Diablo 4 Season 13 has seen a huge meta shake-up thanks to the changes added to Lord of Hatred, such as the reworked Skill Trees and the new Talisman mechanic. As a result, some of the worst Diablo 4 classes have become top meta contenders, while the reverse seems to have happened as well. What was once the clear metaclass of yesteryear Diablo 4 seasons has unfortunately become a shell of its former self, which is unfortunate considering Paladin is one of the two classes added with Lord of Hatred.
In a surprising move, some of the best classes in the Diablo 4 Season 13 is Rogue and Barbarian, which have historically been among the game's worst. The Sorcerer is another class at the top of the meta in Season 13, thanks in large part to the rework of the Skill Tree. While the new Warlock class has some solid build options, it doesn't quite reach the Torment level-clearing potential of these other classes. However, Paladin is the most unfortunate casualty of the Skill Tree update, considering it has gone from dominating the meta in Season 11 to barely passable in Season 13.
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Diablo 4 Season 13 gives the Paladin the short ending
Despite technically being a new Lord of Hatred class, the Paladin has been available for Diablo 4 players to use since Season 11, when it debuted for players who pre-purchased the expansion. This season Paladin was incredibly overpowered, with the Aura Paladin build being one of the best the game has ever seen. Even without running an Auradin build, almost all Paladins build Diablo 4 Season 11 was at the peak of meta.
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Light (120s) Medium (90s) Hard (60s)
Part of what made Paladin so broken in its debut season of Diablo 4 was the Castle Legendary Paragon Node, which increased damage proportional to the damage reduction granted from the player's armor. Season 12 nerfed this Paragon Node significantly, reducing Paladin's overall strength and limiting its meta build diversity to mainly Auradin. Now even Auradin struggles to compete in the highest Torment levels Diablo 4which shows how far the holy warrior has fallen since the launch season.
Paladin's best build was heavily nerfed in season 13
At the core of the Aura Paladin build are the class' three Aura skills: Holy Light Aura, Fanatism Aura, and Defiance Aura. Each of these Aura skills has a passive and active effect, with Holy Light Aura being the primary damage dealer of the bunch in combination with the Dawnfire Unqiue Gloves. The result is a build that can deal damage without the player having to actively input skill actions.
Holy Light passive offers now [390 – 450] Fire damage every second in a small area around you. Each time an enemy dies within this aura, it increases its damage by 15%[+] and burning area by 10%[+] for 20 seconds, up to 10 times. Activating Holy Light Aura refreshes this duration.
“Ignite your inner flame. With it we are the dawn that breaks the night.” – Paladin Justelle
Paladin
However, the removal of passives from Paladin's Skill Tree and the move to class-specific Set Charms with Lord of Hatred's new Talisman mechanic has left a pure Aura Paladin build somewhat underpowered. Set Charms dedicated to the Auradin archetype are Cathan's Iron Conviction Charms. Unfortunately, the flat bonuses offered by the Charm fall far short of the utility the Paladin's passive granted under the old Skill Tree structure, leaving the class lacking in this department.
How the Paladin can improve in future Diablo 4 seasons
Since the main source of Paladin's passive now comes from Set Charms, a future season of Diablo 4 can add new Set Charms for each class that help support different build archetypes. The Paladin currently has five different sets of charms: Cathan's Dauntless Faith, Cathan's Iron Will, Cathan's Righteous Will, Heaven's Radiant Fire, and Light's Epiphany. Right now, Light's Epiphany is the best option, as it drastically improves the Paladin's Arbiter form while allowing them to cast all Ultimates when casting Arbiter of Justice and increasing the power of Disciple skills by 500%. This puts builds that cannot take advantage of this Charm Set at a significant disadvantage that could be fixed in the future with a greater diversity of useful Set Charms.
Paladin builds still worth using in Diablo 4 Season 13
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Wing Strike's Paladin
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Blessed Hammer Paladin
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Shield of Retribution Paladin
Although Paladin is generally underpowered this season and can struggle Diablo 4s highest Torment difficulty levels, there are still some builds worth using. These builds largely revolve around Light's Epiphany Charms Set, but Cathan's Righteous Will can also be useful with the right set.
Balance the critics' averages
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Balance the critics' averages
Light (6) Medium (8) Hard (10)
By far the best Paladin build for Diablo 4 Season 13 is Wing Strikes Paladin, which emphasizes a playstyle that keeps the Paladin constantly in its Arbiter form and uses the legendary aspect of Tyrael's Jurisdiction to punch up and turn the Arbiter form's Wing Strikes into enemy-seeking attacks. This build also takes advantage of the synergy between Arbiter of Justice and Set Bonus of Light's Epiphany to deal serious damage when casting this Ultimate.
Arbiter's Evade triggers a randomly equipped core skill for every 2.0 meters traveled. Core Skills business [5 – 15]%[x] increased damage during Arbiter's Evade and for 4 seconds after.
“And the moon looked upon the pilgrims and wept a path of light. Through her tears they walked, and the night remembered them no more.” – Orison XVII: Creed of the Dove
Paladin
Blessed Hammer Paladin also makes heavy use of Light's Epiphany Set Bonus which buffers the damage of Disciple Skills once Blessed Hammer is upgraded to the Disciples' Halo variant. This build also uses the synergy between Arbiter form and Argent Veil Unique Ring to constantly spam Blessed Hammer when the Paladin dodges in Arbiter form. While not quite as strong as the Wing Strikes build, Blessed Hammer is still a decent option in Season 13.
For a build moving away from Light's Ephiphany and replacing it with Cathan's Righteous Will Charm Set, Shield of Retribution is a solid option that can take Diablo 4 players through Torment levels 8 and 9 with ease. The Shield of Retribution upgrade for the Blessed Shield turns it into a Juggernaut skill and allows it to deal damage based on Paladin's Thorns. Between its emphasis on Thorns damage and Cathan's Righteous Will's Set Bonus reflecting the effects of stun and knockback crowd control, this build can punish groups of enemies that get too close to the Paladin without relying on the class's Aura mechanic.
- Released
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June 5, 2023
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
