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01-04-2004, 10:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-04-2004, 10:55 PM by Rohar.)
Heya all,
Perhaps all you Paladin experts out there can advise me ? I'd like to make a Pally who is more of a fighter mage, perhaps with a ranged attack if possible ? I'm not sure if this can be done, but I'd prefer that if at all possible, because I know from experience that I am not one for pure melee combat characters - I'd be ok with a mixture, and perhaps some of the mage skills of the Pally could be melee, but I would like him to use ranged attacks in some form (preferably magic/elemental ranged attacks, although I'll take non magic ones too.) Any ideas/advice would much appreciated. :)
I do have a Paladin very early in the game who I've put a few points in, but who I would probably be able to be adapt to any suggestions - he's clvl 4 at the moment (he has 1 point in Prayer, 1 in Might and 1 in Smite, 1 point yet to be allocated). Or I can start completely afresh and make a new Pally from stratch if people advise.
Rohar
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does that include blessed hammer? its sort of ranged and magical damage..:P
"The axe? Aye, that's a good weapon, balanced against any foe. Look how it cleaves the air, and then, imagine a nice fat demon head in its path. Keep in mind, however, that it is slow to swing - but talk about dealing a heavy blow!"
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Heya Draconis :)
Yep, Blessed Hammer is one of the options I'm considering. I'm a little bit unsure about it, because it's a spiralling attack rather than a straight forward one, which I would find more desirable. However, given that there aren't a lot of ranged skills for the Paladin, I'm certainly not ruling it out - particularly as I'm aware the fact that is a spiralling attack means it can potientally hit multiple targets.
I've had a bit more time to think and looking at the Pally skills in considering my build. Skills I like the look of are Vengeance, Holy Bolt and Fist of the Heavens with Blessed Hammer a option I would consider. On the aura side of things, I like the look of Holy Freeze and Holy Shock. Any other advice on what auras, or skills I might do well to consider ?
Or possibly, I could build my Paladin to use bows/crossbows - perhaps looking for a good rare with elemental damage, or even look at trying to gamble/find one of the uniques that fire magic or explosive arrows - I'm thinking perhaps Raven Claw (unique LongBow), Wizendraw ( Unique Long Battle Bow), or Hellcast (Heavy Crossbow) - or perhaps down the line, when my pally hits nightmare an exceptional unique like Kuko Shakuku or Wildwitch String. Any thoughts on this - do people think it's ok or might it stretch my stats to far to try build my Paladin to use a bow, since they are usually intended for melee ?
A query for people - what targets can Fist of the Heavens hit ? I know Holy Bolt can only hit undead, is this the case for Fist of the Heavens or is capable of hitting Demons and Animals or at least Demons ? I'd like to know, since it would be a important factor in whether I decide to get it. Advice, comments on any of the above thoughts would be much appreciated ! :)
Rohar
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Hi
A bow/crossbow using pala is usually referred to as a "Ranger", it is relatively wellknown variant. Normal rangers usually max fanatism, shockrangers holy shock, but you can play around with the auras, e.g. holy frost. Unless you are a purist you can keep a melee setup on your alternative weaponslot.
Hope this was helpful
good hunting
P.S. There is a ranger guide over at dii.net
Prophecy of Deimos
âThe world doesnât end with water, fire, or cold. Iâve divined the coming apocalypse. It ends with tentacles!â
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01-07-2004, 06:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-07-2004, 06:03 AM by Draconis.)
FoH can hit anything except Lite Immunes
It has Holy Bolt damage for undead, and Lightning Damage for non lightening immunes.
It's a lot less effective versus just one of those, but very good vs an undead with low light res ;) However it takes a long time to get FoH up to a respectable level and enough damage to kill things yourself, a friend and I had a barb/pally setup in SP, and he just couldn't kill much till ~lvl 60...mainly leeching and healing me with HB :P
Blessed Hammer is very common these days for the huge damage it can have, and the worst bit about it is there are spots monsters can be that *don't* get hit, so you may have to move around to get a spot to hit them from.
Veangeance is just cool. :)
"The axe? Aye, that's a good weapon, balanced against any foe. Look how it cleaves the air, and then, imagine a nice fat demon head in its path. Keep in mind, however, that it is slow to swing - but talk about dealing a heavy blow!"
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Ok, thanks for the advice Draconis and Assur. Hmmm - Ok, I think I'm beginning to get an idea of a build. Ranged - Holy Bolt for undead & healing of mercs, and maybe some use of an Elemental Bow(& later, FoH) for everything else (I may use some Blessed Hammer at slvl 1, since I have to get it as a pre-reg) - a. Melee, early on slvl 1 Holy Fire, maybe some Sacrifice and Zeal at Slvl 1. Later probably Holy Shock and Vengeance maxed , and perhaps some Holy Freeze. What do people think - does this sound like a good plan for a build - or are any other combat skills/auras I might want to consider as alternatives ?
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Hi
Holy Bolt and everything against undead is a bit of a luxury (your mercs have self-healing, especially if you use an Act 2 normal combat merc with the prayer aura, otherwise give them armour socketed with perfect skulls), undead are never a problem :D.
Holy Frost can be had either from an Act 2 Nightmare merc or from the runeword "Doom", so investing points there is not neccesary. Fist of Heavens hits one monster with lightning, and the rest with Holy Bolt, useful only against undead.
Blessed Hammer is a real killer so maxing it and the synergy skills would be useful, putting a few points in Zeal and Holy Shock or Fanatism should be helpful against act bosses. (Personally I'm running a ShockTherapist at the moment, aim: maxed Holy Shock, maxed Resist Lightning, maxed Salvation and at the end maxed Vengeance for all those pesky PILI monsters, at the moment he is really hot, lots of damage at 1on1 and aera-effect too)
Hope this helps you :unsure:
good hunting
Prophecy of Deimos
âThe world doesnât end with water, fire, or cold. Iâve divined the coming apocalypse. It ends with tentacles!â
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Heya, thought I'd revive this thread - I looked at all the advance given earlier, and in the end - well, I said I was going to go for a ranger, but I decided to do something different. I thought about going max Holy Shock & LR, but I decided in the end to try something a little bit more variant minded - and I'm having a blast. I got a few points in Zeal - at first, my intention was to leave it low, at slvl 4, and just get the max no of multiple hits - and I was going to going for Vengeance, but I've decided I rather like the crowd control aspect - it's the major thing that has meant this build has been so fun - probably one of the few really melee-based characters I've really enjoyed.
So far, I'm in late act II, with Holy Freeze @ 3, Zeal @ 6, Holy Bolt @ 5, Holy Fire @ 2 - was supposed to be 1, but somewhere along the line I mistakenly added a 2nd skill point - It's been quite useful thought, so I don't mind too much.
My plan for the build at max skill point goes something like this
Holy Freeze @ 20, Zeal @ 20
Resist Cold @ 20, Holy Shock @ 10
FotH @ 16, Holy Bolt @ 10
Anyone done anything like this who would care to comment ? Equipment Advance ? So far I'm using mainly one handed weapons and a shield - (mainly scepters), although I'm probably going to take on the main superuniques with a two handed weapons (I've had some really good luck early on with the uniques and so far he's found Dimoaks' Hew, Razortine & The Dragon Chang) - or possibly Holy Bolt for the sub-act undead uniques.
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straight from the AS:
Quote:Fist of Heavens ignores resistances of Undead and Demons.
Surely that would mean that it will ignore the 100% reistsance (aka immunity)too?
Or maybe the AS is wrong
Or maybe I'm just interpreting it wrong, actually, this is more likely.
-Bob
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I believe that means for the Holy Bolt damage.
One thing I like to do is pair FoH with one of it's preqs, Conversion. Gets you some free tanks and when they revert your Merc can poke 'em once for the kill.
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The holy bolts from FotH will ignore undead magic resistance (and even immunity). The part about demons is meaningless, since the bolts don't affect demons at all. And the initial lightning hit definitely is affected by lightning resistance (and lightning immunity).
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Rohar,Mar 7 2004, 03:53 PM Wrote:Heya, thought I'd revive this thread - I looked at all the advance given earlier, and in the end - well, I said I was going to go for a ranger, but I decided to do something different. I thought about going max Holy Shock & LR, but I decided in the end to try something a little bit more variant minded - and I'm having a blast. I got a few points in Zeal - at first, my intention was to leave it low, at slvl 4, and just get the max no of multiple hits - and I was going to going for Vengeance, but I've decided I rather like the crowd control aspect - it's the major thing that has meant this build has been so fun - probably one of the few really melee-based characters I've really enjoyed.
So far, I'm in late act II, with Holy Freeze @ 3, Zeal @ 6, Holy Bolt @ 5, Holy Fire @ 2 - was supposed to be 1, but somewhere along the line I mistakenly added a 2nd skill point - It's been quite useful thought, so I don't mind too much.
My plan for the build at max skill point goes something like this
Holy Freeze @ 20, Zeal @ 20
Resist Cold @ 20, Holy Shock @ 10
FotH @ 16, Holy Bolt @ 10
Anyone done anything like this who would care to comment ? Equipment Advance ? So far I'm using mainly one handed weapons and a shield - (mainly scepters), although I'm probably going to take on the main superuniques with a two handed weapons (I've had some really good luck early on with the uniques and so far he's found Dimoaks' Hew, Razortine & The Dragon Chang) - or possibly Holy Bolt for the sub-act undead uniques. I've just started a somewhat similar paladin. I have no plans to make much use of a ranged attack (except in special circumstances I'll whip out a fast bow to apply holy shock/holy freeze).
FrigidLightning's build plan (on USWest)
20 Holy Shock
20 Resist Lightning
20 Holy Freeze
20 Resist Cold
5 zeal
rest in holy shield and prereqs
I must mention that he is part of a 3 person party, one is a conviction/avenger, the other fanaticism/zealot. Most of the time I'll have conviction available, and some of the time fanaticism.
The main point of this build is to get a 4 frame zeal without fanaticism (I won't always have it available). I have a crescent moon phase blade which my frenzy barb will be passing down.
I anticipate using holy shock most of the time, but switching to holy freeze vs. LIs and also when things get dangerous (read: use holy freeze more often the further I get into Hell).
Right now he's level 30 and extremely effective and fun. Hopefully he'll be able to survive on his own in Hell. With the aid of two delirium helms for our 3 person party, I'm thinking that should be possible, as our offensive output is quite good.
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