Best PvM Paladin Guide?

Hey, how's it going?

My girlfriend and I would like to start playing Diablo 2 together when the ladder resets. We haven't seriously played the game in a very, very long time, so we'd like some help if possible.

I'm basically looking for a PvM Paladin guide for my girlfriend that doesn't use super high-end items. I'll be using a magic-find Sorceress and she'll be my tank of sorts, though she wants to be decent all-around.

Can someone recommend me a guide or two? Thank you very much,

ViC|||Does you gf want to be a caster or melee Paladin. Caster, Hammerdin. Melee, Holy Shock or Holy Freeze Paladin are good without items.|||How do you manage nearly 2k posts and not know how to make a paladin? :O

It depends on what you want. If you need a tank, then a Zealer or Smiter is probably your bread n butter. There are certainly some great guides on them here. But I'll offer a quick overview:

Zeal

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Max Sacrifice, Fanaticism, Holy Shield, Zeal, and Defiance

Long-term Weapon Options: Death, Breath of the Dying, Last Wish

Death will give the best overall damage with its high Deadly Strike. Breath of the Dying offers the most raw damage and other great mods. Last Wish is the most expensive, but not best. It give you more aura stacking which is good for party play, and give you life tap so you don't HAVE to wear Dracul's Grasps. It also offers Fade, which is a huge plus. Best defensive option.



Smite

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Max Smite, Fanaticism, Holy Shield, Defiance, and Resist Lightning

Long-term Weapon options: Grief, Last Wish, Stormlash

Grief will give you the highest Smite damage output, easily doubling or tripling the average 1-2k damage Smite saw pre-1.11. Last Wish is again a good choice for its high CB and defensive mods, and if the lower smite damage doesn't bother you this may be the best choice for bosses. Stormlash is a fantastic crown control option, as it offers speed, CB, and castings of tornado and Static Field! <--- Whoa!

By the way, it isn't really standard to max Resist Lightning on a Smite build. You can do whatever you want with your spare 20-30 points. I personally pick it because 85% lighting resist versus a Convicting mephesto makes life easier than the standard 75%. (Throw on a T-God's and you get the coveted 95%)

Paladin builds have the potential to be the second-highest defense character in the game next to a concentrate barb (iirc). Not that you would need it, but if you wanted to see astronomical numbers, put on an eth Crown of Ages, an Exile Vortex Shield, and a Fortitude armor. Between Chilling Armor, Holy Shield, Defiance synergy to Holy Shield, active Defiance Aura, and high base defense of all armor, you will reach into the 20ks easy.|||The best PvM paladin build is a hammerdin, and its highest end gears are enigma and cta. However in early ladder, even shakos are hella expensive. If you want to read a guide on how to make a budget mf hammerdin, google "Ancalagon's hammerdin guide". His guide is quite thorough for a chaos hammerdin and is meant for people who prefer to play without using duped high runes.|||Quote:








How do you manage nearly 2k posts and not know how to make a paladin? :O




As I am still reading everything else, I'll answer that one question first =P

Most of those posts were from pre-2004, before all the last few patches. I haven't really played in years, as I pointed out. I actually had an account with over 8,000 posts - I was a huge forum member - before this new forum went down (the old one crashed and everything was lost, if I remember correctly).

Thanks for all the replies! Going through them now.

ViC|||Paradoxically zealots and smiters are worse tanks than hdins - atleast with low end items. It is because the accumulation rate of monsters around you is much lower when using hammers, as they far outpower the damage of other paladin skills.|||Wish my Girlfriend played computer games lol.



Hammerdin is the way to go. They can do it all, even Uber-trist with the right gear.



EDIT: seeing your other posts... I would use a Fishymancer (summon Necro)|||I see you posted the same in the Sorceress Forum. IMO Hammerdin + Blizz Sorc is what you are searching for. People don't like to recommend HDins because it's the most used build in the game. But it's more effective with low items one can't deny that. Melle chars rely on finding good weapons to be really effective.|||Quote:








I see you posted the same in the Sorceress Forum. IMO Hammerdin + Blizz Sorc is what you are searching for. People don't like to recommend HDins because it's the most used build in the game. But it's more effective with low items one can't deny that. Melle chars rely on finding good weapons to be really effective.




Its in a few (if not all) character forums, but its a good idea.

I think a Fishymancer would be best. Regardless of what build their going to have to walk, slowing down the sorc. Having a summon necro gives you 30+ minions to distract and tank keeping you virtually free of damage. A hammerdin would be my second choice, and then you won't have to worry about getting stuck in doors because of minions (if you're just running primarily chaos, then summon necro for sure)|||Thanks for all the replies!

I didn't mean to spam the forum. To be honest, my girlfriend was thinking about being a Paladin to start with, then thought that Barbarians would be cheaper to make, so we wanted to open up another option (I only posted in these two character forums, I swear!). I was sure I'd be a Sorceress from the beginning due to the teleport ability so that I can do magic find runs.

She's still torn between a Paladin and Barbarian right now. She's never played a Necromancer and isn't sure she wants to go that route, but I'm going over the Fishymancer guide and we're still talking about it.

If she goes with a Hammerdin, is Giga's 1.11 Ladder Hammerdin Guide! the best one available? Any changes to the guide I should know about?

Thanks again!

ViC