I've never seen a hammer build that does do well on single target. For that matter, outside of PTR Roland's that already got nerfed, I've never seen any crusader build that is not weak on single target. It's one of the main reasons such a high % are condemn/pony/zdps.
Crusaders are completely screwed right now; their set is unimaginative, only giving permanent Akarat and alleviating resource issues, without actually affecting the gameplay in any fun way. Also, all onehander builds suck donkey bollocks and are completely useless, such as the pinball shield.
Gotta say you are wrong about 1-handers. I ran a Darklight FoH build that easily cruised through T6 rifts and was doing 30-31 Grifts before I switched over to the condemn when I got the shield. It could probably go further with tweaking and better gear. It won't get you to Gr 45 but then the OP isn't asking for that.
I'm trying a fire hammer build that is working ok atm on my second Crusader, but it still needs some work on survivability. I'll be trying the lightning one next as I want something different to farm some T6 with on my second sader.
Fist of Heavens is under-rated. Once I get full Akkhan I go FoH Lightning, with okay gear this build works very well in T4, with good gear you can easily blast through T6. Imagine an Ancient Darklight with 3k DPS on it? Tasty. This is the build I use until I get proper shield/weapon combos for a meta build.
I tried the hammers builds on T6, the damage just wasn't there unless you use Fire Starter rune and stack fire damage in which case I felt a bit squishy. Not a fan.
Look into getting a new Schaefer's Hammer drop in 2.2 for a Lightning Hammer build. The new legendary effect is awesome (and will still come with +Lightning Damage too). It will trigger a mini-conduit for 5 seconds every time you use a Lightning skill. That should up your T6 farm pace some.
Fist of Heavens is under-rated. Once I get full Akkhan I go FoH Lightning, with okay gear this build works very well in T4, with good gear you can easily blast through T6. Imagine an Ancient Darklight with 3k DPS on it? Tasty. This is the build I use until I get proper shield/weapon combos for a meta build.
I tried the hammers builds on T6, the damage just wasn't there unless you use Fire Starter rune and stack fire damage in which case I felt a bit squishy. Not a fan.
Well you don't have to stack fire damage to use Fire Starter, it can help but the rune still works even with other elements. I'm running a build on my second crusader now that is a mix of hammers and Heaven's Fury. I found it on the Crusader forums in the stickied guide thread. Here is a link to my second crusader to give you an idea of what it looks like http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Acebaur-1878/hero/53104807
It does T6 pretty easily and between the CDR on my gear and the shield I have perma Heaven's Fury. It's a lot of fun and you run it more like a wizard than a melee char which is fun and a nice change of pace.
Fist of Heavens is under-rated. Once I get full Akkhan I go FoH Lightning, with okay gear this build works very well in T4, with good gear you can easily blast through T6. Imagine an Ancient Darklight with 3k DPS on it? Tasty. This is the build I use until I get proper shield/weapon combos for a meta build.
I tried the hammers builds on T6, the damage just wasn't there unless you use Fire Starter rune and stack fire damage in which case I felt a bit squishy. Not a fan.
Well you don't have to stack fire damage to use Fire Starter, it can help but the rune still works even with other elements. I'm running a build on my second crusader now that is a mix of hammers and Heaven's Fury. I found it on the Crusader forums in the stickied guide thread. Here is a link to my second crusader to give you an idea of what it looks like http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Acebaur-1878/hero/53104807
It does T6 pretty easily and between the CDR on my gear and the shield I have perma Heaven's Fury. It's a lot of fun and you run it more like a wizard than a melee char which is fun and a nice change of pace.
Eberli Charo + FotF is a nice touch. No Akkhans though?
No for two reasons. First I only have one full set of Akkhans and my main Crusader is using it for his Condemn build and second, you don't really need it. . One of the main things about the set is the reduced cost of your wrath spenders and the CDR on AC. The wrath isn't an issue because your primary damage dealer is Heaven's which has no cost and while perma AC would be nice, it's not needed. The damage bonus is nice from AC, but I only use AC for taking on Elite/champ packs and the RG.
Otherwise between FotF, my +Holy and Heaven's Fury %, shield glare, and provoke I do plenty of damage to get by. She is squishier than my other full AC crusader but you have to play the build more like a wizard than a full melee anyway, especially since you have no melee skills.
It's definitely not a build to take to high levels, but for T6 it does good. If you want help farming for Akkhans or the gear for one of the meta builds let me know. Just hit me up in game - Acebaur#1878
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Before season 2 started, I decided to go for a hammer build because I had not tried it before, and im tired of the cookie-cutter builds.
Im aware it wont push the limits on Greater rifts, but as long as i can farm t6 fast, im satisfied.
this is what i got so far: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Garnok-1645/hero/54783376
My biggest issue so far is single target dmg. I can blitz through the trash, but the rift guardians always takes alot of time.
As of now, I would say bombardment (from both the skill itself and the belt), is my biggest contributor to singletarget, strangely enough.
Where to go from here? Im not the luckiest guy in the world, so I have never found a good Maximus, but thats the one thing I know i need.
I've never seen a hammer build that does do well on single target. For that matter, outside of PTR Roland's that already got nerfed, I've never seen any crusader build that is not weak on single target. It's one of the main reasons such a high % are condemn/pony/zdps.
Gotta say you are wrong about 1-handers. I ran a Darklight FoH build that easily cruised through T6 rifts and was doing 30-31 Grifts before I switched over to the condemn when I got the shield. It could probably go further with tweaking and better gear. It won't get you to Gr 45 but then the OP isn't asking for that.
To the OP, if you want to do hammers this is a good build that will let you do T6 comfortably http://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo3Crusaders/comments/26j1bq/how_to_lightning_hammer_crusader_torment_vi/
I'm trying a fire hammer build that is working ok atm on my second Crusader, but it still needs some work on survivability. I'll be trying the lightning one next as I want something different to farm some T6 with on my second sader.
Fist of Heavens is under-rated. Once I get full Akkhan I go FoH Lightning, with okay gear this build works very well in T4, with good gear you can easily blast through T6. Imagine an Ancient Darklight with 3k DPS on it? Tasty. This is the build I use until I get proper shield/weapon combos for a meta build.
I tried the hammers builds on T6, the damage just wasn't there unless you use Fire Starter rune and stack fire damage in which case I felt a bit squishy. Not a fan.
Look into getting a new Schaefer's Hammer drop in 2.2 for a Lightning Hammer build. The new legendary effect is awesome (and will still come with +Lightning Damage too). It will trigger a mini-conduit for 5 seconds every time you use a Lightning skill. That should up your T6 farm pace some.
Well you don't have to stack fire damage to use Fire Starter, it can help but the rune still works even with other elements. I'm running a build on my second crusader now that is a mix of hammers and Heaven's Fury. I found it on the Crusader forums in the stickied guide thread. Here is a link to my second crusader to give you an idea of what it looks like http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Acebaur-1878/hero/53104807
It does T6 pretty easily and between the CDR on my gear and the shield I have perma Heaven's Fury. It's a lot of fun and you run it more like a wizard than a melee char which is fun and a nice change of pace.
Eberli Charo + FotF is a nice touch. No Akkhans though?
No for two reasons. First I only have one full set of Akkhans and my main Crusader is using it for his Condemn build and second, you don't really need it. . One of the main things about the set is the reduced cost of your wrath spenders and the CDR on AC. The wrath isn't an issue because your primary damage dealer is Heaven's which has no cost and while perma AC would be nice, it's not needed. The damage bonus is nice from AC, but I only use AC for taking on Elite/champ packs and the RG.
Otherwise between FotF, my +Holy and Heaven's Fury %, shield glare, and provoke I do plenty of damage to get by. She is squishier than my other full AC crusader but you have to play the build more like a wizard than a full melee anyway, especially since you have no melee skills.
It's definitely not a build to take to high levels, but for T6 it does good. If you want help farming for Akkhans or the gear for one of the meta builds let me know. Just hit me up in game - Acebaur#1878