1 pt in Vengeance for my 1pt Smiter

[aggielincoln]

I am having some difficulty with physical immunes in Hell. I was wondering if I should put 1 pt in Vengeance to add some elemental damage.

My equipment is:
eDeathEttin
CoH
7% & 8% life leech rings
undead crown
rising sun ammy
spirit shield
venom grip gloves
wilhem's belt
war travs

My inventory is filled with +res charms

I tried using a Demon Limb and it didn't seem to kill much faster than with my axe.

I followed kingdryland's nice guide to smiting and haven't yet gotten all the gear. So I have maxed HS, Fana, Zeal, and Sacrifice.

Since Vengeance is just 1 pt past Zeal, I was wondering if it was worth it.

Sorry didn't see any posts that helped me out.

Thanks.

[Zalcitabine]

Yea it will help - of course you wont kill physical immunes as fast as a conviction using/fully synergized avenger but you will do more elemental damage than with demonlimb.

Maybe you could use something that cast amp or decrepify too - they are many choices: lawbringer, lacerator or reaper's toll (on your merc) to name a few.

Or just plain Azurewrath - most physical immunes are undead anyways.

[kingdryland]

If you don't plan to use a cta on switch then don't put a point in vengeance,you can dedicate your switch weapon to do the job. You could use your switch to counter iron maiden as well. Some options:

Lawbringer. Make it in a war scepter. Decrep will remove most physical immunes. The war scepter is a good choice because you can hit max zeal speed with it (and 45% ias from gear iirc). Against iron maiden use it with normal attack. The total physical damage output would be low enough to survive if you get cursed.

Gimmershred. You zeal the pis and throw when oblivions are around. They are a bit time consuming but can do the job.

Passion. If you make it in a berserker axe , together with your fanaticism you will be lethal and totally unaffected by im. Just watch your mana ,you don't want to run out and perform a normal attack under the influence of im. The only problem is the 2-3 monsters that are dual immune (magic/physical).

[Lanceor]

I use Grief which is a pretty bad weapon for Vengeance so I never put a point in it. That being said, I have read it was almost useless unsynergised.

Zealing a secondary weapon against PI's, I've tried the following, in order of effectiveness:
Glimmershred
Lawbringer Phase Blade - only just edged out by the Glimmers - its Sanctuary aura actually helps a lot
Ethereal Demon Arch Balrog Spear


I have not tried the Rift runeword or the Azurewrath. I expect that Azurewrath would be at the top of the list given Lawbringer's performance.

I have also tried Act III mercs for elemental support but they turned out disappointing.

[AnimeCraze]

It wasn't too bad when I used heaven's light with it, especially if you have conviction.

[Lanceor]

On a related note - it is theoretically possible to get a non-magical war sceptre with +1 or more to Conviction. If 4 sockets could be added to such a beast, it would make an excellent Rift for a physical damage zealot.

Does anyone have any ideas how to get one? It seems that those under level 20 cannot shop such a high level aura, but those 20 or over will only get magic scepters when they shop.

[Delreich]

Does anyone have any ideas how to get one?

Kill lots of cows and pray to deity of your choice?

[Lanceor]

Kill lots of cows and pray to deity of your choice?

I think the deity of choice would be the BNet gods, praying that I won't get a CI the moment my Javazon twitches a muscle. ;)

[aggielincoln]

The lawbringer works pretty well. It still takes a while to kill ghosts or stygian furies when I am doing key runs, but they die after a dozen hits or so. When the ghosts stack it gets annoying but they never seem to hit me and with decrepify a little of my life leech seems to work.

Thanks for the pointers. :thumbsup:

Lanceor, I have been on the look out for that +1 Conviction war sceptre but no luck yet.

[kingdryland]

Try passion berserker axe,way faster PI killer.

[Bjam]

For D key running, Azurewrath on switch is my favorite, because I don't even have to kill PIs if I don't want to (though it will do so rather quickly). I haven't even bothered to socket mine, but that would make it even better. Another big plus with Azurewrath is that the dex/str/ias requirements are the same as a Grief PB (my main weapon).

On a slightly unrelated topic, you need lots more IAS in your primary setup. An eDeath Warspike would help, but Highlords Ammy, and LoH are a cheap fix that would really help.

[kingdryland]

Assuming that his fanaticism is lower than lvl 27 he needs an extra 85% ias from gear to hit max zeal. I would simply get highlord's/nosferatu, change the spirit shield to a 4sock custom shield (sacred targe with base resists, 2xeld for 74% chance to block,1 pdiamond for 19 all res,15 ias jewel) ,a 45ias custom made helm (3x15ias jewels) and dracul's. He can have max zeal,block,resists and life tap in one package.

[Bjam]

Which ever way you go about it, you need lots more IAS if you want to use your current weapon. Kingdryland presents a nice, cost effective approach to hitting the last breakpoint (while adding Lifetap). Lifetap makes a Zealot almost indestructable. Consider using a Moser's with 2xIAS jewels until you can find an elite pally shield with high resists.

In looking over your gear, I see another glaring oversight...no Ravenfrost and no other source of CBF!!! You absolutely must have CBF, and it should ideally come in the form of a Ravenfrost ring.