Zealot Build... Need help

[tableclown]

Whats a good PvM zealot build.... I want to be able to solo everything...

Just max zeal, synergies and fana aura? What about smite and/or vengeance for physical immunes? Someone post a build please :)

[redtan]

Smite won't help with PI monsters. 1 point in vengeance is a good idea.

Have you looked in the stickies, I'm sure there is a zealot guide. Or how about the 1point uber guide, that's exactly what ur looking for.

[maiku]

I don't think there's really a zealot build who can solo everything, but with the proper planning, items, and patience, you can solo most things.

For traditional zealot build (max zeal, sacrifice, and fanaticism), you will be superb at dealing with anything that can take physical damage but may have hardship with physical immunes or certain areas (like the Chaos Sanctuary, any meleer's nightmare, because of iron maiden). Checkout the stickied link that mentions weapons useful for getting around PIs.

Other zealot variants like holy fire, holy freeze, or holy shock zealots offer interesting alternatives, but they have their drawbacks, greater or lesser, depending on how you build them. I have a level 77 holy shock zealot (tesladin) who can do all right in hell difficulty with the right items. He would do better if I could get the right items to make the most of his particular damage and build (like a Crescent Moon phase blade or cryptic sword). You can slant these builds more or less away from physical and elemental damages (like focusing more or less on zeal and sacrifice, which boost physical damage, or more on elemental damage synergies, etc.). But you really need the right items so you can deal with hell.

An interesting zealot variant which I'm thinking about is an elemental zealot, going with conviction as a main aura and zeal. You can use a weapon like Doom, Voice of Reason, etc. for its elemental damage, since almost nothing will be immune to your level 25 Conviction. Then get a Tiamat's revenge or some of the high-end rune words like Phoenix, Dragon, or Dream for extra auras and synergies. I have a Tiamat's already and getting a lem for a Voice of Reason definitely isn't as hard as getting a high rune. And I have a lot of lightning damage charms that I could stick on such a character for max effect.

In general for zealot items, look for things with open wounds, crushing blow, deadly strike, or extra IAS so you can hit a 4-5 fps zeal. Extra IAS items are more important if you are not using fanaticism as your main aura.

[ShazamLies]

Zealots build right can solo everything...

If you want to go for PVM I would suggest:

20 Zeal
20 Sacrifice
20 Fanaticism
20 Resist Lightning
Maybe rest into conviction or salvation or holyshield depending on your build.

Resist lightning is there for its passive max bonus to ur res, +10 max light res is extremely helpful pvm, where lightning is usually the most damaging attack.

Gear:
Highlord's
Fortitude or CoH
String or Tgod's
Ravenfrost
Good rare leech ring
Goreriders
LoH
Guilliame's is a good straight power helmet, or Andy's visage, or CoA/nice rare paladin circlet with visionary mod etc.

Weapon Shield:
Grief + Exile - Great survival options here, tap + defense + max res + damage

Grief + Phoenix - Phoenix is actually decently useful on zealots, the uninterruptable ability of zeal overrides the cast delay of firestorm, and its a huge damage boost, with good grief/phoenix and charms you can increase your damage by at least 1600, potentially over 2k.. Factor in DS and you got potentially over 3k average damage increase..

Grief + Dream - If you use a dream helm, this can be a great damage boost esp. since you synergized with resist lightning. Usually solves PI problems, but PI/LI will still give you trouble.

Certain other weapons like EDeath can compete with Grief in terms of killing power but you need to change your gear setup and such to use it effectively.

Switch:
Eth Lacerator + Dream - Good for killing the casters of the dreaded IM

Gavel of Pain - Amp damage charges, if there are wands with amp damage than those would be better too

Gimmershred + Dream - If you maxed conviction as well this might be better than lacerators

Cta + Spirit - If you feel like you have no problems with your kill speed, then just use this standard life/mana boost

For merc's try and find either a good reaper's toll for the Decrept chance, or doom, or infinity merc, or pride, the might aura is almost always the best choice if you can attain topnotch gear.

[redtan]

Definitely a reaper's toll for ur merc. PIs are by far the biggest pain in the rear for zealots, and Decreptify does wonders on those guys. Not only that, but it also reduces regular monsters' physical resistances from 50% to 0%, effectively adding 50% more damage to both you and ur merc.

[ruthlessAnarchy]

This is the build for you

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=425449

Unlike the post that says max lighting resist, i disagree, your items will handle that... I would max zeal, fant, sacrifice like the guide says as well as holy shield. Your 1 pt smite is taken care of in pre-requs for holy shield, then Max defiance for +15% defense synergy to holy shield, this is what I'm doing with junk gear you will have nice defense and killing power, with elite gear, can kill anything in the game (except phys immune) and phys immune can be killed in a solo game via my torch firestorm alone. Good gear will get you 30k+ defense, Ubers have a 21% chance to hit me and 75% to block them.