Zealots vs. Smiters

[Teradar]

isnt it easier to make a cheap zealot? i looked and it seems like a zealot would be much better than a smiter, why is a smiter so good? does knockback/stun make that big of a difference? you dont have zeal or anything to use once they are stunned to do a lot of dmg quickly, surely smite dmg cant do that much, that fast?

 

[*Turok]

Let me set the picture, most Smiters have crazy resistance, and the good developed ones are over Level 90 and have well over 40'000 defence. They have maxed Smite, Fantaticism, Holy Shield and Defiance (Synergy to Holy Shield). Many use a Offensive Act II Mercenary for Might, equiped with the Doom Rune Word for Holy Freeze.

The good ones tend to use an Ethereal Exile which not only has Life Tap, but well over 1000 Defence (which is further increased by its Defiance Aura). As for weapon, Grief seems to own everything and everyone, by making sure that each smite does over 10'000 damage. Enigma is a popular armor among many Smiters, for Teleport and its bonus to Strength, Fortitude is also powerful it's added bonus to damage.

So there you have it, a Smiter can have maxed resistance, over 40'000 defence, Life Tap for constant healing, Holy Freeze for slowing people down, and on top of that, an unblockable attack that hits 95% of the times, each hit doing over 10'000 damage.

Seeing as I'm not an experienced dueler, I don't know whether or not my statement is actually correct, but I claim that Smiters are too powerful. They seem to dominate every melee duel, and it has even gone so far that some duel games won't even allow the use of Smite.

What's your opinion?smiter's resistance arent that great..
Smite's kinda melee...doesnt IM affect smite??
Smiters can win almost any melee duels...

Sorcs can be beaten too if charge/smite are used correctly...
Only hammerdins/windy druids/warcry barbs really pwns smiters..

 

[Pale_Horse]

I have a lvl 91 Smiter

Guillaume's Face
Chains of Honor Dusk
Gores
Gracul's
SoJ/Bk/Maras
Grief Phaseblade / CtA
Etheral Exile Vortex / Spirit
skillers, life/resit sc

Used for mainly Ubers in my case, I must say they do own. The main reason they are better PvP then a Zealer is do to the decent to insane damage that is unblockable and the stun, which keeps your opponent from attacking back. The drawback is in PvM when facing mobs they are often times at a disadvantage since they can't attack each one at the same time like a Zealer can.

On the other hand, a Zealer, has been my favorite since 1.09, due to the insane ability to take out mass numbers or one strong boss in seconds. Unfortunitly in PvP they are not as well, since if the first hit misses then so to the following strikes. This is a costly mistake when facing someone equal or greater in power. The stun from Smiters makes all the difference.

To correct you, you can have your left over skill points into Zeal for a Smiter since they use only 86 points (I beieve that is the right slvl after synergies) it is not as effective as a ordinary Zealer since you can't max out it's synergy of Sacrifice, but it still does well.

 

[Teradar]

wait, so zealots are better in pvm then? and grief's +300-400 (varies) to dmg, adds to smite along with venom and everything else?
i dont want to pvp, dont like it, and this will be my first character (NEW COMPUTER TOMOROW MWAHAHAHHA)

 

[Pale_Horse]

wait, so zealots are better in pvm then? and grief's +300-400 (varies) to dmg, adds to smite along with venom and everything else?
i dont want to pvp, dont like it, and this will be my first character (NEW COMPUTER TOMOROW MWAHAHAHHA)

Since you don't want to PvP, my oppinion, make a Smiter, they are killer vs any boss, and the left over points will/can go into Zeal. After +skills from gear charms ect. it will work fine. By doing so you will have good life, defense, damage. You can take out mobs, and single tough bosses .... even Ubers (single handedly mind you) Even if you run into the occasional PK in a game you will hold your own (within reason)

Not sure if the Grief damage is added, since it doesn't show. I beleive so, but don't quote me on it. I know Grief is the best for the IAS, and is Indestructable.

What I would do is this:

Stats
Str - 90 (at most you will need 156 for Spirit monarch)
Dex - 125 (after + from gear you will have max block at lvl 99)
Life - rest ( easily have enough to survive)
Energy - none
(after +from gear and charms you will be ok)

Skills:
Smite - 20
Holy Shield - 20
Fanaticism - 20
Defience - 20
Zeal - 4 (a minimum for 5 hits)
Sacrifice - 1+ (this adds more damage to Zeal then Zeal does itself)
Holy Bolt - 1
Blessed Hammer - 1
Charge - 1
Might - 1
Blessed Aim - 1
Concentration - 1

This is only 91 points you have a max at lvl 99 of 104 points, I personally would drop them all into Sacrifice. It adds 12% damage to Zeal, to where Zeal only adds 6%. A your + skills you will be fine using both smite and/or zeal.

Use Zeal when facing mobs, lvling, questing.
Use Smite when facing simgle enemies, or bosses.

Lifetap is a MUST for either Smiters or Zealers, so have at least Dracul's, and/or Exile.

Get a act 2 Might merc with Doom Cryptic Axe to slow enemies down and add damage to your hits.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the build. Any questions ask.

 

[Teradar]

i dont have an account and wont till tonight when i get my new comp and can play d2, so i will be poor as hell, someone said to me earlier that a cheap/newb smiter is impossible because you HAVE to have exile/nigma, should i make a zealot in that case? is that the next best pvm?

 

[Pale_Horse]

i dont have an account and wont till tonight when i get my new comp and can play d2, so i will be poor as hell, someone said to me earlier that a cheap/newb smiter is impossible because you HAVE to have exile/nigma, should i make a zealot in that case? is that the next best pvm?

What I do, is for a first character I make a sorc to mf my ass off for a while, then, I make a hammerdin to mf better, and faster. Once I get the gear I want by finding it, or by trading it, then I really have fun with making the kickass characters like Smiters.
It is possible to make any character without the proper gear, but, they won't live long in hell. This is why I always go with a sorc first, since they don't melee and wont get hit often.
It is all up to you and what you think is possible. If you find that you are a good MFer then you could possibly get the gear relatively fast. Me I'm somewhat limited to time that I can play, so I have a bit of trouble getting what I need at first.

 

[dNiym]

Enigma is a popular armor among many Smiters, for Teleport and its bonus to Strength, Fortitude is also powerful it's added bonus to damage.

an unblockable attack that hits 95% of the times,

Seeing as I'm not an experienced dueler, I don't know whether or not my statement is actually correct, but I claim that Smiters are too powerful. They seem to dominate every melee duel, and it has even gone so far that some duel games won't even allow the use of Smite.

There is sooo much wrong with this....

Enigma on a smiter is just stupid you don't have enough FCR to be effective, and if you put a wiz spike on switch you're making way too many sacrifices for a little hop and jump.

Fort on a smiter is equally stupid since forts 300% ed does NOT add into your smite damage.

Chains of Honor is the only runeword armor that should be on a smiter, 65 resists and 2 skillz you're not going to beat.

an unblockable attack that hits 95% of the times, <--- If its unblockable how does it hit 95% of the time instead of 100%?

If ur not sure if your statements are true its better to keep your mouth shut rather than passing along information that is unhelpful and untrue.

 

[Pale_Horse]

an unblockable attack that hits 95% of the times, <--- If its unblockable how does it hit 95% of the time instead of 100%?

This part of his statement is true, but nothing in the game is a 100% garentee. Everything is capped at the most at 95%.

All the other stuff in that post is crap though I agree. Nigma, or Fort on a Smiter is pointless, it's like a hammerdin carrying a White wand. Coh should be the only option as far as end gear armor.

 

[dNiym]

This part of his statement is true, but nothing in the game is a 100% garentee. Everything is capped at the most at 95%.

All the other stuff in that post is crap though I agree. Nigma, or Fort on a Smiter is pointless, it's like a hammerdin carrying a White wand. Coh should be the only option as far as end gear armor.

Smite = Always Hits.
Get in front of a WW barb when they are ww'ing namelock and smite them into oblivion.

 

[pluch002]

There is sooo much wrong with this....

Enigma on a smiter is just stupid you don't have enough FCR to be effective, and if you put a wiz spike on switch you're making way too many sacrifices for a little hop and jump.

Fort on a smiter is equally stupid since forts 300% ed does NOT add into your smite damage.

Chains of Honor is the only runeword armor that should be on a smiter, 65 resists and 2 skillz you're not going to beat.

an unblockable attack that hits 95% of the times, <--- If its unblockable how does it hit 95% of the time instead of 100%?

If ur not sure if your statements are true its better to keep your mouth shut rather than passing along information that is unhelpful and untrue.

If ur not sure if your statements are true its better to keep your mouth shut

this also making you look stupid as cfr has nothing to do with smite lol fcr has to do with fast CAST rate not increased ATTACK speed i sorta think theres a difference on attack and cast lol?

 

[dNiym]

Maybe someone skipped out on reading comprehension day.....

Go back and re-read my post again, he was talking about using an enigma on a smiter. Since smite does not use FCR you don't have enough FCR to be an effective teleporter...

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