feasibility of melee pali?

[CoonerTheRed]

feasibility of melee pali?

short story, followed by question...

so last night my dialup (until they get ethernet installed in my apartment... grrr) was connecting at a terrible (28.8) rate, so instead of risking death to lag, i decided to work a bit on a zeal/fanat pali on single player. lvl 65, just finished up diablo, couple zeal, max sac, max fanat, ~10 holy shield. i tend to play my sp chars like hc chars, just for practice, so i get really pissed off when i die with them. he's got ~800 life, max resists in nm, almost max block, good defense, (i think) ~5 frame zeal, but almost all rares for gear.

at any rate, in questing from a2 to a5, clearing pretty much everything, i died three times- one was stupidity (used zeal for a second too long in the cs and got im), but i don't see how i could have avoided the other two- both occurred to the same le, fe council dude in the trav. i did a lot of hit and running from the bolts, but got touched by one twice, splat no life.

so, the question... is a melee (non-bo/oak sage) untwinked mostly solo character viable in hc in 1.10? it seems that eventually you would run into something like what i ran into in later nm or hell, and couldn't avoid dying. i guess i could have squeezed a little more life into the guy, as my resists are actually a little above 75 (getting ready for hell), by replacing my rare resists/fhr/+15 life helm with a 3 p rubied helm or something, but still...

 

[Chiller_babe]

Hello there

I have had two Melee Paladins survive in hell to this date - but I dont think a fanat/zealot is going to be the easiest.

I have 1 Tesladin - who has no problems with Le due to the fact that maxing Light Resist has added 10 to my max LR (20 if i actually use the skill)

And 1 avenger who has maxed all the Res Skills (except salvation) giving him 85% res all before any max adding equip.

I admit it is scary playing in Hell with a melee - but it is possible - you seem like a careful player and fluxing is always an option provided you are always ready for it and a decent lvl well equipped merc is a necessity - I often sliver FE's and let him finish them off. Also FE in Hell doesn't seem to be so bad as NM - so far anyway

Good Luck

Chill

 

[Wolfedude]

I don't think you can sucessfully play a melee paladin through hell; and it will be difficult through nightmare. I have tried and perhaps I am just not a good enough player but with IM and other curses, various modified suped up monsters and the standard elemental & magical attacks I just don't see how it can be done. Melee paladins have become valuable for their auras but really can't tank anymore and only the exotic hammerdins or rangers seem to be making very far along in the game.
Just my thought but I really enjoyed playing pallys before 1.10 but now just trying to keep them alive keeps you on the edge of your seat and it isn't much fun playing the game if you have to be there all of the time.

 

[Chiller_babe]

I don't think you can sucessfully play a melee paladin through hell; and it will be difficult through nightmare.

Just my thought but I really enjoyed playing pallys before 1.10 but now just trying to keep them alive keeps you on the edge of your seat and it isn't much fun playing the game if you have to be there all of the time.

Maybe I'm just a massochist - but being on the edge of my seat is just what I want sometimes - then I always know I can go try Lvl my Pally some more

I'm not saying Pallys are going to have a cakewalk in Hell - but I can Usually quite comfortably do Baal Runs in NM as long as I don't suicidally charge in - and the same can be said for pretty much anywhere in hell - if I get some hideous monster swarms, I'll leave and try again

Chill

 

[GrnEggsNHam]

Well certainly an untwinked a solo melee pally would get devoured in Hell I don't care how slow or cautious you are... But with the right equipment it is indeed feasable and quite enjoyable . You may have a low life total but Defense, max blocking, and 90 resist all are your friends . All of these things are extremely easy to obtain on a pally. My zealot currently a measly lvl 57 has 5k defense, which gives the monsters in the worldstone like 30% chance to hit me . Factor in my max block to that and I get hit even less. Provided with a bit of leach and you can tank huge packs of monsters fairly easy, just like the days of old (1.09 ). The only thing you have to really watch out for are the 1 hit killers. That extra strong FE lister that just spawned while decrep is on you or obliterateing that stygian boss hehe. I have about 1.2k life at lvl 57, I would say near 2k base at lvl 80 is definately possible on a pally.

 

[Frezzist]

I think the problem is the multi-enchantments in NM and Hell. I lost a zeal/defiant paladin to a FE/CE worm boss in nm act 4. The death frost nova resulted in an instant kill. I asked in an earlier post and people seemed to agree that the cold and fire damage stacked in the frost nova affect. Does anyone know how this checks against your resists? Instant deaths like mine ( max resists and 700 life) and your FE/LE death can be explained if the fire damage gets checked against the cold resist or lightning resist.
That's pretty much my best theory. Anyone have something better?

 

[skunkbelly]

I guess my question is "what's more fun?" Sometimes, you want a high level character who can do just about anything without *too much* fear. For that sort of character, make a sorc, a trapper, a hammerdin, or a skellymancer.

But sometimes, you want something a little more dangerous... a character who actually hits monsters with a sharp stick!

Not every character needs to be able to solo hell ancients. If your melee pally makes it to hell, that in itself isn't half bad. And if he dies there in act 1, and you had a lot of fun with him, then no sweat. For hell, a vengeance/conviction pally can be fun... you'll never have to worry about immunes, for example.

But sure, yep, no question, you'll probably croak!

 

[sohcan]

Melee paladin? People still make those? It would be a fun, rough, and dangerous ride but the melee paladin has it easier in 1.10, heck any build has it easier in 1.10, than the elemental druid had it in 1.09.

 

[GrnEggsNHam]

I think the problem is the multi-enchantments in NM and Hell. I lost a zeal/defiant paladin to a FE/CE worm boss in nm act 4. The death frost nova resulted in an instant kill. I asked in an earlier post and people seemed to agree that the cold and fire damage stacked in the frost nova affect. Does anyone know how this checks against your resists? Instant deaths like mine ( max resists and 700 life) and your FE/LE death can be explained if the fire damage gets checked against the cold resist or lightning resist.
That's pretty much my best theory. Anyone have something better?

I don't know about all that but ever since they fixed the FE explosion in hell I have not died to any enchanted monsters yet. This is my 2nd zealot mind you with the same setup basically. GA for the 90 resists (aslong as you get the resists), a ravenfrost, and a dwarf star. With all that on I have never had even a close call against anything with elemental dmg...

 

[STINGER]

FE CE Spectreal Lidster will smoke jsut about anything if you give him a chance!

All Melle or tanking caster builds runnign aroudn withotu BO are continueally on the edge of death. It is somewhat unfair that some guys get to run around with 3k-5k life all the time but others have to go with 800-1200 when they arent with those guys, but this is what is givin to us.

All pallys, even the godly Hammerdin is and instant death waiting to happen but they are also one the tuffest non-life enhanced builds there is. All pallys are tuff guys for no BO , but they are always on the edge which makes them exciting.

I wouldnt personally try soloing hell except certain areas with a melee pally as they have no escape mechanisim. Every other character in the ggame has a skill for escape with it is some sort of minon to attract attention away that is recastable, or some skill like leap or tele. A surrounded pally is in deep.

Pallys got a big boost in 1.10 when it comes to dealing damage in many builds but they are still a risk

 

[Pezeteros]

FE are still bugged in NM and can kill even very high lvl chars. In hell it is fight. my sorc with just perfect resists and 15magic damage reduce has no problem in hell even vs triad elemental enchanted bosses. Pally has good damage, just be cautious and will do fine. Pally can do every area other than CS and WS