Not a lot has changed since my prior guide to smiter shields (https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=56553677&f=87), which provides details about how smite damage is calculated, what impacts that damage, and a few thoughts on different shields.

When that guide was written, one shield that was known to do significant damage but that no one used was Phoenix. Phoenix in a shield has up to +400% ed, which modifies smite damage. The problem was that Phoenix has a 40% chance to cast firestorm on striking. Any time this firestorm would cast, your character would be unable to use the smite skill until the firestorm finished casting/its cast delay ended. This almost always meant certain death in pvp.

The new 2.4 patch notes, however, contained this interesting tidbit:



I wondered if this also modified firestorms cast due to Phoenix and how. I tested this in the 2.4 PTR and it turns out that firestorms cast by Phoenix no longer interrupts your smite.

This means that Phoenix is now a viable smiter shield, particularly because it has the highest damage potential in the game.

Thanks to CupoJoe in game, I was also able to confirm that Phoenix still out damages HoZ, meaning the ED of Phoenix still applies to smite in the current version of 2.4. I also confirmed that the in game screen still does not accurately reflect smite damage as it showed lower damage when holding Phoenix than HoZ.

Of course, whether it is worth losing the ability to have a ber in your shield when changing from HoZ/Jstod to Phoenix is a subject to debate and study (and of course FCR/res/stats are other considerations). But, it may be time to start considering Phoenix in your smite builds.

Hope this is helpful.

dac

I have done a bit more testing now on Phoenix and, by calculation, Phoenix is likely to be the bis pure smite / charge smite shield in the new patch.

For this testing, I used hero editor to create a level 99 smiter. The following gear stayed consistent across tests: ap enigma, maras, bk, raven, waterwalks, dungos, gloves (15dex/15str/20life), 6/6 cta, bo spirit, 9x 40 life pcomb, 20/20 anni, 20/20 ptorch. I switched helms and shields as indicated in the below table (Zaks were used for all shield bases). I then calculated the average smite damage and life for each condition after maxing smite, holy shield, fanaticism, and casting bc and bo.

The two Phoenix conditions (knights and res) had significantly higher damage than any other shield and the loss in health was not too bad despite having to stat additional strength to use CoA, which is necessary to make up for missing damage reduction from not having a ber in your shield.




I then took this data and used it to calculate how many hits a player wearing a certain set of gear would take to kill a player wearing each set of gear. This calculation does not factor in other damage sources such as open wounds/crushing blows/foh. In these calculations, players using Phoenix would kill their opponent one hit earlier than their opponent would kill them (6 hits vs 7 hits). This advantage is why Phoenix is likely to be bis for pure smite / charge smite duels in the new patch.



Of course, any advantage may be compensated for in live matches by player skill/outside damage sources etc., but from a pure numbers perspective, it appears that Phoenix will be the new go to shield.

I hope this information is helpful.

dac

This post was edited by dac on Jan 29 2022 03:40pm

Spirit is the #1 smiter shield 😀

none of this matters to diablo 2 lord of destruction and think your topic should be moved to d2r because none of these updates apply to lord of destruction

You are correct. Didn’t realize I grabbed the d2 discussion and not D2r. Will move. Thanks.

Nice info man, thanks for sharing

Thanks.

All, please see the new thread which is in the correct forum: https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=92178921&f=148

I have also made some revisions to the data and information in the new thread due to discussions with M0TAR0, who helpfully raised issues with the original calculations which didnt account for max block.

Please consider this thread closed and please use the new thread instead.

Gfg info, ty Bro