Elite Lionheart armour vs. Duriels Shell

[Gerhalt]

Hi folks, I just joined the forums.

I have a clvl 60 paladin, who I built around the character Legolas from the Lord of The Rings books. He uses a bow, with a dagger and shield on switch. He is now in act 5 nightmare, and coming along quite nicely.
He uses fanaticism with zeal while fighting with his dagger, and has fanaticism as his aura while fighting with his bow. This is on single player.

Now on to my question. He is using Duriels shell now, and has been since he was able to at clvl 41. I am now wondering if it is time that I replace Duriels with a Elite 3 socketed armour, with Hel Lum and Fal stuck in it to make the rune word Lionheart . They both look quite nice, and similar.

Should I go for the stat and Enhanced Damage bonus I get from the Lionheart armour? Or do you think that the cannot be frozen mod, along with the (slightly) better resists from the Duriels beats that out.

Any help in choosing between the two would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

[Baajikiil]

Myself, I would look at the requirements of my gear. If I needed higher str/dex, I would be inclined to go with the lionheart. Duriels shell is a sweet armor though.

Perhaps if you could find cannot be frozen on another piece(ravenfrost would be a good choice), the lionheart would be better.

The ED on lionheart will be fairly insignificant compared to the ED from fanat. Not really a decisive factor IMO.
Course, on a ranger, every little bit helps.

[Dozer]

But Legolas used two daggers, and they were more of a curved blade, like a sabre or a scimitar.

Oh, and to actually answer the question, Wear the Duriel's Shell if you can't get Cannot Be frozen on something else, or really really need the resists.

[Striker]

But Legolas used two daggers, and they were more of a curved blade, like a sabre or a scimitar.

Kind of tough for a paladin to dual wield, no? ;)

IMO, the best thing about Duriel's Shell is the CBF mod. Like the others said, if you can find it somewhere else (like with Raven Frost or a Rhyme shield), switch to Lionheart. I prefer it because of the stat boosts, particularly the vitality and additional life boosts.

Just remember that it's a bit better to use a light elite armor. Although a Ranger isn't (hopefully) going to be doing much running, so the weight penalty shouldn't be that hurtful.

[kier]

Aren't we forgetting something? legolas in the film used curved daggers, in the book they are not mentioned as curved, just as elven blades (or something of the sorts i have not read the book for a year or so). elven blades often have a curve, but a subtle one that would be hard to illistrate with diablo items. i supose a kris is your best bet, but they are not strong enough to fight with. as for a skimitar, orks use these, so i doubt legolas would be caught dead with one.

I suggest investing in cold aura, it is good for bowadins (ive seen a couple, usualy called rangers) as it slows the advance of monsters. also, FOH may be an idea, have a look at the stats/dmg on the areat summit.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Movies versus books again. Never-ending comparison, that.

Aren't we forgetting something? legolas in the film used curved daggers, in the book they are not mentioned as curved, just as elven blades (or something of the sorts i have not read the book for a year or so). elven blades often have a curve, but a subtle one that would be hard to illistrate with diablo items.

One, actually.

Legolas had a bow and a quiver, and at his belt was a long white knife.

- The Fellowship of the Ring (The Ring Goes South), The Ring Goes South, ~page 85

...

He climbed up and found Legolas beside Aragorn and Eomer. The elf was whetting his long knife. There was for a while a lull in the assault, since the attempt to break in through the culvert had been foiled.
'Twenty-one!' said Gimli.
'Good!' said Legolas. 'But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.

- The Two Towers (The Treason of Isengard), Helm's Deep, ~page 167

The assumption would be a straight blade. Tolkien's literary associations with curved blades were solely with the Orcs and Easterlings. I suppose that Jackson et al were looking at the curve of their elven blades as a more "organic" look in the movie. *shrugs*

[kandrathe]

I'd go with Duriel Shell if you value;

160%-200%ed +1.25 Def/lvl -- at max (732) Duriel's shell will exceed the ~500 +20%Ed from Great Hauberk Lionheart
Cannot Be Frozen -- a very important thing to have in Hell, it seems 1/3 of unique bosses are cold enchanted
An open socket which allows you to add something missing. I've Um'd mine for +35% resist Fire, Lightning, Posion and +65% cold. Ber would be a good choice if I'd ever found one.

This was my lvl 77 Assassin Kia Kitana's armor until recently when she was able to complete Natalya's set. I still think the Duriel's shell is better (than Nat's shadow, having the complete set bonuses rocks), but she is more fond of her sense of fashion.

Lionheart offers;
more Life -- +20 Vit (*3 = 60 Life) and +50 Life) for +110 total, Duriels adds +1/lvl Life to 99 total
more Str -- +25 versus +15 on Duriel, so more damage
+10 Nrg and +15 Dex -- so more mana, AR, and defense
more resists 30% resists versus the 20% Fire, Lightning, Poison, 50% cold
no sockets

If you can depend on salvation, or a Diamond shield then I would go with Lionheart.

[Gerhalt]

Thanks alot for all the suggestions, guys and gals. Both armours are very similar, as far as mods go. They are also very hard to choose between. I think I will just have to try them both out, and compare.


Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Gerhalt

[dahak_i]

Lionheart has a -reqs mod, too, which helps a lot. I don't know whether it's a bug or not, but I think it also effects the weight of the armor. I use gothic/full plate mail lionheart, and it was always "lighter" then rare full plate I used on the same characters. I would run faster, and not have a problem with stamina (though the added strength might have caused that).

[D-Dave]

I would run faster, and not have a problem with stamina (though the added strength might have caused that).

small correction:

Neither running speed nor stamina are affected by strength.

Stamina depends on vitality and running speed is not affected at all by statpoints.

-dave

[Occhidiangela]

The added strength and damage will increase your leaching ability, if you have leach equipment on. For what it's worth.

The added life/vitality sure is nice.

If you go with the Lionheart, you could of course give to your merc that Duriel's Shell, and having an unfreezable merc, particualrly in the ice caves, can be handy. :)