OK, so I can't leave El runes in there forever. I think that I might as well pull this off my merc and let my Vengeance run around with it instead of the Leviathan he is wearing now. I still need to figure out how to get a Zod though, so I have some time.

There are three obvious options that I see for socketting this bugger:

3 x uber diamonds + zod.
This has the benefit of taking advantage of the staggering defense of this armor and the 10% Magic resist. It is possible that with armor and 2x wisp I could stand up to some pretty beefy magic attacks, something that is rather hard to do. The downside is that MDR starts to really lose its luster in Hell and 60/60 isn't all THAT much. Also, I haven't built my Avenger for a massive defense strategy, haven't even maxxed out Holy Shield as I was putting points in to the Vengeance synergies.

3x uber ruby + zod
Life is always good for a paladin. This would give me an extra 90 vitality and an overall of +40% Increase Max life when combined with the inherent 10% on the armor. Currently, I am thinking that this is the best route, it just doesn't utilize the high defense all that much so I am questioning it.

3x ber + zod
This would be pretty sweet giving me 60% dmg reduction from my armor alone. Even 2x ber + 1 uber ruby would be nifty. Granted, I don't have 3x ber or 2x ber, but since I don't have a zod either I figure I might as well consider this too


Any other opinions or thoughts?

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People who live in cinder block houses can throw whatever they want.

a coule things:

- 3 ber +tyraels is 50% dr (10 each ber, 20 armor). since 50% is the cap, just shoot for 50. Amp is dangerous but not enough to warrant acquiring a lot more than 50%. DR% is better acquired from skulls in shield i think as well (facets arent necessary on a venger considering you have a ton of pierce from conviction alone).

- extra defense isnt important, and like you said dr/mdr lose its appeal in hell so those are a waste. with an eth tyraels and holyshield, you should be easily able to reach 30-40k defense. throw frozen armor in there or a shout from a barb and youre golden on defense.

- life is always good on a paladin who already benefits from high +life per level and high +life per vit. paladins shouldnt have too much trouble reaching 4-5k base life. 10% means an extra 400-500 life per gem, throw 3 rubies in there and you have a whopping extra 1.2-1.5k life, and then an extra 30 vit (another 120 life).

knowing what other gear you have equipped would help better to give recommendations. stat allocation is important too (are you at max block? do you have enough str to wear tyraels? etc etc.). There are a lot of options for an armor with 3 sockets (since one needs to be occupied by a zod).

duh! ok, writing posts while on a conference call must be bad for my math



Good point.
With SM gloves + beast I should be able to have the str to use tyraels.

Currently using levi with a moonstone emerald in there and that gets me to max block. Without it though, I am not.
Using an exile shield which gives the nice defiance aura and lifetap. The lifetap has been useful from time to time in my tanking.
Soulmancer's gloves + boots. giving me +50 str/dex as well as 50% all res. Just outstanding.
CoA with 1x wirt and 2x uber ruby.
Beast zerker axe for the life boost and another +47 str
WSG belt

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People who live in cinder block houses can throw whatever they want.

def has terrible deminishing returns after 100k def . (my venger hit that with zaka and a non eth tyraels easily).

you can hit 50%dr with ease too without using bers in armour/helm
20% tyraels
10% wsg
10%CoA
5% Rends
skull in shield then takes you over the 50% mark

I got away with rubys in my tyraels and hit 27k life with very basic bo and oak. That was before the added 10% increased life (OP btw) from rubys.

You should be able to hit 8-9k life easily, pre buffs with some life charms if you go rubys

My vengers setup with tyraels was
zaka (skulled) (start of the season and no better options available
rends
nos coil
gores
Upped orphans helm (was the start of the season and equip on hc was few and far between)
1 blood ring and an absorb ring depending on what element i was against. (2 bloods vs trash)
maras
obedience for cb on bosses or a good death craft against trash

i used nos for the sorbs and the strength. with 20 base str u can get tyraels on with decent blood rings, str from nos, rends, and maras

I'd go for rubys mainly due to the deminishing returns of def and the fact that 50% dr is easy to reach at that late stage

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I suggest socketing it with crack rocks

or donating them to me

1-0

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http://avatar.pure34.com/users/exonic/marcfd.jpg

3x Rubies, but then again, it's SC(I assume) so you don't -need- massive life.

I have a zod ft.

So anyone who cares knows there's about a 90% chance the eth tyerals will end up with 4x uber emeralds on my merc. = )

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ISO - 6-6 Poison offering Jah, PnB Gc offering Jah, Pcombat Gc offering Ber, Warcry Gc offering Ber, Defensive Gc offering Sur, Elemental Gc offering Sur.

here it is.

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ISO - 6-6 Poison offering Jah, PnB Gc offering Jah, Pcombat Gc offering Ber, Warcry Gc offering Ber, Defensive Gc offering Sur, Elemental Gc offering Sur.