Table of Contents
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I. Version History
II. Introduction
III. Skills
a) Defensive Auras
b) Offensive Auras
c) Combat Skills
IV. Recommended Skill Allocation
V. Recommended Stat Distribution
VI. Equipment
VII. General Strategies
VIII. Boss Strategies
IX. Mercenary Info
X. Recognition
XI. Contact Information
I. Version History
v. 1.00 - 09/22/2005 - Initial Information
v. 1.10 - 01/21/2006 - ASCII title added
II. Introduction
The Holy Shock Paladin is an extremely fun build.
We've all thought about making one at one point or another,
at least I know I have. However, we'll usually end up making
some other kind of Paladin that is a little more secure in
Hell.
Well, this Guide is here to hopefully stir your mind towards
taking your initial idea and actually making that Holy Shock
Paladin. With some time and effort, and knowing when to fight
and when to bail out, he'll make it through Hell and back.
Even if you don't, you will be the absolute KING of Normal
and Nightmare.
And that's something special.
III. Skills
The three skill trees of the Paladin are Defensive Auras,
Offensive Auras, and Combat Skills.
The Holy Shock Paladin borrows from each tree.
While this guide will outline a specific build, it should
not restrict YOUR Paladin. Feel free to break away if you
feel so inclined.
a) Defensive Auras
These Auras, as their name implies, give different defensive
and support bonuses to you and your party.
When active, you'll get a fairly nice bonus to your overall
Defense rating.
It's also a synergy for Holy Shield, giving it a 15% boost
with each point.
Final Decision: When your four main skills are maxed, you
may want to put several points into this skill to boost
your Holy Shield. If you aren't interested in the defense
boost, zero points.
Also, if you're planning on using Vigor or Redemption,
you'll need at least one point in this skill for a
prerequisite.
Gives a large defense bonus and adds to your chance to
block. An invaluable skill for almost any Paladin.
It also adds to Smite damage, but we aren't concerned with that.
Final Decision: Max it.
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Fist of the Heavens
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Required Level: 30
Description:
Sends a thunder bolt from the sky to damage a single enemy
with lightning, afterwich it sends out numerous Holy Bolts
in all directions.
A cool PvP skill, but useless for us.
Final Decision: Zero points.
IV. Recommended Skill Allocation
Personally, I believe there are four skills that absolutely
must be maxed for this build's survival. However, this is only
a guide, and not anything set in stone. Modify the build in
any way you see fit.
When these skills are maxed, you can either add points into
Defiance, to boost your Holy Shield's defense bonus, or add
them into Salvation, to improve your Holy Shock's damage.
It depends on the type of player you are.
V. Recommended Stat Distribution
The Holy Shock Paladin has a fairly simple layout for stats.
Strength should be just high enough to use your planned
equipment. This really depends on how well off you are,
but I wouldn't recommend going higher than 100 if you can
help it.
Dexterity should suffice at about 100. As we'll be maxing
Holy Shield, so long as you have a decent shield, Herald
of Zakarum would be ideal, you shouldn't have to worry
much about achieving Max Block.
Attack rating is a bit of a worry, but there are solutions
around that problem that don't involve you pumping Dex.
Vitality should receive every remaining point you can spare.
Energy should be ignored entirely.
VI. Equipment.
As a Holy Shock Paladin, which is primarily a build for fun,
your weapon isn't really important. You'll be relying HEAVILY
on the elemental damage, and less on the physical damage your
weapon and Zeal will add.
Weapon:
A six-socketed Phase Blade can be a nice choice, socketed with
any combination of Shael runes for Increased Attack Speed, and
Lightning Facets, to improve your Lightning damage and lower
the resistance of your foes.
The 'Crescent Moon' runeword, best made in a Phase Blade, would
also be a nice choice, as it lowers enemy lightning resistance,
as well as giving a bit of IAS and a chance to cast Static Field
upon striking.
Lightsabre is a cheap choice that can help out against Physical +
Lightning immunes, as it adds a bit of Magic damage.
Shield:
Herald of Zakarum would be your best bet, preferably socketed with
an Um.
However, a very cheap but very effective alternative would be a
'Spirit' runeword made in a Paladin shield with high resists.
It's cheap to make, offers high resistances, +2 skills, and
a fairly nice boost to your life and mana.
Helm:
Griffon's Eye would be ideal.
Gives +1 skills, and increases your lightning damage by a large
amount, while lowering enemy lightning resistances by a similar
amount.
This may be out of reach for some people, though.
A cheaper but effective alternative would be our pal Shako,
preferably socketed with an Um. This would give +2 skills, some
Damage reduction, a boost to our life and mana, and a bit of
resists from the Um.
Armor:
Lots of options.
Enigma or Chains of Honor are always favorites, but things
like Guardian Angel, and runewords like Duress, Gloom, even
Smoke can be effective, as resistances are very important.
Belt:
Verdungo's Hearty Coil.
Nice boost to Vitality, while offering a fair bit of Damage
Redution and Faster Hit Recovery.
The set belt Credendum is an option if you're strapped for
resists, and if you're simply looking to increase your damage
output, Arachnid's Mesh will help with its +1 skills.
Boots:
Gore Riders are a simple to obtain, effective choice.
Alternatives would include Tearhaunch, which offers a nice
bit of resists, as well as giving you +2 to Vigor, meaning
you won't have to invest points into Vigor's prerequisites.
A pair of Rare boots with Resists, FRW, and what have you are
also an option.
Rings:
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band + Raven Frost would be the ideal combo.
Substitute something cheap like Dwarf Star if you can't get your
hands on either.
If you're finding it hard to hit enemies in Hell, you may want to
use one or even two Angelic rings combined with the Angelic amulet.
Amulet:
Angelic Amulet with Angelic ring(s) if you need AR.
If not, Mara's Kaleidoscope should be your first choice.
Cheaper alternatives like Saracen's Chance and Highlord's Wrath
can also be considered.
VII. General Strategies.
You'll have a lot of fun with the Holy Shock Paladin, even
early on.
You'll rely on Might at the beginning, until you get Holy Fire.
Holy Fire, even at level 1, will let you coast through Acts 1
and 2.
You can then Tomb run until you're a high enough level to use
Holy Shock. Once you get it, Normal difficulty will be no
match for you.
Nightmare will be equally easy, as by then you can have a maxed
Holy Shock, synergized with a Maxed Resist Lightning. Most enemies
in Nightmare will simply succumb to the periodic bursts of Lightning
damage provided by your aura.
Hell is where things get hectic, as even with a good Mercenary, you
may need to pick your battles and flee from large groups of Lightning
immune monsters. However, provided you are able to creep past such
horrors, you'll have no problem defeating the Act bosses.
When you're forced to confront such Immunes, a combination of your
trusty Mercenary along with your Vengeance should be able to bring them
down in time.
A Wand with charges of Amplify Damage / Lower Resist can help out, but
you won't want to rely on this.
VIII. Boss Strategies
The name says it all.
We'll describe how to take on each boss with our Dragoon,
with tips for each difficulty.
Simply pound at her with your Normal attack with Holy Fire on,
and she'll go down in seconds.
If you're Level 12+ and have zeal, it will be even quicker.
Higher difficulties will be a little more interesting.
On Nightmare, her minions will succumb to Holy Shock's
frequent bursts, and provided her poison doesn't get the
jump on you, you'll slice her to bits with Zeal without
too much trouble.
Hell will be a little harder, but that's only because one
or more Unique Afflicted monsters can spawn near her, which
have a powerful ranged attack and are Lightning immune.
Provided you can get past them if they spawn or not, Andariel
won't be able to stand up to your Zeal/Holy Shock combination.
Duriel is such a puppy dog, especially for our Holy Shock
Paladin.
You'll murk the poor guy on every encounter.
You'll be around Level 18-24 when you first reach him, but
the fight will go down the same either way.
If you're low level, use a combination of Zeal + Holy Freeze.
It'll slow him down the way he slowed you, only you'll have
Zeal to even things out.
If you're a higher level, just hack away with Zeal, and let
Holy Shock do the rest.
Higher difficulty encounters will be even easier, especially
when your Holy Shield is maxed. You'll be able to tank him
while you mince him up with your powerful lightning-infused
Zeal attack.
So long as your resists are high, they won't be able to get
the drop on you.
I don't remember if any of the Unique Hell Council members
can spawn as Lightning immune. Even if so, you and your merc
SHOULD be able to pull a win, provided you're cautious
and keep your resists high.
If not, you may need to enlist the help of a friend.
Easy every time, and just gets easier the higher you go.
Mephisto has a lot of powerful ranged attacks, but once you
close the distance, you'll be able to tank him and cut him to
ribbons with ease.
The only possible problem that can arise comes from his radial
poison attack, which can easily be remedied by having one or
more Antidote potions at hand.
Once that is taken into consideration, you only need to avoid
the Ghosts that can arise and stun you, letting Mephisto
take advantage of it and strike you down.
Your strategy will be the same on each difficulty.
Make sure you have Holy Shield on at all times.
When he first appears, close the distance and start hacking
away with Zeal. Combined with the lightning damage Holy Shock
adds, this should do a fair amount of damage. You'll only
really have two things to look out for.
When Diablo gestures he's about to use his Lightning Inferno,
just get the Hell out of there and you'll be fine. When he
stops, just get right back into the fray.
You may want to step out of the way of his Firestorm at earlier
difficulties as well, though later on it shouldn't damage you
much.
Simply ignore his Fire Nova, as it's kind of a joke attack
to everything but Necromancer Skeletons anyway.
Baal is defensive as ever, but won't cause too much
difficulty for you.
For NM and Hell, the hardest part will be GETTING to Baal,
but the battle itself will be a breeze.
Provided your equipment is decent and your resists are high,
you'll be able to tank the poor guy into oblivion, all the
while hacking at his health until he falls.
His Cold Wave attack dealie might bother you a bit, so
try to have at least something that will give you the
'Cannot be Frozen' mod.
Concentrate on getting back to him when he knocks you away, and
be sure not to bother with the 'Fake' Baal he casts to distract
you from attacking him.
Keep all this in mind, and you'll have no problem defeating him.
IX. Mercenary Info
There's really no question about this.
You'll want an Act 2 Defensive Merc from Nightmare.
His Holy Freeze will work excellently with your Holy Shock,
slowing down enemies making them prime targets for you or your
passive damage to take out with relative ease.
Equipment is fairly simple.
Note that you'll want your Merc's equipment to be, for the
most part, Ethereal, as they can receive the bonuses Eth
items have without losing any durability.
Weapon:
An 'Infinity' rune word made in an ethereal Cryptic Axe would
be what you want as your top choice.
This would give your Mercenary a level 12 Conviction aura,
greatly raising the damage your Lightning based attack
would do.
However, this is fairly expensive, so there are cheaper
alternatives to use.
The ever-popular 'Insight' would be viabla, as it is VERY
cheap to make, offers a nice Mediation aura to keep your
mana high, as well decent damage modifiers
An 'Obedience' polearm would be a better choice if you're
simply looking for a cheap way for your merc to do a
large amount of damage.
Armor:
Basically anything that offers high defense and resists
will do nicely here.
Duriel's Shell, Shaftstop, runewords like Stone, Gloom,
even Lionheart can do nicely.
Helm:
Andariel's Visage, Vampire Gaze, anything that offers
helpful bonuses like Damage Reduction, Life Leech, and
what have you, anything that will help your Merc
stay alive for awhile.
X. Recognition
- El Sabotender, he is my favorite friend
- Diamond Angel99, love of my life
- TT & TMF, you know why...!
- Super Saiyan Bowser & 01asada, my greatest supporters
- Blizzard, because they probably made this game
XI. Contact Information
If you find any errors, or have something to say, let me know at:
AUNAOyo@gmail.com
