Smiter Paladin Build BiS Gear and Runes for Diablo 2 Resurrected
Below, we detail which items and stats you should prioritise for your Smiter and Mercenary in Diablo 2.
Damage Build
This is the standard high damage build for the Smiter Paladin.
- Weapon: Grief or Last Wish, Phase Blade preferred due to its Indestructibility
- Weapon Swap: Call to Arms and Spirit
- Shield: Ethereal Exile Vortex Shield or Herald of Zakarum
- Body Armor: Chains of Honor
- Helm: Guillaume's Face
- Gloves: Dracul's Grasp or gloves with +20% Increased Attack Speed (if using Exile)
- Boots: Goblin Toes
- Belt: Thundergod's Vigor
- Ring 1: Raven Frost
- Ring 2: Raven Frost, Dwarf Star, or Wisp Projector
- Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
- Charm 1: Paladin Hellfire Torch
- Charm 2: Annihilus
- Charm 3: Small Charms with Resistances or Faster Hit Recovery, depending on needs
- Charm 4: Small Charms with as much Life as possible to fill the rest of your inventory
Safety Build
This is a defensive Smiter build, favoured in Hardcore play.
- Weapon: Grief or Last Wish, Phase Blade preferred due to its Indestructibility
- Weapon Swap: Call to Arms and Spirit
- Shield: Ethereal Exile — Vortex Shield preferred with All Resistances +45
- Body Armor: Chains of Honor
- Helm: Kira's Guardian socketed with an Um Rune
- Gloves: Dracul's Grasp
- Boots: Goblin Toes
- Belt: Thundergod's Vigor
- Ring 1: Raven Frost
- Ring 2: Raven Frost, Dwarf Star, or Wisp Projector
- Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
- Charm 1: Paladin Hellfire Torch
- Charm 2: Annihilus
- Charm 3: Small Charms with Resistances or Faster Hit Recovery, depending on needs
- Charm 4: Small Charms with as much Life as possible to fill the rest of your inventory
Budget Build
This is a variety of cheap gear sets to get you started.
- Weapon: Black, The Redeemer, Heaven's Light, Astreon's Iron Ward, or Strength
- Weapon Swap: Wand with Life Tap Charges bought from Merchant and any Shield wit high Resistances
- Shield: Herald of Zakarum, Rhyme, Sanctuary, or 4-Socket Paladin Shield with high Resistances socketed with 4 Perfect Diamonds
- Body Armor: Duress, Treachery, or Lionheart
- Helm: Guillaume's Face Winged Helm, Kira's Guardian, or Iratha's Coil Socketed with Ral Rune, Ort Rune, or Thul Rune
- Gloves: Dracul's Grasp, Laying of Hands, Magnus' Skin, Sander's Taboo, or gloves with +20% Increased Attack Speed bought from Merchant (notably, Charsi)
- Boots: Goblin Toes, or Gore Riders,
- Belt: Thundergod's Vigor, String of Ears, Goldwrap, Verdungo's Hearty Cord, or Rare belt with high Life
- Ring 1: Raven Frost, Dwarf Star, or Rare ring with primary attributes, Life, Mana, and Resistances
- Ring 2: Raven Frost, Dwarf Star, or Rare ring with primary attributes, Life, Mana, and Resistances
- Amulet: Highlord's Wrath, Saracen's Chance, or The Rising Sun
- Charm 1: Any Hellfire Torch for stats, even if not Paladin-specific
- Charm 2: Annihilus
- Charm 3: Any Charm with Maximum Damage, Attack Rating, Strength, Dexterity, Faster Hit Recovery, Resistances, or Life
Mercenary
Since Mercenaries rarely make it out of Uber Tristram alive, dedicated Smiters rarely opt to even hire a Mercenary. For the rest of the game however, you can either hire a Defensive (Holy Freeze) or Offensive (Might) Desert Guard Mercenary in Act 2, Nightmare difficulty, depending on whether you want to slow monsters for added safety or improve your overall damage as well as that of your Mercenary.
Mercenary Gear
Optimal Mercenary Gear
This is one of the best Mercenary gear setups across many characters, including the Smiter Paladin.
- Weapon: Ethereal Pride, Breath of the Dying, or The Reaper's Toll
- Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
- Helm: Andariel's Visage socketed with a Ral Rune
Budget Mercenary Gear
This is a cheap gear set to get your Mercenary some easy damage and survivability.
- Weapon: Obedience
- Body Armor: Treachery
- Helm: Vampire Gaze
Changelog
- 22 Sep. 2021: Page added.
MrLlamaSC is a professional twitch broadcaster that has been streaming since 2014. His content focuses on Diablo 2 where he speedruns, creates guides, completes crazy challenges, and more! With roughly 30,000 hours in the game he is a D2 Master and has great knowledge of so many areas in the game.
- Blizzard at Gamescom 2024
- Icy Veins Seeking Writers for Zenless Zone Zero: Apply Today!
- No BlizzCon in 2024
- Blizzard Games Return to China: New Agreement Signed With NetEase
- Blizzard Reportedly Reuniting with NetEase to Bring Back WoW in China
- Ex-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Shows Interest in Buying TikTok
- Diablo 2: Resurrected Ladder Season 6 Details and Launch Times
- Timeline of Blizzard Presidents