Avenger Paladin Build Skills for Diablo 2 Resurrected

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to Vengeance — Main damage skill, required
3. 1 points to Holy Shield — Great to maximise chance to block and faster block frames, required
4. 20 points to Conviction — Main damage support aura, required
5. Max out the following synergies in whatever order you prefer. Resist Lightning would be a solid first choice.
6. 20 points to Resist Fire — Synergy for Vengeance and increases Maximum Fire Resistance, required
7. 20 points to Resist Cold — Synergy for Vengeance and increases Maximum Cold Resistance, required
8. 20 points to Resist Lightning — Synergy for Vengeance and increases Maximum Lightning Resistance, required
9. 1+ points to Salvation — Synergy to max out last as it does not give as much damage as the 3 other synergies

Why rely on a single damage type when you can use most of them at once? The Avenger Paladin is a surprisingly effective build that takes advantage of the Fire-Cold-Lightning effect of Vengeance, boosted by Conviction to break Immunities and lower the Resistances of monsters. With decent Physical damage provided by the weapon itself, the Avenger has some of the best coverage in the game.

When playing through the game with the Avenger, a high damage weapon is extremely important as all of the additional Elemental damage from Vengeance scales off of the damage of the weapon. This damage damage is further amplified by Conviction; the build is weak before reaching level 30 for this reason.

As with almost all melee characters, finding a source of Cannot be Frozen is critical in making sure progression through Nightmare and Hell is possible. This is not a very fast attacking build and being Frozen will make it nearly impossible to kill anything. A great source of Cannot be Frozen early in the game is Rhyme, the Runes for which can be farmed from the Nightmare Countess.

This is not the fastest or strongest Paladin build, but it is a great change of pace and can add some variety, particularly for those playing in a party. Conviction is one of the most liked Aura.

The following section discusses how many attribute points should be allocated to each of the primary stats.

Enough Strength for gear — 138 if using a Vortex Shield. If choosing to use another shield with lower Strength requirements such as Herald of Zakarum, then 103 Strength for an Archon Plate is most likely necessary. This number always changes based on the gear you are using though so make sure to always double check the Strength requirements of each piece of gear you have as well as how much Strength each piece will provide once equipped.

Enough for max block — Between 130 and 170 Dexterity total is usually enough to reach the 75% maximum chance to block. For a typical Paladin wearing the Herald of Zakarum and using a fairly high level Holy Shield, 130 Dexterity should be enough. Always check your Character Sheet however, where you can track your current chance to block as you allocate Dexterity.

Everything else into Vitality — 250+ Vitality. Every excess attribute point should be allocated to Vitality, as long as you can meet the Strength and Dexterity requirements of your items by the time you wish to equip them, as well as the 75% maximum chance to block.

Nothing — allocating stat points to Energy in a final build is universally considered sub-par for almost every character due to the widespread availability of Mana Potions.