Shock or Ice pal. What would you do?

[Baajikiil]

If you are trying to make a zealot with no fanaticism, it is not easy. For once, you dont get the fantastic damage bonus of fanaticism. And to attack as fast as a regular zealot WITHOUT fanat, you will need A LOT of increased atk speed. If you want to make a "frost" zealot, Then have fanaticism and use thedoom runeword, which gives holy freeze. If you want a holy shock zealot, You will have to give up fanaticism. Or at least a high level of it. If you want a Holy shock zealot, Use holy shock as your main aura and use a beast runeword legendary mallet. That gives level 9 fanat and 40 increased attack speed so you wont have to worry about higher levels of fanaticism.
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I beg to differ with this opinion about 'frost zealots' and 'shock zealots'. If you are not aware, often such zealots end up using phase blades. 75% IAS with a Phase is enough to reach a 4 frame zeal. Such unreasonable equipment as you specify is certainly not necessary. In fact, you will find that playing a shockadin or frost zealot is actually *less* equipment dependant than a fanatic zealot--much of your damage comes from the aura, not your weapon. My shockadin used the skewer of krintz all the way up till hell, and even in hell occasionally when facing Obliv Knights.

My Frost Zealot (HCL guardian BTW) is simply using a rare phase blade. He does fine in hell, though of course I must be careful, as any melee pally in 1.10 must.

My Shockadin is also a guardian, though deceased, and finished the game with a lightsabre. I never could find a 3 socket phase. Crescent moon is simply the ultimate shockadin weapon.

As to the choice between them, having played both to guardianship, I'd have to say that they are fairly equal. The shockadin will get higher average damage, but the frost zealot simply has an easier time surviving. The shockadin relies on killing the monsters before they kill him, and the frost zealot weakens all monsters while still being able to kill at decent speed. The best trick is learning to gauge how much you can handle. As a melee paladin, how fast you can kill the enemy must always be balanced against how fast they can kill you. You may be able to kill that pack of minotaurs fairly quickly, but just a couple of critical hits will spell the end for a melee paladin. In this regard I think a frost zealot has the advantage. You have more reaction time when all the monsters are slowed by over 50%.

I would definitely suggest having an alternate attack type as well for each of these characters. Both of mine maxed zeal+sacrifice and used a might merc to up their physical damage, and did fine once they found a fast weapon. Your skill description fits exactly what I have used in the past, and is definitely workable.