It is not required to max Defiance, since Paladins often have a very high defense rating anyway, but any spare points may be placed here. Defiance is a synergy for Holy Shield.In addition, in the early levels Sacrifice is a decent skill to have, dealing high damage at a relatively low cost, especially if the player has good luck with Life Stealing equipment. Sacrifice is not only a requirement for Zeal, but it also gives Zeal a 12% synergy damage bonus from each level spent in Sacrifice.Although it is risky (the Paladin will take a lot of damage) and the only gain of this version is higher damage output, the two-handed Zealot can survive because Zeal cannot be interrupted, and even a fairly low amount of Life Steal will be sufficient to restore the Paladin's hitpoints rapidly. In this case, Holy Shield is nearly useless, and the build becomes incredibly offensive-oriented. Zeal can be used with the faster 2-handed weapons as well, but this is not recommended. Not all Zealot builds max Holy Shield, as the defense and block boosts are already very substantial at level 4 or 5 if coupled with good gear and skill boosting equipment. With Holy Shield, the Paladin's block rating is boosted considerably.

Holy Shield is used mainly because Zeal is best with fast one-hand weapons, which makes it natural to use a shield in combination.Of course, it also increases the rate that Zealots and their parties can do damage.

The increased attack speed is crucial for Zealots, so that they can finish their attack quickly in case they start dying during their attacks.

Fanaticism is the most common aura used in this build.

Depending on their skill point distribution zealot builds may have anywhere between four soft and twenty hard points in this skill: the number of hits per use is limited to five (achieved at four points), and investing in Sacrifice increases Zeal's damage via synergy faster than Zeal does. The Zealot relies on a powerful, high damage melee weapon and then maximizes his output with Zeal's high attack speed bonus. Diablo II: Resurrected Review - Pile Of Old Bones

Diablo 2 paladin zealot build