Build Guide
Crusader - Fist of the Heavens / Aegis of Valor, Hybrid Ranged Damage/Tank Build.
DESCRIPTION:
I am relatively new to the Crusader side of the game, so this is the only build I have gotten to try out for this class so far. I am known to my friends as being one to not 100% follow suggested builds, as I always tweak them to my own playstyle, which makes this build no exception. I have mostly played this build in a party, but it would likely be fine as a solo build too.
This all-ranged/caster build revolves around a good balance between doing damage with Fist of the Heavens, and trying to be a competent enough tank by protecting them with summoned companions and buffs. Heaven's Fury is included in this build as an additional AoE whack, but only because the primary set buffs it. Your primary tasks will be pulling as many mobs as you can to you with Fist of the Heavens quickly as it is a fast cast, ensuring that your Phalanx Bodyguards are active at all times, and activating your Law of Justice when things get hairy.
SKILLS:
LMB - Slash (with Guard rune) - A simple melee mostly used to get Wrath back faster, but also to gain some armour.
RMB - Fist of the Heavens (with Fissure rune) - Your main attack, fast casting, and creates a crap ton of AoE very quickly to draw mobs to you instead of your party members, and you can keep moving and cast it frequently. Works even better with your Darklight weapon.
1 - Heaven's Fury (with Ascendancy rune) - Your secondary AoE. Just use it on cooldown.
2 - Phalanx (with Bodyguard rune) - Your bodyguards, which will also help your party members indirectly. The Eternal Union ring keeps them out indefinitely.
3 - Steed Charge (with Endurance rune) - Your primary movement speed increase. This is VERY FAST for 3 seconds, so use it between pulls if you can.
4 - Laws of Justice (with Immovable Object rune) - This is your 'oh shit' ability when things get hairy. The passive give you resistances, but the use one gives you and your friends even more of that PLUS a bunch of armour for 5 seconds.
PASSIVES:
Vigilant - Life regeneration and non-physical damage reduction. You can change it out for something else if you are not finding it useful.
Fervor - Increased attack speed (for casting your main attack faster) and reduced cooldowns (for your other skills).
Divine Fortress - Increased armour from some of your block chance, as you won't be working on Paragon armour initially.
Indestructible - This automatic death prevention, something that I refer to as a 'Fake Death', is a primary feature of all of my builds. I cannot live without this ability, pun not intended.
ITEMS:
Aegis of Valor (Required) - Your primary armour set. This is required for doing your damage with Fist of the Heavens and reducing your damage taken. I recommend using Ring of Royal Grandeur to have only 5 of these equipped so you can use another set (see below)
Darklight (Required) - Allows you to cast Fist of the Heavens twice and does even more damage. If you can get this as early as possible, it will give you a huge advantage in early Torment levels.
Captain Crimson's Trimmings (Strongly Recommended) - If you can get the Ring of Royal Grandeur, two of these items will give you all the bonuses in the set, including cooldown reduction (for Steed Charge and your Active Law), resource cost reduction (especially for early on), increased damage and damage reduction.
Nemesis Bracers (Optional) - No popular build that I have seen uses this item, but I find the power extremely useful to clear rifts sooner rather than later.
Coven's Criterion (Recommended) - A very good shield for tanking purposes, and it is even better the more you can increase your block chance on it. Although there are other shields that you may find more useful to you if you choose to focus on damage instead, such as the Eberli Charo for more Heaven's Fury casts.
Eternal Union (Recommended) - Your summoned Phalanx last forever, or until they die. If they do, that is.
Convention of Elements (Optional) - Probably not going to be as useful as you would think, but it would be an ok placeholder until you can find something better.
The Traveler's Pledge / The Compass Rose (Strongly Recommended) - I think this would be a very good set to use for this build. While you are moving (which you will do a lot) you will take reduced damage, and while you are standing still (mostly to cast Fist of the Heavens) you will deal more damage.
CUBE POWERS:
Skywarden - Gain a random Law every 60 seconds. Randomly getting either increased attack speed or life regeneration for your party on top of your current Law is very useful.
Khassett's Cord of Righteousness - Ignore what you see above, I could not select this power for the build. As it reduces the casting cost of Fist of the Heavens by 40% and buffs it even more, it will allow you to cast it much more often without running out of Wrath, even with the 4-set bonus from the Aegis of Valor.
Ring of Royal Grandeur - While this is not a required power, it is strongly recommended to have this if you want to use both of the armour sets featured in this build.
LEGENDARY GEMS:
Bane of the Trapped (Recommended) - More damage, obviously.
Esoteric Alteration (Recommended) - Lots of non-physical damage reduction for being a tank. You are sacrificing some damage by using this, but you will generally take more damage from these sources than you will from melee attacks.
Mutilation Guard (Optional) - One of your main protections against melee damage, especially for bosses. However, as you are a caster and not a melee fighter, you can probably switch this out to a damage gem.
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