Angelic Avenger by Saltatrix

**The Angelic Avenger** is a build concept that has shone brightly when put into practice. The first goal of the build is the absorption of every element(excepting poison of course) to the point at which ANY elemental attack will actively heal you rather than damaging you. Properly built and geared this Paladin is practically indestructible yet still capable of doing more than fair damage with Smite. Another good option for attack is Vengeance since you will be putting points into its synergy skills.

The Avenger is more than capable of walking through nearly any PvM situation however the going can be slow. On The PvP side The **Angelic Avenger** is 100% unkillable by any opponent relying upon elemental damage. This means that any Sorceress, Trap Assassin, Elemental Martial Assassin, or Elemental Druid has practically no chance at taking you down.

## Stats

 Dexterity
 Vitality
 Energy

### Strength

Strength is not highly necessary. having 118 strength will allow you to wear all of the recommended equipment and can be adjusted by strength taken from equipment

### Dexterity

You are already going to be virtually indestructible so why should you bother putting more points into dexterity than you need to wear your gear? Having a higher block rate can be a good thing, it takes care of a lot of those pesky physical attacks which are just about the only thing that can harm you. Doing so isn't absolutely vital though, and these extra points can be put into strength to allow you to wear "upped" gear, or can be placed into vitality to increase you general survivability.

### Vitality

Everything else goes here. Life tap will keep your life at maximum, but you need a good life base to survive nasty hits from nasty monsters(Such as Lilith).

## Skill Points

The basic resist skills are all taken to 10 to bring you maximum resists to 95. Defiance is built to 20 to increase your Holy Shield skill, these point *can* be forgone to put more points into offensive skills; however, doing so will decrease your survivability and place the character at risk. Finally Salvation is maxed out. This is the defensive aura you should *always* have on right click. Without it, your resists(and those of your teammates) wont be maxed out, and you will have to burn otherwise useful equipment slots to compensate.

The Combat skills are split into to subtypes: one focusing on smiting, the other on Vengeance. Regardless of which path you take Holy Shield should be maxed out.

### Smiting

Smiting is kind of a double-bladed, uh, shield. It provides guaranteed hits that do a respectable amount of damage. It also brings any boss to their knees in a matter of moments. On the downside it is useless against any **Physical Immune** monsters. Its also pretty pathetic at taking down groups of enemies or ones that move around quickly. Smiting is your best option if your are running with teammates as you will rarely be required to handle rank-and-file foes. if you follow this path then I recommend placing *all* additional skill points into smite to maximize Damage. You can opt for a "1-point smiter" style build but I would not advise doing so, since you will lack many of the build's other advantages.

Your best option as a mercenary if you go this route is an Act 1 Rogue with a Faith Hydra Bow.

### Vengeance

Vengeance is an option for those who find themselves soloing or are never optimistic about the skill level of the group they are with. Since you are already placing points into the basic resistance skills you will gain a decent amount of damage on your attacks. You will be able to slaughter most normal monsters outright and will be quite capable of cutting physical immune monsters down to size. Bosses, on the other hand, will take much longer to defeat. If you go this route you will probably want to place more points into dexterity than you would as a smiter as nothing sucks harder than trying to smack monsters with your Flaming Brand of Justice
and hitting nothing but air.

The best Mercenary Option here is an Act 2 Merc with an Infinity Pole arm. Good auras to choose from are Blessed Aim, Might, and Holy Freeze.

## Equipment

### Synopsis

The goal of your equipment is to maximize your resistances and grant yourself elemental absorption. As such there is a pretty narrow list of options for most slots. Feel free to experiment with other choices and find a set of gear that suits your play style best.

### Weapon

Lightning absorb says it all. There are other weapons that absorb elements, but not to the same scale, or with near as much style. it's also quite useful for both Smite and Vengeance as it is indestructible and packs a fair punch in its own right.

### Shield

Once again, a clear choice here. Exile grants you a substantial defense boost. Also running around with both salvation *and* defiance running makes you very popular in a team, especially amongst those squishier sorceress types. Lifetap is very valuable whether you are smiting or utilizing the awesome power of Vengeance. When socketed into a Vortex Shield(preferable ethereal) the power of your smite skyrockets.

### Armor

The only piece of equipment that it would be suicidal to mess with. This Armor is what(along with those shiny points in the basic resists) takes your max resists to 95% This is key in the absorption game and is the difference between taking only minor damage from elemental attacks and being actively healed by them.

### Gloves

Not much to say here, these are the only unique gloves with absorption and its a fair bit.

### Belt

It may seem redundant after the Lightsabre but I really recommend the Thundergod's here. If you wear a Ravenfrost ring you'll get all the cold absorb you need and the boost to strength gives you a little more wiggle room in your stat placement. The extra lightning absorb also comes in very handy if the throne is overrun with black souls and stygian dolls and can mean the difference between a wipe and an easy run.

### Boots

As far as your boots go you are free to experiment, even take some chances on some interesting concepts, or find a good rare that has just what you want. I recommend the gore riders for the crushing blow and deadly strike, it just makes taking down bosses much smoother.

### Helm

Another Must unless you want to shell out for a Mara's Kaleidoscope. Wearing a Kira's, with your Salvation aura, is going to make sure your resists stay maxed. Other options here could be a Blackthorn's Face or Andariel's Visage, however switching to either of these means you will need to re-plan the rest of your gear to keep your resists in top form.

### Amulet

If you chose not to go with the Kira's Guardian then the Mara's is your amulet of choice, otherwise you should probably go for Atma's Scarab. Can't go wrong with a little help for your struggling Poison Resist.

### Rings

Ah the rings at last. There is a lot of variety available to you. If you have deviated from the recommended equipment anywhere in the build this is where you can make it up. If you've been following my suggestions then your ideal two rings will be the Raven Frost(For both the Cold Absorb and the Dexterity Boost) and the Carrion Wind(To max out your poison Resist). As usual there is no reason NOT to experiment and find out what fits your play style the best.

## Playing Tips

Pretty simple: if you are with a group hang back and make everyone invincible, taking hits where you can. Try to distract anything that does elemental damage, as this will actively heal you and keep you alive against those foes that don't rely upon it.
When you are Soloing be patient and kill elemental users last, as long as they are blasting you you are immortal. There is nothing that can really stop you as you are one tough nut to crack, the fights just occasionally take a while.
Finally the **Angelic Avenger** shines in ways unbelievable when used in concert with a Summoning Necromancer. Every skeleton summoned will be elemental immune have absurdly high Defense, and (should you choose to utilize the suggested Mercenary) strike quickly and powerfully, and other summoned creatures will receive the same bonuses.