Conviction/Holy Shock

[Obi2Kenobi]

Which should I use? Conviction+Vengence or Holy Shock+Vengence on non-undead PIs? Which is more powerful, in your opinion? Help me out, because I have never made a paly that used either (my last only went up to level 14 or something...) :(

[Sir_Die_alot]

You could use all 3 by flashing but I wouldn't bother, conviction with vengeance works just fine. Plus conviction will increase an allys elemental damage. Holy shock being just 1 element (what if they are lightning immune too?) with a minimum damage of 1 IMO is just not a valuable PI killer, espicially if you have access to items like baranars.

[Artega]

Diealot is correct. Conviction-Vengeance is just plain hard to beat, especially if you have a weapon with a high base physical damage. Like Diealot mentioned, the Conviction will also make you popular with the ubiquitous Sorceress in the area, assuming the person controlling her has the intellect to be grateful and thank you. Holy Shock is powerful, but it's not quite powerful enough for your primary PI-killer, and it's useless on LIs. An alternate solution employed by poor people (you'll see poor Druids doing this a lot) is to find a six-socketed weapon and slot in some gems and runes into it. Six emeralds will result in a powerful poison weapon, though it will take some doing to kill something quickly with it. I'd place my bet with Conviction-Vengeance, though. Just be sure to keep an eye on your Mana orb.

[WarBlade]

Er . . . Without knowing the rest of the Paladin Build???

Holy Shock rocks for a number of reasons and can easily top Vengeance as a PI killer under the right circumstances. Both have some viscious drawbacks though: Vengeance = Mana problems and falls flat with mana burn types, Holy Shock is dead weight versus Lightning Immunity.

Vengeance + Holy Shock is just a weird and uneconomical mix.

So the real question what is the build you already have? Seeing as you entered Vengeance twice I can only assume your character is already Vengeance based and therefore Conviction would be the most suitable aura by far, but without knowing one can only guess.

[Ackpth]

In addition, since Conviction is flashable, you could also go with Fanaticism + Vengence + Conviction for even more pain. :)

[Occhidiangela]

I like it for variety. My Eccentric Elemental Paladin (EEP) uses

Maxed Holy Shock
Maxed Vengeance
Conviction at 10+
Some Sanctuary
Some Holy Shield
One point in Smite, because I love it. :)

Holy Shocks best feature is that It Uses No Mana!

Against mana suckers, or where you have had trouble finding mana leach, it is quite handy. You can even punch or use a low damage ITD weapon and get results with Holy Shock. But you need a back up attack for Lightning Immunes, so it is not a good one trick pony.

Want more damage? Go Javelin and Shield, thrown, with Holy Shock! You will have to pump dexterity, but that just helps blocking at to hit anyway. :)

Holy Shock is not for everyone, but shooting with a bow like the Unique Wizendraw gives you auto hit. You can kill any non-Lightning Immune with Holy Shock, and get in touch with your Paladin's inner female side. :P Toss in a circlet, an amulet, both with +3 Offensive auras, and you have HS at 26. Tidy damage, if not Uber.

Artega is correct, however, in terms of elemental dominance, Conviction / Vengeance, with an occasional flash of Fanaticism is you really want to be nasty, really does a nice job on pretty much everything out there.

[Obi2Kenobi]

I have it at base level 1. :P I just though that it would be good for PIs... but, my zeal might work better with holy shock... hmm
But I doubt it.

[WarBlade]

Base Vengeance? You wanted base vengeance for PI's? :blink: In that case max out Shock. As already noted it uses no Mana and when applied via Zeal, Mana becomes a total non-issue. A handy consideration when dealing with PI packs that you can't leech from eh?

[Obi2Kenobi]

I could just add points to vengence. :P

[Occhidiangela]

You mana management. You cant leach mana from PI's unless they are undead that you attack with Sanctuary as your aura, and I recommend a single point in Sanctuary for Hell just to help deal with those nasty Spectre Packs in Act II. A few plus skills amulets or circlets, and you have over 200% ED on PI undead. :) And, you get to leach. :)

Plus, it makes everything so shiny and sparkly, which is nice too. :D

[WarBlade]

I could just add points to vengence. :P

Yes you could, but without your character already set up to handle the mana expense I strongly advise Holy Shock.