A Couple of Palazon Questions

[Lord_Vega]

As a continuation to my conversation with Thirty-Thirty and a few other friends while MP'ing together, I have a few questions that I would love to get some answers and input on, concerning the palazon, aka the battlemaid, the melee zon.

First of all, this is the guide that I am relying upon when building and equipping her. If you need some more information, check this out.

As for the questions:

1. The guy keeps mentioning throughout the guide, that without +skills, the +1 zeal and +1 berserk are pretty much useless. Thing is that with the equipment I currently have, I don't see how could I accumulate enough +skills to have a level 5 zeal and berserk. A highlord's would give me +1, and a shako +2, though I want to use kira's guardian as my end-game helm as suggested. i don't have any bk bands for +skills on rings, so I really am open up for suggestions.

2. Which merc would you really choose? Might seems like the obvious choice, but then again, BA seems to be quite useful too, depending on the AR I will have at that level (59 for passion, which gives a whopping 80% bonus to AR).

Any other input from players who've tried playing her/ considered this build would be greatly appreciated.

Btw, I had a choice between making Passion in a Scourge or a Cryptic Sword, and I went with the sword eventually. Do you think I made the right choice?

Passion
Cryptic Sword
'DolOrtEldLem'
One-Hand Damage: 14 to 220
Durability: 44 of 44
Required Dexterity: 109
Required Strength: 99
Required Level: 61
Sword Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xa60ea716
+187% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-50 lightning damage
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
25% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to Berserk
+1 to Zeal
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Hit Blinds Target +10
80% Bonus to Attack Rating
75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Level 3 Heart of Wolverine (12/12 Charges)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Thanks for any help you can throw my way

[Toppo]

1. Well, to get the most of Zeal it should be at least level 4 (5 hits). Does the guide mention the extremely slow blocking speed with a swinging weapon (sword)? I'd go two-handed

2. Might

It's a shame fanged knife can't get 4 sockets... :(

[Cattleya]

I'm going to agree with the 2-handed thing. The only time an Amazon should have a shield is if the other hand has javlins or a dagger. The blocking rate otherwise is just too slow.

A two handed weapon will also give you a lot more damage, making Zeal and 'Zerk more useful with fewer points.

[Cattleya]

I'm going to agree with the 2-handed thing. The only time an Amazon should have a shield is if the other hand has javlins or a dagger. The blocking rate otherwise is just too slow.

A two handed weapon will also give you a lot more damage, making Zeal and 'Zerk more useful with fewer points.

Edit: My enchantress did fine with a 4-swing Zeal, but I would try to a least get to there.

Edit: Sorry for the double post, I hit reply instead of edit. :rolleyes: