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SotL Blessed Hammer Crusader Guide

Last Updated:July 8, 2024|Change Log

Introduction

SotL BH Solo Push
View all variants

Seeker of the Light Blessed Hammer Crusader build is the spiritual successor of famous Hammerdin build from Diablo II. This build does exactly what it says on the box: makes hammers fly. If you've always wanted to see approximately 30 hammers orbiting you while bonking denizens of hell on the head, then you've come to the right place!

Unfortunately, this set has a serious problem - the support skill which you have to use to activate your damage and toughness bonuses is Falling Sword. There's exactly one thing that is good about this skill - it looks cool. Other than that it does nothing. Damage is completely irrelevant, despite 1,000% increase from the Seeker of the Light (6) Bonus. None of the runes provide any meaningful utility. And while it is a teleport skill, the animation is so slow that it is barely faster than walking.

On the current patch Seeker of the Light Blessed Hammer Crusader is completely outclassed by either Bombardment Crusader or Fist of the Heavens Crusader in pushing and in farming. But if you want to conquer Seeker of the Light leaderboards this is (the only) build to do it!

High Attack Speed ✔
Straightforward Mechanics ✔
A LOT of Hammers Everywhere ✔
Can Grab a Tea during Falling Sword ✔

❌ Squishy
Limited Number of Targets
❌ Area Damage Doesn't Work
❌ Falling Sword is Incredibly Slow

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Seeker of the Light set provides 50% damage reduction, 12,000% Blessed Hammer damage increase and also lets us reset cooldowns of Falling Sword and Provoke extremely fast.
  • Captain Crimson's Trimmings set gives around 60% DPS, 28%-65% damage reduction and 20% Cooldown Reduction.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur allows us to get full bonuses from both sets.
  • Hammer Jammers increase Blessed Hammer damage by 400%.
  • Faithful Memory increases Blessed Hammer damage by up to 800%.
  • Guard of Johanna provides a 250% Blessed Hammer damage increase when fighting lone Elites or Rift Guardians.
  • Johanna's Argument doubles the damage and attack speed of Blessed Hammer allowing us to cast up to 6 hammers every second.

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:

  1. The Legendary Power
    This build requires Johanna's Argument and Faithful Memory 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.
  2. The Ethereal Itself
    There are 3 different weapons available to us, each with its own benefits:
    • The Redeemer - This is the best Ethereal for this build providing Holy Damage, Attack Speed and a massive +50% Damage to Demons and Undead (about 60% of enemies you find in Greater Rift are one of these two types).
    • Astreon's Iron Ward - This option comes in close second with its Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage rolls. It's about 17% weaker than The Redeemer when fighting Undead or Demons but 25% stronger against other enemies.
    • Khalim's Will - This is the worst Ethereal for this build damage wise (25% weaker than Astreon's Iron Ward) but its high Attack Speed and Life Per Hit make it a decent defensive option.
  3. The Ethereal Stat 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.
  4. 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

Stack as much Cooldown Reduction (CDR) as possible, you want literally every single point of it on every single piece including the amulet. For Attack Speed you just need a 7% roll on the Weapon as it is multiplicative with rolls from other pieces. Make sure your defensive slots—Boots, Pants and Belt—have Vitality and All Resistance on them. Life per Hit is a great stat for extra recovery; having at least one roll on Weapon or Bracers is recommended, although not required. Stack DPS stats wherever possible: Holy Damage, Blessed Hammer Damage, Critical Hit Damage and Critical Hit Chance. Ignore Area Damage because it doesn't get buffed by Hammer Jammers.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Push
T16

Ethereals
If you don't have any Ethereal Item use Johanna's Argument.

Concept
In T16 version of the build we drop Hammer Jammers, because applying CC to every new mob takes too much time. We also replace Faithful Memory with Justinian's Mercy. This lets us deal damage while moving and also we no longer need Falling Sword. We use Squirt's Necklace protected by the shield from Laws of Hope to get back some of the lost damage.

As many other T16 buids, we use the 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.

Gameplay
The gameplay is very simple: Steed Charge up to mobs, throw some hammers, run to the next group. Spam Provoke for Wrath and all the other skills for Movement Speed.

Setups
When playing in groups replace Warzechian Armguards with Nemesis Bracers and Stone of Jordan with Avarice Band.

SotL BH Solo Push

Ethereals
If you don't have any Ethereal Item use Johanna's Argument.

Concept
This is the solo push version, which tries to get as much damage and toughness as possible. To that end we use Endless Walk, Convention of Elements and Strongarm Bracers. Our chosen rune on Blessed Hammer is Limitless because it deals twice as much damage compared to the base skill. And finally our two free skill slots are occupied by Laws of Valor Unstoppable Force and Iron Skin Steel Skin for extra toughness.

Gameplay
The gameplay is incredibly simple: you spam all your buffs and hold down Blessed Hammer. Don't fight less than 10 mobs to get maximum value from Faithful Memory. Before your Holy Convention of Elements cycle, use Falling Sword in the middle of the pull to refresh all the buffs and to apply Hammer Jammers to as many mobs as possible. If Oculus Ring spawns in the first second of Holy, use Falling Sword to get into it, otherwise don't bother.

Setups
If you don't have max Cooldown Reduction, replace Convention of Elements with Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac. It will solve your cooldown issues but you will have to use your skills conservatively. Only recast each buff when it's about to expire. If you do that well, you can even switch to Iron Skin Flash.

Video Guide

Mechanics

Faithful Memory

Hammer Jammers

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Seeker of the Light set.
  • Stack Cooldown Reduction before everything to survive.
  • Spam all the buttons!
  • Never let go of Blessed Hammer button.

Haha, the hammers go: "brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr".

Credits

Written by Northwar.

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