Which pally should I make?

[Hnoo B]

Hi, both my girlfriend and I are thinking of starting paladin characters. We've never played paladins before, and have only been playing the game for <6 months. I know there are a zillion guides out there on specific paladin builds, but I can't seem to find a good general comparative discussion. So....

Between a hammerdin, zealot, tesladin, and avenger (the four builds we're really thinking about) what are the advantages for single player play or multiplayer?

1. We wouldn't be playing the two pallys with each other. One of the paladins is specifically for a multiplayer game with a fire sorceress and a pnb necro, the other will likely be mostly single-player mf character.
2. Neither of us ever duels, so whatever advantages any particular build has for dueling is meaningless for both of us.
3. Neither of us is rich in D2. So please don't respond with "my pally has HOZs coming out his *** and so does his merc and so does his merc's mama, and I think the best equipment is..."
4. Please don't respond with "I've played eighteen different zealots and my perfect set up is....." I'm really looking for some advice from people who've played multiple different paladin setups and can comment on relative advantages and disadvantages of various builds.
5. I have noticed that most of the various baal-running bots tend to be hammerdins... are they really that good, or are they just particularly well-suited to standing in the middle of the Throne of Destruction and wiping out the monsters with their whirlwind of hammers?

Thanks. I'd appreciate any advice....

[LorveN]

This is the way I see it.

Hammerdins, oh, they are overpowered. With just decent gear, they can be cruel killingmachines roaming through most of the game without major problems at any time. These are your best bet for mf-ing with pallys, and also for just running around killing everything at maximum possible speed.
I do think they are boring though, just the same procedure all over and over.
Their big advantage is because there are virtually no immunes against hammers, and the hammers do huge damage.

Zealots, these fasthitters are much funnier to play. They can also be built in much more individual ways than hammerdins. The problem is that you need some decent weapon and lifesteal to survive good. Speed is important, and so is damage. If you play on bnet, weapons that will help you good enough can be bought for a few pgems, or even free for nice people, so it usually works anyway. Zealots however, are much more item dependant than hammerdins, but funnier. Tricky to mf with. I'd pick these over a hammerdin any day though ;)
Keep in mind that physical immunes are around too, and that you must take them out too. You also cant leech from them, so they need to go down before hurting you.

Tesladins, never played those really, but from what I've heard, they are funny. As with zealots, you need something to get leech from. This means you need damage and lifesteal, and now, more urgent than for the zealot you will need speed, since you wont be using fanaticism aura. I wont go deeper, since I frankly never played these. Look out for immunes!

Avengers, never played these either, but my bet is that they might work fine in party with firesorcs, since you will use conviction aura. That will help the sorc a lot.

Summary: Hammerdins sure is the most boring of these, at least I think so. I prefer different builds, or "odd" ones, that not every person have. Avenger would work fine with the party, but for running mf-runs, hammerdins are the safest bet.


Hope this has been to any help :thumbsup:

[aman]

a tesladin/holyfreeze as back up is a really strong build imo also physical damage isnot that important. Cresesnt moon phaseblade is the best weapon to use. So i suggest tryinga tesladin :clap:

[Hnoo B]

Hey LorveN, thanks for getting the point of my posting and giving me a good comparison. I have a lvl 90 lightning sorc that sadly I think I didn't build very well. She was supposed to be my mf character, but Hell is tough for her, and mfing in nightmare is essentially pointless as far as I can tell. I might go ahead and build a hammerdin for mfing then. I've seen the zealots and how they just hit really really fast, and you're right, it is funny to watch (and therefore probably more fun to play). My girlfriend can play the avenger with my fire sorc and my brother's necro.

One last question tho--is it true that if the hammers hit a wall they die? (therefore if you're going around in really narrow areas like the Maggot Lair you've got a really big problem???)

Thanks a bunch

[Arutha]

thats true about the walls so hammerdins are not the best when it comes to narrow places like you mentioned the maggot lair, but anywhere else they are pretty sick. Btw I vote for makeing multiple pallys (they are my fav char) I am getting ready to build what will be my 6th pally if you dont count the ones I deleted and re-made.

[Bigrob]

Doom avenger. :clap:

[Superhal]

random observations:

1. hammerdins: boring. also a pain in the butt in aim. sure, you have power, but they can just stand behind a pillar.

2. vengeance: on paper, seems good, but cap at 8 fpa is just too slow.

3. zeal: you'll need to hit 4fpa with a fast weapon. fast doesn't necessarily mean good damage.

4. auradin: a lot of problems with immunes. also, like almost every other pally build, it is very boring to use the same aura all day.

5. charge: another good skill on paper, but in practice, is very cumbersome and hard to use, and even though it says XX damage, it seems like very few monsters die in 1 hit.

(other builds/skills i haven't tried.)

overall, i think that the first pally should be a cleric, with most skill points in the helper auras like conviction, salvation, prayer, etc., 5 points in zeal, and 20 in the offensive aura of your choice (fanat is always popular, but go with blessed aim or something to be different.) the 2nd one should be an auradin or (ugh) blessed hammer pally.

[buttaz]

u actually get used to hammer aim quick..... but the narrow places are terrible to maneuver

[PhoenixFury]

for plain pvm I really enjoy using my avenger... They're a little slow to start (unless twinked) and once you get to hell you're probably going to need at least a little gear (nothing too expensive)... but they are the type of character who can go through and kill everything, doesn't matter what sort of immune. So it really comes down to a matter of personal preference.

Kyle