After first being introduced in Season 17, LoD Blessed Shield Crusader quickly claimed the top spot on solo Crusader leaderboards. However that didn't last long, because Aegis of Valor set, released just 2 seasons later, immediately pushed all other Crusader builds out of relevance.
Still, Blessed Shield Crusader build offers you a unique playstyle as well as additional gearing challenge imposed by Legacy of Dreams. This build is not well suited for group content due to its reliance on Unity ring and overall poor AoE scaling. In solo however, it can clear Nephalem Rifts and farm XP reasonably well, so if you want to see shields fly and ricochet all over the place, then, by all means, go for it!
On current patch, LoD Blessed Shield Crusader build is completely outclassed by either Heavens's Fury Crusader or LoN Bombardment Crusader in every imaginable scenario. The only reason to play this build right now is if you've always deeply admired Captain America and want to be just like him.
Tanky ✔ Easy to Play ✔ Not Very CDR Dependent ✔ Great Skill Choices Freedom ✔
❌ No True AoE ❌ Hard to Gear ❌ Lacks Mobility ❌ Not Suited for Group Content
Core Setup
Core Item Build
Items
Akkhan's Leniency increases Blessed Shield damage by up to 4,000%, which is one of the biggest in the game multipliers provided by a single item.
Gyrfalcon's Foote increases Blessed Shield damage by 350% and also removes its Wrath cost.
Jekangbord increases Blessed Shield damage by another 400% and also increases the number of targets it can hit by 150%.
Akkhan's Manacles increase Blessed Shield damage against first target hit by 500%, which helps a lot with otherwise abysmal single target damage of this build.
Aquila Cuirass provides 50% damage reduction, that is always active thanks to Gyrfalcon's Foote bonus
Stone Gauntlets give us acquire 250% extra Armor.
Leoric's Crown is used for an extra bit of CDR, which is necessary to reach the 64.5% Breakpoint for the Solo Push variant.
Season 32 Ethereals
Ethereals are powerful rare weapons that can only be found during Season 32. They were initially the Season 24 Theme. They have incredible stats, a random Legendary power, and a free passive for your class. Read our Ethereal Mechanics Guide for full details on how they work and our Ethereal Farming Guide to learn how to acquire them. What you should prioritize on them is the following:
TheLegendary Power This build requires Gyrfalcon's Foote and Akkhan's Leniency to be functional. We need our Ethereal to roll one of these powers so we can cube the other. We also want a good roll on our Legendary power if it has a range. For speed content it is always helpful to have Ethereals with In-geom or Messerschmidt's Reaver powers, so keep those if you find them.
TheEtherealItself There are 3 different weapons available to us, each with its own benefits:
Astreon's Iron Ward - This is the best Ethereal with its high DPS, Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage.
The Redeemer - This option is 29% weaker but it comes with +50% Damage to Demons and Undead, against these enemies it deals 5% more damage.
Khalim's Will - This Ethereal is about 15% weaker than Astreon's Iron Ward but its high Attack Speed and Life Per Hit roll make it a decent defensive option. It's also the best option for Nephalem Rifts thanks to its special Steed Charge reset affix.
The EtherealStat Rolls Each Ethereal comes with its own fixed set of powerful affixes. While some have a static value, many have a wide stat range. This means the difference between good and bad rolls is significant and something you should look for.
A Useful Passive This is just icing on the cake because a fifth passive is not going to make or break your build. You're better off hunting for the things above. Check out the Passives section down below to see which ones you're looking for.
Global Stat Priorities
Ideally, you want to go for the 64.5% Cooldown Reduction Breakpoint to get 32 seconds Cooldown on Akarat's Champion. However, missing a CDR roll or three will not break the build; you will just lose a bit of damage and toughness with each roll. You need at least one roll of Life per Hit, because you don't have any other recovery. Your DPS stats in order of importance are: Fire Damage, Blessed Shield Damage, Critical Hit Chance & Critical Hit Damage, Area Damage. Don't focus too much on having all of your items in Ancient quality. Each missing Ancient represents roughly 4-5% DPS and toughness so missing 1 or 2 is not the biggest deal.
Assembling the Build
1. Do the Challenge Rift for the materials to cubeLegendary Powers. You can complete this once a week for additional resources and we always update the guide for you!
2.This is a Legacy of Dreams build whose success is heavily dependent on this gem's rank. The first order of business is to equip a Legendary or Set item in every slot to take advantage of its power. Make sure to not have any Set Bonuses equipped or the gem will be nullified and you will deal no damage! Farm speed Greater Rifts (in under 5 minute clears) to find the items and get this gem as high as possible. Above Rank 25 ancient pieces of gear will give you even greater power.
Rings to get Justice Lantern, Convention of Elements, Unity and Stone of Jordan
Anything from the Gamble list in Step 3 that you haven't already acquired.
5. Do Bounties to acquire several important items for this build:
Act 1: Pauldrons of the Skeleton King
Act 2: Gloves of Worship (for your follower)
Act 3: Avarice Band
Act 4: can drop Bounty items from any Act
Bounty Turn In: Recipes for Sage's Journey and Cain's Destiny sets (for your follower)
6. At this point you can somewhat comfortably farm Nephalem Rifts or low GRs where you can find all the remaining items you need for different variants of the build. Spend your mats getting items with better rolls and/or ancient quality.
7. Use Primordial Ashes in Kanai's Cube with the new Curiosity of Lorath Nahr recipe to obtain a free Crafted Primal Ancient. Since you can only equip one of them, choosing the right item to focus matters! Great candidates are Weapons, Offhands, Jewelry or any item with an important multiplier. With that in mind, we recommend getting one of the following items:
Gyrfalcon's Foote
Jekangbord
Akkhan's Manacles
Item Stat Priorities
SLOT
ITEM
STAT PRIORITY
Main-Hand
The Redeemer Astreon's Iron Ward Khalim's Will Gyrfalcon's Foote In-Geom Akkhan's Leniency (Cubed)
1. Damage Range 2. Socket Ramaladni's Gift 3. Attack Speed 4. Damage % 5. Area Damage 6. Life per Hit 7. Cooldown Reduction 8. Strength
Off-Hand
Jekangbord
1. Critical Hit Chance 2. Blessed Shield Damage 3. Cooldown Reduction 4. Area Damage 5. Strength
Helm
Leoric's Crown
1. Blessed Shield Damage 2. Socket Flawless Royal Diamond 3. Critical Hit Chance 4. Strength
Gloves
Stone Gauntlets Magefist St. Archew's Gage
1. Critical Hit Chance 2. Critical Hit Damage 3. Cooldown Reduction 4. Area Damage 5. Attack Speed 6. Strength
Shoulders
Pauldrons of the Skeleton King (A1 Bounties) Any Legendary or Set Shoulders
1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Area Damage 3. Strength 4. All Resistance 5. Vitality
Chest
Aquila Cuirass Cindercoat
1. Sockets Flawless Royal Diamond 2. Strength 3. Elite Damage Reduction 4. All Resistance 5. Vitality 6. Life %
Pants
Blackthorne's Jousting Mail
1. Fire Damage 2. Sockets Flawless Royal Diamond 3. All Resistance 4. Strength 5. Vitality
Justice Lantern Convention of Elements Rechel's Ring of Larceny Avarice Band (A3 Bounties, Cubed) Unity
1. Socket 2. Critical Hit Damage 3. Critical Hit Chance 4. Cooldown Reduction 5. Area Damage 6. Damage Range 7. Attack Speed
Ring 2
Stone of Jordan
1. Socket 2. Cooldown Reduction 3. Fire Damage
Bracers
Akkhan's Manacles Nemesis Bracers
1. Fire Damage 2. Strength 3. Life per Hit 4. All Resistance 5. Vitality
Amulet
The Flavor of Time Squirt's Necklace
1. Socket 2. Critical Hit Damage 3. Fire Damage 4. Critical Hit Chance
Belt
The Witching Hour Goldwrap
1. Critical Hit Damage 2. Attack Speed 3. All Resistance 4. Strength
Potion
Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid
For breaking walls to pull enemies and increase DPS
Gems
Legacy of Dreams is the centerpiece of this build, providing up to 9,750% increased damage and 52% damage reduction (with 13 Ancient items equipped).
Bane of the Trapped provides 60% multiplicative damage increase.
The last gem varies, depending on what you do: Bane of the Stricken in push to kill the boss, Boon of the Hoarder in Nephalem Rifts or Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard in speeds to protect your Squirt's Necklace buff.
Skills
Blessed Shield is the main source of damage. Most of the time Combust rune is used for its AoE damage and ability to apply Pain Enhancer's DoT. In Nephalem Rifts, Shattering Throw is used for its superior area coverage.
Iron Skin Flash is a very popular skill and for a good reason. Damage reduction, Movement Speed and no collision for only one skill slot. It's a bargain!
Akarat's Champion Prophet is a staple in every single crusader build. One skill providing 35% damage, more than double toughness, crowd control immunity, Wrath regeneration and full heal on "death" is just too good to pass up.
The rest of the skills are mostly free; popular options include Provoke Hit Me for damage and toughness boost, Condemn Vacuum to group mobs Laws of Valor Critical for damage, and Steed Charge or Laws of Hope Wings of Angels for mobility.
Passives
Fervor provides 15% CDR and Attack Speed;
Finery is the strongest generic crusader passive, which provides about 15% DPS and 12% toughness.
Hold Your Ground provides 30% Block Chance, which translates to damage thanks to Blessed Shield block scaling, and also to toughness via Justice Lantern.
Other passives can replace the later two in speedruns: Long Arm of the Law, Lord Commander, Indestructible.
Useful extra passives to get from your Ethereal are (from best to worst):
Holy Cause
Indestructible
Long Arm of the Law
Vigilant
Paragon Points
Core
Offensive
Defensive
Utility
1. Movement Speed
1. Cooldown Reduction
1. All Resistance
1. Area Damage
2. Strength
2. Critical Hit Damage
2. Armor
2. Life per Hit
3. Vitality1
3. Critical Hit Chance
3. Life %
3. Pickup Radius
4. Maximum Wrath
4. Attack Speed
4. Life Regeneration
4. Resource Cost Reduction
1 Add a bit of Vitality if you feel too squishy (a total of 650,000 Life is recommended).
Altar of Rites
The Altar of Rites is a tree that grants tremendous powers to your entire account in exchange for sacrifices. It requires you to farm Bounties, kill the Ubers, craft the Staff of Herding, and more. Completing all 26 of these tasks, along with sacrificing 6 Primal Ancients grants you extra Damage, Defense, Quality of Life, Increased Drops and 3 Potion Super Powers. Read the full guides on Unlocking the Altar and the Altar Mechanics by Raxxanterax and Chewingnom to learn everything about this fantastic mechanic!
Note: The suggested path assumes you are playing Solo and used the Challenge Rift Cache to help you level up.
Optimal Path
Node 2: Choose Anointed to gain a full set of 70 yellows from level 18-70!
Node 6: Rush to gain double Bounties to help unlock other Nodes in the Altar.
Nodes 7-14: These are the last Nodes you can gain until the Challenge Rift resets. Take at least 1 Node at the bottom of each path to unlock all 3 Potion Super Powers. Pick up the Mirror Node at the top for a colossal 41% extra XP all season. Remember to unlock Father once you clear GR70 solo and have your first Primal!
Nodes 15-26: Pick up the final Quality of Life, Damage, and Defense Nodes (in that order) to finish the Altar.
Potion Super Powers: Take Father first, then Mother, and finally Mortal.
Disclaimer: The Mortal and Mother Potions require you to salvage 2 and 3 Primals respectively. Unlock them as soon as you have those materials as they don't cost a point!
Recommended Altar Path Use the Scroll Bar to see Altar Progression
Follower
Patch 2.7.0 revamped the follower system giving all 3 hirelings new powers and the emanate system. The first thing you should do is read our complete follower guide and remember the key takeaways:
The emanation system allows followers to share certain legendary and set powers with you. The most important ones are: The Flavor of Time, Nemesis Bracers, Avarice Band, Sage’s Journey and Cain’s Destiny. Click the guide above for the full list.
Follower’s powers are based on their main stat (maxed at 25.000, but they have a 2.5x multiplier so you only need 10.000). This means we stack Intelligence on the Enchantress, Dexterity on the Scoundrel and Strength on the Templar.
Guardian's Jeopardy(3) Bonus works for followers by improving their inherent stat multiplier from x2.5 to x3.5, making it slightly easier to hit the 25,000 main stat threshold if needed.
Followers share 20% of their Experience, Magic and Gold Find stats with you.
Legendary gems do not work on followers, except Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard.
Cooldown Reduction does not work for any follower skill except the Templar’s Heal.
Followers never deal significant damage; you’re on your own to clear the content.
Select Follower
T16 Enchantress
T16 Enchantress
For T16 we recommend this Enchantress setup because she is the only follower that gives Cooldown Reduction, allowing you to spam your abilities more. Since this is T16 content, she’ll stay alive with Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard and use Hand of the Prophet to gain all skills. This will give us Cooldown Reduction, Elemental Damage, Reduced Damage from Ranged Attacks, Armor, Attack Speed, and a Cheat Death.
Stat Priorities:Since we do not have the immortality focus, we need to stack survivability on our Enchantress.
Intelligence > Vitality > Life % > Armor > All Resistance > Life Per Hit > Attack Speed.
Key Items:
The Flavor of Time: For double duration on Pylons.
Nemesis Bracers: For extra Elites, Death’s Breaths and In-geom procs.
Avarice Band: For the insane pickup radius.
Ring of Royal Grandeur: To complete our sets.
Gloves of Worship: For 10 Minute Shrine Buffs.
Sage’s Journey: For double Death’s Breaths.
Cain’s Destiny: For 25% more Greater Rift Keystones.
GR Pushing Enchantress
For Greater Rift Pushing and Greater Rift Speeds alike we recommend this Enchantress setup for the Slow from Temporal Pulse, Holy Damage from Amplification, Damage Reduction and Armor from Powered Shield, and the Attack Speed from Focused Mind.
Stat Priorities:Since we have the immortality relic, we do not need to stack survivability on our Enchantress.
Intelligence> Attack Speed. Key Items:
The Flavor of Time: For double duration on Pylons.
Nemesis Bracers: For more progression from Elites.
Oculus Ring: For 85% increased damage.
Unity: For 50% damage reduction if you're also wearing one.
Ice Climbers: To make your follower immune to Freeze and Immobilize effects.
Mempo of Twilight and Cain's Destiny: For more Attack Speed.
Gameplay
Akarat's Champion needs to be used on the start of every other FireConvention of Elements cycle. If you don't have 64.5% CDR breakpoint, then just use it on cooldown.
All your buffs, such as Laws of Valor, Laws of Hope, Provoke or Iron Skin can just be used on cooldown, there's no reason to be conservative with any of them.
UItility skills such as Steed Charge or Condemn Vacuum are used when the situation demands it.
Hardcore
This build is pretty hardcore-friendly and it already uses all the toughness multipliers available. So the only change you need to make is swapping Towering Shield or Finery for Indestructible. You can swap The Witching Hour for String of Ears, if you want. Check out our dedicated Hardcore Survival Guide to learn more about how to succeed in this game mode!
Variants
Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Speeds
GR Solo Push
T16 Low Paragon
Ethereals If you don't have any Ethereal Item, use Gyrfalcon's Foote.
Concept T16 variant of the build uses the usual trio of Gold Items: Goldwrap, Avarice Band and Boon of the Hoarder. Together, these three give you a screen-wide pick up radius, 30% Movement Speed, nearly infinite toughness, and a steady supply of gold. Since we no longer have to worry about toughness we can focus on damage and Movement Speed. With Cindercoat, Magefist and Stone of Jordan we can get up to 120% Fire Damage and, thanks to SoJ's legendary power, this bonus applies to Blessed Shield Shattering Throw.
All of our free skills and passives focus on Movement Speed: Laws of Hope Wings of Angels + Long Arm of the Law, and Steed Charge Endurance + Lord Commander. On top of that we have Rechel's Ring of Larceny in combination with Provoke Flee Fool and secondary Fear on Hit rolls on weapon, shield and helmet.
Gameplay There's nothing special in T16 gameplay: you spam all the buffs, throw shields at mobs, and ride the horse when you don't see any.
Setups At high Paragon (4,000+), when you can consistently oneshot most mobs, you can drop Akkhan's Leniency for Echoing Fury.
When playing in groups, cube Avarice Band and Nemesis Bracers instead of Krelm's Buff Belt and Convention of Elements.
LoD BS Solo Speeds
Ethereals If you don't have any Ethereal Item, use Gyrfalcon's Foote.
Concept Speed GR version of the build utilizes Squirt's Necklace and Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard combo to deal double damage. To get some Movement Speed we use Laws of Hope Wings of Angels and Long Arm of the Law. This also gives us almost 100% uptime on unrestricted movement, so we can drop Illusory Boots for St. Archew's Gage. Finally, we use Bane of the Trapped instead of Pain Enhancer for more consistent damage boost.
Gameplay The gameplay in speeds is incredibly simple: you just blow through the rift while spamming all the skills at all times. Only thing you have to pay attention to is your shield from Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard. When you see it disappear, try to wait couple of seconds before engaging new mobs to let it regenerate.
Blessed Shield Solo Push
Ethereals If you don't have any Ethereal Item, use Gyrfalcon's Foote.
Concept The solo push version stacks a lot of Block Chance to get a bit of Blessed Shield damage and a lot of toughness from Justice Lantern. For that we have Hold Your Ground and Provoke Hit Me. We also use Convention of Elements for DPS boost and Squirt's Necklace for double damage during the Shield Pylon. Finally, in the two free skill slots we have Laws of Valor Critical for damage and Condemn Vacuum to group the mobs.
Gameplay Here you use the standard for many builds strategy of going through the rift and gathering mobs while Convention of Elements is off, and DPS-ing them down during the Fire part of the cycle.
Generally, you shouldn't go out of your way to create extra big pulls, because Blessed Shield only hits 10 targets. You still want more mobs than that to capitalize on Area Damage but with the single target bonus from Akkhan's Manacles, finishing off lone Elites is not the worst idea.
Setups If you don't have any Life per Hit rolls on your gear or are otherwise struggling to survive, you should change the rune on your Laws of Valor to Invincible. Another option for extra toughness is switching The Witching Hour for String of Ears.
Mechanics
Blessed Shield
The Block Chance portion of the damage scales with your total Block Chance rather than just Shield's Block Chance (in-game tooltip is wrong).
With 100% Block Chance (the 75% cap in the tooltip is also a lie) you can get up to 680% Weapon Damage.
Blessed Shield can hit a total of 4 targets: initial target + 3 bounces. Jekangbord increases that number to 10.
Summary
Put together the core items and level up the Legacy of Dreams gem.
Stack Cooldown Reduction to help with both toughness and damage.
Get Attack Speed on Weapon.
Get Life per Hit on Weapon or Bracers.
Spam all skills and throw shields!
Defense can be a pretty good offense, apparently...
