD mod will give you 95% chance to hit normal monsters, which is what you spend most of your time killing. It helps, but it doesn't let you ignore AR as a stat.

Hmm. So if I got an ITD weapon I could replace angelic amulet/ring? I think I can get 75% without them.

I highly recommend using that um to make a crescent moon phase blade instead. It will increase your kill speed a lot more than 15% crushing and a little extra cold damage (plus you can keep your nice resists from smoke).

Keeping black on switch for bosses is a good idea for the crushing blow, crushing blow doesn't help much clearing zones (and ITD from crescent moon doesn't help vs bosses).

Yeah, you're right, I'll do that. I'm now L75 in Hell and desperately need a weapon upgrade. I've actually taken to using the Black weapon full time at the moment because it's safer to keep things away from me now...I can't survive being mobbed by more than 3-4 monsters any more because I don't leech enough life back. It's slow going.

I was surprised by the leap in difficulty between NM and Hell tbh. I pretty much breezed through NM, mostly on /players3, and I thought Hell on /players1 couldn't be *that* much harder...I was wrong lol.

Currently farming the Mausoleum and Crypt trying to find base weapons/shields, and maybe something nice out of the sparkly chests. I find it pretty safe down there despite a lot of cold immunes (Black+Goblin Toe = 65% CB), and the xp is ok. Tried The Pit but it takes too long in my current gear. Also need to go back to NM Meph/Andy and try to get a Ravenfrost and String of Ears. (Btw, single player, first char, so not going to be seeing Grief PB's or anything like that very soon).

Thanks for the input all.

 

[Scoobydoo]

Re: Need advice Frost zealot.

Currently farming the Mausoleum and Crypt trying to find base weapons/shields, and maybe something nice out of the sparkly chests. I find it pretty safe down there despite a lot of cold immunes (Black+Goblin Toe = 65% CB), and the xp is ok. Tried The Pit but it takes too long in my current gear. Also need to go back to NM Meph/Andy and try to get a Ravenfrost and String of Ears. (Btw, single player, first char, so not going to be seeing Grief PB's or anything like that very soon).

I am currently building a Freezadin in SP myself.

He is lv29 in act 3 norm (player 8 mode). I did managed to find some odd little low set pieces, and was lucky enough to make Steel runeword outta 2socket crystal sword and Stealth studded armor.

Currently wearing Infernal set cap for the 10 resist and mana back mod, Hsarus set belt (praying that I find the boots too for the AR bonus), Bloodfist gloves , and Skewer of Krintiz (ITD ftw ) plus The Gnasher (CB & OW ) as my two backup weapons. I find Steel crystal sword to be handy for my primary weapon atm, as it comes with 25IAS to hit a zeal speed bp and the OW plus 2mana per kill remedies my zeal mana consumption.