[Crusader] Basics for T1 with All Yellows

[kitsu 55]

The Crusader is less of a defender & protector and more of an actual M1 Abrams. If you know what youre looking for, you can start to have fun with this class very quickly.

 

Keep your eye out for great rolls of course, but at first dont worry about crit. Focus on crit dam and cooldown reduction (CDR). CDR can be rolled on shoulders, Helm (diamond in the socket) Neck, rings and weapons/shield. Shoulders and helm are easy, at first any neck and rings with CDR and Strength will do. For a weapon you want a 2h Flail [2300 dps+] with Strength, a Socket with a green gem in it, and Life on Wrath Spent [350+]. A good shield has Strength, bonus block chance to push it over 27% and a great shield has those things and 8%+ crit chance. For this build, you only need a good shield.

 

Key Abilities

Heavens Fury - Blessed Ground

Condemn - Vacuum

Judgement - Resolved

 

Recommended Abilities

Punish

Laws of Hope - Wings of Angels

Blessed Hammer - Thunderstruck

 

Passives

Heavenly Strength

Wrathful

Renewal

 

Beneficial gear

All you need is yellows for this build.

 

Beneficial stats

Cooldown Reduction

Critical Hit Damage (Because of Judgement - Resolved giving you 80% crit for your big hits, you do not need crit chance)

 

Use a 2H Flail and Shield for this build. The 2H is for consistant big hits, and the Flail is for Life per Wrath Spent. Your goal is to use Heavens Fury a LOT. Once you get a good group rounded up hit Condemn, then just before condemn pops use Judgement to make it a crit. If you can line up all 3 use Heavens Fury first, it will last the longest and will benefit from Judgement even after Heavens Fury has been cast.

 

Make sure you can hit Blessed Hammer while youre on the run. Some elites, like Mallet Lords, hit too hard to be facetanked, but as they chase you through Blessed Hammer's Thunderstruck procs they will die. Also remember to use Heavens Fury on the thing closest to you, this will set mobs chasing you on a path through the Blessed Ground. 

 

If things get dicey, use punish when you are high on health and save your wrath for Blessed Hammer spam when you need heals. Most of the time you will just need to launch Blessed hammers now and then as you get white mobs to chase you to elite packs. dont worry about killing anything that Blessed Hammer doesnt take care of until you get a nice big pack to annihilate.

 

Eventually you will want to get neck and rings with Strength, Crit, Crit Dam, and CDR. You will also want quite a bit of All Resist. Any slot capable of rolling a trifecta should have either CDR or All Resist instead of Attack Speed. Once your gear gets a decent amount of All Resist (800+) and you have more than 30% crit, you can swap Judgement for Akarat's Champion and drop Laws of Hope for Laws of Valor - Critical.

 

I recommend spending Blood Shards on boots until you get Ice Climbers (immunity to freeze) or the Illusory Boots that let you walk through enemies.

 

The Crusader's main weaknesses are being boxed in, and the wall affix. There is a legendary potion, that has saved me many times, that lets you walk through walls created by the wall affix. The potion is called the Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid. I got it from a Kulle variant rift guardian.

[kitsu 55]

Crusader has been majorly overhauled. most of this guide is non viable.