Chaos Zealot

[Isak]

"He is Tzeentch! The Changer of Ways! The Raven God! The Lord of Mutation! He is the master of all that changes, and the changer of all that remains! His will is Chaos, and all the creatures of Chaos are but fleeting thoughts in his vast mind!"
? Drang The Preacher, Zealot

The Ruinous Powers have many gifts to offer their mortal followers and enemies alike ? some of them quite terrible, but some of them powerful indeed. Zealots are among the most devout of the followers of the gods of Chaos, and as such it is they who are called upon to convey the will of the powers to their minions. It is Zealots who mark the followers of their patron deity, and who are charged with spreading their faith to the vulnerable and needy masses. They are not the subtle cultist, but the zealous preachers, and they offer open obedience to their dark masters.

Zealot Specialty
The Zealot deals in symbols. He channels the power of his master through fetishes and totems, and can place the symbols of Chaos on friend and foe alike. Those glyphs placed on Chaos?s loyal followers are called Marks, and can grant entirely new abilities. Those placed on the Zealot?s enemy are called Harbingers, and cause lasting affliction. The Harbingers are well named however, for their full potential is not immediately realized. Using powerful ritual magic, a Zealot can rob the subject of his Harbinger of life and spirit, draining it away to empower the Marks he has placed upon his allies with extraordinary abilities.

Playing as a Zealot
As a Zealot, your task is a complex one. You must prepare your allies for battle, and see that their Marks are set or re-set according to their shifting needs. You must also think offensively, for it is through your use of Harbingers which you are able to both effectively support and magnify the power of your allies, and crush the strength of your enemy. As a spell caster, you must be cautious, but because of your interlinked abilities, you must not be too conservative. If you hold back too much, or try to focus on only one aspect of your powers, all your abilities will be less than they could be.

Fighting the Zealot
The best way to deal with a zealot is by disrupting the complex network of interconnected effects and abilities which can make him so powerful. There are several ways to do this, the most obvious being the use of magic which helps protect you from his Harbingers or strips Marks from his allies. Alternatively, you might wish to attack the Zealot as a priority, but he is hardly the soft target that he might appear to be. You must weigh this option against the possibility that his allies will gain a critical edge while you attempt to eliminate the Zealot himself.



Zealot Look
# Essentially unarmored, in heavy robes and other ritual vestments and regalia
# Wields sacrificial daggers and other wicked instruments of pain.
# Carries many talismans, fetishes, and other occult paraphernalia about his person

[HesH]

WE may see a zealot with the last name hesh

[Madsen]

Madsen will be reincarnated as a Zealot I believe.

[Skadiego]

Sanger says he may be leaning toward Zealot.... so they will be the best of our healers it sounds like.

[Aoann]

Sanger says he may be leaning toward Zealot.... so they will be the best of our healers it sounds like.

I am playing the zealot. I haven't decided which line to play yet.

[Llyweln]

Has anyone checked out the different spec lines on these yet?

[Aoann]

Yes. I have. I am not sure at rank 31 that I could tell the difference.

[Llyweln]

hm
thanks Aoann :D

[Aoann]

I tried the healing line and the damage line.

I did decent damage but no more then usual it seemed. I didn't actually look at the numbers but it didn't feel different.

[Drakhon]

I tried the healing line and the damage line.

I did decent damage but no more then usual it seemed. I didn't actually look at the numbers but it didn't feel different.

Well, as there hasn't been a "healing" or "damage" line for quite some time now... ;)

All the Zealot's paths are healing, damage and buffs/debuffs. The specialization is in what type of those it focuses on: Direct, DoT/HoT or AoE/Group.

[Aoann]

Well, as there hasn't been a "healing" or "damage" line for quite some time now... ;)

All the Zealot's paths are healing, damage and buffs/debuffs. The specialization is in what type of those it focuses on: Direct, DoT/HoT or AoE/Group.

Hmmm. I see. I thought I looked at the changes closer... No wonder why I didn't notice the difference. I guess I tried Direct and DoT/HoT

[Elsebet]

A few spells in the Zealot lineup have changed since the last patch. I'm about to get the first one at level 6, which I should hit tonight if the servers stay up for at least 30 minutes or so. Will report back then!

[Skadiego]

I'm diggin the zealot. Fun to play. Never a dull moment and not to much dieing.

[Elsebet]

Zealots vs... (work in progress)

Tanks (Ironbreaker, Swordmaster)

I know the most about this since my man plays a Black Orc!

1. Keep your 25% less attack power debuff up on them. Don't attack them after this (even spells) or it will cancel.
2. Don't face them. If you face an IB and are in range, you will auto attack them. If they block your auto attack they can knock you down (and a smart one will taunt you at the same time), which is bad.
3. If you are taunted, you have to attack them 3 times or they have a full 15 seconds of 30% more damage to you. I'm not sure if the dot/nuke/debuff counts as "attacks" or it has be the melee attacks. If it's only melee, hit them 3 times and hope for no blocks. :) If the above 3 count, do those. I need to verify that.

Melee dps (White Lion, Witch Hunter)

1. If it's me versus an even or higher level Witch Hunter, I have a tough time. I usually just dot/instant nuke them while using all of my abilities to stay alive. Don't let your hp go very low, it's hard to catch back up with these guys. White Lions I haven't seen much of but they don't seem to hurt as bad, pet feels just like a little dot the way people use them in OB so far.
2. Turning your back on a witch hunter allows them to do specific abilities which ignore armor. Try to circle strafe them instead if you are trying to get away from them.
3. Ask your tank to snare them!

Ranged DPS (Shadow Warrior, Bright Wizard, Engineer)

Healers (Archmage, Warrior Priest, Rune Priest)

1. Get a good book, this one is going to last awhile.

[Daewen]

1. Find a level 10+ Chosen.
2. Make them Guard you.
3. ????


That's actually a really great summary Elsebet. I think we'll never be able to take an Archmage or Warrior Priest 1v1. They might not be able to kill us, but we sure as hell don't have the dps to kill them. So chances are it'll be a 10min waste of time and you'll each run away.

The biggest difference in this game, and thing I see zealots doing all the time is running into the middle of combat. With 150ft range on heal spells, you're 50ft outside of caster range. Range, range, range, range, range! Use it. 150ft is a long way for people to run.

And finally, Guard is going to get nerfed to shit. I think it's already been toned down once in beta.

[Drakhon]

And finally, Guard is going to get nerfed to shit. I think it's already been toned down once in beta.

What? It's been a 50/50 split for a very long time and they actually buffed it relatively recently by making the Tank's Avoidance (Block, etc) work on the part of the damage redirected to them and (I didn't realize this until I just looked it up) again to also redirect some of the guardee's generated threat to the Tank (not that that matters in RvR). The Chosen/SM/IB's "Guard" lists 35% while the Black Orc's "Save Da Runts" indicates 50%, so while I assume one of them is simply incorrect or not yet changed, I don't know how much threat redirection is intended.

[Daewen]

Yeah, that statement was based on the fact that my chosen's used to say 50% and now says 35%.

It's hard to judge balance at level 11, obviously, but when you can stand in the pocket with 8 people beating on the 2 of you, and never really get below 80% health, something will probably change :p

[Drakhon]

The 35% is threat, not damage. Damage is still 50% in both forms.

[Selwynn]

The 35% is threat, not damage. Damage is still 50% in both forms.

Yep.

My chosen blocks 50% and takes 35% threat.

[Llyweln]

Has anyone figured a way to increase action pts yet? Back in Daoc, for druids, empathy and dex were key in suits. Besides sucking down pots.

[Elsebet]

Has anyone figured a way to increase action pts yet? Back in Daoc, for druids, empathy and dex were key in suits. Besides sucking down pots.

Potions, Ritual of Innervation, the one Refreshment career tactic (although it doesn't work on yourself!), getting realm rank 70 and 80, etc. :)

[Greenmind]

Has anyone figured a way to increase action pts yet? Back in Daoc, for druids, empathy and dex were key in suits. Besides sucking down pots.

Zealot is the first class I've played where I've ran out of action points over and over again.

[Drakhon]

Black Orcs have a group 25% AP regen buff that lasts 10 (I think) seconds.

Some gear has +AP Regen, especially once you get into T4 stuff.

Numerous careers have Abilities (or Tactics that modify Abilities) with some sort of AP return. The Healer archetype gets a Tactic that regens 160 AP over 3 seconds when you crit heal. DoK's get one that causes crits from Abilities from the associated Mastery (Sacrifice) to grant 60 AP to the defensive target (other than the DoK). Chosen have a Tactic that changes their AP removal ability into a drain.

Guild Standards can have a Tactic that increases AP regen by 10/20/30%. RoW's has 30%, in fact.

The only way to increase the size of the pool is with passives granted at the high end Renown Ranks, as Elsebet mentioned.

[Elsebet]

How are you speccing your Zealot?

I am currently full Witchcraft, although I am reading that it is rather weak compared to Alchemy or Dark Rites. I chose that because I saw that it buffed the shield and dark medicine and I figured it would help save squishies. Coming from years as a WoW Priest, I always knew the great value of instant cast spells in pvp. However that doesn't really appear to be the case so far, I have a hard time keeping our WE's/Sorcs alive efficiently. The ritual (Superiority) is also underwhelming so far. I was always Alchemy in beta but never had the chance to group with many good shaman/DoK's like I do now.

The shamans in our guild seem to be more about HoT's, and the DoK's about group heals, so I may return to my roots of Alchemy to bolster my single target HPS and see how it works out with them. This is one heavy Alchemy spec I have been considering:

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=15#14:8232:3:8:3:8:25:589:8600:8595 :8599:14121:14120::694:695:8607:697

The one thing I worry about with Alchemy is the fact that I'm boosting the fragile 3s heal which is situationally difficult to use. In the other two trees, the heals that are boosted are a little more convenient even lacking the hps of the 3s single heal. Thoughts?

[Raja]

From playing some beta, and for a while after the game began I was thinking of going with a spec like this, heavy Alch:

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=15#13:8192:3:8:6:32:25

A couple days ago after getting 24 (still pretty low I know), and being drafted into t3 scenarios for the last week and a half I've started to look at something like this, more Dark Rites heavy with Alch subspec:

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=15#9:8:0:0:13:8224:25

(I am still unsure about Lashing Waves tactic viability, and could also pick up Innervation eventually if I felt the need to - didn't seem to help much in t3 scenarios.)

Part of it had to do with scenarios like Tor Anroc, Temple, and Cemetary where I could find a nice little safe spot to use my group heal, but out of LoS for a few seconds.

So right now I think I have 6 (5+Lunacy) in DR and 3 in Alch, and my Elixir is still effective at about 955 at level 24 after taking into account my willpower gear/willpower from renown/willpower tactic (I think about 519 self buffed as I have a lot of wounds/tough too). Really nice noticeable increase in Dust (sorry cant remember numbers of that offhand right now). Running as full Alch with our shaman healer was definitely easier and I could pop out more of those jesus heals, however as a solo healer or with a DoK I more often than not found that someone in my group would be suffering because I would be focusing Elixir on someone else (with of course typical HoTs/shields flying around as well).

[Greenmind]

Any recommended addons for zealots?

[Kelan]

So far I have also being going full Witchcraft (currently level 23) for many of the same reasons listed above. I figured through the early levels I would benefit more by having a better Dark Medicine and Veil (ward/rune) and a better willpower buff which helps all healing? I still think I am going to stick with it until I get 13 points and pick up Mirror of Madness, which curses the enemy so that they damage themselves with every heal they cast. I figure it may be a way I can help out harassing the healers without trying to do any damage, plus it is on a 10s cooldown, so fairly fast. I imagine they could end up killing themselves without realizing why :D.

After that I will probably put the rest of the points in Dark Rites for the resist buff for RvR and the AE heals. I also like using Demon Spittle (AE DoT) to harrass the enemy at times and it is somewhat useful in PvE AEing things.

I looked at Alchemy a lot, but I find myself seldom, if ever, using the spells that it buffers. I have yet to even try the 3s fragile heal in RvR and the instant Direct Heal doesn't seem to do enough to make it worthwhile. The +wounds spell I was really interested in, but with a 3 minute cooldown, I am not sure how helpful that will be other than perhaps in some big PvE boss fights or something.

Anyway, that is what my thoughts are so far with my limited experience :).

[Raja]

Any recommended addons for zealots?

I'm currently enjoying Squared resized to look more like a DAoC group mini :D I think there are ways you can config it to act like the old Healer's Helper (green at full, red when dying etc), but I haven't messed with that. It's supposed to have a rangefinding feature (greyed out when too far), but it's sort of borked atm. It'll probably improve with more updates. I just like the addon to make simple no-frills party frames, and it autopopulates into scenario party or warband raid frames when you join those.

This is how I have it set up for myself (other things are sort of randomly placed because I'm reformatting soon):

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4300/rajam003ud2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/rajam003ud2.jpg/1/w431.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img388/rajam003ud2.jpg/1/)

[Elsebet]

I have yet to even try the 3s fragile heal in RvR

Seriously? I use it pretty often, but I have to say the better the enemy group, the less chance I have with it. A good engy will throw a turret on me, a white lion his pet, any class with a dot throws it, tank just sets up camp on me, etc. I try to find a good hiding spot and my other shaman healer generally stays near me so we can help each other.

I switched from Witchcraft to Alchemy last night and I have to admit I can keep squishies up a little better with Flash spam since it crits so often with the tactic, but it kills my action points. Perhaps with AP regen gear that will even out a bit. I think RoI would be better if it triggered on heals too instead of just attacks.

[Greenmind]

Do you use potions? My sorc is an alt and having all of those AP pots she made while skilling up really helped in tight spots.

[Elsebet]

Do you use potions? My sorc is an alt and having all of those AP pots she made while skilling up really helped in tight spots.

I need to get player crafted ones, that's for certain. I just use the ones that I get from loot. My Apothecary is like, level 31 or something. Crafting, much like PvE, is one of those things I can tolerate for about 5 minutes a day. :)

[Greenmind]

I'll see if I have mats to make some up tonight. What level are you?

[Elsebet]

i'll see if i have mats to make some up tonight. What level are you?

29/29

[Elsebet]

The +wounds spell I was really interested in, but with a 3 minute cooldown, I am not sure how helpful that will be other than perhaps in some big PvE boss fights or something.


I just got this spell at level 30. My tooltip delves giving +128 wounds for 1 minute, then healing the buffed amount after 1 minute. So basically the target gets +1,028 (wounds x 10) hit points instantly for a full minute, then they get healed for 1,028 when it expires. 2 minutes after that I can cast it again. I am finding that I like it so far using it on a caster (plus shield and hots then Flash spam) who is getting assisted down or casting it early on a melee dps to help their survivability.

[Llyweln]

Any recommended addons for zealots?

Healgrid is really nice.

[Drakhon]

the target gets +1,028 (wounds x 10) hit points

1280 ;)

[Elsebet]

1280 ;)

I'm awesome at math!

[Radaghast]

I learned something very cool last night, the AoE group heal does not require line of sight.

I respecced out of path of alchemy and in dark rites and it is a very powerful spell.

In scenarios I can hot all other groups and just cast my aoe group heal to keep my group up. It is very handy indeed! I can stay behind a wall or around a corner and heal my group up to 150 feet away!

[Llyweln]

boo! I just got the aoe action regen one......but but that one sounds so much more yummy!

[Elsebet]

I learned something very cool last night, the AoE group heal does not require line of sight.


It ignores Z-axis too, so you can do many things as long as your group is in range:

- hide in any level of a keep near the door as long as your group is in range
- stay under the platform or pillar hump without worry (Doomfist Crater)
- sit on a rock after some dwarf punts you into lava (Tor Anroc) and still keep your group up

Dust of Pandemonium is lovely, but since I team with DoK's fairly often I went the direct heal route for now. I am planning to try out Dark Rites before I hit 40 though, then I'll decide where to spec once I see what kind of groups the enemies are running (other than engie/BW pull 'n bomb).

[Drakhon]

It ignores Z-axis too

I think people tend to misuse this idea. It doesn't "ignore" the Z-axis, it's just that it is actually a (spherical) volume of effect rather than the area of effect term we always use.

Note: It is also possible that it is a cylindrical volume because that is computationally easier than a sphere, but I don't think so.

[Greenmind]

The other night I was in a scenerio with platforms (doomfist crater maybe?) and I see this order guy standing below his group spamming spells. I'm guessing he was using his AE heal...so I smashed him.

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you on the potions. I keep forgetting.

[Sierpien]

Have to say I enjoy playing my zealot wish I could level faster and get all my abilities :)

[Dharnyle]

Went to a T2 scenario last night on my Sorceress and I must say, it was an amazing scenario thanks mostly to the teamwork of our group and the outstanding healing from our Zealot. (you know who you are and I can't remember here at work)

I know I could not have kept me up if the roles were reveresed. The healing was just mind boggling.

I think this will spell the end to Shrilinda. I just don't get the nuances of the Zealot, especially after witnessing that effort.

Don't be sad about the loss of Shril. I just have to admit that I don't get the healing class in War.

Now then, if I can only figure out the crafting...

[Llyweln]

Some days it just doesnt pay to be a Zealot.....heck in one t3 scenario tonight we had a decent amount of healers, shamans, zealots and doks....still didnt go well <g> In another we had 3 zealots....we won that one, tis toss of the dice most times. Hot healing is still something to get used to coming from Daoc healing.

[Madsen]

Anyone know if restorative burst is working as intended? It doesn't seem to do anything when I'm paying attention.

[Llyweln]

Ill have to remember to watch next time Madsen :D

[Kelan]

I have seen the little gear icon that is used for the Restorative Burst show up as a buff on me at times and it seems like my AP is going up faster when it is up. Also, we were killing those witching night event spirits over and over for a bit and I would always run out of power casting the same spells in order except for when I would see that icon up. Those times I would have plenty of extra APs for some more spells.

I don't have any scientific evidence or anything checked per the logs or anything, but based on observations, it seems to be working to me.

[Drakhon]

The only problem I've seen reported with that Tactic is that it grants less AP than the tooltip states. I haven't tested it recently myself, though.

[Elsebet]

The only problem I've seen reported with that Tactic is that it grants less AP than the tooltip states. I haven't tested it recently myself, though.

There's still a bit of argument over whether or not its broken in the Zealot forums. Some people say it works, others say it only returns 40 AP.

I have a untested hunch that the spell actually works as a +AP regen, i.e. it adds +53.3 AP regen per tick for the next 3 seconds. However since casting pauses your AP regen, I see a huge boost if I stop casting when I get the restorative burst buff, but if I keep chain casting I seem to get no or little benefit, even if it's a cheap spell I'm casting. I need to really test this out to be sure, which I may do now that I finally hit 40.

[Drakhon]

Fortunately, healing crits count for this kind of purpose even if no actual healing is done (target is 100%), so it's not too hard to test.