Fist of the Heavens (FoH) Paladin Build for Diablo 2 Resurrected

With Patch 2.4, Fist of the Heavens now deals Damage to both Undead Monsters and Demons. It also has a reduced Cooldown now and overall has just been improved greatly. These changes now allow this Character to not just fight in PvP but also PvM content.

You can check the viability of this build in PvM by consulting our PvM Tier List.

The following section shows the core skills for the Fist of the Heavens Paladin. For a detailed breakdown of all core and optional skills as well as the recommended order for allocating skill points, refer to the Skills page of this guide.

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to Fist of the Heavens — Main skill of the build, required
3. 20 points to Holy Bolt — Synergy for Fist of the Heavens, required
4. 20 points to Conviction — Main Aura, providing both lowered Resistances, required
5. 20 points to Holy Shock — Synergy for Fist of the Heavens, required
6. 1 point to Holy Shield — Used for Max Block, required
7. 1 point 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

Strength	Dexterity	Vitality	Energy
Enough for gear; around 150 total	Enough for max Block; around 150 total	Everything else	None

You can read more details about the Stats and Attribute requirements for the Fist of the Heavens Paladin on our Skills page.

The following section shows some of the most important items for the Fist of the Heavens Paladin. For a detailed per-slot breakdown of all items and alternative builds, refer to the Gear page of this guide.

• Weapon: Heart of the Oak
• Weapon Swap: Call to Arms and Spirit
• Shield: Herald of Zakarum
• Body Armor: Enigma
• Helm: Harlequin Crest or Griffon's Eye
• Gloves: Trang-Oul's Claws or Magefist
• Boots: Ethereal Sandstorm Trek
• Belt: Arachnid Mesh
• Ring 1: The Stone of Jordan, Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
• Ring 2: The Stone of Jordan, Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band, or Rare Ring with +10% faster cast rate
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
• Charm 1: Hellfire Torch
• Charm 2: Annihilus
• Charm 3: 8x Combat Skillers Grand Charms with life or enough faster hit recovery to reach 86%
• Charm 4: 10x Small Charms with life, resistances, Mana, or faster hit recovery, depending on needs
• Charm 5: 1x Lightning Sunder Charm

In Diablo 2, stats that affect action speed (known as frames) for attacking, casting, blocking, and recovering from a hit can almost never be taken literally. For example, gaining 10% Increased Attack Speed from an item will not necessarily translate into 10% faster attacks. To achieve faster actions, certain breakpoints must be reached, which vary for every class. The tables below list how much of a given stat is required to actually improve the action speed of the class for the stated action.

Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints (1-Handed Weapons)
Frames to perform action	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Faster Hit Recovery required to reach frame	0%	7%	15%	27%	48%	86%	200%

Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints
Frames to perform action	15	14	13	12	11	10	9
Faster Cast Rate required to reach frame	0%	9%	18%	30%	48%	75%	125%

Faster Block Rate Breakpoints (No Holy Shield)
Frames to perform action	5	4	3	2
Faster Block Rate required to reach frame	0%	13%	32%	86%

Faster Block Rate Breakpoints (With Holy Shield)
Frames to perform action	2	1
Faster Block Rate required to reach frame	0%	86%

• Weapon: Ethereal Infinity
• Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
• Helm: Andariel's Visage socketed with a Ral Rune

Since Fist of the Heavens is not available until Level 30, you can either run Holy Bolt or you can use an alternative build until that time.

1. 1 Point to Might
2. 1 Point to Sacrifice
3. 3 Points to Resist Fire until Level 6
4. 6 Points to Holy Fire from Levels 6-11
5. 1 Point to Zeal at Level 12
6. All remaining Points to Holy Fire and Resist Fire until Level 30
7. Respec to Fist of the Heavens at Level 30-35

For more comprehensive leveling advice, please refer to our Paladin Fastest Leveling Build.