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
• ×Gear, Gems, and Paragon Points
  • 1. Best in Slot Gear and Alternatives
  • 2. Paragon Points
  • 3. Gems
  • 4. Kanai's Cube
  • 5. Follower
• +Speed Farming Variation
  • 1. Speed Farming
  • 2. Adapting Skills
  • 3. Adapting Gear
  • 4. Adapting Gemming
  • 5. Adapting Kanai's Cube

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 and Season 11.

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 can also serve as a source of skill damage, as Condemn % can be rolled on both the Pauldrons of Akkhan and Breastplate of Akkhan, but with the 2.4 introduction of huge skill bonuses on your weapon and shield, the value of skill damage on armor lessens compared to pure toughness stats. The Cuisses of Akkhan and Helm of Akkhan remain pure toughness slots, where high Vitality and All Resistance rolls are ideal. You might be tempted to pick up or cube Leoric's Crown to double the effectiveness of the Diamond gem, bridge your CDR gaps and reach 56% easily. For serious Greater Rift progression however, it is strongly advised to perfect your Cooldown Reduction across gear and jewelry.

Not skipping on any of the pieces required to obtain the 6 piece set bonus of Akkhan 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. We recommend equipping Illusory Boots in the place of Sabatons of Akkhan due to their fixed legendary power, and cubing Aquila Cuirass — but you can adjust between the two according to your better rolled item. Illusory Boots offer unparalleled freedom of movement, especially with the tendency of Vacuum to imprison you in a crowd of bloodthirsty mobs. Aquila Cuirass will provide you with vital 50% damage reduction, as long as your Wrath reserve doesn't dip below 90% — an uncompromising teaching tool in using Unstoppable Force and Slash as much as possible.

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 a 100%.

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 2.4 with up to 200% Condemn damage affix as well.

The ideal belt for the build is the Vigilante Belt — the only belt in the game that rolls Cooldown Reduction is a standard Akkhan Crusader choice to fill the steep requirements for permanent Akarat's Champion.

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 Vitality All Resistance Condemn Damage
Torso	Breastplate of Akkhan	3 Sockets Strength Vitality Reduced Damage from Elites Condemn Damage
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	Vigilante Belt	Strength Vitality Cooldown Reduction (if Vigilante Belt) All Resistance Life
Legs	Cuisses of Akkhan	2 Sockets Strength Vitality All Resistance Armor
Feet	Sabatons of Akkhan	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	Blade of Prophecy	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.

The buffs and reworks to Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver (as well as prohibition of Taeguk in non-channeling builds) have made the holy gem much more attractive in the Condemn setup. The damage proc has been significantly increased and the gem has a newfound healing aspect, which is a welcome addition in a build that struggles for sustain.

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 Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver 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

Cubing The Furnace provides you with an incomparable source of bonus elite damage, significantly shortening time spent in the most dangerous rifting moments — fights with champion packs and Rift Guardians.

As previously mentioned, your armor Cube slot in GR progression will vary according to your better rolled item between Aquila Cuirass and Illusory Boots. Simply cube the inferior roll.

Functioning exactly as if you wore it, the cubed Unity ring offers unparalleled damage reduction when paired with another on the follower, plus an immortality item for him (i.e. Enchanting Favor). In group play where you lose the followers, simply cube Convention of Elements for the damage increase during the Holy cycle. Lastly, when you start to significantly outscale the content in normal rifts, you can drop both aforementioned rings in favor of Avarice Band, whose interaction with Boon of the Hoarder and the worn Goldwrap will skyrocket your toughness and general quality of life.

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.