LoN Blessed Shield Crusader build

[Shirt 0]

Starting point for this build was Deadset's blessed shield crusader guide... but since me and the Ahkan set weren't talking to each other at the time, and I had a few other bits and pieces lying around in my stash at the time, I came up with this.  Aside from The Furnace, Kanai's cube choices are simply what I found helpful for GR progress - you may find other items suit you better.

 

The essential pieces : Gyrfalcon's Foote (weapon), Jekangbord (shield), Aquila Cuirass (chestpiece), Ahkan's manacles (bracers), Litany of the undaunted (ring), The wailing host (ring).

Helpful but not essential bits :  Illusory boots, Belt of the trove.

Kanai's Cube : The Furnace (weapon), Nemesis Bracers (armour), Mara's Kaleidoscope (jewelry).  

Legendary Gems : Mutilation guard and esoteric alteration.  I found I had enough offence at my current skill level, so these got put in ring slots to cover some of the holes in defence.  So far I haven't found a good ancient/primal neckpiece with a socket in it, so there's no third legendary gem.

Bear in mind that I'm right handed and use my left hand for action bar skills with my right hand on the mouse.  If you use your right hand for action bar skills and your left hand on the mouse, you may want to reverse the skill arrangement.

Mouse button skills : Blessed shield, rune choice - combust (LMB); Iron skin, rune choice - steel skin (RMB).

Action bar skills : 

(1) : Falling sword.  Rune choice for me is either 'part the clouds' or 'rise, brothers'.  I chose this skill mostly as a mobility option if I get swamped on cursed shrines or similar bounties, so rune choice for me is less important than it might be for you.

(2) : Bombardment.  Rune choice for me is 'Annihilate' - crit chance % for me on this build currently stands at 39%, which at least for this skill goes up a helpful amount with this rune.

(3) : Akarat's Champion.  Rune choice for me is 'Prophet', can't really go wrong with it.

(4) : Law of Valor.  Rune choice for me is 'Unstoppable Force'.

Passive skills : Fervour, finery, holy cause, towering shield

Paragon points :

Strength 65, Vitality 60.  The others are capped.  I only have 825 paragon levels at the moment, I'm sure most of you have more.

Gems : Rubies in weapon and shield (I know my maximum damage would go up a bit more if I used an emerald in the weapon, but I chose a lower guaranteed damage over a higher potential damage since rolls like crit % rarely go my way).

Diamond in the helm.  Lower cooldowns are good cooldowns, after all.

One amethyst, one diamond, one ruby in the chestpiece.  The amethyst can easily be swapped out for another diamond, or even another ruby if you want more offence.

One diamond and one ruby in the pants.

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I still have improvement I need to make.  Not all of my items are ancient just yet, I still need belt, rings, and a neck item with a socket.

As far as playstyle... with me, I tend to hang back a bit, so I'd say mid-range most of the time.  It does OK closer in, better if you have Belt of the Trove to provide a little extra fire support.  As long as you can see enough of the target to hit it, this build should do well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2018 by Shirt
Missed a couple of things