New Crusader looking for Feedback

Crusader
1

Hello! This is my first season, and I am quite enjoying the game, mostly delving into Crusader, I’ve experimented with a fair few builds which has been rather engrossing and fun to work towards.

I used Icy Veins as a basis, and made tweaks depending on personal preference. I have tried the Akkhan Condemn, Akkhan Blessed, Roland’s, Thorns and Hammerdin builds so far. All of which has been quite fun.

I am a little unsure on Endless walk, as I find having another passive via Hellfire amulet so immensely helpful (especially for the Lantern ring) and two ring slots allow a lot more gameplay flexibility, so I am constantly debating whether I should be using it more often, as I often feel too squishy if I don’t have at least three separate multiplicative damage reductions (including the set bonus), but the damage reduction of the set feels incredibly unreliable, it seemingly mostly being based around the damage boost.

In that regard, I find Hammerdin exceptionally squishy, due to being unable to fit in either Captains Trimmings, Aquila, or Aughild to help defense, whilst Thorns is the tankiest, slotting in Lantern, Trimmings, Aquila and the set bonus.

Hammerdin appears to be listed as top tier, but I haven’t seen it on the Crusader leaderboards, so I’m a bit unsure if I’m using it correctly.

I’m “new” (a bit over one hundred hours total), so I would greatly appreciate some general feedback on Crusader and the game overall (I’m getting into Demon Hunter as well), and how I could make effective builds. Thank you to anyone who responds.

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Some info on how to use Crimson with Hammerdin:

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Hammerdin is top tier among the Crusader builds, but probably isn’t that amazing when factoring in every class. It’s an extremely high DPS build because of its attack speed and various bonuses. But it is a clunky build due to Falling Sword and Faithful Memory which makes it harder to play.

You should be able to fit in Captain Crimson though:

CoE → RoRG
Sacred Hardness → Captain Crimson Belt
Seeker Pants / Boots → Captain Pants / Boots

As mentioned in GhostDragon’s quoted post, Unstoppable Force can act as a 50% damage reduction for you with Crimson, which should help with the defense/mitigation.

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Oh! Being able to use Part the Clouds is great information, and losing the cooldown should be countered by Captain Crimson as well, thank you!

I never actually used Gogok’s Swiftness, but if it is important I will switch to it (I almost always use Esoteric and it’s hard to imagine not using it due to the defense it provides), and I didn’t realize that Pain Enhancer scaled on your total damage, since most Gems seem to scale on weapon damage (making them essentially useless).

I wish the game better explained which skills/traits are multiplicative vs additive, which is very confusing on Thorns build. And which ones scale of weapon damage vs total damage.

Like I said, instead of Endless walk I tend to use Hellfire Amulet and Justice Lantern, because I find the extra passive flexibility immensely useful, if I am genuinely losing out on a lot by not using Endless Walk I will.

I have wondered how players figure out which builds should use restraint/focus and which shouldn’t, it seems like a huge buff, but Justice Lantern is so incredible (and I have trouble with builds that say to use Convention instead of it). I suppose certain builds can’t afford to slot in a auto attack?

Looking through Icy Veins again, the decision making behind which builds use Convention vs Lantern is a bit hard to discern. I’m not too sure how much build flexibility I get before I hinder my DPS far too much.

Sweep Roland for example seems to hit max attack speed naturally, so I don’t really get the point of Gogok, and I have room to slot in Zodiac since I don’t like Endless Walk (right now), which synergizes with Captains Trimmings.

I would love to learn more about how the community figured out these builds, thanks so much guys, I’ll adjust my Hammerdin build, although I’ll probably cube Grandeur instead of Zodiac since it rolls life on hit and attack speed on ring.

Edit: Wiki mislead, it looks like Pain Enhancer does scale off Weapon Damage? No clue why that is recommended then.

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It’s recommended for the massive increase in attackspeed, gogok has a max of 15%, but pain enhancer gets 3% for every bleeding enemy within a range, meaning at 6+ enemies you can have more speed than gogok.

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Hammerdin depends on Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac a lot which means attack speed is important, that’s why Pain Enhancer is usually used.

I wouldn’t recommend Justice Lantern in the Hammerdin setup. You should go with Unity instead if you’re feeling squishy.

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So I should swap out Esoteric then? I’m a little unsure. I tested out the changes with Crimson and the build significantly better, with the cooldown still being quite low, thank you so much for that recommendation. Whether Gogok or Enhancer should be used seems iffy because Gogok improves cooldown, whilst Enhancer wouldn’t work on the Rift Guardian.

I use Unity in Solo, but I also try and build for Multi as well. Is it okay to not use Endless Walk (this is for all builds, not just Hammerdin)? I’m still facing the dilemma due to the immense usefulness of Hellfire and a spare ring slot.

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I mean, whatever Hellfire/Passive you are using isn’t worth 100% increased damage ultimately, which is what Endless Walk combo gives. Depending on the way you play, Blessed Hammer will have the EW buff up a lot and it really is too much damage to not have.

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Being able to get a really strong defensive buff from Lantern Ring is very helpful overall, and I could use Jordan or Convention of Elements to help supplement damage?

As far as Hammerdin, removing Justice Lantern leaves me back where I started in regards to squishiness, since I have to use Zodiac on a ring slot.

With all Crusader builds, I’m still unsure about replacing Esoteric, it seems like a fair few recommend Gogok/Pain Enchancer, but Esoteric is just so immensely useful.

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In a build that regularly use block, like invoker, blessed shield or shield bash, justice lantern can be considered a decent choice. But in a build like hammerdin you’re not stacking the needed block to make it it worthwhile.

If you’re looking for defence, it’s easier just to wear either unity or mix and match with crimson to attain better toughness.

Well, that’s how it’s played in most cases, zodiac is a tremendous help, due to the upkeep of two very useful buffs, iron skin and akarat, it gives you enough toughness to handle most encounters. It is squishier than invoker though, but it should be able to handle a lot. Attackspeed helps with this upkeep, which encourage either gogok or pain enhancer.

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Understood, thank you, what should I replace for Unity? You have Endless ring, Zodiac Ring and cubed Grandeur, not sure how that would fit in.

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If you’re running crimson, then cube rrog, wear the other two, if you’re running a standard setup, you can wear either zodiac or Coe,cube the other.

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The problem in higher levels is getting damage high enough. If you can’t do damage to the boss/guardian significantly faster than he recovers, he will kill your character. Esoteric alteration does not increase damage and there are other ways to build up your defense; unity etc.