this thread is less of a " build guide " , and more of a " building blocks guide "
it is written specifically for gm zeal vs zeal on uswest non ladder only

skills
max zeal / fanaticism / holy sheild / defiance first
then sacrifice( gives 12ed per point )/ last 3 points in blessed aim
or blessed aim ( gives 5% ar per point ) last 3 points sacrifice
or a combination of blessed aim / sacrifice for a specific build

the duel
players square off , say go above their heads , and when both have " go " up , you attack
it is considered bm to walk away , or engage in any kind of evasive manouvers
anything that cuases one zealer to " chase " another is considered bm
angling before engaging your opponent is normally considered bm
angling after engaging is normally considered ok

slow , kb , poison ( up to 50 -100 is normally considered ok ) and non pally skills are considered bm ( with the following exceptions )
battle orders and battle command ( from cta ) have always been bm , but are now allowed in every zeal tourny , and most zeal games
iron maiden from steel carapace is allowed
chilling armor from fort is allowed
glacial spike from death is allowed
posion nova from andys is allowed
firestorm from torch and pheonix is allowed

angling
im not an expert on angling , and am not 100% sure on the game mechanics that allow it
but it is possible to " angle " your opponent , so that he no longer can land a hit ( or can barely hit at all )
once you have engaged , u can move very slightly and attack , and possibly change the angles to your opponents disadvantage ( remember your opponent is standing still , so any move that isnt away will change the angle each player faces the other at )
there is no animation that shows if you have been successful or not
rather , you must judge your posistion from what happens
the advantage of angling your opponent is clear , however , u can often get hit while shifting posistions , and can also end up being the one with the bad angle
in general , shifting posistions is done when u feel your at a bad angle , rather than to try and gain an angle advantage
remember that actually moving away so far that your opponent must follow you to engage is bm
becuase theres no clearcut confirmation , this is something that many players can easily become paranoid about

becuase of the nature of zeal pk ( which is rooted in the idea of a fair duel ) angling before engaging is generally considered bm , and generally banned in tournys


the basic gear
zealots face a number of prerequisite goals when selecting gear
they want cbf ( cannot be frozen ) , 50 dr ( or close ) , 75% block , 4 frame zeal ( often needing open socs for ias jewels ) , while always wanting more def , ar , ow , life and ofc damage and ds

ds items
hilords / gores / edc / edz / eth razor / eth heavens light ( with lo ) / fools (with lo )/ eth up lance guard / guillimenes face set helm / ds vis helms
dr items
ber is sheild , helm , armor / eth up shaft / ss / eth spike thorn / dungoes / coa / 08 gaze
cbf items
cham rune in sheild , armor , helm / trang belt / eth up duriels / eth gbane / raven frost / eth runemaster / 08 hellmouth
ar items
fools weps / vis helms / alma / hoz / hsarus set boot+belt / angelic set ammy + rings
ias items
ias jewels in armor , sheild , helm / hilords / andys / ik set glove + ( belt or boot ) / ias glove / eth up crow caw
armors
zbug fort / zbug stone / eth pru sa + ap / eth up shaft / eth valor / eth duriels / eth templars might / eth up black hades / eth up tooth / eth up crow caw / 2soc rare armors ( 2k + def ) / eth glad bane / eth up skullders / eth steel carapace
weps
edc / eth death / ebotdz / eth heavens / eth redeemer / eth razor / eth runemaster / eth up headstriker / eth nords / eth fools / eth cruel weps ( 400+ ed )
sheilds
ss / alma ( eth + non eth ) / eth hoz / eth spike thorn / eth up lance guard / 2soc 30/20 pal sheild


fhr
this is probably the least understood aspect of zeal , and yet it is very important

when a hit takes away 1/12th or more of your total life , you go into a recovery phase
the length of this phase is determined by your fhr , and is measured in frames , and has its own animation , which is easy to see
while in the recovery phase , a player cannot attack or block

zeal is uninterruptable , and many people seem unaware that while their zealot is swinging away on their computer screen , on the servers side , its in a recovery animation , and is neither attacking , nor blocking

the fastest attack speed for zeal is 8/4/4/4/4 ( which is 8 frames for the 1st swing , then 4 frames for each of the next 4 swings )
at 200 fhr , the recovery phase lasts 3 frames , and a zealot is ready for action on the 4th frame , just in time for the next zeal attack ( the fhr tables are a list of the time you're in the recovery phase )
however , at less than 200 fhr , the recovery phase is 4 frames or longer
meaning that , if your zealot gets hit , and loses 1/12th life or more , he will lose his block for the next zeal swing
if you have less than 15 fhr , the recovery phase lasts 8 frames or more , and leaves you without block for the next 2 zeal swings

lets look at how this affects the chance to hit , at 15 - 199 fhr
22.5k ar edc vs 42.5k def is basically a 40% chance to hit
with 75% block , this is an actual 10% chance to hit ( 1 strike per 10 zeals )
with no fhr hits , this is 100 strikes per 1000 zeals

the chance to block the next swing after being fhr hit is 40% ( chance to hit with no block )
with every hit a fhr hit , the chance to hit is 10% for 1st strikes , and 40 % for double hits ( 2 hits in a row )
this means 4 hits in 10 will result in a " double hit "
so every 1000 zeals , u will be hit 100 + 40 = 140 times

no fhr hits = 10%
all fhr hits = 14%

this is a huge differnce in the chance to strike
at less than 15 fhr , it gets even worse , as u are in the recovery phase for 8+ frames , and the next two zeal attacks will be at 40% chance to strike a( giving 2 x 40% chances that you will be hit , and put into the recovery phase for 8 more frames )

the effects of being fhr hit are subtle , as the time frame ( 4/25 frames = .16 seconds ) is very small , and easy to miss
when you are getting fhr hit , you are getting " double hit " more often , and you even get triple hit ( 3 strikes in a row )
once you start looking for this , you will start to see it more and more often

the fhr hit ( losing 1/12th or more life from a strike ) answears the 2 most common questions newer zealers have

#1) why does my mass ar fools angelics build not hit as often as it should ?
#2) how can a hilords edz 15k ar setup hit so much ?
this has led many zealers to say " ar is a myth "

the answears are clear
using a fools + angelics setup , while giving alot of ar , generally lowers your damage ( thru lack of ds mainly ) and especially your minimum damage , such that most hits dont take 1/12 life
therefore , when compared to a standerd edc vis rends setup , it will seem as if the fools setup hardly hits more at all , and for alot less damage

while using a 100 ds , eth death hilords gores 80-30 vis 40-15 ss setup , every single hit cuase's fhr becuase the min damage is so large
its a well known aspect of this build , that it double hits , and triple hits , alot
so it altho its initial chance to strike is less , once it does strike , its more likely to hit again and again
since this is such a huge damage setup , 2 or 3 hits are all thats often needed to win

damage is taken at 1/6 in pvp , and with 50 dr , this is reduced to 1/12
and 1/12 is the threshold for a fhr hit
if u want to 100% fhr hit , u need your minimum damage to match or be more than your opponents life

the more life you have , the more damage your opponent needs to deal , in order to fhr hit you

This post was edited by Matao on Aug 29 2010 01:16pm

low ar builds

basically , low ar builds are ones that use hilords , without maxing blessed aim ( fools hilords could technically be placed in the " low ar setup " bracket )
the key to a low ar setup often lies in high ds and damage
they rely on 2 aspects of the duel to succeed
#1) a high % chance to fhr hit
#2) a small average amount of strikes to kill

even with low def , or low life , these setups can often succeed
they do rely on damage tho , and ias jewels should most often be 40-15's
you can generally swap in ar / life charms into your inven , and not lose your killing power ( a full ar/life inven isnt generally a good idea tho )

good weapons for these kinds of setup include
death
eth heavens light
eth redeemer
eth runemaster
eth fools weps
ebotdz

+ skill items

+ 1 offensive auras adds 5% ar and 17 % ed
+1 combat skills adds 10 % ar and 6 % ed

+1 all skills add 15% ar and 23 % ed

ias breakpoints

the ias breakpoints for the most common weapons are listed below
weapons with a base speed of 10 will change breakpoint at lvl 27 fanatacism
all other weapons change breakpoint at lvl 36 fana

the 1st number is the bp at lvl 24-26 fana , the 2nd is at lvl 27-35 fana , the 3rd at lvl 36-43 fana

tomahawk ---------------60 / 60 / 55
small cresent ------------85 / 80 / 80
ettin ----------------------85 / 80 / 80
zerker --------------------60 / 60 / 55
war spike ----------------40 / 40 / 35

trunchen -----------------40 / 40 / 35
tyrant club ---------------60 / 60 / 55
reinforced mace ---------60 / 60 / 55
devil star -----------------85 / 80 / 80
scourge ------------------40 / 40 / 35
legendary mallet --------115 / 115 / 110

mighty scepter ----------60 / 60 / 55
seraph rod ---------------85 / 80 / 80
caduceus -----------------40 / 40 / 35

falcatta -------------------60 / 60 / 55
ataghan ------------------25 / 25 / 20
elegant blade ------------40 / 40 / 35
hydra edge ---------------85 / 80 / 80
phase blade --------------10 / 10 / 10
conquest sword ----------60 / 60 / 55

note , base 10 speed weapons change breakpoint again at lvl 44 fana
however in practice , even lvl 36 fana is almost never reached

This post was edited by Matao on Nov 2 2010 05:52am

chance to strike

Chance to Hit: 100 * AR / (AR + DR) * 2 * alvl / (alvl + dlvl)
where AR = Attack Rating of Attacker; DR = Defense Rating of Defender; alvl = Level of Attacker; dlvl = Level of Defender.


all strike rates given below are based on attacker and defender being at the same lvl



ar --------------- def ----------------- strike rate ---------------- strike rate at -25 ----------- strike rate at -33


15k -------------- 30k ------------------- 33.33 % ------------------ 36.36 % --------------------- 37.50 %
15k --------------32.5k ----------------- 31.57 % ------------------ 34.53 % -----------------------35.62 %
15k --------------35k -------------------- 30 % --------------------- 32.88 % ----------------------- 33.93 %
15k --------------37.5k ----------------- 28.57 % ----------------- 31.37 % ----------------------- 32.39 %
15k ------------- 40k -------------------- 27.27 % ------------------30 % --------------------------- 30.99 %
15k ------------- 42.5k ----------------- 26.08 --------------------- 28.74 % ----------------------- 29.70 %
15k ------------- 45k ------------------- 25 % --------------------- 27.58 % ------------------------ 28.51 %
15k ------------- 47.5k ---------------- 24 % ----------------------- 26.52 % ----------------------- 27.42 %
15k ------------- 50k ------------------- 23.07 % ------------------ 25.53 % ------------------------- 26.43 %


17.5k---------- 30k ---------------------- 36.84 % -------------------- 40 % ----------------------- 41.17 %
17.5k --------- 32.5k ------------------- 35 % ------------------------- 38.10 % ------------------- 39.23 %
17.5k --------- 35k ---------------------- 33.33 % -------------------- 36.36 % -------------------- 37.47 %
17.5k --------- 37.5k -------------------- 31.81 % -------------------- 34.78 % --------------------35.86 %
17.5k --------- 40k ----------------------- 30.43 % -------------------- 33.33 % -------------------- 34.38 %
17.5k --------- 42.5k -------------------- 29.16 % -------------------- 32 % ------------------------- 33.01 %
17.5k --------- 45k ----------------------- 28 % ------------------------- 30.77 % -------------------- 31.76 %
17.5k --------- 47.5k -------------------- 26.92 % --------------------- 29.63 % -------------------- 30.61 %
17.5k --------- 50k ----------------------- 25.92 % --------------------- 28.57 % --------------------- 29.53 %


20k -----------30k ------------------------ 40 % -------------------------- 43.24 % -------------------- 44.44 %
20k ----------- 32.5k --------------------- 38.09 % ---------------------- 41.29 % -------------------- 42.46 %
20k ----------- 35k ------------------------ 36.36 % ---------------------- 39.51 % -------------------- 40.65 %
20k ------------ 37.5k --------------------- 34.78 % ---------------------- 37.87 % -------------------- 38.98 %
20k ------------ 40k ----------------------- 33.33 % ----------------------- 36.36 % -------------------- 37.45 %
20k ------------ 42.5k --------------------- 32 % -------------------------- 34.97 % --------------------- 36.03 %
20k ------------ 45k ------------------------30.76 % ----------------------- 33.68 % --------------------- 34.72 %
20k ------------ 47.5k --------------------- 29.62 % ----------------------- 32.49 % --------------------- 33.50 %
20k ------------ 50k ----------------------- 28.57 % ------------------------ 31.37 % --------------------- 32.38 %


ar --------------- def ----------------- strike rate ---------------- strike rate at -25 ----------- strike rate at -33


22.5k ------- 30k ------------------------ 42.85 % ------------------------- 46.15 % ---------------------- 47.36 %
22.5k ------- 32.5k --------------------- 40.90 % ------------------------- 44.17 % ----------------------- 45.36 %
22.5k ------- 35k ----------------------- 39.13 % ------------------------ 42.35 % ------------------------ 43.52 %
22.5k ------- 37.5k --------------------- 37.5 % --------------------------- 40.67 % ----------------------- 41.82 %
22.5k ------- 40k ----------------------- 36 % ----------------------------- 39.13 % ------------------------ 40.25 %
22.5k -------42.5k --------------------- 34.61 % -------------------------- 37.70 % ------------------------ 38.79 %
22.5k ------- 45k ----------------------- 33.33 % --------------------------- 36.36 % ----------------------- 37.43 %
22.5k ------ 47.5k ---------------------- 32.14 % -------------------------- 35.12 % ------------------------ 36.17 %
22.5k ------ 50k ------------------------ 31.03 % --------------------------- 33.96 % ------------------------ 35.01 %



25k --------- 30k ------------------------- 45.45 % -------------------------- 48.78 % ------------------------ 50 %
25k --------- 32.5k ----------------------- 43.47 % -------------------------- 46.79 % ----------------------- 47.98 %
25k --------- 35k -------------------------- 41.66 % -------------------------- 44.94 % ------------------------ 46.12 %
25k ---------- 37.5k ----------------------- 40 % ------------------------------ 43.24 % ----------------------- 44.40 %
25k ---------- 40k ------------------------- 38.46 % -------------------------- 41.66 % ------------------------ 42.80 %
25k ---------- 42.5k ----------------------- 37.03 % -------------------------- 40.20 % ------------------------ 41.32 %
25k ---------- 45k -------------------------- 35.71 % -------------------------- 38.83 % ------------------------ 39.93 %
25k ---------- 47.5k ------------------------34.48 % -------------------------- 37.56 % ------------------------- 38.63 %
25k -----------50k -------------------------- 33.33 % -------------------------- 36.36 % ------------------------- 37.45 %




27.5k ------ 30k --------------------------- 47.82 % -------------------------- 51.16 % --------------------------- 52.38 %
27.5k ------ 32.5k ------------------------- 45.83 % ------------------------- 49.16 % ---------------------------- 50.36 %
27.5k ------ 35k ---------------------------- 44 % ----------------------------- 47.31 % ---------------------------- 48.50 %
27.5k ------ 37.5k ------------------------- 42.30 % -------------------------- 45.59 % ---------------------------- 46.76 %
27.5k ------ 40k ---------------------------- 40.74 % -------------------------- 44 % -------------------------------- 45.15 %
27.5k ------ 42.5k ------------------------- 39.28 % --------------------------- 42.51 % ---------------------------- 43.65 %
27.5k ------ 45k ---------------------------- 37.93 % --------------------------- 41.12 % ---------------------------- 42.24 %
27.5k ------ 47.5k ------------------------- 36.66 % ---------------------------- 39.82 % ---------------------------- 40.92 %
27.5k ------ 50k ---------------------------- 35.48 % --------------------------- 38.59 % ----------------------------- 39.71 %


ar --------------- def ----------------- strike rate ---------------- strike rate at -25 ----------- strike rate at -33



30k -------- 30k --------------------------- 50 % --------------------------------- 53.33 % ---------------------------- 54.54%
30k -------- 32.5k ------------------------- 48 % --------------------------------- 51.34 % ---------------------------- 52.53 %
30k -------- 35k --------------------------- 46.15 % ------------------------------ 49.48 % ---------------------------- 50.67 %
30k -------- 37.5k ------------------------- 44.44 % ------------------------------ 47.76 % ---------------------------- 48.93 %
30k -------- 40k ---------------------------- 42.85 % ------------------------------ 46.15 % ---------------------------- 47.31 %
30k -------- 42.5k -------------------------- 41.37 % ------------------------------ 44.65 % ---------------------------- 45.80 %
30k -------- 45k ----------------------------- 40 % ---------------------------------- 43.24 % ---------------------------- 44.37 %
30k -------- 47.5k --------------------------- 38.70 % ------------------------------ 41.92 % ---------------------------- 43.04 %
30k -------- 50k ------------------------------ 37.50 % ------------------------------ 40.67 % ---------------------------- 41.81 %



32.5k ------- 30k ------------------------------- 52 % --------------------------------- 55.31 % ----------------------------- 56.52 %
32.5k ------- 32.5k ----------------------------- 50 % --------------------------------- 53.33 % ----------------------------- 54.53 %
32.5k ------- 35k -------------------------------- 48.14 % ----------------------------- 51.48 % ----------------------------- 52.67 %
32.5k ------- 37.5k ----------------------------- 46.42 % ----------------------------- 49.76 % ----------------------------- 50.94 %
32.5k ------- 40k --------------------------------- 44.82 % ----------------------------- 48.14 % ----------------------------- 49.31 %
32.5k ------- 42.5k ------------------------------ 43.33 % ------------------------------ 46.64 % ----------------------------- 47.79 %
32.5k ------- 45k --------------------------------- 41.93 % ------------------------------ 45.22 % ----------------------------- 46.36 %
32.5k ------- 47.5k ------------------------------- 40.62k -------------------------------- 43.88 % ------------------------------ 45.01 %
32.5k -------- 50k --------------------------------- 39.39 % ------------------------------ 42.62 % ------------------------------ 43.77 %



35k ----------- 30k ------------------------------ 53.84 % -------------------------------- 57.14 % ------------------------------- 58.33 %
35k ----------- 32.5k --------------------------- 51.85 % --------------------------------- 55.17 % ------------------------------- 56.36 %
35k ----------- 35k ------------------------------ 50 % ------------------------------------- 53.33 % ------------------------------- 54.51 %
35k ----------- 37.5k ---------------------------- 48.27 % -------------------------------- 51.61 % -------------------------------- 52.79 %
35k ----------- 40k ------------------------------- 46.66 % -------------------------------- 50 % ------------------------------------ 51.16 %
35k ----------- 42.5k ----------------------------- 45.16 % -------------------------------- 48.48 % -------------------------------- 49.64 %
35k ----------- 45k -------------------------------- 43.75 % -------------------------------- 47.06 % -------------------------------- 48.20 %
35k ----------- 47.5k ------------------------------ 42.42 % -------------------------------- 45.71 % -------------------------------- 46.85 %
35k ----------- 50k -------------------------------- 41.17 % --------------------------------- 44.44 % -------------------------------- 45.60 %

This post was edited by Matao on Nov 8 2010 07:32am

ratio

so , as we can see by the chance to strike table , the amount of ar you have is only relevant when compared to your opponents def
and the amount of def you have is only relevant compared to your opponents ar
it is totally meaningless to say " i have 25 k ar with edc " , without knowing your opponents def 1st
rather , it is the ratio of ar/def that determines your ability to strike

looking at the tables , we can see some very simple ratio relationships

when your ar = 50% of opponents def , your strike rate = 33.33%
when your ar = 66.66% of opponents def , your strike rate = 40%
when your ar = 100% of opponents def , your strike rate = 50 %

relationships

There is a relationship between ar and def
if your opponents def stays the same , the more ar you have , the more often you will strike
and if your opponents ar stays the same , the more def you have , the less you get hit

There is a relationship between strike rate and damage
the more you strike , the more often you get to deal your damage
an effective strike rate is one that deals killing damage , before being killed
simply put , the more damage you deal , the less strikes u need to kill , and the lower your strike rate needs to be , in order to be effective

There is a relationship between life and time
lets say you can kill your opponent in 2 hits , and your opponent needs 4 hits to kill you
if your opponent can deliver the 4th blow before you strike your 2nd , he will win
he he can only hit 3 times before you hit twice , he will lose

There is a relationship between damage and fhr
see the section on fhr

changing stats by changing gear

the 1st question we need to ask is " why would i want to change my stats ? , i have a good build , why would i want to change something ? "
the answear is the same old one we hear all the time " everything depends on what your opponent is using , there is no such thing as a " best " setup "

lets look at a simple example , in a general way

you are dueling someone , and u need 4 hits to kill him ( on average )
your opponent needs 4 hits to kill you ( on average )
however , you notice 2 things
1st , 3hits almost kills him , but not quite
2nd , he seems to land his 4th hit just before you land your 4th
now , its ez to see here , that changing at least one of the following things would swing the game in your favour

1st , if you could keep your same ar , but increase your damage slightly , u would only need 3 hits to win
2nd , if you could increase your life by just enough , your opponent would need an xtra hit to win , giving you time to land the 4th blow
3rd , increasing your def , while keeping the same ar /damage , would give you the xtra time needed to land your 4th hit before he lands his
so , by changing gear , to increase either damage, life or def ( while decreasing other stats ofc ) , would probably change the game

now this all seems simple enough , but you cant just increase something ( like damage ) , without something else decreasing ( like ar )
the key is to understand that none of the stats should be viewed as absolute , but rather as ratio's , and proportions

lets say your opponent has 3600 life , and you deal a consistant 1200 damage
its very ez to see that u need 3 hits to win
but what if you dealt a consistant 1195 damage ?
you would need 4 hits to win
if your damage was consistatly 1195 , by just increasing a very very small amount , you would kill about 25% faster
this would make an enourmas differnce to the effectiveness of the build

similar to this , if you have 3600 life , and your opponent deals a consistant 1200 damage you will die in 3 hits
and yet , if you could just add a little life , he would need 4 hits , possibly giving you the xtra time needed to land your 4th ( killing ) hit

if you are getting hit once per 5 zeal swings ( 20% final strike rate ) , then by slightly adding to your def , you will cause his final strike rate to go below 20% ( 19 %)
and now , your not getting hit every 5 swings , but every 6

these small differnces are game changing , and it is for this reason , that there will never be a best zeal build
it is wrong to think of setups as having str's and weakness's , for 1 simple reason
the only way we can interperate a zealots statistics , is by looking at his opponents statistics
whats is a str vs some opponents , is a weakness vs others


no matter how we answear it tho , every zealer will face the same problem
after winning 5 duels in a row , an opponent changes gear , and now is winning most of the duels
what do you do ? you change gear ofc
u must have multiple gear changes available , and the whole piont of changing your gear , is to change your stats