Diablo 2 Paladin Guide – Build Your Own Zealot!

Introduction

Salutations and welcome to this Diablo 2 Paladin Guide.

I am Kitteh, a long-time player of Diablo 2 and for the last decade or so, exclusively single-player, and now exclusively hardcore. My gameplay has varied from grinding to level 99 (Fordyl), running Ancient Tunnels (AT) 5,000 times (5,000 AT runs) because I like gold and green, and playing various builds to guardianship (Kitteh’s Rebirth). What I’m trying to [not] say is that I don’t like change and this game means an awful lot to me. I live in the single-player forum (SPF), where you will also find some of the most knowledgeable players in the game – feel free to pop in any time 🙂

This guide is written in the context of how I play the game, so do keep that in mind. There are no Hellfire Torches or Annihilus in single player, at least not at the current time, we shall see if Blizzard changes their mind on that for Diablo II Resurrected. The mods that allow those items are not accepted on these forums. We do, however, allow the use of Runeword Mod (RWM) which allows ladder-only runewords to be created in single player, and I will provide a link for this in the ‘Further Reading’ section. If an item requires RWM then it will have ‘RWM’ in parentheses. I will also refer to ‘untwinked’ gameplay, which is how we refer to playing a character strictly with items found by that character.

So, how do you use this guide? Most of the guide will be centred around the basic functionality of a zealot, this section is applicable regardless of the type of zealot that you decide to play and will introduce key mechanics of the build, stats that you want to get, and breakpoints for each. Once you understand these basics, you can choose a ‘flavour’ of zealot, specifically; physical, fire, lightning or cold. There are a few more flavour-specific stats that you want to aim for and these will be addressed in their own sections.

My goal is that after reading this guide, regardless of what you want to build a character for, there is a zealot that you feel comfortable using. I hope for this guide to be informative, but I will provide links to additional guides to provide a larger overview of specific areas where appropriate. I am also happy to take questions by PM on the forums.

Zealots – An Introduction and Key Mechanics

Mechanics of Zeal

A zealot, as one might expect, uses the ‘zeal’ skill to ‘phwack’, ‘phwack’, ‘phwack’, ‘phwack’, ‘phwack’ the hordes of The Burning Hells right back to where they came from. Zeal is assigned to your left click button and used in combination with an aura of your choice. It is the choice of aura that dictates the nature of your zealot build, and these choices will be explored in the next section.

Zeal is a melee skill with an elevated attack speed compared to a normal attack. As you allocate skill points to zeal you gain increased damage and attack rating (Table 1). At level one, zeal will strike two times per attack, increasing by one hit until you hit five times at level four. The first strike is aimed at your target and further strikes will hit adjacent enemies if there are any, otherwise all strikes will be targeted at your initial target. Each strike with zeal (so each of the individual five) has a separate chance to hit. Zeal will always cost two mana per attack, that is a volley of five strikes, not each individual strike.

Zeal is uninterruptible both from enemy effects and your own actions. This is important because this means that zeal is not interrupted by blocking, hit recovery, knockback, and stun. However, you can for example, still block, there is just no animation.

sLvl	% AR	% DMG	sLvl	% AR	% DMG	sLvl	% AR	% DMG
1	10	0	11	110	42	21	210	102
2	20	0	12	120	48	22	220	108
3	30	0	13	130	54	23	230	114
4	40	0	14	140	60	24	240	120
5	50	6	15	150	66	25	250	126
6	60	12	16	160	72	26	260	132
7	70	18	17	170	78	27	270	138
8	80	24	18	180	84	28	280	144
9	90	30	19	190	90	29	290	150
10	100	36	20	200	96	30	300	156

Mechanics of Blocking

If you’re playing a zealot then you are going to be right up in the enemy’s face, saying rude things about their friends and pulling stupid faces to put them off. In turn, they will try to put you off by smashing your face in with a club, claw or bolt of lightning. You want to avoid this if at all possible and there are many ways to do so, the primary method being to block those attempts at disfiguring your beautiful face. Note: mercenaries cannot block.

When an attacker attempts to hit a defender with any applicable skill (Table 2), the first thing that happens is a hit check, unless you are running in which case the hit check is bypassed.

Table 2 – Skills which induce a hit check

Default	Amazon	Assassin	Barbarian	Druid	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress
Attack	Fire arrow	Tiger strike	Bash	Feral rage	Poison dagger	Sacrifice
Throw	Cold arrow	Dragon talon	Double swing	Maul		Smite
	Multiple shot	Fists of fire	Stun	Rabies		Zeal
	Exploding arrow	Dragon claw	Double throw	Fire claws		Charge
	Ice arrow	Cobra strike	Leap attack	Hunger		Vengeance
	Immolation arrow	Claws of thunder	Concentrate	Fury		Conversion
	Strafe	Dragon tail	Frenzy
	Freezing arrow	Blades of ice	Whirlwind
	Jab	Dragon flight	Berserk
	Power strike	Phoenix strike
	Poison javelin	Blade sentinel
	Impale	Blade fury
	Charged strike	Blade shield
	Plague javelin
	Fend
	Lightning strike

*There are some specific exceptions to note; lightning bolt, guided arrow, lightning fury, smite (only for paladin) and charge (only for monsters).

The chance to hit is determined using the following formula;

% Chance to hit = 100 * 2 * (alvl / (alvl+dlvl) ) * (AR / (AR+DR))

Regarding notation; alvl being the level of the attacker, dlvl the level of the defender, AR the attacker’s attack rating and DR the defender’s defence rating. An attacker’s chance to hit is always 5% <= chance to hit <= 95%.

If the attacker succeeds with the hit check, you get an opportunity to block the attack. In order to block an attack you need to be holding an appropriate item; a shield, a shrunken head (necromancer only items) or an auric shield (paladin only items). Note: nobody calls an auric shield an ‘auric shield’ (they should, it’s a lovely word) so just call it a paladin shield or 75% of people won’t know what you mean and 87% will think you’re a bit weird.

You can block melee attacks, projectiles (arrows and bolts), throwing weapons (javelins, throwing knives and throwing axes) and physical damage missiles. There are two other assaults that you can block, the on-death explosion of a bone fetish and the explosion caused by a monster being fire enchanted. These are two very helpful situational blocks.

Unfortunately, there are also some unblockable attacks, some of which you don’t need to worry much about such as lightning bolt, the explosion from molten boulder, the pulse damage of tornado, impact damage from armageddon and smite (when used by a paladin). However, there are a few nasty exceptions; corpse explosion (including Nihlathak’s), and charge from claw vipers and reanimated hordes. As with chance to hit, there is a formula for calculating block chance;

% Chance to Block = min( (base blocking % of shield + blockfactor + blocking bonus) * (Dexterity-15) / (clvl*2) , 75)

The base blocking % of your shield is base-dependent (Table 3). Blockfactor is class-specific (Table 4) and included in the % that you see on the item. Blocking bonus includes holy shield (discussed below). clvl is the level of your character. The result is your % chance to block which is then capped at 75% when standing still or walking, and 25% when running.

Table 3 – Base block of shields

Normal Version	Base Block (%)	Exceptional Version	Base Block (%)	Elite Version	Base Block (%)
Buckler	0	Defender	10	Heater	22
Small shield	5	Round shield	12	Luna	20
Large shield	12	Scutum	14	Hyperion	24
Kite shield	8	Dragon shield	18	Monarch	22
Spiked shield	10	Barbed shield	17	Blade barrier	20
Bone shield	20	Grim shield	20	Troll nest	20
Tower shield	24	Pavise	24	Aegis	24
Gothic shield	16	Ancient shield	16	Ward	24

Normal Version	Base Block (%)	Exceptional Version	Base Block (%)	Elite Version	Base Block (%)
Targe	10	Akaran targe	10	Sacred targe	30
Rondache	15	Akaran rondache	15	Sacred rondache	28
Heraldic shield	20	Protector shield	20	Kurast shield	25
Aerin shield	22	Gilded shield	22	Zakarum shield	22
Crown shield	25	Royal shield	25	Vortex shield	19

Note: Auric shields have a staff mod which is either +AR and % damage, or +XX to all resistances. This plus their slightly better block chance makes them the best shield base for a paladin, unsurprisingly. Use them for runewords whenever possible. If none are available, a bone shield base type is your best option for a balance of block % and strength requirement.

Table 4 – Block factor by class

Class	Amazon	Assassin	Barbarian	Druid	Necromancer	*Paladin*	Sorceress
Block factor	25%	25%	25%	20%	20%	30%	20%

A key factor for a paladin is the skill ‘holy shield’, which provides a % chance to block so long as holy shield is active (Table 5). This % is part of ‘blocking bonus’. Holy shield also provides a hefty defence bonus, further increased by points in ‘defiance’. I wouldn’t build around defence generally speaking, but it’s a bonus. The reason that defence has to be very high to be of use, which in the case of a paladin is fairly easy.

Table 5 – Skill bonuses for holy shield by skill level

Skill Level	Duration (Sec)	Defence %	Block %	Skill Level	Duration (Sec)	Defence %	Block %
1	30	25	14	16	405	250	34
2	55	40	18	17	430	265	34
3	80	55	20	18	455	280	34
4	105	70	23	19	480	295	34
5	130	85	25	20	505	310	35
6	155	100	26	21	530	325	35
7	180	115	27	22	555	340	35
8	205	130	28	23	580	355	36
9	230	145	29	24	605	370	36
10	255	160	30	25	630	385	36
11	280	175	31	26	655	400	36
12	305	190	31	27	680	415	37
13	330	205	32	28	705	430	37
14	355	220	33	29	730	445	37
15	380	235	33	30	755	460	37

If after all of this you initiate a block, damage is not applied, although piercing can still take place. Sucks to be the person behind you.

If you block during a zeal attack there is no animation, but if you block whilst not mid-zeal, your character enters a blocking animation which must be completed prior to any further actions. If you block again during the animation, the animation starts again and this can ultimately lead to you being locked into a series of blocks. I cannot stress how infuriating or dangerous this can be, much like with faster hit recovery. The difference is that at least here you are blocking the incoming damage. The stat ‘Faster block rate’ reduces the time required to go through this animation, thus getting you back in the game before another club comes a-swinging. There are breakpoints associated with faster block rate (Table 6). Increasing your % faster block rate without reaching the next breakpoint will not reduce the time taken for the animation to take place. Luckily for us we are using holy shield, so you will notice that we have adjusted breakpoints, reaching 2 block frames by default when holy shield is active. You can reach 1 block frame if you get 86% faster block rate. Don’t pursue this.

Table 6 – Faster block rate breakpoints

Character	Weapon / Skill / Form	Block Frames
Character	Weapon / Skill / Form	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Amazon	1H swinging weapon (*)	0	4	6	11	15	23	29	40	56	80	120	200	480
Amazon	Other weapons													0	13	32	86	600
Assassin	All													0	13	32	86	600
Barbarian	All											0	9	20	42	86	280
Druid	Human form							0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
	Bear form						0	5	10	16	27	40	65	109	223
	Wolf form									0	7	15	27	48	86	200
Necromancer	All							0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
Paladin	Normal													0	13	32	86	600
Paladin	With Holy Shield																0	86
Sorceress	All									0	7	15	27	48	86	200

For most classes there is always some debate about whether or not to go max block, and there are very valid arguments for both. Personally, I always go max block (or in some cases 50%) if I have a good blocking shield and I am playing a druid, necromancer or sorceress as they get less life per vitality point anyway, so the safety contribution is a little more balanced. However, if you are playing a paladin and using a shield, you are going max block. There is absolutely no reason not do so. Please don’t be that person 🙁

Here are some of the best blocking shields, plus some of the easier to access additional sources (Table 7).

Table 7 – Highlighted shields for blocking

Unique Shield	Block % for Paladin	% Faster Block Rate	Additional Key Stats
Herald of Zakarum	82	30	20% attack rating; +20 strength +20 vitality; +50 all resistances
Stormshield	77	35	Damaged reduced by 35%; +60 cold resistance; +25 lightning resistance
Moser’s Blessed Circle	67	30	Two open sockets; +25 all resistances
Visceratuant	70	30
Steelclash	63	20	+15 all resistances; +1 paladin skills;
Pelta Lunata	50	40

Set Shield	Block % for Paladin	% Faster Block Rate	Additional Key Stats
Griswold’s Honor	75	65	+45 all resistances; three open sockets
Whitstan’s Guard	97	40
Sigon’s Guard	74	0	+1 all skills

Runeword Shield	Block %	% Faster Block Rate	Additional Key Stats
Rhyme (ShaelEth)	20	40	Cannot be frozen; +25 all resistances; 25% magic find
Sanctuary (KoKoMal)	20	20	20 faster hit recovery; +20 dexterity; +50-70 all resistances

Source	Block %	% Faster Block Rate	Additional Key Stat
Isenhart’s Set (Full)	30
Eld rune in shield	7
Caster shield	5-10
Hit power shield	5-10
Safety amulet	1-10
Guardian Angel	20
Twitchthroe	25

Attack Speed

You ideally want to reach maximum attack speed, but if playing untwinked it is not as much of a priority. It is very simple, hitting faster means you will kill things faster. There are a few factors in play here. Firstly, zeal has a faster attack speed than standard attacks. Second, every weapon has an attack speed, the base is 0, values >0 are slower and values <0 are faster. Fanaticism provides 35% attack speed at level 20. Finally, you have attack speed on your gear. However, your speed can then be reduced by decrepify and holy freeze etc. This is particularly important if you plan to run Baal as you need to account for the decrepify. The best way to approach this is to use the attack speed calculator to bring all of these factors together.

Despite it’s relatively low base damage., the best bases for speed are phase blades in the endgame, for both the Grief runeword on fanaticism zealots (because the damage primarily comes from the +XXX damage, which is independent of the weapon damage), and for any runeword used on an elemental zealot, for which it primarily exists to deliver the attacks as quickly as possible. Berserker axes provide a slightly higher damage level for a little less speed. On a fanaticism zealot, speed is unlikely to be an issue, with the exception of Baal running because of decrepify. You need to adapt this to your circumstances. Do you have plenty of resources? Make an individualised weapon for every build. Not so many resources? A Phase blade is more widely applicable.

In terms of early game (or untwinked), crystal sword and flail bases (and their equivalents) are your best options for speed. In untwinked gameplay, I usually opt for flails and I make a duplicate (if possible) and keep it on switch in case I get caught out by durability and don’t want to lose a TP for questing. If you’re playing twinked, your best options are the Death’s Disguise set or the Sigon’s Complete Steel set with any reasonably fast physical weapon, for a fanaticism zealot, and the unique ‘The General’s Tan Do Li Ga’ for an elemental zealot. Other levelling weapons to consider include; ‘Steel’ runeword, ‘Strength’ runeword, ‘Black‘ runeword, Ginther’s Rift, Bloodrise and Butcher’s Pupil.

Damage Mitigation

Resistances

You absolutely, as with any character, want to achieve a minimum of 75 all resistances. You can relax on poison if you like, that’s a personal choice. After damaged reduced and magic damage reduced have been applied, resistances come into play. Resistance ‘resists’ a % of incoming damage, and is one of our primary sources of damage mitigation. You achieve this through your gear primarily, with your shield being a massive source of resistances due to the staff mod bonus available on auric shields. In addition, we gain resists from completing Anya’s quest in Act V, so be sure to do this. If you are playing on Bnet, then you also have the option of Hellfire Torch and Annihilus to help you reach these numbers. Ordinarily, charms are also a great source, but you really want to be saving charms for damage and attack rating + life if you’re a fanaticism zealot, although it’s not such a problem if you opt for an elemental zealot. If you have skill points left over (more so for a fanaticism zealot), place them into the resist ‘element’ auras. Every two hard points in these skills increases the corresponding maximum resistance by 1%, although this is hard capped at 95%. So 6 hard points in resist cold gives you +3 maximum resist. This is a massive bonus, so sink points here if you can. Similar stats are available on items.

‘Damage reduced by % (DR%)‘ is essentially a physical equivalent to resistance, reducing incoming physical damage by a %. The difference is that DR% is capped at 50% and this is a hard cap for players. Monsters however, can reach 100% and therefore be physical immune. It’s terribly irritating, actually. You can combat this with curses (discussed below), and Sanctuary (aura, available on Azurewrath, a unique phase blade, and the ‘Lawbringer’ runeword) will pierce enemy damage reduction. A negative DR% (as a default, a player has 0%) will result in more physical damage being taken, as with elemental resistances, but will not increase the effects of crushing blow (discussed later). Unlike elemental resistances, this modifier is a little harder to obtain. Below are some of the better sources of DR% (Table 8).

Table 8 – The best sources of % damage reduced

DR%	Item	DR%	Item	DR%
Socketed ‘Ber’ rune (helmet, chest, shield)	8		Chains of Honour (DolUmBerIst)	8	String of Ears	10-15
Rockstopper	10		Enigma (JahIthBer)	8	Verdungo’s Hearty Cord	10-15
Harlequin Crest	10		Leviathan	15-25	Vampire Gaze	15-20
Crown of Ages	10-15		Shaftshop	30	Stormshield	35

Damage Reduced By

Elemental damage (and magic damage) can also be mitigated by the ‘magic damage reduced’ (MDR), which is applied after cyclone armour and energy shield (not relevant for us), but prior to resistance. MDR subtracts a numeric value from the damage taken, per element (including magic). For example, if you have 100 incoming damage which is split into 50 fire damage and 50 lightning damage, 20 MDR will reduced this to 30 fire damage and 30 lightning damage.

Similarly, ‘damaged reduced’ (DR), which is applied after bone armour and energy shield, but prior to % damage reduced. As with magic damaged reduced, it is an integer subtraction from the incoming damage number (physical only). If you have 100 incoming physical damage, ‘damage reduced by 20’ will reduce this to 80 physical damage.

Interestingly, if the damage reduced by ‘X’ > incoming physical damage, or magic damage reduced by ‘X’ is > incoming elemental/magic damage, the excess is applied to the sum of alternative damage, post-resistance. That is, if you have 50 MDR and incoming damage which consists of 30 fire damage and 70 physical damage, this will be reduced (prior to resistance) to 0 fire damage and 70 physical damage. However, after resistance takes effect, the difference of 20 MDR is applied to the remaining physical damage.

Generally speaking, it is far better to get your elemental resistances maxed, any absorb (see below) that is available and as much % damage reduction as possible. DR and MDR are primarily of use when you are subjected to a flurry of smaller hits, where the relative impact of an integer subtraction is greater. They do little to protect you from bigger hits.

Absorption

Absorb is somewhat similar to resistance, but is applied post-resistance and effectively capped at 40%. It is damage type specific and can exist either as a % absorption or an integer absorption. The % absorb is applied to the damage remaining post-resistance, followed by integer absorption being removed from the remaining damage. The player then heals for the value absorbed as HP. Finally, the damage is applied. As an example, if we have 100 incoming cold damage (post-resistance) with 20% absorb and 20 integer cold absorb, the damage is reduced to 80 cold damage by the 20%, then reduced to 60 cold damage by the 20 integer absorption, causing us to heal for 40 HP and then take 60 cold damage. As with DMR and DR vs DR% and elemental resistances, the numerical variant is more effective for multiple smaller hits, the best examples being lightning enchanted (much like charged bolts from scarab beetles) and hydras when fighting The Council. Below are some of the better sources of absorption (Table 9).

Table 9 – The best sources of absorption

Item	Element	% Absorb	‘X’ absorbed
Nord’s Tenderizer	Cold	5-15
Stormlash	Lightning		3-9
Lightsabre	Lightning	25
The Rising Sun	Fire		0.75 /clvl
Raven Frost	Cold	20
Dwarf Star	Fire	15
Wisp projector	Lightning	10-20
Dragonscale	Fire	10-20
Nightwing’s Veil	Cold		5-9
Hellmouth	Fire		15
Thundergod’s Vigor	Lightning		20
Spirit Ward	Cold		6-11
Laying of Hands (1.07 version only, where there is also no cap)	Fire	50
Crescent Moon (ShaelUmTir)	Magic		9-11
Oath (ShaelPulMalLum)	Magic		10-15
Phoenix (VexVexLoJah)	Fire		15-21
Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn)			3-8

Additional Mechanics

The following mechanics and attributes are generic to zealots. They apply regardless of which zealot build you choose. Each ‘flavour’ below has some more build-specific mechanics and attributes discussed, which allow you to specialise.

Open wounds and poison

When you attack, you have a % chance (summed from items) to apply open wounds, draining some of the defender’s life over 7 seconds, although the total duration of the effect is 8 seconds (no life drained for the first second). During the full 8 seconds, the defender is unable to regenerate life. This latter effect is the primary reason that we obtain open wounds. It is absolutely not required and don’t stress about getting it, but if you can grab it somewhere (it is often paired with our other desired modifiers) then do so. You can also get this effect from poison damage but you’ll need probably need an inventory slot for that. Below are the better sources of open wounds (Table 10).

Table 10 – The best sources of % chance of open wounds (OW)

Item	OW%	Extra Stats
‘Um’ rune (weapon)	25
Duress (ShaelUmThul)	33	Faster hit recovery, resistances, crushing blow
Crescent Moon (ShaelUmTir)	25	CtC static strike, -enemy lightning resistance, ignores target’s defence, attack speed
Steel (TirEl)	50	Attack speed, mana after kill
Beast (BerTirUmMalLum)	25	Fanaticism aura, crushing blow, attack speed, high damage, werebear o-skill, strength
Dracul’s Grasp	25	CtC lifetap, strength, life leech
Gore Rider	10	Faster run/walk, crushing blow, deadly strike

Crushing blow

Getting % chance of crushing blow is a major offensive stat for a melee build, and is especially useful for uniques and bosses. Prior to your damage being dealt, you have a % chance to reduce the enemy’s current life by a percentage; 25% against normal enemies and 12.5% against champions and higher. This % is halved when using a missile weapon. Notably, you can get 100% chance for crushing blow. The effect of crushing blow is reduced by physical resistance of monsters, but not increased by a negative resistance. Below are the better sources of crushing blow (Table 11).

Table 11 – The best sources of % chance of crushing blow

Item	CB%	Extra Stats
Blood gloves (crafted)	5-10	Life leech/+life guaranteed, potentially knockback
Guillaume’s Face	35	Deadly strike, faster hit recovery
Stormlash	33	Attack speed, CtC static field
Ribcracker	50	Attack speed, faster hit recovery
Heaven’s Light	33	Attack speed, -target defence, +2-3 paladin skills, 1-2 sockets
Bonesnap	40
Rattlecage	25
Giant Skull	10	Knockback, strength, 1-2 sockets
Goblin Toe	25
Gore Rider	15	Open wounds, faster/walk, deadly strike
Black (ThulIoNef)	40	Attack speed
Death (HelElVexOrtGul)	50	High damage, deadly strike
Beast (BerTirUmMalLum)	20	Attack speed, fanaticism
Duress (ShaelUmThul)	15	Resistances, faster hit recovery

Faster Hit Recovery

When your character is hit with a damage value > 1/12th of the character’s maximum life, the character is stunned. This stun begins an animation which must be completed before any further actions can be taken. Unfortunately, this stun effect can be triggered repeatedly and if destiny slaps you in the face, you can die very quickly. This is bad. Obviously. To avoid this embarrassing end, we can obtain ‘faster hit recovery’ (FHR) which will decrease the number of frames required for the animation end. People often dismiss this mechanic, but I seriously recommend never listening to anything such a person says, whether that be advice on Diablo, cheese and cracker combinations or fashion choices. Ignore them. Faster hit recovery is an excellent attribute to take advantage of and in hardcore, you absolutely want to reaching a high breakpoint. Speaking of which, as with faster attack rate, faster cast rate and faster block rate, just getting your faster hit recovery as high as possible is not going to help. Frames do not function as fractions which means that you have to ‘reach’ a specific value of faster hit recovery in order to for your hit recovery to reach its next point of improvement. These breakpoints are below (Table 12). Your best sources of faster hit recovery are also below (Table 13).

I would at least get 48 faster hit recovery, but I always like to have 86 if I can.

Table 12 – Faster hit recovery breakpoints

Character	Equipped weapon	Hit Recovery Frames
Character	Equipped weapon	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
Amazon	all							0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
Assassin	all									0	7	15	27	48	86	200
Barbarian	all									0	7	15	27	48	86	200
Druid; Human form	1H swinging weapon (*)				0	3	7	13	19	29	42	63	99	174	456
Druid; Human form	Other weapons					0	5	10	16	26	39	56	86	152	377
Druid; Bear form	all					0	5	10	16	24	37	54	86	152	360
Druid; Wolf form	all											0	9	20	42	86	280
Necromancer; Human form	all					0	5	10	16	26	39	56	86	152	377
Necromancer; Vampire form	all			0	2	6	10	16	24	34	48	72	117	?	?	?	?
Paladin	Spears and staves					0	3	7	13	20	32	48	75	129	280
Paladin	Other weapons									0	7	15	27	48	86	200
Sorceress	all			0	5	9	14	20	30	42	60	86	142	280
Merc Act 1	all							0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
Merc Act 2	all			0	5	9	14	20	30	42	60	86	142	280
Merc Act 3	all	0	5	8	13	18	24	32	46	63	86	133	232	600
Merc Act 5	all									0	7	15	27	48	86	200
Character	Equipped weapon	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
Character	Equipped weapon	Hit Recovery Frames

Table 13 – The best sources of % chance of crushing blow

Item	FHR%	Additional stats
‘of balance‘ on small charms	5	Paired prefix (resistances/damage/attack rating)
‘Shael’ rune (armour)	20
Kira’s Guardian	20	All resistances, cannot be frozen
Treachery (ShaelThulLem)	20	Assassin skills, attack speed, CtC fade, cold resistance
Stealth (TalEth)	25	Faster cast rate, faster run/walk
Duress (ShaelUmThul)	40	Crushing blow, open wounds, resistances
Stone (ShaelUmPulLum)	60	All resistances, attributes, high defence
Ribcracker	50	Attack speed, crushing blow, good damage
Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn)	55	Faster cast rate, +skills, mana, magic absorb, resistances (shield)
Sanctuary (KoKoMal)	20	Block chance/rate, dexterity, all resistances
Verdungo’s Hearty Cord	10	Vitality, % damaged reduced
Bloodfist	30	Attack speed, life
Sandstorm Trek	20	Faster run/walk, poison resist, strength, vitality
Griswold’s Legacy (full set)	30	All resistances, life, + paladin skills, attributes

Cannot be frozen

Cannot be frozen prevents you form being slowed by cold/freeze length. Note: decrepify and the slowing effect of holy freeze, will still slow you down. This is pretty key for any melee build and you want to get it sharpish, if you can. Rhyme is a very easy source of this modifier, but Ravenfrost is the ideal source. There is an exception to this with WW barbarians in Travincal, where being frozen is actually beneficial. Below are the best sources of cannot be frozen (Table 14).

Table 14 – Items with cannot be frozen

Source	Additional Stats	Source	Additional Stats
‘Cham’ rune (armour)		Voice of Reason (LemKoElEld)	CtC frozen orb, -enemy cold resistance
Kira’s Guardian	All resistances, faster hit recovery	Ravenfrost	Dexterity, cold absorb, attack rating
Duriel’s Shell	Life, resistances, strength	Rhyme (ShaelEth)	Resistances, magic find, block

Life stolen per hit

Life leech returns life to you when dealing physical attack damage. % life stolen per hit is summed across gear, although when dual wielding only the attacking weapon counts. Life stolen per hit is applied at 50% and 33% effectiveness in nightmare and hell, respectively. It is also effected by drain effectiveness, a stat held by monsters. As this value drops, so to does the amount of life returned to the leeching player, with a value of zero rendering life stolen per hit irrelevant. There are a series of monsters with a drain effectiveness value of 0 (Table 15), most notable Mephisto in nightmare and hell, and Diablo in hell. Also below is a table of the best sources of life stolen per hit (Table 16).

Table 15 – Monsters with 0 drain effectiveness

Barricade	Barricaded door	Barricaded tower	Catapult	Diablo’s bone prison	Evil demon hut	Fire tower
Flying scimitar	Gargoyle trap	Lightning spire	Mummy sarcophagus	Night maruader	Prison door	Skeleton
Skeleton archer	Skeleton mage	Spawn	Willowisp	Window	Wraith	Mephisto (NM/H)
Diablo (H)

Table 16 – The best sources of % chance of life stolen per hit

Item	Leech %	Extra Stats
Blood gloves (crafted)	1-3	Life, crushing blow.
Dracul’s Grasp	7-10	Life on kill, strength, open wounds, CtC life tap
String of Ears	6-8	% damage reduced, magic damaged reduced by
Nosferatu’s Coil	5-7	Attack speed, slows target, strength
Vampire Gaze	6-8	% damage reduced, magic damage reduced by
Stealskull	5	Attack speed, faster hit recovery
Crown of Thieves	9-12	Life, dexterity, fire resistance
Andariel’s Visage	8-10	+ skills, attack speed, strength
Tal Rasha’s Hoadric Crest	10	Life, all resistances
Arreat’s Face	3-6	Faster hit recovery, + barbarian skills, strength, dexterity, resistances
Chains of Honour (DolUmBerIst)	8	Resistances, + skills, % damage reduced by
Breath of the Dying (VexHelElEldZodEth)	12-15	Attack speed, attributes, -target defence
Strength (AmnTir)	7	Crushing blow, strength, vitality
Honor (AmnElEthTirSol)	7	Deadly strike, + skills, strength
Lawbringer (AmnLemKo)	7	Sanctuary aura, CtC decrepify, -enemy defence, dexterity
The Reaper’s Toll	11-15	CtC decrepify, ignore target’s defence, deadly strike
Bul Kathos’ Wedding Band	3-5	+ skills, life
Rare rings	3-8	Life, resists, attack rating
Immortal King (Gloves 4 pieces)	10	Strength, dexterity, attack speed.
Death’s Disguise (Any 2 pieces)	8	Attack speed, cannot be frozen.
Sigon’s Complete Steel (Any 2 pieces)	10	Attack speed, attack rating

CtC static strike

Static strike is a sorceress skill which removes 25% of an enemy’s current life, down to a maximum of 33% life in nightmare and 50% life in hell. Reductions to lightning resistance further this effect. With the frequency of attacking with zeal we get plenty of triggers, so we can make great use of three weapons with chance to cast static strike; Stormlash, Schaefer’s Hammer and Crescent Moon. I personally made a Schaefer’s Hammer zealot and it is great fun, and in fact somebody in the SPF got to level 99 with such a build. Additionally, Crescent Moon is best in slot for tesladins (holy shock zealot). Stormlash is exceptionally fast and comes with crushing blow. So, all three are great options!

Stats/Mechanics – Order of Importance

Hardcore

Max resists (75%) (seek to increase your increase your lightning beyond 75)
Max block (75%)
Life stolen per hit
Cannot be frozen
86 faster hit recovery
Max attack speed (5.2 attacks per second)
Crushing blow

Softcore

Max resists
Cannot be frozen
Max attack speed (5.2 attacks per second)
Life stolen per hit
Crushing blow
Max block (75%)
48 faster hit recovery (ideally 86, though)

Choose a Zealot Flavour

There are various things to consider when choosing a flavour. What do you want to achieve? What looks fun to you? What do you have available? What can you obtain?

Fanatacism zealots are the most common, but I’d say holy shock zealots (tesladin) are on a par with them in terms of power.
Fanatacism zealots make very good Travincal runners
Fanatcism and holy shock zealots are both great Baal runners
Holy freeze zealots are the safest for hardcore
Holy fire zealots are kinda meh in the long term, but they are great for levelling.

What I’m doing here is giving you the information and explaining what you want to obtain in order for your zealot to be the best that it can be. What you can obtain and how you do it is ultimately up to you. Thus, when it comes to recommending gear for each flavour of zealot I am simply giving you the best options. You need to mix and match in order to fill the gaps in your own build. That being said, the item at the top of the list, and in bold, is my suggested best in slot if you have all of the emboldened items. Piece those emboldened items together and you have my ideal gear set-up.

Fanaticism – Physical

Introduction

Fanaticism is our aura of choice, providing huge attack speed, physical damage and attack rating (Table 17). This also benefits your mercenary, but only at 50% effectiveness.

Table 17 – Skill bonuses for fanaticism by skill level

Skill Level	Radius (Yards)	Damage %	Attack Speed %	Attack Rating %	Skill Level	Radius (Yards)	Damage %	Attack Speed %	Attack Rating %
1	7	50	14	40	16	17	305	34	115
2	8	67	18	45	17	18	322	34	120
3	9	84	20	50	18	19	339	34	125
4	9	101	23	55	19	19	356	34	130
5	10	118	25	60	20	20	373	35	135
6	11	135	26	65	21	21	390	35	140
7	11	152	27	70	22	21	407	35	145
8	12	169	28	75	23	22	424	36	150
9	13	186	29	80	24	23	441	36	155
10	13	203	30	85	25	23	458	36	160
11	14	220	31	90	26	24	475	36	165
12	15	237	31	95	27	25	492	37	170
13	15	254	32	100	28	25	509	37	175
14	16	271	33	105	29	26	526	37	180
15	17	288	33	110	30	27	543	37	185

Deadly strike

Provides a % chance of a critical hit, dealing double physical attack damage
Any % chance to deadly strike will stack* for a final % chance – > 100% deadly strike is useless
- *There is an exception. When dual wielding, only the % from the attacking weapon counts
The doubled damage from deadly strike occurs prior to conversion, but this is not relevant for us

Deadly strike provides a % chance of a critical hit, which doubles your physical attack damage. This occurs prior to conversion, but for us this has no impact. All sources of deadly strike will stack for a final % chance of deadly strike, unless dual wielding, in which case only the % on the attacking weapon counts. Again, this doesn’t affect us.

General damage modifiers

+ minimum or maximum damage is added to your weapon damage after on-weapon enhanced damage, but prior to any other % enhanced damage. + minimum and maximum damage are not modifiers that you should seek on your gear, because there are better modifiers, but they do push your damage if you happen to get them. The only source that you should focus on is charms, where you want to obtain ‘Fine’ small charms, granting + maximum damage and attack rating. Ideally, combined with a life modifier or faster hit recovery, depending on your needs.

The two big damage modifiers that you want are a large % damage on your weapon, which (after the application of the ethereal bonus) increases the base damage of the weapon by that percentage. For example, 300% weapon damage multiples your weapon’s damage 3x. The second big modifier is % damage which includes zeal, auras and other gear slots. Say we have 500% damage, our weapon damage is now x15. This is why these two modifiers are so important. They are easily accessible and they multiple to massively increased your damage.

Chance to cast amplify damage & decrepify

Chance to cast curse is a powerful modifier, especially for a fast hitting skill like zeal. There are two curses that we are interested in; amplify damage and decrepify. Amplify damage reduces the enemies damage by 100%, thereby doubling the effectiveness of your physical damage, which can also remove physical immunities. The second curse of interest is decrepify, reducing physical resistance by 50% (fewer monsters can have their immunity removed by a 50% decrease), reduces enemy physical damage by 50% and reduces enemy attack and movement speed by 50%. In terms of damage, there is no contest, amplify damage wins. However, I play hardcore and the defensive attributes of decrepify are absolutely worth the lower damage. Honestly, both are very powerful so choose whichever suits you best. Here are some sources of chance to cast (Table 18). The most commonly used are The Reaper’s Toll (decrepify) on a mercenary, Atma’s Scarab (amplify damage) on any fast hitting build and Witchwild String (amplify damage) on any bow character or hunter build.

Some people pursue life tap on a zealot. I don’t advise this on a physical zealot as it is not required, leech is plenty. The exception is Ubers. However, for elemental zealots it can be a good option.

Table 18 – Sources of chance to cast decrepify or amplify damage

Source	Curse	CtC %	CtC Type
The Fetid Sprinkler	Decrepify	5	On striking
Wrath (PulLumBerMal)	Decrepify	30	On striking
The Reaper’s Toll	Decrepify	33	On striking
Lawbringer (AmnLemKo)	Decrepify	20	On striking
Executioner’s Justice	Decrepify	50	On kill
The Cranium Basher	Amplify damage	4	On striking
The Gavel of Pain	Amplify damage	5	On striking
The Vile Husk	Amplify damage	6	On striking
Atma’s Scarab	Amplify damage	5	On striking
Lacerator	Amplify damage	33	On striking
Witchwild String	Amplify damage	2	On striking
Brand (JahLoMalGul)	Amplify damage	35	When struck

Skill Points

Based on a level 90 character, which gives you 101 skill points.

Skill Points & Notes	Skill Icon
Zeal – 20 Points Your primary skill. Max this for maximum damage and attack rating.
Sacrifice – 20 Points Sacrifice acts as a synergy for zeal, providing extra damage. Once you have reached 5 hits with zeal (level 4), you should balance allocation of points between zeal and sacrifice depending how good your chance to hit is. This is because sacrifice gives a bigger damage boost than raw points in zeal.
Fanatacism – 20 Points This is your build defining aura, proving attack speed, damage and attack rating.
Holy Shield – 20 Points A key component of your defence.

What you do with your skill points from here is up to you. Vigor and redemption are nice utilities. Personally, I would sink your spare points into the resist auras to increase your maximum elemental resistances, as discussed in the damage mitigation section. Alternatively, put them in defiance for more defence from holy shield. Finally, if you’re really stuck for attack rating, hard points in blessed aim give 5% each.

Stat Points

Strength

Allocate only enough to use all your equipment. This will vary

Dexterity

Allocate only enough to use all your equipment and achieve max block. This will vary

Vitality

All other stat points should be allocated here

Energy

You need no points here. Please, please, please don’t put stat points here.

Gear

Head

Guillame’s Face. Faster hit recovery, deadly strike and crushing blow. Socket it with an Um if you need resists, or a Ber rune otherwise. On the lower end, use a perfect ruby.
Vampire’s Gaze. Leech and damage reduction.
Crown of Thieves. Leech, life and some resistances.
Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest. Life, resistances and leech.
Kira’s Guardian. Massive resistances and cannot be frozen.
Rare circlet with resists

Chest

Fortitude (ElSolDolLo) runeword (RWM) in an archon plate. Fortitude has a big damage bonus, good defence, resists and +5% maximum lightning resist.
Chains of Honour (DolUmBerIst) runeword. A solid choice with leech, resists and damage reduction. If you can get this, you probably have access to Fortitude though, which is objectively the best option.
Treachery (ShaelThulLem) runeword. 45% increased attack speed plus CtC fade when struck. Great on a mercenary.
Duriel’s Shell. Life, cannot be frozen, resistances, strength.
Shaftshop. Huge % damage reduction, plus life and defence.
Stone (ShaulUmPulLum) runeword. Massive amount of defence, plus some resists.
Lionheart (HelLumFal) runeword. Life, stats. resists and % damage.
Smoke (NefLum) runeword. An easy +50 to all resistances

Gloves

Laying of Hands. Attack speed, 350% damage to demons and a big chuck of fire resists. You don’t actually need the attack speed here, but the damage to demons is massive and fire resists caps it off.
Rare gloves with resists
Bloodfists. Life and faster hit recovery.
Lavagout. A cheap version of Laying of Hands.
Dracul’s Grasp. Leech and life tap. As I said before, I don’t recommend the life tap route, but the option is there.
Death’s Hand. Pair it with the belt for 30% attack speed and some life leech.

Belt

Verdungo’s. Damage reduction, life and faster hit recovery. A girl’s best friend.
String of Ears. Leech and damage reduction.
Nosferatu’s Coil. Leech, slow enemies and a bit of attack speed.
Rare belt with resists.
Death’s Guard. Cannot be frozen. Pair it with the gloves for 30% attack speed and some life leech.

Boots

Gore Rider. Crushing blow and deadly strike. Lovely.
War Traveller’s. Flat physical damage is nice, but Gore Rider is a bit better. A very close second though.
Rare boots with resists.
Goblin Toe. A lesser version of Gore Rider. Still gets you some crushing blow.

Amulet

Highlord’s Wrath. Attack speed, deadly strike and lightning resist.
Metalgrid. Solid amounts of resistances and attack rating.
Mara’s Kaleidoscope. Resists.
Atma’s Scarab. Amplify damage.
Rare amulet with life and resists

Ring 1

Raven Frost. You absolutely need ‘Cannot be frozen’ somewhere, and this is the best place to get it.
Dwarf Star. Life, magic damage reduced and fire absorb.
Rare ring. Life, leech, resists.

Ring 2

Rare ring. Life, life stolen, resists, attack rating.
Dwarf Star. Life, magic damage reduced and fire absorb.
Raven Frost. You absolutely need ‘Cannot be frozen’ somewhere, and this is the best place to get it.

Main Hand 1

Grief (EthTirLoMalRal) (RWM) runeword. Best in slot, undeniably. Massive damage, attack speed, ignore’s defence, damage to demons and deadly strike. Stick it in a phaseblade.
Death (HelElVexOrtGul) (RWM) runeword. Huge damage, huge crushing blow %, deadly strike and attack rating. It lack attack speed but that isn’t a problem for us. It’s indestructible so pop it in an ethereal berserker axe.
Oath (ShaelPulMalLum) (RWM) runeword. Huge damage, attack speed and all at a relatively low cost. It’s indestructible, so put it in an ethereal base.
Stormlash
Schaefer’s Hammer
Use and then upgrade an exceptional unique; Butcher’s Pupil and Ginther’s Rift.
Low-end runewords; Honor (AmnElIthTirSol), Black (ThulIoNef).

Offhand 1

Herald of Zakarum. Block chance, block rate, huge resists, good defence. Pop an Um rune in it, or a perfect diamond on the lower end.
Sanctuary (KoKoMal) runeword. Block chance, block rate, faster hit recovery, huge resists and magic damage reduced. Put it in an auric shield and your resists are covered.
Exile (VexOhmIstDol) runeword. Only pursue this if you insist on life tap. It has very nice defence.
Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn) (RWM) runeword. Faster hit recovery and resists. Auric shield gives you even more resists.
Rhyme (ShaelEth) runeword. Block chance, block rate, resistances and cannot be frozen. Auric shield for extra resists.
Any shield from the table of good blocking shields, discussed in the blocking section.

Main hand 2

Call to Arms (AmnRalMalIstOhm) runeword. Provides battle orders (BO) for a big life boost.
Something elemental to deal with physical immunes; Barana’s Star, Gimmershed, Ginther’s Rift Lightsabre
Demon’s Limb. Provides enchant charges.

Offhand 2

Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn) (RWM) runeword. +2 skills for BO.
If not using Call to Arms, pick a shield from ‘Offhand 1’

Inventory

Cap your resists and reach any breakpoints you require; ‘shimmering’ (@resists) or ‘amber/emerald/ruby/sapphire’ (lightning/poison/fire/cold) as a prefix for resists, and ‘of balance’ as a suffix for faster hit recovery.
After that, you want to fill up with charms carrying the prefix ‘fine’ for damage and attack rating, with the suffix ‘vita’ for life. If playing HC, prioritise the life.

Mercenary

The best mercenary is an act 2 mercenary for the aura. There are a few good options;

Might – more physical damage. On softcore, I’d go for might. Offensive mercenary hired in nightmare
Blessed aim – more attack rating. In untwinked play, you may benefit from this more, depends on your gear etc. Offensive mercenary hired in normal or hell
Holy freeze – slows enemies. On hardcore, I’d recommend holy freeze every time. It doesn’t have a massive range though, so best not to get too reliant on it. Defensive mercenary hired in nightmare

In terms of gear, you are looking for the following; any application of curses or use of auras, life leech, maxed resists, crushing blow, raw damage, life. In that order.

Weapon

The Reaper’s Toll – best in slot. Provides damage and safety through decrepify.
Obedience runeword. A solid high damage weapon, easy to make.
Hone Sundan. High % of crushing blow, decent damage and three open sockets.
Kelpie snare. Decent damage, but mostly it slows targets by 75%. delicious for hardcore play.
If you’re playing untwinked, a good savage polearm will get him along. It can’t roll an elite base.

Head

Guillame’s Face. Crushing blow and deadly strike. A lovely helmet. Use if you get leech elsewhere.
Vampire’s Gaze. Leech and damage reduction.
Crown of Thieves. Leech, life and some resistances.
Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest. Life, resistances and leech.
Andariel’s Visage. Leech, attack speed.
Kira’s Guardian. Massive resistances and cannot be frozen.
Rare circlet with resists

Chest

Fortitude (ElSolDolLo) runeword (RWM) in an ethereal bugged base, which you make by transmuting an ethereal base (no sockets) with Tal, Thul and a perfect topaz. Fortitude has a big damage bonus, good defence, resists and +5% maximum lightning resist.
Chains of Honour (DolUmBerIst) runeword. A solid choice with leech, resists and damage reduction. If you can get this, you probably have access to Fortitude though, which is objectively the best option.
Treachery (ShaelThulLem) runeword. 45% increased attack speed plus CtC fade when struck. Great on a mercenary.
Shaftshop. Huge % damage reduction, plus life and defence.
Stone (ShaulUmPulLum) runeword. Massive amount of defence, plus some resists.
Lionheart (HelLumFal) runeword. Life, stats. resists and % damage.
Smoke (NefLum) runeword. An easy +50 to all resistances.