how do you play zealot?

[will i am]

99% of zealots iv seen intentionally take damage to get buffs and just live life on the edge
is this how you play zealot? I feel like I would die often but maybe I just have a skill issue

[Bait]

W+LMB
Don't even look at your HP bar

[Pingwheel]

yes that is how you play zealot

[Guts]

Originally posted by Absolutely Heretical B-Bait?!:

W+LMB
Don't even look at your HP bar

basically

[Medojedova zhouba]

Originally posted by will i am:

99% of zealots iv seen intentionally take damage to get buffs and just live life on the edge
is this how you play zealot? I feel like I would die often but maybe I just have a skill issue

Those Zealots most of the time will not finish even Legend difficulty. That Zealots passive give you damage based on how low your healthbar is, but its bonus. Not absolute strategy for Zealot. It will give you more power, but even then you have to rely on RNG if you will get hit or not. And random hits are very common even if you completely dodge it. Really good Zealots will have their healthbars low, but not on purpose. Those who are doing it on purpose are most of the time the first ones what disconnect or screaming something about specials.

Play Zealot normally. Use it as an additional bonus. Its not that super huge damage bonus. I´m using heal pots normally and I´m not screaming at my teammates when they heal me. Because even on Legend you can get hit or you´ll be unlucky. There is no reason to play like idiot and lower your healthbar on purpose. Same with Unchained´s heat per hit. It doesn´t mean that you have to rush everything and not blocking at all. Be smart and play like you´re alone. Don´t rely on your teammates and care about your healthbars. People what need Zealot´s passive buff are people what are not able to carry whole Legend level solo. Most of the time.

[Xaphnir]

Originally posted by Medojedova zhouba:

Those Zealots most of the time will not finish even Legend difficulty.

Yes they do. Regularly. Most of the time if they're skilled enough.

Originally posted by Medojedova zhouba:

It will give you more power, but even then you have to rely on RNG if you will get hit or not.

No you don't. Every hit you take (that wasn't intentional or lag-induced) is a mistake you made.

Originally posted by Medojedova zhouba:

Its not that super huge damage bonus.

Yes it is.

[Lucien Lachance]

Use natural bond to shock all of the good players.

[will i am]

Originally posted by Lucien Lachance:

Use natural bond to shock all of the good players.

iv actualy been wondering

it dosent seem like that of a bad idea since you want minimal perma health anyway and takes a while to remove your buffs but not enough so when you take damage you dont instantly die but then again his passive exsists

[The Fountaineer 🖋]

Just get THP and then you win.

[The Fountaineer 🖋]

Also, Zealot’s one of several THP generators who benefits greatly from being smacked around, since it contributes to his CD.

[Angarvin]

buffs are nice. but keeping those and staying alive now requires you to rush headlong into any and every enemy to keep the thp up. this chase often means that a zealot in question finds himself unwilling to wait for his team and becomes spitefull if someone "steals" his kills or doesn't leave him the big chonky chaos warrior or dares to heal him even if done in accidental manner.

i find the whole attitude detrimental to team work and gameplay experience. alas, existance of these buffs and their strenght means that people will willingly sacrifice said team work and gameplay experience in order to secure them.

personally i view zealots passives as a bonus that comes in when you most need it. although, admittedly, prominence of meta zealots ever since 1.6 however many years ago seemingly permanently scared my perception of this class and i'm just generally unwilling to play him.

Originally posted by will i am:

Originally posted by Lucien Lachance:

Use natural bond to shock all of the good players.

iv actualy been wondering

it dosent seem like that of a bad idea since you want minimal perma health anyway and takes a while to remove your buffs but not enough so when you take damage you dont instantly die but then again his passive exsists

issue lies in the fact that you're regenerating regular hp UNDER the thp and thus at some point you need to willingly take damage to secure the buffs again.

[slowdeath]

personally i don't sit there and eat a stormvermin overhead like a lot zealots do but i'll try and take some damage while clearing hordes

i don't use curse res on zealot so that i'll always have at least 4 stacks even if i have to heal to clear a wound

[Combine00]

Originally posted by Medojedova zhouba:

Originally posted by will i am:

99% of zealots iv seen intentionally take damage to get buffs and just live life on the edge
is this how you play zealot? I feel like I would die often but maybe I just have a skill issue

Those Zealots most of the time will not finish even Legend difficulty. That Zealots passive give you damage based on how low your healthbar is, but its bonus. Not absolute strategy for Zealot. It will give you more power, but even then you have to rely on RNG if you will get hit or not. And random hits are very common even if you completely dodge it. Really good Zealots will have their healthbars low, but not on purpose. Those who are doing it on purpose are most of the time the first ones what disconnect or screaming something about specials.

Play Zealot normally. Use it as an additional bonus. Its not that super huge damage bonus. I´m using heal pots normally and I´m not screaming at my teammates when they heal me. Because even on Legend you can get hit or you´ll be unlucky. There is no reason to play like idiot and lower your healthbar on purpose. Same with Unchained´s heat per hit. It doesn´t mean that you have to rush everything and not blocking at all. Be smart and play like you´re alone. Don´t rely on your teammates and care about your healthbars. People what need Zealot´s passive buff are people what are not able to carry whole Legend level solo. Most of the time.

wait til you learn that thp doesnt count against the health lost percent for power stacks. so after you take 150 damage to get stacks, you can just gain thp all game and keep max stacks and max hp. then also wait til you learn that power and damage arent the same and that power is more than just damage

[lthull]

As long as you're not completely reckless, having the Holy Fortitude talent plus Boon of Shallya makes temp health sustain easy. Zealot and Sister of the Thorn synergize well together too.

[RNG_Wizard]

Originally posted by lthull:

As long as you're not completely reckless, having the Holy Fortitude talent plus Boon of Shallya makes temp health sustain easy. Zealot and Sister of the Thorn synergize well together too.

Yup & yup. THP generation boosts seem to work very well together, so Zealot's ability to get some of the highest thp generation without relying on a career skill has amazing synergy with SotT. Source; did a few duo Fortunes of War attempts, me as SotT and my brother as Zealot. Whenever he killed a Chaos Warrior we healed ~100 hp over the two of us. Zealot is an amazing pick with a SotT on your team, you make her just as unkillable as you are.

Some Zealot pro tips; don't use Natural Bond. Use either Barkskin or Boon of Shallya. You want low green health & high white health. Gaining white health from any source briefly delays your white health from decaying.

And the super tip; healing someone else with medical supplies will clear your wounds without healing you. Pro Zealots carry medical supplies & heal someone else when they go down to reset their own downs without losing their buffs. This can also be useful even on other careers for when you go down but your allies are still on lower health than you, though I'd mostly suggest doing this when you're playing a career with good thp generation.

[jakethegreatwhite]

play aggressively, but intentionally taking damage isnt always the smartest move, eventually on cata you will take enough damage from fighting normally to get to low hp