08-25-2004, 12:22 AM
One important thing to note about the defiant build is that it's not only about defence. Simply put, you could have infinite defence, and that alone won't make a good build.
My point is that, once you acchieve a sufficient level of defence (sufficient depending a great deal on your gear and and your goals), you should definately be willing to trade even hundreds of defence rating points for what will be more important stats -- including resists, damage, leech, hit recovery and attack speed.
My own personal preference for this type of build is now an avenger coupled with a defiance merc (though a zealot with a definance merc would also be interesting). This pally is designed more as a party character, though he has great solo potential. The combination of 75% blocking, very high resists (85+ in fire/coldghtning thanks to guardian angel and points in the resistance auras), fast hit recovery, and high defence (around 10k last time I checked -- enough for the Lying Character Screen (LCS) to put most enemies around 20-25% to hit, anyways) makes him a very solid tank. This allows him to hack away at one target at a time. While some footwork is required in very open areas to combat swarming, against small groups, his tanking ability is all the crowd control you'll ever need.
If you DO decide to invest more heavily in defiance, just keep in mind the other neccessary gaps you'll need to plug to both stay alive, and drop the baddies. Also keep in mind that, if you keep the defiance aura active from the skill itself (ie not exile or a merc), that leaves your offensive options weakened.
gekko
My point is that, once you acchieve a sufficient level of defence (sufficient depending a great deal on your gear and and your goals), you should definately be willing to trade even hundreds of defence rating points for what will be more important stats -- including resists, damage, leech, hit recovery and attack speed.
My own personal preference for this type of build is now an avenger coupled with a defiance merc (though a zealot with a definance merc would also be interesting). This pally is designed more as a party character, though he has great solo potential. The combination of 75% blocking, very high resists (85+ in fire/coldghtning thanks to guardian angel and points in the resistance auras), fast hit recovery, and high defence (around 10k last time I checked -- enough for the Lying Character Screen (LCS) to put most enemies around 20-25% to hit, anyways) makes him a very solid tank. This allows him to hack away at one target at a time. While some footwork is required in very open areas to combat swarming, against small groups, his tanking ability is all the crowd control you'll ever need.
If you DO decide to invest more heavily in defiance, just keep in mind the other neccessary gaps you'll need to plug to both stay alive, and drop the baddies. Also keep in mind that, if you keep the defiance aura active from the skill itself (ie not exile or a merc), that leaves your offensive options weakened.
gekko
"Life is sacred and you are not its steward. You have stewardship over it but you don't own it. You're making a choice to go through this, it's not just happening to you. You're inviting it, and in some ways delighting in it. It's not accidental or coincidental. You're choosing it. You have to realize you've made choices."
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"