FoH Smiter Paladin Build Skills for Diablo 2 Resurrected

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to Smite — Main skill of the build
3. 20 points to Holy Shield — Synergy for Smite and powerful defensive buff
4. 20 points to Fanaticism — Main Aura, providing both attack speed and damage
5. 20 points to Fist of the Heavens — Second Main Damage skill
6. 20 points to Holy Bolt — Synergy for Fist of the Heavens
7. 1 points to Salvation — Very useful for Resistances, optional
8. Any number of points to Resist Lightning, Resist Fire, and/or Resist Cold — For every 2 points in Resist skills, you passively gain +1% Maximum Resist to the relevant element, optional

The Smiter is a tough and consistent damage dealer specialised in killing Bosses. That is due to the fact that the build relies chiefly on Chance of Crushing Blow to deal damage rather than the weak raw damage of Smite.

The great attribute of Smite is that it has no hit-check. It will always hit 100% of the time. The downside is that most damage modifiers do not apply to it. Smite is also reserved to single target, meaning your overall kill speed when clearing denser areas will be noticeably slower than other melee builds. However, a Smiter is the best uberkiller in the game. Since Smite always hits, you can always apply Crushing Blow and Leech Life from Life Tap. The inability to scale the damage of Smite normally means that the majority of the gear of a Smiter can be dedicated to survivability and utility, making the build very safe.

The main Damage source from Fist of the Heavens will not actually be the Lightning Damage but rather the Holy Bolt Damage that spreads from where the skill hits. For this reason, it is not important to put any points into Conviction or Holy Shock as those will not improve the Area of Effect Damage at all.

It is important to remember that Holy Bolt now damages Demons and Undead instead of just Undead Monsters, however it does not damage other Monster types. This means places like the Chaos Sanctuary are fantastic to farm, but other areas without any Demons or Undead Monsters such as the Secret Cow Level are not great for this Character.

The following section discusses how many attribute points should be allocated to each of the primary stats.

Enough Strength for gear — 103 Strength for an Archon Plate is most likely necessary but if choosing a lower Strength armor, then lower is probably needed. This number always changes based on the gear you are using though so make sure to always double check the Strength requirements of each piece of gear you have as well as how much Strength each piece will provide once equipped.

Enough for max block — Between 130 and 170 Dexterity total is usually enough to reach the 75% maximum chance to block. For a typical Paladin wearing the Herald of Zakarum and using a fairly high level Holy Shield, 130 Dexterity should be enough. Always check your Character Sheet however, where you can track your current chance to block as you allocate Dexterity.

Everything else into Vitality — 250+ Vitality. Every excess attribute point should be allocated to Vitality, as long as you can meet the Strength and Dexterity requirements of your items by the time you wish to equip them, as well as the 75% maximum chance to block.

Nothing — allocating stat points to Energy in a final build is universally considered sub-par for almost every character due to the widespread availability of Mana Potions.