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.
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.
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:
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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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
- Crusader Speedfarming Builds & Primer
- D3 Speedfarming with any Class!
- Crusader Best Speedfarming Build
- Crusader Support Builds
Other Crusader Guides:
- Thorns of the Invoker | Invoker Set Dungeon
- Armor of Akkhan | Akkhan Set Dungeon
- Roland’s Legacy | Roland’s Set Dungeon
- Seeker of the Light | Light Set Dungeon
- Crusader Support Builds
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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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?
Why no Iron Skin in the “Season Journey Chapter 4: Getting 6 piece” build? Sweep Attack instead? How does that help with Thorns?
you’re absolutely correct… I’ve replaced the build with the correct one.
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.
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?
there are some experiencing the same thing… purged our site already. maybe you can retry in incog
Is there no other lving build viable for GR20 other than that Thorns build ?
with a few legendaries its doable…
well written and informative, but fyi gr34 is enough to 25 a gem
Thanks! yup! realized the mistake… have yet to change it! 😀
Love your work, thanks
🙂
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.
Can’t kill Belial on T4 with Thorns Build. Suggestions?
can you link your build profile?
Thanks for the comprehensive guide. This will help me with my first season (first season on console).
Really comprehensive guide, thanks for the help as this will be my first season to play.
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.
Im not sure what items to cube except of Johannas Flail.
And Thank you for this amazing guides on your website.
Just yesterday this link led to a season 8 fresh 70 guide, what happened?
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.
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