Akkhan Condemn Crusader BiS Gear, Gems, and Paragon Points

The backbone of every Condemn Crusader is, of course, the Akkhan set. Cooldown Reduction takes priority on the slots where you can get it — certainly on the gloves, where it accompanies the Crit stats, as well as on the shoulders. The latter should also serve as a source of skill damage, as Condemn % can be rolled on both the shoulder and the chest pieces. The helm is largely a stat stick, where high Strength, Vitality and Crit Chance rolls are ideal.

Armor set-wise, you will also be crafting and equipping two of the three pieces of the Captain Crimson set ( Captain Crimson's Silk Girdle, and one more of your choosing — either Captain Crimson's Thrust, or Captain Crimson's Waders). You will attain the complete set bonuses of this dual-set amalgamation via Ring of Royal Grandeur in the Cube. The Captain Crimson set provides CDR as well as RCR bonuses, and then scales your damage dealt and damage reduced according to both stats — bringing a massive boon to the build.

Note that you can shift around Akkhan and Cpt. Crimson pieces according to your best rolls, as long as you maintain the equipped ratio of 5 Akkhan pieces and 2 Cpt. Crimson pieces. The sample split in the table below is one of the two possible combinations.

As far as jewelry is concerned, you will be running a powerful offensive combo: the Bastions of Will set, Focus and Restraint. This set is unmatched in damage potential with its 2.25 independent multiplier as long as you alternate between generating and spender attacks, a requirement which you fulfill by alternating Condemn with your generator of choice (see this build's skills page for more information). Seek double Crit stats, Cooldown Reduction and an open Socket as the best-in-slot stats for both Focus and Restraint.

A Phalanx-specific item, Warhelm of Kassar, finds its place in the build thanks to the RoRG set item reduction. This legendary helm more than halves the cooldown of Phalanxes, allowing for easy 100% uptime of the skill.

Constantly triggered by the set-induced Mass Verdict rune of Judgment, Strongarm Bracers provide a source of damage multiplication against displaced enemies.

Blade of Prophecy is the mandatory weapon for the playstyle: a two-handed sword tailored for a build based around Condemn. Its lifelong power (two additional Condemn triggers when at least two targets are present in the initial Condemn radius) has been bolstered by a substantial skill damage boost of up to 800%.

You have two crucial shields for the build: Unrelenting Phalanx and Frydehr's Wrath. Simply wear your better-rolled shield between the two, and extract the other in the weapon slot of Kanai's Cube.

• Frydehr's Wrath is the former Season 1 exclusive legendary item. It turns the cooldown-based Condemn into a spender — an extremely potent effect, as proven by the Fires of Heaven rune from the Holy Shotgun build. Crit Chance and Cooldown Reduction rolls on this Crusader shield are mandatory for an endgame setup, and the shield has been strengthened in 2.6.1 with an up to 800% Condemn damage affix as well.
• On top of its modest (but innate) skill damage bonus, Unrelenting Phalanx offers a simple and very potent unique effect: Phalanx now casts twice. In this build's case, this means double the Bowmen summons, and double the Condemns from their arrows.

For Offense stats, try to obtain Condemn % bonus on both the chest and shoulders (maximum of 30%), Phalanx % bonus on both the helm and boots (maximum of 30%), Physical or Holy elemental damage on both the amulet and wrists (depend on your Condemn rune of choice; maximum of 40%), Crit Chance and Crit Damage within a 1:10 ratio (ideally over 60% and 450%, respectively). Area Damage can be ignored, as it does not work with Phalanx-triggered Condemns. Attack Speed, however, is now a priority. You should aim to hit the 18-frame breakpoint on Phalanx Bowmen for a fully optimized build. This is achieved with a maximized Attack Speed roll on your weapon, the Blade of Prophecy (remember — weapon attack speed rolls are multiplicative in nature), as well as two more Attack Speed rolls on gear (12% Increased Attack Speed total from both). When coupled with Paragon points, the passive effect of Laws of Valor, and the Enchantress Focused Mind buff, this puts you at 1.78 Attacks per Second, and the Phalanx Bowmen hit the necessary 18 FPA breakpoint. While Cooldown Reduction is still very useful, from Patch 2.7.4 onward Akkhan Crusaders no longer have a specific CDR breakpoint to aim for, and simply obtain in in all slots where it can co-exist and/or does not conflict with more important DPS stats. To put it simply, this is all CDR-capable slots (shoulders, hands, rings, main-hand, off-hand) except the amulet.

For Defense stats, aim for a life pool between 700-900k; dropping as much as you can for offense as you grow accustomed to the build. The sustain in this build will come mostly from the free Penitence rune of Judgment.

All augmentations on gear should be done with your main stat, Strength.

Note that the stat suggestions below portray an ideally rolled item with stats listed in relative order of importance. The first four of them are main stats, and the latter two — secondary stats. If your item lacks and is unable to be rerolled into the primary stats outlined below, especially for a stat higher on the list, strongly consider its replacement. Perfecting Secondary stats is mostly a case of hyper-optimization and is not a case for discarding an item, except where noted.

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

In the Core section, max out Movement Speed to the 25% cap Normally this is done by dumping the first 50 Core Paragon points into Movement Speed, but if your boots have an imperfect roll with Movement Speed as a stat that you cannot replace, adjust the necessary point investment accordingly by simply subtracting your roll from the 25% max. After that dump as much as you comfortably can into Strength, but feel free to invest into Vitality if you feel yourself lacking in toughness. Points in Maximum Wrath should not be necessary.

In the Offense section, max out Cooldown Reduction, Crit Chance, Crit Damage and Attack Speed in that order. In Defense, prioritize All Resistance, then Life %, then Armor, and finish off with Life Regeneration. In Utility, build up Pickup Radius and Resource Cost Reduction first, then finish off with Life on Hit and Area Damage.

Bane of the Trapped is a potent source of additional damage, as it is its own multiplier in your total damage calculation. The gem procs itself with its level 25 property, and is otherwise triggered by the massive crowd control offered by Judgment.

Enforcer is a pet-oriented gem that multiplicatively increases the damage of Condemns inflicted by your Phalanxes, making it a no-brainer inclusion in a summon-dependent build.

Introduced in Season 4, Bane of the Stricken takes a firm slot in the third jewelry socket when Greater Rifting. Building up your damage multiplicatively in prolonged fights and with a level 25 bonus specifically targeting Rift Guardians, this gem is designed to assist AoE heavy builds in their struggle against single-target, high HP enemies. Condemn is one of the oldest examples of such a build, making the gem mandatory.

When it comes to gear gems, you will start out progression by slotting the highest available level of Rubies in the chest and pants sockets. Ideally, these will all be Flawless Royal Ruby as soon as possible. As you grow in Paragon (bulking up Strength in the Core section) and aim for higher tier and more dangerous GRs, you will transition those gems into the defensive Flawless Royal Diamond. There is no specific breakpoint where you do that; the rule of thumb is to make the change as soon as you feel the lack of toughness impede your progress. Akkhan Crusaders are highly Cooldown Reduction dependent, so a Flawless Royal Diamond should be socketed in your helm. In your weapon, use a Flawless Royal Emerald for the Crit Damage boost.

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

As previously mentioned, your weapon Cube slot is interchangeable between Frydehr's Wrath and Unrelenting Phalanx, according to your better rolled item.

Tasker and Theo brings a 50% multiplicative attack speed increase to pets, making it a highly desirable inclusion in this Phalanx summon-reliant build.

In the Akkhan / Captain Crimson mixture, you will need a Ring of Royal Grandeur: a cache legendary ring from Act I bounties, to tie the two sets together. The ability to run with one full 6-piece set bonus, an additional 3-piece bonus, plus utility legendaries — all the while dodging the undesirable guaranteed stats on the Grandeur by cubing its power — is a tremendous boost to the build.

The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Please refer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.

The recommended follower for this build during solo GR progression is the Enchantress due to her cooldown reduction buff from Prophetic Harmony, as well as the Focused Mind attack speed buff.

For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our Follower Guide, which contains detailed advice for choosing the skills and the gear of your follower.

Waller affixes are problematic for Condemn Crusader builds, since they greatly limit your opportunities to maneuver from one pack to the next, back and forth, which is the general playstyle of the build. As such, our general recommendation for your legendary potion is the Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid, which allows you to break through Waller affixes. Alternatively, Bottomless Potion of the Diamond is a straightforward addition that simply layers a short All Resist protective coating after drinking (All Resistance is the preferred form of mitigation stacking for Strength-based characters, since their mainstat scales Armor already.)

This Season revives the Pandemonium Kill Streak buff from Season 19. Each stack grants a bonus to movement speed and damage, capping at +50% movement speed and +100% damage at 1000 kills. Hitting specific kill thresholds unleashes powerful effects. Read more in our dedicated Season of the Eternal Conflict Mechanics Guide!

While speedfarming sees limited use from this theme, Greater Rift pushing benefits significantly. Effects like Geysers (150), Meteors (400), and Angels (500) can clear elites and Rift Guardians instantly. Players may reset streaks after 150 kills to repeatedly trigger Geysers or push for 500+ kills near boss fights, often using Nemesis Bracers to spawn extra enemies.

Because the most potent effects (Geysers, Meteors, Angels) can obliterate Rift Guardians instantly up to GR150, players can retool builds for efficiency and comfort. Here’s how:

Since you can rely on killstreak procs to clear the Rift Guardian, Bane of the Stricken can be safely omitted in favor of:

• Another generic damage-scaling legendary gem ( Bane of the Trapped for builds with any form of crowd control and/or melee range, Zei's Stone of Vengeance for far ranged builds, Taeguk for channeling builds, Simplicity's Strength for primary attack-focused builds, Enforcer for pet-oriented builds, etc.)
• A survivability-oriented legendary gem ( Esoteric Alteration, Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard), or additional utility ( Gogok of Swiftness for CDR-reliant builds, Pain Enhancer for attack speed-heavy builds, or Wreath of Lightning for extra movement speed).

Adjust your equipment to items that favor durability, health sustain, and ease of movement. Consider adjusting non-essential skills for the build to ones that pull, reposition, or otherwise displace enemies to facilitate large pulls of enemy packs. In more concrete terms, this means:

• For class-synergistic items, Crusaders should strongly consider equipping Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac if not already included, as it synergizes well with cooldown-heavy builds that rely on Akarat's Champion or Bombardment.
• For additional defense, cross-class standouts like Unity (used with follower and immortality relic for them), and the Endless Walk set ( The Traveler's Pledge and The Compass Rose) are top picks, balancing damage reduction during movement with stationary damage scaling.
• Situational defensive gear includes staples like Aquila Cuirass (perfect for builds with minimal resource spending like Invoker Thorns), Stone Gauntlets ((mitigated by Akarat's Champion, Iron Skin, wearing Ice Climbers, or Altar of Rites CC-immunity node), and even niche inclusions like Justice Lantern (boosts block-based mitigation) and String of Ears (massive melee damage reduction).
• For situational items that improve your utility, strongly consider Nemesis Bracers as the extra elites equal both killstreak upkeep and GR progression. When soloing, they should be equipped by your follower; in groups, at least one party member should commit to wearing them. Edge cases will see the inclusion of Warzechian Armguards or Krelm's Buff Belt (more speed for easier scouting and pulls), and Strongarm Bracers (extra damage vs. displaced enemies). To facilitate large pulls, consider using a Follower equipped with The Ess of Johan, a proc-based analogue to an enemy-pulling skill (albeit outside your control).
• Skill-wise, make sure to include at least one movement skill ( Steed Charge) and/or an enemy-pulling tool like Condemn Vacuum or Sweep Attack Gathering Sweep. Take a look if you can include passives like Fervor (for cooldown reduction and attack speed with one-handed weapons), Lord Commander (reduced cooldown on Steed Charge) or Long Arm of the Law (to extend the benefits of your Laws for both solo and group play). The latter will be especially beneficial if you can slot Laws of Hope Wings of Angels in the build.