Crusader Armor of Akkhan Fresh 70 Starter Build (Patch 2.7 / Season 23)

Active Skills
Blessed Shield Combust Steed Charge Endurance 1 Laws of Valor Unstoppable Force 2 Iron Skin Steel Skin 3 Shield Glare Zealous Glare 4 Akarat's Champion Prophet
Passive Skills
Heavenly Strength Indestructible Towering Shield Finery

Due to the utility focus and generic nature of the set, it is hard to point at a specific build path as best for a beginner Akkhan build. The natural recommendation is to keep Akarat's Champion from the leveling and fresh 70 build, since the set builds up your resource management and damage bonuses around the uptime of this cornerstone steroid skill. You can otherwise keep the beginner spec as-is (if you favor Blessed Hammer), change to any Wrath spender of your liking, or follow the Blessed Shield-centric spec outlined above.

Blessed Shield is recommended as a good Akkhan set starting skill, as it strikes a good balance between resource cost and damage dealt, and it also bounces between targets by itself while allowing you to keep your distance. The recommended rune is Combust, as it offers decent AoE and single target all at once; it is also a fire-based rune, which allows easy synergy with common drops like Cindercoat and Magefist.

Your resource management will be split between the activated effect of Laws of Valor Unstoppable Force and the targeted refill of Shield Glare Zealous Glare. Combined with the Wrath regeneration of an active Akarat's Champion, you will all but nullify the Blessed Shield costs for comfortable spam.

Finally, you will split your utility skills between mobility and defense. The staple movement skill of Crusaders, Steed Charge, will of course be taken with the lengthiest rune — Endurance. Round out your build with Iron Skin Steel Skin for a massive, lengthy defensive boost — especially useful during Akarat's Champion downtimes.

In the passives, alternate between Heavenly Strength and Fervor depending on your best weapon at the time. Indestructible will be vital when you push against your gear limits, especially considering the squishiness of Akkhan set builds. The generic Strength buff of Finery is one of the strongest passives in the Crusader arsenal, boosting damage and toughness by a substantial margin with the number of sockets in endgame gear. The fourth passive slot can be adjusted to your chosen spender; in the build we recommend, Towering Shield is a fitting choice for the Blessed Shield damage bonus and Shield Glare cooldown reduction.

The build above is specifically created not to require any additional sets or legendary items. In order to transition to a late game-oriented spec using the same set, we have a rough list of high priority items to obtain, as well as a link to the build they pertain to.

• Akkhan Bombardment Build — Belt of the Trove (belt); Aquila Cuirass (chest); In-geom (1h sword); Nemesis Bracers and Strongarm Bracers (bracers); Flail of the Charge and Shield of the Steed (flail and shield set); Ring of Royal Grandeur (replaced by Stone of Jordan in Season 16) and Unity (rings).