Zealot Role in Groups

[Of_the_Gods]

I see that many of the other healer classes have some sort of method to increase healing like the Warrior Priest, Shaman, and Archmage. However, I do not see any method for the zealot and the Rune Priest to need to do anything but buff, debuff, and heal. I understand how the system works. Lets see...

In pve, the battle starts and you are the zealot. You plop a ritual down, maybe do a harbringer, and not what? You have already buffed the party, already done the ritual, what now is there left to do except heal? There is no need to the zealot to do anything else than that. If anyone knows of anything else for the Zealot to do then please tell me because I dont want to end up doing a couple things in the beginning of battle then spamming heals for the rest.

Now I understand in pvp that I must do damage to kill people, but I am most concerned about how the zealot will work in pve.

[Diabolix]

I believe that they have to do damage to keep healing, they get lots of cool looking spells as well, also keeping buffs up and debuffing the enemy.

You shouldn't worry about these too much.

[Truce]

Just out of curiosity, why do you assume that they'll function differently in PvE than they do in PvP?

They manipulate stats to their group's advantage via rituals, contribute damage and heal when needed. If that role is properly balanced for PvP I don't see why it wouldn't work in PvE too.

[Krulltak]

The Zealot is a buffer and debuffer.

He can heal/buff both his allies AND himself, therefore making him a very effective melee fighter, especially when used in combination with his debuffs that he can use on the enemy.

[Gemini]

I see that many of the other healer classes have some sort of method to increase healing like the Warrior Priest, Shaman, and Archmage. However, I do not see any method for the zealot and the Rune Priest to need to do anything but buff, debuff, and heal. I understand how the system works. Lets see...

In pve, the battle starts and you are the zealot. You plop a ritual down, maybe do a harbringer, and not what? You have already buffed the party, already done the ritual, what now is there left to do except heal? There is no need to the zealot to do anything else than that. If anyone knows of anything else for the Zealot to do then please tell me because I dont want to end up doing a couple things in the beginning of battle then spamming heals for the rest.

Now I understand in pvp that I must do damage to kill people, but I am most concerned about how the zealot will work in pve.

1. Ritual's don't buff allies anymore, they solely debuff enemies.
2. Yes, there is no solid mechanic for the Zealot or the Rune Priest, there is however, a reason to do stuff other than heal; the Zealot(and RP) has completely kickass abilities that the group is better off having. Rituals, harbingers, other debuff, DoTs and Marks of Chaos are the main ones. The killing will go faster and the group will be stronger if you take advantedge of all these abilities. There will be less need for heals because mobs will do less damage, die faster, and you and your allies will be stronger and tougher.

[Crazy ol' dude]

He can heal/buff both his allies AND himself, therefore making him a very effective melee fighter, especially when used in combination with his debuffs that he can use on the enemy.
So then he can make use of his very effective 1 melee "auto-attack" ability, ignoring most of his spells? That's great indeed
A runepriest can aswell buff himself with whatever +dmg and +armor runes and can also auto-attack around and yet he's not melee, is he?
I know it may even sound rude or something, but i'm just as tired of telling people that Zealot is not melee (at this very moment, and most likely is not going to considering what path devs have take with his spells' design; this can all change of course, but now it's definiately not like that) as you probably are explaining others that we're not playing as champions of tzeentch in this game, sorry

To OP: What Gemini said is 100% true and correct
However there were(are?) plans/propositions to make somthing like this:
We know from ZL description that zealot in fact relies on a web of interconnected effects. We also know that Marks give +stat bonus and an ability to it's bearer and (speculation/proposition/understanding of ZL description ahead) that by damaging people affected by Ritual and/or Impending Doom spell you power up those allies who bear your mark (probably increasing stat bonus, but and/or maybe giving new abilities?). I really hope we'll see such system or similar :)

[Krulltak]

A runepriest can aswell buff himself with whatever +dmg and +armor runes and can also auto-attack around and yet he's not melee, is he?


Runepriests have a very short range and thus must be in the thick of it all in order to buff thier allies.

And from the latest info they are very defensive with very powerful buffs, and less offensive, but have better armor then the Zealot.


Im just as tired of telling people that Zealot is not melee (at this very moment, and most likely is not going to) as you probably are explaining others that we're not playing as champions of tzeentch in this game, sorry


At this time, the Zealot is very much a melee-based Support archtype, just like the Warrior Priest.

[Crazy ol' dude]

Runepriests have a very short range and thus must be in the thick of it all in order to buff thier allies.

And from the latest info they are very defensive with very powerful buffs, and less offensive, but have better armor then the Zealot.You missed my point - can a runepriest buff himself with +melee dmg buffs (considering he has those) and go auto-attacking effectively in your opinion? He has almost all what zealot has (meaning CC, DD etc.), except armor and that zealot divides his speciality in buffs and debuffs and RP deals mostly in buffs. If he selfbuffs himself heavily on melee aspect i imagine him also being quite good on auto-attacking, and yet he isn't a melee healer
At this time, the Zealot is very much a melee-based Support archtype, just like the Warrior Priest.And you get that info from?
If you're thinking about archetype podcast and/or Raelimar's pax impressions - he's close combat spellcaster, not melee...don't you think a melee career would have more melee oriented abilities than auto-attack?
Besides, Zealot are heavy ranged anti-casters (meaning that all spells needed for it have range)...if they are also strong melee fighters, doesn't that already sound kind of overpowered to you?

[Gemini]

I gotta agree with Krulltak again. Their casts are ranged, but it seems from the recent 3-part PAX/Games Day write up, that the Zealot is best served in melee. Between the debuffs and Marks of Chaos, he seems to be able to hold his own in melee, not to mention multiple people have said casting rituals in the Zealot's area is most effective because it gives people incentive to stay in the circle.

[Crazy ol' dude]

I gotta agree with Krulltak again. Their casts are ranged, but it seems from the recent 3-part PAX/Games Day write up, that the Zealot is best served in melee. Between the debuffs and Marks of Chaos, he seems to be able to hold his own in melee, not to mention multiple people have said casting rituals in the Zealot's area is most effective because it gives people incentive to stay in the circle.
He's a caster after all...when he's in melee, even if his oppenents are debuffed, his casts will still be interrupted except instants. Considering he, as for now, doesn't have any uninterruptable melee abilitites (like WP), he will do better doing his job away from melee imo. And i imagine he'll be attacked by more than one melee as they'll want to take him down asap, so then interrupts (and melee dps' knockdowns, stuns etc.) will make it really hard to survive
there is a tactic however, allowing you to ignore 25% of interrupts, but i remember hearing Mythic saying that they're aiming at making something like that there won't be a tactic/morale that 95% of your career poplation will have to have in order to better do their overall job or something, i'll quote when(or "if" mabe ;p) i find it.
As for the staying in your own ritual, so people will concentrate on you and won't leave it: read this wall of text on that matter which i wrote some time ago if you care: http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=457841&postcount=48
Especcially the paragraph starting with "Raelimar said..." and "In short - ..."

Now this discussion is quite pointless as we have no "pure" info (like spell list for example; considering that the one used at leipzig is already out-dated) except impressions from playing the career, im moving away from the topic, we'll see how it turns out in a few months i guess (hope)

[Adendan]

Seeing that people that has actually played the game says that the Zealot works best in close range and melee. Why would you not believe that? Without having seen a list of all their skills, or actually playing the game, I'd believe the people who actually has.

[Crazy ol' dude]

Seeing that people that has actually played the game says that the Zealot works best in close range and melee. Why would you not believe that? Without having seen a list of all their skills, or actually playing the game, I'd believe the people who actually has.I actually have seen the list that was still actual at Leipzig as far as i know ;p links are in my sig

I have also read a lot and watched videos btw.
I didn't say i don't believe Raelimar...he's saying that Zealot can hold his own in melee with auto-attacking and heavy debuffing his target (and buffing himself) and i have no reason why i shouldn't believe him, because by looking at that spell list - it's absolutely possible, but probably when only one melee attack you (due to Impending Doom restriction)

But there're people out there claiming that this is anyway a clear proof that zealot is definiately heavy melee oriented now, and i'm stating that _IMO_ zealot will do better being at range if that spell list is still actual (and probably most of it is) or at least not changed dramatically, that's what i'm saying.
And "at range" for me means NOT being kilometers away from battle, but only staying away from enemy melees' range. That's how i also understand the "close combat spellcaster", the element of risk of being quite close to melee, but yet not close enough that he can reach you if you know what i mean (i'll update this post later to add more clarity, i'm tired now sorry)

I'm also saying whole zealot concept can change but we have no real proof of it yet (except Raelimar's impressions and we really don't know what changed, because these changes are not really noticeable in his write-up and he doesn't list these things...*if* there're any changes to begin with)
Another thing is the difference between "close combat spellcaster" and "melee support" that many people don't see, but that's another story

We'll see at release what the zealot is anyway

EDIT: updated a bit to reflect my thoughts better

[Perp]

The Zealot is a buffer and debuffer.

He can heal/buff both his allies AND himself, therefore making him a very effective melee fighter, especially when used in combination with his debuffs that he can use on the enemy.

WRONG!

He has cloth armor and zero melee skills. He will not be a "very effective melee fighter". Please don't comment on a class if you haven't taken the time to learn about it.

[Perp]

Seeing that people that has actually played the game says that the Zealot works best in close range and melee. Why would you not believe that? Without having seen a list of all their skills, or actually playing the game, I'd believe the people who actually has.

FYI, nobody who's done a writeup on playing the Zealot has ever said he works best in close range and melee.

Show me a writeup where someone says they work best doing melee damage and I'll show you a moron who doesn't know his from his elbow. Then I'll dig up 3 reviews that talk about how the zealot is a caster.

[Gemini]

FYI, nobody who's done a writeup on playing the Zealot has ever said he works best in close range and melee.


Wrong. I know this won't change your mind, or even open it to the possibility, but for those who have an open mind, they should read this.

Zealot - Hands down, my favorite class not just in this game, but in any MMO from UO to date. We've all heard Mythic talk about how casters will be able to hold their own in melee, and I'm sure that like me, you've smiled politely while thinking to yourself "BS." However, 5 minutes into playing my level 21 Zealot, I had an epiphany - they're not just capable of holding their own in melee. They're bloody freaking good at it. I'm not talking about taking hits on the chin, ripping your opponents to shreds. That's far too simplistic. Zealots, on the other hand, are one of the most beautifully innovative and complex careers in recent memory. The Harbinger I was most fond of reduces all damage done by a whopping 25%. After that, I'd put down a ritual which debuffed opponents considerably. Predictably, a melee class would charge at me, and get hit with a debuff the second they entered the ritual circle. My own buff, a Mark of Chaos, boosts my fighting skills by a good amount. The speed with which I was able to drop enemies with auto-attack after my debuffs, buffs, and DoTs were stacked was pretty surprising. I barely even needed to heal. There were also some very powerful nukes (my eyes popped out of my skull when I saw the numbers on the Tier 3 morale ability for the zealot, I can't remember what it was called, but goddamn that thing was amazing), most of them in the Morale section. It's not that the Zealot is any better at melee combat than any other caster, but didn’t seem nearly as prone to interrupts. As of now, it's definitely my career of choice - hopefully Black Guard will be up to the task of luring me away once I get to try them out. If they end up being as cool as the Zealot, there's a good chance I'll be playing this game for years to come.

SOURCE (http://only-war.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16144&start=0)

Between the Marks of Chaos, debuffs, and apreantly less interrupts, they should be able to hold their own in melee. Should he go charging into melee with the melee dd classes and tanks? Of course not. But when the melee comes to him, he'll be ready to fight them hand-to-hand instead of kiting or running. Melee and spellcaster don't have to be mutually exclusive, and I think the Zealot is showing that.

[Ryuuku]

WRONG!

He has cloth armor and zero melee skills. He will not be a "very effective melee fighter". Please don't comment on a class if you haven't taken the time to learn about it.

Ah irony. As the guy above posted maybe you should do a bit more research. Anyway, who can say for sure. Unless you're in beta I'm sure you have compared his melee damage versus his ranged damage so there's no telling. Not to mention he'll undoubtedly go through a lot of changes before release.

So far I'm somewhat picturing him as a WoW shaman(hate making these comparisons). The shaman at the moment is a very awesome just all around healer and dps'er. Mostly does nuking as far as dps goes, but melee is also viable to a degree. In my opinion he's the most well designed healer in that game, and I can't help but picture the zealot in a similar role.

[Crazy ol' dude]

Look:
FYI, nobody who's done a writeup on playing the Zealot has ever said he works [key word here->] best in melee.

Between the Marks of Chaos, debuffs, and apreantly less interrupts, they should be able to hold their own in melee. Should he go charging into melee with the melee dd classes and tanks? Of course not. But when the melee comes to him, he'll be ready to fight them hand-to-hand instead of kiting or running. Melee and spellcaster don't have to be mutually exclusive, and I think the Zealot is showing that.
That is true and seems like this is the way Zealot is going.
(...) it seems from the recent 3-part PAX/Games Day write up, that the Zealot is [key word here->]best served in melee.
At this time, the Zealot is very much a melee-based Support archtype, just like the Warrior Priest.
That is not true and this is likely not the way Zealot is going.

I based my opinion on Raelimar's impressions, archetype podcast, RvR videos, list of abilities from RvR videos, Paul's talkings about Zealots and finally - zealot offcial description. If you got any problems with finding that info in each of these sources - feel free to pm me, i just don't have time right now to copy every single quote/explain what happens on the screen or if you would like to i can write them down in a long "Now look here and take a note" type of write-up later

I'm glad you guys gave me this possibility to put what i have to say (except from trying to explain it this time) in such clear summary, i hope :)

Thank You

[Perp]

Ah irony. As the guy above posted maybe you should do a bit more research. Anyway, who can say for sure. Unless you're in beta I'm sure you have compared his melee damage versus his ranged damage so there's no telling. Not to mention he'll undoubtedly go through a lot of changes before release.

So far I'm somewhat picturing him as a WoW shaman(hate making these comparisons). The shaman at the moment is a very awesome just all around healer and dps'er. Mostly does nuking as far as dps goes, but melee is also viable to a degree. In my opinion he's the most well designed healer in that game, and I can't help but picture the zealot in a similar role.

Perhaps it's the people claiming the zealot is melee that should do more research?

He's not at all like the wow shaman unless you compare totems (usually buffs, can drop up to 4) to rituals (debuffs, can only have one active). Wait! That doesn't make a good comparison at all.

You must be comparing shaman melee skills (big 2h weapons, dual weild, multiple weapon buffs, melee instant attacks) to the zealots (dagger,auto-attack, a single weapon buff). Hmm, actually the zealot is looking more like a warlock in the melee skills department, and we all know how awsome the warlock melee ability was.

On the casting side shaman get (2 heals, lightning, chain lightning, chain heal, one shock every 5-6 sec) where the zealot gets (2 DD nukes, a dot, an AOE dot, cone AOE, a root, 1 heal, 1 group heal, 1 hot). Damn, without counting the zealots morale abilities he's already tromping the number of spells the shaman has; lets compare another area.

The wow shaman has mail and a shield and the zealot has... hmm cloth. Bad comparision.

Overall comparing the Zealot to the shaman is a total joke, and it's not funny.

Edit - ok that was a bit harsh, but I can assure you the zealot is nothing like wow's shaman.

[Ryuuku]

Perhaps it's the people claiming the zealot is melee that should do more research?

He's not at all like the wow shaman unless you compare totems (usually buffs, can drop up to 4) to rituals (debuffs, can only have one active). Wait! That doesn't make a good comparison at all.

You must be comparing shaman melee skills (big 2h weapons, dual weild, multiple weapon buffs, melee instant attacks) to the zealots (dagger,auto-attack, a single weapon buff). Hmm, actually the zealot is looking more like a warlock in the melee skills department, and we all know how awsome the warlock melee ability was.

On the casting side shaman get (2 heals, lightning, chain lightning, chain heal, one shock every 5-6 sec) where the zealot gets (2 DD nukes, a dot, an AOE dot, cone AOE, a root, 1 heal, 1 group heal, 1 hot). Damn, without counting the zealots morale abilities he's already tromping the number of spells the shaman has; lets compare another area.

The wow shaman has mail and a shield and the zealot has... hmm cloth. Bad comparision.

Overall comparing the Zealot to the shaman is a total joke, and it's not funny.

Oh please. They heal, they drop debuffing aoe items on the ground, they can nuke, they can melee. I've watched every zealot video that's come out so far, and the first thought every time I see them is shaman. It's pretty obvious to me the playstyles are similar, of course the exact spells are different, but the playstyle and role in groups is certainly close not even sure how you could deny that.

[Perp]

Oh please. They heal, they drop debuffing aoe items on the ground, they can nuke, they can melee. I've watched every zealot video that's come out so far, and the first thought every time I see them is shaman. It's pretty obvious to me the playstyles are similar, of course the exact spells are different, but the playstyle and role in groups is certainly close not even sure how you could deny that.

Please show me this melee video.

[Ryuuku]

Please show me this melee video.

When did I say there's a video with melee in it? That guy's description claims the melee is extremely good, but there's not much more to go by. The videos themselves never have any it, because they never try to melee. How could they know if it's good or bad if they never try? I simply said the playstyle in similar in the videos. Afterall not many shamans melee anyways, but it's still a viable option.

[Krulltak]

Who's comparing to WoW?


Certianly not us. YOU ARE, Perpy-le-pew.

Well guess what, this ain't WoW.

[Perp]

Who's comparing to WoW?


Certianly not us. YOU ARE, Perpy-le-pew.

Well guess what, this ain't WoW.

For god's sake man, learn to read the whole thread.

Somebody else made the comparison to the wow shaman, NOT ME. I was merely pointing out how bad the comparison is. I swear to god americans reading comprehension and attention span are both dropping faster than Bobby Bowdens coaching skills.

[Ryuuku]

What's wrong with comparisons? And I never said that the WAR Zealot = the WoW Shaman. I'm simply saying the playstyles seam similar.

[Perp]

When did I say there's a video with melee in it? That guy's description claims the melee is extremely good, but there's not much more to go by. The videos themselves never have any it, because they never try to melee. How could they know if it's good or bad if they never try? I simply said the playstyle in similar in the videos. Afterall not many shamans melee anyways, but it's still a viable option.

Read your post. Realize that mythic has staff on hand to give you pointers. Think about this bit you just wrote "because they never try to melee" for a while, and see it all comes together for you.

[Ryuuku]

Read your post. Realize that mythic has staff on hand to give you pointers. Think about this bit you just wrote "because they never try to melee" for a while, and see it all comes together for you.

These are the same guys that click every ability and keyboard turn though. I mean I'm not saying that these guys are going to be some melee beasts, but reading this makes me think that they still have the option.

Zealot - Hands down, my favorite class not just in this game, but in any MMO from UO to date. We've all heard Mythic talk about how casters will be able to hold their own in melee, and I'm sure that like me, you've smiled politely while thinking to yourself "BS." However, 5 minutes into playing my level 21 Zealot, I had an epiphany - they're not just capable of holding their own in melee. They're bloody freaking good at it. I'm not talking about taking hits on the chin, ripping your opponents to shreds. That's far too simplistic. Zealots, on the other hand, are one of the most beautifully innovative and complex careers in recent memory. The Harbinger I was most fond of reduces all damage done by a whopping 25%. After that, I'd put down a ritual which debuffed opponents considerably. Predictably, a melee class would charge at me, and get hit with a debuff the second they entered the ritual circle. My own buff, a Mark of Chaos, boosts my fighting skills by a good amount. The speed with which I was able to drop enemies with auto-attack after my debuffs, buffs, and DoTs were stacked was pretty surprising. I barely even needed to heal. There were also some very powerful nukes (my eyes popped out of my skull when I saw the numbers on the Tier 3 morale ability for the zealot, I can't remember what it was called, but goddamn that thing was amazing), most of them in the Morale section. It's not that the Zealot is any better at melee combat than any other caster, but didn’t seem nearly as prone to interrupts. As of now, it's definitely my career of choice - hopefully Black Guard will be up to the task of luring me away once I get to try them out. If they end up being as cool as the Zealot, there's a good chance I'll be playing this game for years to come.

I mean we have videos to go by and we have write ups. I guess you can be closed minded and convince yourself what you want, but in the end nobody really knows unless you're in beta.

[Perp]

These are the same guys that click every ability and keyboard turn though. I mean I'm not saying that these guys are going to be some melee beasts, but reading this makes me think that they still have the option.



I mean we have videos to go by and we have write ups. I guess you can be closed minded and convince yourself what you want, but in the end nobody really knows unless you're in beta.

Yeah, every class has auto-attack. Since, the brightwizard has auto-attack and a 2h staff they'll be an even better melee class right?

I can tell a lot more by watching game footage and looking at in game skill desciptions than some idiot who wasted a few mins of his life embarising himself by posting complete nonsense about the zealots gameplay. Obviously he doesn't know anyting about MMOs, stats and scaling.

[Ryuuku]

Yeah, every class has auto-attack. Since, the brightwizard has auto-attack and a 2h staff they'll be an even better melee class right?

I can tell a lot more by watching game footage and looking at in game skill desciptions than some idiot who wasted a few mins of his life embarising himself by posting complete nonsense about the zealots gameplay. Obviously he doesn't know anyting about MMOs, stats and scaling.

Well he's been to a ton of the conventions apparently. He's played all of the available classes to play. I mean honestly I'd believe what he says over the clickers who have played a total of 10 minutes, but hey if you want to convince yourself how the game works before you even play it be my guest.

[Scraper]

- I think that mythics are going to be reasonable enough not to make a dagger in hand of a support class a deadly weapon and only a brain-dead player would use it for a dps purpose.

I mostly found myself nodding my head in agreement while reading Crazy-Dude's and Perp's replies.

[Perp]

Well he's been to a ton of the conventions apparently. He's played all of the available classes to play. I mean honestly I'd believe what he says over the clickers who have played a total of 10 minutes, but hey if you want to convince yourself how the game works before you even play it be my guest.

I can assure you that if he thinks the zealot is "bloody freaking good at" melee and "ripping your opponents to shreds" with melee; he's a complete MMO novice. Watch the videos, look at the skills available and make up your own mind about how they will be played most effectively.

If you think that a class with no melee skills is going to be bloody freaking good in melee and ripping your opponents to shreds in melee, thanks for the laughs.

[Perp]

- I think that mythics are going to be reasonable enough not to make a dagger in hand of a support class a deadly weapon and only a brain-dead player would use it for a dps purpose.

I mostly found myself nodding my head in agreement while reading Crazy-Dude's and Perp's replies.

Yep.

Nice sig btw, makes me want to put my 2/2 ( 8 ) in my sig.

[Ryuuku]

I can assure you that if he thinks the zealot is "bloody freaking good at" melee and "ripping your opponents to shreds" with melee; he's a complete MMO novice. Watch the videos, look at the skills available and make up your own mind about how they will be played most effectively.


Have you seen the damage they can do in melee? Because I haven't. Assumptions are great and all, but in the end that's exactly what they are. Assumptions. I mean yeah I'd assume that a support player with a dagger isn't going to be some awesome melee guy, but that itself is an assumption. Assassin types sure manage to make due with daggers after all. A guy who's played all the classes so far claims that the zealot's melee capabilities are pretty good, so of course any sensible person is going to know that it's possible that he could have some decent melee capabilities. But do we know for sure? No. Do you know for sure that he isn't? No. Stop making assumptions and calling people novices and whatnot because of your grand experiences that are pretty much baseless.

[Browncoat-WHA]

Blood pressure up much over the Internet?

Take it down a notch guys, if you could.

[Perp]

Have you seen the damage they can do in melee? Because I haven't. Assumptions are great and all, but in the end that's exactly what they are. Assumptions. I mean yeah I'd assume that a support player with a dagger isn't going to be some awesome melee guy, but that itself is an assumption. Assassin types sure manage to make due with daggers after all. A guy who's played all the classes so far claims that the zealot's melee capabilities are pretty good, so of course any sensible person is going to know that it's possible that he could have some decent melee capabilities. But do we know for sure? No. Do you know for sure that he isn't? No. Stop making assumptions and calling people novices and whatnot because of your grand experiences that are pretty much baseless.

Obviously, nothing I say will change your mind, but in my experience no cloth wearing caster in any MMO I've played has ever been capable of holding his own in melee. If nothing else you are at a severe armor disadvantage (cloth), usually you have no STR (or whatever stat boosts melee damage) and no special attacks. Meaning going melee against say a hammerer will result in you taking 4-5 times the damage you can dish out.

Agree to disagrree then?

[Crazy ol' dude]

To prove my point in what i have written before, i'd like to go thru all the stages of zealot development that we, as the community, have access to. (you can click on some quotes to get access it's source)
Let's start from first introduction of the class, Paul Barnett talking:
What is the Zealot? The Zealot is all about religious fever! He's all about the bird-god and believing in the bird-god 100%. He's about calling down birds and these enormous scarecrow totems. He's about building the faith towards Tzeentch, and he's about drawing forth the Chaos, out of the Chaos ether, into the modern world, and ripping things to pieces via the use of the birds. It's beaks, it's feathers, it's death, it's destruction! The Zealot is the healer/aggressive-combat spellcaster of Chaos. He's absolutely fantastic. (http://www.warhammeronline.com/english/media/video/files/WAR-NL_TheZealot.wmv)
And as a comparison, i'll quote PB talking about Warrior Priest
A warrior priest is about taking two hammers, challenging his faith, taking the fight to the infidels. He's about showing off the fact that if you go to the front and maul the enemy, then the gods will reward you. (http://www.war-resource.com/viewquote.php?q=481)
As you can see Zealot was described as aggresive combat spellcaster, not "he's stabbing people with his mighty dagger, then the gods will reward him" or anything near it.
****
Let's move on to official description of the zealot:
As a spell caster(...) Alternatively, you might wish to attack the Zealot as a priority, but he is hardly the soft target that he might appear to be.There's not even one word about meleeing. However the description also shows that even if zealot is wearing cloths, he's not that very vulnerable.
****
Let's move to early spell list. (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11968) How many melee abilities can you see there? None. How many ranged? All of them, except ressurection spell which has 5ft range, also zealot has anti-caster stuff. Notice that at this point most of his spells had 100ft range cast.
****
Ashefire's impressions (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=413253&postcount=11)
But even besides that, I guess I did pretty good in the DPS department. I scored 2nd out of 8 on our team for overall damage and 4th out of 16 out of both teams for overall damage. I was pretty surprised. I was beaten out only by a Magus on the Destruction side.(...) And survivability is surprisingly good. I didn't die once, which I'm pretty proud of.(...)Some people keep trying to tell me this is a melee class, but I really don't believe it. I haven't seen a melee skill yet and bothering to use the dagger seems pretty unproductive. Pretty much like a healer using their weapon in any other MMO, hehe.Self-explanatory i think ;)
****
The Waaagh career discussion: (http://www.curse.com/videos/details/578/)
Zealot - similar to the runepriest in a fact that when he plays he plays in a similar (???) fashion. He drops down curses in various locations, he's more the i stand back and do a couple of things, it's not that I'm standing back and waiting for something to happen, i'm standing back and looking for where i'm the most effective.
standing back anyway, not charging to melee.
****
BW Waaagh video (http://war.curse.com/videos/details/524/)
17:10, zealot tries to melee bright wizard (weakest armor wearer, remember!), notice the damage he does
****
Zealot Waaagh video (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16314)
Player clearly knows what he is doing and is very effective. Not meleeing at all, not even one melee skill can be seen on his hotbar besides auto-attack.
****
Zealot Leipzig vid. (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17045)
Poor player tbh, spamming scourges most of the time, yet not meleeing even once again, only auto-attack visible on the hotbar
****
List of abilities from those RvR videos (links are in my signature)
Still only auto-attack as melee, anti-caster stuff, spells are ranged, 65ft rituals, 100ft rest.
****
Raelimar's impressions
Raelimar's answer and explanations that zealot is close combat - not melee - at the moment (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=467515&postcount=52)
They're bloody freaking good at it. I'm not talking about taking hits on the chin, ripping your opponents to shreds. That's far too simplistic. Zealots, on the other hand, are one of the most beautifully innovative and complex careers in recent memory.This is the whole problem ;p but, he was impressed in melee dps...Seems like for most of people it's something like "We all expected him to deal 50, he dealt 5000!", however i think it's rather "he was expecting him to dish out 25, he dealt 75" ;) BUT, in the same write-up
It's not that the Zealot is any better at melee combat than any other caster, but didn’t seem nearly as prone to interrupts.Some people have been calling me out on describing the Zealot as a close combat career rather than a Ranged healer; all I’m going to say is…I’ve played the career, and according to the podcast description, Mythic’s own description of the career, and the answers I got at PAX, the Zealot is indeed a close combat aggressive support class. If that’s not good enough for you and you still insist on calling it a ranged healer, well…I don’t know what you want.Yes, he probably is close combat, but he's all the time going back and forth from close combat to ranged and vice-versa, so that doesn't really mean much...but it for sure doesn't mean he suddenly became melee.
and the "answers i got at PAX" he wrote down related to zealot is:
The Zealot has sometimes been described as a “melee healer” during presentations. Will we be seeing any skills specifically designed to help the Zealot survive in close combat?

He didn't really understand the question. He mentioned that the zealot is half-naked for basically all of his progression.This is not really a clear anwer ;p
Raelimar proved that Zealot can hold his own in 1v1 against melee. I greatly appreciate the time he spared to write this all for us, it was a great read, but at this time zealot would be more effective casting spells than auto-attacking, but it's good to know that he can hold his own in melee ;)

One more thing -> again PAX write-up with bolds made by Lorik (great job man :) thanks a lot), original post here (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=464937&postcount=38)
Here's the PAX impression that people keep misinterpreting:

PAX Impression (http://only-war.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16291)

Quote:
Healers: Healing was kind of interesting for me, since I’m used to the “Whack-a-Mole” style healing of WoW. There weren’t any huge damage spikes – as a general rule, all the careers were pretty tough, and it doesn’t take a spectacular twitch-master to keep a group up at this point in time. As a Shaman in particular, you should definitely be nuking at least some of the time, simply because unless your Black Orc is getting pounded on by an entire group, you really don’t need to be spamming heals. It’s just not efficient with the action point system they have in place. As for the Zealot, it’s another aggressive caster, but you rely more on buffs and debuffs, rather than the huge nukes and heals of the Shaman. Some people have been calling me out on describing the Zealot as a close combat career rather than a Ranged healer; all I’m going to say is…I’ve played the career, and according to the podcast description, Mythic’s own description of the career, and the answers I got at PAX, the Zealot is indeed a close combat aggressive support class. If that’s not good enough for you and you still insist on calling it a ranged healer, well…I don’t know what you want. If you try to cast your rituals at long range, people will simply run out of the circle. It’s as simple as that, and if you play without rituals, you’re seriously gimping yourself. The Runepriest has a lot of skills that seem to mirror the Zealot’s, but in a more defensive fashion. When I played one, I tried standing in the back and doing the “heal, heal, heal” thing, and it didn’t work too well. I tried a different approach with the Zealot, and it paid off, so that’s what I’m going to go with at release. Simply put, damage/healing players will contribute significantly more than a player who strictly heals, in my opinion. It’s fantastic.

and nice commentary made by RexT
This is pretty long, for the two sentence version scroll down.

Yes, it's true that the zealot is a debuff class and under specific circumstances may be able to buff himself and debuff his opponent enough so that he can "hold his own in melee". However, "holding one's own in melee" does not make one a melee class. To use WoW as an example ( yeah, yeah) both the Hunter and Shaman classes (resto and elemental spec) had the armor and abilities to "hold their own in melee", but obviously they weren't melee classes. They were ranged classes who, when the time came, could deal out respectable damage in a less than favorable situation.

The key here is that as ranged classes they didn't actively seek melee combat, which is what melee classes do. They started battles out at range and used their abilities to try to keep it that way, but were not completely screwed if the enemy managed to close in on them. The hunter had a few melee based attacks but his goal was always to to get back at range as soon as possible. The shaman didn't have many ways to leave melee range, but using flametongue weapon, flame shock, and searing totem he could do decent auto attack damage while keeping himself healed. Again, understand that being able to perform a function moderately well when forced doesn't make that the primary function of the class

To refer to the Zealot specifically and to address Ranti's suggestion, the Zealot will more than likely end up being something analogous to the WoW shaman with various DoTs and debuffs taking the place of flametongue and searing totem. He will probably be able to do moderately well in melee range, but only in a limited 1v1 battle. In order to do so he must focus all of his attention, debuffs, and buffs on himself and his opponent. I sincerely doubt that he will be able to take on more than one opponent at a time using this strategy. This means that he will no longer be supporting the group as a whole, he will be keeping himself alive long enough for help to arrive. Once that particular witch hunter/hammerer/HE is dealt with the Zealot will go back to playing the role of close combat ranged support.

In other words, there is no way for the Zealot to properly perform his function as a support class if he is constantly focusing his attention and support abilities on one specific player, he just isn't built for it. What makes the warrior priest able to perform his role as melee support is the fact that he has various pointblank AoE heals and does not rely on an intricate debuff/buff system to take his opponents down. He can efficiently move from one opponent to the next without hesitation because his strength in melee is inherent, he has high armor, an effective melee weapon, and melee oriented abilites. The Zealot is not able to do this because his melee prowess comes from his ability to break down his opponent's strengths; basically, there is a set-up that the Zealot must perform before he can fight in melee. It's just not feasible to expect the Zealot to keep all his melee oriented buffs on himself at all times, keep his primary target fully debuffed, apply other debuffs to the rest of the opponents, and heal his teamates at the same time.

For the TLDR crowd: The Zealot's melee ability is based on heavy single target debuffing. This is a very inefficient method of melee combat and also detracts from his ability to support his team and apply his debuffs elsewhere in keeping with the tide of battle.
****
Archetype podcast (http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/war/us/media/videos/pp_Archetypes_1000.zip)
Simple - Zealot is close combat (this doesn't have to mean he's melee). However, the voice portion, as Perp suggested, could be made long time ago, with just visual effects added (notice that they didn't mention even once any of just revealed elf classes!)
*******************
Aqualisk's impressions (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=526643&postcount=1)
First and foremost, I would like to say that from all the abilities I saw and play style, the zealot is NOT a melee class. In fact, I had to do the best I could get out of melee once Witch Hunters and Hammerers got to me. But I'll write more on that later.(...)If you notice from the list, none of my abilities, with the exception of the single target buff, has anything to do with melee. In fact, I was functioning best when I was able to stay behind my allies and keep them alive/debuff from afar. My biggest problems were witch hunters and hammers which given their disruption abilities and high damage. The most effective strategy was to degen them down with my damage over time and ritual. The only time I ever tried to approach an enemy was to put down my ritual, which from observation had somewhere around 50%-75% the range of my other spells.

As you probably can see, Zealot from the beginning of the development was being described and played as either close combat spellcaster or ranged spellcaster, never melee as for example WP is.


Now i'd like to dedicate this comic to all people who are still claiming that Zealot is melee support career -> http://www.secretlivesofmobs.com/index.php?strip_id=23

And accurate comparison made by Scraper:
Zealots won't be Conans, they will be more like... Richard! (http://lfgcomic.com/page/44) ;)

Cheers and thanks for reading, i hope it was enough to change your mind ;)

[Scraper]

Nice sig btw, makes me want to put my 2/2 ( 8 ) in my sig.

HA, Perp the offender.



Crazy Dude, it must have taken a long time to put that reply together and I thank you for it.

Zealots won't be Conans, they will be more like... Richard! (http://lfgcomic.com/page/44)

[Ilion Sturmlied]

In the last production podcast (http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/war/us/media/videos/pp_Archetypes_1000.zip)

They mention, that the zealot is (like the Warpriest) a "close combat support".

That is actually a bit confusing, because I agree that the Zealot looks more like a caster character and I thinks thats good.

[Volcano Mentality]

You guys aren't seeing all that there is to a Zealot.

Yes, he's half naked, yes he has a dagger, no he doesn't have any direct melee damage attacks, but does that mean he can't melee? NO!!!

Now, pay attention:
A Zealot uses his religious power and fervor to assist him in battle; heck, one of his most notable abilities, the harbringer, decreases the damage dealt to him by the bearer by 25% !!! That's no small number folks. Also, he has Rituals, which further debuff his opponents, as well as various buffs to himself, which in the end add up to create a decent advantage over his enemies. His style of melee battle is to slap a harbringer on someone, drop a ritual around him or his foe, depending on who's attacking, and then charging in and tearing it up with his dagger, possibly casting an offensive spell at some point. Obviously, on his own and without prep, the Zealot is a pushover in melee, but as soon as he gets his web of debuffs and buffs up, he's a man to be feared.

Now, in a group situation, a Zealot will likely be in the back casting his two or three nuke spells over and over again while he builds up his debuff/buff network, but that's only because he's got to focus on his friends more than himself, as they already do great damage without the network. But as soon as he's pressed into action, he is fully capable of melee. If the enemies decide to go for the healer, they're in for a big surprise if they're expecting some squishy chewtoy waiting to be mangled.

Obviously, he's not a typical meleer, like the WP, who has various melee abilities, but that's what makes him so great. He's unorthodox, fitting for a devotee to the god of change, who brings his enemies down to his level while simultaniously raising himself up beyond them through his chaotic powers.

[Scraper]

Volcano Mentality,
I'm not sure what kind of mentality is in a volcano, but I'd say, after carefully reading your post, that it must be an oxymoronic one.

Did you really read it after yourself and thought of it just for a bit?

You wrote, "Does that mean he can't melee? NO!!!" and you gave several, very good, reasons why a Zealot can not be meele oriented.
For example:
X 25% lower damage+half-nakedness - Z is not high on armor, so he/she has to have some kind of defesive ability in case someone starts dpsing him/her
X Rituals - pretty good explanation there, but no reason for meele orientation for Zs
X In one part you speak about a Z "nuking" and in other you write a thing like, "tearing it up with his dagger" - now THAT is an oxymoron

You are completely right when you say, "He's not a typical meleer," that is a very fair assumption - all ranged classes could be described this way.

All in all, I strongly recommend editing your post before Perp gets to his machine and does what he does best. I'll do the same after you. Then, we'll just tell your mother that we ate it all (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQJIOuBNmZA).

[Crazy ol' dude]

You guys aren't seeing all that there is to a Zealot.

Yes, he's half naked, yes he has a dagger, no he doesn't have any direct melee damage attacks, but does that mean he can't melee? NO!!!

Now, pay attention:
A Zealot uses his religious power and fervor to assist him in battle; heck, one of his most notable abilities, the harbringer, decreases the damage dealt to him by the bearer by 25% !!! That's no small number folks. Also, he has Rituals, which further debuff his opponents, as well as various buffs to himself, which in the end add up to create a decent advantage over his enemies. His style of melee battle is to slap a harbringer on someone, drop a ritual around him or his foe, depending on who's attacking, and then charging in and tearing it up with his dagger, possibly casting an offensive spell at some point. Obviously, on his own and without prep, the Zealot is a pushover in melee, but as soon as he gets his web of debuffs and buffs up, he's a man to be feared.

Now, in a group situation, a Zealot will likely be in the back casting his two or three nuke spells over and over again while he builds up his debuff/buff network, but that's only because he's got to focus on his friends more than himself, as they already do great damage without the network. But as soon as he's pressed into action, he is fully capable of melee. If the enemies decide to go for the healer, they're in for a big surprise if they're expecting some squishy chewtoy waiting to be mangled.

Obviously, he's not a typical meleer, like the WP, who has various melee abilities, but that's what makes him so great. He's unorthodox, fitting for a devotee to the god of change, who brings his enemies down to his level while simultaniously raising himself up beyond them through his chaotic powers.
Just one question - why should he ignore nukes only to go melee and toggle auto-attack? Zealot can hold his own in melee 1v1. If you would like to play him that way you probably can go melee or something, but you'll in effectiveness never get to the same point as the close combat spellcaster zealot or ranged zealot, simply because you're ignoring most of your not-melee abilities.

And : http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=467423&postcount=48

All in all, I strongly recommend editing your post before Perp gets to his machine and does what he does best. I'll do the same after you. :D:D

[Groa]

Didn't read half of the second page or most of the third, as it seems to be the same two arguing. Crazy ol' dude seems to be making the most sense anyways, can I join your guild? :P

There's a bit of a difference between melee and close-combat, at least in my opinion, and they are not interchangable. Melee would be what the Tanks and, well, Melee DPS do, close-combat would just imply that the class performs to their fullest when they are in the fray rather than on the sidelines. Anyways, it doesn't seem like the max spell range (100ft from what I've seen) is very far, so everyone will be pretty close to the fight, that doesn't mean the Magus and Bright Wizards should start crackin' skulls with their staves. The Zealot is the Chaos Support class, and unless I'm totally batty, dropping your Ritual/Mark/Harbinger then going off to stab the closest bugger to you doesn't seem very supportive. You should be dotting everyone up, tossing out heals as needed, and managing your buffs/debuffs. If the Zealot is anywhere as complex a class as they sound to be, you won't have much time to stand around stabbing a dorf in the eye.

[AlltheMyriadWays]

If you think that a class with no melee skills is going to be bloody freaking good in melee and ripping your opponents to shreds in melee, thanks for the laughs.

Red Mages in FF XI. Their melee skills are not very good compared to any other melee class (except at low levels where the rift hasn't had a chance to grow).

They just, you know, debuff you all to hell, buff themselves, heal themselves and kill you bit by bloody bit.

That's what I get the impression the Zealot does. Considering it can reduce incoming damage by 25%, decrease the enemy's armor, give himself a boost to strength, and can choose for tactics:

Warped Flesh
+1 Toughness/level

Aggresive ???
1% more dmg power, 1% less healing power

Part of the Plan
You have a 25% chance to completely ignore any effects which set you back, interrupt you, or disrupt you.

Sealed Fate
The effects of your Harbinger on your enemies is increased by ??%. (Further reducing the damage dealt to you)

I would say yeah, it can have what is a poor melee dps/armor and still rip into enemies when the need strikes them.

Welcome to Tzeentch, friend. Things are never what they seem. ;)

[BadTouch]

well it was fun following this topic i did learn a lot about zealots and peoples different opinion so could a mod close this topic? i think we are done here.

[Gemini]

Why bother closing it? If other people want to join in the conversation, why should we stop them?

[BadTouch]

i havent stopped them but they have just stopped talking lol... my style of playing a zealot will develop and progress as my character progresses because i can not determine how i will want to play my class on words and opinions... i need to play one for myself then ill figure it out.

[Gorthor]

Obviously, nothing I say will change your mind, but in my experience no cloth wearing caster in any MMO I've played has ever been capable of holding his own in melee. If nothing else you are at a severe armor disadvantage (cloth), usually you have no STR (or whatever stat boosts melee damage) and no special attacks. Meaning going melee against say a hammerer will result in you taking 4-5 times the damage you can dish out.

Agree to disagrree then?
You are aware that healers have the second best armour in the game, right? They won't be made of paper like in most other MMos. In WoW terms, you're a mail wearing class, not a cloth one (another thing in common with WoW shamans). So many people seem to be basing their opinions on how the zealot looks.

People talk about how the Zealot lacks any melee abilities, however there's something else he lacks: snares, mezes or any other 'escape' trick. For me that's more significant; when a class has no way to escape from melee, it's because that class is expected to pull its weight in melee. Obviously you can't match a proper melee class, and will try to avoid them, but if you've used your rituals, harbringers and spells properly, then an enemy melee getting up close to you shouldn't turn the blance of power totally in their favour. I fully expect to finish off a fair few melee dpsers with my trusty dagger.

[Crazy ol' dude]

Zealots have a snare actually :) heh

They do have tactics which help them being vialable in melee...but only in 1v1 (this is due to harbinger restriction), and only imo against newbs who don't know how to dish out damage, stun, interrupt etc. You'll be able to stand your own in melee, but not as good as for example Warrior Priest i imagine
Since you have pbaoe morale abilities, you have protection against melee, but when your enemy knows what he's doing - there'll probably be time for your tank to react and not for you to auto-attack, but whatever. I imagine you'll be able to play the career as you want, but i personally wouldn't give up nukes in favor of auto-attack and possible rush by all melee dps who are close and noticed you

[Gorthor]

Zealots have a snare actually :) heh

Ah, you're right, but it is a morale ability, and kind of crappy even by WAR standards. it's nothing compared to what shaman get for example (3 very nice looking abilities). Regardless, as I said I'm not advocating going toe to toe with Witch Hunters or anything, but without much in the way of snares you'll be forced into melee situations pretty often.

And given the way the zealot is described, given the heavier-than-expected armour level and given how crap a class that can't do anything in melee and has (almost) no snares or roots would be, I'm going to assume that zealots are more like WoW shamans than WoW cloth casters in this respect (yes, I know WoW comparisons are overdone, but it seems suitable here).

[Crazy ol' dude]

Ah, you're right, but it is a morale ability, and kind of crappy even by WAR standards

No, it's not? ;p it's not morale, it's normal skill, lasts 7 sec and has 20 sec cooldown

[maconic]

Lol, just that he CAN do melee, doesnt make him a melee class?

Its a ranged caster class, with a very high range and the ability to root. I wouldn't call that melee!


Oh and his heals and Dmg spells are NOT connected....

[Kozai]

having read Raelimar's account and a number of others, surely zealots are best described as combat casters. |In other words thru debuffs/heals and such you can effectively tank melee classes whilst casting ur nukes/dots, much like an elemental shaman or shadow priest in wow.

Really hope this is it rather than a stand at the back and *yawn* zzz zzz zzz

[Crazy ol' dude]

having read Raelimar's account and a number of others, surely zealots are best described as combat casters. |In other words thru debuffs/heals and such you can effectively tank melee classes whilst casting ur nukes/dots, much like an elemental shaman or shadow priest in wow.

Really hope this is it rather than a stand at the back and *yawn* zzz zzz zzz
What "a number of others" ? FYI Raelimar was the only person who wrote Zealot can hold his own in melee and HE WAS RIGHT, but people are now saying it makes the zealot a hardcore heavy conan melee healer and it's wrong

"Effectively tank melee classes" ? That's interesting how a ZL will tank a melee DPS...considering he has lots of anti-caster stuff, he would be unstoppable then ;)

[EDITED some stupid misunderstanding here]

And just to clarify things - i'm not saying Zealot is ranged. I'm saying Zealot is NOT melee, i'm saying he'll be steamrolled by melee dps (consdering he fights against a good player; refering to career discussion here). He'll be able to hold his own, but not "tank effectively" , just hold his own until tank will take that melee dps off him, he has non-morale snare, he has some melee prot tactics, but more importantly - he has spells, not melee abilities

I hope we'll see a true melee healer on destruction side soon ;)

[Kozai]

Yes, and better is to go in, toggle auto-attack and *yawn* /afk? :p You'll have choice via tactics to describe your playstyle, but i don't why typical zealot should ignore his nukes in favour of auto-attack, but IT DOESN't MATTER, because it all will be probably altered quite a few times.

Or in short - let's wait to release and then judge if it's better to cast spells (not neccesarily at range) or auto-attack around


Now where did I say toggle autoattack and sit there? hmm. I said - casting ur nukes/dots, much like an elemental shaman or shadow priest in wow. Please learn to comprehend the words written in front of you before engaging ur /rant switch.

[Crazy ol' dude]

Now where did I say toggle autoattack and sit there? hmm. I said - casting ur nukes/dots, much like an elemental shaman or shadow priest in wow. Please learn to comprehend the words written in front of you before engaging ur /rant switch.
LOL, that's right, my honest apologies ;p

I think i need a break from zealot is not melee campaign...
So forget that part of my post, i'll edit it asap

[Gorthor]

No, it's not? ;p it's not morale, it's normal skill, lasts 7 sec and has 20 sec cooldown
What ability is this, cus all I see is coils of tzeentch?

[dol]

What ability is this, cus all I see is coils of tzeentch?


Here is full list of know abilities.

http://www.war-resource.com/careers/zealot.php#abilities

Chaotic Crippling is the skill they are refering to.

[Gorthor]

Here is full list of know abilities.

http://www.war-resource.com/careers/zealot.php#abilities

Chaotic Crippling is the skill they are refering to.Cheers. Not a bad ability alright.

[Arkanae]

Regardless, as I said I'm not advocating going toe to toe with Witch Hunters or anything, but without much in the way of snares you'll be forced into melee situations pretty often.

This does not mean that you should just go and auto-attack someone to death. I would be throwing up debuffs/dots/harbingers(if able) and then try to 'kite' them over to a melee so that they could stun/bash/whatever to the thing.. leaving me to my own devices. As a melee buffer/spellcaster/healer i am going to assume that the melee part of that isn't because you do tons of melee damage, but rather you help your melee dps ally with your buffs/debuffs more than you would help out a ranged ally.

From the skills and abilities that i have read so far, that would seem to be the case,

[Crazy ol' dude]

Here is full list of know abilities.

http://www.war-resource.com/careers/zealot.php#abilities

Chaotic Crippling is the skill they are refering to.
Yes, it is it. Btw. these are not all known abilities. They don't have Tzeentch Warping and their Impending Doom is way outdated.

In my signature there're 2 links, they lead to a compilation of abilities and tactics transcripted from waaagh and leipzig RvR ZL videos (so most recent ones), although it seems the rituals are already outdated, but hopefully we'll soon have some other videos to see how it goes atm

[Throwhemon]

Yes, it is it. Btw. these are not all known abilities. They don't have Tzeentch Warping and their Impending Doom is way outdated.

In my signature there're 2 links, they lead to a compilation of abilities and tactics transcripted from waaagh and leipzig RvR ZL videos (so most recent ones), although it seems the rituals are already outdated, but hopefully we'll soon have some other videos to see how it goes atm

funny, your post says they dont have Tzeentch warping but your link says otherwise

[Crazy ol' dude]

funny, your post says they dont have Tzeentch warping but your link says otherwise
They have TW, but it's only "Tzeentch's Warping - <Unknown>"

My link has
Tzeentch's Warping
Deals damage to the target over 10? second.

Sorry, but i don't clearly see your point :P

[leogeo2]

Ya know, after reading the entire skill list of Zealots and seeing tons of videos, I just completely love the way Zealots work. They remind me a lot of my Hierophant when I used to play Lineage 2, a taste of Overlord in there as well. There is also the effectiveness of healing such as my Priest has in WoW.

Buffing groups, debuffing enemies and healing throutout the fight to make sure everything is together, it seems fantastic to me and possibly a required participant needed in group combat.

[Saidin]

I think the Zealot "SHOULD" be a melee caster, to do that they should have melee abilities, something like melee lifetap, or even better a AP tap.

[Auku]

I think the Zealot "SHOULD" be a melee caster, to do that they should have melee abilities, something like melee lifetap, or even better a AP tap.

Well it actually isn't melee though. Maybe next time. http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=462759&postcount=35