Return of Reckoning

frippe30 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 2:58 pm Hey guys lvling a new zealiot and wondering about the gear if u go dps. Does it matter if u go int or willpower? (Becus of Harbringer) And is it possible to go a good solid aoe build?
Love the game thx if replies :

Sanctific wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:14 pm What Stink said, raw stats on gear (WP or INT) dont matter, they will get converted (inclusive of talismans btw. it is therefore much cheaper for a zeal to slot WP talis instead of INT into gear since WP is dirt-cheap). Healing sets may have bonuses which are irrelevant for DPS spec(s) tho (anything with "...on healing"), so keep that in mind. Speaking of set bonuses - WP/INT and healing/magic power are converted by Harbinger too.

In respect to AOE - zeal may dish out some truly nasty AOE damage, on par with dps-dps classes out there, however unlike magus - zeal needs to be closer to enemies to achieve that, which is much riskier thus zeal would need a guard, but people in general arent yet accustomed to the fact that a zeal may be an effective DPS-er, thus a zeal would unlikely be guarded & focus-healed so...expect to die a lot in pugs.

Stinksuit wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:24 pm

Sanctific wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:14 pm What Stink said, raw stats on gear (WP or INT) dont matter, they will get converted (inclusive of talismans btw. it is therefore much cheaper for a zeal to slot WP talis instead of INT into gear since WP is dirt-cheap). Healing sets may have bonuses which are irrelevant for DPS spec(s) tho (anything with "...on healing"), so keep that in mind. Speaking of set bonuses - WP/INT and healing/magic power are converted by Harbinger too.

In respect to AOE - zeal may dish out some truly nasty AOE damage, on par with dps-dps classes out there, however unlike magus - zeal needs to be closer to enemies to achieve that, which is much riskier thus zeal would need a guard, but people in general arent yet accustomed to the fact that a zeal may be an effective DPS-er, thus a zeal would unlikely be guarded & focus-healed so...expect to die a lot in pugs.

I think aoe zealot having to be much closer than magus depends if youre playing a 'max dmg' spec or debuffer. Debuffer you want guard, melee range and bg with witch king ideally. Pure max dmg youre just fine even wihtout guard. Ive done multiple lotd's as aoe zeal without guard, its more about positioning than anything

Sanctific wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 6:38 pm

Stinksuit wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:24 pm

Sanctific wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:14 pm What Stink said, raw stats on gear (WP or INT) dont matter, they will get converted (inclusive of talismans btw. it is therefore much cheaper for a zeal to slot WP talis instead of INT into gear since WP is dirt-cheap). Healing sets may have bonuses which are irrelevant for DPS spec(s) tho (anything with "...on healing"), so keep that in mind. Speaking of set bonuses - WP/INT and healing/magic power are converted by Harbinger too.

In respect to AOE - zeal may dish out some truly nasty AOE damage, on par with dps-dps classes out there, however unlike magus - zeal needs to be closer to enemies to achieve that, which is much riskier thus zeal would need a guard, but people in general arent yet accustomed to the fact that a zeal may be an effective DPS-er, thus a zeal would unlikely be guarded & focus-healed so...expect to die a lot in pugs.

I think aoe zealot having to be much closer than magus depends if youre playing a 'max dmg' spec or debuffer. Debuffer you want guard, melee range and bg with witch king ideally. Pure max dmg youre just fine even wihtout guard. Ive done multiple lotd's as aoe zeal without guard, its more about positioning than anything

Lotd - gotta agree, in there i feel rather safe as well, even as a solo zeal fully relying on lifesteal (even whilst on the very frontline). Its all due to the server lag which allows these rather crazy things. So all in all - LOTD isnt an indicator how an AOE zeal can/should play.

In lakes however - server lag isnt there to save our robe-covered asses thus near-melee range is super deadly.

Speaking of max DPS/debuffs - gotta radically disagree with you there.

Max dps is only achievable through extensive usage of Demon Spittle which, as the dot, far exceeds in power any other zeal's DOT, (even more so if you are specced heavily into Dark Rites), "unbuffed" (without scourged warping) warped reality for instance does less damage than spittle (in terms of DPS). Coupled with prolonged suffering - it will roughly deal 40% of the overall DPS of an aoe zeal. However, Demon Spittle has 40yd range and, ideally, you dont want to "touch" the frontline of an Order blob only with spittle, but you'd want to extend it to (at the very least) their mid-lane. That would force you to come to their front-line as close as 10-15-20ft which is already hella dangerous without guard, if you'd want to truly-truly max the dps - then you'd need to play literally at melee range for spittle to also get extended to bacline (also, if a zeal has got aoe silence slotted in - that would need to be used against backline, which would also force one to come super close to the frontline)

Debuffing role however - that would force zeal to play at range & super defensively since the most valuable debuff is IHD, and slotting/speccing into that AND into AOE would mean that zeal wouldnt have access to transference and...well, without transference zeal would die just as fast, as a sorc would. Luckily for IHD debuffing - zeal may remain at roughly 40yd range, target midline and CA would do the rest. Of course if a zeal is in org WB, gets guarded & stuff - then debuffing role may be performed even better, by slotting spittle anti armor/resistance tactic, getting into melee & making use of winds to debuff both IHD & defense and do some impressive damage in the process, but...not in pugs So, long story short, speccing into AOE IHD debuffer whilst in a pug - that would almost certainly force you to maintain distance.