How the engine works
The Zealot oath, plus Zealous Joust on Divine Lance, turns the skill into a Zealot Skill that deals Physical damage. Hold or spam it along a line of enemies, and keep moving while you do. Fortress is your elite button. The auras and Falling Star keep Vulnerable and Fortify going. Light's Rebuke is the unique flail that makes the later hits huge. Evade Hammerdin is still here. This is a separate Paladin endgame build, not a swap for hammers.
Who it's for
A mobile, easy Paladin you can start at 70 and take through endgame. It is fast and tanky once Light's Rebuke is on. There is a speed-farm setup, and a push variant that swaps Consecration in for Falling Star.
- Rating
- A-Tier
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Key stat
- Maximum Resolve Stacks
- Must have
- Light's Rebuke
The bar
One damage skill, Fortress, three auras and a leap. Rally is taken off the bar because the Dauntless Faith set casts it for you. All 83 points go into these skills, their upgrades, and Rally.
Rank 15 with Stacking Damage, Zealous Joust and Damage Bonus. Zealous Joust turns it into a Zealot Skill and makes it deal Physical damage. Hold or spam it, and keep moving while you do.
Hold, constantlyRank 15 with Duration, Unstoppable and Barricade. Drop it into the pack for Immune and Resolve. Cast it when you fight elites or bosses. On the finished setup, swap Duration for Resolve Damage Bonus.
Elites / bossesRank 15 with Extra Passive Stack, Rite of Humility and Potency. Press the active on cooldown so enemies are Vulnerable. On the finished setup, swap Potency for Resource Generation.
Press, on cooldownRank 15 with Bonus Healing, Rite of Prayer and Maximum Life. Rite of Prayer heals and grants Resolve. Press the active when you are stunned, or whenever you need Unstoppable for Tibault's Will.
Press, when stunnedRank 1 with Rite of Mercy and Additional Bounce. A little extra healing, Fortify for Crushing Aspect, and more Fortress cooldown resets with the Resplendence glyph. Press the active on cooldown.
Press, on cooldownRank 1 with Cooldown Reduction, Fanatic Descent and Additional Charge. Fanatic Descent makes it a Zealot Skill and Weakens. Use it to cross gaps and to dive in. Consecration is the push or stand-your-ground swap.
Press, for mobilityPassives
There is no Key Passive here. All 83 points, 69 from levels and 14 from Season Rank, go into the six bar skills, their upgrades, and Rally off the bar. The Dauntless Faith set casts Rally every 6 seconds, so do not put Rally on the bar. On the finished setup, swap Fanaticism Aura's Potency for Resource Generation, and Fortress's Duration for Resolve Damage Bonus.
Oath
Take the Zealot oath. Zealot Skills grant Fervor. Critical strikes echo for 35% of the damage per Fervor stack, and at maximum Fervor you Fortify. Zealous Joust is the Divine Lance upgrade that turns the skill into a Zealot Skill and makes it deal Physical damage, so never skip that node. Aspect of the Zealot's Covenant adds one more maximum Fervor stack and makes the echoes hit harder. Hold movement while you lance, so the Dauntless Faith afterimages keep firing and the Relentless board stays active.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Zealot oath | Zealot Skills grant Fervor. Critical strikes echo for 35% of the damage per Fervor stack. At maximum Fervor you Fortify. |
| Zealous Joust | Divine Lance becomes a Zealot Skill, stabs with 2 additional spears in a wider area, and gains increased critical strike damage. |
| Fanatic Descent | Falling Star becomes a Zealot Skill and Weakens. |
| Rite of Humility | Fanaticism Aura's active makes nearby enemies Vulnerable. |
What to wear
A one-handed flail and a shield. Light's Rebuke is mandatory. The Midgame setup surrounds it with Glynn's Anvil, Crushing Aspect, Interdiction, Revelator's Aspect, Zealot's Covenant and Redirected Force, plus Tibault's Will, Herald of Zakarum and Leoric's Crown as they drop. The finished setup upgrades those uniques, puts Enigma on the chest, Fists of Fate on the gloves, and Ring of Starless Skies in Revelator's slot.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Light's Rebuke | One-handed flail. Enemies impaled by the first strike of Divine Lance take 150 to 200% increased damage from Divine Lance's later hits, and it adds ranks to Divine Lance. The build does not work without this weapon. Upgrade common flails in the Horadric Cube if a drop is slow to appear. | Mandatory |
| Leoric's Crown | Helm. It counts as jewellery, so its sockets take Soul Splinters, and it increases the effect of whatever is socketed in it. First choice to upgrade into a Mythic in the Cube. It pays off once you have good splinters for it. | Recommended |
| Tibault's Will | Pants. Covers resource needs and adds a damage multiplier. You proc it with Fortress, Defiance Aura, and later with a Jah rune. Strong, but replaceable for a while. Fifth in the Cube mythic order. | Recommended |
| Herald of Zakarum | Shield. Almost as good as an offensive aspect and a large defensive gain, with 40% block. Strong, but replaceable for a while. Third in the Cube mythic order. | Recommended |
| Enigma | Rune-crafted chest on the finished and speed-farm setups. A strong defensive item that also gives Teleport. Additional Maximum Evade Charges on your boots help keep Teleport ready. The push variant keeps Glynn's Anvil on a legendary chest instead. | Recommended Crafted |
| Fists of Fate | Gloves on the finished setup. Only really useful as a Mythic, because the effect nearly doubles when upgraded rather than gaining the usual smaller step. Replaces Crushing Aspect. | Mythic |
| Ring of Starless Skies | Ring. Spending Faith lowers your skill costs and raises your damage, stacking 5 times. It replaces Revelator's Aspect on the finished setup and helps with Divine Lance's cost. | Mythic |
| Griswold's Opus | Unique charm for the sixth talisman slot, next to five pieces of the Dauntless Faith set. | Charm |
Before they drop
Before Light's Rebuke, this is not yet the Divine Lance build. Farm or Cube a flail as soon as you can. Until then, the starter is an all-legendary setup with a two-handed mace, Advance and Consecration on the bar, and Zealot's Covenant already on the amulet. Once the flail drops, move to the Midgame bar and the Midgame aspects: Glynn's Anvil, Crushing Aspect, Interdiction, Revelator's Aspect, Zealot's Covenant and Redirected Force, with Tibault's Will, Herald of Zakarum and Leoric's Crown as they appear. Tibault's Will and Herald of Zakarum are strong but replaceable for a while, and Leoric's Crown only pays off once you have good Soul Splinters for it.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Zealot's Covenant | Ring 2. Additional hits from the Zealot oath deal 100 to 120% more damage. Maximum Fervor is increased by 1 and its duration is increased by 2 seconds. Keep this on. The extra Fervor stack is the main reason. |
| Redirected Force | Amulet. Critical strike damage equal to a share of your block chance, doubled for 10 seconds after you block. Aspect of Interdiction is what gets you to the block cap, which is when this aspect pays off. |
| Interdiction | Boots. 3% block chance for each stack of Resolve. This is how the build reaches the block cap for Redirected Force. |
| Glynn's Anvil | Chest, on the Midgame setup and the push variant. Maximum Resolve increased by 2, and 2.5 to 4% damage reduction per Resolve, up to 25 to 40%. The finished speed-farm chest is Enigma instead. |
| Crushing Aspect | Gloves, on the Midgame setup. 65% more damage while Fortified. Fortify comes from maximum Fervor and from Holy Light Aura's Rite of Mercy. Fists of Fate replace these gloves later, and only really pay off as a Mythic. |
| Revelator's Aspect | Ring 1, on the Midgame setup. Zealot Skills deal 12.5 to 32.5% more damage, doubled at 3 or more Fervor stacks. Ring of Starless Skies replaces it on the finished setup. |
The flail is the build
Without Light's Rebuke, Divine Lance is missing its core multiplier. Upgrade common flails in the Horadric Cube if you have not seen one drop. Once it is on, keep moving while you hold the skill, or the afterimages and the Relentless board fall off.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maximum Resolve Stacks | Temper on helm, chest and pants |
| 2 | Critical Strike Chance | Weapon temper and masterwork, plus Fanaticism Aura, charms and seals. Cap it at 100% |
| 3 | Block Chance | Shield temper, Interdiction, and paragon. Cap it so Redirected Force is at full value |
| 4 | Cooldown Reduction | Helm (masterwork), amulet and Zealot's Covenant ring tempers |
| 5 | Resource Generation | Chest, pants and Midgame boots, masterworked. Keeps Divine Lance going |
| 6 | Vulnerable Damage | Gloves and amulet, masterworked |
| 7 | Critical Strike Damage | Rings, masterworked, plus the weapon |
| 8 | Strength | Most slots |
| 9 | Movement Speed | Boots temper |
Hard targets
Two caps. Block chance: 100%. Aspect of Interdiction gives 3% block per Resolve stack, so raise maximum Resolve until the cap holds, then Redirected Force is at full value. Critical strike chance: 100%, which this Zealot kit reaches naturally with Fanaticism Aura (14% at rank 15), weapon tempers, charms and seal affixes. Keep Fortify up if you are still on Crushing Aspect. Never let Fervor drop between casts.
Tempering & masterworking
Temper Maximum Resolve Stacks on helm, chest and pants, Critical Strike Chance on the weapon (and masterwork it), Block Chance on the shield, Movement Speed on boots, Cooldown Reduction on the amulet and the Zealot's Covenant ring, and Lucky Hit: Chance to Restore Primary Resource on the other ring. Gloves take Fanaticism Aura Potency. Masterwork Cooldown Reduction on the crown, Resource Generation on chest and pants, Vulnerable Damage on gloves and the amulet, and Critical Strike Damage on the rings. For Transfigurations, look for Physical damage, skill ranks, Strength, then all stats.
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Gems: Grand Skull in the weapon and Grand Ruby in the shield.
- Runewords: Cir + Gar in the chest and Moni + Qua in the pants on the Midgame setup. On the finished setup, Igni + Gar with Enigma, and Moni + Que. The push variant uses Cir + Lac for Challenging Shout. Earlier, Cir + Gar and Moni + Qua are enough.
- Soul Splinters with Leoric's Crown: put Anguish and Pain in the crown, where they are boosted, then Sin, Black Soulstone and Mother in your jewellery. Avoid Hellfire, which strips critical strike chance. Mother can stun you after many enemies. Black Soulstone stacks raise the damage you take and do not refresh. Midgame can start with Greater splinters in the crown and move to Abyssal later.
- Soul Splinters for speed farming: Lies in place of Pain, and Skarn in place of Mother, if you are chasing drop rate and experience rather than toughness.
- Talisman: a legendary or Ancestral seal with +1 charm slot, five pieces of the Dauntless Faith set, and Griswold's Opus in the sixth slot. Zealot casts stack Do or Die up to 25 times. At full stacks the set auto-casts Rally every 6 seconds, and its afterimages repeat your Zealot Skills. Look for ranks to Zealot Skills on every charm.
Paragon
Five boards in this order: Start, Castle, Relentless, Shield Bearer, Fervent. On each board rush the legendary node, then the glyph socket. Castle turns armour into damage, Relentless rewards constant movement, Shield Bearer turns block chance into damage, and Fervent gives critical strike damage and chance per Fervor stack. Below 200 paragon points take the rush path that grabs legendary nodes first, then respec into the full layout. Level glyphs in the order Feverous, Resplendence, Spirit, Chip, Exploit. Get each far enough that the radius grows, then keep levelling them as you push.
| Glyph | Where and why |
|---|---|
| Spirit | Start board. |
| Chip | Castle board. |
| Resplendence | Relentless board. Aura casts help reset Fortress. |
| Exploit | Shield Bearer board. Works with the Vulnerable from Fanaticism Aura's Rite of Humility. |
| Feverous | Fervent board. Level it first. |
Mercenary
Hire Raheir with Ground Slam, Raheir's Aegis, Bastion and Inspiration, and set Aldkin as reinforcement with Field of Languish.
From fresh 70 to finished
The finished kit is a mythic and rune-crafted upgrade of a Midgame setup that already works once Light's Rebuke is on. The bar and the Paragon boards stay the same.
Use the starter until the flail drops: a two-handed mace, Advance and Consecration on the bar with Divine Lance, Fanaticism Aura, Defiance Aura and Rally, and Zealot's Covenant already on the amulet. Spend Obols for 850 item power gear and get into Torment 1.
Cube or find Light's Rebuke and switch to Divine Lance, Falling Star, Fortress, Fanaticism Aura, Defiance Aura and Holy Light Aura. Wear Glynn's Anvil, Crushing Aspect, Interdiction, Revelator's Aspect, Zealot's Covenant and Redirected Force. Tibault's Will, Herald of Zakarum and Leoric's Crown come in as they drop. This already clears Torment.
Temper maximum Resolve stacks, cap block with Interdiction, cap critical strike chance, and finish five pieces of Dauntless Faith plus Griswold's Opus. Hold movement while you lance. Below 200 paragon points, rush legendary nodes first.
Craft Enigma for the chest (Igni + Gar), put Fists of Fate on the gloves (this pair is only really worth it as a Mythic), and replace Revelator's Aspect with Ring of Starless Skies. Swap pants Qua for Que. Swap Potency for Resource Generation and Duration for Resolve Damage Bonus. Upgrade one unique to a Mythic in the Cube, in this order: Leoric's Crown, then Fists of Fate, Herald of Zakarum, Light's Rebuke, Tibault's Will. Keep levelling glyphs as you push, once the radius has grown.
The rotation
Put Fortress on the pack. You are Immune for 3 seconds and you stack Resolve. Recast it to move the zone. Use it for elites and bosses.
Press the active on cooldown so nearby enemies are Vulnerable.
Falling Star to close gaps. With Fanatic Descent it is a Zealot Skill and Weakens.
Hold or spam it along the longest line of enemies, and keep the movement key down so afterimages fire and Fervor never drops.
Press the active on cooldown for the heal, Fortify, and Fortress cooldown resets.
Press it when you are stunned, or whenever you need Unstoppable for Tibault's Will.
On bosses
Stand in Fortress, keep Fanaticism Aura's Vulnerable applied, and lance without pause so Fervor never drops. For pushing, swap Falling Star for Consecration and fight inside it for the extra healing and damage.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- Easy to get started, and the Midgame setup already clears Torment before mythics.
- Very mobile. You keep moving while you lance, and Falling Star covers gaps.
- Strong sustain and toughness from Fortify, Resolve, Fortress and the auras.
- The bar and Paragon boards stay the same into the finished kit.
- The lance pierces long lines of enemies, so packs drop safely once you are lined up.
Where it struggles
- Light's Rebuke is mandatory. Without it the core multiplier is missing.
- Low area coverage if enemies are not in a line, and the kit is cooldown reliant for Fortress.
- Faith can run short until Resource Generation and cooldown reduction are in place.
- Crushing Aspect, while you still use it, needs Fortify up the whole time.
- You have to keep moving and keep casting, or Fervor and the afterimages fall off.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Pausing between lances. Fervor only lasts a few seconds. Breaks reset the echoes and Revelator's double bonus.
- Skipping Light's Rebuke. This is not a legendary-aspect substitute. Cube a flail if one has not dropped.
- Putting Rally on the bar. The Dauntless Faith set already casts it. That slot is for Holy Light Aura.
- Standing still while you lance. Hold movement so the afterimages fire and Relentless stays active.
- Skipping Fanaticism Aura's active. Without it, enemies are not Vulnerable and Damage Bonus loses half its value.
- Letting Fortify drop while Crushing Aspect is still on the gloves. Press Holy Light Aura on cooldown.
Not for you? The other Paladin builds: Evade Hammerdin · Auradin · Shield of Retribution.
Frequently asked questions
What gear does Divine Lance need to get started?
Light's Rebuke, a unique flail. Enemies impaled by the first strike of Divine Lance take 150 to 200% increased damage from the hits that follow. Upgrade common flails in the Horadric Cube if you have not seen one drop.
What skills are on the Divine Lance bar?
Divine Lance, Falling Star, Fortress, Fanaticism Aura, Defiance Aura and Holy Light Aura. Rally is taken off the bar, because the Dauntless Faith set casts it for you.
Does Divine Lance replace Evade Hammerdin?
No. Evade Hammerdin is still here. Divine Lance is a separate endgame build that uses Divine Lance as its damage skill instead of Blessed Hammer.
How do I move from levelling into Divine Lance?
Follow the Paladin levelling guide to level 70. Evade Hammerdin is still the levelling handoff on this class. If you want Divine Lance instead, Cube or find Light's Rebuke as soon as you can, take the Zealot oath, and use the Midgame bar and aspects on this page.