The FoH Paladin. FoH Paladin in all aspects of the game, from leveling to selecting end-game equipment for adventures in Hell and beyond, helping you survive the greatest threats Diablo and his lieutenants have to offer.
Throughout this guide, we will cover everything you need to know to build your FoH Paladin from the ground up. We will introduce you to the expected strengths and weakness of the FoH Paladin so you will be able to build the type of character you want to play. It will walk you through assigning stat points, picking talents and skills, hiring the best Mercenary to accompany your FoH Paladin, selecting gear with FoH Paladin Best in Slot (BiS) items listed, and understanding important Paladin breakpoints.
This Wowhead class build guide covers the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin spec for the Paladin class, also known as the FoH Paladin, updated for Patch 2.7 & Ladder Season 4 in Diablo II: Resurrected. This guide will teach you to master the FoH Paladin in all aspects of the game, from leveling to selecting end-game equipment for adventures in Hell and beyond, helping you survive the greatest threats Diablo and his lieutenants have to offer Foh. As the veteran D2R players would know, the Hammerdin Paladin was the preferred spec for mass area farms whereas the Smiter Paladin was the top pick for killing bosses and clearing Ubers. With the release of Patch 2.4 the Vindicator Templar Paladin build will emerge as a meta build because it brings together the best of both worlds. The primary strength of this build is its versatility which allows the build to do exceptionally well in mass area farms while also efficiently clearing Ubers. The build effectively combines the strength of a Hammerdin and a Smiter. What's even more exciting is that the build does exceptionally well even in budget gear.
Note: The Vindicator Templar Paladin will be an exceptional build in Patch 2.4 due to the Fist of the Heavens buffs. The first buff is the reduction of Casting Delay from 1 second to 0.4 seconds while also making Fist of the Heavens not share cooldown with other Casting Delay abilities. The most noteworthy buff is undoubtedly making the spell now also damage demons in addition to undead. Fist of the Heavens used to damage undead only. It now also does massive damage on demons as well. This buff makes the build jump straight into S tier for players 1-4 and solo hell gameplays. The V/T Paladin will take the crown as the S tier Paladin build especially for solo or players 1-4 difficulty gameplay. The build will still be very strong in Players 8 scaled difficulty. With the current changes applied in Patch 2.5, the build is extremely powerful even in budget gear and does better than Hammerdins during early game. If we had to rank this build in its current state, we would rank it either S or A tier. Strengths of the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin
Extremely powerful boss and AoE damage.
Can clear all content in the game with great efficiency.
Both the budget and end-game variants of the build are meta level strong.
The V/T Paladin is truly a destroyer. The build utilizes Smite to obliterate bosses and Fist of the Heavens for clearing crowded areas due to the powerful AoE damage. Fist of the Heavens' first hit is lightning damage and the spreading holy bolt waves deal magic damage. This helps the spell to deal massive AoE damage to demons and undeads.The V/T can clear all content in the game as mentioned above. After doing a fast speed clear of Chaos Sanctuary, you can directly start doing Ubers with this build. You do not need to respec or even switch gear. This build is truly the "one stop shop" that delivers S tier quality damage and utility whenever you need it. The build is not only effective in Ubers, but also in Players 8 Hell difficulty content as well. Hammerdins only deal magic damage which struggles against bosses and pure FoHadins struggle against specific animal type monsters such as the Ancients, Cows, Eldritch and Shenk the Overseer. The V/T Paladin eliminates all of these problems because it has an answer for everything. The sheer power of Smite which deals physical damage provides a massive advantage for our hybrid V/T Paladin build compared to pure FoHadins because it can also obliterate animal type monsters. Therefore, we can confidently say that the V/T Hybrid Paladin build is better than Hammerdins (for solo or players 1-4 gameplays) and FoHadins because it can destroy bosses while also emitting massive AoE damage without having none of their weaknesses. While the budget version of the build can use Charge to quickly traverse the map, the end game version of the build synergizes very well with Enigma runeword for teleporting and added skills for Fist of the Heavens damage. The Paladin FCR breakpoints are not bad therefore you can achieve quick teleport speeds with proper gear. The true power of this build lies in its effectiveness in budget gear. Just like the new fully invested FoHadin, the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar Paladin works great even in budget gear. With this build, you can farm difficult content even in budget gear!
This build is viable for any PvM/PvE scenario in highest difficulties. The introduction of new Terror Zones and sunder charms also benefits this build. The fact that Terror Zones can easily be cleared by the Fist of the Heavens adds power to this build. In addition, the new lightning sunder charm The Crack of the Heavens synergizes well with this build, since it breaks monster lightning immunity and Conviction applies with 20% effectivness afterwards. The fact that the initial damage from Fist of the Heavens is lightning damage benefits from this positive synergy.
Weakness of the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin
Cow Level.bKey Gear Considerations for Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T. The Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin is truly the build which can work wonders even with budget gear. The end game version of the build completely obliterates high end bosses as well as high level monster areas. The fact that the V/T Paladin has both ranged and melee abilities is a great advantage for providing maximum offensive capability. The end game version of the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin generally uses Grief runeword phase blade on main hand for dealing maximum damage since the + damage of grief as well as the IAS provides a massive benefit for the build. Grief +damage applies to Smite despite being invisible on the Character Sheet page. Despite not needing a teleport, we also recommend focusing on obtaining Enigma runeword due to +skills synergy with Fist of the Heavens, Fanaticism Aura and Smite. For truly reaching the end game level of the build, we recommend focusing on obtaining 2x Last Wish weapons for your new Act 5 Frenzy Mercenary since you can now combine your Fanaticism aura with a level 34 Might aura by using double Last Wish on the new Act 5 Frenzy Dual Wield Mercenary! Harlequin Crest Shako is also a good item to hunt for although Guillaume's Face usually gets the job done due to its added crushing blow that feeds into your Smite. The new lightning sunder charm The Crack of the Heavens also synergizes well with this build, due to the fact that it breaks monster lightning immunity by lowering monster lightning resistance down to 95%. With the recent changes Conviction now applies with 20% effectiveness (previously Conviction negative monster resistance would apply with 100% effectiveness because the sunder charm broke the immunity). The fact that Conviction applies with 20% efficiency is still an advantage to reduce the monster's lightning resistance further, which strongly empowers the initial lightning damage from Fist of the Heavens. The other key items V/T Paladins need are +Skill items for All Skills, Paladin Skills or Combat Skills. The Paladin +Combat Skills grand charms are also crucial for this build since they synergize well with Smite and Fist of the Heavens. Piling on these types of charms is important because your Smite as well as your Fist of the Heavens are combat skills which receive a great damage addition from +Combat Skiller grand charms.
Stat Priority for Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin in Diablo II: Resurrected Patch 2.7 & Ladder Season 4
These are the recommended stat assignments for Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin. These may vary depending upon your gear requirements and how you choose to play your build. Hardcore characters in particular will want to invest most of their points into Vitality. The FoH Paladin. FoH Paladin in all aspects of the game, from leveling to selecting end-game equipment for adventures in Hell and beyond, helping you survive the greatest threats Diablo and his lieutenants have to offer.
Skills for the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin in Diablo II: Resurrected Patch 2.7 & Ladder Season 4
As the name implies, your build is a powerful hybrid build which utilizes both Smite and Fist of the Heavens your main skills, depending on the situation
The V/T Paladin obliterates its enemies both in melee and ranged encounters. For bosses and melee fights, Smite with Fanaticism Aura should be your primary attack. As most of the veteran D2R players know, Smite always hits so it does not need any attack rating at all. This makes crushing blow a very efficient affix to synergize with Smite which results in dealing tons of damage to enemies. Add the +damage from Grief on top of this and you will be dealing monstrous single target melee damage to your enemies. In any AoE ranged fight, you will rely on your Fist of the Heavens with Conviction Aura which will strike your initial target with lightning damage and then spread out waves of holy bolts which deal magic damage. This spread damage will destroy the surrounding monsters. To prepare for combat, you will first cast your Holy Shield to grant yourself additional block rating to reach max block (75%). Once your buffing is complete, you will either use your Fanaticism Aura (for Smiting Bosses) or Conviction Aura (for killing monsters with your ranged FoH Lightning and Magic damage) as your active ability and dive right into action. Step 1: Before entering combat, find a safe spot. You will pre-buff yourself. Cast Holy Shield to improve your defense and add damage to your Smite. For killing bosses or superuniques ,make sure to activate your Fanaticism aura and keep it active. For AoE farming monster packs, make sure to activate your Conviction aura and keep it active. Step 2: You are ready to obliterate your enemies. Your main skills are Smite and Fist of the Heavens. Use Fist of the Heavens + Conviction Aura to clear out groups of enemies from range, and use Smite + Fanaticism Aura to deal massive single target damage and kill bosses quickly. Step 3: Use Teleport or Charge to greatly increase your mobility and quickly traverse the area. Leveling as a Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin in Diablo II: Resurrected Patch 2.7 & Ladder Leveling as a Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin is definitely a solid strategy since the build works really well with budget gear. The fact that you can already start maximizing Holy Bolt, Smite and Holy Shield in early levels is a blessing itself. For normal difficulty, pick Might aura first. Invest points into Smite. At level 6, pick Holy Bolt and start investing in it. Holy Bolt deals a ton of damage while also healing your mercenary. If you can position yourself and form a straight line between yourself, the boss and your mercenary, your holy bolts will melt the boss and also heal your mercenary to ensure their survivability. Before you reach level 24, invest a point into Charge and Blessed Hammer. Upon reaching level 24, pick Holy Shield and continue investing in your Holy Bolt. After nearly maxing your Holy Bolt and investing into Holy Shield, proceed to pick Fanaticism Aura at level 30. After picking Fanaticism Aura, proceed to invest 1 point into Sacrifice, Zeal, Vengeance and Conversion. Start maxing Fist of the Heavens, Smite, Holy Shield and Fanaticism Aura in the written order. Alternatively you can pick Salvation whenever you may need it. After level 40, keep a balanced investment in skill points for optimizing your performance.bFor maximizing your leveling performance, we recommend following our Paladin leveling guide for a smoother leveling experience.
Paladin Leveling Guide for Diablo II: Resurrected. Best Mercenary for Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin in Diablo II: Resurrected Patch 2.7 & Ladder Season 4. 1 - Act 5 Dual Wield Frenzy Barbarian Mercenaries: Despite Taunt's overriding characteristics, The Act 5 Dual Wield Frenzy Barbarian Mercenaries are our top pick for the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin. The reason is simple: Act 5 Dual Wield Frenzy Barbarian Mercenaries can use Grief main hand + Last Wish off hand setup or 2x Last Wish weapons which can stack up to level 34 Might aura consequently providing a massive damage buff! In addition, Last Wish procs Life Tap curse very often which helps for clearing Uber Tristram. The Fade proc from Last Wish also helps with your Mercenary's survivability. The fact that you can reach 34 Might aura stacked with your Fanaticism aura makes the build reach a monstrous damage output. You can alternatively use Lawbringer runeword on your Act 5 Mercenary for applying Decrepify. The Sanctuary Aura is also useful while fighting Ubers since it applies knockback effects to the undead adds spawned by Ubers. The knockback effect is especially useful against the Wraiths in ubers since it prevents them from reaching you and burn your mana. It can be inferred that the Act 5 Dual Wield Frenzy Mercenary is a very versatile mercenary for the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin because you can equip him with various gearsets for different scenarios. Helm - Arreat's Face for extra damage or Guillaume's Face for extra crushing blow, both socketed with +15% IAS + 15 All Res Jewel.
Armor - Ethereal high defense armor with Fortitude runeword. Duress is an alternative for Ubers. Treachery runeword is a budget option.
2- Act 2 Might Offensive Desert Mercenary: The Act 2 Desert Mercenary offers the precious Might aura without needing the Last Wish runeword. While we recommend picking the Might offensive mercenary, Holy Freeze Act 2 mercenary is also a suitable alternative. We recommend the Might offensive mercenary because Might aura increases damage. In addition, you can use items such as the Infinity runeword to stack Conviction with a different aura to change up your gameplay. Obedience is also a great runeword for Ubers due to its crushing blow as well as the extra resistances properties. Pride runeword is another strong choice due to its Concentration aura and damage increase. Weapon - Infinity, Obedience, Pride or Insight runeword on ethereal Thresher or Giant Thresher (or at least a good Polearm base). Helm - Andariel's Visage (preferably ethereal) socketed with Ral Rune for extra IAS or Guillaume's Face preferably socketed with +15% IAS +15 All Resistances Jewel for extra crushing blow.
Armor - Ethereal high defense armor with Fortitude or Duress runeword. Treachery runeword is a budget option. Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin Best in Slot (BiS) Gear in Diablo II: Resurrected Patch 2.7 & Ladder Season 4. This section covers recommended BiS gear for endgame (upper-level Hell). These are not the only viable alternatives, and there may be decent budget options available. Depending on whether you trade, you may also be limited to "what you get is what you use."Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin BiS Weapons. The Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin BiS Weapon choice is simple: Grief runeword on Phaseblade.Other budget friendly notable weapons include: Azurewrath, Spirit runeword, Oath runeword, Kingslayer runeword, Heaven's Light, Hand of Blessed Light and Black runeword. Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin BiS Shield and Weapon Swaps. Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin BiS shield is upgraded Herald of Zakarum or HoZ in short. HoZ provides a great +skills for the build as well as high Smite damage. Spirit runeword shield is a decent budget alternative. For weapon swap, we recommend using Call to Arms with Spirit runeword shield for maximizing the effectiveness of Battle Orders which helps with survivability. Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin BiS Body Armor Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin build works extremely well with Enigma runeword. It should be highligted that Enigma runeword is not necessarily a requirement for the budget version of the build since Charge greatly helps with mobility. The Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin is not dependent on teleport as much as the Hammerdin. However, the end game version of Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin still prefers Enigma runeword as BiS Armor simply due to teleporting and +skills obtained from the runeword. If you cannot afford Enigma; Fortitude, Treachery, The Spirit Shroud, Skin of the Vipermagi, and Duress runewords are also solid alternatives. Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin BiS Amulet BiS Rings For the V/T Paladin, Ravenfrost takes one of the BiS Ring slots due to its Cannot Be Frozen and +dexterity affixes. The second BiS ring slot is open to variations. Bul Kathos' Wedding Band provides decent life leech, +all skills and +life, whereas Wisp Projector offers great protection with Lightning Absorb and decent Magic Find properties. Alternatively the second BiS Ring slot could belong to any rare ring which provides +Faster Cast Rate, +Life and +resistances. For PVM, the lightning damage side of FOH is pretty trash. Did some testing last night with it and 99% of the damage is the holy bolt, so it will come down to your preference on what other skills to use along side it. /players 1 it is, in my opinion, the best budget chaos build in the game now with just maxing holy bolt and FOH. Ran around with level 1 (base) redemption which was very nice. Was not using a merc, so maxing fanat is probably going to be strong with how much they buffed the A5 merc.The build was also very strong and killing trav (they are all demons) just using holy bolt. Safer than a hammerdin b/c of the range and no need to worry about hammers hitting walls. Pit level 1 / 2 are also all demons / undead, so therese smite will be painful. Which honestly you’re unlikely to have either early ladder. And on p1 foh+conviction burn down most elites (non-Diablo) in just a couple of FoH strikes anyways. So the only thing smite is potentially better at during normal runs is clearing act bosses. Many dislike conviction and foh synergies since your primary damage dealer, but you still use foh a ton. Imo you may as well get the most out of a skill you’re using a ton instead of an Uber-specific option and speed up you’re entire run compared to a hybrid where the rest of the run is slower but you kill diablo 3 seconds faster. I don’t see how that benefits you.
Frenzy Mercenary is a very versatile mercenary for the Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin because you can equip him with various gearsets for different scenarios. Therefore, the Act 5 Dual Wield Frenzy Barbarian Mercenary is our top choice for Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin build despite being mega expensive and its potential to override Life Tap with Taunt. And that is all I can provide as I didnt have much time to explay myself. So please accept my apologies and take a deep look into this guide. Not only that but Shako is also a good item to hunt for although Guillaume's Face usually gets the job done due to its added crushing blow that feeds into your Smite. The new lightning sunder charm The Crack of the Heavens also synergizes well with this build, due to the fact that it breaks monster lightning immunity by lowering monster lightning resistance down to 95%. With the recent changes Conviction now applies with 20% effectiveness (previously Conviction negative monster resistance would apply with 100% effectiveness because the sunder charm broke the immunity). The fact that Conviction applies with 20% efficiency is still an advantage to reduce the monster's lightning resistance further, which strongly empowers the initial lightning damage from Fist of the Heavens. The other key items V/T Paladins need are +Skill items for All Skills, Paladin Skills or Combat Skills. The Paladin +Combat Skills grand charms are also crucial for this build since they synergize well with Smite and Fist of the Heavens. Piling on these types of charms is important because your Smite as well as your Fist of the Heavens are combat skills which receive a great damage addition from +Combat Skiller grand charms. As the name implies, your build is a powerful hybrid build which utilizes both Smite and Fist of the Heavens your main skills, depending on the situation. The V/T Paladin obliterates its enemies both in melee and ranged encounters. For bosses and melee fights, Smite with Fanaticism Aura should be your primary attack. As most of the veteran D2R players know, Smite always hits so it does not need any attack rating at all. This makes crushing blow a very efficient affix to synergize with Smite which results in dealing tons of damage to enemies. Add the +damage from Grief on top of this and you will be dealing monstrous single target melee damage to your enemies. In any AoE ranged fight, you will rely on your Fist of the Heavens with Conviction Aura which will strike your initial target with lightning damage and then spread out waves of holy bolts which deal magic damage. This spread damage will destroy the surrounding monsters. To prepare for combat, you will first cast your Holy Shield to grant yourself additional block rating to reach max block (75%). Once your buffing is complete, you will either use your Fanaticism Aura (for Smiting Bosses) or Conviction Aura (for killing monsters with your ranged FoH Lightning and Magic damage) as your active ability and dive right into action. Step 1: Before entering combat, find a safe spot. You will pre-buff yourself. Cast Holy Shield to improve your defense and add damage to your Smite. For killing bosses or superuniques ,make sure to activate your Fanaticism aura and keep it active. For AoE farming monster packs, make sure to activate your Conviction aura and keep it active. Step 2: You are ready to obliterate your enemies. Your main skills are Smite and Fist of the Heavens. Use Fist of the Heavens + Conviction Aura to clear out groups of enemies from range, and use Smite + Fanaticism Aura to deal massive single target damage and kill bosses quickly. Step 3: Use Teleport or Charge to greatly increase your mobility and quickly traverse the area. Leveling as a Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin in Diablo II: Resurrected Patch 2.7 & Ladder Leveling as a Hybrid Smite/FoH Vindicator Templar V/T Paladin is definitely a solid strategy since the build works really well with budget gear. The fact that you can already start maximizing Holy Bolt, Smite and Holy Shield in early levels is a blessing itself. For normal difficulty, pick Might aura first. Invest points into Smite. At level 6, pick Holy Bolt and start investing in it. Holy Bolt deals a ton of damage while also healing your mercenary. If you can position yourself and form a straight line between yourself, the boss and your mercenary, your holy bolts will melt the boss and also heal your mercenary to ensure their survivability. Before you reach level 24, invest a point into Charge and Blessed Hammer. Upon reaching level 24, pick Holy Shield and continue investing in your Holy Bolt. After nearly maxing your Holy Bolt and investing into Holy Shield, proceed to pick Fanaticism Aura at level 30. After picking Fanaticism Aura, proceed to invest 1 point into Sacrifice, Zeal, Vengeance and Conversion. Start maxing Fist of the Heavens, Smite, Holy Shield and Fanaticism Aura in the written order. Alternatively you can pick Salvation whenever you may need it. After level 40, keep a balanced investment in skill points for optimizing your performance.bFor maximizing your leveling performance, we recommend following our Paladin leveling guide for a smoother leveling experience.