Help with Pally shield!

[Ravendark]

I am using a targe with Ancients Pledge runeword. Only has 15 defense....I love the 50%+ resists but my defense is suffering real bad in Hell mode. I've tried to gamble but nothing. I feel like I am doing something wrong or maybe the rng gods don't care. Any advice on obtaining a better shield for my Zealot would be appreciated. I am also playing on Hardcore mode single player with no ladder benefits

 

[hackedagainanda]

Hi! Welcome to the SPF. For my untwinked self found tesladin zealot, I ran Nightmare Mephisto until he dropped a Herald of Zakarum(HoZ) Mephisto has a good chance to drop it while being relatively safe to run. Nightmare Baal is also a good bet if you can safely run him, also how many points do you have in Holy Shield?

 

[Ravendark]

I have 15 points in Holy Shield atm. I read somewhere that ilvl 50 3 socket shields with +30 resists start dropping in great marsh NM and beyond. I am farming Andy right now because of ease and about 100 magic find. Nothing is really dropping as a upgrade anymore

Edit: NM Mephisto requires running through the duarance with the little exploding dolls that scare the crap out of me

 

[hackedagainanda]

I personally used an Aerin Shield with 25+ resists and made a Rhyme runeword in it until I could get a HoZ. This is just me but I found I could usually outrun the dolls and with a higher players setting my merc wouldn't 1-shot them so basically no-explosion = no character death. But do be careful. Can you run Hell Andy? She also has decent chances. NM cows are a good place to shop for socketed paladin shields but you might have to take off some MF.

Can I get a list of the rest of your gear to help you trouble shoot?

 

[Ravendark]

I just entered Hell mode at level 65. Below is what my gear looks like:


Helm: Naj's Circlet def 106 adds 25-35 fire @75 def 16 str
Chest: Rockfleece with Ort rune socketed def 231 @6 str 30% lightning res dam reduced by 10% Req -10%
Belt: Thundergods Vigor def 140 adds 1-60 lightning @20 str @20 vit 10% max lightning res @20 lightning absorb
Gloves: Sander's Taboo def 31 20% att speed 9-11 ligtning dam @25 def @40 life
Shield: Ancients Pledge runeword cold,lightning,fire and poison 55 res 10% dam goes to mana
Weapon: Sureshrill Frost zeal damage 431-898 socketed for 20% AS adds 63-112 cold dam cannot be frozen freezes target @3 very fast attack speed
Ring1: 6% life leech 1 to mana after kill
Ring2: 6% life leech 67 attack rating

Str 161 zeal damage: 483-916
Dex 114 zeal AR: 2169
Vit 201 defense: 2379
Energy 15 Life: 818

Fire res: 95
Cold res: 67
Lightning res: 84
Poison res: 62

 

[hackedagainanda]

Normal Baal and NM Andy can drop Butcher's Pupil an exceptional unique cleaver which should be an improvement over the sureshrill. Vampire Gaze and Guillaume's Face are much better options for the Helm. Nm Baal is a good place for those. Also, if you can get a Lum rune possibly from cubing Io runes from NM countess the runeword Smoke is a good option decent defense and @50 resist for the body slot it should help out.

The belt and gloves are good. How are your charms?

 

[Ravendark]

Normal Baal and NM Andy can drop Butcher's Pupil an exceptional unique cleaver which should be an improvement over the sureshrill. Vampire Gaze and Guillaume's Face are much better options for the Helm. Nm Baal is a good place for those. Also, if you can get a Lum rune possibly from cubing Io runes from NM countess the runeword Smoke is a good option decent defense and @50 resist for the body slot it should help out.

The belt and gloves are good. How are your charms?

Not good at all. Probably my worst aspect. I have 1 +20ish res to each element and thats about it

 

[hackedagainanda]

What area can you clear the fastest in NM? It sounds like its time to start farming for charms, and once again NM Baal and WSK are good places.

Shimmering Grand Charm of Frost
Grand Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x33ac3808
Item Level: 46
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 2 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
All Resistances +15

I did find this at NM andy so good charms can start dropping from Act 1 NM onwards. I will warn you it took about 400+ runs to get some good charms. Sometimes RNG isn't kind.

 

[Ravendark]

What area can you clear the fastest in NM? It sounds like its time to start farming for charms, and once again NM Baal and WSK are good places.

Shimmering Grand Charm of Frost
Grand Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x33ac3808
Item Level: 46
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 1 - 2 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
All Resistances +15

I did find this at NM andy so good charms can start dropping from Act 1 NM onwards. I will warn you it took about 400+ runs to get some good charms. Sometimes RNG isn't kind.

Looks like its Baal farming. The fastest is Andy but I'll focus efforts on Baal for awhile. Thanks for the responses! I think getting a shield with at least 150 defense would allow me to push faster too. I'm rocking a 15 def now and its bothering me lol

 

[maxicek]

I would level to 75 before starting Hell

 

[thefranklin]

The defense on the shield isn't going to make that big of a difference. What I like to do in untwinked/restarts is find a 3 or 4 socket shield with base resists that you can stuff diamonds in and get 70+ (possibly 100+) all resist.

 

[Miron]

I would run countess (NM) and try to cube LUM rune, then I would make Smoke RW or (if I got FAL on the way) Lionheart RW. Those armors should free the pressure on resists and free the shield slot for something different (Rhyme RW is good if you want to replace weapon).

Another option is to gamble rings/amulets/circlets for something with resists.

I would also consider crafting, especially Blood items.

 

[Noodle]

Unless you're going for a pure defense build, like with Stone armor, etc, it's pretty much a useless stat in Hell. And I'd level up to 75 - 80 before entering Hell, if only so you have a decent chance to hit.

 

[Ravendark]

Very good information all! Right now I have 165 MF and just found Fleshrender off NM Andy. I'm really aiming for Butchers Pupil but this Fleshrender hits like a truck and has 20% open wounds, crushing blow and deadly strike...just hits a bit slow but is way better than what I had. I am now lv70 and going to attempt NM Baal with my MF gear on. If things get out of hand I can always hit Esc and leave but the real question is am I fast enough to hit Esc

PS: I lost my only Lum rune due to socketing a blue chest for Smoke. I got that from the Forge quest. Also, I can't use the cube recipes beyond Dol runes because I am single player...non ladder. At least the cube doesn't work when adding a chipped gem and 3 of the mid runes. I'm not using plugY mod so item space is insanely small but that's alright with me. I wish I had Smoke chest pc but hopefully in the future in early Hell a Lum drops...fingers crossed

Playing hardcore mode

 

[SirName]

copy paste from arreat summit

The following Rune upgrade formulae will only work for Single-Player, Open, or Ladder Characters. They will not work for Normal Characterson the Realms. 3 Dol Runes + 1 Chipped Emerald = Hel Rune 3 Hel Runes + 1 Chipped Diamond = Io Rune 3 Io Runes + 1 Flawed Topaz = Lum Rune 3 Lum Runes + 1 Flawed Amethyst = Ko Rune 3 Ko Runes + 1 Flawed Sapphire = Fal Rune 3 Fal Runes + 1 Flawed Ruby = Lem Rune 3 Lem Runes + 1 Flawed Emerald = Pul Rune 2 Pul Runes + 1 Flawed Diamond = Um Rune 2 Um Runes + 1 Topaz = Mal Rune 2 Mal Runes + 1 Amethyst = Ist Rune 2 Ist Runes + 1 Sapphire = Gul Rune 2 Gul Runes + 1 Ruby = Vex Rune 2 Vex Runes + 1 Emerald = Ohm Rune 2 Ohm Runes + 1 Diamond = Lo Rune 2 Lo Runes + 1 Flawless Topaz = Sur Rune 2 Sur Runes + 1 Flawless Amethyst = Ber Rune 2 Ber Runes + 1 Flawless Sapphire = Jah Rune 2 Jah Runes + 1 Flawless Ruby = Cham Rune 2 Cham Runes + 1 Flawless Emerald = Zod Rune

Did you use correct chipped gem?

 

[Ravendark]

copy paste from arreat summit

The following Rune upgrade formulae will only work for Single-Player, Open, or Ladder Characters. They will not work for Normal Characterson the Realms. 3 Dol Runes + 1 Chipped Emerald = Hel Rune 3 Hel Runes + 1 Chipped Diamond = Io Rune 3 Io Runes + 1 Flawed Topaz = Lum Rune 3 Lum Runes + 1 Flawed Amethyst = Ko Rune 3 Ko Runes + 1 Flawed Sapphire = Fal Rune 3 Fal Runes + 1 Flawed Ruby = Lem Rune 3 Lem Runes + 1 Flawed Emerald = Pul Rune 2 Pul Runes + 1 Flawed Diamond = Um Rune 2 Um Runes + 1 Topaz = Mal Rune 2 Mal Runes + 1 Amethyst = Ist Rune 2 Ist Runes + 1 Sapphire = Gul Rune 2 Gul Runes + 1 Ruby = Vex Rune 2 Vex Runes + 1 Emerald = Ohm Rune 2 Ohm Runes + 1 Diamond = Lo Rune 2 Lo Runes + 1 Flawless Topaz = Sur Rune 2 Sur Runes + 1 Flawless Amethyst = Ber Rune 2 Ber Runes + 1 Flawless Sapphire = Jah Rune 2 Jah Runes + 1 Flawless Ruby = Cham Rune 2 Cham Runes + 1 Flawless Emerald = Zod Rune

Did you use correct chipped gem?

3 Dols and a chipped emerald...no bueno. I have version 1.4D installed. I guess my pally is a Normal Character? I thought I was playing Single Player

Edit: Is single player a battlenet thing? I just created my pally from the character screen and went to town

 

[Miron]

If you play online (battlenet) you can make ladder char or non-ladder char (= normal char on the realms).

Single player usually means playing offline.

 

[Ravendark]

Any character that is not marked as a Ladder Character is a Normal Character. There are two types of Normal Characters:

Normal: Normal (also referred to as Core)(Non Hardcore)
Normal: Hardcore

 

[Ravendark]

Does Hell Countess have a chance to drop a Lum rune? Be nice if she did

 

[hackedagainanda]

Hell countess can drop reliably up to Ist