D3 Crusader Leveling Guide S28 | 2.7.5

Hey guys, thanks for checking out our Crusader Leveling Guide! Crusaders have a bad reputation for slow leveling – but this isn’t the case! Crusaders have an extremely good leveling speed as long as you let go of the shield!

I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU OPEN our D3 Leveling Process (all classes). It answers the usual leveling questions. “Leoric’s?” “Grinding?” There’s a ton of supplemental info there.

S28’s Altar of Rites VASTLY affects leveling

S28 is the ‘Season of Massacre Leveling’ due to Node A in Alter of Rites:
“Double massacre exp bonus and duration”.
Every other method is made worse by this. Also, Node C is “no item level requirement”…

First of all, see our Altar of Rites guide / order to get a clearer picture of what I’m talking about. Basically, this hinges around “Opening your first Challenge Rift Cache”, and if you want to take it ASAP. Also, there couple notes on Node C there, specifically how to get Node C with or without the cache.

I’ll be pasting this reminder in all leveling related content. GL leveling your sader in S28!

Crusader Leveling – Quick Navigation:
FULL Leveling Build | Summary/Reminders | Leoric’s Crown? | Notes | Fresh Level 70!

!!! Challenge Rift Material Spending !!!

As mentioned in our general all classes leveling guide, you SHOULD be doing the Challenge Rift and WISELY be spending the resulting materials from it. TLDR: Challenge Rift -> Attempt Deaths Breath upgrade and Blood Shard gambles for a good legendary.

For a leveling Sader, the chances are pretty slim…

Death’s Breath

Upgrade 1H Flails. Hopefully, you get something good (Gyrfalcons, Johannas, Darklight). The chances aren’t so hot as 4 of 7 1H Flails are pretty much junk.

Blood Shards

Gamble for Shields at Level 1 to 15. Hopefully, you get a Guard of Johanna. It’s the only possible legendary shield at this level.

Alternate Strategy: Blood Shards for Heart of Iron (Chest L15). It’s 50% easier to get compared to Johanna’s Guard with shards, but is far less OP…

Crusader Leveling: FULL BUILD per Level

This build is not SUPER optimized for MASSACRE (S28, you should be doing it)|
but it doesn’t need to be, given how easy it is to level.

Put your level in the box on the upper right – or hit back / next found in the bottom right! If you don’t have a great legendary shield… LET GO OF THE SHIELD! Use a 2H Weapon WITHOUT Heavenly Strength! It’s a huge help to DPS! But if you have a great 1H Weapon, you might as well use Fervor.

Imagine the times I did that before I discovered shield-less! Support us!

Crusader Leveling Skills & Reminders Summary

Crusader Leveling & Leoric’s Crown – When, and is it worth it?

Review our D3 Leveling Process (all classes) for more notes on this. Summary:

It’s worth it || You must be minimum L16 (to be safe)
You must beat him in Campaign Mode || You must not have beaten him previously

This is still worth doing, but you have to wait until you’re L20 . Just make sure when you DO make this detour, you’re either A) Prepared to handle it as quickly as possible, or B) Just lookin’ for a change of pace from however it is you’re leveling it up.

Make it a mini-game! Get to Skeleton King as fast as you can! Steed Charge and Falling Sword while equipping a 1H and Fervor (Passive) should cut your travel time A LOT.

I dislike rushing to Leoric right at the season opener. It’s painfully slow without mobility and a fleshed out build. But alas, this is only my suggestions and observations…

Crusader Leveling Notes

Playing the Build

“Brainless AoE & Elite trashing”. While many builds rely on synergies and cute little interactions, this Crusader leveling build relies on raw BRUTE FORCE. It works, too.

Smite – Shatter  is an utterly brainless, imba AoE generator. It also heals you in tandem with Holy Cause. It does impressive damage while shield-less in a 2-Hander.

Fist of the Heavens is much the same. Once you get Fissure, the damage is just crazy. This and Smite take care of most generic encounters – but they kinda suck vs. elites…

Falling Sword, that’s where this comes in. The rest of the kit pretty much facilitates the BURSTING DOWN of elites. Condemn is much the same.

Steed Charge is essential in finding better fights for you (or hunting more elites to kill). While your single target damage isn’t exactly poor – it takes the same time to kill ONE guy and a CHUNK of guys (So you’d obviously want the chunk…). Don’t underestimate the DoT!

Laws of Valor-Unstoppable Force is great – and you should be popping it every chance you can get. More specifically, when you’re about to Fist (of the Heavens) them.

Followers – Hire them!

Templar is not only the best utility follower (Heals and Resource Gain), but Crusaders pick up strength gear which increase Templar’s DPS. “Take all the left skills!“, as their the best support choices. Periodically, give him your trash 1-handers, rings, amulet and shield.

Crafted Yellow Weapons

Craft 2H Axe (yellow) from the blacksmith in town. Every few levels, check if you have a new one to make. It should ideally have Strength on it, too. While any 2h weapon is OK, axe is recommended for its high weapon damage.

Level 61, don’t delay and make a new one. There’s a HUGE stat difference from previous ones. Needless to say, this should be the first thing you do once you hit 70 as well.

Crusader: Gems while Leveling up

Red Gems (Ruby)… good ‘ol red gems. Best for Helm (+EXP%!!!), Weapon (Flat Damage) and since Crusaders use Strength as their primary stat, any other socket too.

Don’t be shy to slot Red Gems EVERYWHERE! DON’T SAVE THEM, combine them often!

Fresh 70 Crusader, now what?

Grats on max level Crusader! The end-game starts now! So, now you’re going to want to setup your fresh level 70 Crusader – and there’s a guide for that linked just below. But before you get all excited go ahead and Craft a level 70 2H Mace!

>> Fresh Level 70 Crusader Guide <<<

Other TeamBRG Crusader Guides

• Crusader Leveling
• Crusader Fresh Level 70
• Crusader Speedfarming General
• Crusader BEST Speedfarm Build
• Crusader Support Builds
• Armor of Akkhan | Akkhan Set Dungeon
• Roland’s Legacy | Roland’s Set Dungeon
  
• Seeker of the Light  | Light Set Dungeon
• Thorns of the Invoker | Invoker Set Dungeon

For more info on other D3 classes, go to D3 Directory Guide.

Crusader Leveling – Quick Navigation:
FULL Leveling Build | Summary/Reminders | Leoric’s Crown? | Notes | Fresh Level 70!

Grats on max level Crusader! I hope our Crusader Leveling Guide helped you out!

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