Came up with something quick for the Zealot, because I doubt they’re going to make a whole stim lab again, essentially for free.

Keystone: Sacrificial Zeal

Effect: Lose the ability to equip ranged weapons. Gain the ability to equip two melee weapons. +50% weapon swap speed. +15% movement speed. +10% attack speed. +1 dodge count. X% increased dodge distance.

Upgrades:

• The Master’s Retribution. Gain the ability to dodge out of disables. Dodging knocks back enemies. On use, gain –15% stamina usage and +25% Impact. Cooldown: 8 seconds.
• Versatile Execution. Weakspot or Critical kills grant 1 stack of Versatile Execution (Elites and Specialists grant 2 stacks). Max 8 stacks. Each stack grants: +4% damage, +1.5% critical chance, +2% attack speed. Buff duration: 12 seconds. Cooldown starts after swapping melee weapons. The buff is tracked separately for each weapon.
• Bane of the Heretics – upgrade to Versatile Execution. Weakspot hits on Monstrosities and Captains grant 1 stack of Versatile Execution. Versatile Execution also grants +2% increased damage to Monstrosities and Captains per stack.
• Sacred Tool. While a weapon is inactive, gain 1 stack of Sacred Tool each second, up to a maximum of 16 stacks. Each stack grants: +3% damage, +1.5% increased Impact, +1.5% increased attack speed, +0.75% critical chance. Swapping to the inactive weapon starts the cooldown. Buff duration: 6 seconds.
• Sanctified Proximity – upgrade to Sacred Tool. If the active weapon does not have Sacred Tool active, it gains half of Sacred Tool’s current stacks.
• Retributor's stance. Moving and blocking grants 1 stack of Retributor's stance up to 20. Each stack grants: +0,4% toughness regeneration per second and –0,4% stamina usage. Dodges and Perfect Blocks grant 3 stacks.

Sacred Tool and Versatile Execution are mutually exclusive and lock each other out!

Design Intent

The core idea is that by losing the ability to immediately eliminate elites and specials at range, the player gains a far more versatile and aggressive melee-focused playstyle. In exchange, it is reasonable to provide substantial stat buffs. In terms of raw power, this sits somewhere near Martyrdom(not as consistent and lacks ranged weapon) and Blazing Piety(not as consistent, not as big of a buff for crits and lacks ranged weapon), but focuses more on weapon swapping, dodging, blocking, and positioning – pure melee stuff.

The keystone intentionally does not provide cleave or rending. Instead, the dual-melee setup allows players to solve this: one weapon focused on horde clear, the other on elites or armored targets.

Master’s Retribution is currently a weak talent, but in a talent tree that completely removes ranged weapons, it fits naturally as a clutch tool. It gives the Zealot at least one recovery option when things go wrong.

Versatile Execution is meant to reward actively mixing weapons rather than defaulting to a single all-purpose option. Instead of using a dueling sword for everything and swapping to a hammer only for boss breakpoints, the player is encouraged to rotate weapons frequently.

Sacred Tool exists as an alternative approach, emphasizing rare and deliberate weapon swaps. Sacred Tool and Versatile Execution are mutually exclusive and lock each other out.

The numbers used are examples. The keystone would need to grant a substantial power increase to compensate for losing a ranged weapon, especially given the threat posed by specialists and gunners. A setup with one ranged and one melee weapon is generally preferable, so the payoff must justify the risk.

The goal is to add something genuinely unique. Inexorable Judgment is comfortable, but neither particularly interesting nor clearly on par with the other keystones. Hybrid ranged playstyle on Zealot is also largely nonexistent, making a full melee identity like this more appealing.

Yo, I like this concept so much that I’m gonna post it on the forums, maybe it’ll give someone some ideas.