Best Weapon for a 2 handed Zealot?

[pacifickarma]

My wife loves all things related to Zeal.. She's made a Frost Zealot, Shock Zealot, Fanaticism Zealot, Conviction Zealot, etc... Now she wants to make a 2 handed Zealot. I'm thinking a nice eBOTD Colossus Blade might be best, but I wanted to take some opinions here. Would any of the poleaxe or spear weapons be better for speed & range?

[Nimbostratus]

Depends on if she wants to use fanaticism or another aura, and what other gear will be used. Also, using spears gives the paladin a slower hit recovery.

On another note, having charge as secondary attack could make the build more fun (it did for me =D).

[pacifickarma]

Well, she'll be maxing Zeal, Sacrifice, Fanaticism, and Blessed Aim. She thinks that swords look cooler than most other weapons, but will go with another type of weapon if it is faster or hits harder.

[Nimbostratus]

The points in blessed aim aren't really needed for a zealot. Especially since BOTD has -25% enemy defense, which will really help with any hitting problems (note that the character screen doesn't take this into account when calculating chance to hit).

Anyway, here's a comparison of the weapons, assuming ethereal BOTD with max fanaticism. FPA = frames per attack; lower FPA = faster attacks. Also, note that I forgot to add in any ED from a superior base.

Great Poleaxe:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 310-855 (582.5 avg)
Damage (best ED): 345-950 (647.5 avg)
Requirements: 134 str, 70 dex

Giant Thresher:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 270-769 (519.5 avg)
Damage (best ED): 300-855 (577.5 avg)
Requirements: 141 str, 102 dex

Ogre Maul:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 517-715 (616 avg)
Damage (best ED): 575-795 (685 avg)
Requirements: 170 str

Thunder Maul:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 220-1215 (717.5 avg)
Damage (best ED): 245-1350 (797.5 avg)
Requirements: 193 str

Champion Axe:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 396-634 (515 avg)
Damage (best ED): 440-705 (572.5 avg)
Requirements: 124 str, 38 dex

Glorious Axe:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 405-837 (621 avg)
Damage (best ED): 450-930 (690 avg)
Requirements: 122 str, 34 dex

Colossus Blade:
Speed: 5 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 391-774 (582.5 avg)
Damage (best ED): 435-860 (647.5 avg)
Requirements: 142 str, 78 dex


=====The following weapons have slower FHR=====

Ghost Spear:
Speed: 5 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 121-1044 (582.5 avg)
Damage (best ED): 135-1160 (647.5 avg)
Requirements: 88 str, 121 dex

War Pike:
Speed: 6 FPA with no additional gear. 15 more IAS will max it out for 5 FPA.
Damage (worst ED): 220-1201 (710.5 avg)
Damage (best ED): 245-1335 (790 avg)
Requirements: 122 str, 75 dex

Archon Staff:
Speed: 6 FPA (max) with no additional gear.
Damage (worst ED): 558-666 (612 avg)
Damage (best ED): 620-740 (680 avg)
Requirements: 18 str



=====RANKINGS (best to worst)=====

-Damage: Best ED average damage. Those that tie will be ranked according to consistency.
1. Thunder Maul: 797.5
2. War Pike: 790
3. Glorious Axe: 690
4. Ogre Maul: 685
5. Archon Staff: 680
6. Colossus Blade: 435-860 (647.5 avg)
7. Great Poleaxe: 345-950 (647.5 avg)
8. Ghost Spear: 135-1160 (647.5 avg)
9. Giant Thresher: 577.5
10. Champion Axe: 572.5

-Speed:
1. Colossus Blade and Ghost Spear: 5 FPA
2. War Pike 6 FPA, 5 FPA with 15 more IAS
3. Everything else.

-Requirements: The numbers after each note how many stat points above the base values are needed. Note that these values do not count the stat bonuses given by BOTD, since it's a bad idea to have an item equipped by its own bonuses (could lose the item if you die). For the items that need a similar stat investment, I think it'd be a good idea to go with the one that needs more strength, since dexterity doesn't help you equip anything else.
1. Archon Staff. You START with more than it needs
2. Glorious Axe: 97 str + 14 dex = 111
3. Champion Axe: 99 str + 18 dex = 117
4. Ogre Maul: 145 str
5. War Pike: 97 str + 55 dex = 152
6. Great Poleaxe: 109 str + 50 dex = 159
7. Ghost Spear: 63 str + 101 dex = 164
8. Thunder Maul: 168 str
9. Colossus Blade: 117 str + 58 dex = 175
10. Giant Thresher: 116 str + 82 dex = 198

[razen]

NOOOO

go for obedience. it's so cheap and powerful that your wife will love it!

(im campaigning for obedience now)

also, try out destruction. its extremely expensive, but like every other hit you get cool graphical effect of tornado or volcano. (they are high level too), and also... when you die, 100% you see cool meteor that people will think you are using facet

it's awesome =)

(im not joking. i have one)

[HCKull]

What about a Grief/Lawbringer in Colossus Blade ?

Grief has lots of IAS and does more damage than any other runeword.

Lawbriner is inexpensive and has a high ctc decrp curse along with a high level of sanctuary aura. Most phy immunes are undead and sanctuary breaks there immunity.

[Clervis]

Grief is bad for two handed weapons. The damage is considerably less than BOTD because it isn't based on the huge ethereal base weapon damage.

Obedience might be cheap, but if you're higher end, then you'll definitely want to upgrade to an ethereal weapon.

[pacifickarma]

Obedience & Lawbringer sound great... But... We play exclusively on W/NL, so Ladder runewords are a bit hard to come by. I may have to talk her into the War Pike BOTD. Thanks for all of the suggestions!

[Summerfun]

I went with a BoTD WP and Eth Reappers toll.
BoTD WP has insane dmg and reaches 5FPA!
Reappers only reach 6FPA but has 33% chance to cast decripify.

[vknez]

mmm ribcracker !

[[exile]]

mmm ribcracker !

Damn, you beat me to this suggestion. Ethereal upgraded, of course.

[pacifickarma]

Yeah, I'd love to give her an eth, upgraded Ribcracker, but the whole NL thing...