Is there any Zeal leveling guide someone can recommend please? I’ll go holy fire until 30 then respec I think! Or can anyone tell me here what the best order to put points in and any runewords to work on and when?
Never played a paladin in D2, always done a meta, but thinking i’ll start as Zeal then go into tesladin when I get enough currency.
Which is the best merc for a zealot also? I’ll be ladder starting it. A5 or A2?
I know Hammers or FOH is preferred… but i am not a fan of the playstyle of hammers, and FOH being limited in where it can farm also puts me off. Plus ive never played melee in D2 and i’ve played ALOT
Holy Fire and Holy Shock are good early choices through Nightmare because they are not very gear dependent.
In terms of weapons, what is really important for HF/HS, is attack speed. Making a Steel Runeword from a flail is a good option. You can find 2-socket flails from Fara in Act 2. (popping in and out of town through the waypoint will reset the items)
Beyond that, be on the lookout for a 2-socket pally shield so you can make a Rhyme Runeword. That is unless you find another source of cannot be frozen.
Once you find a great physical damage weapon, you can respec into Zeal/Fanaticism.
Edit:
Note, that you do not have to go holy fire/shock route if you don’t want to. It’s just easier and more consistent. I personally prefer not to because it makes for more fun and interesting experience for someone who has played zealers a bunch.
There is a thread further down with good info in it.
named;
Hate to break the harsh reality to you. But the gap between the meta/caster starter builds and Melee in D2 are extremely big.
Unless you are a hardcore player playing 10+ hours a day. You probably will not reach tesladin gear in the timespan of one ladder/season if you are doing Zeal only.
edit: To make things clear. With Tesladin i assume we are talking Dual dream and make an actual Tesladin, not some self cast Holy Shock Wish version of a tesladin.
1 Like