Looking for a tankazon guide

[Rookeeya]

I have a melee enchantress and have the most incredible amount of fun with her. Now? Am wondering about making a melee zon. Is there a guide out there? I have several items I can use.... so? Am looking for ideas of where to place points as far as skills and such

Rookeeya :thumbsup:

[Sokar Rostau]

You won't be disappointed (unless you like cookie cutters).

I have been working, on and off, on a guide for a while now and the reason it is taking so long is because there are so many possible variations in equipment now. Fortunately there are only three major variations in skill allocation. Essentially you can max Critical Strike or Inner Sight or Dodges but you can't do all.

Personally I always max Valk but if you are game you can go without the strongest tank in the game and pump other skills. I don't max CS because I get DS from other sources so it is a waste of points, also +skill items boost CS anyway. I don't max Inner Sight because it requires at least some FCR equipment (there is rarely time to cast it) and it really is an all or nothing skill once you get to Hell. I always go the maxed D/A/E build but that is personal preference.

My favourite build is the Palazon, which is not complete until lvl 99 (but you don't need to get to 99, leave maxing Evade until last). there are 2 Palazons - the Kingslayer and the Zealot. I use a Zealot because Passion also gives her Berserk so Iron Maiden is no problem if I can't extract myself for long enough to switch to Gimmershreds.

Sera_Braveblade
lvl 96

CS - 5
IS - 1
SM - 1
Dodge - 20
Avoid - 20
Penetrate - 20
Decoy - 5
Evade - 15
Valkyrie - 20
(something like that anyway)

70% Kira
Seraph's Hymn
Passion Cryptic Sword
Fortitude Balrog Skin
PDiamond Stormshield
Laying of Hands
BK ring
String of Ears
Carrion Wind (or good rare ring with posion resist)
Goreriders
SWITCH
Gimmershreds
Medusa's Gaze

Before Fortitude she had +2 Valour and I was aiming for CoH (for the %damage to demons). My other 96 Palazon (Serakwen, Season 1) wears Verdungo but I found the Ears to be more useful because of the extra Life Leech, Sera has more than 20% Life steal and on the very, very rare occasion when she takes a hit it only takes one or two strikes to refill her orb. The object of her equipment is doing as much damage to demons/undead as possible (don't go hunting cows alone unless you have a spare two hours - it takes forever to kill animals) hence the LoH rather than Dracul's. The Gimmers are used for killing those that flee and for taking out Holy Freeze and other particularly dangerous uniques. The Medusa complements the Gimmers with CTC Lower Resist. Scourge and Cryptic Swords work better than Phase Blades (the max damage of a PB is about the same as the avg dam of a Cryptic Sword or Scourge) and Berzerker Axes (BA's are just plain fugly, but there is a good reason not to use them I just forget what it was).

There are lots of variations available now this is just my favoured gear.

[itsPizzarific]

heres a bearazon (lol) guide from a while ago, i thought it was very interesting and if i ever can afford it, ill be sure to make one :)

http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=305368&highlight=fuzzy+dodger

[DudSpud]

For discussions of tankazons, I suggest you search this forum and google "theamazonbasin." They have two fora, one on javazons and one on spearazons that both have tankazon stickies.

Sokar - I have always been interested in your build, ever since I heard you discuss it in the runeword hunt thread. One question I have concerns blocking - with 1 handed swinging weapons - basically everything one handed except javs and daggers, the Zon base block rate is more than half a second. I see that you suggest a 1-handed sword for passion and carry a shield. As I understand it, blocking is checked before D/A/E, so do you keep the dex low so you wont block, and just use the shield for DR/resists?

Thanks,
DudSpud

[Sokar Rostau]

You are right about the slow FBR - the fastest possible block is still slower than the slowest block on all other classes BUT it is not a real issue. Basically, the people that say "Don't waste your time, the block recovery is so slow you will just die" have never seriously attempted the build. Combat with a Palazon requires tactics that are foreign to those that run, attack-with-cookie-cutter-skill, run, rinse, repeat.

It does sometimes become an issue when I switch to Gimmershred/Medusa because it's a slower shield but that is used only in particular situations and if it is against ranged attackers that's what Slow Missiles is for. I do try and have a low base Dex and use the SS primarily for DR/Res, but in order to hit anything with any regularity without sacrificing equipment for AR gear it ends up being in the 60-70%+ block rate range anyway. Sera dodges far, far more often than she blocks even with that amount of block rate. The only time when slow FBR is fatal is at low levels when you have low D/A/E, low life, low FHR and a crap shield and even then, with careful play that need not ever happen.

As an added bonus it seems that, once triggered, Fortitude's Chilling Armour is counted before blocking. Ranged attackers are always a problem because they seem to be easier to block to begin with but they also trigger constant Avoid (until you can get off SM), with Chilling Armour this doesn't happen to the extent that I hardly use SM when it's activated.

Block recovery is one of the primary reasons that Holy Freeze is the build's greatest enemy.

As you can see though, the build is designed for PvM, PvP requires different equipment (gloves, ammy, rings) anyway and that's where FBR matters, but even in PvP it is rarely an issue unless I am surrounded by Wake of Fire which usually has the same effect as mindblast if you can't get away...

Don't think of it as a 'bug' but as a peculiarity of the build.

Besides when all is said and done an Amazon with sword and shield in a Balrog Skin and circlet is THE sexiest character there is.

Also I forgot to mention that Duress is another superb armour better than Valour, but it's still nothing compared to Fortitude.

[Rookeeya]

:)

Reading all of this? Makes me want to get her further along! I should note here.. I am non-ladder. So? I won't be able to use Fortitude. That leaves Duress,Valor or a Chains of Honor. I think I have a Gimmershed on a mule somewhere. I do have a Passion Phase in my melee sorc's stash. I don't have a BK ring. Would a Raven do? The sorc has enchant to make her quite powerful and a Beast zerker to make her truly ferocious. She has perfect resisits and 11k damage in bear form for non-ladder. I am guessing the CS makes up for the lack of enchant?

All of the answer I have gotten really have me thinking. Right now? The zon is only level 9, so I have time to work on her. I think I can take a SS off my old WW Barb. He can't kill well in 1.10 now.. I know I have Gores in a stash and I do have a set of crafted 2 to all passives gloves. Would those, LoH or Soul Drainers be best? My sorcy is using Dracs and Gores with Coh, a shaeles 70% Kiras, Highlords and either an Azurewrath or a 5 shaeled, 1 eth phase blade after she biffs and then goes bear.

You are right about the slow FBR - the fastest possible block is still slower than the slowest block on all other classes BUT it is not a real issue. Basically, the people that say "Don't waste your time, the block recovery is so slow you will just die" have never seriously attempted the build. Combat with a Palazon requires tactics that are foreign to those that run, attack-with-cookie-cutter-skill, run, rinse, repeat.

It does sometimes become an issue when I switch to Gimmershred/Medusa because it's a slower shield but that is used only in particular situations and if it is against ranged attackers that's what Slow Missiles is for. I do try and have a low base Dex and use the SS primarily for DR/Res, but in order to hit anything with any regularity without sacrificing equipment for AR gear it ends up being in the 60-70%+ block rate range anyway. Sera dodges far, far more often than she blocks even with that amount of block rate. The only time when slow FBR is fatal is at low levels when you have low D/A/E, low life, low FHR and a crap shield and even then, with careful play that need not ever happen.

As an added bonus it seems that, once triggered, Fortitude's Chilling Armour is counted before blocking. Ranged attackers are always a problem because they seem to be easier to block to begin with but they also trigger constant Avoid (until you can get off SM), with Chilling Armour this doesn't happen to the extent that I hardly use SM when it's activated.

Block recovery is one of the primary reasons that Holy Freeze is the build's greatest enemy.

As you can see though, the build is designed for PvM, PvP requires different equipment (gloves, ammy, rings) anyway and that's where FBR matters, but even in PvP it is rarely an issue unless I am surrounded by Wake of Fire which usually has the same effect as mindblast if you can't get away...

Don't think of it as a 'bug' but as a peculiarity of the build.

Besides when all is said and done an Amazon with sword and shield in a Balrog Skin and circlet is THE sexiest character there is.

Also I forgot to mention that Duress is another superb armour better than Valour, but it's still nothing compared to Fortitude.

[itsPizzarific]

its pretty cheap to buy some +3 java gloves with a nice 2nd mod like ias so unless the crafted gloves are almost godly, you might wanna do that

all those 3 armors are pretty appealing, duress would let you kill fastest w/ the cb and ow and the 40 fhr is very nice, also has decent res

coh has godly res and +2 skills to boost passives

arkains has +2 as well, and huge vita

its really your choice -_- .. probably coh if you can afford it and dont waste the res on it, or duress for killing speed if thats what your looking for

[Sokar Rostau]

There is absolutely no use for +jav skill anything on this build. Nor is there any need for mana leech (I only ever run out of mana when using Berserk against something like a ghost which is Immune to Physical and Mana Burn), if you do run out of mana use a pot (you WILL have mana problems using Decoy and a weak Valk at low levels).

LoH is used specifically for the 350% Damage to Demons (and the Seraph is likewise taken over Mara or Highlord's for the % damage to demons/undead), the IAS has nothing to do with it at all. I have gone through all the available equipment (except crafts and rares because they are all different) and there are no better gloves for this build (indeed for most zon's) than LoH. The only other useful gloves are Dracul's Grasp for leech/Life Tap but if you use them you are doing much, much less damage than when using LoH against Demons (which makes negates the usefulness of leech/Life Tap). Steelrends can also be useful. Once you get into Nightmare you can use Gravepalm and it might be a good idea to keep them in your cube or somewhere handy for areas of high Undead population, but I have never bothered.

Crafted/rare gloves with +passive skills will be useful at lower levels before LoH becomes available, but as soon as you hit level 63 put on the LoH.

Here are the gloves, remember that Strength adds some damage and this build rarely takes a hit so life leech on gloves is unimportant (but handy):

Dracul's Grasp
Vampirebone Gloves

Defense: 125-145 (Base Defense: 56-65)
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 50
+90-120% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+10-15 To Strength (varies)
+5-10 Life After Each Kill (varies)
25% Chance of Open Wounds (combined with Gore for 35% and a whopping 68% when Duress is added)
7-10% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
5% Chance To Cast Level 10 Life Tap On Striking (meh, leech off the unleechable and help your merc out now and then, not such a big deal)

Steelrend
Ogre Gauntlets

Defense: 232-281 (Base Defense: 62-71)
Required Level: 70
Required Strength: 185
Durability: 24
+170-210 Defense (varies)
+30-60% Enhanced Damage (varies)
10% Chance of Crushing Blow (25% with Gore and 40% when Duress is added)
+15-20 To Strength (varies)


Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 79-87 (varies)(Base Defense: 54-62)
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Durability: 12
+25 Defense
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage To Demons
Fire Resist +50%
10% Chance To Cast Level 3 Holy Bolt On Striking

Gravepalm
Sharkskin Gloves

Defense: 96-112 (varies) (Base Defense: 33-39)
Required Level: 32
Required Strength: 20
Durability: 14
+140-180% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+100-200% Damage To Undead (varies)
+100-200 To Attack Rating Against Undead(varies)
+10 To Energy
+10 To Strength

They each have benefits and each have drawbacks. Steelrend provides the most all round damage but still not as much to undead/demons as LoH or Gravepalm. Dracul's adds nice damage but it's primary usefulness for most builds (leech/life tap) isn't of much use to a build that rarely ever takes damage. LoH is the only source of IAS, aside from Passion, and while it isn't a necessity it is the only place where you have room to get it. 50% Fire Resist is always welcome and allows you to stack fire resist. There is nothing (off ladder) that can give you this much of a damage boost to a primary enemy group. Remember that you will not have a level 1 Zeal, you have to aim for at least level 5 for it to be useful and in this case, even when not wearing Duress, if you wear Steelrends or Dracul's you will trigger OW or CB once per Zeal (more or less). The choices come down to these:

Dracul's will give enemies a slower life regen and a small damage boost to all with bonus life leech.

Steelrend will give a modest damage boost to all enemies and a great increase in CB.

LoH are the only choice with IAS and give a huge damage boost to Demons, also allow you to stack Fire Resist. Holy Bolt sometimes comes in handy too.

Gravepalm gives a small damage boost to all, a large damage boost to Undead and a considerable AR boost to Undead.

It's up to you really but my choices are Steelrend and LoH.

As for armour it's a shame you're not on ladder because Fortitude makes all the difference, to the extent that cows are no different to undead/demons, but this build was designed way before Season 2. Sera_Braveblade wore a +2 Valour with a 15% All Resist jewel while she waited for a Ber rune to make CoH, I got so far as making a Lo rune when the Season 2 Runewords were released so I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to get a Fortitude (incidentally, I play on Asia where dupes etc are barely an issue and all my equipment is 100% legit, found by me or given by friends, the only items I traded for were the crappy Seraph (still want a better one) and the BK ring). Think about what you want to do before you do it. Serakwen wore +2 Valour until Duress was released (rolled a perfect first go too :) ). Duress is a very good armour with a lot to recommend it, especially all that cold damage, OW and CB, but CoH also has much to recommend and in the balance is a better armour.

Arkaine's Valor
Balrog Skin

Defense: 1295-1450 (varies)(Base Defense: 410-517)
Required Level: 85
Required Strength: 165
Durability: 30
+150-180% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+1-2 To All Skills* (varies)
+ (0.5 Per Character Level) 0-49 To Vitality (Based On Character Level)
30% Faster Hit Recovery
Damage Reduced By 10-15 (varies)

Rattlecage
Gothic Plate (can be upped to embossed in NL)

Defense: 328-335 (varies)(Base Defense: 128-135)
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 70
Durability: 55
+200 Defense
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
Hit Causes Monster To Flee 40%
+45 To Attack Rating

Black Hades
Chaos Armor

Defense: 823-1029 (varies)(Base Defense: 315-342)
Required Level: 53
Required Strength: 140
Durability: 70
+140-200% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+30-60% Damage To Demons (varies)
+200-250 To Attack Rating Against Demons (varies)
Half Freeze Duration
Gem Socket (3)
-2 To Light Radius

Crow Caw
Tigulated Mail

Defense: 477-534 (varies)(Base Defense: 176-190)
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 86
Durability: 36
+150-180% Enhanced Defense (varies)
15% Increased Attack Speed
15% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Chance of Open Wounds
+15 Dexterity

Spirit Forge
Linked Mail

Defense: 380-449 (varies)(Base Defense: 158-172)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 74
Durability: 26
+120-160% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+ (1.25 Per Character Level) 1-123 Life (Based On Character Level)
Fire Resist +5%
Adds 20-65 Fire Damage
+15 To Strength
Gem Sockets (2)
+4 To Light Radius

Chains of Honor
4 Socket Body Armor
Dol + Um + Ber + Ist

+2 To All Skills
+200% Damage To Demons
+100% Damage To Undead
8% Life Stolen Per Hit
+70% Enhanced Defense
+20 To Strength
Replenish Life +7
All Resistances +65
Damage Reduced By 8%
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Duress
3 Socket Body Armor
Shael + Um + Thul

+40% Faster Hit Recovery
+10-20% Enhanced Damage (varies)
Adds 37-133 Cold Damage
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
33% Chance of Open Wounds
+150-200% Enchanced Defense (varies)
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Cold Resist +45%
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +15%
Poison Resist +15%

Fortitude
4 Socket Weapons/Body Armor
El + Sol + Dol + Lo

20% Chance To Cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when Struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
+300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+(1-1.5)-(99-148.5) To Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% To Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +25-30 (varies)
Damage Reduced By 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 To Light Radius
(I know you're NL, just wanted to make you jealous :p )

OK, first of all don't laugh, Rattlecage and Black Hades are there for very good reasons. Sera_Braveblade wore Rattlecage all the way to Hell Baal (first week of ladder) and then found an eth Rattlecage which survived about 200 Baalruns. Rattlecage has great CB and Cause monster to flee is a perfect mod. Some people hate it (and it does make for a fuglyzon), but it is integral to this build because the Palazon fights as a living decoy - always surrounded to make the best use of her low level Zeal. With the amounts of CB you will have wearing this you will kill quickly and those beasties that flee tend to die of OW or a swift Gimmershred in the back. Because you will have better armour to upgrade to as soon as you reach the level req, Rattlecage is good to train in the use of Cause to Flee, which can take some practice.

Black Hades is the poor man's CoH. It has some damage to demons but is very customisable with 3 gem sockets (think All Resist, IAS, ED, ED/AR to Demon/Undead).

Spirit Forge is somewhat better in that it adds some damage to everything via fire damage and Strength boost, while remaining customisable with 2 gem sockets. Scaling Life is always welcome.

Crow Caw is a very good armour with IAS, FHR and 35%OW but it also gives a dex boost which may be harmful when swarmed at lower levels (but with an increased chance to go into block recovery also comes an increased chance to hit so things will die slightly faster).

Arkaine's Valour is a great armour to use, but far from perfect. You are using all the mods but be aware that when you swap to a runeword you will be missing All skills and life mods if using Duress or FHR when using CoH (and you WILL miss them at first).

I really should learn the meaning of brevity...

[Sokar Rostau]

Chains of Honour. What can I say? Until Fortitude came along this was the ideal armour. The damage to undead/demon and Strength boost makes up for what you would have with Duress (350% to demon from LoH, 20-50% to undead and demon from Seraph, 75% damage to undead from Passion sword/axe or 125% from Passion Scourge adds up to between 570%-600% damage to demons and 195%-275% damage to Undead (with Scourge)). The life replenishment and leech makes up for the scaling life of Valour to an extent. 8% DR means you can wear the crappiest Ears or Verdungo and still reach the 50% DR cap. +65% All resist means all resists will be stacked (so you still have good, resists when under conviction or lower resist), it also means you do not need a poison resist ring like Carrion Wind freeing you up to wear a Raven or another BK and you can remove the PDiamond from Stormshield and Medusa and put in an ED jewel or something if you want to. The drawback to this armour is lack of FHR. Until Season 3 (when Fortitudes come on the NL market) CoH is the best armour you can get off ladder.

Duress is great and if you can't afford CoH replace your Valour with this if you don't mind losing the +skills too much or really need to keep the FHR (I too have a shael in my Kira and that makes up for it). Unlike CoH the damage from Duress is applied to all enemies and the CB and OW are great in combo with Gores. While chilled from Duress' cold damage (and the cold damage charms in your pack) monsters bleed to death while losing the ability to hit you and put you into block/hit recovery. The Resists are decent but you will still need the Carrion to have max PR.

Fortitude...teh godly armour that you can't have mwahahaha. Just remember that Season 2 WILL end and Fortitude will be available to you eventually, but by then you may want to rebuild the character.

Think about what you want for endgame and wear armour appropriate so you needn't change playstyles. If you want CB then keep the Rattlecage until you can wear Steelrends and Duress. Likewise if you want OW wear Rattlecage until Crow Caw becomes available then swap for Duress. If you want to wear CoH then upgraded Black Hades or Spirit Forge with ed demon/undead jewels is a good replacement for Rattlecage until you can wear Valour and then CoH.

The BEST weapon for Passion is a Scourge. A Cryptic Sword looks best and does more damage than a Phase Blade (when I borrowed a friend's Passion PB the max damage fell by more than 1/2, on that character, thus negating the benefits of increased speed.), with an avg of 33 for PB and 41 for the Cryptic. Yes a Phase Blade does consistent damage, but a Cryptic Sword can do more than double the max of a PB (which works out at 4x the damage when CS or DS kicks in). A Scourge has greater range than a Cryptic or PB, slightly more damage (41.5 avg) and inherent 50%ed to Undead, it's not as sexy but is the best choice. BA is slower than all of these, has a higher avg damage (47.5), the same range as a Scourge but is incredibly ugly. When all is said and done, the 50%ed to Undead makes a Scourge the ideal weapon for Passion but once again it comes down to taste.

I hope this gives you some idea of the variations available (this is just one type mentioned here - another variation of which wears CoH for resists and Dream Helm to become a Shock Zealot) within the Armies of Athulua and why my guide is so long and slow in coming out.

[DudSpud]

Sokar,

I like the way you think, allowing for variations in gear choices and making recommendations of gear that most people forget about after Norm. I especially like the suggestion of "monster flees" as a method of crowd control. Once my bowazon phase ends, and I secure the runes for passion, this is my next project.

One nit - You mention that you need a lvl 5 zeal (typo?). I think you meant that you need a lvl 4 zeal, for 5 swings, so only +3 total all skills. Am I correct?

Still waiting for the full guide...
DudSpud

[Sokar Rostau]

One nit - You mention that you need a lvl 5 zeal (typo?). I think you meant that you need a lvl 4 zeal, for 5 swings, so only +3 total all skills. Am I correct?

Still waiting for the full guide...
DudSpud

That was counting the Annihilus - +1 Passion, +2 Seraph, +1 BK, +1 Annihilus. You really don't want to have less than this because of the AR and damage increase per level of Zeal/Berserk. There are other equipment variations that have higher levels of Zeal/Berserk but for this setup lvl 7 or 8 is about it (2 x BK + Valour/CoH).

The guide is toooo loooooong. In it's current rough draft state it runs for more than 30 pages in MSWord, but a lot of that is repeating stuff for my own convenience. Paradoxically the most complete part (it's actually an appendix to the main guide) is not the Palazons, where all my experience lies, but a proposed build, and it's 12 slight variations, called the Acolyte of Hephaetrus (the only pure caster build possible for a zon, and yet she can still go melee when needs be).

By the way, if you're wondering what to do with this build after you have killed eveything between the Blood Moor and Baal (something few of the popular builds can truly claim), she makes a FINE rune hunter in both the Tower and Kurast (Gimmershreds take care of those cowardly Acolytes etc).

[Rookeeya]

:p


Thank you so much for all of the information! So far, with Angelic armor, 2 Angelic rings, and that ammy, hotspurs , a blood crescent sword and a crap helm and shield? She is a very powerful killing machine! I am partial to the open wounds. I like watching things bleed when they hit my melee sorcy and I like it here too. Of course, the sorcy has shiver armor and that makes it touch for her enemies. But you have given me so very much to think on! I'm looking through That was counting the Annihilus - +1 my mules for the Gimmers now, as I'm sure I have them somewhere. I don't have a Seraph..so? May have to make do with a Mara's or Highlords. The sorcy uses a Highlords in her killing form and it works very nicely. I've worked the sorcy up to a prebuff of lvl 37 enchant and 31 shiver armor. Would Kinglayer be of help with this build at all? I also have that in the sorc's stash.....so just curious. I think the zon is going to need the speed and the beserk, so will have to trust you there. = )


Passion, +2 Seraph, +1 BK, +1 Annihilus. You really don't want to have less than this because of the AR and damage increase per level of Zeal/Berserk. There are other equipment variations that have higher levels of Zeal/Berserk but for this setup lvl 7 or 8 is about it (2 x BK + Valour/CoH).

The guide is toooo loooooong. In it's current rough draft state it runs for more than 30 pages in MSWord, but a lot of that is repeating stuff for my own convenience. Paradoxically the most complete part (it's actually an appendix to the main guide) is not the Palazons, where all my experience lies, but a proposed build, and it's 12 slight variations, called the Acolyte of Hephaetrus (the only pure caster build possible for a zon, and yet she can still go melee when needs be).

By the way, if you're wondering what to do with this build after you have killed eveything between the Blood Moor and Baal (something few of the popular builds can truly claim), she makes a FINE rune hunter in both the Tower and Kurast (Gimmershreds take care of those cowardly Acolytes etc).

[Sokar Rostau]

Take care when you post, your post and my quote got mixed up and I almost missed your question. It's best to quote first then comment, you can then check in Preview or Edit if you skip the preview.

Interesting choice of gear. After I made my post this morning I went and looked at my guide and added a suggested low level Set set-up which is similar to yours:

Angelic Wings, Angelic Halo, Angelic Mantle, Hsaru's Iron Stay, Hsaru's Iron Heel, Hsaru's Iron Fist, Death Gloves, Death's Touch, Death's Hand

Partial Angelic
Ammy
20% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
+3 To Light Radius
+75 Life
+1 To All Skills
Ring
Replenish Life +6
+20 To Life
+ (12 Per Character Level) 144-1188 Attack Rating (Based On Character Level)
+50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items
Partial Set Bonus
+10 Dexterity
+50 Mana
Armour
Defense: 218
+40% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 3
+150 Defense
Fire Resist +50%

Partial Hsaru's
Boots
20% Faster Run/Walk
Fire Resist +25%
+ (10 Per Character Level) 10-990 Attack Rating (Based On Character Level)
Buckler
Defence: (6-251) - (8-253)
Damage Reduced by 2
+10 to Strength
+ (2.5 Per Character Level) 2-247 Defence (Based On Character Level)
Partial Set Bonus
Attacker Takes Damage of 5

Full Death's Set
War Sword
Damage: 10 to 25 (17.5 Avg)
+25% Enhanced Damage
4% Life Stolen Per Hit
Adds 25-75 Cold Damage, 3 sec. Duration (Normal)
Belt
Cannot be Frozen
+20 Defense
All Resistances +15 (2 Items)
Leather Gloves
Defence: 2-3 (varies)
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
Poison Resist 50%
30% Increased Attack Speed

TOTALS
30% IAS
75% (115%)Fire Resist
40% Cold Resist
40% Lightning Resist
75% (90%)Poison Resist
75% PLR
CBF
12% Life Steal
25-75 Cold Damage
20 - 25 Physical Damage
Attacker Takes Damage of 5
+10 Strength
+95 Life
154-2178 AR (+22 per lvl)
40% AR
20% FRW
Damage Reduced by 3
+50 Mana
+10 Dexterity
50% MF
Replenish Life +6
+1 All Skills
+3 Light Radius
20% Damage Taken to Mana

Not bad for level 12, if you can meet the requirements…Throw on a cold & lightning resist ring and you're good to go. This is by no means the be-all and end-all of low level equipment but a set-up like this should well and truly get you into the 20's (maybe a bit beyond but don't hold your breath) when Hellplague (poison damage does wonders for this build) and Rattlecage become available.

I don't consider speed to be an issue with this build because you will be spending a fair amount of time dodging as your level increases and this interrupts your attack. Remember that this is not a cookie cutter to begin with so if you sacrifice gear for IAS equipment you will end up weaker. Having said that the equipment choices tend to give you some IAS anyway.

These are the end-game ammy's at your disposal:

Atma's Scarab
Amulet
Required Level: 60
5% Chance To Cast Level 2 Amplify Damage On Striking
20% Bonus To Attack Rating
+40 Poison Damage over 4 seconds
Poison Resist +75%
+3 To Light Radius
Attacker Takes Damage of 5

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
+1 To All Skill Levels
20% Increased Attack Speed
+ (0.375 Per Character Level) 0-37% Deadly Strike (Based On Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 Lightning Damage
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage Of 15

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
+2 To All Skill Levels
All Resistances +20-30 (varies)
+5 To All Attributes

Seraph's Hymn
Amulet
Required Level: 65
+2 To All Skill Levels
+1-2 To Defensive Auras (Paladin Only) (varies)
+20-50% Damage To Demons (varies)
+150-250 To Attack Rating Against Demons (varies)
+20-50% Damage To Undead (varies)
+150-250 To Attack Rating Against Undead (varies)
+2 To Light Radius
(Ladder Only)

Metalgrid
Amulet
Required Level: 81
+400-450 To Attack Rating (varies)
Level 22 Iron Golem (11 Charges)
Level 12 Iron Maiden (20 Charges)
All Resistances +25-35 (varies)
+300-350 Defense (varies)
(Ladder Only)

Early in Season 2 I was lucky enough to find a +2 Passive, 23% All Resist Rare amulet with a few other mods and that kept me going until I could get a Seraph. You really do need to get hold of a Seraph eventually because the damage/AR to Demons/Undead is vital. I don't know how the NL prices range on your realm, but a +1 Aura Seraph with decent damage/AR shouldn't be too expensive mainly because Paladins want +2 Auras and tend to consider +1 as junk (actually a lot of Pala's seem to think all Seraph's are just junk, period, as they have no application in PvP). Shop around, you will find one eventually and even the worst one is better than none.

All of the amulet's listed above have their benefits, but I think that Atma's Scarab works out as best bang for your buck. You probably won't get a Metalgrid but it does give a good AR boost and an extra handy tank in the form of Iron Golem (it is more suited to other set-ups), on top of all those nice resists and defence neither of which you really need. Mara's will be almost useless to you because you won't need the resists, it will give you much needed +2 All Skills to get your Zeal/Berserk up to the minimum but I don't think that using a fairly expensive item for a single mod is worth your while unless you have one spare already. Highlord's is a balance with +1 All Skills and scaling DS, as noted before you end up with a bonus 20% IAS, and the other mods are very minor (you won't need Lightning Resist because you will have max from other sources).

Atma's Scarab has six mods and you will be making use of four, this is what I mean by value for money. 5% CTC Amplify Damage means that 5% of the time you will be doing 100% damage to everything. 20% AR is welcome because you need to pump AR (as opposed to Dex which will boost your Block Rate, this is best achieved via charms) to hit more often. Never say no to some poison damage (except maybe when it's on full Disciple Set...) and 40PD/4sec is nice. The only Resist that will be lacking (before charms) is Poison and this ammy gives 75% which is more than enough to keep you positive even when under Conviction Aura. All in all, if you can make up the +2 skills elsewhere (on armour for example) this is probably the best substitute for Seraph's in NL and maybe even on ladder too (the CTC Amp might be too inconsistent to forgo Seraph if it's available).

As for Kingslayer, it is not as versatile a weapon as Passion and is more suited to a Sorc with maxed masteries. For a Palazon you would be best to have a 2h Kingslayer because the Elemental Damage of Vengeance is based on the weapon damage. It requires a different combat strategy (attack the outside of a pack rather than attack when surrounded with Zeal) but it is so similar (in fact superior) to Gimmershred that you can make a very good switch weapon with it and become a Pure Palazon, you will of course lose the ranged benefits of Gimmer but you can get around that. If you were on ladder, and wealthy enough, I would say to use Infinity (Ber Mal Ber Ist) on your merc in conjunction with Kingslayer.

While I think of it, you can't use Gimmershreds until level 71(?) but Deathbits are a great lower level (40something) substitute with replenish and dual leech.

[Rookeeya]

:clap:

Just writing back to let you know that Boethia is now lvl 80. She does have a Passion scourge, a 2/2 Seraph and a CoH Balrog skin. (I decided I preferred it over the Duress for the 2+ to skills.) My merc is now using it and a Ta's mask and a Meatscrpaer until he can use Bonehew. I did have the Gimmers
and Medusas on mules. I did not have a spare 70% Kiras. (That belongs to Vile-Vixen, the Melee enchantress.) So? I umed her 53% Kiras.

Now, a few questions. What merc should I be using? Mine is Defiance merc, lvl 77. And what should my life be around? B*T*W, I love my valk! Thank you for all the excellent advice!

[Sokar Rostau]

Good to hear, she's great fun isn't she?

With the Seraph, you need to have the best you can get which probably will end up being cheaper than the one you have. You don't have any use for +2 Defensive Auras so if you can get your hands on a +1 Aura with high damage/AR to Demons/Undead you'll be sweet, you need all the AR/Damage you can get.

And that brings me to your merc. Using a Defience merc really doesn't help you very much. Dodge works almost like an extra layer of armour which is why you can survive in Hell with the crappiest armour. What is most important for you, now you have CoH, is damage so go back right now and start training that Mighty Merc up, remember that he gives you 200%ed with a level 17 Might (though I forget what level he gets this at). Another option for you, and probably a bit better if you can afford it is to get a Cold Rogue (her Cold attack is enhanced by Duress' cold damage) and arm her with Faith. This will give you lower enhanced damage (118-166%ed if AS stated range on Faith is correct) but it will also give you a considerable boost to AR and IAS.

Whichever of these two options you choose make use of your HoW as often as is practical (sometimes casting Decoy on top of it can save it's life and the recharge fee).

My CDD died so I havn't been on B.net for a while and can't check my life for you but as long as you can get over, say, 950 you'll be fine although more is always better. I tend to put more points into Strength rather than Vitality for more damage.

[Rookeeya]

:clap:

Yes, she is!

Well, as I am Non-ladder? The Seraph took 2 days to find in the channels, and the only one I saw other than this one? Was a 2/1. The traders wanted the same price for either. 232 AR to demons/49 % ed. AR to imdead is only 160 with 33% to ed. Not dreadful, but wish the second were higher.

*LOL* I'm not very good as guessing auras, I suppose I should play a pally and learn. My melee enchantress uses a defiance merc and he seems to really help her....so I guess I thought Defiance was good for melee. My bowazon does use a might merc. I suppose next week? I'll switch out and bring that might merc up in Nighmare.

No Faith bow in Non-ladder. I have a spare Goldstrike, Kuko, WWS , WF and BptD. So I will have to go with the mighty man if I want ed.

Again, thanks for all of your answers. Boethia really does work very well!




Good to hear, she's great fun isn't she?

With the Seraph, you need to have the best you can get which probably will end up being cheaper than the one you have. You don't have any use for +2 Defensive Auras so if you can get your hands on a +1 Aura with high damage/AR to Demons/Undead you'll be sweet, you need all the AR/Damage you can get.

And that brings me to your merc. Using a Defience merc really doesn't help you very much. Dodge works almost like an extra layer of armour which is why you can survive in Hell with the crappiest armour. What is most important for you, now you have CoH, is damage so go back right now and start training that Mighty Merc up, remember that he gives you 200%ed with a level 17 Might (though I forget what level he gets this at). Another option for you, and probably a bit better if you can afford it is to get a Cold Rogue (her Cold attack is enhanced by Duress' cold damage) and arm her with Faith. This will give you lower enhanced damage (118-166%ed if AS stated range on Faith is correct) but it will also give you a considerable boost to AR and IAS.

Whichever of these two options you choose make use of your HoW as often as is practical (sometimes casting Decoy on top of it can save it's life and the recharge fee).

My CDD died so I havn't been on B.net for a while and can't check my life for you but as long as you can get over, say, 950 you'll be fine although more is always better. I tend to put more points into Strength rather than Vitality for more damage.

[Sokar Rostau]

Sorry, I forgot you were non-ladder. That's a very nice Seraph you managed to get though. I only mentioned it because most people tend to charge more for a 2/2/20/150/20/150 than a 2/1/50/250/50/250, Paladins are a bit dumb like that.