DISCLAIMER: I do not claim this is the most efficient build, nor do I claim I am the best at it (or have even the close to the best gear). I just wanted to show another option to the FOTM Holy Shotgun and Fist builds that is T6 viable.
Are you sick of any of these with your crusader?
Needing 6pc Akkhans
Needing a Fate of the Fell
Playing the heavily armored class like a caster instead of a badass tank
I was. Then with patch 2.0.5 a new possibility opened up...one I've wanted to work since launch. With a bit of luck and spare gear, I was able assemble something that was able to walk into T4 and dominate right away. The best news is that nothing in this set is REQUIRED. There is no single item that makes or breaks the viability of this build. I have friends trying it on their brand new Crusaders and doing well in lower torment levels without any of the pieces I have (aside from common crafted sets).
Below is a link to the video of my T6 rift run. I do NOT use the Unity bug (my follower has one, but I do not). I show my gear AND spec at the end. Now it isn't the quickest run, but it IS less than 20 minutes (about 17 or so). This is partly due to the fact that I didn't have ideal mob types for this build, but how often do you get a rift that is? In fact, the mobs I got for this run were pretty easy. However, if I had mobs like the shades from A4 or Bone Scorpions from A3, it probably would have gone a lot quicker. I rarely ever run T6 because it's hardly the most efficient, but the important thing is I *CAN*.
Punish - Roar: This is a solid fire builder, and it gives quite a bit of single-target damage. Synergizes well with the towering shield passive and adds some survivability and AoE damage (especially against fire chains!).
Shield Bash - Crumble: Your bread and butter. Aside from being fire, the rune has the awesome potential to chain, obliterating enemies (especially packs of those you can one-shot). Since the secondary effect also hits quite hard, this ability can be brutal against enemies.
Steed Charge - Nightmare: The ability is generally used as an escape mechanism. You WILL get surrounded, and this gives you an out when you're facing an imminent danger (arcane beams, molten, frozen, etc). The rune choice is because this actually hits quite hard with a good bit of +% Fire damage gear.
Falling Sword - Superheated: This is the first optional slot. I like the combination of this + Laws of Valor -Frozen in Terror because of the stun + burst potential. Not only does this ability hit quite hard outright, but the dot that follows adds a good bit of damage as well. Of course, even with the buffs this ability still has quite a few drawbacks (such as putting yourself in the middle of an enemy pack, which can be lethal in T6), so you have other options here. Some of these options include any Shield Glare rune (synergy with Towering Shield), Bombardment's fire runes, any provoke rune that you like, Condemn - Reciprocate, Consecration - Shattered Ground. Really you have a lot of options here. I like this slot to be a button I press for dealing with elite packs.
Laws of Valor - Frozen In Terror: This is also optional. I like that i can run into a group and pop this and lock them down for 5 seconds. In T6, this adds quite a bit of surviability potential as it usually forces an elite pack to delay when they throw out some powerful effects, like arcane or frozen. But really, any law/rune you want works well here. If you even wish to drop the law for another ability listed above, that works fine too (I do mostly group play, so I prefer Laws).
Akarat's Champion - Fire Starter: I wouldn't say this ability is required, but I highly recommend it. Increased damage, increased wrath regen, and a powerful fire dot added to all attacks is nothing to scoff at. I like to use it for elite packs that are especially dangerous, when I run into multiple elite packs, or for Rift guardians.
Passives: There are a few options here, but one passive that is absolutely required is Towering Shield. Aside from that I recommend Heavenly Strength (due to weapon choice and how much damage 2H weapons do), and Wrathful (because it heals a lot with the right gear). The last spot is quite optional; I run indestructible in the video, but that's mainly because my toughness is a bit low and I'm NOT using the unity bug/exploit. There are a lot of other options if you run unity: Insurmountable, Divine Fortress, Renewal, Finery... the list goes on.
No gear is REQUIRED to make this build usable. HOWEVER, there are a few pieces I recommend to make this easier (listed in order of importance in my eyes):
Cindercoat- %Fire damage AND Resource cost reduction. Given the Wrath problems we are notorious for having without 6pc Akkhans, this is a big win.
Maximus- Only 2H weapon with Fire Damage. You really want a 2H because of how much harder shield bash will hit. Without going into the math, understand that because we have some amount of passive wrath regeneration, it will always be more efficient to use a 2H weapon.
Aughild's Set Plans- 15% more damage done and less taken from elites. Hard to argue
Reaper's Wraps- This helps with the wrath regen problem.
Stone of Jordan- Massive Elite damage AND Elemental Damage...hard to argue with those.
Harrington's Waistguard- Click a body on the ground and get double damage? Yes please!
You will have basic goals when approach each piece. While not every piece will have these stats, you should get an idea what you need from this:
Survival:
Resist All > Vit > % Life > Armor > Life Per Wrath Spent > Life Per Second > Life On Hit
And for secondary stats, +Health globe healing bonus is HUGE, because of how it works with the Wrathful passive. This is my gear's greatest weakness and gives me a few survivability issues in T6 (when I'm not being dumb and standing in stuff I shouldn't).
The Gameplay
The basic premise is simple: spam shield bash. Punish at least often enough to keep up Hardened Senses (but obviously more if you need wrath). Steed Charge to get out of bad situations. I use the combo of LoV-Frozen In Terror + Falling Sword - Superheated for some powerful burst when the enemies are clumped on me, but you have other options for dealing with elite packs. Use what works for you and you are comfortable with. And finally, pop AC-Fire Starter for when you simply need to go hulk and anything other than total annihilation simply won't do.
Good luck getting a decent Piro Marella. This shield is known to roll with the worst/least used affixes ever for Shield Bash. I've had crafted like 12 of those shields and the current one that I have which is semi decent makes me more squishy. I prefer Stormshield.
I've been using most of this build for a while, and the only difference is i use provoke with with the hit me rune, and towering shield passive instead of the idestructable or whatever it was that you were using, and its awesome! But, however im with some of the guys here. Piro Marella is a MUST!! I know it rolls freaking awful, but i think i got a pretty darn good one. (see below). that combined with cindercoat with 28 percent less fire cost, 120 wrath i get 11 shield bashes after eachother. and thats pretty significant. you get 4 without cindercoat and piro marella, just to compare.
So the reason im using provoke, is to get my wrath up quick again. i almost dont even need my Punish, even though i use it to hold my block buff up.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Belial-2919/hero/39436596 Here's what im running atm, and before you say anything im totally aware its an intelligence Cindercoat! Ive been maining wizard since diablo came out, and only recently started my Crusader.
I've been using most of this build for a while, and the only difference is i use provoke with with the hit me rune, and towering shield passive instead of the idestructable or whatever it was that you were using, and its awesome! But, however im with some of the guys here. Piro Marella is a MUST!! I know it rolls freaking awful, but i think i got a pretty darn good one. (see below). that combined with cindercoat with 28 percent less fire cost, 120 wrath i get 11 shield bashes after eachother. and thats pretty significant. you get 4 without cindercoat and piro marella, just to compare.
So the reason im using provoke, is to get my wrath up quick again. i almost dont even need my Punish, even though i use it to hold my block buff up.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Belial-2919/hero/39436596 Here's what im running atm, and before you say anything im totally aware its an intelligence Cindercoat! Ive been maining wizard since diablo came out, and only recently started my Crusader.
Here's my Piro Marella
After watching this post I gave it a try and crafted a Piro similar to yours. Lady RNG blessed me!
After watching this post I gave it a try and crafted a Piro similar to yours. Lady RNG blessed me!
Right on! i know the feel though, took me quite a few tries before i rolled a good one. but im really glad i stuck out and kept making one. Makes this build if you ask me. Like ive said before. Cindercoat also definetly helps alot. Hoping to get me a STR one soon.
Still though, 2 items for a build is not bad, so i highly suggest everyone tries it
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DISCLAIMER: I do not claim this is the most efficient build, nor do I claim I am the best at it (or have even the close to the best gear). I just wanted to show another option to the FOTM Holy Shotgun and Fist builds that is T6 viable.
Are you sick of any of these with your crusader?
I was. Then with patch 2.0.5 a new possibility opened up...one I've wanted to work since launch. With a bit of luck and spare gear, I was able assemble something that was able to walk into T4 and dominate right away. The best news is that nothing in this set is REQUIRED. There is no single item that makes or breaks the viability of this build. I have friends trying it on their brand new Crusaders and doing well in lower torment levels without any of the pieces I have (aside from common crafted sets).
Below is a link to the video of my T6 rift run. I do NOT use the Unity bug (my follower has one, but I do not). I show my gear AND spec at the end. Now it isn't the quickest run, but it IS less than 20 minutes (about 17 or so). This is partly due to the fact that I didn't have ideal mob types for this build, but how often do you get a rift that is? In fact, the mobs I got for this run were pretty easy. However, if I had mobs like the shades from A4 or Bone Scorpions from A3, it probably would have gone a lot quicker. I rarely ever run T6 because it's hardly the most efficient, but the important thing is I *CAN*.
http://youtu.be/a_S3bpGFgl4
The Build
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/crusader#aZVhfQ!adeR!aYZaZa
Punish - Roar: This is a solid fire builder, and it gives quite a bit of single-target damage. Synergizes well with the towering shield passive and adds some survivability and AoE damage (especially against fire chains!).
Shield Bash - Crumble: Your bread and butter. Aside from being fire, the rune has the awesome potential to chain, obliterating enemies (especially packs of those you can one-shot). Since the secondary effect also hits quite hard, this ability can be brutal against enemies.
Steed Charge - Nightmare: The ability is generally used as an escape mechanism. You WILL get surrounded, and this gives you an out when you're facing an imminent danger (arcane beams, molten, frozen, etc). The rune choice is because this actually hits quite hard with a good bit of +% Fire damage gear.
Falling Sword - Superheated: This is the first optional slot. I like the combination of this + Laws of Valor -Frozen in Terror because of the stun + burst potential. Not only does this ability hit quite hard outright, but the dot that follows adds a good bit of damage as well. Of course, even with the buffs this ability still has quite a few drawbacks (such as putting yourself in the middle of an enemy pack, which can be lethal in T6), so you have other options here. Some of these options include any Shield Glare rune (synergy with Towering Shield), Bombardment's fire runes, any provoke rune that you like, Condemn - Reciprocate, Consecration - Shattered Ground. Really you have a lot of options here. I like this slot to be a button I press for dealing with elite packs.
Laws of Valor - Frozen In Terror: This is also optional. I like that i can run into a group and pop this and lock them down for 5 seconds. In T6, this adds quite a bit of surviability potential as it usually forces an elite pack to delay when they throw out some powerful effects, like arcane or frozen. But really, any law/rune you want works well here. If you even wish to drop the law for another ability listed above, that works fine too (I do mostly group play, so I prefer Laws).
Akarat's Champion - Fire Starter: I wouldn't say this ability is required, but I highly recommend it. Increased damage, increased wrath regen, and a powerful fire dot added to all attacks is nothing to scoff at. I like to use it for elite packs that are especially dangerous, when I run into multiple elite packs, or for Rift guardians.
Passives: There are a few options here, but one passive that is absolutely required is Towering Shield. Aside from that I recommend Heavenly Strength (due to weapon choice and how much damage 2H weapons do), and Wrathful (because it heals a lot with the right gear). The last spot is quite optional; I run indestructible in the video, but that's mainly because my toughness is a bit low and I'm NOT using the unity bug/exploit. There are a lot of other options if you run unity: Insurmountable, Divine Fortress, Renewal, Finery... the list goes on.
No gear is REQUIRED to make this build usable. HOWEVER, there are a few pieces I recommend to make this easier (listed in order of importance in my eyes):
You will have basic goals when approach each piece. While not every piece will have these stats, you should get an idea what you need from this:
Damage:
% Fire Damage > Str > % Elite Damage > Crit Change > Crit Damage > Cooldown Reduction > Attack Speed > Anything else
Survival:
Resist All > Vit > % Life > Armor > Life Per Wrath Spent > Life Per Second > Life On Hit
And for secondary stats, +Health globe healing bonus is HUGE, because of how it works with the Wrathful passive. This is my gear's greatest weakness and gives me a few survivability issues in T6 (when I'm not being dumb and standing in stuff I shouldn't).
The Gameplay
The basic premise is simple: spam shield bash. Punish at least often enough to keep up Hardened Senses (but obviously more if you need wrath). Steed Charge to get out of bad situations. I use the combo of LoV-Frozen In Terror + Falling Sword - Superheated for some powerful burst when the enemies are clumped on me, but you have other options for dealing with elite packs. Use what works for you and you are comfortable with. And finally, pop AC-Fire Starter for when you simply need to go hulk and anything other than total annihilation simply won't do.
Good luck getting a decent Piro Marella. This shield is known to roll with the worst/least used affixes ever for Shield Bash. I've had crafted like 12 of those shields and the current one that I have which is semi decent makes me more squishy. I prefer Stormshield.
I think Vigilant is a pretty strong passive as its now 20% reduction of all elemental damage personally.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Lytic-1611/hero/43964461
Agreed, Piro Marella is indeed a must!
So the reason im using provoke, is to get my wrath up quick again. i almost dont even need my Punish, even though i use it to hold my block buff up.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Belial-2919/hero/39436596 Here's what im running atm, and before you say anything im totally aware its an intelligence Cindercoat! Ive been maining wizard since diablo came out, and only recently started my Crusader.
Here's my Piro Marella
After watching this post I gave it a try and crafted a Piro similar to yours. Lady RNG blessed me!
Still though, 2 items for a build is not bad, so i highly suggest everyone tries it