Paladin Tri-bryd build

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some feedback on a Paladin project I’m running in D2R (Online P1). The goal is a "Do-it-all" character that avoids being a specialist.

The Concept:
A Tri-Bryd that uses

Fist of the Heavens for screen-clearing,

Blessed Hammer for positioning/non-demon clearing, and a 1-point

Smite (boosted by Grief/Exile) for Ubers and Uber Ancients.

Gear Strategy:
Instead of a "Jack of all trades" setup that compromises stats, I’m splitting the gear into two distinct setups:

Caster Setup (125% FCR Target):

Core: Enigma + HoZ (aiming for the 125% BP).

The Puzzle: HOTO (40) + Hellwarden (20) +

Magefist (20) + Crafted Ammy (20) + Arach (20) + FCR Ring (5-10).

Note: I'm opting for Enigma specifically for Hammer positioning, even though I mostly play as a "Walker."

Melee Swap (Uber Ancients/Ubers):

Core: Grief

Phase Blade + Exile (

Eth Vortex) + G-Face (

Um).

Logic: Since I have Grief, I’m keeping

Smite/Fana as 1-point wonders and dumping points into Hammer/FoH synergies.

Skill Split (Level 90+):

Max: FoH,

Holy Bolt,

Blessed Hammer,

Vigor.

Split: 6 in

Concentration / 9 in

Blessed Aim (Calculated for best Hammer curve on this point budget).

1 Point:

Smite,

Fanaticism,

Holy Shield.

Planner Link: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/d4gxqj0n

Question:
Is the 125% FCR + HoZ + Enigma combo worth the inventory/jewelry stress compared to just using a Spirit shield? And does the 1-point

Smite with Grief feel "safe" enough for Uber Ancients on P1, or am I overlooking a breakpoint?

I tried it for a bit, basically following the tri-brid build from here https://maxroll.gg/d2/guides/fist-of-th ... ns-paladin.

Turns out, I dont care for hammerdin play style, and for some reason my hammer damage didnt seem to stack up to the claims. So I ended up just going with FoH and maxing

Smite and

Holy Shield so my paladin is about as good a smiter as you can get. Sure, killing things that arent undead or demons sucks, but I just ignore those, or let my merc kill them (sometimes I help with some smiting). My default aura is actually

Vigor, and while I dont have great FCR, it doesnt really matter,

Fist of the Heavens has a casting delay anyway. I use a wizard spike and Spirit on swap if I want to

Teleport around/ spam

Holy Bolt for single target damage when I dont feel like smiting. All in all, its not the most powerful build, but its fun enough, versatile enough, and is my go to whenever I need to kill ubers (be it diablo,

Uber Tristram, or uber ancients, he clears them all with ease)

Kakumba wrote: 2 hours ago

Turns out, I dont care for hammerdin play style, and for some reason my hammer damage didnt seem to stack up to the claims.

You need to run hammer with

Concentration aura. Otherwise damage will be really low.

Basically you need to

Sacrifice like ~30% damage from FOH to have almost maxed out hammer. I am fine with 8-9k hammer damage, its easily enough to clear stuff.

I run this to be able to clear

Baal room and such, its entirely viable and farms stuff quickly: https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/4o0206lc

For ubers I have a dedicated smiter bc they do not need to be high level, and I do not need to switch gear all the time . ; p