Haven't seen too many group-focused crusader builds, so I thought I'd post my build, which I've been tweaking and playing around with since RoS landed. I rarely play solo, but in groups this build is incredibly efficient at wrangling mobs and buffing your party's damage. The burst damage you'll enable your group to pull on bosses and elites will basically delete them from the game. Apologies in advance for not having any of the fancy icons and what not, I'm new to this.
Armory - Might not accurately reflect what I'm using at any given time Example Setup Punish / Roar- Your basic left click generator, punish gives some solid survivability with the block chance. The rune here is really dealer's choice. I often run Roar for rifts as the aoe damage adds up when fighting large groups, but Celerity is a viable alternative.
Sweep Attack / Gathering Sweep- Your main spender, and the foundation of this build. Although the pull in has limited effectiveness on elites, it is supremely effective at gathering up white mobs for your party members to ruin with minimal effort.
Condemn / Vacuum- Strong aoe nuke, and the vacuum rune is basically an amped up version of your sweep. You can run through rooms in rifts and pull large groups along with you. Really just serves to complement Sweep Attack and keep enemies in line and out of your wizard's face.
Laws of Valor / Critical andJudgment / Resolved- I'm putting these two together because their synergy borders on the obscene. Pop both of these on an elite or a rift guardian and watch it melt. Give your party guaranteed crits and 100% additional damage. This is what makes the build so strong. The cooldown on the Law is long, but Judgment is only 20 seconds, and the guaranteed crits are often enough to ruin an elite pack in seconds flat.
Akarat's Champion / Rally- You see this in a lot of builds, and for good reason. I'm convinced that crusader has been balanced around this being in almost every build, because it is just so strong. That being said, this is the most flexible spot in this build, as Akarat's Champion isn't completely critical for success. I've played around withProvoke / Hit Me,Heaven's Fury / Ascendancy,Bombardment / Impactful Bombardment, and of courseSteed Charge / Endurance. Pick whatever you're comfortable with.
Passives:
For the most part, the passives that will work best for you will depend on your gear.
Heavenly Strength - Don't think I need to explain this. Essential.
Hold Your Ground - Goes great with Punish. Major defensive boon. Essential.
Divine Fortress - This one is more situational, depending on your shield's block chance and whether or not you need the additional survivability. Optional.
Finery - Depends on your number of socketed gems, but can be a fairly big strength increase. Optional.
Long Arm of the Law - If you're playing with a full group this becomes that much more efficient. If you don't need the survivability of Divine Fortress this is probably your best bet. Optional.
Renewal - This passive can heal for quite a lot, particularly with Punishand Hold Your Ground. If you're lacking in healing, consider it. Optional.
Righteousness - I have been running this lately, just allows you to spam sweepthat much more. If survivability isn't an issue, this can be a very solid choice. Optional.
Playstyle:
It's fairly straightforward. Your job is to get between your group members and everything else, keeping the enemies in neat little piles with your Sweep and Condemn. On elites, pop your Judgment along with the Law active, and watch the loot fly. Akarat's is great to up your personal damage output if you're using it, and to keep your utility cooldowns rolling more frequently.
I would appreciate any feedback or questions, and I hope this build is helpful to a few of you!
Based on character sheet testing Hold Your Ground Divine Fortress based soley off the %block on your shield and is not boosted by any passives/skills. It's pretty easy to test, simply have your character sheet open and hit a mob with Punish; your armor/toughness will not change. The only bonus that works is the +block chance on the shield since that is baked into the %block on the shield itself. +block chance on other items does not work with Hold Your Ground Divine Fortress either (again easy to test in-game).
Edit: I meant Divine Fortress, not Hold Your Ground.
Do you mean Divine Fortress? Hold Your Ground is simply a flat 15% additional block chance, and for whatever reason D3 does not factor block chance into your toughness.
Oops, I got my Crusader skills mixed up and you are correct that I meant Divine Fortress. What I said was correct (the increased block chance does not boost the armor bonus from Divine Fortress) but I was referring to the wrong skill. My mistake.
You are correct, the bonus armor only comes from what's on your shield, which is why I find it pretty iffy. But if you have a shield with bonus block chance it can add a fairly huge amount of armor.
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Armory - Might not accurately reflect what I'm using at any given time
Example Setup
Punish / Roar- Your basic left click generator, punish gives some solid survivability with the block chance. The rune here is really dealer's choice. I often run Roar for rifts as the aoe damage adds up when fighting large groups, but Celerity is a viable alternative.
Sweep Attack / Gathering Sweep- Your main spender, and the foundation of this build. Although the pull in has limited effectiveness on elites, it is supremely effective at gathering up white mobs for your party members to ruin with minimal effort.
Condemn / Vacuum- Strong aoe nuke, and the vacuum rune is basically an amped up version of your sweep. You can run through rooms in rifts and pull large groups along with you. Really just serves to complement Sweep Attack and keep enemies in line and out of your wizard's face.
Laws of Valor / Critical andJudgment / Resolved- I'm putting these two together because their synergy borders on the obscene. Pop both of these on an elite or a rift guardian and watch it melt. Give your party guaranteed crits and 100% additional damage. This is what makes the build so strong. The cooldown on the Law is long, but Judgment is only 20 seconds, and the guaranteed crits are often enough to ruin an elite pack in seconds flat.
Akarat's Champion / Rally- You see this in a lot of builds, and for good reason. I'm convinced that crusader has been balanced around this being in almost every build, because it is just so strong. That being said, this is the most flexible spot in this build, as Akarat's Champion isn't completely critical for success. I've played around withProvoke / Hit Me,Heaven's Fury / Ascendancy,Bombardment / Impactful Bombardment, and of courseSteed Charge / Endurance. Pick whatever you're comfortable with.
Passives:
For the most part, the passives that will work best for you will depend on your gear.
Heavenly Strength - Don't think I need to explain this. Essential.
Hold Your Ground - Goes great with Punish. Major defensive boon. Essential.
Divine Fortress - This one is more situational, depending on your shield's block chance and whether or not you need the additional survivability. Optional.
Finery - Depends on your number of socketed gems, but can be a fairly big strength increase. Optional.
Long Arm of the Law - If you're playing with a full group this becomes that much more efficient. If you don't need the survivability of Divine Fortress this is probably your best bet. Optional.
Renewal - This passive can heal for quite a lot, particularly with Punishand Hold Your Ground. If you're lacking in healing, consider it. Optional.
Righteousness - I have been running this lately, just allows you to spam sweepthat much more. If survivability isn't an issue, this can be a very solid choice. Optional.
Playstyle:
It's fairly straightforward. Your job is to get between your group members and everything else, keeping the enemies in neat little piles with your Sweep and Condemn. On elites, pop your Judgment along with the Law active, and watch the loot fly. Akarat's is great to up your personal damage output if you're using it, and to keep your utility cooldowns rolling more frequently.
I would appreciate any feedback or questions, and I hope this build is helpful to a few of you!
Hold Your GroundDivine Fortress based soley off the %block on your shield and is not boosted by any passives/skills. It's pretty easy to test, simply have your character sheet open and hit a mob with Punish; your armor/toughness will not change. The only bonus that works is the +block chance on the shield since that is baked into the %block on the shield itself. +block chance on other items does not work withHold Your GroundDivine Fortress either (again easy to test in-game).Edit: I meant Divine Fortress, not Hold Your Ground.