S-TIER | PALADIN BUILD Choc tank gel (@The Life of a Gamer) | SEASON 13

ENDGAME | PIT PUSH PALADIN

Build Overview

This Clash Paladin build is one of the strongest and fastest profiles of Season 13. Designed for the endgame, it combines colossal damage, exceptional survivability and farming speed, letting it push very high Pits while speed-farming any content. In the video, the author clears a level 125 Pit with ease, racks up mountains of experience and glyph levels, and claims he can climb even higher with better gear and upgrades.

The entire damage output relies on a single Basic skill: Clash. Every piece of gear, every skill and the whole Paragon exist only to amplify Clash's damage or boost survivability. The core mechanic is stacking massive amounts of Resolve: each stack increases both damage and armor, turning this Paladin into a nearly unstoppable tank once it gets going.

This is an endgame-oriented build that requires Unique items, even an Uber Unique, as well as a full Masterwork of the gear to reach its full potential. The author does, however, provide alternative layouts (No Ubers and a Torment 1 start) so progressing players can follow the same evolution plan without yet owning all the ideal gear.

Pros and Cons

Recommended Gear

The centerpiece is the Uber Unique helmet Heir of Perdition, which massively increases the damage enemies take as long as you keep the Mother's favor; the priority Greater Affix is Maximum Resolve stacks, to Masterwork first. On the chest, the Mantle of the Grey transforms your judgment oath by enlarging your judgment skills while consuming Resolve to multiply their damage. The Paingorger's Gauntlets are the heart of AoE clearing: they mark enemies hit by a non-Basic skill, then echo your Basic skill's damage onto every marked target, giving Clash a fearsome group-wide reach. Here you prioritize the critical strike damage multiplier.

The main weapon, the Shard of Verathiel, grants 97% increased Basic skill damage at the cost of extra resource; since Clash generates more resource than it spends, you never run dry. In the off-hand, a shield carrying the Aspect of the Moonrise stacks attack speed on every Basic hit before triggering a blood rage that heavily boosts damage; you absolutely want Life Leech here to survive in high Pits. The second ring, the Signet of Pelghain, exploits the build's freezes to deal enemies permanently increased damage for each second of freeze.

The rest of the gear is built around Legendary aspects: Aspect of Glynn's Anvil on the Pants (+2 max Resolve and 4% damage reduction per stack), Aspect of Interdiction on the boots (block chance per Resolve stack), Vanguard's Aspect on the amulet (increased Juggernaut skill damage on the first three targets) and Aspect of Redirected Force on the first ring (critical strike damage tied to block chance). If you don't own the Uber, the No Ubers variant replaces the helmet with the Godslayer Crown while keeping the same aspect and Greater Affix structure. For runes, you combine two freeze sets: one summons spirit wolves that apply freeze and Vulnerable, the other triggers a frost nova on every non-Basic skill — freeze being the key that activates the Signet of Pelghain's damage.

Horadric Seal S13

The talisman is essential here: it strongly increases your damage and your damage reduction. Use any Legendary seal granting +1 charm slot so you can run a full set of five charms plus one Unique charm.

For the set, the author goes with Cathan's Rightful Will, favoring the stats that increase the ranks of your Juggernaut skills — since your main damage source is one — ; this set increases maximum Resolve, grants a large damage reduction per stack and amplifies your damage when you try to crowd-control enemies immune to crowd control. The Unique charm Blood-Mad Idol keeps you permanently Berserking for a strong damage bonus, at the cost of increased burning damage for 8 seconds.

Gameplay Tips

The golden rule is to keep Resolve stacked at all times: it's what drives both your damage and your survivability. At the start of a dungeon or in the open world, immediately cast your Ultimate Fortress to generate all your stacks at once — without them, you'll be one-shot by any enemy. This is the number-one safety reflex of this build.

The combat rotation is simple but structured. Keep your three auras active — Fanaticism Aura for attack speed, crit chance and critical strike damage, Defiance Aura for armor, resistance and max Life, and Holy Light Aura for area damage and healing. Drop your Consecration to heal, fortify yourself and weaken enemies, then strike relentlessly with Clash: every third hit pulls enemies in and strongly increases your damage per Resolve stack, while Clash also grants Crusader's March which raises your block chance.

Remember to recast Fortress to move it onto your position: you stay immune to damage for 3 seconds and Unstoppable there, while gaining stacks every second. Finally, freeze is not optional: it's your runes that freeze and apply Vulnerable, two conditions that activate both the spirit wolves and the Signet of Pelghain's damage.

Skill Tree

The tree starts on the Basic skills with Clash, where you take the Faith Generation (extra faith), Seize Them (pulls enemies in on every third hit and increases damage per Resolve stack) and Damage Increase modifiers. No Core skill is taken, leaving all the points for the auras and the Ultimate.

For the auras, the Fanaticism Aura picks up Extra Passive Stack, Rite of Vengeance (passive critical strike damage) and Potency; the Defiance Aura takes Maximum Life, Rite of Might (a large damage bonus when gaining Resolve) and Bonus Healing; the Holy Light Aura gets Additional Bounce and Rite of Judgement. On the justice branch, Consecration is rounded out with Weaken, Hallowed Ground (more damage and less resource spent while inside it) and Fortify. Finally, the Ultimate Fortress takes Unstoppable, Barricade (recast to move the fortress and extend it on each kill) and Resolve Damage Bonus.

Once every modifier is unlocked, you max out ranks in the following order: first Clash (the main damage source), then Fanaticism Aura, then Defiance Aura and finally Fortress to extend its duration. The chosen oath is Juggernaut: casting a Juggernaut skill consumes 8 Resolve stacks to grant 60% judgment damage and 20% size for 5 seconds, raises minimum Resolve and prevents losing it when hit. Since Clash is a Juggernaut skill, this oath directly multiplies its damage.

Mercenary S13

Paragon

The Paragon board is fully optimized to push high Pits and speed-farm any content. Remember to level your glyphs: their Legendary bonus strongly increases damage, and leveling them up widens their radius, letting you reach more high-impact Rare nodes. On the starting board, the Sentinel glyph increases damage per Resolve stack — perfect for this build that stacks so much of it.

The path then chains into Castle with the Spirit glyph (critical strike damage) and its Legendary node that converts armor's damage reduction into increased damage, then Relentless with the Resplendence glyph (cooldown reduction for non-aura skills) and a Legendary node granting damage and cooldown reduction while moving. Next comes Shield Bearer with the Chip glyph (physical damage) and its Legendary node that turns capped block chance into increased damage.

The final board is Beacon with the Honed glyph (generates faith on critical strike); its Legendary node grants 90% damage as long as an ally or a mercenary is within one of your auras — a condition always met here. Across all boards, prioritize Rare and Magic nodes that increase max Life, total Armor and resistance to all elements to strengthen your survivability, and level your glyphs to unlock every Legendary bonus.