Hit Slows Target, Holy Freeze & 1 pt smiter

[FrostBurn]

Hi. I thought I'd post this here as well for some paladin advice.

Can someone enlighten me on the mod 'Hit Slows Target'? There seems to be little information out there on it.

I will be starting up a 1pt smiter tonight, and I intend to use Astreon's Iron Ward, which has Hit Slows Target (HST) by 25%. I am deciding between Nosferatu's Belt for the 10% IAS and HST by 10%, or Verdungo's Hearty Cord, which has 35 vitality and 15% PDR. I would prefer to go with Verdungo's and socket the helm with a 15%IAS jewel to reach the fastest breakpoints for zeal and smite, with the other 20% coming from Highlord's Wrath.

However, I may still go for Nos's belt, if I can utilise the HST by 10% on it. I will be using a Holy Freeze merc, which will have above 50% slow target when his HF aura reaches a high enough level.

So my questions are as follows:
1. Is there a cap on HST when PvM, and if yes, what is the cap?
2. Does HST and the slow from HF work independently, or do they stack?
3. If they do stack, is there a cap to it, and if yes, what is the combined cap?

Also, if I do go with Verdungo's, my only source of life leech will be from my Dracul's, which has 8% life leech. Is this enough to stay alive while I wait for Life Tap to kick in? I will also be using Guardian Angel and hoping to get my resist to 90 all. If I do, I need not worry too much about elemental damage.

With physical damage, the theory in my head is that my 1pt smiter will have lots of life to start with, and with 15% PDR, a 75% Chance to Block and a fast block rate, I should not be taking too many physical hits or damage.

Or can he survive without Verdungo's, and using Nos's instead, have more life leech to stay alive?

Thank you.

[kingdryland]

Are you talking pvm,vs ubers or pvp? You are touching lots of issues that's why I'd like to know your orientation.

[Tings]

part of the post sounds like this is about uber trist, part of the post suggests that it's not.

only in uber trist would you be at risk of death without lifetap, but then again, taking a merc into uber trist is rather suicidal.

[FrostBurn]

Are you talking pvm,vs ubers or pvp? You are touching lots of issues that's why I'd like to know your orientation.

Sorry, I did not make myself clear. I will be playing this pally for fun and will be strictly PvM. I will not be venturing into uber Trist at all, even though I know he can.

Don't worry too much about the Hit Slows Target (HST) question, as the helpful Single Player forumites have answered most of it, as detailed here:
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=434419

The only thing left with the HST question is this: if my Holy Freeze merc's aura slows by about 50%, and my pally HST by 25% from his Astreon's, will adding another HST by 10% from Nosferatu's belt make a noticeable difference in monsters' attack speeds?

The other question revolves around using Nosferatu's belt or Verdungo's belt.

Verdungo's
35 vitality
15% PDR
I can socket a 15% IAS jewel in my helm and wear Highlord's for max zeal/smite speeds. But, since my pally will have max block, a very fast block rate and 40% FHR, I wonder if the PDR will be put to good use. Then again, any amount of PDR is always nice for a melee char, for any attacks that do breakthough and hit the char. Also, my only source of life leech is 8% from Dracul's, and I wonder if he will leech enough without having to drink health pots like crazy.

Nosferatu's
15 strength
10% IAS
HST by 10%
7% life leech
With a Highlord's, my pally will reach his fastest zeal/smite rates. It frees up a socket in his helm, which will be handy for an Um rune. More life leech too. Stat points wise, I lose 20 compared to using Verdungo's, and lose a lot of life too. And I do not know if the 10% HST will make a difference, since my pally will already have a SloMo of 75% (possibly more from using a RavenFrost).

And I will be using Guardian Angel, and hopefully will be getting my resists maxed via charms and Um runes in the armour and HoZ. I'm hoping I won't need too many AR charms, since this build looks solid with AR bonuses coming from skills.

[kingdryland]

Your main source of leech will be life tap. With dracul's/zeal ,not only you won't be drinking health pots like crazy,you will practically stop using them. (only vs unleechable monsters they will be handy). Even for pvm, I always use 8%-15% damage reduction to my zealots,it is handy. Since you like slowing targets,consider getting an exile,it has the freeze target mod,normal monsters that swarm you will be frozen. If you use a guardian angel the lower block on exile is not an issue and dracul's are no longer needed either,you can go with 20 ias gloves.

I don't know whether your slow (astreon's + dungo) will add up to the one from holy freeze merc. I suspect yes, a frozen enemy is frozen for all attackers. After all,when I'm running baal with my necro summoner I use clay golem,hf and decrepify and baal seems to almost stand still.

[FrostBurn]

Exile is a nice runeword, but I don't think my pally can live without the 50 resist all from HoZ. Thanks for the tip, but I'll be sticking with HoZ. Even with HoZ, I will be relying on quite few resist all charms to bring my resist up to 90% with Guardian Angel.

I am gearing towards Verdungo's, as I've always been. From what you say, it seems like the 15% PDR will come in handy when PvM. And thinking about, it, the HST by 10% on Nosferatu's can't really be all that more significant, especially when compared to 15% PDR from Verdungo's. Apart from the 10% IAS in Nosferatu's, there isn't really much more in it that Verdungo's can't beat. I will have to socket my helm with a 15% IAS jewel to reach the last breakpoints though.

Just to clarify, there isn't a cap on successful blocking, is there? I don't think there is, but confirmation would be nice. Reason is that I'll be using HoZ, Guardian Angel and a slvl 29 Holy Shield. That equates to a total chance to block of 82% + 20% + 37%, respectively, = 139%. Using the blocking formula on a level 88 paladin:
CtB = shield block x (dexterity - 15) / (character level x 2)
75 = 139 x (dex - 15) / (88 x 2)
75 = (139dex - 2085) / 176
13200 = 139dex - 2085
139dex = 15285
dex = 109.96
I'm assuming that there isn't a cap. If there is, please let me know as I would then need to re-evaluate my gear.

Thanks.

[kingdryland]

Increased chance to block translates in lower dexterity to achieve max block. So don't worry.

[Cdnexpat]

HST and HF stack. You may wish to add Blackthorn's Face to your gear as it also has HST. Draculs and a defiance merc will make your Pally a force to be reconded with. If you are on USwest ladder i have a pally made along these lines.

[FrostBurn]

Well, my merc will be a HF merc, as my main aura will be fanaticism. Defiance merc would be nice, but I prefer slowed enemies as opposed to fast ones who hit a little less. My helm is set at Guillaume's Face, so no Blackhorn's for me. Besides, I really can't stand the look, and I would only put up with that horrid mask on a sorc wearing full Tal's set.

I'm hoping that Astreon's HST by 25% and my merc's HF 50% enemies slowed will be enough to slow monsters' attack speeds by a vast significance (although I know that they can still be slowed by another 10% or so... maybe RavenFrost and a few cold charms could make up for it).