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Vessel of Hatred

Choice of combat Skill for a 1.10 Defiant, take 2

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Gohanman

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Jun 23, 2003
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Choice of combat Skill for a 1.10 Defiant, take 2

It appears the squid has devoured my previous thread on this subject, along with most of the forum, so here goes again:

I'm toying with the idea of a 1.10 defiant. Max Defiance, Max Holy Shield, massive defense. However, I am probably going to need to kill things at some point, so a combat skill would be nice. Currently in consideration:

SMITE - always hits, no AR issues. Receives bonus from Holy Shield. Lacks leech. Leaves room for a fourth maxed skill.

ZEAL - with a combination of Zeal and Sacrifice, damage should be reasonable and AR a non-issue. I'm curious whether overall damage will be better than Smite.

VENGEANCE - to keep mana costs down, a low level Vengeance with pumped synergies seems ideal (plus I'd get the resist bonuses). However, AR could become an issue.

Insight from experienced Defiant players, observations of things I've forgotten, and general build wisdom welcome.
 
from them 3, id go for zeal. smite is ok if you have a really great shield, if not you might as well just hit with the weapon. vengence needs synergies to be very effective, and the mana cost is high on slvl 10+.
 
it seems that no one knows the answer, and I am one of those, a no-one.

Therefore, it is my "expert" opinion that vengeance should be ruled out, unless you get a blessed aim merc.

Zeal seems the best option to me, but that it probably because I have no knowledge of smite.

I hope I have been of some use.

Either way, I was more useful then not answering, right? Right!?
 
Max defiant means no fanatism..means no IAS from aura, and that means your attack speed will be slow either way using zeal or smite. Get lots of IAS gear and i'd recommand smite + mana pots.... Smite hits faster then zeal w/o fanatism...i think
 
A question,

are you actually gonna use Defience or just boost it for the synergy with Holy Shield ?

Randall
 
I'm building one of these myself, and I've gone for Zeal simply because it can hit more than one target at once. If you just want to do huge damage to a single target you might as well go for an Ironbarb, IMHO. Zeal hits PLENTY fast with 40% IAS, believe me...
 
I am planning on doing one of these eventually, as well, and I am planning on Zeal. The primary reason is that zeal can leach, has a low mana cost, and it is easier to find a high damage weapon than a high damage shield. Plus, even if you have extra skill points to put into something with Smite, where would you put them?

Hope that helps.

Porius
 
Randall said:
are you actually gonna use Defience or just boost it for the synergy with Holy Shield ?
Click to expand...

I'm planning to *use* defiance (yes, I know mercs have it -- I don't trust them) to boost my defense as much as possible.

Zeal seems to be the consensus thusfar. Maybe I'll just jump in with both feet and try each skill, then decide which one I want AFTER maxing defiance and holy shield....
 
If you want to actually use defiance I'd go with zeal and crushing blow. Lots of crushing blow. Maybe some open wounds tossed in for good measure. :)
 
My defiant, I went with smite, and it worked out well for me, all though I miss the life leach. Just get a fast weapon, damage does not matter, and something that had the mod to prevent monsters from healing.
 
Hmmm, maybe I'll have to build 2 defiants... a 'Black' Scourage sounds about right for Zealing.... anyone got one with 3 sockets?

Another consideration, max Redemption as a fourth skill with Smite? That ought to be fairly sufficient to take care of leech problems, and there don't appear to be any major diminishing returns.
 
i know you dont trust the mercs, but if you spent no points in defience, buy a def merc and once he stats lvlign his aura will becme more useful. that would save 20 points for either a synergy or even smite and zeal if you realy want (although you'll find 1 will probably never get used when you find which one is best for you.)
 
farting bob said:
i know you dont trust the mercs, but if you spent no points in defience, buy a def merc and once he stats lvlign his aura will becme more useful. that would save 20 points for either a synergy or even smite and zeal if you realy want (although you'll find 1 will probably never get used when you find which one is best for you.)
Click to expand...

Defiance is a synergy for Holy Shield, so if you are going for big defense, you need to max it. I would personally go for a Might or Rogue merc, or try something weird and go for an Iron Wolf for some elemental damage (gotta try something for the PI).

Good luck!

Porius
 
I guess you've ruled out an exile Shield.

Why not a CB smiter. Smite can reach great speed and with a pair of gore riders and guillames you could get decent CB. Toss in a Raven Frost, Guardian Angel and TGods Vigor. No phys attacker will hit you and you wont take much dam from elemental attacks. Then you can toss on a pair of those Life Tap gloves and you got yourself some leeching.
 
Defiants are very tricky to make as you dont really have the skill points to get a good offensive skill. And lets face is smite, thats a defesive skill. If you ask me I'd say give up some def and use a low lvl zeal + fanta (by not using defiance is giving your def) and you'll have a really high def and even be able to kill *gasp* tis the dream of most defiants

Elvish
 
Dolph said:
I guess you've ruled out an exile Shield.
Click to expand...

Considering Um is the highest rune I've *ever* seen, I don't see myself getting ahold of the runes for Exile any time soon.
 
i think that you will have a good defense without "using" defiance, so you can use another (offensive) aura, if you have a nice elite pally, shield & draculs I'd go with smite (you can use a life tap wand in switch, but it will be very expensive and or will deplete your ort/chips)
or you can make a crescent moon weapon and zeal (this seems to be better if you stick with defiance)
Personally, I'd use a defiance merc and fanatism (both smite/zeal benefit from it), but seeing that you prefer defiance you cant miss a might merc, but (no ias aura+insane def)< (fanatism+godly def), at least IMHO
 
slightly off-topic, if you have defiance and you got a defiance merc, would the auras stack? imagine the defense on that puppy!
/OT
 
whomhead said:
slightly off-topic, if you have defiance and you got a defiance merc, would the auras stack? imagine the defense on that puppy!
/OT
Click to expand...

They do not stack, but Shout stacks nicely so you want massive def, try this

20-Holy Shield
20-Defiance
20+Shout (go go friendly Barb)

Gear
ALL Etheral high def runewords/uniques simple you have massive def and in a duel you just own it up vs non casters with your 20k+ def (its insane trust me)

Elvish
 
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