Zealot Guide

[Bartender]

Okay.. this is my first guide and please do not insult it, just comment nicely.

The stats for a zealot should go like this:
140 ish STR
120 ish DEX
15 meaning +0 to NRG
All the rest of your stats pump into VIT


Skills should go like this:
20 zeal
20 sacrifice
20 holy shield
20 fanat
20 defiance

For equipment you should use:
Helm = COA 2 Slot ber and um it
Weapon = EBOTDZ
Armor = Stone with 1400+ def, or Gloom 1400+ def
Shield = Exile or HOZ with UM and uped
Gloves = I like Dracul's Grasp for the Life Tap or Bloodfist
Belt = Verdungo's Or SOE for life leach
Boots = Gore Riders, these help a lot..
Jewlery = Angelic Set's Ammy and Ring, and a bul kathos ring


Please comment.

[Shift]

Its ok, exept for the armor. You should have Levi, Valor, or Fort. And the dex should be until you have 75% CTB with holy shield.

[GyuForce]

str is way to high other than that i guess its alright.

[ArcaneSupremacy]

Okay.. this is my first guide and please do not insult it, just comment nicely.

The stats for a zealot should go like this:
140 ish STR
120 ish DEX
15 meaning +0 to NRG
All the rest of your stats pump into VIT


Skills should go like this:
20 zeal
20 sacrifice
20 holy shield
20 fanat
20 defiance

For equipment you should use:
Helm = COA 2 Slot ber and um it
Weapon = EBOTDZ
Armor = Stone with 1400+ def, or Gloom 1400+ def
Shield = Exile or HOZ with UM and uped
Gloves = I like Dracul's Grasp for the Life Tap or Bloodfist
Belt = Verdungo's Or SOE for life leach
Boots = Gore Riders, these help a lot..
Jewlery = Angelic Set's Ammy and Ring, and a bul kathos ring


Please comment.

I'm sorry to say, but that's nothing close to a guide. There are no explanations of equipment, stat and skill allocations. On top of that, some of your equipment choices are rather...suboptimal, to say the least.

I'm not trying to insult your...character outline, and I actually think it's quite nice of you to offer zealot help in your first few posts, but I won't be the least bit impressed until someone tops this masterpiece: http://www.rpgforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5385

[Obfuscate]

Okay.. this is my first guide and please do not insult it, just comment nicely.

The stats for a zealot should go like this:
140 ish STR
120 ish DEX
15 meaning +0 to NRG
All the rest of your stats pump into VIT


Skills should go like this:
20 zeal
20 sacrifice
20 holy shield
20 fanat
20 defiance

For equipment you should use:
Helm = COA 2 Slot ber and um it
Weapon = EBOTDZ
Armor = Stone with 1400+ def, or Gloom 1400+ def
Shield = Exile or HOZ with UM and uped
Gloves = I like Dracul's Grasp for the Life Tap or Bloodfist
Belt = Verdungo's Or SOE for life leach
Boots = Gore Riders, these help a lot..
Jewlery = Angelic Set's Ammy and Ring, and a bul kathos ring


Please comment.

Armor is ALWAYS a archon fort on a zealot plain and simple. Exile is probably the LARGEST waste of runes in game.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER put an Exile on your zealot. End of discussion. Unless your going for the uber turtle type or something then sure...why not. HOZ, SS or Alama are much better choices.

For gloves Drac's are okay but if your going 150 in strength and you use a HOZ, EBOTDZ just go ahead and use Rend's. 60%ed may seem small but it helps more than life tap. Life tap will NOT save you from IM and thats the only time your going to wish you could drain mass amounts of life anyways so why bother?

15dr dungo's is about the only good way to go in the realm of belts but String is okay too if you feel safe with it.

Gores or Treks are a good choice. I like treks personally for the vit and str but Gores work okay too. That and a high psn resist is always good with Uber Meph.

For rings/ammy Mara, bk or soj, and ravens I find work well. BK is preferable over SOJ of course but either will work. Ravens is good for the ar, dex and can not be frozen and since you seem to be looking into PVM your going to want can not be frozen. Mara's is good for the +skills. I mean can you ever have to high a fanta/zeal? NO! The res and the +attributes is good too.

If you take the above suggestions and put them to use then go ahead and just Um your hoz and that way you should be able to double ber the COA for max DR and max res in hell. Well actually you'll have 80 light res in hell but never the less everything will max.

Here are some of my zealots stats dressed and naked. Currently I dont have a COA for one reason or another and am using a rare 2soc helm I traded for so I had to put more into str than normal since its str req was 196 instead of 175. But here's the screenies:

Naked Character:
http://www.solisearch.net/ims/pic.php?u=...N&i=238005

Dressed Character:
http://www.solisearch.net/ims/pic.php?u=...N&i=238004

Oh ya and accidently put 2 into energy instead of vit once sooo...ya i have 17 instead of base 15 like I should naked.

[ArcaneSupremacy]

Gear choices depend entirely on whether you are PvM or PvP. Always make that clear first.

Armor is ALWAYS a archon fort on a zealot plain and simple.

Always archon Fort? There are plenty of great zealot armors besides Fort. Just off the top of my head:
- eth Valor
- eth GBane
- eth upgraded Shaft
- Stone
- eth Prudence

You people need to be a lot more creative. There are hundreds of effective zealot setups out there.

[L4E]

hey its great to see that on ur second post ur already trying to be of a help, unlike most people, so heres some advice.

when selecting gear, always select the most godly, pricefull gear. there is no point in making a perfect character if his gear is only average

@arcane::
Evalor = 2kdef and life = no point
Ebane = possibly most stupid armor i could ever think of
Eshaft uped?? we already have Perf dr if ss + verdungos
Stone = ok but not better than fort

Fort = 300% ED, 1500++ Def, usually 80-1xx life, res all! 5 to max light res, what more could u want?
(300ed = 1.5k -2.xk dmg more, depending on weap dmg)

ss+15dr dungos = 50dr = max
so no point in a COA, unless u want res. i would suggest guillaums 40-15, or 80/30 visionary with life (preferably whale tiara)

[Obfuscate]

Gear choices depend entirely on whether you are PvM or PvP. Always make that clear first.


Always archon Fort? There are plenty of great zealot armors besides Fort. Just off the top of my head:
- eth Valor
- eth GBane
- eth upgraded Shaft
- Stone
- eth Prudence

You people need to be a lot more creative. There are hundreds of effective zealot setups out there.

Stone and Valor are the only two on that list I would even consider with Stone beating Valor. On a side note the other armor's you listed are used in other Zealot type builds but not the "standard" zealot that he is trying to build.

@Link: SS is a good shield but it usually requires more into str which mean less life which means die faster which is bad. But since SS is usually far cheaper than a decent HOZ its probably the second best choice.

Also if you want to see some more non-standard paladin builds try www.rpgforum.com and use their paladin section. There are some really awesome hybrid builds and some interesting pvp builds there as well. A lot of the builds on this site seem fairly standard when compared to the ones there.

[ArcaneSupremacy]

"Evalor = 2kdef and life = no point"
No point? How much defense and life do YOU have then?

"Ebane = possibly most stupid armor i could ever think of"
CBF, poison length reduction, FHR, and high defense is stupid?

"Eshaft uped?? we already have Perf dr if ss + verdungos"
Maybe some people don't use SS?

"Stone = ok but not better than fort"
You should state what your definition of "better" is.

"Fort = 300% ED, 1500++ Def, usually 80-1xx life, res all! 5 to max light res, what more could u want? " How about some defense or FHR?

Are we still talking about zealots here?

SS is a good shield but it usually requires more into str which mean less life which means die faster which is bad. But since SS is usually far cheaper than a decent HOZ its probably the second best choice.

I have 110 base strength and there's no problem wearing SS.

[L4E]

we should all team up and make a giant zealer guide

[Obfuscate]

"Evalor = 2kdef and life = no point"
No point? How much defense and life do YOU have then?

"Ebane = possibly most stupid armor i could ever think of"
CBF, poison length reduction, FHR, and high defense is stupid?

"Eshaft uped?? we already have Perf dr if ss + verdungos"
Maybe some people don't use SS?

"Stone = ok but not better than fort"
You should state what your definition of "better" is.

"Fort = 300% ED, 1500++ Def, usually 80-1xx life, res all! 5 to max light res, what more could u want? " How about some defense or FHR?

Are we still talking about zealots here?


I have 110 base strength and there's no problem wearing SS.

Those who dont use SS should use HoZ or Alma. Those who dont use SS, HoZ or Alma are building something that is NOT a zealot. On the point of Exile in case its brought up most any decently built PvP zealot can own an Exile zealot easy. In PvM cases there is no reason at all to have 40k def. The only reason you should ever die PvM is because Uber Meph's araua owns, you get IM'd by a Oblivion Knight or you face one of those godly phys immune unique's, which in the case of a phys immune I should hope you have a Azurewrath sitting around anyways or some sort of high elemental damage weapon...maybe a Famine I think is the one with the 4 elemental damage mods. But reguardless there is never a good reason to use an Exile in a zealot. (Note: PvM smiters need to learn to invest in wands with Life Tap charges. That way no waiting for LT to kick in or hoping that it will from an Exile.)

On the note of FHR the last two break points for a zealot are 86 and 126 which is 5 and 4 or 4 and 3, I cant rightly remember. Most zealots hit the 86 if you use 12fhr combats/offensive's. But here is how a "our" builds fhr stacks up:

COA=30fhr
Dungo's=10fhr
Treks=20fhr
3x 12%fhr combats/offensive's=36 (I aim for the offensive since pcombats with fhr are obscene in price)

Total=86fhr

And you sacrafice nothing. If you really want to just have that last bp then be my guest to use all fhr skill gc's. You wont be offending me thats for sure. Or using up my currency to do it either.

On another note 100str should be max base str on a zealot with 150 being overkill. I have 90 and am getting along just fine as you can see from my screenies.

Moving forward there is no need for HUGE amounts of defense in PvM there are three times when a PvM zealot should die or have the largest likelyhood of dieing:

1.) Oblivion Knight casts IM
2.) Mephs auara owns you
3.) Godly unqiue phys immune

Other than that everything should fall at your feet in X number of swings. The base vision of a zealot anyone should have is someone who hits hard and fast. And Someone who recovers from hits quickly and retaliates. Your vision should NOT include 50k defense. If you have all perfect equipment and max defiance and hs you will probably hit the 30k mark. With mid range equipment you'll probably hit the 25k+ mark. With crap you'll probably break 20k with 25k being on the higher end. This is all without a CTA or utility WC barb modifiying you. This is also not taking into account the possibility of frozen armor casting from fort which ups defense again.

Trust me when I tell you there is no reason to obsses over break points in PvM like you have to in PvP. The mobs you face have limits and your only goal is edge past their abilities just enough that you always come out on top. Your two main concerns in PvM are resists and DR. If you have those maxed then you are well on your way. For zealots FHR is third since your a melee character but 126 is not a necessity to survival like p res and dr are.

BTW on my incomplete zealot I have 25k def and 1.82k life dressed. And thats with HS and no other mods. With CTA or a utility barb I'd probably have a hell of a lot more but I do just dandy with that. Note no GC's either.

[ArcaneSupremacy]

Note: PvM smiters need to learn to invest in wands with Life Tap charges. That way no waiting for LT to kick in or hoping that it will from an Exile.

Most people find it inconvenient to switch back and forth from Life Tap wand and main weapon/shield. The charges also tend to be very low level and have very short durations. On top of that, repairing the charges usually cost quite a bit of gold.

3x 12%fhr combats/offensive's=36 (I aim for the offensive since pcombats with fhr are obscene in price)

Skill charms on a zealot? Now you're just confusing me.

On another note 100str should be max base str on a zealot with 150 being overkill. I have 90 and am getting along just fine as you can see from my screenies.

Some of the top PvP zealots on West have about 140 base strength for versatility. They occasionally switch to their several alternate setups that they keep in stash.

BTW on my incomplete zealot I have 25k def and 1.82k life dressed. And thats with HS and no other mods. With CTA or a utility barb I'd probably have a hell of a lot more but I do just dandy with that. Note no GC's either.

25k defense and 1.8k life is slightly above the average the average PvP zealot. Your current competition consists of zealots with 20k+ AR, 30k+ defense, and 2k+ life.

[Obfuscate]

BTW I dont PvP. Waste of time. I have no need of bragging rights over a game. Plus again what works or is necessary in PvP usually is not necessary in PvM. I know every zealot guide from here to hell tells you "Now stock your inventory with as many 3/20/20's as you can get your paws on cause that 800+ life and 800+ ar and 120 max damage will make you jesus christ!". And other such crap but as far as i'm concerned you might as well **** up a rope. I'd rather toss runes at skill charms than that crap. 800 ar will make a minimal difference.800 life is nice but you'd probably have spent less on a good CTA to get the same amount and waste less inv space on it. 120 damage is crap. When mobs have 5k+ life and your doing 3k-8k damage its still gona take 1-2 swings to kill the sucker with or without 120 more max damage. What else are you gona stack you inv full of all res charms? Great but since Uber Meph is the only guy worth stacking res's that high against you've once again wasted currency unless you plan to ONLY fight Uber Meph or those with high conviction araus.

Other than ar, life and max damage what other kinds of charms are you going to stock your inv full of? frw charms? fhr charms? maybe Stalwart charms? This is all in PvM context now understand. I'm just interested to find out what small charms I should throwing at money at that will actually serve a purpose or make a significant difference.

Just so know I'm well aware that PvP requires a lot of character versatility but I'm doing everything PvM based and since this guy hasnt said anything to the contrary I'm just gona assume thats what he wants. A PvM zealot. And PvM doesnt need versatility it just needs to survive and smash things.

[ArcaneSupremacy]

BTW I dont PvP. Waste of time. I have no need of bragging rights over a game. Plus again what works or is necessary in PvP usually is not necessary in PvM. I know every zealot guide from here to hell tells you "Now stock your inventory with as many 3/20/20's as you can get your paws on cause that 800+ life and 800+ ar and 120 max damage will make you jesus christ!". And other such crap but as far as i'm concerned you might as well **** up a rope. I'd rather toss runes at skill charms than that crap. 800 ar will make a minimal difference.800 life is nice but you'd probably have spent less on a good CTA to get the same amount and waste less inv space on it. 120 damage is crap. When mobs have 5k+ life and your doing 3k-8k damage its still gona take 1-2 swings to kill the sucker with or without 120 more max damage. What else are you gona stack you inv full of all res charms? Great but since Uber Meph is the only guy worth stacking res's that high against you've once again wasted currency unless you plan to ONLY fight Uber Meph or those with high conviction araus.

PvP is a waste of time? IMO it's the only reason this game is still alive. Players can change, but monsters don't unless new patches show up. PvM has barely any replay value. Then again, that's just what I think.

Other than ar, life and max damage what other kinds of charms are you going to stock your inv full of? frw charms? fhr charms? maybe Stalwart charms? This is all in PvM context now understand. I'm just interested to find out what small charms I should throwing at money at that will actually serve a purpose or make a significant difference.

For PvM, I'd rather go with resist/life charms rather than skill charms. Like you said, godly charms aren't needed to improve killing speed, but survivability is important.

Just so know I'm well aware that PvP requires a lot of character versatility but I'm doing everything PvM based and since this guy hasnt said anything to the contrary I'm just gona assume thats what he wants. A PvM zealot. And PvM doesnt need versatility it just needs to survive and smash things.

This is why Bartender should've specified whether his "guide" was for PvM or PvP.

[FraterPerdurabo]

I recently made a Zealot, so I'll try to add as well.

STR: 101
DEX: 100
VIT: rest
ENE: none

Guillaume
Stormshield UM'ed
Treks
Dracul's (essential if You're going to do ubers)
Thundergod's (nice light resist + absorb + stats)
Angelic ammy + ring
Raven Frost
eBOTD-Heaven's Light (depends on which one You can afford)
Chains of Honour (great armor for PvM)

[A|fzZz]

Stone = ok but not better than fort

Funniest thing i heard/

[Bartender]

Sorry guys, this guide is PvM, if you tweak the equipment and the stats a bit I think it can uber tristram, don't know. Also try to get some charms they help.