L4E

this guide is best seen with the fusion skin






Hello and welcome to Link_4_Ever's guide to the Paladin builds.
This guide will go through the THREE (3) most popular builds for the Paladin, hence the Zealer, the Smiter and the Hammerdin.
Well here is the guide, Enjoy!

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Legal stuff:: This guide was made for D2SECTOR.NET AND BLIZZSECTOR.NET ONLY. It may NOT be plagerised onto ANY other forums or website UNLESS i have given my WRITTEN CONSENT. This guide may be copied for PERSONAL use but cannot be used for any financial gain whatsoever.
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The Zealer (aka zealot, zealadin)
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The Zealer according to the Arreat Summit

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Arreat Summit A noble Paladin, fervent in his dedication to righteousness, can draw upon the spirit of that dedication to perform seemingly impossible tasks. When surrounded by his enemies, a Paladin versed in this skill sets upon his adversaries with the zealous fervor of many times his number. Effect: Quickly attacks multiple adjacent enemies. Zeal increases your Attack Rating, and allows you to attack multiple adjacent monsters. Additional points into Zeal increases Attack Rating and increases the number of swings per use of Zeal up to 5. Zeal allows you to take a lot of very quick swings at a monster while at the same time increasing your attack rating.Zeal is uninterrupted.

A Reminder - There is no point in making a Zealer if you arent diablo 2 wealthy. Unlike smiters, Zealers are always expensive, or else they suck.

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Skills
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Well, a Zealer basically uses Zeal, so even though this part is mainly pointless I’ll still write it down for those who are skeptic.

Max out these (1 to 5 respectively for optimized power at lower level)
1. Sacrifice (Zeal damage synergy)
2. Zeal (your main skill)
3. Fanactism (giant ias +ed boost, your main aura)
4. Holy Shield (massive defense +block rate increase)
5. Defiance (optional for defensive synergy to Holy Shield)
OR
5.Blessed Aim The Passive Bonus is 5% Attack Rating bonus per hard point invested while the aura is not active
(thx to snoboy for bringin this to my attention)

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Equipment
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Equipment on a zealer always varies, from PvM to PvP, from caster vs melee to barb vs zeal, it just never ends

The gear I will discuss about will be for GENERAL use, meaning you will be able to duel, and usually win, except if your opponent is using specific gear to defeat you.

Weapon: EBotD Zerker [Very High Damage, Good Speed, Dual leech, Prevent monster heal and 30 to ALL Attributes]

Shield: -CHAM Stormshield vs. Melee [35% DR!! Some resists, defense and cannot be frozen]
-Um Hoz vs. Caster [Mainly for the resists]

Armor: Fortitude Archon [300% ED (1.5k-2.xk more damage) Over 1600 Defense, 25-30 Resist All, 80-120 life at level 80 (1-1.5 per level) +5 to Max Light Resist]

Helmet: -Visionary Tiara of the Whale (Shael+40/15Max) vs, Melee (extremely godly, visionary helms can have very different mods, a rare tiara with life, res, 2socs is best.)
-2soc CoA vs Casters (2xShael) [Mainly for Resists and fhr]

Gloves: High ED Steel Rends [all its stats are useful]
Or Rare/Crafted Gloves with ias, str, res, and stats like that.

Boots: Imps (if west). On east uh, those duped "Spurs" rare boots
Gores are a good choice too.

Belt: 15% DR Verdungos (must have for 50% DR with ss)

Accessories: Angelics OR [ravens for cold sorb, wisps for light sorb, dwarfs for fire sorb]

The best way to reach 50% DR is SS+15% Dungos but there are other ways, so do whichever you like
With this equipment u will surpass the needed ias for the highest ias breakpoint. If u use CoA and 2x 5fhr scs u will reach 4frames FHR breakpoint.

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Stats
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Ok these are quite simple.

Enough Strength to use you highest requiring item (after all the charms and other equips are on)
Enough Dexterity to get 75% Block rate in hell after Holy Shield
When your done with Str And Dex,
Everything else goes in Vitality
Nothing for energy

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The Smiter (aka guy who hits people with his shield)
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The Smiter, a powerful paladin made to massacre all his opponents with his powerful skill known as “smite”, His power comes from the fact that “smite” cannot miss and cannot be blocked. Good luck when fighting one of those!

And according to the Arreat summit:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Arreat Summit The sword of a Paladin represents the might of righteousness and his shield symbolizes the strength of his faith. Both are tools he uses to mete out justice. Just as righteousness can give his spirit the fortitude to overcome the attacks of the unjust, so too can faith be a weapon to strike back at those who work to defeat him. To this end, the Paladin has developed several combat techniques that use the shield not only for defense, but also as an offensive weapon. Effect: Shield bash that does damage and knock back. Smite always hits a target in range, so Attack Rating does not matter when using this skill. Smite does not work with Life/Mana % Steal. Smite is a weapon skill and thus is affected by Attack Speed (e.g. 'Fanaticism') and is not affected by Cast Rate (e.g. -of the Apprentice). Smite works with any "X% Chance to cast level Y (spell) upon striking" ability on your weapon. Smite does not receive added damage vs. undead with the Sanctuary aura. The Fire/Cold/Lightning damage added to attacks with the Holy-Fire, Holy-Freeze, and Holy-Shock auras do not add onto Smite damage. Smite can steal life with life tap cursed on target. Smite can also deal crushing blow and open wounds damage, but not deadly strike and elemental damages. Using Smite will reduce the durability of your weapon NOT shield

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Skills
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20 Smite (your main attack)
20 Fanactism

20 Holy Shield


After Fanact, HS and smite are maxed, do whatever you want (I dunno how to make a Vindicator/Templar so I wont bother)


If you don’t know what to do, try the following:


Max defiance, you will gain a giant defense boost. (My smiter has 62k def when using 4.1k stone with his normal gear)


After that you can, yet again, do anything with your skills, but I suggest this:


Put all remaining skills into Resist Lightning or put at least 10 skills in it.

Why?
Well, when using exile your resists will be 80/80/75/75; by maxing RL you get 80/80/85/75.

Why would you get that?
Because each TWO skills into RL (or RF or RC) will PERMANENTLY (and passivally) give you +1 to your maximum lightning resist (or fire or cold). THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH SALVATION.

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Equipment
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Smiter’s equipment is very complicated. Well actually… no not at all. Some idiots try to make it look that way but in fact, it’s very simple. A smiter requires resist, skills, and raw power (and a whole bunch of other stuff). So down here, you will see what I think is best


Weapon: PHASE BLADE GRIEF (or Zerker) [Grief is the weapon that contains the highest “invisible damage” mod known to the Diablo 2 player. Unlike a Max Damage jewel, which does nothing, this mod does something (and it’s really, really something). The PB already has a base ias of 30, so even with the lowest grief your at 60ias without anything else, but a PB only has 2 range. A zerker has 0 base ias, but it does have 3 range. So you might want to test these out to see which is better for your build.]
There are a WIDE variety of smiter weapons

Shield: Ethereal Exile Elite Paladin Shield with Resist (vs. Melee) [extremely High defense, excellent damage, resists, Defiance aura, + 5 to max Fire and cold resist]

You can also use HoZ for the +Skills, High res, etc etc. but I prefer exile


Armor: CoH (preferably eBugCoH) [65 res!! +2 Skills! 8% DR (which you desperately need for 50% DR) +20Str]
Fortitude’s 300% ED DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR DAMAGE (if you think it does, go test it out)


Helmet: Ber Ber 27-31% DR CoA [ +1 skill, High DR!!! (Which you need for 50% DR) 20-30 resists!!! High as hell defense!] There is no point in a Kiras for ubers; you’re literally immortal with life tap.


Gloves: Crafted 10% CB, 20%IAS and any other mods gloves http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/ for recipes
If you’re afraid of not casting life tap quick enough, use Draculs grasps


Boots: Gore Riders, mainly for CB and OW (preferably uped)


Belt: 11-15% DR Verdungo’s [30-40 vita!! 11-15% DR that you need for 50% DR, and the good defense]


Accessories: (if on west) Raven Spiral/ Raven Frost/ Maras [massive dex boost and resists]

(If on east) Raven Frost/ your choice of a ring/ Maras [massive dex boost and resists]

With this gear u reach the highest IAS breakpoint. I suggest using FHR/life scs to reach an adequate FHR breakpoint along with PCMBT gcs to increase your dmg


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Stats
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Ok these are quite simple. (and the same for Zealer and Smiter)


Enough Strength to use you highest requiring item (after all the charms and other equips are on)

Enough Dexterity to get 75% Block rate in hell after Holy Shield (if you use PB grief then you might need a bit more, or some dex charms)

When you’re done with Str and Dex, Everything else goes in Vitality

Nothing for energy

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End of Smiter Build

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The Hammerdin
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The Hammerdin is a powerful new build that was first introduced by D2 players as the patch 1,10 was released. This Palading uses Blessed Hammer as his main skill, along with Teleport and Concentration as his right-hand skills.
It is possible to make a low budget hammerdin without enigma and such, but if you do he will not be able to PvP and will die 90% of the time

The hammerdin according to the Arreat Summit

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Arreat Summit The Visions of Akarat tell of a hopeless battle. Legions of the undead had laid siege to a small convent of nuns who were the keepers of a sacred relic, the Hammer of Ghrab Thaar. Suspended over a fiery chasm within the convent, the sisters knew the Hammer to be a powerful vessel of the Light and vowed never to allow it to fall into the hands of evil. With no weapons of their own, and no one to defend them, the nuns sacrificed themselves to destroy the hammer. Rather than let the undead despoil the church and the relic, they took the hammer and plunged themselves into the fiery chasm. At that moment, a powerful force of Light washed over the undead legion, striking them down where they stood. Since that time a well-trained Paladin is able to tap the remnants of this released energy, whirling a magical hammer to strike down his adversaries, especially the forces of the walking dead. Effect: A summoned Hammer spirals ******d, damaging enemies. The Undead take additional damage. This sends out a little glowing Hammer. The Hammer spins around you making a wider and wider turn until it disappears. Blessed Hammer has the ability to damage multiple enemies if it hits them. Ignores the resistances and immunities of Undead Also receives bonuses from Concentration

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Skills
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This is quite simple really.
20 Blessed Hammer
20 Blessed Aim
20 Concentration
20 Vigor
Rest into HS



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Equipment
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A hammerdin’s equipment is pretty simple, and most hammerdins will use the same, although there may be a few complications. So I’ll just list the most high end possible gear u can get. Let’s take a look shall we


Weapon: Hoto [40fcr, +3 skills, 30-40 res. without a doubt the best for a hammerdin]


Shield: Spirit Sacred Targe /w 40+ Res [55FHR, +2 Skills, 35%FCR, Mana, vita, resists, simply the best]


Armor: Enigma Mage Plate [ 55Str req, adds teleport, huge Str bonus]


Helm: +2 Pally/ 20Fcr /Res /Dex /2x Shael/ Rare Circlet


Belt: 10FCR/ 24FHR/ Dex (if possible)/ Res/ Life/ Crafted Light belt or higher


Boots: Eth Treks [huge psn res, str + vita bonus, kick ass defense, FHR]


Gloves: Upped Bloodfists [30FHR, 40life]


Accessories: Soj/Bk/ +2Pally/20 FCR/ other mods/ Crafted Ammy


*Charms: 2x 12Fhr PCBMT GC + 2x 5fhr/20life SC. The rest = Lifers, skillers, torch, anni



With EXACTLY this gear u reach 203FHR, 125FCR. With the 200FHR you will be able to take down wind druids and other hammerdins that have the usual 86fhr. You will be doing over 10k damage depending on your charms.and will have a shitload of life too.



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Stats
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This is the most fun part of your hammerdin. His stats.

Str: none
Dex: none OR if your items don’t give you enough bonus, enough for 70+block
Vita: all
Energy: none


With torch and anni you won’t need any str to use your enigma, with enigma you can use all your gear.
If you don’t have the +dex from your quipment you will have to waste precious skills into dex. 20/2dex SCs are a good choice if you still wanna keep all your points for vita and have good block.


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End of Hammerdin Build

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End of L4E’s guide

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OTHER GUIDES BY ME :
EXPRESS GUIDE TO CHARGED STRIKE ZON

TyKe

okay, for my zealer, im usin vortex exile with 34 resist on it and i got 75+ resist in hell, and for rings i went with bk/perf raven

Shellz

i like this build htough

Shield- 40/15 SS (For Defense and Its GG)
Amour - Eth Valour
Helm - Gualliams Face 40-15 it just owns

But yeha link nice guide

L4E

problem with that is that you'd have to sacrifice something to get "cannot be frozen"
and if u use fort u almost Never need more that 1 or 2 hits to kill anyone, except barbs, they have too much life >_<

how will u get 50% DR? and in pvp, angelics is almost always the best choice since each ring is about 7-10k AR, which is good against smiters and others who dont need AR

if your zealer is a PvM then i guess what u said is also preety good

Pro Pranksta

k i just solo'd uber trist at lvl 76 (dun believe me, get over it)

my smiter uses
Guillaumes Shael'd
Highlords
archon coh
HoZ+Hoto on switch for Holy shield Precast
2x 20dex 200+ ar frosties
40/14 dungos
13str dracs
1040def eth exile vortex
14/14 treks
ebotdz 403*
9x plain pcombat
no torch * dun need it i have enuf str
no small charms(i found i dun need em u might though depends on setup)
19/18 anni

stats:
base energy
75% block cant remember base aint died yet so dunno lol
189 str with gear
rest into vita

yall can say what u want
i just solo'd with this setup
lvl 76

so i know it works
dont spend 2x imps on grief lol thats pvp wep

L4E

first of all, why the hell would u post this here?
second of all, if your trying to say ur gear sucks (which it REALLY doesnt) then i dont get your point, 9 pally gcs (if they're plain) are 36 highs..
and people have soloed ubers with CRAP equipment, i soloed em at lvl 77 with my smiter, almost empty inventory, only some scs for str /dex and a bit of life, my gear was much better than yours though, but again, any smiter with lifetap and good res and a elite pally sheild can solo uber trist.

snoboy

hey link jsut a suggestion for ur zealer guide after u max zeal,sacrifice,fana, and holy shield, if u dont wnat mroe defense and ur lacking ar u can start maxing blessed aim because it give more ar to fana as u max it

L4E

Thx snoboy, i've added it to the zealer guide

THE SMITER GUIDE IS NOW COMPLETE! as it is said in the guide
This guide is bullshlt free!
What you see is what you need.
If it’s not here you don’t need it and u don't need to know it.

Bloodangel26

hey link, nice guides, quick question though, you sure about that passive bonus from resist lighting aura? i think i heard something like that before, but i've never tried it myself. not doubting you, just making sure you've tried it before i go wasting a point on something that wont help

snoboy

yes im almsot positive if i remember correctly on ym auradin he has liek 85 or 95 lit resis and i dont ahve en max ltie resis i dun think

chasingSoL

my only suggestion for your smiter guide would be to max defiance which acts as a synergy for holy shield if you lack defense

L4E

i thought it was about time i finished the guide, so I finally did, the guide is now complete and im bumping this after 220 days lol. If a mod thinks this guide is worth it, than I'd appreciate a sticky, thanks!