Holy Freeze Zealot Paladin (Freezadin) Build for Diablo 2 Resurrected
A surprisingly fun and efficient build, the Holy Freeze Zealot is known for its ability to attack large groups of monsters without fear, thanks to the unavoidable slowing effect of Holy Freeze. This Zealot variant is a lot safer than most if not all melee builds and can be built either on a budget or with very high-end gear. Definitely recommended to newer players who want to get into playing melee.
Introduction
The Holy Freeze Zealot is a safer version of the classic Diablo 2 Zealot. It has a few options depending on whether or not you have access to Doom, but both ways are actually decent for playing through the game as Holy Freeze will slow the majority of monsters.
You can check the viability of this build in PvM by consulting our PvM Tier List.
Holy Freeze Zealot Skill Build
The following section shows the core skills for the Holy Freeze Zealot. For a detailed breakdown of all core and optional skills as well as the recommended order for allocating skill points, refer to the Skills page of this guide.
- 1 point to all prerequisites
- 20 points to Sacrifice — Synergy for Zeal, required
- 20 points to Zeal — Main damage skill, invest into Sacrifice first for more damage or Zeal for more Attack Rating, required
- 20 points to Fanaticism — If using Doom only, this is best option for most Damage
- 20 points to Holy Freeze — If not using Doom
- 20 points to Resist Cold — Synergy for Holy Freeze, required
- 20 points to Salvation — Synergy for Holy Freeze, required
- 1+ points to Holy Shield — Great to maximise chance to Block, required
Since Holy Freeze cannot be played immediately, we recommend using a generic Melee Paladin build until ready to switch.
Holy Freeze Zealot Stat Points and Attributes
Strength | Dexterity | Vitality | Energy |
Enough for gear; around 150 total | Enough for max Block; around 150 total | Everything else | None |
You can read more details about the Stats and Attribute requirements for this build on our Skills page.
Holy Freeze Zealot Gear
The following section shows some of the most important items for the Holy Freeze Zealot. For a detailed per-slot breakdown of all Freeze Zealot items and alternative builds, refer to the Gear page of this guide.
- Weapon: Doom
- Weapon Swap: Call to Arms and Spirit
- Shield: Ethereal Exile or Herald of Zakarum
- Body Armor: Fortitude
- Helm: Crown of Ages socketed with two Rainbow Facets
- Gloves: Laying of Hands
- Boots: Gore Rider
- Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord
- Ring 1: Raven Frost
- Ring 2: Raven Frost or Rare ring with % Life and Mana Leech per Hit
- Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
- Charm 1: Paladin Hellfire Torch
- Charm 2: Annihilus
- Charm 3: Small Charms with Maximum Damage, Attack Rating, and Life (such Charms are commonly known as 3/20/20s)
- Charm 4: Small Charms with enough Resistances and Faster Hit Recovery to hit important breakpoints, depending on needs
MrLlamaSC's Holy Freeze Zealot Video Guide
We also have a video guide that goes over the build, if you prefer that instead of or in addition to our written guide.
Holy Freeze Zealot Breakpoints
In Diablo 2, stats that affect action speed (known as frames) for attacking, casting, blocking, and recovering from a hit can almost never be taken literally. For example, gaining 10% Increased Attack Speed from an item will not necessarily translate into 10% faster attacks. To achieve faster actions, certain breakpoints must be reached, which vary for every class. The tables below list how much of a given stat is required to actually improve the action speed of the class for the stated action.
Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints
Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints (1-Handed Weapons) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frames to perform action | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Faster Hit Recovery required to reach frame | 0% | 7% | 15% | 27% | 48% | 86% | 200% |
Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints
Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frames to perform action | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
Faster Cast Rate required to reach frame | 0% | 9% | 18% | 30% | 48% | 75% | 125% |
Faster Block Rate Breakpoints
Faster Block Rate Breakpoints (No Holy Shield) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Frames to perform action | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
Faster Block Rate required to reach frame | 0% | 13% | 32% | 86% |
Faster Block Rate Breakpoints (With Holy Shield)
Faster Block Rate Breakpoints (With Holy Shield) | ||
---|---|---|
Frames to perform action | 2 | 1 |
Faster Block Rate required to reach frame | 0% | 86% |
Holy Freeze Zealot Mercenary
You can either choose an Offensive ( Might) Act 2 Nightmare Mercenary or an Act 1 Mercenary with Faith if you are not using Fanaticism yourself for more damage.
- Weapon (Act 1 Rogue): Faith Diamond Bow or Great Bow
- Weapon (Act 2 Desert Guard): Ethereal Infinity
- Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
- Helm: Andariel's Visage socketed with a Ral Rune
Holy Freeze Zealot Early Leveling
- 1 point to Might
- 1 point to Sacrifice
- 3 points to Resist Fire until level 6
- 6 points to Holy Fire between level 6 and 11
- 1 point to Zeal at level 12
- Respec into your Holy Freeze build at level 18 or wait until ready
For more comprehensive leveling advice, please refer to our Paladin Fastest Leveling Build.
Changelog
- 30 Sep. 2021 (this page): Added video guide embed.
- 26 Sep. 2021 (gear page): Page added.
- 26 Sep. 2021 (skills page): Page added.
- 26 Sep. 2021 (this page): Build added.
MrLlamaSC is a professional twitch broadcaster that has been streaming since 2014. His content focuses on Diablo 2 where he speedruns, creates guides, completes crazy challenges, and more! With roughly 30,000 hours in the game he is a D2 Master and has great knowledge of so many areas in the game.
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