Hc Zealer Slow Supertank Thoughts - Topic

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Oct 15 2025 03:54am

Hey there.

I got pretty shat on a few days ago ,when I thought about using SS over HoZ and I got the message.
People see it as kind of a coward decision that makes little to no sense.
Picking a shield for one single overrated defensive statline over a shield with only great stats defensively and offensively is what makes it unreasonable in the eyes of many, I understand that.

Buut....i still consider it*lol

Why? Because I wanna make some sort of damage dealing tank out of my Zealer. I want 90 - 95 Res all, absorb lightning, fire and cold, 50% pdr, max block and fairly high defense while offensively still going for good damage including 100% ds, at least 65% cb, 50% Open Wounds, good ar and at least 6% ml and 10+% LL.

It should be possible, so why not trying to do it, right?

Do you all really find it boring to build a slow juggernaut? I mean, this dude obviously cant farm shit, but thats not what I make him for. Its just a cool project I try to realize.

This post was edited by Kaltrato on Oct 15 2025 03:56am

Ribcracker

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Oct 17 2025 02:16pm

And use Guardian Angel for the chest armor, right?)

Kaltrato

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Oct 17 2025 11:05pm

Of course :-)

WiseWolf

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Oct 23 2025 10:41am

i put ber'ed ss on any character besides a hdin (hoz+um/ber) i dont want to die pvm. ss + um or ber is the most reliable shield / rune combination in the game. while leveling to 99 its the only shield i use on ALL non pally chars.

i would use um'ed kiras, highlords, dual raven pb grief, dracs, ber'ed ss, enigma in ap, 8llc/15dr string of ears, upgraded gore riders. this build will have life leach and life tap but completely lack mana leach. so you could actually drop a raven and have a rare ring with life/mana leach + str dex res.
dont use a cta use a dedicated bo barb this is hc. even on sc i only use a bo barb there is no reason not to.

for charms instead of going for damage have a defensive build in terms of life and stacked resistance. so you would need ideally 20/11 scs 20 life 11 (light res) and you would need white a few mix of these to stack everything but poison.

you dont need light absorb if you have around 7-10k life with stacked res and even on sc this is how much i walk around with.

if you do use ebotd zerk your damage will be utter crap but you will have dual leach. if you use grief pb you will just 1 hit everything but wont have on weapon leach and will require advanced gear options to compensate for leach.

Taurean

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Oct 23 2025 10:57am

Quote (WiseWolf @ 23 Oct 2025 18:41)
i put ber'ed ss on any character besides a hdin (hoz+um/ber) i dont want to die pvm. ss + um or ber is the most reliable shield / rune combination in the game. while leveling to 99 its the only shield i use on ALL non pally chars.

i would use 1 um'ed kiras, highlords, dual raven pb grief, 2 dracs, ber'ed ss, enigma in ap, 8llc/15dr string of ears, upgraded gore riders. this build will have life leach and life tap but completely 3 lack mana leach. so you could actually drop a raven and have a rare ring with life/mana leach + str dex res.
dont use a cta use a dedicated bo barb this is hc. even on sc i only use a bo barb there is no reason not to.

for charms instead of going for damage have a defensive build in terms of life and stacked resistance. so you would need ideally 20/11 scs 20 life 11 (light res) and you would need white a few mix of these to stack everything but poison.

you dont need light absorb if you have around 7-10k life with stacked res and even on sc this is how much i walk around with.

if you do use ebotd zerk your damage will be utter crap but you will have dual leach. if you use grief pb you will just 1 hit everything but wont have on weapon leach and will 2 require advanced gear options to compensate for 3 leach.

1) Finally what i've been telling for 10 years is beginning to get widespread ^^ nah i realize it's not optimal for every single build, but that helmet option with that rune is insanely strong for any build and merc.

2) Drac's grasp great for leech, if not dealing direct damage.

3) Why i always like the prayer+insight merc. Or well, maybe this time, not necessary with prayer, so much life leach, the mana regen from insight will be enough.

WiseWolf

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Oct 24 2025 01:03am

Quote (Taurean @ Oct 23 2025 04:57pm)

1) Finally what i've been telling for 10 years is beginning to get widespread ^^ nah i realize it's not optimal for every single build, but that helmet option with that rune is insanely strong for any build and merc.

2) Drac's grasp great for leech, if not dealing direct damage.

3) Why i always like the prayer+insight merc. Or well, maybe this time, not necessary with prayer, so much life leach, the mana regen from insight will be enough.

actually i was telling people to use um + kiras on a lot of chars like summon necros or uber smiters back in 2006 / 2007 on youtube. so i kinda beat you by 8 years (ish) on your decade. i have advised for years if people are making hc or hardening chars to use kiras + um and stomshield with ber or um.

so no your advice i have never heard of it and had no effect. can you provide sources?

Taurean

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Oct 24 2025 01:49am

Quote (WiseWolf @ 24 Oct 2025 09:03)
actually i was telling people to use um + kiras on a lot of chars like summon necros or uber smiters back in 2006 / 2007 on youtube. so i kinda beat you by 8 years (ish) on your decade. i have advised for years if people are making hc or hardening chars to use kiras + um and stomshield with ber or um.

so no your advice i have never heard of it and had no effect. can you provide sources?

I never read it back then .... if you did that on youtube you didn't do it on this site... i did. So you didn't beat me .. i figured it out by myself and just shared it as i felt like it. I was busy with life too.... very busy. Only in about 2013-2014 i "landed" slightly and got more into d2 and stuff... n figured this stuff out. On my own. N shared it, n got murdererd for it. But still kept the idea going, because i just know how strong it is.

But it's okay :) I just find it cool that someone else does the same. Because i got harassed for it ... a lot. So that means i was not wrong. That makes me happy. It's hard standing alone against 30 harassing users and their multis.

And i've actually had the idea of a very tanky build myself, both paladin, and amazon. Tried spearzon many times, it always gets hard in hell. But it's a fun challenge to make it as tanky as possible, i did last ladder actually, went for 1-h spear n shield... it was kind of cool, but sadly damage gets very lacking due to the low damage on the spears. I was unlucky too, i gambled a lot for rare spears, but never got any of value .. so it was slow going. Seems i should have gone 2-handed. Done that before, that is easier, deals good damage. You take damage too, but the +4 range helps a lot.