Patriarch OD-TemPally (Asmo's EleTemplar)
I don't normally make Mat/Pat posts but am making an exception in this case.
My good friend Asmodeus posted an Elemental Templar guide over on the Pally Forum that caught my eye. (It's a sticky there if anyone else wants to look it over.) Asmo describes it as a Hybrid Conviction Zealot/Templar that uses only a single point in Zeal. Yup. And the build is viable in SP.
Seeing as how I had most of the recommended gear, I went after it and just this evening completed another Patriarch.
At level 88, my skill points distribution is as follows:
Combat Skills Tree
Fist of the Heavens 20 points
Holy Bolt 16 points
Holy Shield 10 points
All other pre-reqs 1 point
Offensive Auras Tree
Conviction 20 points
Holy Shock 20 points
All other pre-reqs 1 point
Defensive Auras Tree
No points at all
Stat Point Distribution
Strength - 120 = 158 (geared up)
Dexterity - 150 = 181 (geared up)
Vitality - 245 = 1225 (geared up)
Energy - Base = 263 (geared up)
Gear
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Mara's K-scope amulet
Ravenfrost ring
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band ring
Dracul's Grasp gloves
Duress in Archon Plate
String of Ears belt
Sandstorm Trek boots
Azurewrath Phase Blade socketed with rare fire and lightning damage jewel
Tiamat's Rebuke Dragon Shield socketed with rare resist and cold damage jewel
Hand of Blessed Light scepter on switch
Herald of Zakarum shield socketed with Um rune on switch
Inventory
Four Combat skillers
Remainder of inventory filled with elemental damage and resistance charms with a sprinkling of life and mana
Merc
Act II Holy Frost "Jemali"
The Reaper's Toll Thresher socketed with Shael rune
Vampire Gaze Grim Helm socketed with Um rune
Fortitude Archon Plate
From the skill point allocation and gear choices you can see the idea is maximize elemental damage under the effect of the Conviction aura. Asmo recommends the unique Dragon Scale shield with it's huge fire damage but suggests Tiamat's Rebuke as an alternative. Go with whatcha got.
The second thing is that Templars OWN the Undead. The Azurewrath has a built-in Sanctuary aura and does 250-500 points of MAGIC damage. The Hand of Blessed Light in addition to +2 to Pally skills also adds +4 to Holy Bolt and +2 to Fist of the Heavens. If you're a Templar, you REALLY want this club. A Templar is also one of the few builds that actually makes Holy Bolt work. My guy had a slvl 33 Holy Bolt and did 4800-5400 points of MAGIC damage.
It took me a little while to get the hang of being a Zealot that also cast spells but once the light bulb came on, there was no holding this guy back. Fearless. Absolutely fearless. With the Dracul's Grasp, he even leeches from skeletons! No deaths.
I played this guy on players 8 from the outset and was able to reach The Monastery in Hell Act I before scaling the players setting back. He didn't die but it started to take a while to wade through the mobs. He did very well on players 8 in The Pit and gained much XP but carrying no MF whatsoever, his finds were meager.
In closing, my merc Jemali was an idiot. I spent much of my time leading him around by the nose. He strayed constantly. He consistently "overshot" enemy mobs rather than engaging them directly. He hid when he should have been kicking butt. When he finally did engage, he was merciless.
I will most likely never use a merc named Jemali again.
I don't normally make Mat/Pat posts but am making an exception in this case.
My good friend Asmodeus posted an Elemental Templar guide over on the Pally Forum that caught my eye. (It's a sticky there if anyone else wants to look it over.) Asmo describes it as a Hybrid Conviction Zealot/Templar that uses only a single point in Zeal. Yup. And the build is viable in SP.
Seeing as how I had most of the recommended gear, I went after it and just this evening completed another Patriarch.
At level 88, my skill points distribution is as follows:
Combat Skills Tree
Fist of the Heavens 20 points
Holy Bolt 16 points
Holy Shield 10 points
All other pre-reqs 1 point
Offensive Auras Tree
Conviction 20 points
Holy Shock 20 points
All other pre-reqs 1 point
Defensive Auras Tree
No points at all
Stat Point Distribution
Strength - 120 = 158 (geared up)
Dexterity - 150 = 181 (geared up)
Vitality - 245 = 1225 (geared up)
Energy - Base = 263 (geared up)
Gear
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Mara's K-scope amulet
Ravenfrost ring
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band ring
Dracul's Grasp gloves
Duress in Archon Plate
String of Ears belt
Sandstorm Trek boots
Azurewrath Phase Blade socketed with rare fire and lightning damage jewel
Tiamat's Rebuke Dragon Shield socketed with rare resist and cold damage jewel
Hand of Blessed Light scepter on switch
Herald of Zakarum shield socketed with Um rune on switch
Inventory
Four Combat skillers
Remainder of inventory filled with elemental damage and resistance charms with a sprinkling of life and mana
Merc
Act II Holy Frost "Jemali"
The Reaper's Toll Thresher socketed with Shael rune
Vampire Gaze Grim Helm socketed with Um rune
Fortitude Archon Plate
From the skill point allocation and gear choices you can see the idea is maximize elemental damage under the effect of the Conviction aura. Asmo recommends the unique Dragon Scale shield with it's huge fire damage but suggests Tiamat's Rebuke as an alternative. Go with whatcha got.
The second thing is that Templars OWN the Undead. The Azurewrath has a built-in Sanctuary aura and does 250-500 points of MAGIC damage. The Hand of Blessed Light in addition to +2 to Pally skills also adds +4 to Holy Bolt and +2 to Fist of the Heavens. If you're a Templar, you REALLY want this club. A Templar is also one of the few builds that actually makes Holy Bolt work. My guy had a slvl 33 Holy Bolt and did 4800-5400 points of MAGIC damage.
It took me a little while to get the hang of being a Zealot that also cast spells but once the light bulb came on, there was no holding this guy back. Fearless. Absolutely fearless. With the Dracul's Grasp, he even leeches from skeletons! No deaths.
I played this guy on players 8 from the outset and was able to reach The Monastery in Hell Act I before scaling the players setting back. He didn't die but it started to take a while to wade through the mobs. He did very well on players 8 in The Pit and gained much XP but carrying no MF whatsoever, his finds were meager.
In closing, my merc Jemali was an idiot. I spent much of my time leading him around by the nose. He strayed constantly. He consistently "overshot" enemy mobs rather than engaging them directly. He hid when he should have been kicking butt. When he finally did engage, he was merciless.
I will most likely never use a merc named Jemali again.