There was some discussion regarding my build recently, so I figured it would be easier to make a post here at that point :).
Please note that I’am not going to take a screenshot of what I’am playing right now, and past it here, as it’s not going to be useful information for 90% of the players. Instead I’ll try to show you some of the options I’ve experimented with.
So, what’s the build ? At it’s core, it’s a tanky, attack speed centric Shield Throw build. From there, you can go a lot of different ways : on-hit, spell, ignite, throwing damage, … and you can of course mix and match. I’ve tested a lot of the above, and I certainly don’t know what’s the best at this point. Still experimenting, and having a lot fun doing it.
SKILLS
For each skill, I’ll show you what I consider “core” (the things that I NEVER touch) and provide a few options to choose from with the remaining points. Pick what suits your chosen playstyle, the content you want to do, or just what you like.
Holy Aura
I feel it’s one of the main reason to be a paladin. The goal here is to grab as much attack speed as possible. From there you can go a lot different directions. Shelter the Storm is a good way to cap your resistance if you’re lacking, add in Mighty Shield and Against the Odds and it’ll boost the effectivness of your block quite a bit. Another possible route is going for more damage, either with True Strike and Extreme Zeal, or Rahyeh and Burning Blows. As long as you don’t touch the attack speed nodes, you can mix and match as you see fit.
Shield Throw
Again, I’am only showing you what I think is mandatory for the build. You have two main goals : lowering the cost of Shield Throw and transforming Shield Throw to a fire skill. Same as before, a lot of options. You can boost Eruption effectiveness with Magma Rage/Forceful Breaking if you’re going for a more spell heavy, AoE version. Crippling Throw is 100% ignite chance for 4 points (with Molten Shield). If you feel you’re too squishy, add at least one point in Armoring Aegis, it’s required for high arena but less necessary if you’re just trying the build in monolith or leveling. If you’re going for more of a throwing damage build, Spiked Plates and Molten Toss are good. I also recommend Avenger’s Wrath if you have some block effectiveness from your idols, it’s actually quite decent when paired with Sturdy Shields from Ring of Shields.
Sigils of Hope
Another good reason to be a paladin, but less options here. You can put your last few points in Empowering Sigils for more damage, or Burning Sign if you want to go for the ignite version. While Last With is not mandatory at all, it’s a realy convenient node. I also had some nice results with Faith+Renewed Hope, even if it’s a bit situational.
Smite
Probably the most flexible skill, since the only mandatory node is Righteous Flurry. So many options here. You’re a spell build and want more damage ? You have the whole right part of the tree to play with. Grace + Holy wave is super potent if you want more healing, Holy Fire and Immolate are nice for the ignite version. Not really a fan of the Fissure road, but some people had sucess with it so test it for yourself if you want ! For Smite, you can really shuffle things around.
Be aware that you don’t want Smite on your skill bar UNLESS you are missing a Keen Adorned Rayeh idol. In that case you’re going to need to weave some Smite with your Shield Throw to keep Righteous Flurry active.
Remaining Skills
You’re left with one skill to spec, and between one and two slots on your spell bar. I like adding one movement skill (either Lunge or Shield Rush) and one “tanky” skill. I wont spend to long here, but here’s the combinations that I liked :
- Spec in Lunge + unspec Juggernaut Stance for high arena pushing only.
- Spec in Shield Bash + unspec Lunge, it’s clunky but you can cap your block chance with it and the 100% stun is a blessing.
- Spec in Ring of Shields + unspec Lunge, for the Sturdy Shields (Ring of Shields) + Avenger’s Wrath (Shield Throw) route.
- Spec in Shield Rush + unspec whatever for doing monolith really fast.
- Spec in Rebuke + unspec Lunge, for a good “Oops!” button, a lot of room for experimentations here. I was actually quite fond of it.
Passives
Again, here’s what I tend to keep in most of my Shield Throw builds :
A lot of points are used to round up my resistance/crit avoidance (Juggernaut, Holy Symbol, Faith Armor, …) don’t hesitate to move them around as you see fit. Depending on the type of content you are doing and your build preference you can put points in Blade Master in the Sentinel tree for more attack speed and damage, go Smelter’s Might in Forge Guard for the ignite build or go ham in the Paladin tree for all the tanking nodes (maxing HP, Prayer Aegis, Reverence of Duality, …). I personally like Holy Precision a lot and take it in all non ignite centric variation. You can also chose to ignore nearly all the Forge Guard tree (just keeping Steel Aegis) if you want to go spell heavy and invest in more damage in Paladin/Sentinel. Not much to add here, again a lot of possible permutations depending on what you want to do.
GEAR & IDOLS
I won’t go into specifics here, just some general advices :
- Max your resistances, shouldn’t be that hard since Holy Aura + Passive provide a lot. Once it’s done, go for HP if you feel like you need tankiness. No need to go to hard on hit unless you want to do high arenas.
- Put Throwing Attack Speed on bracers & both rings.
- No matter what variant you want to use, fire damage is always great !
- Have one of your ring MUST have the “Ballista” affix. Can’t stress this enough, it’s the most mandatory affix for the build as this + the nodes I posted above for Shield Throw lowers it’s cost to 0, even at tier 1.
- Your weapon doesn’t matter that much. Chose one with either a lot of base spell damage, or an Axe/Sword if you wan’t to go Blademaster, or a Raider Axe for the crit route.
- Having one source of Frailty on Hit is really good. We do a lot of hits really quickly so we can spread it fast and nicely.
- Have at least one Keen Adorned Idol for the Smite proc.
- Burning Grand Solar Idol are really good with our attack speed/fire damage.
- Faithful Huge Rayeh Idol is a viable option for a spell build (albeit quite random), but you need to invest 6 points in Divine Bolt/Shared Divinity for it to be “good”.
TIPS & TRICKS
- Unless you’re pushing for high arena, don’t play with Juggernaut Stance. If you are, use it as late as possible, and don’t hesitate to switch it on and off.
- The shields not only hit the target and your ricochet targets, but everything in it’s path. So when DPSing a pack, always aim for the monster that’s farther away from you.
- Be smart with the Holy Aura active. It’s a huge DPS buff, be sure to be safe before using it so you don’t lose any second of it.
- Try things !
RANDOM STUFF
- With the right combination of items, skills and passives the build is not THAT slow. It actually does quite a lot of AoE damage. Single target damage kinda sucks tho, but it’s bearable. For the record, It takes me around 1h15 and 1H30 to reach wave 300, depending of the variation I’am using.
- No I don’t think the build is boring, I find it super fun, and I love experimenting with it. But to each his own :).
- Yes, having good items helps. Gamble a lot, go ham on crafting even if the chances are low, and be lucky. That’s what I did anyway !
- The build is probably fine for leveling as long as you get Shield Throw cost to 0 fast enough.
- I’ve not done that many arena runs (probably more than a dozen, less than twenty !), but I had sucess with most of the variations I presented here (with the exception of the dedicated ignite build that I haven’t tried at all … yet). Did a 331 with a semi spell focused build, and mycurrent 378 was done with a Raider Axe, and the Panacea/Grace nodes for Smite. I was maxed on HP on both of them.
Again, I’ve no clue what’s the best form of the build, nor do I know if it’s even the best paladin build. But have fun with it anyway !