07-18-2004, 10:51 PM
You guys are all really mean... Just have somebody move the thread and be serious.
At the moment there are 4 viable Paladin builds I see around.
The Hammerdin uses Blessed Hammer, and Concentrate+synergies to boost Hammer's damage. It is one of the most powerful character types in the game in my opinion. Here's your skill plan:
20 Blessed Hammer
20 Concentrate
20 Vigor
20 Blessed Aim
Hammerdins favor spell caster equipment, such as +skills, faster cast, and enhanced mana.
Zealot's are your staple fighter builds. They use 1 of 3 different auras in combination with Zeal to spread their damage over several different enemies. The standard Zealot uses Fanatasism, and has a very high attack/frame rate. The Shockadin uses 'Holy Shock' which adds a cool 4000 maximum damage to your attack. Multiply that by however many enemies you're hitting (is it 4 or 5 i forget) and thats quite a bit of damage.
My personal favorite kind of Zealot is the Frost Zealot. The holy Freeze aura is a joy to use; it slows down alll to half their original speed, and adds cold damage to your attack.
Shockadin Skills:
20 Holy Shock
20 Resist Lightning
20 Salvation
20 Zeal? Probably the last thing to max, if at all.
Zealot Skills:
20 Fanatacism
20 Zeal
20 Sacrifice(synergy)
20 Holy Shield
Frost Zealot:
20 Holy Freeze
20 Resist Cold
20
Crap g2g i'll edit it later and continue.
Edit: I'm continuing my post now
20 Zeal
20 Salvation
(actually i'm not quite sure if you would max zeal, they might be better spent in 'holy shield' for both teh Shockadin and Frost Zealot)
For all of these characters you want a good blocking shield, and a fast weapon.
Avengers...
I tried making one, but it was hard because of the poor crowd control skills. Avengers do massive damage to a single target though. Vengeance adds a percentage of elemental damage to your attack and is synergies with each 'resist (element)'. Pumping element x will add more damage to your attack. This pali uses 'conviction' to lower resistsances to their attacks. In hell, it is a very potent combination.
Since Vengeance's damage is based on your weapon damage, you want as much Melee damage as possible. Breath of the Dying runeword works quite nicely.
Skills...
20 Vengeance
20 Conviction
Alternate between resist cold, fire, and lightning.
Another build for the poorman...
1 Vengeance
20 Conviction
20 each resist
This does less damage per skill point, and you don't get the AR bonus of high level vengeance, but you do save a lot of mana.
Smiters
The funnest build in my opinion. When you use Smite, your Pali smacks the target with his shield. Each shield has a set amount of smite damage. As you level up smite, the skill increases your shields damage by a percentage, ending at 300% I believe. Holy Shield also adds to smite damage, so you don't need a godly shield, although it helps.
Smite knocks back your target and stuns them. This is great crowd control. When surrounded by a pack of monsters target each in turn and they will all be knocked back so you can focus on the next one attacking you. This build has three major problems though:
1. It's a hassle to kill a single monster in a wide open space. If you can get their back to a wall, you will keep chasing them until they die.
2. You can't stun some monsters, including act bosses, and a lot of superuniques.
3. Your damage will always be very low; expect to click a lot in order to kill a hell monster.
Skills...
20 Smite
20 Holy Shield
20 Defiance (synergy to holy shield)
20 Fanatisism (adds more enhanced damage, and increases your speed)
Just go for the highest damage shield you can find, and the fastest weapon you can find. Your smite speed is directly related to your weapon attack speed.
At the moment there are 4 viable Paladin builds I see around.
The Hammerdin uses Blessed Hammer, and Concentrate+synergies to boost Hammer's damage. It is one of the most powerful character types in the game in my opinion. Here's your skill plan:
20 Blessed Hammer
20 Concentrate
20 Vigor
20 Blessed Aim
Hammerdins favor spell caster equipment, such as +skills, faster cast, and enhanced mana.
Zealot's are your staple fighter builds. They use 1 of 3 different auras in combination with Zeal to spread their damage over several different enemies. The standard Zealot uses Fanatasism, and has a very high attack/frame rate. The Shockadin uses 'Holy Shock' which adds a cool 4000 maximum damage to your attack. Multiply that by however many enemies you're hitting (is it 4 or 5 i forget) and thats quite a bit of damage.
My personal favorite kind of Zealot is the Frost Zealot. The holy Freeze aura is a joy to use; it slows down alll to half their original speed, and adds cold damage to your attack.
Shockadin Skills:
20 Holy Shock
20 Resist Lightning
20 Salvation
20 Zeal? Probably the last thing to max, if at all.
Zealot Skills:
20 Fanatacism
20 Zeal
20 Sacrifice(synergy)
20 Holy Shield
Frost Zealot:
20 Holy Freeze
20 Resist Cold
20
Crap g2g i'll edit it later and continue.
Edit: I'm continuing my post now
20 Zeal
20 Salvation
(actually i'm not quite sure if you would max zeal, they might be better spent in 'holy shield' for both teh Shockadin and Frost Zealot)
For all of these characters you want a good blocking shield, and a fast weapon.
Avengers...
I tried making one, but it was hard because of the poor crowd control skills. Avengers do massive damage to a single target though. Vengeance adds a percentage of elemental damage to your attack and is synergies with each 'resist (element)'. Pumping element x will add more damage to your attack. This pali uses 'conviction' to lower resistsances to their attacks. In hell, it is a very potent combination.
Since Vengeance's damage is based on your weapon damage, you want as much Melee damage as possible. Breath of the Dying runeword works quite nicely.
Skills...
20 Vengeance
20 Conviction
Alternate between resist cold, fire, and lightning.
Another build for the poorman...
1 Vengeance
20 Conviction
20 each resist
This does less damage per skill point, and you don't get the AR bonus of high level vengeance, but you do save a lot of mana.
Smiters
The funnest build in my opinion. When you use Smite, your Pali smacks the target with his shield. Each shield has a set amount of smite damage. As you level up smite, the skill increases your shields damage by a percentage, ending at 300% I believe. Holy Shield also adds to smite damage, so you don't need a godly shield, although it helps.
Smite knocks back your target and stuns them. This is great crowd control. When surrounded by a pack of monsters target each in turn and they will all be knocked back so you can focus on the next one attacking you. This build has three major problems though:
1. It's a hassle to kill a single monster in a wide open space. If you can get their back to a wall, you will keep chasing them until they die.
2. You can't stun some monsters, including act bosses, and a lot of superuniques.
3. Your damage will always be very low; expect to click a lot in order to kill a hell monster.
Skills...
20 Smite
20 Holy Shield
20 Defiance (synergy to holy shield)
20 Fanatisism (adds more enhanced damage, and increases your speed)
Just go for the highest damage shield you can find, and the fastest weapon you can find. Your smite speed is directly related to your weapon attack speed.