S-TIER | BUILD PALADIN Arbitre de la justice (@Kingdom Twelve) | SAISON 13

ENDGAME | PIT PUSH | SPEED FARM PALADIN

Build Overview

The Holy Arbiter Paladin is one of the most impressive builds of Season 13. Designed by @Kingdom Twelve, it revolves around the ultimate Arbiter of Justice, a skill that transforms the Paladin into a war angel and multiplies his offensive potential tenfold. Once activated, this angelic form drastically boosts the character's damage and toughness, opening the door to hits of 100 billion and beyond.

Season 13 introduces the Horadric Seal (Talisman) system through the Light's Epiphany set (5/5), which pushes this build into the S-Tier category. The Holy Arbiter Paladin is capable of clearing Torment 10 comfortably for farming and pushing up to Torment 12 for the most dedicated players. The author recommends Torment 10 as the optimal target: experience is 200% faster and quality loot remains excellent without the extreme pressure of Torment 12, where nearly every enemy can one-shot you.

This build comes in two variants: a sword-and-shield version to maximize toughness (up to 2.9 million toughness), and a two-handed version to reach 170 to 240 billion damage per hit. This guide covers the sword-and-shield version, which is more accessible and perfect for farming Pits up to level 110. Glyphs are currently between ranks 104 and 106, leaving considerable room for further progression.

Pros and Cons

Recommended Gear

Horadric Seal S13

The Talisman is the big new feature of Season 13 and the secret engine behind this S-Tier build. The Light's Epiphany set (5/5) provides considerable bonuses to all active skills: each rune in the set (Beru, Fer, Linta, Mlor, Phoba) grants +3, +3, +3, +2 and +2 additional ranks to skills respectively, for a total of +13 ranks across all active skills and +4 additional ranks on core skills. Divine Lance thus reaches rank 31 out of 15 — a phenomenal gap that turns every discharge into a devastating projectile.

The Wyrdskin unique talisman acts as a multiplier for the entire build: all your attacks automatically apply Vulnerable to distant enemies, and since the season's changes all your attacks also apply Weakened, offering a permanent reduction in incoming damage. The +37% multiplicative damage bonus on Vulnerable enemies is one of the most powerful modifiers in the game in Season 13.

The legendary seal completes the Talisman to optimize Faith management or further boost damage depending on your version (sword+shield vs. two-handed).

Gameplay Tips

The basic rotation is straightforward but requires a bit of discipline to keep all buffs active simultaneously. Start by activating Arbiter of Justice to enter angelic form, then immediately follow with Holy Light Aura to generate Fortify. Then cast Consecration and stay within its area during Boss fights: it provides resource regeneration, life regeneration and +7% multiplicative damage as long as you remain inside it.

Faith management is the technical aspect of this build. You need 5 to 6 Faith regeneration affixes spread across your gear to sustain your skill rotation without interruption. The Honed Inspiration passive is a subtle but crucial multiplier: every critical hit generates 1 Faith. When Divine Lance hits 20 enemies simultaneously, you instantly generate 20 Faith — this is the build's economic engine against dense packs.

For runes, combine NeoQ and Bakar in your sockets to gain +10% critical hit chance while moving. With 72% total crit chance, nearly every attack is a critical hit, continuously fueling Faith generation through Honed Inspiration.

In terms of content, Torment 10 is the recommended farming target. Torment 12 is technically feasible (Pit 105 cleared) but frequent one-shots make the experience frustrating even with 1.4 million resistances in Arbiter of Justice form. The XP (+200%) and loot ratio remains excellent at Torment 10 without the extreme pressure of T12.

Talent Tree

The build relies on a well-balanced set of skills between control, survival and DPS. The main skill is Divine Lance at maximum rank (15/15), enhanced with the Damage Bonus, Stacking Damage and Lance Tip nodes. This skill hurls a lance that pierces and ricochets off all enemies in a line — combined with the Talisman, it reaches an effective rank of 31.

Defiance Aura is maintained at maximum rank for its maximum life bonuses and its Natural Resistance through the Rite of Prayer and Power nodes. Falling Star is the mobility and crowd control tool (rank 15/15), with the Extra Charge, Star Rain and Cooldown Reduction upgrades. It is used to interrupt elites and reposition quickly. Brandish stays at rank 1 as a basic Faith generator outside of Arbiter of Justice phases.

The ultimate Arbiter of Justice at rank 15/15 is the heart of the build — the Wing Strike Recast, Seraph Wings and Extended Duration nodes allow you to maintain angelic form as long as possible and reactivate it quickly.

Mercenary S13

Paragon

This build's Paragon uses 5 carefully selected boards to maximize damage in Arbiter of Justice form while maintaining sufficient toughness. The Start board with the Apostle glyph (rank 150) serves as a generalist base for Willpower and core Paladin stats. The Implacability board with Undaunted (rank 150) reinforces resistance to incoming damage — crucial for surviving Torment 12.

The Divinity board is the offensive core with the Arbiter glyph (rank 150), specifically designed to boost damage in angelic form. This is where the most important nodes of the build are concentrated. The Endure board with Exploit (rank 150) exploits Vulnerable enemies — combined with the Wyrdskin which permanently applies Vulnerable, this glyph is constantly active and represents a permanent damage multiplier. The Castle board (13 allocated nodes) completes the tree with complementary bonuses.

All glyphs are at ranks 104-106 at the time of writing this guide, with progression toward rank 150+ that will further improve the build's performance — there is therefore still considerable room for optimization.

Faith Management and Critical Loop

Faith is the Paladin's resource, and managing it is the true skill expression of this build. Outside of Arbiter of Justice form, you generate Faith primarily through Brandish and the passive regeneration from your affixes. Aim for a minimum of 5 to 6 Faith regeneration affixes spread across all your gear — without this, you will regularly run out of resource at the worst possible moment.

The critical loop is the hidden engine of the build: the Honed Inspiration passive generates 1 Faith per critical hit, and with 72% crit chance, each use of Divine Lance on a dense pack generates 10 to 20 Faith instantly. Combined with the NeoQ and Bakar runes that add +10% crit chance while moving, the build becomes nearly self-sufficient in Faith as long as you stay mobile.

Life on Hit is also important for phases where Fortify and your shield are depleted: maintain a sufficient level of this stat on at least two pieces to never find yourself without a safety net, especially in Torment 12.