Looking at all the other guides, I can definitely say that most of them are very interesting, some with a lot of flexibility with equipments but almost no flexibility for skills; this guide will break that pattern and prove to be the exact opposite.
First off, let me make it clear that this is no ordinary smiter, one-point smiter, or fanatic zealot. Even though the name suggests a cookie-cutter smiter that we see all the time, with the different stat points distribution, skill distribution, and gear setup, I can definitely say that this guide would be considered unique. The Griefdin is extremely flexible and can kill everything from Rogue Camp to Uber Diablo with ease. This build is definitely NOT CHEAP. If you cannot afford ~20 +5 resist small charms, a Grief, and an Enigma, then don't expect to make an effective Griefdin.
This paladin will utilize all important aspects of Grief, especially having added damage up to 400.
This build is designed to run ALL parts of the Pandemonium Event and other PvM, from killing Hell Baal, nullifying Nihlathak over and over, to teleporting in the Furnace of Pain and killing Pandemonium Diablo as well as Uber Diablo, this build can do everything. Now on to the guide.
Stat Points Distribution
STRENGTH - Enough to wear gear. Final Perfect End-game Values:
With Steelrend 205 total with 120 hard stat points (Recommended)
With Dracul's Grasp 174 total with 74 hard stat points (If not using Exile - Not a stellar choice)
DEXTERITY - Enough to wear gear. DO NOT strive for max block. Trying to reach max block will only waste skill points, and you can perform very well without it. Final Perfect End-game Values:
With Phase Blade 136 total with 56 hard stat points (Recommended, the range with Berserker Axe is not extremely important - we need max speed and indestructability helps your gold)
With Berserker Axe 80 total with 0 hard stat points (More points in vitality and slightly more range. However you will need to max Fanaticism and on top of that, have a perfect 40 IAS Grief and a FURTHER 20 IAS to reach 4 frames per second attack speed - Not recommended but based on personal preferences)
VITALITY - After you have properly set up strength and dexterity, hold shift and click here. All left over points go to vitality.
ENERGY - Even with no points in energy, teleporting is still easy. If you run out of mana just stop and mana leech local inhabitants.
Skill Points Distribution
This build has extreme flexibility in skill points distribution, this is only a guideline.
DEFENSIVE AURAS
Prayer 0~1 - Put a skill point here if you wish to have Meditation and/or Redemption. I personally don't.
Resist Fire 0~20 - Yes, zero to TWENTY. If you are having troubles with fire casters or hate that corpse explosion, go ahead and put an even number of skill points in here. You will never have this aura up, but each two skill points invested will net you a +1 to maximum fire resistance, which is always helpful. However, keep in mind that you will have the most problems with lightning casters, and you may wish to save up for Resist LIghtning.
Defiance 1~20 - Recommend put at least one point in here, at least I do. Just a synergy to Holy Shield so you can achieve higher defense. If you get hit often then go ahead and fill this up: most people will put 20 here.
Resist Cold 0 - This is left blank. Cold casters are rare and, since you have cold absorb and "Cannot Be Frozen", putting points here is just a waste.
Cleansing 0~1 - If you have put a point in Prayer, put a point here. Also a prerequisite if you wish to use Meditation and/or Redemption.
Resist Lightning 0~20 - This will prove to be more important than Resist Fire. Lightning casting monsters will do much higher amounts of damage as compared to fire casters. Also, Exile gives +5 to maximum fire and cold resistance, but only Fortitude will give that +5 to maximum lightning resistance. You won't be wearing Fortitude while teleporting. If you have a lot of skill points left over (which you will), then put 10 or 20 here.
Vigor 0~1 - Some people might like this for running around, but you do have Enigma. Only put a point here if you wish to use Redemption.
Meditation 0~1 - If you do invest a point here, you can have this on between teleporting so you run out of mana much slower. This is okay but not worth all those three points in my opinion.
Redemption 0~1 - This aura is definitely helpful for a quick rejuvenation. However life leech, mana leech, and life tap can do the job just as well. I would not recommend spending 4 points to get this.
Salvation 0 - When properly built, you will have stacked resistances at all times. No need for this skill unless you REALLY cannot afford enough charms. If you do put a point here get a Token of Absolution ready. lol
OFFENSIVE AURAS
Might 1 - A must. This is a prerequisite for Fanaticism, you will obviously never use this aura.
Holy Fire, Holy Freeze, Holy Shock, Thorns, Sanctuary, Conviction 0 - Useless. Do not even try to use these skills. Physical Immune monsters won't give you enough problems for you to spend skill points countering them.
Blessed Aim 1 - One point for prerequisite. .....And you don't need AR since Grief has Ignore Target Defense, almost forgot lol thanks MYK
Concentration 1 - Just one point for prerequisite.
Fanaticism 1~20 - ONE to twenty? Yes. One point would be all you need with plus skills to reach max attack speed with a Phase Blade. If you use a Berserker Axe then you might have no other choice than to max this.
COMBAT SKILLS
Sacrifice 1 - A prerequisite for Zeal.
Smite 1 - Main attack for uber/non-uber prime/lesser evils. Just one point is effective, as many one-point smiter guides often state, and it is true.
Holy Bolt 1 - Prerequisite for Holy Shield.
Zeal 1 - Main attack for PvM. WHAT?! One point? Yes. There is one point in Smite, Zeal, and Fanaticism. All because of the wonderful Grief. Its added damage that goes up to 400 shows its true powers here. You will be able to kill most things quite easily with just one point here.
Charge 1 - Could be used for PvP, but I don't recommend going PvP with this build, and I know **** about PvP anyways. Prerequisite for Holy Shield.
Vengeance 0~1 - Zero for me. Physical immunes are often killed very easily by just letting the Hellfire torch go off. One point if you really need it.
Blessed Hammer 1 - Prerequisite for Holy Shield. Now I wonder how effective a one-point hammerdin would be... hmm...
Conversion, Fist of the Heavens 0 - Do not need.
Holy Shield 20 - Blocking is very useful, and the added smite damage doesn't hurt. Since most paladins max this, we should too.
THERE YOU HAVE IT. This is the skills layout for a Griefdin, relying on solely Grief for its damage output.
At a minimum this build would only consume 30 skill points. A thirty skill points build that is not for LLD... Is there any other build with so much skill freedom? Maybe, but this build has a LOT of freedom too.
Equipments Layout
The first listed in each category is the ideal endgame gear, while the rest are in no particular order.
Helm -
Ber'ed Crown of Ages and Ber'ed Guillaume's Face - there are two endgame helms because you will be using both. Crown of Ages for general PvM while Guillaume's Face for Ubers for its special percent bonuses. Crown of Ages only require one Ber for another would put you over the cap with Verdungo/String and Enigma. Maybe a Sol or Mal? PDR and MDR are often useful too. Try not to socket anything you can get with charms (for example, FHR).
Ber'ed Shako - +2 to skills and attributes, 10% damage reduce, and life, mana bonuses are all good things. However this is strictly inferior to Crown of Ages for its higher %DR, resistances, and sockets.
Socketed Magical Diadem - very rare but effective. Preferably +3 to Paladin Combat Skills and 25 damage reduce. Damage reduce over life, always. I think the maximum sockets achievable here is two, but I could be wrong. Try to socket this with two Ber's.
Amulet -
Magical Amulet - +3 Combat Skills and 25 damage reduce would be perfect here. If there is a better prefix than +3 combat skills then go ahead and use that instead.
Mara's Kaleidoscope - +2 skills and good resists, not the best but is certainly good.
Seraph's Hymn - a paladin amulet. This is also okay.
Highlord's Wrath - many paladin builds will use this. The deadly strike is nice, and that makes this amulet better than the other two. However, that's about all that is significant here.
Rings -
Raven Frost and Dual Leech Ring - Raven Frost is a must, and this one ring alone makes Resist Cold obsolete. A dual leech rare/crafted ring if you can find one, attack rating, life, and resists are also good mods if using a dual leech ring. Sure the dual leech won't work on Ubers, but we're talking about general PvM too.
Wisp Projector - replacement for dual leech. Could be used for lightning casters, not extremely effective but makes lightning look like nothing to you.
Bul-Katho's Wedding Band - replacement for dual leech. Plus skills and life leech are what makes this ring good to use. A dual leech would be better, however.
Weapon -
Grief Phase Blade - kind of obvious for this build. Even the lowest roll on IAS will produce maximum IAS on either Zeal or Smite. Try to get the highest +Damage on Grief, the higher the better.
Grief Berserker Axe - a second choice. You are sacrificing IAS for range. I would not get this for you need a max roll on IAS and on top of that, have 20 IAS gear.
Shield -
Ethereal Exile Vortex Shield - highest defence achievable over all shields. Make the Exile on an Ethereal Vortex Shield with +resists would be even better. The Enhanced Damage will help the +Damage on Grief a LOT. Pluses to maximum resists are also very important - saves you 20 skill points.
Alma Negra - a good enhanced damage, and a huge added percent to attack rating is what makes this shield usable. Obviously you will do less damage when Zealing or Smiting, but an okay-choice.
Herald of Zakarum - no enchanced damage makes this shield inferior to even Alma Negra. Sure its other mods are nice but not nice enough.
Gloves -
Steelrend - oh, well this isn't too common in paladin builds. The enhanced damage here just piles on damage for our Zeal and Smite, while Crushing Blow is a nice topping. Since you already have Life Tap from Exile, best choice in my opinion.
Dracul's Grasp - not bad, not bad at all. This is the most common paladin gloves. Life Tap is major here, also Open Wounds help out nicely. A good one to use, low strength requirements too.
Boots -
Gore Rider - only pair of boots usable with this build. All its shiny mods will all help you kill faster. Goblin Toe just doesn't PvM well enough to be of a use elsewhere, and Sandstorm Treks doesn't have all the mods we want.
Belt -
Upgraded String of Ears - wtf.... why not Verdungo's? Well sure Verdungo's Hearty Cord will give +100 life and other cool mods, but the damage reduce here just stands out above it. PDR + %DR is just great - don't worry about life if you're not taking enough damage for it to be a factor.
Verdungo's Hearty Cord - if you still prefer this then go for it. Still is a very popular choice for endgame belt. However I can find FHR and life in charms, but not PDR.
Armor -
Enigma and Fortitude - this can be pretty obvious for some people, Enigma for PvM and Fortitude for Ubers. If you are using Steelrends, make Enigma in Hellforge Plate and Fortitude in Lacquered Plate - hey you have the strength so, why not? And who cares about slower run/walk. If you use Dracul's Grasp instead, make both these runewords in Archon Plates.
Duress - a bit of enhanced damage, some cold damage, resists, and some nice mods. If you ran out of wealth after making Enigma, I guess this would be a second choice instead of Fortitude.
Chains of Honor - only use this if you have moral standards in using Chains of Honor. This would be even less effective than Duress in my opinion.
Switch Weapon
Call to Arms - a classic weapon switch, and it does its job. Extra life and mana, who wouldn't want that? Just make this in a Crystal Sword, if you have it in a Flail there should be no problem either. Naturally, the higher Battle Order, the better.
Wizardspike - if you REALLY want to, you can increase your teleport speed with this on switch. I personally don't see why, and if you teleport faster you can double teleport in one spot a lot, which is annoying. However this does make getting through PvM slightly faster.
Switch Shield
Spirit - also a classic. Mainly used for +2 skills for Battle Order so any Spirit will do here. Make it with ANY paladin shield will work, since even the lowest can have 4 sockets. Monarch is comparatively rarer but it will also of course work.
Gemmed Shield - used with Wizardspike, to reach more FCR if possible.
Inventory
Annihilus - every build will have this. Look for higher stats, and resistances and experience is less important since you then don't have to respec every time you find an Annihilus with higher stats.
Hellfire Torch - a paladin one (obviously). Also look for stats over resistances. Keep two scrolls of each type in your belt since you don't really need it to take up spaces where you can put charms. Most of time, however, there will be enough space for you to put two tomes.
+5 Resist All Small Charms - depending on your overall resistances, you will have different numbers of these. With a perfect build (20 res anni, 20 res torch, 45 res base vortex shield, 30 res fortitude, not counting res on dual leech ring), you will still need 33 of these charms - enough space left over just for two tomes. Or you can put the Horadric Cube with a tome inside so you can pick up additional items. Charms will be eVen better with life or FHR attached.
Strategy
What can I say? Put on Battle Command, Battle Order, and Holy Shield, then teleport around and Zeal monsters with Fanaticism on. Smite for Ubers. Pretty simple.
With Physical Immunes just hold your mouse over them, and they will eventually die. Slow but it works. Or you can just teleport past them.
The one major problem for this build is Mana Draining Physical Immune monsters. You can't teleport past them if you have no mana, so you're forced to slowly kill them. However even then there is absolute no danger to my life, as they do pitiful damage after DR and PDR.
That's it, a full exploitation of the runeword Grief. I hope that this guide provided entertainment if it didn't provide guidance. I would love to hear some constructive criticism as I probably left out some things.
If you do plan on making this build I want to know how it goes, and if you're satisfied like I am.
|||Sorry to be harsh, but to me this just a Zealer that you are trying to bend into something original, without really succeeding (not that strange, because Zealers are by definition not original) and making it suboptimal at the same time.Why would one actually put points in Blessed Aim over Fanaticism and if that is maxed, Zeal?
Why are you trying really hard to get %ED from gear when for example Steelrend's bonus to ED% even if including the strength is worth about 5 points in fanaticism or 7 in sacrifice?
Why do you recommend to not add dex for max block because blocking is not so important, and then later recommend to max HS because blocking is useful. Why is blocking not useful if you do care about %DR, PDR and Defense which all negate mostly the same type of damage?
And most importantly, what is this build supposed to do that a normal Fana Zealer/1 point smiter doesn't? In the end, I want to know why I should make this. I don't really see how it is better than what is out there, and it can't really claim the price for originality either.|||Well looking around I see Grief smiters with 20 points in Sacrifice and Zeal, and here I am saying that you do not need to waste 40 points at all!
Yes you are indeed right it would be more beneficial to put more points into Fanaticism than Blessed Aim.
The aim of this build is to balance ED supporting Grief's plus damage with playability, and to me Steelrend would be more effective even if it means taking ~100 out of your life orb.
Maybe I should've explained myself more, but %blocking gained by adding Dex just seems to be a waste for this build. What I am saying that Holy Shield's blocking is enough, and any points extra in Dexterity to maximize that would be a waste. Obviously with other factors in this build resistances would not be a problem, so %DR and PDR are somewhat needed. I have used 50% DR before, but I have found that some PDR is also very useful if you are swarmed.
This build is to mainly offer the flexibility in skill points distribution using the Grief runeword. If you don't believe that this build can PvM, I just finished Hell Nihlathak without using potions, with my life stable always above 90%, and most important of all, with 66 skill points left.
ImageShack|||Quote:
Introduction
That's it, a full exploitation of the runeword Grief. I hope that this guide provided entertainment if it didn't provide guidance. I would love to hear some constructive criticism as I probably left out some things.
If you do plan on making this build I want to know how it goes, and if you're satisfied like I am.
Sorry, but this just reads like a typical Zealot, but with Grief and Enigma taped on. Yes, those items are powerful and lend themselves to some of the most effective builds in the game. No, you could do better.
You claim that it fully exploits the runeword Grief, which has massive damage, but then you don't suggest maxing out your enhanced damage to take full advantage of it's power?
Grief has ITD, and you smite bosses. That shuts down any need for Blessed Aim. Ever. Seriously.
Really, Grief isn't that magical of a runeword. It has huge damage and ITD. The first is a given for most high runewords, but the second is really nice and let's you totally ignore any AR constraints. With those two things in mind, there's not really a lot you can make a build around besides ignoring AR.
Enigma is a different story. Teleport is extremely powerful, and the rest of the item stats are just gravy. Unlike Grief, Enigma is totally a runeword that you can flesh out the rest of the build around as FCR suddenly becomes A Really Good Thing, and, oh look, Spirit has tons.
Roll a perfect Spirit in some nice shield (40-45 resist all base) [35 FCR], throw on some combination of 40% more FCR and you're at 10 frame Teleports. Fantastic.
I haven't talked about the boot or glove slot yet.
Gloves are usually Dracul's Grasp, because they're the best melee gloves in the game and allow you to become immortal when Life Tap goes off. Gimme.
Boots are Goblin Toe, because you really want some CB somewhere. They don't have any FR/W, but Engima does (DingDingDing!), and for this build, they beat the pants off of anything else.
The rest of the items (rings, amulet, helmet, belt) should shore up FCR, resists or IAS you need.
Put all of those together and you get a really fast PvM TeleZealot that beats the game with his eyes closed and the TV on and a smile on your face. Oh, and he did it all for way cheaper than your guide and came out ahead.
I didn't want to write a guide inside of your guide, but I just did. What can I say, I'm a monster.|||Oh sh- ITD wow totally forgot about that.
Well thanks and yes I did mention that you could get FCR with Wizardspike for tele. I'm not sure if a gemmed 4sock shield can have a higher FCR than Spirit.
I guess you could potentially have a Hammer/smiter/zealotdin but I'm more keen on the melee. For me, it just feels good to have some customization for each build, and you could do a lot with 66 skill points
I'm thinking of putting 40 points in Resist Fire and Resist Lightning... ? Be a Guardian Angel without the "Guardian Angel."
Still leaves me 23 points and clueless. I really don't think I need more points in Smite/Zeal/Fanaticism though, really, kills really fast still.
For gloves I really... just don't see how Open Wounds can match up with Crushing Blow and ED.
I prefer Gore Rider for its other %s, don't need that much CB imo.|||Quote:
Well looking around I see Grief smiters with 20 points in Sacrifice and Zeal, and here I am saying that you do not need to waste 40 points at all!
But you don't offer any viable alternative to not put them there. I guess maxing Resist Lightning is somewhat useful, but then even a Normal Zealer could skimp on HS and max that instead.
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The aim of this build is to balance ED supporting Grief's plus damage with playability, and to me Steelrend would be more effective even if it means taking ~100 out of your life orb.
What extra playability does not maxing Zeal, Sacrifice and Fanaticism give?
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Maybe I should've explained myself more, but %blocking gained by adding Dex just seems to be a waste for this build. What I am saying that Holy Shield's blocking is enough, and any points extra in Dexterity to maximize that would be a waste.
You don't provide any explanation why that is a waste. Especially not since you don't mind sacrificing life for %ED which you can get for free from your skillpoints anyway.
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This build is to mainly offer the flexibility in skill points distribution using the Grief runeword. If you don't believe that this build can PvM, I just finished Hell Nihlathak without using potions, with my life stable always above 90%, and most important of all, with 66 skill points left.
I'm not saying the build can't solo Hell, I'm saying it doesn't do anything better than the normal Zealot. Having 66 skill points left is not really an achievement either. I have made Assassins with only 17 points invested, base vita, and not even 5% the value of the gear you are listing here.
We didn't need more proof that Grief was really good. We know we can make ~10 point WW barbs and ~10 point Fury Druids with it. That does not make them original nor optimal.|||Well thinking locally to this guide, Holy Shield would be more important than Zeal/Sacrifice.
Playability is not your ability to kill the fastest, but to have fun with skill optimizations and such.
For Dex to max block, it's around 2~3 Dex per 1% block, you could max block, but I wouldn't recommend it since I have already spent a load on strength for Steelrends. Also more strength means more Zeal damage (slightly, but still some)
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I have made Assassins with only 17 points invested, base vita, and not even 5% the value of the gear you are listing here.
Erm... jesus base vita and 17 skill points, well I honor you sir. And this build does about the same Zeal damage as another pally with maxed zeal/sacrifice/fana but no Grief. On the contrary, I believe that +Damage is much more useful than ITD on Grief.|||I have to agree with stephan, this isn't much of a build, more of a realization that you can throw a Grief on a character and cobble together any assortment of gear/skills and it will probably be pretty effective. However, this has been known for some time.
I like the idea of using a powerful item(s) to free up skill choices, but you actually discourage employing some of the less used skills/auras, and even call some of the great 1point wonder skills useless. All the freedom and flexibility you talk about goes into passive bonuses that aren't fun or even necessary.
Salvation is great in team play if you ever come across a Conviction boss pack. If you are playing in a caster heavy group and no one has Infinity, 1+ points in Conviction is amazing. Sanctuary does wonders against annoying/dangerous boss packs of Undead like Gloams and Ghosts. Conversion: I think I'm the only person, but this is one of my favorite skills in the game.
I would be much more interested to read about a Grief-Medic or Grief- FoH Paladin than an underpowered Grief Zealot with 95% light resist and too many point in Holy Shield.|||Well afterall, where you put your points is your decision. I actually got so frustrated with leftover skill points that I made a smiter/zealot/FoH/Hammer, which is fun PvM alone but you seem too slow in multiplayer PvM.
I actually thought about a Grief-Prayer-Meditation but once tested in Single Player it doesn't work as well as it looks. :/
Anyways just throwing something out there so bored incgamers can read some.
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