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Build Guide

All my builds are tested with a 1700 paragon level character (full paragon points on all stats with 1.000 on main stat), with almost perfect items and extra 4500/6500 main stat from Caldessan ... with those facts, you can imagine the translate to your own character

We can make 3 efective builds around Blessed Shield with a combination of Akkhan and Walk sets, all of them valids to push GRs around level 100 and to be use on Hardcore levels 92/93 with almost none chance of death

The only diference between those 3 builds is the choosen rune, moving damage to lighting, fire or holy. All of them work identically and have a very similar performance using exactly the same ítems and skills

Equipment is not open to choices: we have 13 slots plus 3 more on Kanai’s. 6 for Akkhan’s set, 2 for Walk’s set, 2 for Unity and Convention of Elements rings, 1 for Aquila Cuirass and 4 for specific Blessed Shield’s ítems. Just the belt slot is open for a relative election

So, the main difference will be just the selected glyph and elemental damage it works with:

• Blessed Shield/Combust. Works with fire damage and adds an area effect for 310% on a 10m area
• Blessed Shield/ Staggering Shield. Works with lighting damage and adds 25% stun chance
• Blessed Shield/ Shattering Throw. Works with holy damage and divides the shield afgter the first hit on 3 fragments for 170% damage each

Staggering Shield rune is quite clear about damage and sinergy with ítems dedicated to Blessed Shield, as it doesn’t add damage but crowd control. If going for extra damage, the choose is between fire or holy runes

Comunity use to recommend Combust because its extra área damage, lets see maths behind it:

• Blessed Shield deals 430% damage plus 250% shield’s block chance. Lets say this block chance is medium 20%, wich adds 50% damage for 480% total damage on each Blessed Shield hit
• Lets take a 3s period and an attack speed of 2 hits per second. Jekangbord shield adds 6 rebounds, so we have 6 Blessed Shield hits and 36 rebounds (6X6) for a total 42 hits in 3s
• Akkhan’sm Leniency adds 20% damage to Blessed shield per hit, wich ads 840% (42X20)+480% basic skill damage for a totoal of 1320%. Of course, we are taking the damage of last hit of 42 possibles, but lets use it like this for comparative example
• So, total damage dealt for Blessed Shield using Combust Glyph on 3s will be 42 hits by 1320% fire damage each for a grand total of 54600%
• To this, we have to add área effect explosión, wich happens on 1 of 3 hits, so, 14 times on 3s (42/3) and adds 4340% fire damage on 10m area (310%X14)

Mi recomendation is Shattering Throw with Holy damage, lets see maths behind:

• Blessed Shield deals 430% damage plus 250% shield’s block chance. Lets say this block chance is medium 20%, wich adds 50% damage for 480% total damage on each Blessed Shield hit
• Lets take a 3s period and an attack speed of 2 hits per second. With Shattering Throw glyph, first hit is basic 480%, and then it breaks on 3 fragments for 170% damage each, and Jekangbord adds 2 rebounda to each fragment, for a total of 9 fragments hit for each Blessed Shield cast. So, we have 6 Blessed Shiled hits and 54 fragments rebounds (6X9) for a total of 60 hits in 3s
• Akkhan’sm Leniency adds 20% damage to Blessed shield per hit, it adds 1200% (60X20)+480% of basic skill damage for a total of de 1680%. Of course, we are taking the damage of last hit of 42 possibles, but lets use it like this for comparative example
• Akkhan’sm Leniency adds 20% damage to Blessed shield’s fragments per hit, it adds 1200% (60X20)+170% for total damage of 1370%.
• Total damage for Blessed Shields will be 1680% X 6 hits: 080% damage in 3s
• Total damage for Blessed Shields fragments will be 1370% X 54 hits:980% damage in 3s
• So , grand total damage using Shattering Throw rune in 3s will be 10.080% + 73980% : 84060%

Mi recomendation is Shattering Throw with Holy damage. Of course, this glyph will work better against groups on open maps, and combust will work better against single targets, because it will always keep the advantage of área explosions when Shattering Throw miss its rebounds advantage

All 3 possible builds have been tested deeply and those are my performance’s conclusions:

• Blessed Shield/Combust. GR100
• Blessed Shield/ Staggering Shield. GR99
• Blessed Shield/ Shattering Throw. GR102

If Capitan is going to be use on Hardcore, do it on lighting with Sttagering Shield for an easier survival. Holy with Shattering Throw is also a good option, becaus elife recovery thanks to Holy cause passive, but worst than the first option. Combust is the worst option on Hardcore mode

Same skills will be used, no matter if we are playing Capitan on lighting, fire or holy.

Our defense comes mainly to 50% damage reductions from Akkhan’set, Aquila Cuirass and Unity ring. Even with that, Prophet rune on Akarat skill is a must top lay on high rifts, and also Iron Skin further mitigation

Shield Glare is a multifunction tool, in attack it adds extra 20% damage and, in defense, allows us to keep a close to PermaStun chance, as thanks to passive Towering Shield we can have Shield Glare active about 75% of the time

Law of Valor adds extra attack speed and critical damage, wich fits perfectly with Capitan’s philosophy

Holy Cause passive must be kept even if we are not using a Holy variation. It’s 10% damage increase justifies it. If the build is use don Hardcore, replace Holy Cause by Indestructible

Like on any other Akkhan build, is a must to bring cooldown to 56% to keep PermAkarat (in this build, as we are using Gogok legendary Gem, around 53% will work anyways). In attackwe must prioritize on attack speed (2 hits per second minimum), critical damage (450% minimum) and critical chance (45% minimum)

In defense, resistances around 1200 (diamonds on chest and pants will be needed to reach it) and a good balance between vitality and live. Also, as we are going to hit a lot thanks to Jakengbord shield, life per hit is a very good stat.

We need to use 6 Akkhan’s pieces and 2 from Walk set; also 4 dedicated ítems to Blessed Shield are needed: Jekangbord shield adds 6 rebounds and 300% extra damage; Akkhan’s manacles add 500% damage to first hitted enemy; Gryfalcon Foote removes wrath cost and adds 350% damage; Akkhan’s Leniency adds 20% damage for each enemy hitted

Gryfalcon’s Foote will be equip and Akkhan’s Leniency will be send to Kanai for 2 reasons: using a 1 hand weapon we cast Blessed Shield faster wich is far better on this build than extra damage from a 2 hands weapon. Also, it allows to use Fervor passive, increasing our attack speed and cooldown by 15%, wich fits perfectly to Blessed Shields builds.

Unity ring will reduce our income damage by 50%, beeing essetial for survival on high rifts, and Convention of Elements increase our damage a general 50%. It can not be missed

Untill this moment doesn’t matter wich glyph are you using with Blessed Shield, ítems are exactly the same if we are on lighting, fire or holy (make sure amulet and bracers elemental damage are matching your needs, of course).Just the belt slot to cover, and that ítem will vary depending on the glyph we are using:

• Blessed Shield/Combust, fire. Witching hour because its critical damage and attack speed addition. If more cooldown is needed, Vigilante is the best option
• Blessed Shield/ Staggering Shield, lighting. Thundergod’s Vigor is the best option by far, adding 15% lighting damage and an effect for 100% lighting damage
• Blessed Shield/ Shattering Throw, holy. Witching hour because its critical damage and attack speed addition. If more cooldown is needed, Vigilante is the best option
• Hardcore, any elemental damage. Also Witching and Vigilante are good options, but String of Ears will add extra thougness for a defensive option

Playstile is the same, doesn’t matter wich glyph are we using on Blessed shield:

Use Steed Charge to find a pool and, always with PermAkarat, cast Blessed Shield. Law of Valor and Iron Skin will be active 50% of the time, so make sure you cast Law of Valor when Elemental rings enters your elemental damage

Cast Shield Glare focusing on your target, not just for its damage increase but also because, even with Capitan’s huge damage reduction, we need to keep enemies stun in order to survive. Always try to fight inside our follower’s Oculus ring area, don’t hesitate on using Steed Charge for it. When the pool is done, move to the next

Capitan works quite good against groups, but takes quite a time to kill single targets in comparison. So, always try to avoid single enemies unless they are really closet o death: we’ll miss Akkhan’s Leniency effect wich stacks use to give between 500/1000% extra Blessed Shielñd damage against good pools and just about 150% against isolated targets

For that reason, try always to improve shield rebounds when posible, avoiding narrow corridors and looking for the best angle to cast Blessed Shield

If we use fire rune Combust, remember it adds a fire damage area of 10m radius, so try to keep monster together to improve that effect

If we use Lighting rune Staggering Shield, try to cover all area around you with Blessed Shield, so the stun factor will be as extend as possible

If we use Holy rune Shattering Throw, pay special attention to shield’s rebounds, as Akkhan leniency effect will be faster and stronger, leading to a much higher damage

Use sorcerer with attack speed skill or rascal with critical chance, but make sure they have Unity and Oculus rings equiped