Make the character
Two clicks, then you're playing.
- Pick Paladin.
- Tick Seasonal Realm — that's where Season 15 content, the seasonal questline and the good loot are.
- Difficulty: start on Normal, or Hard if you've played before. Either way the rule is the same: go up when packs die quickly, and come back down if fights get noticeably longer.
The plan in one line
You're building toward an angel-winged Paladin who throws Blessed Hammers and never leaves Arbiter form. Levelling is about maxing Blessed Hammer, taking the Disciple oath at 15, then getting Arbiter of Justice up so the form stays on.
Your first skill bar
One bar from start to finish, with a single swap late on. Slots fill in as the skills unlock. You get 83 skill points in total: 69 from levels and 14 from Season Rank.
Your basic attack. It gives you Faith back, and you use it as filler when Faith runs out.
GeneratorYour damage, and the only Core skill on the bar. It costs Faith, so everything else exists to let you keep casting it.
Main damageAlways on: spending Faith builds attack speed and critical strike chance. It also has an active you press, which costs 10 Faith on a 15 second cooldown.
Press — on cooldownAlways on: armour and all resistances. The active costs 25 Faith on a 20 second cooldown and makes you Unstoppable for 2 seconds.
Press — when stunnedA leap. It gets you around the map, and from level 15 it is the button that puts you into Arbiter form.
Press — on cooldownGives you Faith when the bar is empty. One point is enough.
Press — when emptyHow you actually play
Leap into the pack with Falling Star, then hold Blessed Hammer. When Faith runs dry, press Rally, or throw a few Holy Bolts, and go back to hammering. Press Fanaticism Aura's active when you can afford the Faith, and save Defiance Aura's for when you are stunned. From level 15 the leap matters more: every Falling Star puts you in Arbiter form, so open every fight with it. If you'd rather have a second movement skill than a basic attack, Advance can take Holy Bolt's slot, and Condemn can take Rally's.
Where your skill points go
Spend them top to bottom — finish one line before starting the next. Don't spread them around.
| Order | Skill | Why | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Each new skill | When a skill on the bar unlocks, put one point in it straight away. Unlocking comes before ranking up. After that, work down this list. | Rank 1 each |
| 2nd | Blessed Hammer | Your damage. Take Cast Speed, then Disciple's Halo, which makes it a Disciple skill that follows and orbits you, then Damage Bonus. | Rank 15 |
| 3rd | Arbiter of Justice | Your Ultimate, and it puts you in Arbiter form. Max it second, as soon as it unlocks. Take its Cooldown Reduction (20 seconds off) and Duration (+10 seconds) upgrades. | Rank 15 |
| 4th | Fanaticism Aura | Attack speed and critical strike chance from the passive. Third. | Rank 15 |
| 5th | Defiance Aura | Armour and resistances. It takes whatever is left, which lands at about rank 14. | Rank 14 |
| 6th | Falling Star, Rally, Holy Bolt | One point each and no more. They are for movement, Faith and filler, not damage. | Rank 1 |
Made a mess of it?
Respeccing is cheap at low level. Open the skill tree, refund the lot, and spend again in this order. It costs a few gold, not a new character.
Level 15: your Oath
At level 15 you choose an Oath, the Paladin's class mechanic. It is the one choice while levelling that really matters, because it decides what your skills turn into.
Choose Disciple
With the Disciple oath, whenever you cast a Disciple skill that has a cooldown, you enter Arbiter form for 4.5 seconds. While you are in the form your Disciple skills deal 100% increased damage. Falling Star is one of those skills, so every leap gives you wings and a window of double damage. Blessed Hammer becomes a Disciple skill through its Disciple's Halo upgrade, so make sure you have taken it.
From here on the aim is to spend more and more time in Arbiter form. Falling Star gives you short bursts of it. Arbiter of Justice, your Ultimate, is the long version, which is why it is maxed second and why its Cooldown Reduction and Duration upgrades come first. On gear, an Arbiter Duration temper stretches every window. In Arbiter form your Evade becomes Arbiter's Evade, which the endgame build is built around.
The road to 70
What changes, and when. Most steps here are tied to what you have unlocked or found rather than to a level.
Make a seasonal character and start on Normal or Hard. Much of the seasonal content needs the campaign completed or skipped first, so deal with that before anything else.
Put a point into each bar skill as it unlocks, then pour everything into Blessed Hammer. Hold it in the middle of packs and use Holy Bolt and Rally to refill Faith.
Choose Disciple and check that Blessed Hammer has Disciple's Halo. Open every fight with Falling Star so you are hammering in Arbiter form.
The seasonal questline gives you both very early, along with the Tal and Eth runes for the Stealth chest. Wear the crown and fill its sockets. There is another way to play this: leave the questline until 70 and both items arrive at 850 item power instead. Take them early on a first character, because the help while levelling is worth more.
Once Blessed Hammer is at 15, every point goes here. Take Cooldown Reduction and Duration first. Cast it on big packs and elites and fight inside the form.
When Arbiter of Justice has both of those upgrades and you have +Faith on kill on a ring or amulet, put Arbiter of Justice in Holy Bolt's slot. If Faith still runs short, put Holy Bolt back and drop Defiance Aura instead.
Paragon opens. Spend Obols for 850 item power gear and complete Pit Tier 10 to enter Torment 1, then move across to Evade Hammerdin. You keep casting hammers by hand until its two uniques drop: Herald's Morningstar first, then the ring Argent Veil.
Gear rules for beginners
You don't need to understand affixes yet. These rules cover it.
- Upgrade your weapon first. Use a one-handed weapon with a shield, and while levelling simply equip the highest damage weapon that drops.
- Look for: Strength, Maximum Life, Resource Generation (your Faith), then Cooldown Reduction. In that order.
- The one stat to hunt: +Faith on kill on a ring or amulet. It is what lets you take Holy Bolt off the bar.
- Temper Arbiter Duration. Longer Arbiter form is more time dealing double damage.
- Aspects to keep: Voracious Rage and Holy Punishment (Holy and Fire damage up by 40 to 60%) first. Also worth keeping are Tyrael's Jurisdiction, Lagera's Sovereignty (Disciple skills deal 40 to 60% more, which includes Blessed Hammer once it has Disciple's Halo), Ascension, Edgemaster's and Juggernaut's.
- Leoric's Crown: a helm that counts as jewellery, so its sockets take Soul Splinters as well as gems, and it boosts whatever you socket in it. It also has attack speed. It has no cooldown reduction, so judge it on its sockets.
- Soul Splinters while levelling: Hellfire and Black Soulstone are the good ones, with Mother or Lies as the third. Avoid Pain, because its 30% movement speed penalty slows the whole run.
- No unique is required to level. Wear Herald's Morningstar or Herald of Zakarum if one drops, keep the Stone of Jordan from the questline, and craft the Stealth chest with its Tal and Eth runes.
- Charms and War Plans: use Practiced Technique charms in your talisman. When you set up the Undercity War Plan, pick the Splinter of Destruction.
Mercenary
Hire Subo. He reveals the map and adds movement speed and critical strike damage, which makes him the fastest companion to level with. Set Aldkin as reinforcement. The other way to run it is Raheir hired with Aldkin reinforcing. Take Subo for speed.
Words the game doesn't explain
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Faith | Your blue bar. Skills spend it; Holy Bolt, Rally and +Faith on kill refill it. |
| Oath | The Paladin's class mechanic, chosen at level 15. Disciple, Judicator and Juggernaut each change what your skills do. This build takes Disciple. |
| Disciple skill | A skill the Disciple oath works with. Falling Star is one. Blessed Hammer becomes one through Disciple's Halo. |
| Arbiter form | A winged angel form. You enter it for 4.5 seconds when you cast a Disciple skill with a cooldown, and your Disciple skills deal 100% increased damage while it lasts. |
| Arbiter's Evade | What your Evade turns into while you are in Arbiter form. |
| Disciple's Halo | The Blessed Hammer upgrade that makes it a Disciple skill. The hammers then follow and orbit you and attack 20% faster. |
| Aura | A skill with two halves: a passive bonus that is always on, and an active you press that costs Faith and has a cooldown. |
| Core skill | Your main damage skill type. Blessed Hammer is the only one on this bar, which matters at endgame because the ring Argent Veil casts your Core skill for you. |
| Soul Splinter | A Season 15 socketable for jewellery, with a strong bonus and a drawback. Leoric's Crown counts as jewellery, so it can hold them too. |
| Season Rank | Seasonal progress that, among other things, pays out 14 of your 83 skill points. |
Mistakes new Paladins make
- Maxing the auras before Arbiter of Justice. The order is Blessed Hammer, Arbiter of Justice, Fanaticism, Defiance. The Ultimate is what keeps you in Arbiter form.
- Skipping Disciple's Halo. Without it Blessed Hammer is not a Disciple skill and gets nothing from Arbiter form.
- Treating auras as free. The passives are always on, but each active costs Faith. Press them with a purpose or you will starve Blessed Hammer.
- Dropping Holy Bolt too early. Wait for Arbiter of Justice's two upgrades and +Faith on kill. Without them you stand around with an empty bar.
- Leaving Leoric's Crown's sockets empty. The sockets are the whole point of the helm.
- Socketing Pain while levelling. Damage reduction is no use if you move 30% slower for seventy levels.
- Using a two-hander. This build levels with a one-hander and a shield.
At 70 you're done levelling — move across to an endgame build: Evade Hammerdin · Auradin · Shield of Retribution.