Zealot
The Zealot Paladin focuses on a very fast attack speed and stolen life on multiple targets, while being protected by a holy shield.
Primary skill :
Zeal
Fanaticism
Secondary skill :
Holy Shield
Normal mode
Attributes and skills
Attributes points
+ Strength +
Put points in it so you can wear the armour and hit hard.
+ Dexterity +
Put points in to hit enemies and parry hits more often.
+ Vitality +
It is important to have a good level and to put points in itwhen you have enough strength and dexterity to wear your armour.
+ Energy +
This is the feature to be left out due to the low consumption of this build.
Skills points
Combat skills
Sacrifice :
Put 1 point to unlock Zeal at level 12.
Later maximize this skill to boost Zeal.
Zeal :
Maximise your points in this Primary skill.
Holy Bolt :
Put only 1 point to unlock Blessed Hammer at level 18.
Blessed Hammer :
Put only 1 point to unlock Holy Shield at level 24.
Smite :
Put only 1 point to unlock Charge at level 12.
Charge :
Put only 1 point to unlock Holy Shield at level 24.
Holy shield :
Maximise points in this skill.
Offensive Auras
Might :
Set 1 point to unlock Blessed Aim at level 12.
In normal mode, maximize the points in.
Raise the points to level 30 by going to Akara (Act 1).
Blessed Aim :
Set 1 point to unlock Concentration at level 18.
Concentration :
Set 1 point to unlock Fanaticism at level 30.
Fanaticism :
Maximise points in this skill.
Defensive Auras
Defiance :
After maximising Holy Shield, Zeal and Fanaticism, put the remaining points into this skill to boost Holy Shield.
Vigor :
Unlocks at level 18. Put 1 point to unlock Redemption at level 30
Redemption :
Set 1 point. Allows to recharge life and Mana with corpses and prevents their resurrection.
It is possible to redistribute skill points once per difficulty level with Akara, in the Rogue camp (Act 1, after validating her quest). Knowing this, you should not hesitate to put several points in the Power skill to do more damage at the beginning of the game. These points can be redistributed at level 30 to maximise the effect of the Zeal/Fanaticism duo.
Equipements and Runewords
Equipement
The basic Paladin carries a sword and a shield.
To use Holy Shield, always keep a shield equipped. Preferably use Paladin shields, as below:
Targe
Heraldic Shield
For this build, it is necessary to privilege a fast or very fast weapon. A scepter or a mace will be the ideal because they are weapons which have affixes increasing the skills of the Paladin.
An effective weapon to be favoured for this build, the Flail, preferably with Sockets:
Flail
The goal is also to find a balance between attack speed, life Steal and mana regeneration. Make the right choice of equipment according to what you find. And of course raise the resistances to 75 (a shield with the Runeword "Ancient's pledge" will help you greatly) and increase the walk/run faster (an armor with the runeword "Stealth" gives +25% walk/run).
Useful runewords for the weapon
+ 2 runes Words +
+ 3 Runes Words +
Warning !
Make sure you have the correct number of sockets for the runeword to work.
Useful runewords for standard helmets
+ 2 runes words +
Useful runewords for standard armor.
+ 2 runes words +
Useful runewords for standard shields
+ 2 runes words +
+ 3 runes words +
These three runes can be obtained by completing the second quest in act 5.
Nightmare Mode
We will not discuss skills here as they have been explained above. So follow the distribution of skill points as you progress through the game.
On the other hand, concerning the equipment, you will have to find a paladin shield with 4 sockets to be able to put the runeword Spirit.
For the armor, find one with 2 sockets so that you can put the runeword Smoke.
For the weapon, find the exceptional Knout flail without any socket and go to Larzuk in Act 5 of the normal mode to put 5 shrine in it. Pay attention to the ilvl of the item (refer to this section to find out which ilvl your object is from). Put the runeword Honor :
For the helmet, keep the runeword Lore. Putting this runeword in a helmet with a better defence is the best.
Hell Mode
If you want your Zealot to be viable in Hell, you'll need Crushing blow, Can't Be frozen and Maximise Resistance item skills. As in normal mode, you will need life-steal, attack speed, very fast recovery hit and increased blocking speed. Here we offer several items that will allow you to adapt to the situation (lack of life-steal, resistances etc...).
