- Aug 5, 2005
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Patriarch Asquiol - Frost Zealot [2h Sword Sept 2 - 5/7]
[highlight]Asquiol[/highlight]
Patriarch Asquiol, Two Handed Sword Frost Zealot
When I made my first 2-handed sword sept, my mercenary of choice for the weaker builds was a Holy Freeze Act II mec with a Reaper's Toll. Staying close to him meant safety thanks to the huge slow provided. Wander too far off and death was often waiting for me.
This character was designed to turn that relationship around - the merc provides the Fanaticism, so I tried to make a very safe character by providing the Holy Freeze and Decrepify myself. Did it work? Well, read on...
Pretty pictures of Asquiol fighting NM Diablo and NM Baal
[highlight]Stats[/highlight]
Name: Asquiol
Class: Paladin
Experience: 929800270
Level: 83
Naked/Gear
Strength: 175/185
Dexterity: 69/113
Vitality: 251/251
Energy: 15/23
HP: 957/1014
Mana: 138/178
Stamina: 397/397
Defense: 17/874
LCS / Damage / AR
Lawbinger & Holy Freeze 3477-4123 Damage / 6133 AR
BKSC & Concentration 1868-3475 Damage / 6114 AR
BKSC & Holy Freeze 3997-5241 Damage / 6114AR
Resists without fade / with fade:
Fire: -2 / 58
Cold: -9 / 51
Lightning: 29 / 89
Poison: -4 / 56
MF: 23
GF: 148
FR/W: 20
FHR: 30
IAS: 45
[highlight]Skills[/highlight]
Sacrifice: 10/12
Zeal: 15/17
Might: 1/11
Holy Fire: 1/11
Blessed Aim: 1/11
Concentration: 1/11
Holy Freeze: 20/30
Prayer: 1/3
Defiance: 1/3
Resist Cold: 20/22
Cleansing: 1/3
Vigor: 1/3
Redemption: 1/3
Salvation: 20/22
[highlight]Equipment[/highlight]
Weapon: 'Lawbringer' Balrog Blade
Switch Weapon: 'Voice of Reason' Balrog Blade / Bul Kathos' Sacred Charge
Helm: Nightwing's Veil / Guillaume's Face
Armour: Treachery
Belt: Hsarus' Iron Stay
Boots: Hsarus' Iron Heel
Gloves: Crafted Bolld Gloves - Glyph Claw
Amulet: +2 Offensive Auras Rare - Bitter Scarab
Ring1: Ravenfrost
Ring2: Carrion Wind
Inventory: 6x Captain's GCs, 3x Ruby SCs, 1x Amber SC, 2x SCs of Balance, both tomes and the cube. 2x4 slots empty.
Equipment Readouts:
[highlight]Mercenary[/highlight]
Mercenary Type: A1 Fire Arrow
Helm: Tal Rasha's HC
Armour: Treachery
Weapon: Faith Ward Bow
[highlight]Finds[/highlight]
Hellforge: Io? NM,Gul Hell.
Nothing else interesting to report.
[highlight]Random Thoughts[/highlight]
OK, I've skimmed through all that, did you die?
Yes, lots.
Noob. What was the problem?
Treachery. Specifically the fade not going off. When you start playing, or after fade wears off, my resistance were a bit sucktacular to say the least (see above). The problem was (I'm not sure of the exact mechanics) is that ctc seems to need a physical hit to go off. Because of the slowing effect of HF and Decrep, I rarely got hit by physical attackers. So Fade frequently ran out, leaving me vulnerable to ranged elemental attackers - Scarabs lightning bolts, Vampires etc. Undead monsters were less of an issue thanks to the Sanctuary from Lawbringer.
Couldn't you use Salvation until Fade triggered?
Yes, and I did. It wasn't without it's own problems though. Using Salvation made me more vulnerable to Physical attacks due to the lack of HF. Also it doesn't cover poison resists.
How would you have improved it?
Treachery is a great armour, but maybe this wasn't the best use for it. I could have got the 45IAS I needed by other means and upped my resistances without resorting to fade - Smoke, Veil of Steel, Kira's etc. But once I was equipped, I decided to stick with it. I could have also dropped out a couple of Captain's GCs for Shimmering GCs. This would have made the character playable with base resist, and just used Fade to top up the resists so I got 75% to everything. I have done this before with Treachery and I think it works better than relying on a ctc to get your important resists (like lightning) to 75%.
What did you do about CIs?
One of the many advantages of the Faith Merc is the bonus she provides to physical damage. With a 2h sword, even without the ED bonus on Lawbringer, this contributed nicely to my damage. If I switched to BKSC, I was doing even better physical damage. Normally I just waited for decrep to cast with Lawbringer and switched to BKSC to finish the job. I did put one point in concentration to further boost my physical damage, but rarely used it. It was normally better to take slightly longer killing them with the added safety of HF.
You have two switch swords?
Yes. I started with Voice of Reason, but there were few occasions to use it where Lawbringer wasn't a better choice. I kept BKSC and Guillaumes in the stash for boss fights and the Ancients. In the end, I found the extra resists and damage on BKSC was more useful, so mainly used that in the second half of Hell.
So did you hate it?
I'm finding playing Zeal based Paladins a bit too one dimensional. Turn on aura, run up to monsters, Zeal, rinse & repeat. I find the variation with crowd control skills (Shockwave, CoS) that I get from Assassins, Druids and other build more fun. Zeal paladins seen a bit more wack & run. I wouldn't say I hated it, in fact I think this could be a very powerful build. Death & Fortitude for good physical damage, Draculs and all the usual gear. I could have gone this route, but all out power has never really been what these 2h swords are about. It's more about using accessible equipment in a slightly different way to get a viable end build.
[highlight]Sept Status[/highlight]
Next up is the sorceress. I'm probably going to do an ES Enchantless Vengeance Sorc, but I don't think I'll start her until the new year.. Expect something fairly similar to Nagi's recent Mat. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the Amazon. Maybe 1.13 will bring some inspiration, but I won't hold my breath. I'm thinking about another Zerkazon, but with better gear and maybe Frozen Arrow for crowd control.
I am John Daker, the victim of the whole world's dreams. I am Erekose, Champion of Humanity, who slew the human race. I am Hawkmoon. I am Corum. I am Illian. I am Aubec. I am Elric. I am Asquiol. I am Ulysses. I am Cornelius. I am many more.
[highlight]Asquiol[/highlight]
Patriarch Asquiol, Two Handed Sword Frost Zealot
When I made my first 2-handed sword sept, my mercenary of choice for the weaker builds was a Holy Freeze Act II mec with a Reaper's Toll. Staying close to him meant safety thanks to the huge slow provided. Wander too far off and death was often waiting for me.
This character was designed to turn that relationship around - the merc provides the Fanaticism, so I tried to make a very safe character by providing the Holy Freeze and Decrepify myself. Did it work? Well, read on...
Pretty pictures of Asquiol fighting NM Diablo and NM Baal
[highlight]Stats[/highlight]
Name: Asquiol
Class: Paladin
Experience: 929800270
Level: 83
Naked/Gear
Strength: 175/185
Dexterity: 69/113
Vitality: 251/251
Energy: 15/23
HP: 957/1014
Mana: 138/178
Stamina: 397/397
Defense: 17/874
LCS / Damage / AR
Lawbinger & Holy Freeze 3477-4123 Damage / 6133 AR
BKSC & Concentration 1868-3475 Damage / 6114 AR
BKSC & Holy Freeze 3997-5241 Damage / 6114AR
Resists without fade / with fade:
Fire: -2 / 58
Cold: -9 / 51
Lightning: 29 / 89
Poison: -4 / 56
MF: 23
GF: 148
FR/W: 20
FHR: 30
IAS: 45
[highlight]Skills[/highlight]
Sacrifice: 10/12
Zeal: 15/17
Might: 1/11
Holy Fire: 1/11
Blessed Aim: 1/11
Concentration: 1/11
Holy Freeze: 20/30
Prayer: 1/3
Defiance: 1/3
Resist Cold: 20/22
Cleansing: 1/3
Vigor: 1/3
Redemption: 1/3
Salvation: 20/22
[highlight]Equipment[/highlight]
Weapon: 'Lawbringer' Balrog Blade
Switch Weapon: 'Voice of Reason' Balrog Blade / Bul Kathos' Sacred Charge
Helm: Nightwing's Veil / Guillaume's Face
Armour: Treachery
Belt: Hsarus' Iron Stay
Boots: Hsarus' Iron Heel
Gloves: Crafted Bolld Gloves - Glyph Claw
Amulet: +2 Offensive Auras Rare - Bitter Scarab
Ring1: Ravenfrost
Ring2: Carrion Wind
Inventory: 6x Captain's GCs, 3x Ruby SCs, 1x Amber SC, 2x SCs of Balance, both tomes and the cube. 2x4 slots empty.
Equipment Readouts:
Code:
Lawbringer
Balrog Blade
AmnLemKo
One Hand Damage: 15 - 75
Two Hand Damage: 55 - 118
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 185
Required Dexterity: 87
Fingerprint: 0xabf1d2ce
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Decrepify on striking
Level 16 Sanctuary Aura When Equipped
-50% Target Defense
Adds 150 - 210 Fire Damage
Adds 130 - 180 Cold Damage Over 6 Secs (139 Frames)
7% Life stolen per hit
Slain Monsters Rest in Peace
+233 Defense vs. Missile
+10 to Dexterity
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Ko Rune
Bul-Kathos' Sacred Charge
Colossus Blade
One Hand Damage: 79 - 206
Two Hand Damage: 184 - 365
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 161
Required Dexterity: 94
Fingerprint: 0x5b788c12
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Increased Attack Speed
218% Enhanced Damage
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
Knockback
+9 to Dexterity
All Resistances +20
Requirements -15%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Havoc Whorl
Voice of Reason
Balrog Blade
LemKoElEld
One Hand Damage: 15 - 75
Two Hand Damage: 55 - 118
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 185
Required Dexterity: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9a76855b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
18% Chance to cast level 20 Ice Blast on striking
15% Chance to cast level 13 Frozen Orb on striking
+50 to Attack Rating
+347% Damage to Demons
+361% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Adds 100 - 220 Cold Damage Over 5 Secs (131 Frames)
-24% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+10 to Dexterity
Cannot Be Frozen
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Eld Rune
Nightwing's Veil
Spired Helm
Defense: 331
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 67
Required Strength: 96
Fingerprint: 0xa039a9f1
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
12% Enhanced Damage
+7 to Maximum Damage
+10% to Cold Skill Damage
+107% Enhanced Defense
+16 to Dexterity
+8 to Energy
Lightning Resist +25%
+9 Cold Absorb
Half Freeze Duration
Requirements -50%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Raven Gyre
Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
Defense: 217
Durability: 33 of 40
Required Level: 34
Required Strength: 115
Fingerprint: 0x1e027260
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
12% Enhanced Damage
+8 to Maximum Damage
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
+120% Enhanced Defense
+15 to Strength
+7 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +25%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Doom Whorl
Bitter Scarab
Amulet
Required Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0x7fc4d516
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
Adds 1 - 2 Fire Damage
7% Mana stolen per hit
All Resistances +11
Lightning Resist +34%
Treachery
Sharktooth Armor
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 245
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0xc6077c62
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck
25% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+45% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xcfe0c61b
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+234 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen
Carrion Wind
Ring
Required Level: 60
Fingerprint: 0x4ffe1799
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 10 Poison Nova when struck
8% Chance to cast level 13 Twister on striking
9% Life stolen per hit
+141 Defense vs. Missile
Poison Resist +55%
10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Level 21 Poison Creeper (15/15 Charges)
Hsarus' Iron Stay
Belt
Defense: 212
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0x3a7d1d52
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Cold Resist +20%
Set (2 items): +207 Defense (Based on Character Level)
(2 items): Attacker Takes Damage of 5
Hsarus' Iron Heel
Chain Boots
Defense: 8
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0xd80214f7
Item Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Run/Walk
Fire Resist +25%
Set (2 items): +830 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)
(2 items): Attacker Takes Damage of 5
Glyph Claw
Sharkskin Gloves
Defense: 50
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 48
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0xdf5b1c5d
Item Level: 92
Version: Expansion 1.10+
6% Life stolen per hit
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
+25% Enhanced Defense
+12 to Life
Lightning Resist +18%
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Captain's Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x373e7eb7
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+20 to Life
Captain's Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xe02c7014
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+5 to Life
Captain's Grand Charm of Greed
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x898d173e
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
23% Extra Gold from Monsters
Captain's Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xc71f9209
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+6 to Strength
Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0xdee40421
Item Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0xb9b35fe1
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Ruby Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x919ac33d
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +11%
Ruby Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x40c38fab
Item Level: 71
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +10%
Ruby Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x7ecc62d
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Fire Resist +11%
Amber Small Charm
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x2ccd6f4c
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Lightning Resist +11%
Captain's Grand Charm of Strength
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xe8160e2b
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
+4 to Strength
Captain's Grand Charm of Thunder
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x202d6c92
Item Level: 50
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Offensive Aura Skills (Paladin Only)
Adds 1 - 19 Lightning Damage[highlight]Mercenary[/highlight]
Mercenary Type: A1 Fire Arrow
Helm: Tal Rasha's HC
Armour: Treachery
Weapon: Faith Ward Bow
[highlight]Finds[/highlight]
Hellforge: Io? NM,Gul Hell.
Nothing else interesting to report.
[highlight]Random Thoughts[/highlight]
OK, I've skimmed through all that, did you die?
Yes, lots.
Noob. What was the problem?
Treachery. Specifically the fade not going off. When you start playing, or after fade wears off, my resistance were a bit sucktacular to say the least (see above). The problem was (I'm not sure of the exact mechanics) is that ctc seems to need a physical hit to go off. Because of the slowing effect of HF and Decrep, I rarely got hit by physical attackers. So Fade frequently ran out, leaving me vulnerable to ranged elemental attackers - Scarabs lightning bolts, Vampires etc. Undead monsters were less of an issue thanks to the Sanctuary from Lawbringer.
Couldn't you use Salvation until Fade triggered?
Yes, and I did. It wasn't without it's own problems though. Using Salvation made me more vulnerable to Physical attacks due to the lack of HF. Also it doesn't cover poison resists.
How would you have improved it?
Treachery is a great armour, but maybe this wasn't the best use for it. I could have got the 45IAS I needed by other means and upped my resistances without resorting to fade - Smoke, Veil of Steel, Kira's etc. But once I was equipped, I decided to stick with it. I could have also dropped out a couple of Captain's GCs for Shimmering GCs. This would have made the character playable with base resist, and just used Fade to top up the resists so I got 75% to everything. I have done this before with Treachery and I think it works better than relying on a ctc to get your important resists (like lightning) to 75%.
What did you do about CIs?
One of the many advantages of the Faith Merc is the bonus she provides to physical damage. With a 2h sword, even without the ED bonus on Lawbringer, this contributed nicely to my damage. If I switched to BKSC, I was doing even better physical damage. Normally I just waited for decrep to cast with Lawbringer and switched to BKSC to finish the job. I did put one point in concentration to further boost my physical damage, but rarely used it. It was normally better to take slightly longer killing them with the added safety of HF.
You have two switch swords?
Yes. I started with Voice of Reason, but there were few occasions to use it where Lawbringer wasn't a better choice. I kept BKSC and Guillaumes in the stash for boss fights and the Ancients. In the end, I found the extra resists and damage on BKSC was more useful, so mainly used that in the second half of Hell.
So did you hate it?
I'm finding playing Zeal based Paladins a bit too one dimensional. Turn on aura, run up to monsters, Zeal, rinse & repeat. I find the variation with crowd control skills (Shockwave, CoS) that I get from Assassins, Druids and other build more fun. Zeal paladins seen a bit more wack & run. I wouldn't say I hated it, in fact I think this could be a very powerful build. Death & Fortitude for good physical damage, Draculs and all the usual gear. I could have gone this route, but all out power has never really been what these 2h swords are about. It's more about using accessible equipment in a slightly different way to get a viable end build.
[highlight]Sept Status[/highlight]
Code:
Name Class Build Level Title Weapon
---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------
Urlik_Skarsol Barbarian PDR Berserker 84 Patriach 'Death' Eth Colossus Sword
Corum Necromancer Revive/Meleemancer 81 Patriach 'Passion' Champion Sword
Beowulf Druid Kodiak 82 Patriach 6 Shael Colossus Blade
Katajana Assassin Zealot 82 Matriarch 'Passion' Balrog Blade
Asquiol Paladin Frost Zealot 83 Patriarch Lawbringer/VoR/BKSC
Sharadim Sorceress ES Enchantless 0 - Not sure yet
Ilian Amazon Not Sure yet 0 - Not sure yetNext up is the sorceress. I'm probably going to do an ES Enchantless Vengeance Sorc, but I don't think I'll start her until the new year.. Expect something fairly similar to Nagi's recent Mat. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the Amazon. Maybe 1.13 will bring some inspiration, but I won't hold my breath. I'm thinking about another Zerkazon, but with better gear and maybe Frozen Arrow for crowd control.
I am John Daker, the victim of the whole world's dreams. I am Erekose, Champion of Humanity, who slew the human race. I am Hawkmoon. I am Corum. I am Illian. I am Aubec. I am Elric. I am Asquiol. I am Ulysses. I am Cornelius. I am many more.
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