FoH Smiter Paladin Build for Diablo 2 Resurrected

One of the best and cheapest Boss killers in the game, it takes very little gear to make a Smiter effective. Smite, the skill around which the build revolves, never misses its target and hits very quickly, allowing the Smiter to take advantage of on-hit effects such as Chance of Crushing Blow. Now, with Fist of the Heavens becoming super strong, you can actually combine the two Skills to supercharge your Smiter and give him some great Area of Effect clear speed on top of his superb single-target style.

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 FOH Smiter. 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 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

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 FOH Smiter on our Skills page.

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

• Weapon: Grief or Last Wish, Phase Blade preferred due to its Indestructibility
• Weapon Swap: Call to Arms and Spirit
• Shield: Herald of Zakarum
• Body Armor: Chains of Honor
• Helm: Harlequin Crest or Guillaume's Face
• Gloves: Dracul's Grasp or gloves with +20% Increased Attack Speed
• Boots: Goblin Toes
• Belt: Arachnid Mesh
• Ring 1: Raven Frost
• Ring 2: The Stone of Jordan
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
• Charm 1: Paladin Hellfire Torch
• Charm 2: Annihilus
• Charm 3: 8x Grand Charm Combat Skillers with Life or Faster Hit Recovery
• Charm 4: Small Charms with as much Life, Resistances 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%

Since Mercenaries rarely make it out of Uber Tristram alive, dedicated Smiters rarely opt to even hire a Mercenary. For the FOH Smiter however, you will probably spend a decent amount of time killing stuff outside of Uber Tristram so you can either hire a Defensive (Holy Freeze) or Offensive (Might) Desert Guard Mercenary in Act 2 depending on whether you want to slow monsters for added safety or improve your overall damage as well as that of your Mercenary.

• Weapon: Ethereal Pride, Breath of the Dying, or The Reaper's Toll
• Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
• Helm: Andariel's Visage socketed with a Ral Rune

This is an early leveling build for the FOH Smiter.

1. 1 point to Might
2. 20 points to Smite
3. 1 point to Holy Bolt
4. 1 point to Blessed Hammer
5. 1 point to Charge
6. 1 point to Blessed Aim
7. 1 point to Concentration
8. All points to Holy Shield until level 29
9. 1 point to Fanaticism at level 30
10. All points to Holy Shield until Maxed
11. All points to Fanaticism until Maxed

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