The Paladin returns as part of Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred, mixing new-generation mechanics as well as elements of both its original Diablo 2 counterpart and the Crusader from Diablo 3. The class retains some of its most iconic playstyles, though it's got a lot of new tricks up its sleeve too, making it incredibly fun and satisfying to use if you're a fan of the holy sword-and-board knight archetype.
The following is a comprehensive guide for the Paladin in Diablo 4 that includes builds for both the leveling and endgame phases, focusing on the class' Judicator line of skills and the Judgement effect.
Diablo 4: Stats Explained
There are four major stats and several minor stats in Diablo 4, and players will want to know what each of them does to level with a plan.
How to Get Paladin in Diablo
Paladin is one of the two classes available in the Lord of Hatred expansion. Much like Spiritborn, you'll be able to make a Paladin character once you've purchased the expansion.
Early access to the Paladin class is part of the pre-order bonuses for all the Lord of Hatred editions.
Best Diablo 4 Paladin Leveling Build
This is a one-button basic attack build that's more for comfy clearing than speed leveling. It takes a while to come online, but when it does, you'll be blowing up every monster on your screen with just one cast of your Basic skill. Pretend like you're a Bone Spear Necromancer while using this.
Holy Bolt is our main source of damage while leveling up with this D4 Paladin build for two reasons:
- It inflicts Vulnerable (through an upgrade node)
- It'll let you get used to the playstyle of a much-stronger late-game build.
You'll need the following things to get this early game build rolling:
- 5/5 Holy Bolt with the Divine Bolt upgrade
-
Aspect of the Moonrise
-
Aspect of Adaptability
- Aspect of the Golden Hour
- Topaz gems on your weapons
- The Judicator Oath
Temper your gear for Basic Skill Damage and try to get as much attack speed as possible.
Divine Bolt turns Holy Bolt into a Disciple skill that pierces through enemies and makes them Vulnerable. When you have the Judicator Oath equipped, every hit with Divine Bolt also marks enemies with Judgement, which will make them explode after 3 seconds or until the mark is manually detonated through other means.
Now, we have one glaring issue with this build: in order to turn Divine Bolt into a screen-wiping monster, you need to have the three Legendary Aspects listed above on your jewelry items at all times, and you need to be at least level 15 so you can use the Judicator Oath. This, of course, means that you'll need to farm Legendary gear in Diablo 4, but if you already have these ones in your Codex, you'll be good to go.
If you're not having much luck getting the three Aspects above, you'll need to use either one of the following:
- Blessed Shield with Shield of Justice upgrade
- Spear of the Heavens with Fist of the Heavens upgrade
Either of these skills will make up for any lack of damage and AoE that Divine Bolt might have. Blessed Shield is great if you're using an actual shield in your loadout, but if you'd rather use a 2H weapon, go with Fist of the Heavens instead. We'll be using one of these abilities later on too for the final build.
As for the rest of your abilities, use whatever you want. Just make sure to Temper your gear to include multiple damage-boosting stats (Basic Skill Damage, Damage, Holy Damage, etc) to maximize your DPS. With the right items, you'll be able to one-shot trash mobs and melt bosses even on Penitent difficulty.
Best Judgement Paladin Build in Diablo 4
Once you reach at least level 50 and get enough gear to unlock more Legendary Aspects, you'll want to start prepping for Torment difficulty. The following is the endgame version of the earlier leveling build, and while it plays more or less the same, it's got much more moving parts compared to before.
Active Skills
|
Skill |
Notes |
|
Divine Bolt (1/5) |
We're leveling down Divine Bolt to get more points for other skills. Its main purpose now is to prime enemies with Judgement and apply both Vulnerable and Weakness. |
|
Blessed Shield - Shield of Justice (5/5) |
Blessed Shield is very strong for both single-target and AoE damage. We're going to supercharge this skill through passives and Legendary Aspects. |
|
Fanaticism Aura - Rite of Vengeance (2/5) |
Passively gives you more crit chance and crit damage whenever you score a crit or spend Faith. |
|
Defiance Aura - Rite of Prayer (2/5) |
Provides passive healing, bonus Armor and Resistances, and generates Resolve stacks. Also used to break out of crowd control. |
|
Consecration - Hallowed Ground (5/5) |
Creates a massive zone that heals, buffs damage, reduces resource consumption, and Weakens enemies. |
|
Heaven's Fury - Triplicate |
Melts enemies while constantly applying Judgement to them. |
The gameplay loop is simple: throw a Divine Bolt, throw a Blessed Shield, watch everything explode. Use the rest of your abilities when needed.
While you're leveling up, prioritize upgrading your active skills first over passive skills.
Passive Skills
- En Garde
- Discipline
- The Best Offense
- Fortitude
- Crack in the Armor
- High Charity
- Iron Sharpens Iron
- Break the Line
- Press the Advantage
- Heavyweight
- Shining Armor
- Giant Slayer
- Judgement Day
In summary, all of these passives will greatly boost your survivability, raw DPS, and crit stats. Max them all out when you get enough points to do so.
Judgement Day is the capstone for this build. Not only does it massively increase your damage after detonating Judgement marks, but it also spreads Judgement to any enemy hit by a Judgement explosion. With this equipped, even a single Divine Bolt will be enough to start a chain reaction.
This passive skill setup works best when you have a shield equipped.
Paladin Oath
Once players reach level 15, they can choose between any of the five Paladin Oaths available in the game. As mentioned earlier, we'll be using the Judicator Oath, which does three things:
- All Basic Skills apply Judgement
- Judgement can be detonated by Core Judicator Skills
- Judging enemies increases the damage they take from you until they die
This is what lets us blow up entire screens' worth of enemies in one go. With it, even a single Divine Bolt can get dozens of kills by itself.
Gear and Aspects
|
Slot |
Aspect/Unique Effect |
Stats |
|---|---|---|
|
Helmet |
Aspect of Firm Decree - Gain bonus Armor when you Judge an enemy |
Maximum Life Cooldown Reduction Armor Resistances |
|
Chest |
Maximum Life Strength Armor Resistances Consecration Duration |
|
|
Gloves |
Squire's Aspect - Casting Basic Skills increases the crit chance of Core Skills |
Strength Critical Strike Damage Life on Hit/Kill +2 to Core Skills Damage to Judged Enemies |
|
Pants |
Aspect of the Disciple - Disciple skills apply Weaken to enemies they damage |
Maximum Life Strength Armor Resistances Consecration Duration |
|
Boots |
Movement Speed Armor Faith per Second Resistances |
|
|
Amulet |
Aspect of Watkin's Law - Judicator skills deal more damage to Judged enemies |
Maximum Life Strength Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Damage Holy Damage |
|
Rings |
|
Strength Damage Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Damage Restore Primary Resource on Lucky Hit |
|
1H Sword |
Aspect of the Judicator - Judgement explosions grow in size and deal more damage |
Strength Damage Vulnerable Damage Critical Strike Damage Core Damage |
|
Shield |
Ward of the White Dove - Blessed Shield deals (x%)increased damage. Casting another skill doubles this bonus for your next 3 Blessed Shield casts and reduces Faith cost by 7. |
Maximum Life Armor Chance for Blessed Shield to Deal Double Damage +2 Blessed Shield |
Aspect of the Prudent Heart
Wind Striker AspectParagon Boards
|
Board |
Legendary Node Effect |
|---|---|
|
Sentencing |
Judging an enemy causes them to take x90% more damage from you until they die |
|
Castle |
Gain (x)increased damage based on your Armor |
|
Endure |
Deal x90% more damage while Fortified |
|
Beacon |
When you have an ally or mercenary inside your Aura radius, you deal x90% more damage |
|
Shield Bearer |
You deal (x)increased damage based on 110% of your Block Chance |
Paladin has plenty of general damage-boosting Legendary Nodes to choose from. Take Sentencing first, then attach extra boards as you see fit.
As for Glyphs, consider using the following:
- Law: Increases Judgement damage; Judged enemies take more damage from you
- Challenger: Deal more damage to Elites
- Judicator: Judicator skills deal more Damage, Non-Physical Damage to Elites, and Holy & Fire Damage
- Honed: Skills that critically strike generate Faith; gain increased Critical Strike Damage
Season 11 Mechanics - Essences
|
Purified |
Corrupted |
|
Essence of Pain - Briefly gain Maximum Barrier after becoming Injured Essence of Sin - Gain +20% increased Armor Essence of Lies - Fortify for 1% of your Max Life per second Essence of Screams - Gain +20% increased Resistances |
Essence of Squalor - Maggots spawn from falling meteors and their attacks consume 1 health potion Essence of Hellfire - Meteors rain down on you when fighting World Bosses Essence of Shadows - Belial's Apparitions can Daze or knock you back Essence of Anguish - Manifestations of Anguish spawn in the Undercity and create chains that slow you |
As you beat Lesser Evils in Diablo 4 Season 11, you'll get and upgrade Essences from them. These will give you some passive effects that will remain active regardless of what activity you're doing, and when you complete activities tied to Corrupted Essences, you get additional rewards.
This setup greatly increases our Paladin's survivability and damage (via all of our effects that scale our DPS with Armor/Life/Fortify).
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Cross Save
- All platforms
- Prequel(s)
- Diablo 3
- Franchise
- Diablo
- Number of Players
- 1-2 players
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- PC Release Date
- June 5, 2023
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- June 5, 2023
- PS5 Release Date
- June 5, 2023
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 players (console only)
- How Long To Beat
- 26 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 158.25 GB
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Wiki
