The damage you get from Strength is very minor compared to skill bonuses the bonus from Dexterity isn’t any better but ranged amazons can safely drop some Vitality. It allows you to travel and fight more safely, and reduces the chances of being killed faster than you can react to whatever’s killing you (especially important on due to lag issues). Vitality gives you Life, and therefore keeps you alive. The reason for this rule is simple: opportunity cost.

The only major exceptions to the above rule are glass cannon amazons (who will sacrifice some Vitality for extra Dexterity, purely for the damage) and energy shield sorceresses (who use Energy mostly in place of Vitality, though some Vitality is still absolutely necessary). (I also don’t like respecs.) Two Major Exceptions I typically do not bother with quite that much planning in a character, so I leave myself a little cushion (either extra points in Str or Dex, or unspent points) until the end of the game when my gear is finalized. If you have all your gear ahead of time, you can spend some time with a calculator to figure out how much Strength and Dexterity you need, and just plug the rest in Vitality. This rule will optimally cover about 99% of all possible builds in Diablo II. Enough Dexterity to equip your weapon or achieve 75% blocking (Paladins should almost-always go for max block holy shield leaves no excuse).

Zeal allows you to take a lot of very quick swings at a monster while at the same time increasing your attack rating. Additional points into Zeal increases Attack Rating and increases the number of swings per use of Zeal up to 5.

Zeal increases your Attack Rating, and allows you to attack multiple adjacent monsters.Quickly attacks multiple adjacent enemies.When surrounded by his enemies, a Paladin versed in this skill sets upon his adversaries with the zealous fervor of many times his number. Some Skills have synergies, which provide benefits to other skills on the same Skill Tree.Ī noble Paladin, fervent in his dedication to righteousness, can draw upon the spirit of that dedication to perform seemingly impossible tasks. Skills usually define a character's playstyle and are divided by Class and Skill Tree. Zeal is part of the Paladin Combat Skills Tree and requires level 12 to be unlocked. Quickly attacks multiple adjacent enemies First Level

Diablo 2 paladin skill tree build