What to do with my paladin?

[Arjan]

Recently I made my freezezealer paladin Roland a Patriarch. and respect him to a regular physical zealer. Since then I have been roaming the 85 areas, looking for the good stuff. While at the same time I want to level him too 99. So I need to find a balance between survivability and magic find. And this endgame stuff is new to me, so I would love some advice from the SPF-members.

I general I am happy with how he performs. His survivability is good on p8 in Hell for act I, II en III. Chaos Sanctuary I can cope but I can't afford any slips. WSK I do on p3.

My MF is 307 with offensive weapon seatup and 420 with MF switch

Stats, skills and gear

Spoiler

Str: 142
Dex: 161
Vit: 270
Ene: 32

Ar: 6065
def (with HS): 8300
stam: 441
Life: 1347
mana: 359

FR: 64
CR: 39
LR: 76
PR: 75

Zeal, holy shield, sacrifice: 20+6
Fanatism: 20+5
defiance: 3+4
1 point in prereqs

Shako
Grief
Wealth
Upped HoZ with pDiamond
Chance guards
ravenfrost
string of ears
nagel ring
eth wartravelers
rare amu with res, +skill and res
switch: blade of Ali Baba and Rhyme

questions:
- What to do with the 16 skills points I have yet to use? Up the res with passive bonus in def aura or boost def with defiance?
- Do I need more MF? I can easily add 113% on the switch (2 Ist in blade, a pTopaz in Shako and a Gheeds), for more I'll need to choose between res and life or MF. How do you build your endgame characters?
- I don't have a CtA yet because I am still working on an Enigma. Still 1 Jah (or 2 Ber's) away. Same with Fortitude to help the merc survive better (I don't use him now). I have the runes and bases to make both. I can see that with those runewords you can (more easily) decide to drop some res or life. Should I keep prioritizing Enigma?

 

[ioupain]

Exile in a good base?

 

[Arjan]

Exile in a good base?

That is a good option when I find a good ethereal base… ai hadn’t really thought about this one because HoZ is a good shield too

 

[BBS_Agonistes]

For your skills, what you mention are certainly good options, but a few others to consider-
-1 point in Vigor and your +5 will give you 30% FRW for running in town to speed up run times.
-After that, you are so close to Redemption that it's only 1 more point. Could be useful at times?

 

[Noodle]

I find Redemption extremely useful on my paladins.

 

[snickersnack]

A long time ago, I patted a 2-hander zealot (Death in a 1.07 CB), and since I had no shield, I had no points in HS. I spent 18 points in Conversion, and I still have 9 points unspent many years later.

Conversion wasn't amazing or even great (or even that good?), but it offered a lot of crowd control for a build with no blocking. You might consider trying that out so that you can be more durable in Hell. Converting just 1 or 2 strong enemies can keep you safer for a while.

Just a thought.

Maybe a D2R patch will make Conversion more useful.

 

[Arjan]

I find Redemption extremely useful on my paladins.

@BBS_Agonistes since you both mention Redemption: I don’t feel redemption is needed in this set up. Grief, Zeal and Fanatism make you leach like a maniac. So only in those situation that leach doesn’t work Redemption would be useful, but that’s mostly in though fights and then it’s far easier and safer to just drink a purple one.

At the end of most fights my red bulb is full or just about and that easily fixed with a red potion.

 

[ioupain]

I find Redemption is more useful for its 'Corpse Disposal' properties - denying monsters from resurrecting, regurgitating and Nihl from exploding is very useful!

 

[Arjan]

I find Redemption is more useful for its 'Corpse Disposal' properties - denying monsters from resurrecting, regurgitating and Nihl from exploding is very useful!

Oh it is! But I don’t farm in areas with that kind of monsters, and if I did I have a really nice Nature’s peace in my stash to slip on

 

[Excalibur]

I could give you some tips for a final build but if you plan to stay untwinked then I guess you won't be able to follow it. Thus, best thing I can do is to answer your questions:

- What to do with the 16 skills points I have yet to use? Up the res with passive bonus in def aura or boost def with defiance?

A good zealot usually doesn't need any more survivability. I noticed mine was struggling a bit with hitting bosses so I spent those points at blessed aim for the %5 passive bonus in AR. Once I move the Zealot to D2R I may eventually invest those points elsewhere.

- Do I need more MF? I can easily add 113% on the switch (2 Ist in blade, a pTopaz in Shako and a Gheeds), for more I'll need to choose between res and life or MF. How do you build your endgame characters?

The good old rule says, don't sacrifice killing speed for MF!

- I don't have a CtA yet because I am still working on an Enigma. Still 1 Jah (or 2 Ber's) away. Same with Fortitude to help the merc survive better (I don't use him now). I have the runes and bases to make both. I can see that with those runewords you can (more easily) decide to drop some res or life. Should I keep prioritizing Enigma?

Enigma will definitely speed your grinding and add more mf but personally I don't follow this route with such characters. I would prefer to gear my character with the best possible items and farm at the highest player settings I could handle. Thus, Fortitude would be my choice.

 

[Arjan]

I could give you some tips for a final build but if you plan to stay untwinked then I guess you won't be able to follow it. Thus, best thing I can do is to answer your questions:


A good zealot usually doesn't need any more survivability. I noticed mine was struggling a bit with hitting bosses so I spent those points at blessed aim for the %5 passive bonus in AR. Once I move the Zealot to D2R I may eventually invest those points elsewhere.


The good old rule says, don't sacrifice killing speed for MF!

Enigma will definitely speed your grinding and add more mf but personally I don't follow this route with such characters. I would prefer to gear my character with the best possible items and farm at the highest player settings I could handle. Thus, Fortitude would be my choice.

Oh no, please do give your tips. This one is twinked and I have no problems changing his gear at all!

Well I do think it’s better to follow your route and make myself a Fortitude instead of keeping grinding for an Enigma and possibly loose interest. The paladin gives me a lot of fun in grinding the 85 areas on p8 so investing in him would be a good choice

 

[Excalibur]

Cool then!
My concept with most characters is to keep their resists maxed and then focusing for the highest possible damage to make it efficient to farm at P8. As I already said I would prefer to equip the best possible items and farm at the highest player settings I could handle instead of MFing. Your experience and your chances of finding High Runes (which in the end HRs are the those that will upgrade your character) would eventually benefit your character more.

My Zealot'ss final build is this:

Grief Phase Blade - Strongest One hand Weapon, nothing comes even close.
Guillaume's Face (Um) - Plenty Crushing Blow, Deadly Strike, FHR and a good amount of Strength and you can also socket it.
Fortitude - The 300% ED is what makes it so appealing but the rest stats are extremely good as well.
Laying of Hands - Attack Speed, Great boost to FR and a massive 300% more damage to Demons.
Gore Riders - The most solid choice for physical builds.
Verdungo's - I prefer it over String of Ears because I don't need the LifeSteal. Verdungo's adds 3 great mods for extra safety.
Raven Forst - A very good choice not just for the CBF but for the extra dexterity and AR. You need that AR.
Rare Ring- Best ring you can find with Dual Leech. Your massive amount of damage will rapidly heal you regardless of how low your LL may be.
Highlord's Wrath - Most Solid choice. Attack speed, Deadly Strike and some extra LR.

Regarding the Shield:
You don't want Exile. It's a very defensive oriented shield and it breaks your potential to become a killing machine. You don't need Lifetap because Life Steal is enough and because it breaks Deceprify.
Phoenix on a Paladin Shield with 45% Resist is insane. 400% ED damage along with fortitude and a strong weapon such as Grief and everything will die in P8 in seconds.

Your Hireling plays a very important role. Pick an Act2 Might Mercenary.
Andariels Visage - For all the goodies it provides.
Fortitude - Because your Hireling has a massive potential of becoming a great damage dealer.
Ethereal Reaper's - Will grant him decent damage and most importantly the chance to cast Decrepify very often for a whopping 50% extra damage. This is also the reason why you don't want the Exile as the LifeTap will cancel Decrepify.
Now combine: Grief + Fortitude + Phoenix + Decrepify + Fanatisicm + Migh Aura and all I can say is that the Hireling himself is enough to solo Hell at P8.

Fill your inventory with damage and resist charms to cover any gap you will have. I am planning to move my Paladin to D2R and with a Torch and Anni I will be able to experiment with more stuff to increase his damage since I will be able to save some slots from resistances.

This is an old video but you can see just how the Mercenary performs at P8. You don't want to know what your character is capable of.

 

[Arjan]

Cool then!
My concept with most characters is to keep their resists maxed and then focusing for the highest possible damage to make it efficient to farm at P8. As I already said I would prefer to equip the best possible items and farm at the highest player settings I could handle instead of MFing. Your experience and your chances of finding High Runes (which in the end HRs are the those that will upgrade your character) would eventually benefit your character more.

My Zealot'ss final build is this:

Grief Phase Blade - Strongest One hand Weapon, nothing comes even close.
Guillaume's Face (Um) - Plenty Crushing Blow, Deadly Strike, FHR and a good amount of Strength and you can also socket it.
Fortitude - The 300% ED is what makes it so appealing but the rest stats are extremely good as well.
Laying of Hands - Attack Speed, Great boost to FR and a massive 300% more damage to Demons.
Gore Riders - The most solid choice for physical builds.
Verdungo's - I prefer it over String of Ears because I don't need the LifeSteal. Verdungo's adds 3 great mods for extra safety.
Raven Forst - A very good choice not just for the CBF but for the extra dexterity and AR. You need that AR.
Rare Ring- Best ring you can find with Dual Leech. Your massive amount of damage will rapidly heal you regardless of how low your LL may be.
Highlord's Wrath - Most Solid choice. Attack speed, Deadly Strike and some extra LR.

Regarding the Shield:
You don't want Exile. It's a very defensive oriented shield and it breaks your potential to become a killing machine. You don't need Lifetap because Life Steal is enough and because it breaks Deceprify.
Phoenix on a Paladin Shield with 45% Resist is insane. 400% ED damage along with fortitude and a strong weapon such as Grief and everything will die in P8 in seconds.

Your Hireling plays a very important role. Pick an Act2 Might Mercenary.
Andariels Visage - For all the goodies it provides.
Fortitude - Because your Hireling has a massive potential of becoming a great damage dealer.
Ethereal Reaper's - Will grant him decent damage and most importantly the chance to cast Decrepify very often for a whopping 50% extra damage. This is also the reason why you don't want the Exile as the LifeTap will cancel Decrepify.
Now combine: Grief + Fortitude + Phoenix + Decrepify + Fanatisicm + Migh Aura and all I can say is that the Hireling himself is enough to solo Hell at P8.

Fill your inventory with damage and resist charms to cover any gap you will have. I am planning to move my Paladin to D2R and with a Torch and Anni I will be able to experiment with more stuff to increase his damage since I will be able to save some slots from resistances.

This is an old video but you can see just how the Mercenary performs at P8. You don't want to know what your character is capable of.

Right! I am gonna use this as a wishlist and work around the items I don’t yet have (Guillermo, highlord, verdungo and reapers being the hardest)

I found a good base for my Fortitude so that’s going to be made. Phoenix… well that’ll be a new rune goal…

I like your philosophy: the best defense is to kill bloody everyone in mere seconds. I can work with that.

What does this build have as switch? CtA and spirit?

 

[Excalibur]

What does this build have as switch? CtA and spirit?

Yes, nothing else can be better.
You can also use a Demon Limb as prebuff to cast Enchant for the AR.
Good luck!

 

[Arjan]

Yes, nothing else can be better.
You can also use a Demon Limb as prebuff to cast Enchant for the AR.
Good luck!

Well, let’s see if I have the runes for a CtA too

 

[LouB]

Well I'm not totally in agreement with Excalibur. Overall I agree that Grief is the best weapon, but my Fanatic zealot uses Death. This gives me 100% crushing blow and 100% deadly strike with the same gear, plus I get a 20% bonus to AR and a 25% chance to cast Glacial Spike. I don't have Phoenix yet, but Herald of Zakarum does a more than adequate job.

 

[Arjan]

Well I'm not totally in agreement with Excalibur. Overall I agree that Grief is the best weapon, but my Fanatic zealot uses Death. This gives me 100% crushing blow and 100% deadly strike with the same gear, plus I get a 20% bonus to AR and a 25% chance to cast Glacial Spike. I don't have Phoenix yet, but Herald of Zakarum does a more than adequate job.

I can see the use of Death too. In what base did you put it? I think I have another 5 socket phase blade somewhere

 

[Excalibur]

I love arguing about Zealots.

HoZ is an awesome shield and definitely better than an Exile for a Zealot, I am not against it. Phoenix for this build is something like a luxury item. I am not expecting many players to follow it but it literally upgrades your character to a point you couldn't imagine was possible. The fact that you can make it on a Paladin shield and take advantage of those @45% resistances is an insane bonus.

Death is another awesome runeword which is crazy in a two handed weapon and I think a Zealot is the only one who can make it shine on a one-handed weapon due to covering the lack of AS much easier than other builds. But let me analyze why I personally think it can't challenge Grief.

At Players 1, both Weapons will one-shot most regular units if not all. So my main focus is at players 8.

Death doesn't offer Attack speed so you would need to socket two 15% IAS Jewels to hit the last frame considering that you are using a Berseker Axe. Grief doesn't have you worry about that. Damage and attack speed is what you are looking on a weapon and Grief covers you for good.

The Bonus AR you get from Death is easily countered with the "Ignore Target Defense" Grief provides meaning that you don't need AR against regular monsters. That's a huge bonus for a Runeword that doesn't require Jah yet includes its mod. It also offers -25% to enemy defense which help against uniques and bosses. Against uniques the AR seems already fine, I only happen to find myself struggling hitting Baal and a bit Mephisto at P8.

The 100% DS and CB sounds so elusive but Grief setup is not far behind. With Grief you get close to 85% DS and 50% CB but with a better average damage and Phoenix you are leaving Death far behind. As I said, at Players 1 it doesn't really matter since everything goes down in seconds so we need to focus on how effective it is at P8. Crushing Blow is like one of the best mods out there but it's so less effective at P8 and you mostly need it against bosses while a Zealot deals with mobs 95% of the time. Your initial hits will drop a regular monsters health so fast that at this point CB will not have a crazy effect (especially as I said at P8) like a Smiter would have against Ubers. Deadly strike seems more important since you need to hit hard those sturdy monsters. In the end, raw damage is what makes a difference and mods such as DS depend on it to truly shine so Grief is no where close to compete.

To sum up, you can't go wrong with either weapon but Grief seems an overall much superior weapon especially with the route I am following for this build and it's not even that expensive considering you only need a Lo rune for what it provides on a just regular base.

 

[Excalibur]

I can see the use of Death too. In what base did you put it? I think I have another 5 socket phase blade somewhere

Death is indestructible so you want to make it on an ethereal base. Most popular choice would be a Berseker Axe.

 

[LouB]

I'll agree that the most popular is a Berserker axe, but I didn't even have a plain 5 socket one let alone an etheral one. I put mine in a War Spike so that I was able to make 4 fps with just the IAS from Laying of hands and Highlord's Wrath and fanatiscism of course. I gave up a little damage, but I also got it 5 levels earlier.