Why Do People Prefer Vortex Exile

[yoshimaru]

Hello~ I just began making a pally and I have seen people look for vortex exile more than any other elite pally shield. Is this b/c of highest def possible or better smite dmg maybe? I'm currently use zakarum exile with +14xx def and wondering if I will do any better with similar def vortex exile. I would appreciate if you could advise me~

[HeavAngel]

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[garion]

i think there have been eth bugged vortexs at 1800+ def...and with holy shield that def can really add up (or in this case the ~400 def difference can be multiplied via holy shield)

and of course im sure there is the perfectionists after perf items..and driving up their value...

take the value of wartravs 50% mf vs wartravs 48% mf
really barely any noticble difference in performance...btu a huge difference in price...

I believe you can take that case and translate it to a eth bugged vortex exile (1800 def) vs eth bugged zak (1400 def)
really very little performance difference when fighting in PvM....but there is a big price difference...

perhaps this is one of the reasons people are after eth vortex exiles (i personally also run with a zak shield but mine is really low 900def...and that is only because it was all i could find :grin: oh well i like it so i don't really care...)...hope that helps

[MegaFlame]

Yeah I think it's just the defense. Otherwise vortex is not good at all. It has low block, lots of strength requirement and it has the highest lvl requirement. My smiter used to use a eth vortex exile which had like 1760 defense so he could have 48k defense overall. Sounds pretty amazing but there wasn't much difference anymore. I saw some smiters with hoz doing just as well as I did so I remade my smiter and used hoz (only 30k ish defense but believe me, you don't see any difference from 40k+) so this time he had much less dexterity, more life, and more damage.

[masterazn]

There's a few reasons, some more than others:

1. More defense than the other shields.

2. Highest maximum damage (stupid stupid stupid reason, most people believe in this)

3. It's the easiest to find.

4. They think it's the best because it's the "best" elite shield.



Reasons not to use a vortex exile:

1. Horrible minimum damage. Try smite vs smite with someone using a vortex exile. Use a up'd HoZ or a sacred rondache against them, chances are, with similar gear, you will win.

2. Low lock, there is better block on the other shields, even 1% means 1-2 more dex needed to get max block, which means quite a bit of life forgone.

3. Non-vortex exiles are usually cheaper because people think it's no good if it's not a vortex shield.

4. You want to be different.



-masterazn

[Aeonios]

I'd still stick with the zakarum if you're gonna smite though. Has the highest consistent dmg of any pally shield and still comparable def to any other eth exile. Exile is also preferable over upped hoz simply because of the high life tap and MUCH higher def it gives you.

Also, if you're smiting, use a grief ZERK. You'll need 55% ias total so keep that in mind, but at 3 range vs 2 of a phase, you ought to win vs any other smiter. The zerk also has lower reqs, and if you use a coa you prolly won't need to put any pts into dex at all. Of course, max block is always better than not, but then you can just use 2x ravens and a GA.

[Arutha]

I have always liked up'd hoz on smiters myself, I use the exiles on zealers where the def really matters. My zealer used to use a kurast exile 1.2k but once everyone started getting vortexs later in the season I found myself not doing so well anymore and decided to trade for one myself. And agianst other zealers/melee builds the extra 500 def on the vortex makes a huge difference in duels.

[Aeonios]

Kurast exiles are garbage. Royal shields have higher def and better block..

[Arutha]

I wouldn't call this garbage:
http://img498.imageshack.us/img498/3066/screenshot0402in.jpg

yes there are better shields out there which is why I traded for one of those 505 def 64ed 111ar vortexs and now i am trying to roll a 257+ ed exile in it (re-made 9x still no luck). But this shield worked well on my zealer.

[MegaFlame]

That's no garbage at all, in fact that's good. And I wouldn't make a eth vortex exile if I had that.

[kingdryland]

Royal exiles have the same block with kurast,a little higher defense on average and lower smite damage. I would go with kurast personally (I do have one nl with resists for pvm).
I'm looking for months for that 6x/11x eth glitched sacred targe or rondache though...

[yoshimaru]

man, nice input guys! thanx for the helpful info~ well, maybe i'll share the shield i'm planning on using when my pally gets to lvl 61

http://img240.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot0041cy.jpg

pretty low roll, so I might re-roll this.