Level 18 Zealot

The undisputed champ of level 18 melee so far, I have never encountered another melee build that could beat my zealot in a best of 7 duelset. The only build i've lost to is, yes, another 18 zealot haha. Level 18 Zealots benefit from extremely high max damage, excellent life, high attack rating, and a 5 frame/5 hit uninterruptible attack, making them one tough opponent. Anyways here's a guide on the basics and the formation of elite 18 zealots.

Stats

Strength: Enough to use your highest req. item; usually this is 55 if you use the standard two weapons explained below
Dexterity: Enough for 75% Block; you can attain this with base dex using the gear below
Vitality: Rest
Energy: Zero


Gear

The main component to your gear will be the Max Damage jewels you put in. Standard Max Damage Jewel is 15; Best is 20. 15's are cheap and pretty easy to come by; anything up to 17-18 isnt that expensive. To become really elite, you will need to dish out quite alot to get those 19-20 Max Damage Jewels

Helms:

A] 3 Socket 15% Superior ED Crown or Mask
Socket this with 3x Max Damage Jewels
B] 20%-30% ED/80-120 Attack Rating/30-40 Life/2 Socket Circlet
Chances of this spawning is quite low, but it still offers you an edge in terms of uniqueness and imho, works just as well if not better than a 3 sock Crown. Socket this with 2x Max Damage Jewels

here is a s/s of mine:


Only lacking component is ED, but this is one of my fav. items ever

Amulet:

A] Angelic Wings
Only choice here

Weapons

A] Cleglaw's Tooth (Long Sword)
50% Deadly Strike and 30% AR bonus makes this a popular, cheap, and very effective choice as you only need 1 Max Jewel.
B] 5 Socket War Scepter, with bonus mods +1-3 Zeal, +1-3 Concentration
A close call with Cleglaws on which is the more effective level 18 weapon. This offers very high damage, especially if you get the +Zeal and Concentration mods on it, but requires 4 more Max Jewels than Cleglaws
C] 6 Socket Military Pick
Socket this with 6x Maxers. Offers similar damage to the War Scepter but again you need another jewel and lose out on +Skills.

These above three are pretty much your only choices for a level 18 zealot; all are 5 frame zeal (fastest for this level), and all are beneficial in their own ways. I personally use Cleglaws; but might be willing to spend a lot on jewels if I ever encountered a 3 Zeal/3 Conc War Scepter

Note - the BEST weapon for a Level 18 Zealot (which will prob. never spawn) would be a ~100% ED/20% Ias/20 Max/40 Attack Rating/2 Socket/Self repair Ethereal War Scepter with +Zeal and +Concentration. If any of you find this please let me know I will buy it no matter what . This would allow you to use a 4 socket Max Jewel'd armor.
Thanks to ATOMICMAN from lld101, the original Cleglaw user and 4 time arena champ, for this info that sadly none of us will get to see in action on closed

Armor

A] 60 Defense Twitchthroe
Socket this with a Max Jewel. Offers 20% Ias/20% ICB/10 Str/10 Dex. Basically gives you every possible bonus you could desire.

Shield

A] 4 Socket Paladin Shield with 60%+ ED/100+ Attack Rating
Socket this with 4x Max Jewels. Optimal Shield would be 63%-65% ED/110+ AR; perfect is 65%/121. I would recommend ONLY using Heladric or Aerin shields as both offer max block% with standard gear and have lower Str reqs (40 and 50)

Gloves

A) Death's Gloves
Only option here as you get IAS Bonus w/ the belt

Rings

A] 2x Angelic Rings
Each gives 20 Life and 6 replen; combined with the Amulet the set offers 75 Life and 10 Dexterity.
B] 1x Angelic Ring/1x Classic Ar/Stat Ring
Prime example of this type of Ring is Bitter Hold on East, which is 139 AR/12 Str/14 Dex/30% Cold and Psn Resist. The reason I myself never used one is because I duel in the Arena on LLD101, which disallows dupe usage in tournaments. I feel this would be the best setup though, saving stats. However the dexterity is not needed using standard gear, but the Str allows you to gain more life. Attack rating stays about the same in both setups.

Boots

A] Cow King's Boots
20 Dex and 25-35 Fire Damage. No question here. Get a 41 Def one please.

Charms

A] Grand - 4-6 Max Damage/20-48 Attack Rating/15-20 Life or 5-6 Str
Another source for more Max Damage. The main point here is the Str or Life choice. 1 Str = 1 Vit = 3 Life, so basically, a 6/xx/6 str = 6/xx/18 life. I would say use 6/xx/6 if you cannot afford 6/xx/18-20 as they will come somewhat cheaper from what i've seen. Ensure you use any 6/xx/19-20 lifers you may acquire.
B] Small - 13-15 Life/6-12 Attack Rating
These are the backbone of your life gain and offers more attack rating at the same time.

Generally you will use 10 Grand Charms and 10 Small Charms to optimize damage and attack rating while gaining decent life.

Skills

Basic allocation of skills is as follows, with 29 Skills total using a Hell Rushed Level 18:

18 Sacrifice
7 Zeal
4 Might'


My Zealot - Vanquish

This is my own personal setup/stats on my zealot:

38 Max/91 AR/38 Life/40% LR Circlet
Angelic Amulet/Rings
20 Max Clegs
20 Max Twitch
75 Max/112 AR Aerin Shield (I have a 65/121/80 on Ladder waiting for merge)
Death's Belt/Gloves
41 Def Cow King Boots

2x 6/xx/6 str gcs (27/46 Attack Rating)
5x 6/xx/20 life gcs (21/27/33/35/37/41 Attack Rating)

8x 15 life/12 ar scs
2x 15 life/11 ar scs
4x 15 life/10 ar scs
2x 15 life/9 ar scs
1x 15 life/1-11 lit dmg sc

18 Sacrifice
7 Zeal
1 Might
2 Blessed Aim
1 Concentration

Final result



While I do have ~150 less Max than some 18's ive seen, i have ~100 More AR and Life there. The overall % increase in life is > max damage which is why i use this setup.
Once Ladder merges ill do 1.2k max with ~2,875 AR, 918 life.

Ok yay done afk!

its good but i dont like zeal.. :/ i prefer charger

damn sexy circ
have to admit, i got a zealor, made on the cheap and still hit 1k charge as well as the standard 1k zeal
probably the best/most effective melee lld for ur money
maybe when i finally find a 1.09 azure i'll remake to have 900 life too ^
azure for style FTW!
gz for having that many 15/12 sc's i've only ever got 1 15/11 and a 14/12
peace

09 azure is too slow (only 6 frame zeal); otherwise id probably use it.

Nice detailed guide but you can use this only vs other melee chars.. (and thats pretty boring to me)

and what will you do vs chargers???

btw I prefere a non duped non classic rare ring over 2e angelics
I use xx ar/5str/4dex/42mana/5replenish... but thats for my charge/zealer, the mana really helps allot.



me to, or a combination of both..

This post was edited by Hellskin on Jan 28 2007 03:06pm

lose

but charges counts as ranged right?

anyways... I always try to make my duelers able to duel all...

this char will have no chanse vs a 18 charger/boner/eledruid/amazone or any other ranged char...

hence this is a melee specified char like i stated in the first line

on switch i have throw spear and also a charge scept with a max shield but i use them more for fun. theres no point in fighting a ranged char with a pure melee. if i was gonna duel vs. all id never make a zealot

i have a 104 ar/5 str/4dex/10 energy/10 mana ring i could use if i wanted but its muled atm.

This post was edited by elusive on Jan 28 2007 03:24pm

Agreed. This is definately a melee char. Other opponents in the same class would include 18 jabbers, 18 kickers, 18 shapeshifters, and 18 conc barbs (are there any others?). I'm currently in the process of remaking my 18 conc barb. He only ever had 60% max block due to a charm mishap. I think an 18 conc barb is the only viable competitor for the 18 zealot.

Apples vs apples.

Good guide!

after realising your realm has a good amount of pure-melee duelers @ lvl 18 I see now that its a very nice guide...

to bad this guide isnt usefull for players @ europe (cuz most 18's arent pure-melee)