Akkhan Condemn Crusader BiS Gear, Gems, and Paragon Points

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Quick Reference
    • 2.1. Skill Setup
  • 3. Builds
    • 3.1. Gear Setup
    • 3.2. Legendary Gems
    • 3.3. Kanai's Cube
  • 4. Role in the Current Meta
  • 5. Reading Further
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Skills and Runes
  • 1. Rotation
  • 2. Skills, Runes and Passives
  • 3. ChangeLog
• ×Gear, Gems, and Paragon Points
  • 1. Best in Slot Gear and Alternatives
  • 2. Paragon Points
  • 3. Gems
  • 4. Kanai's Cube
  • 5. Follower
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Speed Farming Variation
  • 1. Speed Farming
  • 2. Adapting Skills
  • 3. Adapting Gear
  • 4. Adapting Gemming
  • 5. Adapting Kanai's Cube
  • 6. ChangeLog

General Information

Below, we detail the items and gems that you should use for your Akkhan Condemn Crusader in Diablo 3 and why. We also list your paragon points and Kanai's Cube items. Updated for patch 2.6.1 and Season 14.

The other pages of our Akkhan Condemn Crusader guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

1. Best in Slot Gear and Alternatives

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 Gauntlets of Akkhan, where it accompanies the Crit stats, as well as on the Pauldrons of Akkhan. The latter should also serve as a source of skill damage, as Condemn % can be rolled on both the Pauldrons of Akkhan and Breastplate of Akkhan. The Helm of Akkhan is largely a stat stick, where high Strength, Vitality and Crit Chance rolls are ideal. The inclusion of Leoric's Crown in your Cube choices allows you to drop one of the Cooldown Reduction rolls on gear for extra utility — this will be done in the belt slot, as discussed below.

Taking enough pieces to obtain the 6-piece bonus of the Akkhan set naturally opens a powerful offensive combo in the jewelry 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. Seek double Crit stats, Cooldown Reduction and an open Socket as the best-in-slot stats for both Focus and Restraint.

With the addition of Talisman of Akkhan late in the patch 2.4 lifecycle, the Condemn Crusader is now able to incorporate an extra legendary armor piece and bridge some of the gaps in survivability an utility. To that end, we recommend equipping Illusory Boots in the place of Sabatons of Akkhan. Illusory Boots offer unparalleled freedom of movement, especially with the tendency of Vacuum to imprison you in a crowd of bloodthirsty mobs.

You have two viable options for the weapon slot; the dedicated Condemn sword Blade of Prophecy and elite demolisher The Furnace. The rule of thumb is that you will be wearing your better roll between the two items, and cubing the other. Ideally though, you will be wielding The Furnace due to its higher damage range and the fact that Condemn is unaffected by Attack Speed. Blade of Prophecy is also a 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%.

Frydehr's Wrath is the former Season 1 exclusive shield that turns the otherwise Cooldown-based nature of 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 up to 800% Condemn damage affix as well.

The ideal belt for the build is the String of Ears, as its massive, unconditional melee damage reduction bonus will provide the greatest overall protection. String of Ears is especially consistent vs. Rift Guardians, where a former favorite utility legendary — Aquila Cuirass — is very prone to falling off.

Strongarm Bracers with high holy damage and unique property rolls are the best in slot bracers for Condemn when doing Greater Rifts, as the Vacuum rune will proc the additional damage on any enemy affected by the pull.

Slot	Pieces	Stat Priority
Head	Helm of Akkhan	Strength Socket Critical Hit Chance Vitality All Resistance
Shoulders	Pauldrons of Akkhan	Strength Cooldown Reduction Condemn Damage Vitality All Resistance
Torso	Breastplate of Akkhan	3 Sockets Strength Vitality Condemn Damage Reduced Damage from Elites
Wrists	Strongarm Bracers	Strength Critical Hit Chance Holy Damage Vitality Life per Hit
Hands	Gauntlets of Akkhan	Strength Critical Hit Chance Critical Hit Damage Cooldown Reduction
Waist	String of Ears	Strength Vitality All Resistance Life
Legs	Cuisses of Akkhan	2 Sockets Strength Vitality All Resistance Armor
Feet	Illusory Boots	Strength Vitality All Resistance Movement Speed Armor
Amulet	Talisman of Akkhan	Socket Critical Hit Damage Critical Hit Chance Holy Damage Strength
Ring #1	Focus	Socket Cooldown Reduction Critical Hit Damage Critical Hit Chance Strength
Ring #2	Restraint	Socket Cooldown Reduction Critical Hit Damage Critical Hit Chance Strength
Weapon	The Furnace (Best in Slot) Blade of Prophecy (Alternative)	Socket (preferably from Ramaladni's Gift) Weapon Damage Strength Cooldown Reduction Condemn %
Off-hand	Frydehr's Wrath	Strength Critical Hit Chance Cooldown Reduction Condemn % Vitality

2. Paragon Points

Slot	Paragon Points
Core	Movement Speed up to 25% cap Strength Vitality Maximum Wrath (up to personal preference)
Offense	Cooldown Reduction Critical Hit Damage Critical Hit Chance Attack Speed
Defense	All Resistance Life % Armor Life Regeneration
Utility	Area Damage Resource Cost Reduction Life on Hit Gold Find

3. Gems

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 Too Scared to Run debuff, making it an inseparable part of this melee setup.

Esoteric Alteration is the strongest mitigation gem available, a welcome addition to a build that revels in drawing monsters on top of itself. Improving your elemental resistances with every gem level, as well as providing you with a last line of defense against one shots through the level 25 property, Esoteric Alteration edges over other defensive options like Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard and Mutilation Guard.

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.

Slot	Gems
Jewelry	Bane of the Trapped Esoteric Alteration Bane of the Stricken
Helm	Flawless Royal Diamond
Torso and Pants	Flawless Royal Ruby (Damage) Flawless Royal Diamond (Toughness)
Weapon	Flawless Royal Emerald

4. Kanai's Cube

As previously mentioned, your weapon Cube slot is interchangeable between Blade of Prophecy and The Furnace, according to your better rolled item.

When stored in the armor slot of the Cube, Leoric's Crown will double the effect of the gem slotted in your worn helm. With the high Cooldown Reduction goals of Akkhan builds in mind, you will be doubling up a Flawless Royal Diamond to ease the CDR strain on your gear and to allow wearing a String of Ears.

Stowed away in the jewelry Cube slot, Unity will reduce incoming damage in half when paired with another on the follower, plus an immortality relic for him (i.e. Enchanting Favor).

5. Follower

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.

About the Author

This build is presented to you by Deadset, one of the very few professional Diablo 3 players. Deadset regularly publishes video guides on Youtube and streams on Twitch, where you can see how this and other builds play out in practice.

6. ChangeLog

• 26 Nov. 2017: Revised gearing and cube recommendations to be more consistent in Rift Guardian fights.
• 31 Oct. 2017: Made a number of wording changes following the Akkhan set buffs of Patch 2.6.1. Esoteric Alteration replaces Taeguk and Convention of Elements is now recommended for the Jewelry slot of the Kanai's Cube in place of Unity.

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