Any good Paladin Builds out there?

[Zakarum]

OK...I've got a good Paladin going right now, circa level 40, but as always, I am looking to keep expanding my knowledge of the game. I am basically just looking for different opinions on where to put character and skill points for better usage of both, and any good subtypes of the Paladin. If anyone knows any sites for a good Paladin guide that would be useful too. Thanks.

Zakarum

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Realms Beyond Diablo

Of course, this is rather dependant on whether you're referring to "styles" or "variants" when you use the term "subtype".

Happy reading.

[kandrathe]

Try searching in the old LL forum "Palidan + Guide". Here is a sample ...
Goldfish - Musings on a DR Pally and tons more stuff as well...

Pally's are seldom cookie cutter builds, but I guess if there was one, it would be Zeal (5), Fanaticism(20) and Conviction(20). Lots of other variants... Lots of equipment choices... Character points really depends on what kind of a palidan you are seeking. Do you need alot of mana, are you going for high Vengeance, Blessed Hammer, or Fist of the Heavens? Strength as neccesary to wear your gear. Dex sufficient to keep your AR high enough to hit the beasts. (80% is sufficient), and to keep your shield blocking at maximum. The rest into life.

Here is a general guide from DII.net Missle Toad's - A Guide to All Things Paladin

edit: removed Elric's twitch (I hope)... :)

[Tommi]

My "walking paladin" guide:

http://www.hut.fi/~tgustafs/char5.html

There are plenty of good guides (PvM). My guide has links to Tao's guide and Nikodemus222's guides, too.

Cheers,

Tommi

[Elric of Grans]

Hail Lurkers,

General observation: why is it that almost no one can spell variant? No direct relation to kandrathe intended; this post merely got me thinking about it. I started to wonder as I read if 'variant' were a different spelling used by variant scum, while 'varient' were the spelling for the work in normal conversation. Well, I took out my dictionary, and sure enough...

variant
adj. differing.
n a variant form, spelling, etc.

Hmm... perhaps people on Diablo forums use a variant variant when they speak of these 'varient' variants ;)

[Occhidiangela]

General Build comments: This was first made in LoD beta, then attempted in softcore with Tri-Stan and his Rogue Isolde. :) The original variant required points in Charge and Vengeance, as any time the Isolde died, Tri-Stan was required by his role to select Vengeance and have at whatever nefarious demon killed his true love. :) Usually with his Lance. Needless to say, against MSLEB's, this could produce quite a few red screens. :)

Anyway:

EEP

Mercenary: Rogue. Prefer Cold, but the key is to equip her with a socketed bow and elemental damage. Circlets with elemental damage. Socketed armor with charms, if you get lucky enough to find them. (Optional Merc: Act III Fire or Cold. You do the electricity.)

Zeal to taste: I went for 4 points.
Holy Shock: 20
Vengeance: 20
Conviction: 10+, to taste
Charge: one point, but it is really handy in the Frigid Highlands. :)
Concentration: 1 more if you want it (Frenzy replaces if you want to take that optional)
Salvation: 1
Sanctuary: 1 min, more to taste. This just makes Act II Hell less painful, and can irritate OK's in the CS by knocking them back while your Rogue Shoots holes in them. :)

A few more points in Pre reqs.

A point in Smite, and at least one in Holy Shield.

Equipment: Key item is the 4 socketed round Paladin shield with 4 perf diamonds, if you are lucky enough to find it. Absent that, Ancient's Pledge is a suitable substitute.

Weapon: ITD is handy if you can find it for Holy Shock to hit every time. Or, any weapon/equipment combination with good AR boosts.

Second Weapon: Lance/Pike, Bow, Crossbow, or Javelin/Throwing Spear/Harpoon and Shield. Lance would be for Charge or vengeance, the other three to use as a Ranger with Holy Shock.

Note on Bows: Some of the unique bows, if you find them, fire magic/always hit, arrows: Wizen Draw, Kako Shokaku(SP?) etc. Others pierce, which with Holy Shock can make for some interesting damage versus mobs in a line.

Other equipment to taste.

Stats. Pick an armor, and a sword, aim strength for that. I like to use three socketed Rune Swords with King's Grace, but that is a Personal Choice. Hexfire has ITD, which is nice, Steel speeds up attacks and at higher levels the Open Wounds is a nice feature, if not Uber.

If you are not going to rely on special bows, give Dexterity a healthy investment, at least 100.

If Hard core, do not hold back on the Vitality. Strength is not as important as to hit, except insofar as armor is concerned.

Holy Shock is your bread and butter skill, with Vengeance useful for bosses, for being able to avoid Zeal lock in tight tactical situaitons where you want to hit and move, and Sanctuary is for Undead mobs, particularly in Hell Difficulty.

The other EEPish build I had on West went this way.

Holy Shock 20
Blessed Hammer 20
Concentration 20
Holy Freeze MercenaryBow as back up weapon.
A point in Smite and four in Holy Shield.
This guy had the incredible luck to find an Angelic amulet, armor and saber. I traded a pgem for the ring, and had the complete set. You can't count on that sort of luck, so a build that focuses on Mana, such as possible Civerb's Set early on and maybe a trade for Frost Burns, could help with the Mana drain on the BH. On this guy, Strength stayed quite low, Dex was just enough for a bow, and Vitality got pumped. I only had Energy at 50 by the time I lost him, but was moving it up to help support the Hammer Habit.

Circlets and amulets of +3 offensive paladin auras are your friend with this Set up. :)

This versatile little fellow worked OK until I screwed up tacticaly against a Hell MSLEB with a bow in my hand. Can you say negative resists? OUCH! "Your deeds will be remembered!" Right, your damned foolishness will be remembered, Occhi!

[Occhidiangela]

"PIs with lots of life are handy to take care with Conversion. When converted creatures return to normal, they can be killed with one hit."

Tommi, didn't this get fixed in 1.09D when they fixed the Assassin's Mind Blast conversion 1 hit kill bug? Or did Blizzard leave the Paladin Conversion alone?

[Zakarum]

Thanks to all of you that have posted your thoughts/guides. All of them will be useful in the future. Special thanks to Occhidiangela for the nice long post on the EEP pally. And yes, going back to what Nico said, i did mean variants when i said subtypes. I don't think I'm going to be finding any of those rares though, I seem to have horrible luck with finding the useful rare items in SP. I would attempt playing MP but i have a horrible connection so I'm going to wait til I get to college to start that. well...it's off to lunch for me now. If anyone has any other variants or anything feel free to post them.

Zakarum

[kandrathe]

I think it might be the IE paradox, and avoidance. I know English has made me paranoid anytime I conceive a word with the letters I and E in sequence. That in conjunction with some confusion with the root which also spawns words like "Variety". Perhaps "deviant" could be an alternative, and for me, "deviant scum" conjures a delectable naughtiness.

All my Diablo II characters are deviant scum. Yes, that does sound good.

[NuurAbSaal]

Hi!
I can offer my standard zeal/fanaticism "build". It's not overly innovative but it works.

Skills:
Zeal: 5+ (I didn't know where to put my points past lvl 70 or so, so I have lvl14 here :))
Fanaticism: max
Vengeance: 5+ ( I rarely use it anymore -> see equipment)
Holy Freeze : 15+
Redemption: 1+
Salvation: 1+ (It helps a lot until u get your Pally a nice shield.)
No Pally should be without Vigor (faster run in town, cool)
Holy shield is a nice skill for blocking and if you have a high defense shield.

Merc:
I use a rogue (cold) with Cliffkiller and Lore helmet for the Lightning. Works very well on PI's and you can let her chew up tough guys like Minotaurs if u slow them with Holy Freeze and flash Fanaticism on occasion.

Equipment:
A fast one-handed weapon (Butcher's Pupil hmmm...) and a nice shield (fast blocking, resists) are all you really need. And leech. I find using a fast elemental dmg weapon (currently a very sub-par condensing Phase Blade of nothing) on my second weapon slot more practical for PIs than Vengeance, but this is a personal preference.
Finding a Lightsaber or a Barana's would solve any weapon problems you might come across. Good Luck
:P

And this is about it. I have the feeling I forgot something important but I'm sure our fellow Lurkers will be happy to point out any flaws/oversights.

Nuur

[Tommi]

Tommi, didn't this get fixed in 1.09D when they fixed the Assassin's Mind Blast conversion 1 hit kill bug?  Or did Blizzard leave the Paladin Conversion alone?

It still works with Conversion. Typical Blizzard.

[AtomicKitKat]

*stands up in time to receive a watermelon to the jaw*
*straightens out his jaw*

Anyway, lousy name aside, my current suicide-based paladin(name of BackOff on Asia2) is set up with maximum Thorns, and alternating points in Smite/Holy Shield. I never actually got around to making up a back story for him, but I guess you could say his arm of the order of Zakarum decided long ago that weapons were for heathens. However, they ARE allowed to "reprimand" the heathen scum with a "gentle" shoving of the shield(think riot police with Smite! :P) I've debated whether to allow him Blessed Hammer, but at present, he only ever uses Blessed Hammer(pre-req for HolyShield) against OKs and the Act II undead. Main Armour Constraints:

Any weight of armour is allowed, PROVIDED it does one of the following(in descending order of preferrence):

X% chance to cast Y when struck
Does X damage to attacker
Replenish life+X

Currently, he is level 30-ish and still using the scepter he received long ago from Drognan(yes, PLAIN Magical Scepter of Regrowth, +3 Thorns, +1 Smite, +8 replenish life) Pretty much the rest of his equipment(armour, rings, ammy, shield) contain 12% chance to cast Level 4 Charged Bolt. His main problem now though, is trying to get enough resists. Duriel was not exactly a cakewalk, and neither were most of the other bosses. Interestingly enough, he never died to anything with Cursed or Extra Strong in the name(probably cos they were always dizzy :P ).

All in all, this build is not exactly the "best" for beginners. If you want easy, go buy one of those duped Burizas and Multi/Guided your way to heaven. I'm thinking of either throwing points into Sanctuary(versus undead, it still keeps in theme with his "don't touch me!" attitude), or Salvation(to help with the resists, small resist charms are by and large hard to acquire) Is anyone interested in proving to me how "easy" this sub-type is? Let me know. I am available on all realms under the same username as above. You may contact me through this forum's messaging service to arrange a time and place. :P

By the way, this build CAN PK(just, not quite like normal people) :P

[LavCat]

I have only taken one paladin past level 10 or so, and he is now 93. About the only thing remarkable about this build is that he is set up not to require mana steal. He is a fanatic zealot, and his only combat skill is zeal. Zeal, Fanaticism, Conviction, and Sanctuary are maxed. As are attack speed, blocking speed, and chance to block. Seventeen skill points are unassigned, waiting on the patch.

Equipment is Sazabi's Grand Tribute, with Sigon's Gage and Sabot, Herald of Zakarum (shaeled), Thundergods's Vigor. Cold rogue has Superior Silence Hydra bow, Crown of Thieves. Tonight I gave her Gladiator's Bane in place of Atma's Wail.

The nice thing about this build is he can go anywhere he wants, without having to worry about changing function keys (unless I want to flash auras) or pressing more than one mouse button. Damage is 349-2191 without enchant. Backup weapon is Todesfaelle Flamme for enchant when there is not a helpful sorceress. AR is 6500.

Easiest character I have ever played.


(edit: I can't seem to spell.)

[Zakarum]

Does anyone have any good suggestions on what items I should be looking to use on the Paladin? Right now I have a pretty good set up, however, I would like my AR and Damage to be higher, right now it is only around 550 AR and 30-60 Damage or so. My new Paladin's Clvl is 25 and I've just started normal Act IV. is there any possibility that I could actually find good unique swords/armor at this level or would I have to wait. btw--my stat points are 65 Str, 92 Dex, 40 Vit, 15 Eng

[Tommi]

The AR problem can be solved by partial Angelic set: Armor, Amulet and 1 or 2 rings.

At clvl 25 you can use old imported weapons from D2C. If they are out of your reach, it's better to wait that you can use exceptional unique weapons. Headstriker and Butcher's Pupil are both good low level weapons (usable at clvl 39).

Cheers,

Tommi

[Wapptor]

No matter what paladin build you make, I believe it is critical that you choose a main attack skill that you like, and a main aura that compliments it. Then choose a secondary attack and maybe a secondary auras. Slap on average 10-15 points into holy shield and the rest of your points go to support auras. If you follow that pattern, with a little bit of thought you should be just fine.

-Wapptor

[kandrathe]

Cool guide. You inspired me to dust off one of my lvl 14 paladin mules, and make him a real player. I decided it would be fun to try a Missionary. He has a little trouble with realm play, as the general battle net community do not have the patience to wait for the thorns aura to wear off. Necro's loved me though. I had warned people to just let me go off to do my thing away from the general party, but it seems the click and kill crowd just wants everything to die quickly. There was quite alot of cursing in some games, until I decided to change weapons and use my not so powerful Zeal, Fanaticism, and Conviction auras that they were more familiar with. It was softcore so no drama really, but I think if one were to play a Missionary in HC he would be a very lonely paladin, although he would make a good PK killer. Anyway, my conclusion is that he is not so party friendly -- or pubbies are too stupid to play him with.

For gear I'm now using Irathra's Set (inspired by another post), with Darkglow & 2D Mosers 67% Block (90% resists, in NM w/Salvation), Angelic ring and sabre (low damage), Cathens ring for LL, a 'Zephyr' repeating crossbow as alternate weapon, Sigons boots. For charms I opted for any +Life charms which contribute >10 life per box for a total of +300. The low damage on the Angelic sabre is perfect for two reasons, first your convert has more life, and second if you accidently hit an unconverted with thorns you don't kill yourself (4-9 becomes 41-91).

At earlier levels I used a Rogue's Bow, and also tried Civerbs Set, and a General Tan Do Li Ga Flail as well, but they lacked the AR I needed to be assured of ~30% conversion rate.

As I look toward Hell, I have a Guardian Angel on another paladin, he might borrow if needed. I'm drinking alot of red pots, but they are cheap, tasty and plentiful. :) The crossbow is also starting to lose its punch, so I may need to start swapping life charms out for dmg charms, or step up to a bigger fast crossbow (maybe a Shael'd Demon Machine). Other than that, unless I win the lottery or find a Herald of Zakarum not much else will change.

My general strategy is to engage and convert them all, whilst I stand back with thorns aura. Then, as their conversion expires I pick them off with fanaticism and crossbow. If there is a boss, I convert all as quickly as I can then pick at the boss with the crossbow while standing off. When the minions are gone, usually not quite finished killing their boss, I need to switch out the Angelic Sabre and use Zeal/Fanaticism and a 6 socket Dimensional blade with a hodge podge of jewels and gems. NM Travincal was beastly, but a fun challenge. I ended up getting critters to chase me back to the temple, where I would convert them to engage the unholy trio of Ismail, Geleb, and Toorc, all self healing bosses. Vampires and Zakarum Priests were great to have on your side! Definately an epic battle, and teaches you to conserve your converts.

My missionary is now well on his way at around lvl 44 with Conversion 9 and Maxed Thorns, and I just traded my lowly Act I rogue for a NM Act III cold merc (I hate leveling mercs). On to face NM Mephisto!!!

[Az3ar]

My strongest pally was an Avenger/Smitadin hybrid, I maxed at first Veangance, then your pretty much set as damage goes, because Vengance adds HUGE amounts of elemental damage...

Next for the smite, I maxed that out along whith Holy Shield, my aura was mainly Fanaticism (no, not convinction here), though most Avengers use Convinction, I went for fanaticism as it increases attack speed along whith the physical damage and shield damage you do.....

[Wargasm]

i have a zeal/fanat/foh/conviction hybrid, works pretty good in PvM and PvP
for the zeal/fanat i use a cruel cryptic sword (LO/LO/ETH) and stormshield and a +2/10 f/r/15ias/7%manaleech/prismatic tiara, shaft, highlords wrath/goreriders/t-gods vigor then for foh side i use blessed light thingy and a zakarum.
stats went like this

20 zeal
20 fanat
20 foh
20 conviction
10 holyshield

Nice for catching those 160/60 zealots who overconfidently jump in to a duel and end up getting zapped by
lvl 31 foh

[Animation]

Kandrathe,
And everyone,

I have never liked straight-up melee characters, and so my only paladin was a bow paladin. I liked him but when I "finished" him I deleted him. There was something unsatisfying about him. I think it was that I relied on the Buriza. I know that I can do well using Holy Shock, so I'm leaning towards trying again.

I have also always wanted to make a dagger paladin and I have always wanted to make a Conversion + Thorns paladin.

SO, I am thinking of combining them all. It actually looks like it could work out nicely, but I'm wanting suggestions.

First, the core of the character would be Thorns 20 (1010%), Conversion 9 (33%), Holy Shock 20 (1-715), Zeal 4 (5 Swings), and 5 points worth of Pre-Requisites. That comes to 58 points.

Now, over time, I would keep a pretty minimal strength, say 80 or even less, just whatever I would need to use a decent quick bow. Physical damage would be irrelevant to me. Otherwise I'd pump Dex and Vit heavily. I would try to maintain max block with dex alone, and in fact I might exceed that, building much like a Bowazon would build.

My general strategy would be to either engage the enemy with my bow and/holy shock, or my dagger (preferably something that does no physical damge worth mentioning, but that has great +AR) for use with either Holy Shock (ZAP!) or Convert. Anything lightning couldnt handly, I would use my Thorns + Converts on, or I could just convert with holy shock up and use them as meat shields for using the bow. Either way. I think it could work well.

My only concern is other support auras for when I'm above level 58. Any advice? I want to avoid melee personally other than what I can do with HS and Convert.

One of my fave skills I have always wanted to max is Sanctuary, but it would kinda be pointless since I'm planning to use a Bow. I dont think it works with a bow and even if it did, my base damage might be low. I have also always wanted to max Redemption just for the humor value, and to check it out.

Also, it is possible that my converts may benefit from fanaticism or concentration, but those interest me less.

Any suggestions?

Lewis