Thinking of using Crusader to get this season’s free Haedrig’s gift? Let our Fresh 70 Crusader Guide help you! We will discuss suitable builds to help you conquer each chapter and acquire the full free set.

NO Free Set? Go to PAGE 2!

In S18, the Crusader free set is Armor of Akkhan.

Fresh 70 Crusader: Free set available! | No free set!
Getting the Free Set | Free Set 70 | Gaining Power | Bridging to the End-game
Want to check out our Crusader Leveling Guide instead?

Important Note: Crafting Reaper’s Wraps greatly helps the early game struggle. The recipe drops from any torment Malthael.

S18 Season of Triune and YOU

In S18, the seasonal bonus DIRECTLY BENEFITS any character, at any point in their progression – which is great seeing as this is a “Fresh Level 70” guide.

A chance to gain an “occulus ring” of any one of the following: Damage, CDR, or RCR, is a godly bonus. While RCR isn’t so hot, and CDR depends on build – ANYONE CAN BENEFIT FROM DOUBLE DAMAGE!

Luckily, this makes our leveling and progression journey a little easier this time around.

Fresh 70 Crusader: Getting the Free Set!

YOU MUST GATHER A THORNS-BASED YELLOW “SET” OF ITEMS.
Read more in the box below.

(Although this is a lot less critical due to S18’s Triune buff)

Click below to reveal the instructions you need for each step:

IMPORTANT: Setting up!

Fresh 70 Crusader Items needed (yellows are ok). Rerolling yellows, man, trust me. Find ’em, craft ’em – I don’t care. These are the yellows that will carry: having STR VIT on them is a start, with ALLRES being very good as well.

CRUSADER IS A STRENGTH CHARACTER. You get Armor for “free” for every point of Strength. Reroll Armor for ALLRES!

Any character that gains Armor from their main stat means you get too much of it by default. So in the case of Crusader, REROLL ANY ARMOR ON GEAR INTO ALLRES, VIT or any other useful stat. You have so much Armor that it’s diluted!

That being said, in the next box are pieces of equipment you should gather or get to clear GR20 ASAP without having to rely on RNG drops. It’s the usual Thorns yellows setup.

WEAPONS: You will either be using a 1h Flail + Shield or 2H Flail + Shield. Either way, you will want to develop the “best” one of each: 1H and 2H Mace, and a Crusader Shield. You cannot go wrong with STR VIT SOCKET. Try to get a large Life on hit roll on your weapon, or Life per Spirit Spent.

Crusader Shield try for a very high Block Chance, and STR + VIT. Life per Spirit Spent is also super legit early on.

Belt is a huge source of defensive stats. STR VIT ALLRES LIFE is what you want.

GEMS: Diamonds! Diamonds everywhere! Diamonds on basic sockets are +ALLRES which are amazing. Diamond on Helm is CDR which you need a lot of. Emerald on weapon for Crit Damage, but Amethyst on weapon helps out early on with +Life on Hit.

Ultimately, REROLL OFF USELESS STATS like…

  • Armor – you have too much of it. Go for ALLRES
  • Life Regen – trash tier stat. Not impactful at all.
  • RCR – Not needed. Excessive CDR too…
  • ASPD – is usually for end-game refinement.

Take GREAT STATS such as…

  • STR & VIT – your core stats. It’s hard to get too much
  • ALLRES – is SUPER IMPORTANT for your defenses.
  • Any CRIT STAT – can’t go wrong with these.
  • Life Per Hit / Life per Spirit Spent – is very useful early on. Great rolls on temporary items.

It’s not about getting the perfect stats right now – but getting “good ones”, while avoiding useless ones.

I guess for the most part of the early game, you have to try and complete the “Thorns cheese gear” listed in the box below. Once you get your free seasonal set – we will readjust your gear again.

Prepare for GR20 in advance

Akkhan 4pc cannot muscle GR20 without a REALLY high impact legendary:
UNLESS YOU GO FOR THORNS YELLOWS BUILD.

(Again, this is a lot less critical with S18’s Triune buff, and a little luck with drops)

So try to get these items to ENSURE you don’t leave your quick progression up to the fate of RNG… they’re just yellows you can pick up and reroll – don’t get lazy on this!

  • 1h Weapon (pref Mace) with Socket
  • YOUR BEST POSSIBLE TOPAZ TO SOCKET ON WEAPON = +Thorns.
  • Your best Topaz (gives thorns)
  • Chest (STR Thorns at least)
  • Legs (STR Thorns at least)
  • Bracer (STR Thorns at least)
  • Amulet (STR Thorns, hopefully socket)
  • Rings (STR Thorns, hopefully socket)
  • Belt (STR Thorns at least), or use your mega defense belt from the box above.

Once you get enough of these pieces, you can transition to a Thorns build if you’re feeling weak. The build is amazingly effective for just yellows, and can farm low-mid torments with decent rolls.

Customize Skill Bindings

If you’re not allowed to put two skills on your bar because they’re from the same category – FEAR NOT! This isn’t a bug or a permanent in-game restriction. You simply have to CHECK ON ELECTIVE MODE, via Esc > Options > Gameplay > Elective Mode!

Binding Force Move to Mousewheel up & down is a value change that every player should make IMO. It prevents misclicks and skill misfires, and forces you to move to where otherwise an enemy might be.

Season Journey Chapters Table

Here’s an overview of what you should accomplish per chapter for this season.
Shift+J  (PC) in game to check.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Complete a Neph Rift Neph Rift on Expert Neph Rift on Master Neph on T1
Do 5 Bounties Craft L70 Weapon or Armor Craft Imperial Gem Reforge weapon with Mystic
Socket 5 gems in gear Fully equip a follower Spend Blood Shards at Kadala Kill Izual on T2
Blacksmith to L10 Blacksmith, Jeweler & Mystic to L12 Kill Butcher at L70 on Master Keywarden Act I at T4
Jeweler to L10 Unlock Kanai’s Cube Kill Urzael at L70 on Master Keywarden Act II at T4
Mystic to L10 Get to L70 Act I bounty cache Keywarden Act III at T4
Kill Araneae Kill Maghda at L60 Act II bounty cache Keywarden Act IV at T4
Kill Cydaea Kill Adria at L60 Act III bounty cache Kill Zoltun Kulle on T4
Get to L50 Craft L70 Ring or Amulet Act IV bounty cache GR 20 solo
Enchant an item with Mystic Act V bounty cache Upgrade rare to legendary item
Transmogrify an item with Mystic Extract Legendary Power 5 Blacksmith recipes
5 Jewelcrafting recipes
NO REWARD 1st set of
Haedrig’s Gift		 2nd set of Haedrig’s Gift 3rd set of Haedrig’s Gift

1st set: Helm + Gloves
2nd set: Boots + Shoulders
3rd set: Chest + Pants + Amulet

Seasonal Journey Chapter 2: Getting the 2 piece

If you followed our leveling guide, you may be using the NO SHIELD 2-HANDER CRUSADER. I have TWO BUILDS for you to choose from. 2H No Shield and Shield.

2H No Shield No HeavenlyShield + Fervor/Heavenly
Crusader Fresh 70 Build NO SHIELD 2H
Skills Rune
Smite Shatter
Fist of the Heavens Fissure
Condemn Any
Steed Charge Nightmare
Laws of Valor Unstoppable Force
Falling Sword Rise Brothers
Passives
Righteousness Wrathful
Holy Cause (Any!) Finery, Long Arm
Crusader Fresh 70 SHIELD Build
Skill Rune
Punish Retaliate / Roar
Blessed Shield Shattering Throw
Steed Charge Rejuvenation / Endurance
Phalanx Bowmen
Provoke Hit Me!
Laws of Valor (Any) Unstoppable Force (Any)
Passives
Heavenly Strength or Fervor Holy Cause
Insurmountable Hold Your Ground

Both of these builds are easily adjustable to accommodate any powerful legendaries you may have looted. Also, you can go right on ahead and switch to the Thorns build in the next tab. Either you use this or thorns, doesn’t really matter.

Shift+J to check your Seasonal Journey

Chapters 1 & 2: Complete the entries here in Hard mode. They’re pretty basic so we really don’t have to delve on it. The only time you have to increase the difficulty is for Chapter 2’s complete a neph on Expert. Don’t forget to take out a pet with you. You need all those gold coins to upgrade the NPCs in town for the seasonal journey.

The “setting up” tab above is really important. Don’t just scrap all the yellows! Review them first. Thorns is a very stat sensitive build, and a little care goes a long way.

Seasonal Journey Chapter 3: Getting the 4 piece

You can still use the builds above as they’re very easy to edit to accommodate legendary drops. You can simply add Akarat’s Champion-Prophet (or maybe Wrathful) as an additional resource management tool.

S18 Fresh 70 Akkhan 2pc (Basic Thorns) Set Build
Skill Rune
Smite (Punish) (Open) Reaping (Celerity)
Steed Charge Spiked Barding
Iron Skin Reflective Skin
Consecration Bed of Nails
Bombardment Barrels of Spikes
Akarat’s Champion Prophet (Any)
Passives
Fervor Iron Maiden
Indestructible (Any) Hold Your Ground

Only use this build if you amassed the required thorns items and you feel “weak” due to bad drops.

There are a couple of entries that needs to be completed on Master difficulty, however, the rest can be done in Hard mode just to make things easier. The build above should be more than enough to breeze through this chapter.

Complete on Master Difficulty:

  • Butcher – Act I, Halls of Agony Level 3
  • Urzael – Act V, Westmarch Heights
  • Nephalem Rift: This one can get rough if you don’t have decent gear. Even if it takes 20 minutes it’s okay – since we get our 4 piece shortly after! Check the above suggestions if you need more defenses. (RUSHING TO ELITES IS THE WAY FOR THORNS!)

Wrap up the needed reqs in your seasonal journey, and let’s proceed!

Seasonal Journey Chapter 4: Getting 6 piece

USING NON-THORNS VARIANT IS NO LONGER VIABLE HERE ON OUT.
UNLESS: you have a strong legendary to carry you.

S18 Fresh 70 Akkhan 4 Piece Set Build
Skill Rune
Smite (Punish) (Open) Reaping (Celerity)
Steed Charge Spiked Barding
Iron Skin Reflective Skin
Consecration Bed of Nails
Bombardment Barrels of Spikes
Akarat’s Champion Prophet (Any)
Passives
Fervor Iron Maiden
Indestructible (Any) Hold Your Ground

If you get a great legendary, you can skip the whole Thorns nonsense and just adjust one of the previous builds. You’ll know if you’re strong enough once you get to Torment IV.

The Torment IV entries in this tier are gonna be tough if you don’t have a backbreaking legendary or switch to Thorns – you’ve been warned.

Upgrade a Rare to Legendary w/ Kanai’s Cube: Hmm… due to the open nature of Akkhan’s, it makes this hard to recommend. I’d go out on a limb and try for a 2H Flail? There’s quite a few useful ones that just obliterate the early game…

While we all know getting and beating GR20 is the main event here, there’s still quite a bit we have to do to get there.

Complete a Torment I Rift: Again, just run over elites. Don’t get used to wasting time on trash. But TI rift is pretty soft, so enjoy it while you can. Watch enemies kill themselves!

Set Difficulty to Torment II: Kill Izual – Act IV, The Silver Spire Level 1

Set Difficulty to Torment IV: Race towards the bosses! DO NOT KILL TRASH!!!

  • Kill Zoltun Kulle – Act II, Archives of Zoltun Kulle
  • Kill Odeg the Keywarden – Act I, Fields of Misery
  • Kill Sokahr the Keywarden – Act II, Dahlgur Oasis
  • Kill Xah’Rith the Keywarden – Act III, Stonefort
  • Kill Nekarat the Keywarden – Act IV, Garden of Hope 2nd Tier
  • Keywardens maps have a key icon next to the waypoint. Purple arrows point you to their location after a short while once you’re in their respective map.

GR20, here we come! Complete all the other random requirements. Done? Now check the obelisk and look at the highest GR you’re ALLOWED to do. Completing a higher torment Neph, unlocks higher level GR’s. Complete a Torment III Neph (or GR up) to unlock GR 20.

Crusader GR 20: 4pc Armor of Akkhan

(S18’s Triune buff greatly simplifies this, a long with a tiny bit of luck with legendary drops – YOU MIGHT NOT need the Thorns build or stress at all)

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A THORNS SETUP DO NOT PROCEED.
Unless: again, you have a badass high-impact legendary

S18 Fresh 70 Akkhan 4pc GR 20 Set Build
Skill Rune
Smite (Punish) (Open) Reaping (Celerity)
Steed Charge Spiked Barding
Iron Skin Reflective Skin
Consecration Bed of Nails
Bombardment Barrels of Spikes
Akarat’s Champion Prophet (Any)
Passives
Fervor Iron Maiden
Indestructible (Any) Hold Your Ground


FIX PARAGONS: Str | CDR | All Res | LpH

  • NO ‘special’ legendaries aside from the Armor of Akkhan 4pc Set
  • NO Pylons taken.
  • NO Legendary Gems.
  • NO Cubed powers used.
  • Remaining Time: 1-5 minutes, using different sets of “random” yellows.

You know the drill: actively hunt down and kill elites. Iron Skin and blow everything on ’em. Don’t waste Bombardment without Iron Skin.

This will feel wildly different depending on a few factors – the main factor being how lazy you were getting a decent Thorns yellows. I did not have Thorns on my free set pieces IIRC. You definitely DO NOT NEED THORNS IN EVERY SLOT – but it would be nice.

THE ONLY CHANCE OF FAILURE – is a lack of self-healing, or defense in particular. While the possibility is very far off, this is literally the ONLY WAY you’ll fail this. Life per Hit goes a long way. Setting up Templar to take all healing skills (left left left right) helps too.

Attempting this with PURELY 4 AKKHAN’S AND NO LEGENDARY POWERS WILL RESULT IN COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURE – the set bonuses are essentially useless to you right now!

Get in there and get it done.

(S18’s Triune buff greatly simplifies this, a long with a tiny bit of luck with legendary drops – YOU MIGHT NOT need the Thorns build or stress at all)

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Fresh 70 Crusader: 6pc Free Set Build

Akkhan’s is a very open set, but I will be directing you towards two types of builds –
Shield Throw (BS) and/or Condemn. Both builds have their own usefulness in various stages of the game. Blessed Shield is great for speed farming the midgame, and has great toughness, while Condemn will scale OFFENSIVELY clearing higher GRs.

Blessed Shield BuildCondemn Build
Crusader Fresh 70 Akkhan 6 – Blessed Shield
Skill Rune
(Open) Smite Reaping
Blessed Shield Shattering Throw
(Open) FLEX SLOT
Steed Charge Endurance / Rejuvenation
Laws of Valor Unstoppable Force
Akarat’s Champion Prophet
Passives
Fervor / Heavenly Holy Cause (Wrathful)
Finery Fanatacism (Open)
Crusader Fresh 70 Akkhan 6 – Condemn
Skill Rune
(Open) Slash Guard
(Open) FLEX SLOT
Condemn Vacuum / Unleashed
Steed Charge Endurance / Rejuvenation
(Open) Laws of Justice Immovable Object
Akarat’s Champion Prophet
Passives
Fervor / Heavenly Holy Cause
Finery (Open)

Use your armory to manage both builds separately! There’s a flex slot or two in both builds so you can easily cover for your weakspots as you progress.

CRAFT A REAPER’S WRAPS ASAP: It greatly helps Wrath, while being a NON-RNG DROP. Recipe is from any Torment Malthael.

FROM HERE OUR GOAL IS TO GAIN POWER FAST. The next logical steps are Legendary Gems, and being mindful of the good items you need to find.

Item review before proceeding… Remember these things as you progress!

100% Champion Uptime

REMEMBER THIS AT ALL TIMES. This note is so important it gets its own header. You must strive to somehow get 100%, or very close to, uptime on Akarat’s Champion CDR. This means you need a compiled 55.7% CDR, or Zodiac with Condemn.

The “most stable” way to get this is:
Fervor, Flawless Royal Diamond Helm, 2x 8% Rings, 8% Shoulders, Gogok.

Of course, there are a million setups which can achieve this, the above is simply a guideline that reduces risk of “ruining gear” and “difficult rerolls”. Imagine getting trapped using a subpar weapon because you’re relying on the CDR from it.

Non-set pieces: Review

You can scroll down there to see the useful legendaries you may come across, but here lets discuss some key item reminders for now.

Race towards your best Diamond: Obtaining a Flawless Royal Diamond (or as close to it) greatly increases CDR, and these two are your most important stats…

CDR is the god-king. IT IS OUR PRIME STAT, so we can keep our Akarat’s Champion up! Without that skill, our SEVEN PIECES OF SET ITEMS ARE USELESS! Read the above header to learn more about it.

Element%? Holy is a good choice since ALL relevant skills for both builds use it. Shattering Throw rune for BS, Vacuum and Unleashed runes for Condemn. Try to get it on Bracer and Amulet.

Blessed Shield%? is found on Boots. Thankfully, it doesn’t interfere with your Condemn% which is found on Chest and Shoulders. Personally, I will roll BS% on boots for the midgame.

Get those sockets on rings and amulet if you haven’t. Legendary gems are up next! Aside from CDR on rings, feel free to roll whatever you feel will help you out. (Ideal Socket > STR > CDR > “Any defense“).

Belt gives massive toughness. STR VIT RES LIFE.

Life per Hit and/or Life per Wrath Spent a great stat to help our early game survival. Don’t be sad to have these randomly rolled on your gear. LpWS only shows up on Crusader weapons and Crusader Shields.

GET DIAMONDS ON YOUR 3x CHEST and 2x LEGS SOCKETS
They will massively increase your survivability!

Getting the “correct” stats has a much higher impact vs. getting the “perfect” stats, for now.

Ultimately, REROLL OFF USELESS STATS like…

  • Armor – you have too much of it. Go for ALLRES
  • Life Regen – trash tier stat. Not impactful at all.
  • RCR – too much is not needed. CDR too, not too much…
  • ASPD – is usually for end-game refinement.

Take GREAT STATS such as…

  • STR & VIT – your core stats. It’s hard to get too much
  • ALLRES – is SUPER IMPORTANT for your defenses.
  • Any CRIT STAT – can’t go wrong with these.
  • Life Per Hit / Life per Spirit Spent – is very useful early on. Great rolls on temporary items.

It’s not about getting the perfect stats right now – but getting “good ones”, while avoiding useless ones.

Gaining Power!

Now we have to gain as much power, as quickly as possible. Legendary Gems is the first place we look – and make sure to keep an eye out for key items.

Legendary Gems

This is the easiest way to gain power simply because acquiring them has little to no RNG. Getting 3 of your best gems will increase your power dramatically in a short time span.

Click on the tabs to see Akkhan’s “Big 3” gems, and “others”.

Akkhan 6 Fresh 70 - 3 GemsOther gems?

Get these three to L25 ASAP:

Bane of the Powerful: Synergizes well with our “Eradicate all Elites” mission. It MAXES OUT ON ITS POWER at L25, with only duration increasing so it’s super value as an early-mid game gem.

Gogok of Swiftness: Dude. Listen to me on this suggestion. If your Champion is down you’re a chump. It’s that simple. YOU DO NOT NEED MORE THAN 25 POINTS! It’s a great source for a whole 15% CDR!

You’re gonna need an early game defensive gem…

Moratorium is great if you have great recovery. Life per Hit and Holy Cause with Blessed Shield work wonders with this. You can probably use Esoteric Alteration early, I guess.

If you feel like your healing really sucks, or are a relatively newer player – Molten Wildebeest’s Gizzard vastly improves our dumpster tier recovery. It’s strictly an early game “patch job” and will not scale well into the high heavens. However, it’s not a wasted investment – as you can use it for augments!

Any other gems worth it?

Bane of the Trapped becomes a more generic DPS choice later on.

Bane of the Stricken: MANDATORY for late late game. Since you don’t need to dump points into many gems past 25, feel free to stick excess gem ups on your stricken.

Esoteric Alteration: Basic endgame defensive gem. Nice to have.

Boon of the Hoarder: You need this for speedfarming.
(See: Speedfarming General, Crusader Speedfarming, Best Crusader Speedfarming Build)

Just get them asap while slowly climbing the GR’s you’re allowed to do. Do neph/GR/neph/GR etc until you get the big 3. Don’t overdo the level, just go for efficient farming and cheap empowering. GR 34 is enough to 25 a gem.

With 3 of your best gems at L25 – try much higher Torment levels. Now it’s time to find some key items!

Playing the Build & Adjustments

Now that you have the base “power level” of your 6 set and gems, let’s take a break to review How to play & adjust your build. These tips are basic, nothing comprehensive, but helpful nonetheless!

Adjusting your build is a key knowledge point – certain weak spots in your build may appear due to RNG drops, so it’s in your best interest to address these.

Playing Akkhan 6 - BasicsOffense & ResourceDefense & HealingSpeed & Mobility

Both builds will want to abuse and maximize Akarat’s Champion.

Blessed Shield is, thankfully, very similar to a version of our leveling builds. “The more the merrier” as Shattering Throw (and your future legendary item abilities) scale off pure NUMBER of enemies. Also, it’s a good idea to get the hang of “killing by clumps”. Laws of Valor will help you

Condemn is a little trickier, and drastically changes as your build matures (spammable Condemn, No CD? Vacuum?). The sample principles with Champion apply here, of course. I loathe to discuss it here but they’re ultimately very similar – the more guys you catch in Condemn – the better, and it’s always a bad idea to get used to Condemning solo enemies/elites/bosses.

More offense or Wrath needed?

Offense is usually categorized in Damage or, indirectly, Resource Gain.

Finery – is the first thing you want to activate and maximize. That’s going to be the most relevant change you can do in the build to bolster damage. Early on you might not have enough sockets to use it, but once you have full sockets, convert to this passive ASAP.

Fervor or Heavenly Strength are mandatory depending on which weapon type you are using. While Fervor is “mandatory” due its POWER, HS is “literally mandatory” to wield a 2h+shield.

Wrath issues? Well, there’s a bunch of ways to manage Wrath listed in the default builds, HOWEVER, once you get Gyrfalcon’s on BS just forget about Wrath altogether. The problem lies with Condemn. The “spammable Condemn” legendary can wipe your Wrath in moments. This is more of an “end endgame problem” and there are probably build specific guides out there that tackle this. A high shield block with Insurmountable, perhaps?

More defense needed?

Defense is usually self-healing and/or damage reduction.

Laws of Justice – Immovable Object is a pretty massive defensive boost that’s better in the late game. This is the strongest linear defensive buff in the entire game.

Keep in mind that Iron Skin isn’t just for Thorns – it has 50% damage reduction!

Holy Cause is a great self-healing passive which combines extremely well with Blessed Shield-Shattering Throw. It’s recommended in the base build for BS but I thought to just mention that here.

Wrathful heals you in chunks with the awesome Life per Wrath Spent stat. On the same note, LpWS shows up in Crusader main-hands and crusader shields.

Vigilant is a “cute” defensive filler.

Crusader has a whole smattering of defensive options, but with these builds in particular only the above seems “viable right now, without hassles”.

More mobility needed?

Mobility and Speed are a luxury as a fresh 70 character, but here it is anyway:

Steed Charge – Endurance is your Mobility skill. Sadly, there’s not much else this build can change to improve your movement.

Lord Commander is an amazing filler passive to help bounties along faster, as it reduces the cooldown for Steed Charge.

Fervor (already recommended) lowers your Steed Charge CD too.

Mobility isn’t the strong point of a Crusader, and any changes to facilitate that right now is a bit greedy. Crusader mobility is locked behind items, so not much we can do. Ultra-speedy setups shouldn’t be your focus as a fresh 70 Crusader.

Any other changes for speed at this point is too greedy, and I can’t recommend it.
(See: Speedfarming General | Crusader Speedfarming | Best Crusader Speedfarming)

Items to look for

Okay, now that the easy part of powering up is done, it’s time for the farmy bit. Here, I will be listing all the high-impact items you can pick up, and how to get them (aside from drops).

REAPER’S WRAPS – if you haven’t already! MASSIVE NON-RNG BOOST, man. Recipe from any Torment Malthael.

Blood ShardsDeath's BreathClassics

Using Blood Shards:

Spending shards with Akkhan in mind is kinda awkward… there is no really good “Universal Crusader” Items that stand out, and both of these builds are kind of light in armor reqs.

Helm: Leoric’s Crown is usually a low tier filler, but in the case of Akkhan’s the doubled CDR from a Flawless Royal Diamond on your helm can be a great boost. You can get a sure drop if you kill Leoric in Campaign at L20(15+?). I’d only spend shards for this if you’re lazy as this is quite a common drop to put into your cube.

Shields: Seeing as both the builds need their specific shields (Jekangbord, Frydehr’s Wrath) you’ll be dumping a lot of shards to getting these.

Bracer: for Blessed Shield, Akkhan’s Manacles is a huge up to our boss-killing DPS. For any build, Nemesis Bracers is always great for speed farming.

Chest: is next Aquila Cuirass is a free, brainless 50% damage reduction – it’s easy to trigger with BS builds with Gyrfalcon.

Again reminding you of the bounty rings:
– Ring of Royal Grandeur: Act I bounties, to fit all our greed.
– Avarice Band: Act III bounties, for speedfarming.

Using Death’s Breath – Rare to legendary:

Shields are a good choice, but they’re also cheap from Blood Shards, so it’s up to you if you want to try them with Death’s Breaths too. Both builds can get a key item here, Jekangbord and Frydehr’s Wrath.

For Blessed Shield: 2H Flails for Akkhan’s Leniency, and 1H Flails for Gyrfalcon’s Foote – Swiftmount is a notable filler item here too, used to speed up bounties.

For Condemn – Blade of the Prophecy comes from 2h Swords.

Especially with flails, there are a few “universal” fillers here and there which is why I recommend going for them first. 2H Swords are mostly garbage, and BotP is your only jackpot in that category…

2H Maces for Furnace?

The Classics: Good for any type of newer character, and even the most battle-hardened of builds.

Ring of Royal Grandeur: “Break” your 6-piece to make space for a good filler item! from Act I

Accessory Sets: Focus–Restraint or Traveler’s Pledge. Completing any of these 2-sets is a vast power jump. +100%++ is substantial for only 2 slots.

Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac: an invaluable piece for when you want to increase CD reduc of one of your skills.

Convention of Elements: Good ‘ol CoE. Wear it, Kanai it, as a filler or till the end of time. Learning to maximize CoE in any build you choose is a turning point for higher GR’s.

Unity: Straight 50% damage reduction in the cube. Too bad you need two of ’em.

Goldwrap + Avarice + Boon of The Hoarder: I don’t care how many times I have to remind you about this combo. Be on the lookout. Avarice drops from ACT III bounties.

Bridging to the End-game

So you skipped a whole chunk of the powering up phase with the free set. Now what? Like I always say, “Speedfarming first before pushing GR’s”. So, convert what you have NOW to be as speedfarmy as possible, first.

Other Crusader Guides:

Check out our D3 Guide Directory for other resources.

Fresh 70 Crusader: Free set available! | No free set!
Getting the Free Set | Free Set 70 | Gaining Power! | Bridging to the End-game

Well, Armor of Akkhan is an amazing boon for any Fresh Level 70 Crusader! Condemn and Shield Throw are two amazing builds any Crusader would be happy to have.

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24 COMMENTS

  1. Fantastic guide, I’m a total newbie so really helped me understand all the mechanics and figure things out.

    One question though, what is recommended for powers to equip from the legendaries? I’m using the sweep build atm and about to start farming G32 rifts for gem lvling. Finding no difficulty but can be killed if I’m lazy or not paying attention.

    • Sorry I found it, didn’t see it under the menu. For anyone looking it’s under Roland Woe’s. So I guess I’m farming for items (Golden Flense and Denial) but should I equip them or just use their powers and equip a different weapon/shield?

  2. Why no Iron Skin in the “Season Journey Chapter 4: Getting 6 piece” build? Sweep Attack instead? How does that help with Thorns?

  3. I think I might be missing something here. This is my first season and I’m still figuring out how certain things adjust the offense/defense/recovery numbers. I’m just about set to go for Chapter IV completion and I was comparing my stats to where your stats are going in to completing the Level 20 GR and I’m pretty much lined up in each stat except my damage is only at 16000 and you say your damage is at 19000. I’m geared pretty much exactly how you suggest, however I already have the Belt of the Trove. Everything non-invoker has strength and Thorns and I just don’t understand 3000 damage difference.

    I’ve got a pretty solid yellow dagger and have slotted everything with a Diamond. Should I be willing to upgrade to a different weapon or slide some Rubies into some slots instead? At what point do I jump out of the suggested setup suggestions and focus on more damage?

    • Damage numbers don’t matter for the most part – IGNORE SHEET DAMAGE for the purposes of D3 (in 99.99% of builds) – it’s near meaningless. Especially for a thorns build, the “damage” stat is extremely useless as it does not take into account thorns in any way shape or form. You have ZERO chance of failure with Belt of the Trove.

  4. I love these fresh 70 guides!
    One technical difficulty – Have tried several reload / clear cache options, and I am still seeing the Season 12 version of this guide.
    Is anyone else experiencing this problem too?

  8. Amazing build for fresh 70, I couldn’t believe how potent it is with full set of yellow only, I was doing T1 GR, and it felt like a walk in the park, guardian died right away. I was lucky to pick up the Boyarsky’s Chip in that GR, and it’s even more potent now I am sure.

    Thank you so much for writing this guide, it truly is amazing.

  12. From 2.4.2 Patch Notes:

    Thorns of the Invoker

    (6) Set Bonus
    The 800% Thorns damage dealt to the first enemy hit can now benefit from +% Physical Damage

    This should make Doombringer a viable alternative to Pig Sticker.

    • we’re fixing our site right now to correct the bugs we got after changing our site’s theme… but apparently some pages were reverted to older guides. will fix this in a couple of days. really sorry about this. for now, you can see our build in Dfans/TeamBRG.

  15. Used this guide and leveled to 70 in a matter of hours.
    Hit 70 and found a Gyrfalcons Foote to cube, that along with aquila curiass i never spend wrath. Pretty boss right now

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